Ambush
[Achlys Keresa]:
Achlys was happy..Actually, maybe the correct word choice isn't happy. Pleased? Satisfied? Content? Either of those three were better descriptives to describe how she was feeling at the moment. She had finally finished spreading word of the Shadow Conclave to the other Shadow Houses—a gathering set to take place during the upcoming Winter Solstice. The task had taken nearly a month, forcing Achlys to traverse even a few different dimensions just to see it through, but it was done. She could finally return to Mythos Academy for her second term.
Achlys was not really a people's person. She wasn't the most social of students at the Academy, despite being one of the most talented and gifted cultivators to grace the Shadow Faction in centuries. Even still, it felt right, studying at the Academy, and she felt that, now that her mission was over, she could finally go back.
As Achlus rode inside the caravan of cars, just a few miles away from the Luminaris Estate,lost in thought as she laid on the cushion of the car seat, she found herself jolted from her thoughts as her Death Sense activated.
Death Sense was a unique ability inherited by those with a Death-based parentage — Jabari actually possesses this ability, too, from what she's heard, being a son of Anubis. With Achlys's father being literal Death, though, the ability was much more accurate than the son of Anubis'.
The ability had two functions: First, it acts as a 7th sense of sorts to alert her if someone around has died recently or in the area generally. Its second function is to also forewarn her if she's in danger of dying in a given situation. Depending on the severity of the warning, the stronger the Death Sense would blare, and, right now, it was blaring pretty loudly, screaming her name.
"Stop the car!" Achlys screamed at her driver, who, sensing the panic in her voice, hit the breaks. "We need to evacuate the car right now/. Quickly."
Achlys rushed out of the limousine, just as a massive EMT pulse waved across the caravan of fancy cars, effectively taking away the ability to drive from all vehicles present.
Figuring something was wrong, the guards Jabari's mother had sent to help guard Achlys immediately exited the car… Only to be immediately stabbed in the back by the Luminaris guards that rode with them. Literally. They were using swords and long daggers of very high grades to do it, so the success rate was even higher, especially when it was paired with the surprise of the attack. In addition to the blades most likely being enchanted, Achluys was sure they were also poisoned by powerful, matter-deconstructing poisons, too, as the Jabari guards immediately turned into meat paste not long after being stabbed by them.
There were some survivors, though — Some warriors who were disciplined enough to react quick and dodge the initial stabbing. A fight immediately broke out between the two forces. Swords and shields were summoned against swords and shields. Daggers met short swords and blood rained on the streets around.
"Mrs. Achlys, you must run!" the driver of Achlys' limo had gotten out, spear in hand and had taken out a surprised Luminaris guardsman by thrusting his spear through his skull. The guardsman's brain matter lined the road he previously stood on. "Quickly, milady! RUN! I'll hold them off for as long as I can."
Then, using his spear to block the assailant behind him, the driver managed to jab his spear through the assailant's achilles' heel. Sadly, the driver failed to notice the two more Luminaris guardsmen coming from the right. By the time he did, he couldn't pick his spear up in time as he received a string of enchanted Tier A bullets to the skull, killing him instantly.
"Steve!" Achlys yelled out in horror, still paralyzed by shock. But it was no use; she had already felt him pass.
The remaining Luminaris guards had decided to move towards Achlys. There were 9 guardsmen in total, all Ascendant Stage Legacy rankers of various levels. All wanted Achlys dead, and would kill her at the first opportunity.
'There are probably more in the woods around me,' Achlys thought, sending out her awareness and sensing five more souls in the wooded area around her. 'Shit. based on the strength of three of the souls I'm sensing, they're at least Demigod, Peak Demigod art the most. I'm no stranger to facing people beyond my cultivation level, even if I am of mid-level Demigod stage, but… I am still outnumbered. Maybe I should fix that, then.'
Achlys summoned her long scythe, Reaper, its Chaotic level aura giving the approaching guardsmen pause, if only for a second. It was only a second, but that second was all Achlys needed.
"Thanatos' Blessing: Arise, Golem of Death!" Achlys yelled, her eyes glowing a dark violet hue, as the ground beneath them gave way and a giant's hand made of rotten bones crushed a screaming guardswoman to death as it rose from the depths of the Earth. Achlys thrusted her hands forward as she screamed "Times 3!"
And, to the horror of the 7 warriors, 2 more bone golems arose from the crackling, black earth, clawing their way to the surface. The golems themselves were made of sharp, jagged, intermixed bones and rotten meat that vaguely gave it a humanoid figure. It had multiple rows of sharp, serrated teeth and a skeleton made of bone, sharp,prickling spikes. They were truly amalgamations of death incarnate.
"Handle them, then back me up if I need it!" Achlys commanded, as she willed the darkness to conceal herself. She headed towards where she sensed the 3 strongest soul signatures were coming from.
