Chapter 21 - Dooms

Cramer was the first to fall. As soon as Montez started firing, Drake and Higler had hidden behind the cement barricades outside the police station. Anderson and his men had found cover too, and were firing at them non-stop.

However, Cramer, the coward, had tried to run away in fear. He had been forced to come by Anderson, and was scared for his life, as he should be. This, coupled with his inexperience, prompted him to try to escape through the most obvious route: running back to where he came from.

Unfortunately for him, that left Higler a clear sight of him. First, he shot the man's left leg, causing him to fall and clutch it in pain. That was all the ranger planned to do, just to stop him from leaving - he couldn't shoot him in the back - but Cramer had the brilliant idea of firing some unaimed shots towards them, and a few came pretty close to Higler. After that, the ranger fired to kill.

No one cared that he had died, since they were too focused on the battle at hand. As soon as it had started, Higler had managed to injure two outlaws, while Drake put a bullet in the shoulder of another one. However, they were being suppressed by almost twenty enemies, meaning they could barely show themselves to fire.

"Ahhhh!"

Drake reloaded his pistol - he was using only one - just in time to catch a criminal that had shown himself too much. His aim was good this time, and he managed to hit him right in the heart, killing him immediately. Now he wasn't in the slightly fazed by the action of killing someone. It was either them or him.

"Good one, but watch this, kid."

Higler whistled and grinned, as if they weren't in a dire situation, but a competition. He laid on the ground, and appeared on the left of the barricade. His rifle fired two quick shots, and two of the outlaws that had been trying to flank them died.

Suddenly, they heard the door of the police station opening. Instinctively, they both turned to aim at it, but what they saw was Lieutenant Carson coming out alone, firing and killing one of their adversaries. Then, he quickly hid beside Drake.

"Decided to join the party, lieutenant?"

"I can't stand and watch you die for a city that isn't even yours. If you lose, Anderson is going to kill me anyway, so it's better to go down fighting."

"Hahaha! You aren't wrong. So, can we expect any other guests?"

"No. I told my people to keep an eye on those in Anderson's payroll. That means all you have is me."

"That's good enough. Warkin and Frainer should be getting into position just about now."

Both Drake and the cop were curious as to what Higler had planned, but the constant impact of bullets against their cover made them turn their focus to the battle.

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Anderson watched as another of his men was killed, and cursed. He had heard stories about rangers, obviously, but in the end, they were just humans. How could they cause that much damage?

"What the f*ck is going on, Montez? They are only three while we are f*ucking eighteen! How have we lost five guys already?! F*ck! Do something!"

Montez cursed too, and didn't answer. What was he supposed to say? He was as surprised as his boss. However, he was paid - a lot - for a good reason.

"Lewis, Zon Ling, Buster, go into one of these buildings and find a window from where you can shoot at them!"

"Yes, boss!"

"That's not enough! Bring out your pets, Montez!"

The criminal was starting to get really pissed at his boss, but he couldn't go against him. Unwilling, he called his companions.

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Two small beings advanced towards Anderson and his lackeys. Higler had sent Warkin and Frainer before they left because he knew they would pass unnoticed due to their size. Warkin was a rare species, and few knew what it was capable of, while Frainers, although more common, were also pretty unusual.

So, following the orders of his old partner, Warkin had led Frainer through the side of buildings until they arrived behind the opponents. Both were eager to join, considering that they could feel their partners were in danger, another of the many functions of a Spirit Contract.

Warkin chirped at the other Ifere, telling him to attack, but, before they did, they saw one of the criminals whistle, and two shadows appeared out of nowhere, heading towards Drake and Higler.

Frainer grunted in panic, and flew towards Drake as fast as he could. Warkin hesitated for a slight second - he was used to following Higler's orders - but in the end, his instincts and emotions took the better of him, and he ran after Frainer. While he did so, his body started to glow red.

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"Agh!"

A bullet hit the pavement next to Drake, sending dust into his eyes. It burned, and he couldn't suppress a groan while dropping his pistol and holding his head in pain. Luckily, he still remembered to hide behind the barrier again.

"Drake! Are you okay?"

"Ugh... Yeah, I think so. Not blind, at least not yet. Just... Give me a second."

The ranger stared at him for a moment, and, after confirming he would really be all right, turned back to the enemies. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not, he managed to kill another one with three shots straight to the chest.

"Careful!"

With the corner of his eye he saw a shadow moving, and was about to look at it when he heard Lieutenant Carson yell. Instinctively, he rolled to the side, just in time to avoid two bullets. Following their path, he saw a pistol appearing on a window.

"Sh*t!"

Rolling again, he aimed upwards, and squeezed the trigger a few times. He was rewarded with a yell of pain, but he was unsure of whether he had killed or just wounded the attacker.

And then came the third unwelcomed surprise of the last ten seconds. Fazing through the wall to his side, two identical Iferes appeared. Four legs, slim body, pointy ears, and sharp teeth. Three or four rows of sharp teeth, in fact, in each of the two heads the creatures had. It's fur was pitch black, and so were it's eyes, apart from a white semi-circle in the middle, where it's pupil should have been. It's tail ended in a sharp bone edge.

A small part of Higler's mind identified the Iferes as death-type Dooms. Doom, as the name indicated, was a deadly predator, that had evolved to kill fast and swiftly. They could use shadows to travel - with a skill aptly named Shadow Travel - which was exactly what they did to attack the ranger and Lieutenant Carson.

Higler managed to react just in the nick of time, and used his rifle to block the attack. The two heads bit it, deforming the barrel. Luckily, they weren't strong enough to cut through it immediately.

Grunting with the effort of keeping the sharp teeth away from his neck, the ranger reached for his pistol, and pressed it against the Ifere's abdomen. However, his bullets simply passed through it. At the same time, it's heads fazed through his rifle, and became solid once again. Higler cursed inwardly as he recognized the skill Incorporeal. It was such a pain in the ass.

Still, while it was a pain in the ass, it gave him the chance to plant his feet against the Doom's body, and push it away when it became corporeal again. It couldn't attack in it's ghost-like state, which was an advantage for those who knew about it.

Even as it stumbled backwards, the Doom swung it's tail at Higler, cutting a nasty gash across his forearm, from which blood spilled. The ranger suppressed a grunt of pain, but was forced to let go of his pistol.

Just as the Ifere was about to jump on top of him again, a deafening roar shook the city, startling humans and Iferes alike. The Doom turned to it's source as if it was seeing it's biggest threat. Higler didn't let the chance slide, being the only one who knew the cause of the noise.

Unsheathing the knife he carried on the back of his belt, he stabbed the body of the Doom, aiming for the heart. It had two heads, so putting just one out of combat wouldn't do it. It had to take care of it on one blow.

This time it didn't manage to use Incorporeal until it was too late. Black blood trickled down of the wound for a few seconds as it growled before strength finally left it's body.