Between the Shadows

Chapter 21

"Have you heard anything from them?"

"No not a word.  They might still be busy with the mission"

"I he hadn't killed them yet"

"We send two of some of out best people"

"That doesn't mean that they killed him"

"You're the one that wanted to know what's going on"

"I was just asking"

"Then don't imply that they failed already"

"I was just thinking out loud there's no need to get so upset"

"I really hope they don't die"

"Against him, we'll never know for sure"

Shadow had to move fast not to get sliced up by Philip's swords.  His back hit the wall behind him.  For a moment everything around him turned hazy.

The giant axe came at him again and Shadow just barely had the time to stop it with the pipe.  Without wasting any time, the gun in his other hand shot up and he pulled the trigger.  Shadow watched with contempt as the bullet pierced the executioner's scull.

There was only one left.

Slowly Shadow turned his attention to Philip.  The man was watching him closely as he moved away from the wall.  At that moment he was one step closer to getting out of the street alive.  For a while it almost seemed impossible.  The only problem was that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep on fighting until he could get out.  He was already almost exhausted and his body did't want to move as swiftly as he wanted to.

Difficult fights were an everyday thing for the Dalee, but not fighting a Delee, executioner and a Raider at the same time.

The Leaders knew that he'd find the one snooping around trying to find Leon and Eve.  They counted on that and it paid off.  He killed the man, but They also sent somebody else to follow after him, drawing him out again and then sending even stronger opponents after him when he was getting tired.

Bastards.

This was what they wanted.  They sent those they thought might be able to take him out, a face-off between two of the fastest Dalee members.  The third and fifth Dalee now have to face each other.  It was time to see if Shadow had been holding back so that he wouldn't have to show his true strength.

"What are you going to do now, Shadow?"

Philip sounded out of breath.  They were both covered in blood from their wounds.  Shadow didn't even want to think about how they looked.  He didn't have time to think, he had to fight the man and beat him if he was going to get out alive.

"I'm going to kill you...  Like I should have done all the times we've fought before" Shadow replied softly, dropping the pipe to the ground as he lifted his gun with both hands.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other one lying one the ground not too far away.  If he could get his hands on the other weapon, things might just turn out alright.  Breathing calmly, Shadow watched the man.  Philip was grinning manically at hi as he lifted his swords, getting ready for the final stand-off.

"Now then...  Let's finish this, kid" he said and shot forward.  The swords flashed through the air.  Shadow jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the blades.

Shadow's other gun was lying right by his feet, but there was no way that he was going to bend down to pick it up.  The moment Philip came at him again, Shadow fired a shot down at the ground.  When the other gun lifted slightly, he swept it up with his foot throwing it right into Philip's face.  Philip swatted at the weapon with one of his swords and Shadow shot forward.  He grabbed the man's wrist, twisting it violently.  The sword dropped tot he ground as Shadow jammer his gun under the man's chin and pulled  the trigger.

The back of Philip's head exploded and Shadow let go of the wrist.  Philip stayed on his feet for a few seconds longer before he fell to the ground.

Shadow looked around in the now quiet street.  When he spotted his other gun, he limped over to where it lay.  Shadow sank to his knees nest to the weapon, almost too weak to get back up.  With every breath that he took, it felt like his chest was going to be ripped apart.  Bloodied fingers picked up the weapon that lay on the ground.  Slowly he holstered both of his weapons.

"I need to get out of here..."

Slowly Shadow pushed himself of the ground.  His body threaten to give in under him as he stumbled out of the street.  He could barely place one foot in front of another.  The world around him was blurry and kept on tilting.  It took every bit of his strength to keep on moving.

With every step that he took, pain ripped through his body.  Blood dripped from his hands, leaving a bloody trail behind as he moved.

When Shadow finally stopped moving, he leaned against one of the building walls.  Light was starting to fade and there were only a few other people left on the streets.  Carefully taking a deep breath, Shadow pushed himself away from the wall, leaving a bloody hand-print behind.  He could feel the broken bones of his rib-cage grinding against each other.  I he didn't start moving again soon, he wouldn't be able to.  Shadow wiped some of the blood from his face and for the first time he noticed that he hands were trembling.

Shaking his head slightly, Shadow started moving again.  As he stumbled along, he started feeling numb.  He couldn't even feel the warmth of the blood running down his arms.  Slowly the world around him started dimming and flickering in and out of darkness.

It was hard enough to stay on his feet without tripping.  the few groups of people that were left on the streets avoided him completely.  They've learned long ago not to get involved with people that might be part of the guild.  When Shadow stumbled and fell, he just couldn't find the energy to get back onto his feet.

Darkness swallowed him, leaving him in a heap on the side of the road.

****

"Oh no...  That is not good.  That is very, very bad..."

the red head glared into the darkness. He couldn't see his friend anymore.  "I should have just stayed at home" he muttered and jumped down into the street were a fight had been going on a while before.

There were three bodies lying in the street.  he recognized two of them.  "They are really desperate to kill him" he said softly looking at the scene in front of him.

One of the men were killed by what looked like a pipe through his stomach, another one had the back of his head blown away and the last one bad a nice and small hole through the top of his head.  The red head balled his fists.  Red hot fury burned through him.  This was too much.  Why would anybody go so far just to kill one man?

He watched the entire fight.

It was a ridiculously out matched fight.  The target shouldn't have survived, not with the information They had on him, but then again the target never really did show Them everything that he could do.  So he was underestimated, but that wouldn't happen again.  Next time They'll be more careful about how to eliminate him.

Having to watch as his friend were almost being killed, made him want to jump in and help, but if he did that he would only have caused trouble.  

Taking a deep breath, the red head quickly left the street.  It wouldn't be good if he was caught near that place.  That would get a lot of people into trouble.