Along the way, Achlys killed off the two weakest signatures she was sensing of the 5 in the woods — The first was a mid-level Demigod ranker and the second being a low-level Demigod ranker. She sliced their heads off, her scythe cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. Achlys was not new to killing, and, as a daughter of Death itself, it was only right for her to be comfortable around it. As far as she was concerned, it was her birthright, her domain and her heritage, all wrapped in one.
By the time she made it to one of the peak Demigod rankers, she had ran out of the stamina to keep up her Darkness Cloak. As she swung her scythe, her cloaked faded into the void and the Luminaris guard could now see her. But she had already connected her Reaper to her target's right shoulder.
Immediately, it began draining the soul and lifeforce of the Demigod ranker — It continued to do so, drying the poor bastard of his vitality until he was merely a skelton, and then she stepped on his bones, crushing his dried skull into dust and fragments. Her Reaper's scythe glowed purple with new satisfaction, as it fed on the remaining energy it sucked from the now-dead corpse.
"That's a nice scythe, bitch. Mind if we take it?" laughed one of the Peak Demigod rankers, a boy, barely 18 years old, with dark hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in full leather armor and had dual wielded gladii.
'From his fit, I can tell he's definitely a hired gun,' Achlys observed him. 'No one from House Luminaris would wear leather — It is beneath them. So, then, why target me? What is going on in house Luminaris for them to hire literal mercenaries to kill me? If Peter wanted me dead, he'd have killed me himself… Unless he's not the one wanting me dead…'.
"You cam certainly try,' Achlys responded, setting aside her thoughts.
"You're outskilled, girl, and outnumbered," said the second idiot — He, too, was dressed in leather. Another hired gun, Achlys concluded. "Give up!"
"Not happening, and. No, I'm not outnumbered, nor am I outskilled," Achlys appointed behind her, where two of the three bone golems were already heading her way. "It seems you are though. Fear not, you will both die, like all the others. When you do, tell my father I said 'hi', won't you."
The second mercenary eyed the golem heading his way with a look of hesitation, but the first guy confidently took a step forward. "Kill the summoner, and the summons vanishes," he said, as he dashed towards the girl. "Sorry, bitch, but you dyin' today, and I'm gonna claim your weapon as my own!"
Achlus blocked a strike from his two gladii, parrying their strikes with practiced ease. She stepped backwards, playing defense, plotting her victory with every deflect. She was dancer… A dancer of death, even as she blocked her opponent's strikes with the grace of a dancer.
Sadly, the dual wield sensed what she was trying to do and leaped backward. A spoke of bone rose from the ground of where he just was, the bone golem's outstretched hand the only hint of who was responsible.
"You're good, girl… But not good enough," the guy said, throwing an enchanted fire grenade at the golem, which Achlys ducked down to the ground to evade.
BOOM!
The golem was reduced to bone and splintered, its rotten meat cooked and its fragmented bones specs of what it once was. The second golem was even missing an arm.
As Achlys was getting to her feet, she immediately grabbed her scythe, blocking a barrage of slashes from guy 1, even as she barely managed to get up.
"You can't block forever, little girl! Fight back! It's much more fun that way!" he had a crazed look in his eyes as he sent jab and slashes at Achlys, fast like bullets, but much more deadlier.
"You're right — I won't," Achlys responded calmly, thrusting her hand forward, touching the man's chest through his shirt. "The move is exhausting, but I have no choice. Soul Extraction, Soul Banishment!"
And, to the man's horrified eyes, his soul exited his body and sunk into the earth itself. He was dead before his body even hit the dirt.
"Locke!" the second guy screamed, but Achlus was too tired to notice the guy had beaten her golem. She was too tired to notice him heading her way. She would die today, but at least she took some of her would-be killers with her. And, for that, she was okay with it.
As she swayed on her feet, her vision blurry, she fell forward, tired, unconsciousness chasing her like a dog would a bone. She was too tired to notice that a silver-armoured, blond-white haired man would kill her would-be killer.
In fact, the last thing Achlys heard before slipping into unconsciousness was a deep voice saying, "Bring her with us. She's Princess Celeste's friend—and a powerful asset. We'll need her for the struggles ahead."
"Are you sure we can trust her, sir?"
"Positive," came the sharp reply from a white-haired man clad in gleaming silver. His voice was calm, but carried the weight of command. "House Luminaris is on the verge of collapse. It's been rotting from the inside, and now there's a power vacuum. No clear successor. The prince's treason lit the fuse—if Lord Luminaris dies, civil war is inevitable."
He paused, his tone growing heavier. "We'll need every ally we can get our hands on."
"Understood. What are your orders?"
"Send word to the Princess. Her father hangs between life and death. If she still wishes to see him… if she wants to claim her birthright, then she'll find us at the Luminaris Hold in Moreno."
"You heard the General—go, now!"
And that was the last thing Achlys registered before strong arms lifted her off the ground, and the world finally went dark.