The Codex Chapter 4: Codex
#4 of The Codex
Codex magic revealed
The church doors closed, leaving the three males behind while the robed females had left with the Beastiary Codex. Jax unsheathed another gun to aim at both warriors who stood in place, knowing this was an opponent of great strength, just like their selves.
"How about you drop your weapons, huh? I'm not a fool, HURRY!" Jax said with a sly grin across his face, his tongue licking over his under lip. "Look at this TWO hunters! Ready to be scooped for a hefty reward" he continued while walking closer.
The warriors dropped their weapons, exchanging eye contact with each other and their old friend, who had them trapped by now. Both pistols aimed at their heads while standing between them, his face turned to his left to look into Scy's eyes.
"Why are you doing this" Scy asked, the hit of betrayal stabbing deep. The jackal laughed before his finger pushed onto the trigger just slightly "Why? did you forgot?" Jax spoke whilst laughing louder.
His face fully turned, his deep red eyes staring into Scy as his fangs were visible "I'm a mercenary, I don't work with friends. I work with contracts" he said, spewing out filth with every word before he stepped back, making the two stand closer to each other.
The light armor clothed jackal leaned against the statue behind him, scratching the back of his head with one gun. "And boy, did you guys became worth a big load after you destroyed capital property!"
The grin got wider once he saw the two confused faces, laughing while jumping up again and tilting his head "What? You guys destroyed a Restorian colossus and expect to get away with this?" single laughter filled the room.
Darvo slowly moved forwards, his weapon on the ground while his hands were high in the air "you're saying that...That colossus we fought is royal property?" he said with words that resonated confusion.
A chuckle left his muzzle before Jax replied "Yeah, it was on its way to collect Restorian property, the Codex." Scy growled as his tail slammed on the ground, creating a loud noise. "What?! And you aren't even concerned by this?!" Scy spoke as if he was in awe.
"Oh boy... You need to learn a lot before understanding this" Jax said with another loud laugh, his pointy ears flicking around before sighing.
"Those white robed ladies are from a Cult, they strife to the extinction of humanity. This same humanity wants to use the codex, that just got unsealed. Once this codex is set in place and activated it will resonate magic throughout our very earth, giving everyone the ability to cast magic"
His laugh became more sinister while he narrowed his eyes. Aiming his pistol to the statue before firing a quick shot. "But with great magic comes a greater recoil..." Jax continued before Darvo stepped forward again.
"It will kill those incapable of recoiling, mass murder" Darvo spoke with light unease. Even though humanity had been rough on their kind, it wasn't right to encourage mass murder.
Scy couldn't hear anything more, quickly grabbing his blades again before running towards the jackal. "BASTARD!" Scy yelled out, seeing how both pistols were aimed towards him.
He tilted his blade and swung forward for a clean cut. Though the jackal was quick and Scy saw how he had dodged, sitting on his knees before raising his paw, knuckles pushing into the underside of the dragon iguana arm.
Scy growled, feeling how the knuckles bruised his arm, his paw loosening grip of his sword in pain. "Oh you didn't" Jax said with a laugh before his paw let go of the gun to grab the arm, getting up quickly to throw the dragon iguana on the ground, his foot keeping him there.
Darvo saw this happen in a quick motion, unable to assist as he was already too late, seeing his partner on the ground with a gun aimed at his chest. "At least let's do this fair, right?" the jackal said, his smile changed into something more serious before jumping backwards.
Sheathing his guns before unsheathing an iron sword. "How about we duel, like old...Friends..." he said, ears flat on his head, he was aware of the power of both his opponents. Scy crawled up, his blades on the ground, realizing he couldn't pull them up as he had to cut both ropes after their last battle.
Darvo noticed this too, picking up his own sword with a snarl "Really? You want to take on two warriors at once?" he said, not sure if he was confident or just stupid. "Why not, could be fun right?!" Jax said before running towards Scy, who held out his swords for a close combat duel.
Jax grinned, his paw reaching behind to unsheathe a second iron blade, turning himself slightly around before lowering both sword tips to the ground.
A loud rattling noise was heard as both swords started to extend, propelling him into the air. The swords became two long iron whips, the blade divided into sharp pieces onto a long iron cable while the jackal turned midair over Scy.
"Oh no, not you just yet!" he spoke, his eyes falling on Darvo while using both whips towards him, evoking a defensive stance. Darvo's eyes widened while Scy turned his head up to see his opponent jump over him. Quickly turning around to have the jackal between the two.
Darvo held his sword up, trying to block the incoming whip slashes. The sound of clashing iron filled the room as the jackal kept waving his arms around, the whips responding and pushing into the guarding sword.
Jax landed between the two, both arms extending one way while retracting the whips back into blade position. The dragon iguana jumping in as he started to slash into every possible opening he could find in the jackal's defense.
