WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE

The sound of rotating blades assaulted Todor's ears, joined by rhythming drumming of stony feet rising and falling in unison. The scene looked surreal like someone made absurd photoshop of a nice river quay by adding grotesque figures and military chopper in the far distances. The slowly building panic that was rising deep in his mind halted and his mind cleared into crystal understanding. He turned to Cassandra and smiled reassuringly.

"They want me. You have nothing to do with this," he said walking up to the charging railgun and picking it up. It had enough charge for one shot, hopefully, that will be enough.

"You don't even know who they are, they might as well kill me on principle," Cassandra said, steel entering her voice. "I never thought I'll die old, surrounded by grandkids and great grandkids. This is how Morg warrior should die. Fighting overwhelming odds with no choice of success, surrounded by the bodies of her enemies!" her voice changed from cold resolve into fiery passionate scream with the last word.

"Don't go all blood-rage on me yet, warrior," Todor said, a new clarity of mind settling even deeply. He felt cool refreshing air on his face as he stepped on the pavement. The smell of city river and dry cement tingled his nostrils and he swallowed.

"Don't freeze on me yet, human. I need you alive as an encyclopedia of Mundane Era," Cassandra said, her grin wild and her hair let loose from a ponytail.

"Oh, for that we both need to survive," Todor said getting his Jolt special in his right palm and dagger in reverse grip in his left.

Two axes popped into existence in Cassandra's palms. She gripped them and let out a roar.

"No promises," she said, her voice distorted by gritted teeth.

After which she charged. One axe flying from her hand spinning through the air and finally crashing into the deformed head of the first stone golem. Pebbles and rocks exploded showering other stone creatures in the formation. The second axe flew right after hitting another enemy with a similar result. The marching of stone golems stopped, small stone bucklers were risen to protect their heads and spears thrusting out creating a hedgehog of stone that slowly started itching forward from both sides of the street.

Two seconds later Cassandra was among them, huge axe appearing in the air falling down like a scythe from a reaper himself. Todor grinned, his teeth grinding with a nasty sound. He pulled out smart material gloves and put them on to help him automate squeezing of the trigger. Then he charged into the middle of the street, marking places he thought golems had their cores. With a single blinking command to his coat, he let it guide his shots. Series of cracks resounded along the empty avenue, echoing down the river.

Cassandra kept attacking golems from their left, throwing her axes and re-summoning them once they did their deadly purpose. Todor stood his ground and kept shooting at the golems from their right. When his clip got empty he released it cursing himself for putting extra clips in the inside pocket of his coat. It took him a bit but he was firing again. The bullets smashed into stone, seemingly doing little damage. But from time to time golem would freeze and crumble to the ground. I guess those are lucky shots into the cores.

The sound of helicopter blades increased while both formations of golems inched ever closer. Cassandra and Todor stood back to back between two groups, panting slightly. On the left side of the street, Cassandra left seven crushed piles of stones with three, slightly larger golems still coming, blocking her attempts. On the right, Todor managed to stop five of them but five more were marching in tight formation.

"Maybe we should run and jump into the river," Todor suggested putting his last clip into the gun.

Cassandra glanced in that direction when a sound of motorbikes came from there. The group of twelve bikers with rifles slung over their shoulder burst out into the open on the other side of the river. A surge of hope overcame Todor when the riders unslung their weapons and took aim. Hope shattered a second later when bullets started impacting around them. Cassandra screamed summing large shield and putting herself between the new enemies and Todor.

Todor swore and marked the targets in his HUD with blinks. Running and closing his eyes made him trip on the piece of debris, knocking him down. Laying down on his belly he realized he had perfect firing position by aiming between Cassandra's legs and bellow her shield. Trusting in Kavacha system aim assist he finished marking the bikers and fired. Twelve shots sounded in the darkness, quickly in succession one after the other. The constricting fabric of smart fabric made the motion seemed practice, but only thing Todor had to do was blink on people and send a command. The automated fire stopped and nine of the twelve attackers lay on the ground unmoving, the remaining three were clutching their wounds on the ground. Their moans somehow reached Todor's ears and he froze.

