Keeper of Life - NaPoWrMo Entry

They walked toward their own death. Once they were inside that dead end they would all be scanned. The guards lined the balconies and roofs at the end, more to her rear. Once they were found they would be picked apart. They would scan separately, one by one, and if one was found, or she made any attempt to attack, they would strike out all at once.

She weighed her odds, there was a possibility one could escape, if they made a large enough diversion, but there were so many here and she wasn't willing to kill off her own quite yet.

The crowd surged forward, encouraged by the guards in the rear. Each step took Coal closer to death. Her underlings looked to her through their disguises, they asked for answers, for solutions, for salvation but she could give them none.

Coal's heart spun, she thought back to the sands, back to her other battles. Yet all of those were so different, but... hadn't she been in a similar situation? There had been a rock wall, a pack of sand dogs. A circle of death that kept closing, but they were not to be corralled. They had pulled each in with delicate faints then ensnared them and put them down. One by one until there were none. This wasn't the same, yet...

She heard a voice call, “Right side clear.”

“Fang,” she said with loud whisper, he nodded. “You, Claw, flanks, push pull, eyes on me.” With a nod she pulled Claw beside her who acknowledged her order.

As the crowd moved down the street, into a kill box, they moved to the flanks marking a guard each. A small group was gathered at the head of the street, a guardian and others at the ready, a detector. An owl sounded and two guards at each flank were pulled in and dropped. The crowd spread instantly like ants on a damaged nest. The guards flailed around trying to contain them, trying to figure out what was happening, none had even noticed the fallen guards. They scanned the crowd. Three others were pulled in, as if eaten by the mob itself.

Another hoot and the pegisis beside the guard closed in, his neck twisting. She merged back into the crowd and changed. The other guard noted her, caught the look in her eyes and he too went down. Shrill screamed shattered the frail cohesion the guards tried to maintain and the crowd flew apart like a shattering plate. Guards and guardians flew into the fray trying to contain it, trying to gather the crowd back together. Glimpses of what had happened were obvious to them and the detectors lit the crowd up but black bodies mingled with the others, disappeared then reappeared down the street where the mob was now running.