Sunderance Chapter 30: Damnatio ad Bestias Part 1 (Patreon)

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“Then I will make you one, so then you can tell the real Yūrei that I’m coming for him next.”

The boast may have been born of anger at the defeat of his subordinates, but it rang hollow in the ears of the one the wolf promised to come for next. While he was somewhat uncertain of the level of skill the Alpha of this pack possessed, he was more so aware of the skill the fox he faced possessed. At the start of the fight, he had not been entirely certain of how Nick showed signs of difficulty dealing with the relatively standard breed of assassins that the wolves represented. But Jack understood that he was fighting not to kill them, something that seemed confirmed by the differentiating between the fox and Yūrei by way of mercy.

Why he was doing this? The rabbit had to assume it was due to Hopps. It was the only thing that made sense, really. He had been there when she had first arrived in the city, watching as he did now. The Todd had shown no indication of hesitation or regret in finishing off the tiger who had attacked her then.

Hopps, on the other hand? The stricken look of horror on her face had been obvious. Not used to killing, obviously. But more than that, she was a mammal of the law. As justified as the killing would have seemed, it would not have sat well with her. With the apparent… Depth their relationship had taken, it was not outside of reason to believe that even someone like Nicolas would be willing to spare the lives of the wolves. Particularly since Hopps herself was not around to protect. If she were in actual danger? Jack doubted Nick would be nearly so merciful.

“Well, if you manage to kill me than I don’t think you’ll have to wait very long,” Nick said, causing Jack to blink slowly as the fox turned his back on the wolf and started to walk a short distance, back to where he had been standing at the start of the melee. The wolf, wisely, did not take this as an opening to attack. “There is a plan behind all of this, after all. I am the odd fox out. I am the unplanned variable, the wild card. Your employer - whoever that might be - wasn’t expect me to get involved. And the mammals who want the lawyer to survive were not expecting me to get involved. I’ll be perfectly honest. I wasn’t expecting me to get involved.”

“Yes,” the Alpha confirmed, not moving an inch from where he stood at the ready. Jack’s eyes narrowed as he continued. “We were expecting to face Yūrei today. We believed we were facing that phantom from the very beginning.”

“So, you’ve been trying to draw out the one you’ve never been able to find all this time. Lucky for you, I don’t believe that is the only reason for trying to kill the lawyer,” Nick replied, his voice cold as he turned to face the wolf again. He snapped the baton out to the side, returning it to the extended and no less dangerous length it had been before. Emerald green eyes were narrow, near savage as he stared down the wolf. “If I thought that, I might change my mind about not killing the lot of you.”

It wasn’t the only reason; Jack knew that as he watched from above. Though he had not known that he was one of the targets, it did clarify the inconsistency in the method of the attacks. A lone assassin; a group of assassins armed with guns and explosives; a group of prisoners and paid off prison guards; and now, a pack of traditionally trained assassins focused only on the one protecting Hopps. They had been probing for him while trying to kill the bunny. Obviously, Nick’s ability to survive their repeated attempts had convinced them that he was the one they had been looking for.

What he needed to know now was why they actively sought him after all these years?

“You’re good at talking,” the Alpha said, finally moving as he spoke. “Sly as a fox, yes? Using your words to catch your breath before you face me. I have allowed you enough time to regain your strength, however.”

Nick didn’t bother with a reply to this, nor did he change his stance or show outward sign that he was anymore, or less, ready than he had been when the pause in combat had started. He simply stared at the wolf with cold green eyes and waited.

The Alpha did not leave him waiting. The advance was slow and measured, both swords held above and below at the ready as he closed the distance and left his fallen packmates behind. When he reached the fox, having seen his opponent wait out the other wolves rather than attack, he did not linger or hesitate. He swung both swords around in a quick arch in front of his body that brought them together in an upward curve that led to a downward slash. Even with two swords, the strength behind them was only marginally more than a sword yielded with two hands, so the blow was easy enough for the fox to deflect with the baton. The moment the swords and baton both were levered to the side by the block, however, the wolf shoved his entire body forward in a surprisingly swift motion that had his shoulder slamming into the fox’s chest. The blow had strength and nearly lifted the smaller mammal off his feet as he was driven back with a grunt as the breath was forced from his lungs. And he was driven back again when the wolf slashed out with one sword in a follow-up attack that brokered no doubt that he was far more experienced in combat with skilled opponents then the others had been.

When the other sword came around, however, Nick was quick enough to deflect this one properly without losing any ground. It was not the advantage he had been expecting, though. As the sword met the baton again, the wolf brought his off-hand down in a pommel strike that slammed into the fox’s shoulder. Nick let out a snarl as he was driven to one knee and was forced to roll away quickly as the wolf raised his foot to stomp down on his smaller opponent.