Who in response closed the defensive gap by lowering his blade, grinning as he saw how Darvo was about to thrust into him with his heavy blade. "Didn't we had a talk about recoil?!" Jax said with anger in his voice. The blade that pointed to Darvo shooting outwards again.
The jackal raising his paw, letting the iron cable spin in front of him, coiling around the thrusting sword. Darvo gasped, planting his feet in the ground to stop in motion. It was too late, the jackal turned his back against the dragon naga as he brought the whip upwards, feeling how his opponent lost grip on his blade, letting it fly upwards in the tight coiled whip.
Using his own blade, and his whip, he started to battle Scy. Using his whip towards him to make Darvo's blade cut forwards, making the dragon iguana take steps backwards while deflecting the heavy blade.
Using his blade to keep Darvo at bay by letting is extend and quickly retract behind him, all the while laughing during the combat. "If I'm sure he asks! WHAT A JOKE!" The jackal said with a growl, bashing forward and swinging the whip towards Scy before letting it retract.
Darvo's blade was free from the tight grip and flew towards Scy who in response had to roll to the side. Darvo saw an opening, the whip extending towards him again and stretching out his arm, letting a blade part lock into his arm plate.
The jackal noticed how a strong force was pulling on his whip, turning his head with a grin, making the whip retract towards Darvo to pull himself closer. Darvo shook his head while holding out his other paw, feeling the chest of the jackal while gazing into his eyes.
It was as if time stood still, the dragon naga grinning wide while the jackal slowly brought his other sword forward. "Joke? Maybe the joke's on you" Darvo said while a burst of energy emitted from his paw, blowing the jackal backwards.
The jackal growled in pain, feeling a throbbing pain in his chest while launching his whip towards Darvo. His other blade aimed towards the statue, the jackal shaking his head before it shot off with hard recoil. The iron wire coiling around Darvo who quickly planted his feet back into the ground.
The jackal saw how the other wire coiled around the statue, pulling himself closer while swinging the other whip around. Darvo felt how he was propelled into motion, the jackal holding himself against the statue before pulling both whips back into blade mode.
The dragon naga groaned, unable to reach his feet to the ground, feeling a hard collision with his partner. Scy wrapped his arms around his partner as they crashed into a church bench, groaning while slowly getting up.
"Damn, we need to find a way to break him." Scy said annoyed, Darvo grabbing his sword again. "He's a mercenary, trained like ourselves" Darvo replied, mumbling softly "Maybe we can't break him".
The jackal jumped back on his feet, sound of clashing metal was heard while he walked to the downed warriors. He shook his head with a chuckle "You came, you fought and was unprepared for another battle. Such shame" he spoke slowly while he had extended his whips out again.
"If you guys weren't so dear to me you'd be dead by a long shot" Scy looked up and rushed forward, pushing both blades into the jackal, feeling the strong iron of the whips coil around both blades.
Even with both blades trapped in the enemy grasp he kept pushing, growling softly while shaking his head "Why don't you kill us off anyway? Weren't we worth a lot?" Scy spoke as anger had filled his thoughts.
The jackal pushed into the dragon iguana in return, making it a matter of physical strength. "I'm not killing you guys off without a decent fight, besides, where's the FUN in that HUH?!" Jax growled in return, his grin still visible.
Darvo got on his knees, gazing to the two while extending a paw. His eyes closed shut as a chant was softly mumbled out. Feeling how his paw started to feel warm as a blast of fire was shot towards the jackal.
The jackal groaned, feeling a heavy fire blast hit him, his paws lost grip over his weapons before falling to the side. Scy quickly unsheathed his own sword, grabbing Jax's whips, keeping the blade form. "Well look at this!" Scy said, pushing the tip of the blade into the jackal neck.
The jackal widened his eyes and chuckled softly, his paws next to him "Whoa there" he said, his grin disappeared. The dragon iguana looked coldly towards the jackal, shaking his head "And now, you are going to tell us about that cult"
"They call themself the Celtia Order, they contacted multiple mercenaries for their own safety. When they found out you guys destroyed the colossus before it retrieved the codex, they were angry." The jackal spoke, his eyes closed while breathing softly.
"They arrived to my tavern, asked about you guys and I acted like knowing nothing. Then they told me they would pay, alot, more than Restoria would pay me. We discussed a joint business as I wouldn't mind humanity to die out. It's easy, I kill you two to seal a contract where I get money for every page I retrieve from dead corpses." Jax continued before he stopped talking.
"Page? Coxed pages?" Darvo asked, who stood on the other side of the downed jackal. "The beastiary codex grants people magic to summon, this summon uses a page as catalyst. This page grows stronger with every summon and humans are unable to adapt to this strength. Not to speak that they will alter themself during this summoning." Jax's grin returned while saying this.
"They will make beasts out of themselves, the same beasts they shunned away for years" He laughed before shaking his head, his paw trailing over the blade against his neck. "Why would you want mass murder?! That's insane!" Darvo spoke, hearing the jackal growl in return.
"Insane? No, I call it justice. These people want us dead, they vowed for beast slaughter. THEY USED TO KILL US FOR FUN!. And you two? Working for a mayor who has close bonds with a murderer of beasts? SICKENING!" The jackal gripped the blade with both paws, feeling blood drip from small cuts that formed in his paw.
"Damnit!..." The jackal spoke with his eyes closed. Scy gazed towards Darvo who shrugged, not sure what to do or say in response. "You were overconfident in choosing targets" Scy said before throwing away both whips, letting them fall near the church doors.
Darvo walked towards Scy, giving him a squeeze into his shoulder before walking towards the exit, leaving the jackal on the ground. Jax grasped his head with both paws, still lying on the ground, his eyes noticing how they started to walk away.
"Thanks..." he spoke softly, the two standing still "We'd kill you, but not like this" Darvo said while Scy shook his head, feeling a weird form of betray.
Soon a loud noise filled the room, Scy widened his eyes as Darvo gazed towards him. His claw holding his shoulder "Scy? SCY?!" He noticed how a deep wound was visible on Scy's back, feeling his partner get weaker.
He turned his head to see the jackal stand up, his fangs exposed while he held his pistol up in the air. "Turned your back to a mercenary, checkmate." The dragon naga unsheathed his sword and started running towards the Jackal.
Feeling how anger and rage filled his body, ready to rip that bastard open from top to toe. "YOU! " He started yelling, extending his sword to swing. The jackal laughed and stepped aside, dodging the incoming blade before stepping forward, bashing into the dragon naga with his weight.
"Come and get it, filthy beast!" Jax growled while shredding his paw over Darvo's claw. In return, Darvo let go of his sword, both claws grabbing the jackal by its waist before throwing him over. "YOU are the filthy beast here" He responded while the jackal quickly got on his feet.
It came down to melee combat, the two circling around each other, readying for an incoming attack. The jackal started to laugh rather maniacal, his claws fully extended while he started to huff out of his nostrils.
"I will destroy you!" Jax said before lunging forward, Darvo stepping aside while his claw dug into his side. Clawing open a wound before quickly pushing him on the ground again. "Give it up, you're a mess" He said, seeing the jackal struggle to get up again.
"You rather kill me than help your partner live?" The jackal said softly, his eyes on the dragon iguana who laid on the ground with his eyes clenched shut in pain.
Darvo quickly turned around, still ready to counter the jackal as he saw how his partner was in pain. He shook his head and quickly turned around, readying his fist. The jackal saw the incoming fist but was too late to dodge, feeling the heavy punch hit his face before light turned dark.
The jackal fell on the ground, knocked out of consciousness. Darvo felt the threat level lower, running quickly to his partner, letting him sit up. "Damn, you okay? fuck!" Darvo said while placing his paw on the open wound, chanting a healing spell.
Scy opened his eyes slowly, feeling pain fade away thanks to Darvo's restoration magic. His arm held Darvo close, magic took a lot of his energy, especially right after battle. "Thanks, sorry, I let my guard down" Scy said before the two got up.
Darvo gazed to the jackal who was still out of action, Scy shook his head and sighed "Let him, he has bigger worries to deal with now he didn't complete his contract" he said before they walked to the church door.
They opened the door, seeing two figures in front of them. Darvo groaned and readied his paw to unsheathed his blade again, huffing softly "Now what?!" He said angry before Scy nudged him, calming him down. One of the two figures was tall and lean, wielding a long stick that he poked on the ground
"Jax, he still inside?" the figure spoke without emotion, the one next to him was way smaller, his hands tucked away in long sleeves. Darvo nodded, tilting his head back "Lost his stuff, knocked out, can't miss him" The two walked away, deciding to confront the mayor with this.
The two figures walked inside, the smaller one closing the church doors while the tall figure pushed the stick into the ground next to the jackal, who opened his eyes at the sound. "Sir, I failed, I'm sorry..." Jax groaned out while crawling up.
The tall figure shook his head before lowering himself "You did fine, we saw the fight and successfully retrieved two codex pages with their information" The tall figure said while the smaller one ran towards the jackal.
He wrapped his arms tightly around him and smiled "Everything is going to be great uncle!" he spoke in a childish manner. The jackal chuckled softly, rubbing his paw over the hooded head before taking off the hood, showing a small cub with dark red eyes and light brown pointy ears, still floppy. His tail wagged underneath the robe, making the jackal snort a little bit.
"This robe doesn't suit you though" He laughed and got up fully, lifting the younger boy up. "Hey, how about you get these two codex pages huh? Want to fight with uncle Jax?" Jax asked the cub, who nodded with a big grin on his face, showing small fangs.
"You can count on me uncle!"