I just became a murderer. I killed those men. Ezezu sent a burst of emotions, comfort, understanding, and sadness, but Todor pushed the book's emotions away. I, I, killed them. Part of his brain riled up screaming and trashed at the logic. They were trying to kill you, you were defending yourselves, the other part of him said. But it was no use, he just lay on the ground, uncaring that the surviving golems were almost upon them.

"Hey, pull yourself together," Cassandra yelled at him, shield disappearing from her arms. When Todor didn't react she crutched next to him and slammed her fist into his head. Todor' rolled back, surprised at the pain and the source of it. He jumped on his feet glaring at Cassandra, then his look softened. He looked at approaching stoneman and motioned Cassandra towards the bar garden where they were hiding a few minutes before. She nodded and they sprinted back.

When they looked at the street again, two groups of golems reformed into one and slowly advanced towards them. Eight pairs of feet drummed, making ground vibrate slightly.

"Can you shoot them with that electric boomstick?" Cassandra asked Todor summoning her axe which just dissolved right away. "I am out of mana."

"I have power for one shot but I am worried about that helicopter that I hear," Todor said unslinging railgun from his shoulder.

"I think that is our cavalry. Governers peon's ride those loud mechanical birds," Cassandra said. "But from the sound of it, they are still far away to help us with those pointy sticks."

Todor listened to the flaps of the helicopter blades, the sound getting closer but still far too distant. He let out a sigh and took aim at the middle of the formation. Stone spearman continued their slow march like automatons that they were. The railgun sounded and then a crack and an explosion. He got peppered with gravel and stones the size of marbles. He rose his arm to shield his face and when the wind subsided he looked at the aftermath. Where the group of golems once stood was a crater the size of the watermelon and all around it parts and pieces of rock were splattered in a chaotic pattern.

Todor smiled and turned to look at Cassandra who smiled back. Her own grin disappeared turning into anger.

"It's not over yet," she said as small fist-sized axe appeared between her fingers. She threw it at something behind Todor before her eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground.

Someone let out a loud yelp and a thump sounded right behind Todor. He swirled dropping the spent railgun to the ground pulling Jolt special at the ready. The body of the Anadori dressed in black suit, red shirt, white tie, and a mask was sprawled by the wall. Cassandra's small axe disappearing from the elves crushed skull. He rose his eyes and silhouettes of six more people peeked at him from the roof. Why didn't my radar warned me of this guys?! the thought came furiously. He marked the new enemies with blinks and let the coat aim in his stead. Six more shots rang into the night and four bodies fell. I missed two, damn it, how many bullets have I left? The system showed two. Two targets and two bullets, he mused, a feral grin appearing on his face.

Two remaining assailants hid behind the chimney of the roof. He gave the command to the coat to aim and shoot as soon their show any part of themselves. It's not right, it's too easy. These are trained killers and I overcame them by just having a better toy, his thoughts wandered uselessly as he waved Jolt special in anticipation. The memory of his mother's words came to him: 'Battles are waged with shine blades, but wars are won by the heroic hearts of men.' She was prone to such sayings, and flights of fancy. Quoting epic poetry from a dying culture and disappearing nation whose traditions she tried to uphold and keep alive. She was a warrior at heart even though she never fought in any wars. Her flushed face and her fury when something didn't go her way, the energy with which she exploded in indignation and self-rightness anger. That was her greatest asset and her greatest flaw. She was yin to his father's yang.

The memory made him mad, he could feel potion he taken reaching the peak of its influence. The sound of helicopter slowed down and the screech of tires somewhere close by came to his ears. There are more coming, he realized glancing at Cassandra at the ground. She was breathing deeply but steadily. She passed out because of lack of mana. She will be fine, he assured himself and holstered Jolt special, moving dagger into his right hand. He took a step towards a wall overgrown with creeper vines. The growl escaped his mouth before he freed his dagger hand by carrying the blade in his mouth. Like some pirate from the distant past, he started climbing the wall, thick vines giving him great hand and foot holds. The strength that surged into his muscles was so beyond what he could normally muster that he was at the roof in twenty seconds.

