Snag hauled back, pulling away, swinging his damaged prosthetic arm, while holding his damaged regular arm out. Blood poured from the ragged wounds in his arm. One of the blades had gone in one side and out the other.

In any other day, any other circumstance, I never would have imagined I’d have let this go.

But others needed help. Rain was mostly in the clear, as he and Snag parted. Sveta and Capricorn weren’t.

I flew down to where Sveta had been pulled to the ground. Her balance wasn’t good, and when she was brought down, it was hard for her to find her feet again. Once I touched down in the middle of the pack of people, it was a question of getting people back without hurting them too badly. I grabbed her and used flight as much as anything to haul her up and away, so we were above the fighting.

It was a vantage point for me to see Rain facing off against Snag. He’d hit Snag with a crescent blade, and the man had a line of silver across face and shoulder. He didn’t move, and blood continued to seep down his arm and hand.

Sveta reached over, grabbed grass, because it was the only thing to grab, and hauled herself to the ground over there, to where she could talk to Rain or help Snag.

I flew down to Capricorn. Love Lost leaped up at me, intercepting. Her initial contact broke through the Wretch. Her mover power let her connect to me despite the interruption in her course. I felt her claws scrape my breastplate.

I punched her, and she dropped down and away, landing amid people.

Rain had hit Snag again. Keeping him from moving.

On my second try, I got to Capricorn. I pulled him free, holding him with both hands, my arms straining.

I saw Love Lost get to her feet, reaching for her mask.

I saw her sway and then fall, like the lights had gone out.

Snag had already fallen. Either he’d been hit, or he’d elected to try moving, because one of the silver lines had split. His neck was gouged where it joined the shoulder, a wound deep enough it should have exposed shoulder blade and collarbone. It didn’t, because the blood was thick, and his beard was dense.

Rain was on the ground. In the distance, perched on a hill, Cradle slumped on his platform.

The drizzle became rain, punctuated by gunfire. There was fighting everywhere, and even the people that were holding back were hitting pretty damn hard now. Not dissimilar to how I had with Valefor.

Not heroes and villains. Only monstrousness and madness.

Shadow Interlude 5.x

“Deaths.”

“I beg your pardon?”