The Coming From the Shadows Series
Previous Instalments:
- The Newcastle Conspiracy: Part 1 – Norina’s Encounter: Cults and Danger in Newcastle
- T.I.C: The Mystery Fighter of Leeds – The Imperium Chronicles: The Mystery Fighter of Leeds
- In the Shadow of the Reaper – The Chronicles of the Imperium: In the Shadow of the Reaper
- T.I.C: The Newcastle Conspiracy Part 2 – Norina and Erin: A Tale of Courage and Discovery
- T.I.C: Confrontation in Whickham
The Imperium Chronicles:
The Whickham Duel
Introduction:
It was the early hours of March the 17th of 1910; the wintery wind whispered through the skeletal branches of the nearby woods, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and a metallic tang of blood; within the confines of the small garden attached to the cottage, a battle had just broken out, though, it had reached a momentary pause; Astor a man of shrouded mystery; his attire a blend of Modern Pants, Multi-Layered Robes with sturdy boots along with an experimental-body armour covering over his chest, he stood a few paces away from Cathryn Langdon.
His hood, drawn hid his face, but, there was no mistaking the subtle thin line just barely visible – blood trickled down from the slight graze just caused by Cathryn’s Kukri Blade; a rare moment that demanded he finally draw his own in the moment to defend a potentially deadly strike if he hadn’t; he had returned his own Kukri-Knife back to its sheathed positioned behind his waist – it was a testament to Cathryn’s skill, though, his eyes held no pain; he simple stood watching her with an eerie stillness.
He had already dealt with one of Cathryn’s allies; Xian – a Manchurian National, who had just attempted to grab him from behind, he had earlier also disabled both Thomas – a British Soldier, with a punch to the solar-plexus and Lydia after a brief skirmish by striking at her pressure point setting off Lydia’s already wounded body.
“Intriguing” Astor murmured; his voice was low, almost melodic, he kept observing Cathryn with an unnerving focus, he paid little attention to the arrival of Elizabeth; Lydia’s older twin-sibling, and the Ex-Serbian soldier; Damir , his gaze slowly shifted to the Kukri Blade she held, the tip stained with his blood, a sly smirk making a rare breach of his usually detached expression.
Chapter 1:
Reaching up and behind; he clasped his fingers around the hilt of his Kodachi; the short-sword resting in its sheath on his back, with a swift movement, he drew it; spinning it around as he lowered it down, the polished steel gleamed in the dim-light.
Advancing forwards he kept his attention locked on Cathryn before suddenly bolting forwards at her with, startling Cathryn as he closed the gap before she could really act in response; his Kodachi whispered through the air as he swung it within a deadly-arc; Cathryn reacted instinctively – she raised the Kukri Knife, barely meeting the blow; the impact sent a jarring tremor through her arm as the clang of metal rang out, Cathryn almost dropped her weapon due to the impact.
Without a pause, Astor swung a second strike; a feinting move to draw her to the left before twisting and pivoting to throw a powerful kick at the opposite side; the manoeuvre catching Cathryn off-guard as she made a move to block the feint leaving her vulnerable to the kick which slammed into her side sending her stumbling, nearly falling.
Before Cathryn could even regain her balance, Astor was also upon her again, his Kodachi raised for a killing strike.
Then there was a movement, a flash of steel; a Jian Sword blocked Astor’s strike, Lydia; her face pale with a clear expression of pain had just intercepted hm; the force of the impact causing her to wince painfully, despite her weakened state, she stood defiant.
Astor could see the resemblance; Lydia was almost an exact-double of her mother; a miniature version of Cathryn – her long, Raven-Dark Hair was not tied back, it had already come loose, and her eyes; Silvery-Grey blazed with a protective fury.
Astor pivoted smoothly; he turned the Kodachi into a reverse grip as he span away from her; he positioned his sword to parry a strike Lydia aimed towards his back when he span away; his movements were graceful and fluid; he moved like flowing water as he deflected her attack, the clang of metal echoed out.
Cathryn seized the moment – she lunged forwards with the Kukri knife, Astor however, anticipated the movement, ducking beneath her strike forcing Cathryn to strike at Lydia by mistake; the Kukri Knife slammed against Lydia’s Jian; the force of the collision sent a jolt with Lydia’s arm causing her to stumble back.
