Sune sprinted through the shadows of commoner's houses.
He was faced with a crossroads. Choosing the wrong path could have lead to his death. Hesitation would do so certainly.
'I could keep running, aim for the gates; or I could stand my ground and fight back...'
No time to deliberate. Cohort VI was closing in.
Close enough for Sune to make out their voices. Looming over his head as they flew around the city. Most likely preparing to land and search more thoroughly, in case he were hiding. Most voices were merely commands and grumbles-- barely intelligible under the flapping of wings and sharpening of blades.
"Do we take him dead... or alive?!" a man shouted over the wind.
"He's an Assurance Bearer, idiot. One we haven't yet identified. One with a completely unknown Ability! We do not know if we can take him at all." a gruff sounding woman scoffed.
"Is that any way to approach an upcoming battle!? Like a coward, a weakling? Planning to fail? Imagining defeat? General, back me up here!"
"For what?" A voice far deeper and darker than the others echoed. His voice held volume, weight-- pressure. Yet it sounded damaged. Frayed like a torn and burnt cloth. Tarnished, yet hardened. Coarse. It made Sune wonder.
Especially since, in all his dealings with Cohort VI, he had never once come across or even heard of a general.
All of their violent crusades had always been spearheaded by Gale King Vicram himself.
The general continued.
"The girl speaks true. To daydream the manner in which we will succeed is to ignore reality. Focus on how we will fight, not how we might win. We will 'take' what we can get. That is your answer, Gerard."
"...Yes, General Yorgos."
Sune's eyes narrowed, bolting down a dingy alley.
They were afraid. And he knew he could use it against them.
"That being said..." the general continued.
"King Vicram told me he had the target dead to rights. That he was forced to use his 'trump card' ability to escape. According to him, all we have to do is finish the job. And if he's that much weaker than his majesty, I will certainly be stronger than him."
Sune's confidence quickly diminished.
'This General strikes me as a pessimist. And yet he still claims to be stronger than me. He must truly believe it.'
Violent thoughts of proving that notion wrong at all costs intruded Sune's mind. He swallowed them.
'I've made my decision. Their ravens are too fast. And there's too damn many of them. Even if I get past the gates, it's pure countryside out here. I'll be running in the open for miles. No chance I live.'
Sune unsheathed his blade once again.
'Unless, I can force them to stop chasing me.'
Sune knew he did not have to wipe them out completely, he also knew such a feat would prove nearly impossible in the first place.
'All I have to do is whittle them down. Scare them off. I can leave as they retreat. If anyone else is sent, Pandora will have already arrived. I'll be gone without any trouble.' Sune thought. He had to remain rational, no matter what.
'Now for the hard part.'
BOOM! WHROOSH!
Time Assurance combusted from him. He leapt from a dark alley back onto the main street. Turning swiftly, he dashed down further toward the gates.
Cohort VI gave chase.
"It's him! Fire at will!" Gerard commanded.
Sune had barely heard them say this. It had been drowned out by a chorus of battle cries from above, cries of fear and shock from the bystanders on the main street. By crossbows being loaded.
'They're gonna rain arrows?! With all these people here?!'
His question was answered immediately.
Dozens of arrows pelted down at citizens and buildings alike. A woman was struck through the shoulder to Sune's side. Human commoners yelped and cried out.
'Taking 'at all costs' a little too damn far.'
Sune's eyes narrowed.
His Assurance surged. Growing brighter, as if it were being charged. Power building. Multiplying.
It exploded.
WHOOSH! Sune barrelled down the street twice the speed of before. Arrowfire ceased in confusion. An orange blur.
'Twice as fast as normal. I can use it more freely now that I'm outside.'
"What the hell?! How do we hit him?!"
"We don't! Not here. Block his path, halt his movement!"
The ravens raced overhead. Trying to get ahead of him. Being whipped cruelly by their masters.
A shape danced in the corner of Sune's eye. Silver. A blade.
Sune twisted mid sprint, dodging the strike. He turned for a quick glance.
A soldier had gone rogue and tried to get closer on his raven, swinging at him mid-air.
'That'll be your last mistake!'
Sune reversed. His Assurance warped into green. He wrenched the soldier from his saddle and tossed him into a wall like a bag of laundry. His back cracked against the stone as he collapsed.
Sune, other hand still on this bird, leapt and turned mid-air.
He landed on the raven's back. It squawked in protest as it tried to launch him off.
"He-- he took a raven!"
"Good! That's our domain. It will not submit to a foreigner!"
The soldiers saw an opening. They began attacking in droves, far more aggressively. Swooping in mid-air on their ravens. Sune's raven barrelled and turned between them. Sune clutched the broken saddle for dear life.
Taking a sharp right, it split from the straight path Sune was aiming for. More conveniently, from Cohort VI itself.
'Okay, just like she taught me...!'
Pulled back by the wind, pushing against the air itself, Sune outstretched his hand to the raven's neck. Feeling for the soft spot. It grew startled, trying even harder to wrestle him away.
"Easy... easy..." Sune bent down and whispered.
The raven did not respond in kind. Sune's grip was waning.
"Shh, shh, easy..!"
He found it. The soft spot.
The bird ceased all resistance, calming down. Sune was somehow no longer a stranger.
He continued to massage and stroke the side of it's neck, just as Pandora had taught him. Until he was sure the bird had quieted down.
Sune glanced behind his back. The cohort was closing in once again.
'...It's time.'