Hearing Storm's warning, Leyocan looked up and dived backwards to avoid the falling debris.
His opponent wasn't as fast as him though and would have died if one of his men didn't pull him back at the last moment. He screamed as the fire flared up and burned his face.
"Don't let them escape!!" Yelled Travis.
More of the Order's men rushed into the rapidly burning down building.
"Leyocan, we need to leave now!! We can't fight them all!" Said Storm.
Leyocan and Travis glared at each other from opposite sides of the wall of fire that seperated them.
Leyocan nodded his head at Storm and allowed himself to be led away. As they exited the building, a few bolts flew through the air and struck several more of the fleeing Nogitsune. Forcing them to seek cover.
Storm growled as a bolt pierced his shoulder.
Augustus nocked several arrows in quick succession and fired back at the archers, causing them to duck behind cover.
Storm tried to lean around the wall he was hiding behind, but a bolt struck the corner of the wall a second later, forcing him behind cover again.
Currently the survivors were pinned down behind the wall and couldn't step out from behind cover without being shot full of bolts.
The Nogitsune realized that there was only one way anyone was going to survive the night.
"Get the Sensei out of here!! We'll hold them back and buy you time to escape!!" Said one of the Nogitsune.
"No!! I'm not leaving you all to die!!" Yelled Leyocan.
"Respectfully, master. That is what you must do!! Our people need your skill and wisdom if we are going to survive!! This is the only way!!" Replied the Nogitsune.
Storm nodded his head while Augustus nocked an arrow.
"I'll cover your charge!! Make the most of it!!" Said Augustus.
The Nogitsune nodded their heads and Augustus began firing at the archers. With a fierce battle cry, the Nogitsune rushed at the wall the archers were hiding behind.
Even though Augustus did his best to cover the Nogitsune, he was just a single archer, and could only reload so.fast.
Several of the Nogitsune fell as they were pierced by bolts, but most managed to reach the wall safely.
They jumped to the top of the wall and began to engage with the archers at close quarters.
The moment the archers were occupied, Storm and Augustus led Leyocan to the large doors of the wall enclosing the warehouse grounds.
He raised the bar that secured the doors and he and Augustus began to push open the large doors.
A bolt buried itself into the thick wood of the door close to his hand, causing Storm to flince in response.
Once the door was opened enough, they all rushed through and Storm and Augustus held the door shut as they felt someone trying to push it open behind them.
"Find something to block the door with!!" Ordered Storm.
Leyocan rushed off to do so as more people began to push on the opposite side of the doors.
A spear stabbed through the door right above Storm's arm and drew blood from him as it was pulled back inside.
Leyocan returned pushing a large wagon a moment later. They pushed the wagon up against the doors, then ran as fast as they could.
They ran into an alley and hid in the darkness as several guards rushed through the streets, often led by a single member of the Order.
"Where do we go, Leyocan?!" Asked Storm.
His friend gritted his teeth and sucked in his breath and Storm saw the bolt in Leyocan's side for the first time.
"Damn it!! Why didn't you say earlier that you were wounded?!" Chastised Storm.
He wanted to begin inspecting the wound, but Leyocan waved him away.
"It's fine!! I'm not about to bleed out anytime soon! But we'd better patch up our wounds before fleeing the city!
There's a Nogitsune safehouse not far from here where we can treat our wounds!" Suggested Leyocan.
He led the way to a small general store, but they stopped when they saw the door broken down and the premises swarming with Order members.
Leyocan led them to several more such outposts, but each one was already taken and their caretakers either dead or captured.
"What are we going to do now?!" Asked Storm on the verge of dispair.
Leyocan thought about it for a moment.
"The priest that gave me the information! His house isn't far from here!" Exclaimed Leyocan.
"Can we even trust him after everything that has happened?!" Asked Augustus.
"I don't know anymore! But our enemy might not be expecting us to go there. It's our only hope right now!" Replied Leyocan.
He led their way through the Dark Streets until they reached the house they had found Elowen in.
There were no signs of forced entry, which gave them hope. Storm pushed open the doors and they all rushed inside. It was completely dark inside and Storm suspected that the priest was asleep.
Until they entered the hallway, at which point Storm's draconic nose picked up a scent in the air.
Blood... human blood specifically, they made their way to the bedroom and encountered a grisly sight.
The priest was bound to his bed, his eyes had been poked out and his tongue and throat was badly burned from someone pouring some kind of acid down his throat.
"What happened to him?! Was he tortured for information?!" Asked Storm.
Leyocan shook his head.
You don't want to burn someone's tongue and throat if you seek information. They just wanted to make him suffer before death. " Explained Leyocan.
"Could your people be responsible?" Asked Storm.
"They'd never do something like this without my direct orders. This is Travis's doing! He must have known he was helping me from the beginning.
He fed him false information, knowing he'd come running to me, then killed when he was no longer useful.
And with the way he did it, he's clearly trying to frame me for the deed!" Explained Leyocan.
"Why?!" Asked Storm.
"The priest was well loved by his flock, by framing me for his murder, he hopes to turn the population of the city against me." Explained Leyocan.
They heard a loud banging sound as someone rushed through the entrance. They took up positions on either side of the door and waited.
Much to their relief though, it was a handful of Nogitsune that ran into the room.
"Sensei!! Thank the Nine Tails you still live!!" Exclaimed the leader of the group.
"Tavares!! What's the situation?!" Asked Leyocan.
He shook his head in dispair.
"Our hideouts have fallen and most of our people are dead or captured!! Currently there are still pockets of Nogitsune that survived the massacre, but they're scattered and disorganized. " replied Tavares.
"What of The Fox's Den?" Asked Leyocan.
"Destroyed, Sensei! What are your orders!?" Asked Tavares.
Leyocan hesitated before responding.
"Sound the retreat!! Have every Nogitsune still alive meet us at the outskirts of the city!!We're abandoning the city!!" Finished Leyocan.