Chapter 208: Bar Fight
"Patience, my lady." The Necromancer chuckled. "He's at our mercy. There's nowhere for him to go."
The humans in the bar watched them in confusion, feeling the intensity in the air.
"Excuse me." The bartender called out. "What is going on here?"
"Die" A familiar voice commanded and every human in the room slumped, dead before they hit the floor.
A man wearing the mask of a bird stepped out from behind Natalia. His face was obscured but everything else was familiar.
"Griffin!"X snarled, showing his fangs.
"Hello, X." Griffin said calmly. "Did you enjoy the vacation I granted you?"
"Granted me?" X laughed. "Granted me?! You should at least have the dignity to be honest about what happened to you, Griffin."
"You didn't take some kind of vacation. We killed you." X laughed.
Ezra watched them carefully. The door was behind the three vampires. All he had to do was to evade them and he was out.
"Stop!" Griffin commanded freezing Ezra and X in place for a small moment. In that small window, Natalia lunged forward, hand extended towards Ezra's heart.
Ezra leapt backward, batting her hands away. She hadn't been fast enough.
X was there in an instant, his chains wrapping around Natalia's outstretched hand. "Gotcha!" X snarled.
"Stop!" Griffin's voice rang out, giving Natalia enough time to slip away.
She leaped backward, her bow materializing in her hands. The string hummed as she notched four arrows at once.
She let loose, the arrows flying through the air.
X dodged the arrows, eyes narrowing as Griffin and the Necromancer slipped past him towards Ezra.
He focused back on Natalia, forced to by the arrows hurtling towards him. His eyes widened as he ducked under an arrow only to find another waiting for him.
He twisted, the arrow grazing his cheek as it passed. He felt a sizzling pain as his cheek began to dissolve. He pumped his vitality towards the wound, fighting the effect.
He'd seen what a solid hit of her arrow could do and he didn't want to be at the end of it.
Grimacing, he whipped his chains at her, disrupting her attempts to fire more arrows.
Meanwhile, Ezra was facing troubles of his own.
Griffin rushed towards him, his voice booming as he commanded. "Kneel!"
Ezra's knees buckled involuntarily, rooting him to the spot. Gritting his teeth, Ezra was able to dodge to the side, escaping the bolt of lightning Griffin had fired.
He rolled to his feet, retaliating with his throwing knives and maintaining the distance between them.
"Arise! Minions." The Necromancer called out in a theatrically loud voice, drawing attention to himself.
A rattling sound descended as bones began to appear from thin air, forming to become skeletons, each armed with a bone weapon. Their sockets glowed an eerie red, their teeths chattering.
"Attack!" The Necromancer commanded.
Ezra cloaked himself in darkness, covering his whole body and enhancing it. He grinned and gestured, spear-like tendrils of darkness shooting from his hands and impaled the minions.
Griffin had dodged, throwing another bolt of lightning.
The Necromancer began to laugh as Ezra dodged and his minions continued their approach even with the spike of darkness sticking inside of them.
"My minions are stronger than that, Ezra Matten!" He called out. "You'll have to do better than that to-" He cut himself off. "Wait a minute."
His jaw dropped as his minions began to explode into dust, their vitality drained completely.
Ezra ignored him, heading straight for Griffin. He materialized a battle axe, swinging at the man.
"Stop!" Griffin commanded, giving him enough time to land a lightning bolt on target.
Ezra erected a wall of darkness, absorbing the attack. He dropped it and his eyes widened to see the wave of electricity heading towards him.
He wreathed himself in a thick armor of darkness, feeling the attack hit. He couldn't help but stand there as the attack continued, Griffin not letting up.
He could only wonder if X was doing better.
X was doing better.
Much better.
"Is it losing your husband or old age?" He taunted. "You've grown weak, Natalia."
Natalia ignored him, shooting her arrows and dodging his chains.
"Why won't you use your tattoos?" X Iaughed like a king. "Let me guess. You used up your vitality bringing Griffin back to life, didn't you?"
"And when Ezra appeared, you couldn't resist taking this chance." X whipped his chains forward, forcing her to move. "Unfortunately, today is not your day. Unlike you, I'm not weak."
He rushed forward, closing the distance. Blue flames rushed from his hands, boxing Natalia in. He flicked his chains, wrapping it fightly around Natalia.
Natalia was able to fire one last arrow before he slapped the chains to the floor, anchoring it there.
He turned, firing a huge pillar of fire at Griffin, forcing him to leap backward, ending the barrage of lightning at the box of darkness that contained Ezra.
The Necromancer scrambled backward, getting out of the way. He stretched his hands, creating an armored minion made entirely of interlocked bones.
Ezra dropped the box of darkness, yelling and releasing a wave of red, blue and green.
The wave hit the minion, its bones rattling unstably.
Ezra raised a huge wall of darkness, stretching from wall to wall. He didn't hesitate, dashing to the door behind him, X following.
They ran through the corridors, searching for the rear exit. The moment Ezra found it, he bashed down the door and tore through the surrounding black zone, emerging into an alley. He placed a hand on X's shoulder and a moment later, they were gone.
**********
Natalia broke through the chains holding her down with a snarl.
Griffin and the Necromancer returned to the bar with nothing to show for their efforts.
Natalia stormed towards the Necromancer, her eyes shining in anger.
"You!" She snarled, pointing a finger at his hooded face. "What were you doing? You were supposed to be the ace up our sleeves. Yet here we are, licking our wounds while they're out there, planning their next more."
"Apologies, my lady." The Necromancer bowed. "Matten was able to counter my techniques but don't worry. Next time we meet, he'll underestimate me. And that… will be his undoing."