SAGE (under edit)

Chapter Thirty Eight - The Last Stand

Dante's veins were still thrumming from each boom that had reverberated across the forest in quick, thrilling succession. He grinned like a madman as he ran a Palm Soldier through, his curved short sword almost cleaving the Drakian in two. Two more Palm Soldiers dashed by, ignoring Dante entirely and he knew it was because they had only one focus – Lion Crest City.

Nox appeared at Dante's side, his huge sword smeared with blood as it rested against his shoulder. 'The brats think they can outrun us.'

'There's no harm is letting them believe they can,' Dante replied, still grinning. His fingers twitched to reach for the bag slung over his back, where the remainder of the explosions were stocked. He had thought about combining them – it'd just take a tweak of some wiring, some careful manipulation – but even he knew that would cause more damage than necessary, so he suppressed the urge. Reluctantly.

'If you continue to stand there, then outrunning you won't be a problem,' Toren pointed out, his voice reaching them from the branches above.

Dante looked up, but Toren had already disappeared. He saw Nox roll his eyes and then he also took off, heading toward the Palm Soldiers who had made it through Dante's first defence. He hadn't expected every single Palm Soldier to be taken out by the blasts, not when they had staggered their advance into four lines, but it had been enough to reduce the force and delay their approach – as well as send a signal to Sage.

Not wasting anymore time, Dante follow Nox and Toren back toward Lion Crest City. He caught sight of the two Palm Soldiers who had passed him by earlier and vaulted off the ground, catching a branch above him to swing up into the trees. Lion Crest's native trees were some of the easiest to climb and travel between, their trunks filled with hollows and their branches thick and sturdy enough that Dante didn't even have to second-guess whether they would hold his weight as he landed.

One of the Palm Soldiers spotted Dante at a glance – Dante hadn't had any intentions of sneaking up on them anyway – and he shouted in warning to his comrade. Dante dropped a silver bauble, no bigger than a plum, onto the Palm Soldiers just as he reached them and then caught another branch, stopping just as the bomb released a cloud of black smoke and engulfed the two Palm Soldiers.

Dante dropped from the branch, the smoke welcoming him, but while the Palm Soldiers coughed and frantically waved their arms to clear the smoke around them Dante used his Kyra to filter the smoke before it even reached his lungs as he breathed. He came up behind one of the Palm Soldiers, snapping his neck, and then stole a dagger from the body as it crumpled to the ground.

The other Palm Soldier had stumbled free of the smoke, but he didn't' get far before Dante drove the stolen dagger through his back. The Palm Soldier let out a strangled cry, but above it Dante heard the sharp, quick scrape of metal and he turned just as a Palm Soldier launched himself from the brush with his sword free.

Then there was gunfire and Dante almost went for cover, until he realised it was the Palm Soldier who was the target. Three bullets were fired, one hitting the sword out of the Palm Soldier's hand, another shattering the Palm Soldier's right kneecap and sending him to the ground, and the third point-blank in the Palm Soldier's forehead. Kill-shot.

Dante looked toward where the shots had come from, tense, but not a moment later a Crest Soldier Helian appeared – and he recognised her. Sydney Larson.

She cocked her handgun back, checking the ammunition, and then returned it to its holster on her thigh. 'You're welcome, by the way.'

Dante blinked, taken aback. 'Reinforcements?'

'Damn straight. Half of us were sent to the City and the other to impede the Palm Soldiers' advance. We weren't even sure of their exact location until we saw the explosions,' Sydney told him.