A fascinating fighter, Jack decided as he watched the wolf push his attacks relentlessly until it became less a fight and more a chase and evade. At first glance, it was the fighting style one might expect from a street fighter. All forward motion and punishing strength, giving the Todd no time to gain his footing. But someone like Nick had no doubt faced that sort of fighter before without much difficulty. No, there was more to it. The strikes were not only strong, fast, and relentless. They were also accurate and skilled. When he saw the wolf reverse his hold on the hilt of the sword to swing out in a close to the chest body strike, he realized that no motion was wasted. More than once, Nick was not fast enough or strong enough to counter the attacks and the wolf took full advantage of every opening he was given. A glancing blow to his legs caused a wince, which itself was enough of a distraction for the Alpha to lash out with a front kick to the midsection that sent the fox flying back and then tumbling tail-over-head.

Had he been less skilled himself, that would have been the end of the fox as both swords came slashing down as he lay prone. A quick roll to the side had the blades cutting into the asphalt, and even then, he had to change direction mid-roll as the larger predator followed up with a series of stomping kicked even as he pulled the swords free. When he finally managed to gain his feet again, he was barely fast enough to stop the oncoming crescent strike from one of the swords. And again, the wolf took full advantage without pause. The paw gripping the pommel of the other sword was punched brutally into Nick’s cheek with enough force to split the skin and fur under his right eye and send the fox stumbling back with a dazed expression.

Jack tensed as he readied himself to end the fight as the wolf took the advantage and pressed the attack further. In some ways, he was loath to do so. He wanted to see the fox pressed, to see the extent of his skill. At the same time, if he had overestimated the other’s abilities and allowed him to die in the process of slaking his need to know, Neveen would never forgive him and would never trust him again. What stayed his hand was the moment he realized that the wolf had failed to land any of his last few strikes as he had before with such ease. Eyes narrowed, remaining ready to strike himself, he continued to watch as the wolf continued his attacks with seemingly endless stamina.

The Todd dodged and deflected another series of quick, powerful strikes in succession, this time managing to avoid the follow-up attack. It was a near thing, as even from this angle Jack could see that the swipe of the sword likely took a few strands of orange fur off Nick’s already bleeding and swelling cheek. But even as he dodged that, the follow-up uppercut seemed anticipated and was avoided more easily.

Jack set his jaw and felt an unfamiliar trickle of envy. He had seen this before and had felt it firsthand in his own brief encounter with the fox. Nicolas’ seeming talent to adapt in such ways that it was almost like fighting a completely different opponent than when the fight began. The lengthening and retracting of the baton during his fight with the wolves had been a physical, visceral example of this to the extreme. But as the wolf pressed his attacks, it made little difference. The fox remained unable to move fast enough to counterattack without the wolf retaliating in a way that forced him into retreat again. When he raised his baton, suddenly shortened again, and attempted to slip it past the Alpha’s guard the responding backstep was nearly instantly followed by a thrusting lunge with one sword. That lunge was avoided, but the raised foot that followed into the fox’s gut was not.

Then it came without warning. Even before the paw lodged against his midsection was withdrawn, the baton snapped down in a reckless but no less effective blow that hit hard into the meat of the Alpha’s thigh. There was no snap of bone, but there was a snarl of pain from the wolf as he yanked his foot back. The half-second of hesitation in putting weight on the leg was a sign that even he was not sure how much damage had been done, and that hesitation was taken as an opening to attack. The results were almost the same as they had been for the entire fight, however. As soon as Nick moved in for the attack, his baton swept wide to meet a raised sword, the wolf ramped up the aggression and pressed the attacks again.

The major difference was obvious to both the two fighting, and the one watching. Every time the wolf pressed his attacks and landed a blow, Nick responded with a blow of his own. When the sword that barely missed gutting the fox was followed by the other sweeping down for a pommel strike, Nick drove the tip of his baton into the muscle of that arm viciously. When an elbow was driven into his face, sending his head snapping to the side, he turned that into a spin that had the baton slapping hard into the other arm. When the blade of a sword slipped past his guard, grazing his chest in a shallow angled cut that made him wince, the baton cracked into the wolf’s forearm without hesitation. The process repeated itself, and Jack could see the results clearly. The wolf was starting to slow down. Every direct blow from the baton to muscle tissue was causing tears and strain that were making movement painful, harder. Even if the change was imperceptible at first, it was obvious as the fight wore on. But the same was true of Nick. Even though he was not going for body blows or finishing strikes, his opponent was and the fox was more than showing the wear of it all. Even though the fox had changed the pace of the fight and had taken some control back, Jack could still see that it was not a winning strategy. If it came down to endurance, the wolf was going to kill him, and it was obvious that Nick was already pushing himself to keep himself moving to counter every blow.

