Chain the Wild Pawn 9

“There sure are a lot of you~♪”

While Chain had followed one shadowy garbed individual into the multistoried hotel Melody had pursued another. Elliot had witnessed her engaging that very one a short while beforehand outside of his hotel room window. As the Hero had come under attack by another he did not see the assassin that Melody had grabbed break the harpy’s grip and acrobatically hurl themselves up onto the roof well above the empty streets below. Melody noticed the assassin in the other building but a rain of throwing knives from above forced her to accelerate well past them. With a series of well calculated wing beats Melody escaped the knife rain and took herself up onto the roof. As she landed the shadow garbed assassin looked back at her from the edge of the roof before jumping off.

“Come on~♪ I don’t want to play chase~♪”

Though she complained Melody dashed after the assassin accelerated tremendously by a flap of her large wings and a gust of wind that responded to the wordless song she began to sing. The assassin did not seem surprised that their reliance on gravity did not earn them escape from the harpy and greeted her with a shower of knives. Possessed of preternatural spatial awareness Melody did not even see the knives as a threat and with another powerful flap of her wings dove right past them and head first into the assassin. Far from underestimating her opponent or their support Melody opened her wings again and caught a gust of wind called by her song that simultaneously deflected an incoming knife from across the street.

“Sorry~♪ But you’ll have to do better than that to hit me~♪”

Mocking the assassin with a laugh Melody thrust out a talon clawed, stilt-like foot and snagged the assassin beneath her. Another flap of her wings took the harpy off the wind gust she had summoned and elevated her quickly. Using the momentum from her ascent she turned herself over in the air and hurled the assassin across the street and through the window she had determined the other was attacking from. Tucking her knees and talons tight against her chest Melody turned herself to face the window and thrust through it with another powerful flap of her wings in combination with a wind gust summoned up from her wordless song.

“~ Oh breath of Brhea in mirthful dance ~♪ ~
~ Swirl and spin, twirl and turn~♪ ~
~ The Builders sing of the Devil’s Twist!~♪ ~”

Though Melody sung a verse from the Builders’ Song as she entered the upper stories of what seemed to be offices for some merchant group or another, the assassins she pursued showed no surprise. Melody herself was not surprised which was why she had sung the verse to begin with. The powerful swirling wind the verse called into being within the open floor offices not only threw about the furniture that filled the floor but also deflected more incoming throwing knives and allowed Melody to open her wings to stop herself. The effects of the verse were not long lived though and the both assassins soon set upon the harpy. Folding her wings with a powerful beat of the feathered limbs Melody took herself just back out of the way of the assassins’ joint attack. Even as the assassins moved to push forward Melody proved herself to be a step ahead of them rather literally. During her dodge she had grabbed the ground with the razor sharp claws of one of her talons. Displaying her monstrous strength Melody pulled herself forward between the assassins who again attacked where she had been. Not content to have simply taken their backs the harpy twisted around and jumped into the air and released a pair of powerful kicks sending the two assassins flying.

“You sure are stubborn~♪”

Melody’s casual remark was sung with a hint of exasperation as the two assassins recovered from her attack and immediately zigzagged through the disheveled office to reengage her with their dual daggers. Melody sighed as she danced between a flurry of coordinated attacks that likely would have overwhelmed most opponents. Melody was not most opponents though and she further outpaced the assassins as her stilt-like feet not only lengthened her stride by half compared to others of comparable size to her but combined with the razor sharp claws of her talons allowed her to make unorthodox steps and movements. As her tail provided her additional balance as she danced about Melody was in no danger from the assassins and she demonstrated this again as she curled a talon into an imitation fist. A lightning quick punch to the gut stunned one assassin and opening the pseudo fist Melody transitioned from the punch to a standing crescent kick knocking the other across the open office space. Returning her talon to the ground she took a short hop to place the stunned assassin between her and the now far assassin. During the motion Melody aligned her sight with the position of the assassins and unintentionally made eye contact with the nearer of the two.

♪~ Actor garbed in obscurity~♪
♪~ Behind the stage and clear of sight ~♪
♪~ With fingers cold and tied in string ~♪
♪~ Motionless and silent both ~♪
♪~ The victim not the twisted shadow ~♪
♪~ With finger twitch they dance and fall ~♪
♪~ Life and death are but their stage ~♪
♪~ Never the prisoner the Puppeteer ~♪

“No way…”

Melody breathed in disbelief as the verse of a Hero assaulted her from within the lifeless black orbs of the assassin. Instinct and panic took over from there and she twisted around violently in her back step and tore out the assassin’s throat with a talon. The body stripped of life dropped to the floor and a pool of blood spilled free from the open wound. Melody still in the grip of instinct and panic quickly put distance between her and the dead assassin only stopping once the surprise of the assassin’s death hit home.

“Did I…? I didn’t just actually kill a hero did I?~♪ Is that even possible?~♪”

The nervousness which tainted Melody’s sung words were wrought with disbelief and fear. Fear soon overrode the rest of the harpy’s senses near paralyzing her as she heard a voice that could not have belonged to the assassin who yet still lived or any human for that matter. Turning slowly towards the assassin Melody’s widened eyes made contact with yet another pair of lifeless black orbs which again made her privy to the verse of a Hero.

“It is very possible to kill a hero, little harpy. As for you killing me, your observance of the Builders’ Song should already tell you that you have failed at that. These vessels do seem flimsy though in comparison to the might of a monster.”

A sudden flash of light appeared for a moment in the assassin’s eyes and the world took on a red hue before Melody.

“W-what’s going on? I can’t move!”

“Of course not little harpy, you’re on my stage now.”

♪~ The weak of will without a self ~♪
♪~ Dance they will no choice they have ~♪
♪~ Even the audience are puppets all ~♪

“NO~!”

With a fierce scream Melody squeezed her eyes shut with every ounce of strength and will power she could conjure. To her surprise the power of the verse broke and she felt control of her body return to her. She did not stay to fight however and bolted out a window on the opposite side of the open office floor from the puppet assassin. The assassin did not follow however and simply watched the harpy’s retreat.

“I guess I should not be surprised I could not dominate a harpy that has her own personality and intelligence on a human scale. But it makes me want her even more as one of my puppets. Eh, he, he, he, he… Maybe once this play is over I can claim her as my prize. First though I must move things along to the end of this act. A pity it is playing out this way, but it would seem that maid from the south has a way of making Heroes fail. The Bandit King, the Rattama, the Knight Prince of Lumirest, and now even me. Curious as I’ve never encountered a Relic before I could not work around. What a most special pair of maids. Eh, he, he, he, he…”

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater