In Defense of the Bloodstained Fortress
Chapter 1
A black fox vixen sat in her chambers with only a single candle to provide light. She looked at her clock, it was almost time. Two past midnight. The vixen looked over at her rifle sitting in the corner, propped up against the wall. She reached for it and pulled on the bolt. A single casing flew out, and the black fox reached for her ammo box. Inside the box was a cache of 7.62mm rounds, all on easy to load magnetic strips. Each strip had five shots on it.
The vixen took a single strip and loaded it into her rifle in preparation. The five bullets fell into the open gun easily, and then the strip was discarded. She released the bolt, arming the rifle. The black fox turned around and grabbed her cape-like cloak and a helmet, then dashed out the door as her sharp ears caught a faint sound in the distance.
The girl's toeclaws clicked on the cold stone floor, as she wished she had remembered to grab her boots. She slung her rifle over her shoulder to make running easier as she rounded a corner. The black vixen burst through a door, out into the open cold air. She was atop one of the keep's many high walls. Her rifle fit comfortably into her shoulder as she brought up her sights. The first outline from the dark swamp stumbled towards the wall, followed by many others. The vixen focused her crosshairs on the outline's head, then squeezed the trigger...
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"We are completely lost!" a voice said in the middle of the murky swamp. The voice belonged to an emerald feline, with a hooded cape and unique weapon known as a LongBo. "We are not lost! I'm just not exactly sure where we are." said a small figure back to the cat. A third person stood and stared at the two arguing animals with a look of annoyance on his face.
"Dray, admit it. We're lost." The cat said. "No Zavier, I just need to look at the map again...." The small one said. He wore a simple cloak, only enough to cover one shoulder, and a necklace decorated with a single gem. A war maul on his back, that seemed almost too big for the small island fox. He flicked his two tails as he spoke. "Just trust me... We're close."
"You said that an hour ago!" replied Zavier. "You have no clue where we are going!" The green cat spoke with a noticeable amount of anger in his voice. Zavier picked up the tiny fox by the scruff of the neck, continuing to scold him.
Suddenly, Zavier's voice was interrupted by a loud gunshot, followed soon after by another, then another, and another, and one more.
"You hear that, Zavier? I told you we were close." Draykin said with a grin. "Shut up." Zavier said, dropping the fox. "I assume we will be arriving shortly?" the third traveler said. He was only an inch taller than the cat, wearing a pair of goggles and a light brown trenchcoat. His obsidian longsword sheathed at his side.
"Yeah, Unreal. We should be getting there soon. Just follow me!" Draykin said, picking himself up and walking in the direction of the gunshots.
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The black vixen took her shot, then pulled back her rifle's bolt for another one. The outline in her sights dropped, but immediately got back up. Her target had just survived a near headshot, veering off slightly to impact the shoulder. She re-adjusted her sights, and then fired again and again and again until all five shots had been spent. Only then did the figure fall and stay down.
As she reached for an extra strip of ammo, a tall, burly anthro wyvern came up to her. "I thought I heard your rifle, Amber." He said, putting a few metal plates onto his basic chainmail. "Late as per usual, Seraphim?" Amber said back, not taking her gaze away from the approaching figures.
The wyvern stood about six foot two, and was covered in very dark cyan colored scales. His plate and chainmail armor colored maroon with a hint of bronze. The only parts of him left without armor would be his wing-arms and tail. The tail itself had no need to be armored, since if anyone got close enough to swing at it, Seraphim could easily spike them with one of the barbs at the tip.
"Any sign of Albion, Amber?" he asked, putting on and securing his left pauldron. Amber shook her head. "I only just got out here myself, no sign of him so far. Strange, he's usually first out there..." she told the dragon. Seraphim scoffed, "He's probably still at the tavern from last night, drowning his troubles wit' some of Samantha's homebrewed Fire Ale." Amber rolled her eyes as she took a shot at another figure in the swamp. "He better be sober enough to fight."
"Any news on when those hired arms will be arriving?" Seraphim asked. "You would know before I did." Amber said, locking on to some movement in the swamp, before firing once. "Hey, you're getting good! That one went down in one shot." Seraphim pointed out. "Oh fuzz..." Amber said, letting her rifle lossen from her shoulder. "THEY don't go down in one shot.."