It was when the baton came crashing into the Alpha’s shoulder that another change came. Pain and weariness had both males panting now, struggling further. Nick more so than the wolf, as Jack had expected. The blow seemed to awaken the wolf, however. Perhaps seeing an advantage, perhaps just furious at not being able to take down the annoying, smaller predator, the wolf snarled and redoubled his attacks with the same strength, speed, and fury. He stood as the wolf swung out with one sword and prepared to follow up with the other until the last second, then ducked down to move forward for a strike with his baton in paw. The wolf and Jack both had seen the move before, so it was no surprise to the silent bunny when the wolf swatted the blow aside.

What did catch both of them off guard, however, was the fact that Nick released the baton with no resistance. This sent the baton flying to the other side of the alley to clatter against the stone walls, as caused the block from the wolf to swing wide by just a few inches. And those few inches the fox used to slip in and wrap his arms around the Alpha’s belly and press in close against him. Jack watched with rapt fascination as the wolf snarled and raised both swords for what could have been a killing blow if Nick had not swung himself around, keeping his arms tight around the larger predator’s belly until he was behind him. The reason for the grip was obvious, as every attempt the Alpha made to turn to face the fox again only carried Nick with it. Something that became more and more dangerous as the fox’s grip moved up around the Alpha’s chest, with the now clear intent being to get it his arms around the neck. It was when the fox released his grip with one paw that the wolf dropped one of the swords and tried to reach back to dislodge him, only to wince when the arm came up short in the range of movement. Damaged muscles prevented him from reaching far enough back to reach the clinging fox.

Then he was thrashing as the fox managed to loop one arm around his thick neck, snarling as he turned his back towards the alley wall and start towards it. Nick, having expected this, drove one foot into the wolf’s kidneys ruthlessly. This was a blow that combined with the weakened leg muscles of the wolf to halt the motion, driving the larger mammal down to one knee with a gasping growl of pain and allowing the smaller male to finish his climb. Both arms were now latched around the wolf’s throat, and Jack clearly heard the moment when all sound from the Alpha was forced to a stop as his ability to take in or even release breath was brought to a sudden stop.

Both males were clearly struggling. The Alpha, trying to get to his feet to dislodge the fox, and Nick just trying to keep his grip even as the wolf clawed at his arms with both paws. But the alpha, already weakened and now deprived of oxygen to fuel his body further, was the first to show signs of fading. The paws stopped their clawing, soon only weakly pulling at the arms wrapped around his throat. When the struggles slowed, and the head started to droop, rather than relax his grip, Nick yanked the male’s head back and used his body weight to drag the larger predator to the ground. There, he added his legs to the hold, wrapping them just under the Alpha’s arms and tightening the grip so ensure that it held.

For a moment, the bunny was sure that the Todd was going to forget mercy and simply strangle the life out of the wolf, for even as the wolf went limp and still, Nick refused to relax his grip. He did find it oddly unsurprising when the fox, now on his back mostly under the wolf, focused green eyes on his. Jack wasn’t sure exactly what he saw in those eyes, beyond a certain level of defiance, before he finally relaxed his grip and allowed the unconscious wolf to breathe and the blood flow to return to his brain.

It was only as he was pulling himself out from under the Alpha that he noticed the subordinate who had surrendered his sword starting to stand. There was no fight in the male’s eyes, but there was the obvious inclination to flee the second the fox turned green eyes to him. With a worn-down sign, the fox crawled to his discarded clothing, and just as the wolf started to turn and run, he called out in an exhausted and annoyed voice as he sat with his back against the alley wall.

“If you force me to shoot you, it’s going to interrupt what’s going on across the street,” he said, leveling the gun at the wolf’s back while using his knee to support his arm. “If that happens, I am going to be annoyed enough to shoot you two or three times. I can do that without killing you, but it will still hurt like hell.”

Wisely, the wolf came to a stop and put his hands in the air with his tail quickly tucking between his legs. The cursing that came from him wasn’t threatening, so much as it was the last resistance of someone who knew he and his pack had just been beaten.

“Good. Now, be a good little wolf and walk back towards me. No, don’t turn around,” he corrected when the wolf was inclined to do so. “Just like you are. Good. Now, stop, sit next to your friends there, and be quiet. We’re going to wait until the commotion across the street tells us that the lawyer has finished what she came here to do.”

“Who the hell are you?” the wolf felt brave enough to ask, though not brave enough to do much else.

“I am the fox currently wondering if you know what ‘be quiet’ means,” Nick replied, letting the gun slump a bit without changing the direction it was aimed. “Also, someone who could really use a drink.”

The larger predator didn’t dare ask another question after that and as his ears dropped in submission, the alley filled with silence.