Surging upward, his boots thundering on the orange clay tiles of the roof he scanned where his pray was hiding. He took the dagger into icepick grip and after two measured steps he jumped into the air, using his left arm as a lever to fly over chimney and land on the hidden attacker. The yelp of alarm and surprise was lost to the blood rushing and bubbling in his ears. Batting aside pistol by grabbing the wrist in bone-crushing grip and pinning it to the clay bricks of the chimney. His toothy grin made the human under him panic, trying to free his trapped arm. Than Todor snarled as dagger lunched forward puncturing the neck of his victim, the tip of the blade scraping along the spine and going forward and thudding into the brick. The words of his fencing instructor flashed through his mind: "Only hundred PDI is needed to puncture human skin. Just slightly over that could be lethal with a quick thrust." He snarled at the remembrance and jerked the dagger free and then again thrusting it forwarded into the dead man's eye.

The SUV turned into the street somewhere below Todor but he didn't notice or cared. The rage overtook every fiber of his being. He swirled at the sound of steps higher on the roof. The second attacker had green Morg skin and was aiming his sawed-off shotgun at him. Todor grinned and lurched forward, roof tile breaking under his foot. The enemy fired, flare from the gun lighting the dark rooftop for the split second together with blue light of Todor's shield absorbing the blast. Through the slits in the Morgs mask, Todor saw shooters eyes widening. He was upon him in the instant.

Large Morg swung his fist at Todor but he just battered it away with his left hand as if the punch was made by a scrawny ten-year-old and not muscle-brained Morg. Todor's right fist gripping the dagger flashed forward, faster than the eye can follow, straight into the Morg's gut. "If the intestines are stabbed by a bladed weapon, the victim would need quick medical attention for any chance of survival." Fencing instructor in his mind proclaimed, the flash of HEMA gymnasium appearing in his mind. Todor snarled twisting the dagger in the Morgs stomach, releasing the blade for a split second to grab it in reverse and then with a roar slashing to the side. The unfortunate attackers' guts spilled out dropping on the roof around Todor's feet. He stared at the gore he made as the Morg fell to his back trailing intestines. Todor looked at squirmy Morg warrior at his feet and he kicked him. The green-skin man rolled over the edge of the roof with guts streaming behind him. A slight meaty thud sounded as the body impacted the ground.

The van below opened as people in dark suits, red shirts, white ties, and masks spilled on the sidewalk. Todor screamed at them, spit flying from his mouth. He shouted incomprehensibly, not words but grunts without meaning, just primal rage, and fury. Ezezu buzzed in his mind with the same euphoric feeling that strained and relaxed his muscles, forcing him to move, to speed up, to fight. The armed people down there rose their automatic rifles and opened fire. But Todor was already moving as the staccato of projectiles rained around him and in one leap he was at the edge, next moment he was in the air falling towards strange attackers.

The shooters stopped their barrage for the second, surprised and amazed at the sight of their target jumping from the roof towards them. Their stunned stupor lasted only a second, but Todor already landed among them. Impact of the fall absorbed like he jumped from a chair and not the second-floor building. He found himself in front of an Anadori woman with a gun aimed at his face. His dagger flashed forward cutting at her wrist causing a burst of blood to spray his face and arm. She let out the scream of pain as almost severed palm that held the weapon dropped from her arm only held on by a sliver of flesh. He stabbed once more, blade entering her open screaming mouth. The tip of the blade bit into the soft flesh of her palate puncturing it and spearing into her brain. His knuckle on the daggers grip scrapping one of her teeth and knocking it out with the force of his blow.

