But the medallion wearer just chuckled at their lack of success
Annie raised an eyebrow as the victim of her arrow got back to its feet Mannequins Acceptably creepy
We are the Order Patricide The medallion wearer said He raised his arms as though he were giving a monologue in a community theater production of Sociopath And we need an example Annie of Donnyton We will not kill you but after we infect your image with weakness you will likely wish we had
Annie snorted She reached into the air and her Fate condensed a glittering pure white fur cape The cloth settled around her shoulders with a familiar chilling tingle How delightful But donÆt start complaining if you donÆt like what happens when you force me to bare my fangs O Silent Night
Her Domain activated drawing the clouds and winds together with snow flurries to blot out the surroundings Her cloak rustled whispering that a life would end tonight For Annie and this strange puppeteer there would be no escape And AnnieÆs eyes were alive with glee
Chapter 1915
The pine needles rustled as AnnieÆs wind swept across the mountain top It came like some single idea decorator outlining and highlighting everything with a dusting of ice The snow intensified as she continued her subtle battle movements shimmying out of the way of thrown projectiles and rushing directly toward the largest of the puppets the figure with the large cleaver
From the shadow of the pine trees a hatchet whipped toward AnnieÆs back She paused pirouetting elegantly and dispersing her momentum completely as the attack whizzed only a hair away from her and leveled her bow at the perpetrator She pulled the string back an extra inch upgrading the shot from a casual shot to a deadly one
A clear twang precipitated the release of the ivory bolt It streaked through the intervening distance crashing into the puppetÆs pelvis and forcefully ripping its way through Bolts tumbled out and twine snapped leaving the puppet unmoored at the waist flopping around on the powder covered ground But Annie had already turned to face the next challenger
They rushed at her in twos and threes through the whirling flurries the puppet maestro striking at her blindspots while she engaged with the replaceable parts But Annie was the chilling wind in deadly motion pivoting firing and advancing
Her attackers moved with enough speed that she only fired a few arrows before she had to let her bow disperse and enthusiastically engage them in melee combat Or to be frank Annie purposefully kept her arrows on a delayed timing so she didnÆt completely demoralize this man before he let her have her fun
Let me shred them a bit
Without her bow Annie grasped at the snow laden wind that swirled around them and pulled two daggers of ice from nothing The puppet thrust a stiletto at her but the tip was lost in the billowing folds of her fur cloak as she leaned back Her left arm snapped up sheering through the construction of its arms and leaving the puppet weaponless Then her right arm sliced down cutting through the puppetÆs thigh and leaving it to bury its face in the snow
Two more puppets lashed out but Annie swam between their inelegant attacks her weapons carving their limbs and leaving them also squirming on the ground With raw physical Stats it was easy to overwhelm them without even breaking a sweat
In front of her the largest puppet with its cleaver took a stance Again the smallest image seeped out of its cloak hinting that this puppeteer might have the capacity to develop into someone truly powerful someday
However today was not that day Today was a silent night with everything buried beneath the relentless snow
Annie feinted a dash forward and the cleaver wielder took a step back as he tried to keep up While its cloak was still swaying Annie drew up short one of her ice daggers becoming a crossbow and the other morphing into a bolt She fired into the puppetÆs face before it could react The bolt exploded in a sphere of ice large enough that it encased its entire torso The ice lollipop fell to the ground unable to move Its cleaver clattered to the ground snow steadily burying it
Six more puppets rushed at AnnieÆs back She spun and her bow fell back into her hands She simply allowed her instincts to guide the movements All six had arrows through their joints in a single moment a testament to the true speed that Annie could achieve when she went all out However she had tried of playing slowly with this medallion wearer
Annie faced him and grimaced Not to be that girl but really So quickly youÆre finished
I always knew this would be difficult The medallion userÆs voice was placid He gestured broadly as though he wasnÆt suddenly facing Annie alone This I can always make more puppets But we now have the proof that we need if we manage to fell you cracks will begin to appear in the faith people still maintain in the Ghosthound So now
The ground in front of Annie exploded a puppet with long claws aiming to rake the soft flesh of her face Sighing she sidestepped and brought a hand whipping around an ice dagger condensing just in time for the strike to rip across the puppet’s throat
Meanwhile Annie closely examined their aura Because honestly
When those baleful mites of weakness neared her they flailed helplessly and couldnÆt find purchase Then a sweeping wave would wash through annihilating the foreign aura Not by her image but by the pure connections that she had made the flowing rivers of meaning that she shared with those individuals she had encountered on Expira primarily among them Randidly Ghosthound
Annie nodded slowly to herself This isnÆt actually an image of weakness ItÆs a rot of peopleÆs Nether foundation Of course an average person who hadnÆt strengthened their connections and place in the world would suddenly feel weaker when exposed ItÆs dumping water on a dirt lot everything quickly becomes muddy But if you actually have a foundation built
Hey donÆt worry Annie patted the back of the girlÆs head Using that strange new muscle gifted to the world by the Ghosthound a month prior she reached out and connected herself to the girl The action took a little doing and she felt clumsy while doing it but soon Annie felt it click into place Some of her firm foundation flowed through of the newly formed thread almost too powerful for the girl to bear If anything the trembling of her small body grew worse Yet Annie thoroughly cleansed her aura of that degenerative weakness and self hatred
Obviously it would take longer for the mental wounds to heal But at least Annie could cleanse her significance
Now stay here a bit I need to settle a score with a skulking rat Annie said in a sing song voice She used her thumb and some of the girlÆs leaking tears to wipe dirt from her face and gently kissed her forehead For that brief moment the connection of Nether pulsed strangely From a single thread it became two
Then Annie stood she took a few steps away and drew her bow She raised her head and spoke to the swirling winds of the mountain The sky above was heavy and grey You know this was extremely short sighted of you Because now that IÆve caught your scent I will hunt you and this so called Order Patricide to the ends of Expira You cannot escape me
There was a moment of silence but then the familiar booming voice came out from between a group of snow covered trees YouÆve been exposed to the image virus Now itÆs only a matter of time before you
His voice cut off in a guzzling sputter After swaying in place the medallion wearer collapsed revealing Annie suddenly standing behind him with a dagger She pursed her lips and tossed aside the blood covered weapon Then she knelt next to the man and pulled back the hood a realistic humanoid puppet stared back at her some reddish substance leaking from its throat
What a hassle Annie clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction Then she stood and sucked in a breath Snow heavy winds continued to swirl above more and more precipitation coming down to cloak the entire mountaintop in ice