Despite being given an opportunity to attack them; Astor instead moved to deliberately create space; though before he could full disengage; a shot rang out – Damir, having been stood at the ready with his revolver had just fired; the bullet catching Astor along the arm causing him to flinch.
Slightly irritated; Astor made a quick movement; instinctively drawing a throwing knife from within his a small holder attached to the front of his chest armour and launching it with precision in Damir’s direction; striking at his weapon hand; the knife struck true, hitting Damir’s hand and forcing him to drop the revolver with a sharp cry of pain.
As Damir cried out a sharp sound; Astor spun back again, intercepting a strike from Cathryn – this action surprising her due to how little room Astor had to manoeuvre; the clash of metal rang out.
Chapter 2:
Astir backing away once more maintained his grip on the Kodachi in a reverse hold; his eyes darting back and forth between Cathryn and Lydia; he’d so far been gathering information on their strengths and weaknesses, assessing their skill – it had impressed him so far.
Xian – made yet another move to assist in the fight; despite being behind Astor, there was a subtle twitch at his ear and in a swift movement, Astor moved, his left hand pushing inside of his multi-layered robes reaching for something; within one quick movement he had pulled his hand free again and the darkness covered his action; but, Xian felt it – Astor had just released a fine powder from his hands and it had hit Xian right into his face.
Xian, let out a spluttering cough as his hands immediately moved up to his eyes; the irritant causing an immediate burning sensation stinging his eyes forcing him to back off, stumbling over as he frantically rubbed his eyes.
Cathryn and Lydia; watching the movement exchanged wary glances; they recognised the movement – both mother and daughter moved forwards quickly, once again engaging Astor and pressing an attack to try forcing Astor onto the defensive; as Cathryn swung the Kukri knife in a series of strikes; Lydia mirrored Astor’s own action; reaching her hand inside of her jacket, she manoeuvred herself, waiting for the right moment – it happened; sensing Lydia’s movement, Astor shifted his position to defend believing she made an attempt to strike; instead, Lydia broke a fragile egg shell in her grip; pulling her hand out of her pocket she threw her hand forwards – she released a finely ground glassy-powder towards Astor.
Astor, recognising the gesture immediately ducked his head, closing his eyes as he did; at the same time, he repositioned his Kodachi to intercept an incoming strike from Cathryn; knowing she would be making a move to attack in response to Lydia’s action – he recognised the synchronised team work.
He then quickly spun away from the mother-daughter pair, purposely creating more distance between them; a sly smirk playing on his lips; he had enjoyed this engagement so far, he had learnt much from his observation; seeing no reason to engage further though, he made a swift movement to return his Kodachi back into its sheath on his back before unholstering his Mouser C96 from the holster at the back of his waist; he fired a single shot into the air, a clear signal to his allies.
Responding to the signal, the tense stand-off erupted into a world of noise as gunfire ripped through the silence; it sent everyone in a panicked movement; Cathryn grabbed Lydia forcefully to shove her to the ground, trying her best to cushion the fall resulting in Lydia landing sharply onto her mother; feeling her arms wrapping around her in a desperate attempt to shield her.
Elizabeth and Damir, they shot to the side of a nearby barn, skidding to the ground at the same time crashing into each other as they did; then there was Xian, he simply dropped to the ground; being unable to properly see, he didn’t want to risk being shot.
Miquel; a Kenyan-born soldier who had served with Thomas, recognised his vulnerability while nursing his injury moved low, rushing over to him and grabbing him to pull him out of the way of any flying bullets – the night simply erupted into chaos with the deafening roar of gunfire.
Chapter 3:
When the gunfire finally ceased; an eerie silence descend on the scene; Cathryn, cautiously shifted, checking Lydia first; her head then turned to scan the surrounding darkness; she quickly realised that Astor and his Allies were gone, so slowly, and with caution she repositioned, getting back to her feet, and gently bringing Lydia up with her; steadying her.
Everyone else; they cautiously began to also come out from hiding; with Xian, approaching Cathryn and Lydia now that he could se a little better “That…, move…, that trick he just did; was he a ‘Hunter’ like you?” he questioned
Cathryn simply shrugged; her focus was on her daughter; gently, she guided her back to the cottage; the others following; Thomas, having recover came rushing over quickly alongside Miquel, offering to help, with a gentleness, he lifted Lydia up, much to her confusion and unease; but, it did make it faster to return back to the cottage.