The entire action happened in a split of the second, hardly registerable by human, Morg or Anadori eye. Before her lifeless body hit the ground Todor was moving again. One fired bullet flared the coats shield directly in front of his eyes. Part of his brain deep down got surprised, the wordless scream of fear echoed in his mind. But all he could do was to look at the shield battery indicator. It was at 33%, enough to block one more shot. A feral roar escaped him as he grabbed the gun of the shooter with the left hand and seizing the weapon with a jerk. The dagger slashed again against now disarmed attackers throat.

He threw the taken gun in the air grabbing it by the handle a second later. Then he marked three closets enemies and fired. Coat guiding his left arm as he emptied an entire clip into them. He dropped the empty pistol to the ground as he surged at two remaining attackers.

The first fell as the Todor's dagger found its way to the gunner's brain through the eye socket. The last woman shot him at point-blank range once, shield flaring stopping the bullet. She threw away the gun and started running yelling: "Monster! Monster!"

Todor regarded her back for a second then he threw the dagger with all his potion enhanced force. The blade flew through the air, tip first and slammed into the nape of the woman's head with a meaty 'twak'. She fell to the ground her last incomprehensible words cut short.

As if the vail on his mind lifted Todor staggered forward, his legs suddenly too weak to support him. Everything that happened was still in his mind, he remembered every single second of it. Those were his actions but at the same time ... they weren't. Staggering he kneeled next to the last woman he killed and grimaced as he pulled out the dagger from her brain, squishy sound attacking his ears. Fury and rage were gone and the bone-deep tiredness took their place. His stomach started to grumble and he put his left hand on it. Pain sprouted on many places on his body, arms, and legs.

"What have I become?" he croaked as he fell to his knees. "Cassandra!?" he exclaimed getting back on his wobbly feet. Dragging himself slowly to the bar where Cassandra was sleeping. He climbed the three steps which felt like entire floor worth of stairs. He dropped to his knees next to her and checked her pulse.

He looked at the bloody and gory knife he gripped in his hand and bent over and vomited on the ground. His entire abdomen heaved as if wanting to run away from his body in retaliation for his deeds. "It means you shouldn't fight because you enjoy fighting. Fighting is only the last resort. Don't fight to punish or just to say you returned as much as they gave you. Fight to protect yourself or someone else." Words from the past flashed in his mind, hitting him to the core. He straightened up a bit, moving closer to Cassandra.

Tears welled up in his eyes, he was powerless to stop them. He started heaving as the tears rolled down his cheek, washing a trail through the blood.

"I am sorry, father. I failed you," he croaked into the darkness.

"You saved us," Todor heard Cassandra saying in a weak voice. He turned towards her, still unable to stop the weeping.

"I wanted to tear the flesh from their bones, Cassandra. I didn't want to protect you or myself. I wanted them gone. To just smash them into the strawberry paste of guts and blood and bone," he said as the Cassandra got up to her elbows and dragged herself closer to him. He let her lead his head to her chest embracing him as he shivered and cried.

"You know, I usually don't let guys slobber snot and tears over my tits on the first date," she said still holding him.

Todor's sobs stopped for a moment replaced with a choking sound. The chuckle took last of his energy for weeping and he calmed down. Cassandra let him go as he tried to wipe stained face from tears, blood, and snot.

"I am probably most pathetic sight you ever saw, right now," he said after a long pause.

"Not really. I saw Morg warriors reacting as bad and even worse after their first battle," she said in a weak voice. "This was your first battle, right?"

Todor nodded closing his eyes.

"It's like some kind of red vail dropped andeverything got tinted into the color of blood," he said. "When I shot those bikers over there, that was the first time Ikilled someone," he inhaled strongly to stop his runny nose. "But aiming wasdone by this coat, by the machine. It didn't feelreal. I pulled the trigger but machine took their lives." He looked atCassandra who was listening to his confession, tired look of understanding inher eyes. "And then I just wanted them gone. I wanted to feel safe, to live,"he shrugged and stopped talking. Shehugged him again, their shoulders side by side as the chopper flew into theirsight.