Zena had been in Healas' group whenever for just about a month. She had been on two missions both of which she didn't really participate in. In the mean time, she sparred with some of the other members when she was not at the bar.
Today was different though, many members of the group had been called out on missions. Zena had not yet been called out as she always went with Healas as she was the new.
So now there were five people sitting at the bar waiting. Zena had her head in her arms board out of her mind. She could spar with anyone as she was on stand by, being part of the last group at the bar.
Then she felt the air shift, raising her head she saw Healas tense.
"Alright everyone its our turn. One of our scouting groups has run into trouble in district b4."
With that everyone was up and moving. Summoning armor and weapons they moved.
They were moving across the many roof tops. It both provided quicker movement around the districts and it made them harder to be seen by the Clock Works.
District b4 was a relatively close district. These districts were not part of the city planning, but made by the Sleepers after Healas started her group. It made pinpointing where everyone was much easier. The Day Clock was the center of the districts. The further away the district the later the letter. Using a circle radius, they spilt the letter districts into numbers so b4 was the second closest and it was southeast from the Day Clock.
Soon they arrived. The ones who called for back up were in an intense battle. There were ten Clock Works, while there were only five Sleepers. Two of them had already been heavily injured.
Right now they were being backed into a corner.
Then Healas' group moved. Dropping in they tried taking out five of the Clock Works. Two of them were able to react to the sudden sneak attack while three of them were not so luck.
Seven remained. Now the Sleepers out numbered the Clock Works. However, that did not mean they had the advantage. They need to finish this quick before even more Clock Works showed up.
The true battle commenced. Everyone took a single Clock Work as an opponent. One of the Sleepers in Healas' group went to tend to the injured.
Zena ran at one of the Clock Works and swung her sword. The Clock Work holding a spear block with the spear's butt and immediately swung at Zena, almost hitting her shoulder. Zena had almost no time to react.
'Shit, I almost forgot these things are still Awakened.'
Moving back she took a low stance, preparing for the next attack. It moved quick dashing forward before stopping, but its spear did not. It moved fast much faster than anything Zena had seen. She raised her sword as fast as she could, parrying the attack. Thanks to her low stance she was able to use that moment as an opening, pivoting and swinging her sword.
Right as she swung her sword she saw something moving toward her, almost piston like. She was mid swing and could not stop. So she dropped down, rolling with her momentum.
Looking around she saw nothing of which could have explained that attack. She could not look for long though as the Clock Work was once again attacking. This time it spun the spear. It was slow at first then she felt it. The air shifted and moved.
Her footing faltered as the wind kept increasing. Then she lost her footing, getting launched. Shifting slightly she landed against a wall, using it as if it were the ground. She ran away until the wind lessoned, regaining her footing on the ground. She could not wait for another attack from it. She moved running at an angle at the Clock Work.
Her eyes shifted, her once vibrant eyes dulled. She ran lunging at the Clock Work landing the first hit. Right in one of its legs.
She went in for another attack, trying to finish it off. Only for another piston attack to be seen in her periphery. Leaning back to dodge she lost balance. The Clock Work took this chance to attack. It struck out, hitting Zena in her left arm. The pain was excruciating. The spear pierced through her arm.
The pain went straight into her head. Her dull eyes changed again, going bloodshot. She moved the sword, locking its teeth between the sides of the spear and twisted. Snapping the spear in two. Before the Clock Work could react Zena moved again. Pulling the spear head out of her arm and throwing it at the Clock Work. Dodging it the Clock Work steadied itself. Only for Zena to be there. She sliced the blade across the head of the Clock Work.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Clock Work Solider]
Looking around Zena saw everyone's fights were going well. Her eyes shifted back to their normal shine. Holding her arm she moved to the medic who was treating the injured. The two from earlier had already been patched up, so Zena's wound was quickly addressed. The medic put her hands on the two sides of the injury and slowly the bleeding stopped and it scabbed over.
"That's good for now you can get it fully treated when we get back." The medic said as she moved to help the next person who had their arm pointing in the wrong direction.
Moving away she watched as the rest of the Sleepers finished their battles. Luckily there were no casualties besides the original two. Soon they were ready to leave. They had collected the soul shards and distributed to those who need them. Zena had declined, which confused the others.
Right as they were about to leave they felt something shift. It was a rage. Not a human rage, but the rage of an Ascended Clock Work.