Inside of the cottage; Norina – an Italian girl of just 17, adopted by Cathryn after Cathryn and Lydia had rescued her in 1906; she shared a twin-like similarity to Lydia who was a year older, both sharing that same long raven-dark hair and silvery grey eyes; so often they were mistaken as being biological twins despite not being so.
Elizabeth; despite being Lydia’s actual biological twin, she differed from her and their mother; instead, Elizabeth was like the female version of their father; George Smythe – she shared his blonde hair and icy blue eyes, and unlike Lydia who had escaped their sadistic father in 1905, Elizabeth had previously remained the loyal daughter and even acted as an enforcer for his commands to extend the influence of the Cult of the Minotaur – the same cult Elizabeth now fought against, having joined her mother and sister in their Anti-Imperium crusade.
As Norina tended to Lydia’s injuries which had been fully reopened; she worked swiftly and efficiently, cleaning and bandaging wounds; Thomas, sat nearby averted his gaze respectfully while Lydia sat without her top; allowing for Norina to reach all of the reopened wounds.
From the doorway; Erin stood observing; her long black hair stood in direct contrast to Erin’s pale, ghostly complexion; it gave her an ethereal look, and her gaze matched the unusual intensity she held; her emerald-green eyes gleaming as she thought carefully on the recent events.
“Hunters?” Thomas queried; his eyes on Cathryn “As in ‘Hunting’ animal ‘Hunters’ or…”
Cathryn looked at Thomas carefully and shook her head “No; the ‘Hunters’ Xian made mention of, is a disorganised group, I was born amongst their purge in 1872; Lydia and Elizabeth’s grandfather, a man named; Elias Smythe; he initiated a purge against us on a farm East of Lancaster” Cathryn began, taking a moment she paused; so far, Thomas and Miquel had not really asked questions beyond the interest Cathryn and her group had in protecting Ancient and Mysterious temples; it satisfied Thomas, mostly due to the reason why he decided to even join the group earlier that year was due to his growing desire to be around Lydia, but, Cathryn felt both Thomas and Miquel did earn the right to know due to how much effort they had put into helping “Basically…, the ‘Hunters’ formed in response to the disappears of a group called ‘The Guardians’ beings not of our world, or that’s what my parents described them as, the date back to ancient times but vanished by the I think about the Twelfth-Century maybe…, not sure” she said offering a shrug
Thomas thought for a moment slowly nodding.
“The tactic we use; that non-lethal weapon we have…” Cathryn said; drawing out the fragile egg from within her jacket; she held it up between her fingers to show Thomas “It is a tool for blinding an opponent, we use a vary of different contents to fill them; Lydia, as you know has a preference to fill them with ground glass, but, you can use things like ground ups tinging nettles and mustard seeds, perhaps spices; there is various ways they can be used; originally, these would be decorated with elegant designs to enable one ‘Hunter’ to identify another; usually it was a cultural aspect, my parents used to design them with elegant Celtic symbolism”
Slowly Thomas nodded; hearing movement as Norina helped Lydia put her top back on; Thomas finally glancing towards her, smiling softly – Lydia felt her lips also tug into a smile; his eyes drifted back to Cathryn “So…, is that guy one of you?”
“I am not sure” Cathryn said sounding uncertain
Astor had been a force she had never encountered before; she had only seen one other individual with such a skill and that was the man who trained her, and later Lydia; an enigmatic figure simply known as ‘The Monk’.
Erin’s eyes drifted to Lydia; speaking softly, her voice a whisper “Death is such a curious thing isn’t it; so final yet…, so compelling”
Norina shifted her attention over towards Erin with a bemused look; she was still adjusting to her unusual ways, even if she had discovered her feelings recently for Erin; there was still so much that both intrigued and unnerved her about the American Former-Cultist; the fascination of all things morbid and dark, it was a consequence and curiosity cultivated by Erin’s Cultist upbringing – though Norina wouldn’t deny her feelings for Erin, she would accept those strange fascinations Erin held.
“We need to find out who he was” Cathryn said, barely acknowledging Erin’s morbid comment
Thomas, returning his gaze back to Cathryn nodded slowly “I’ll see if I can reach out to my commanding officer; see if he can help find out some information”
Cathryn simply nodded; her gaze returning to her daughter; she offered a warm, gentle smile; the message was clear; She was proud of Lydia.
Written By: Westley H.
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