Blake

I knelt down beside Ren to check if he was breathing. He was alive, but his breathing was erratic and weak. He was lying, unconscious, in the middle of the ruined remains of Ozpin's office, along with Nora and Pyrrha. It wasn't surprising. We were only barely able to beat one of those Beowolves in an enclosed space, and these three had fought two of them at once. Ozpin's office was large, as offices go, but it wasn't built to hold a battle. There was no room to manoeuvre effectively. They must have been cornered and taken out.

Ruby had bolted out the window, or what was left of it, a few seconds ago. That left Jaune and I in the office, checking on Jaune's teammates. We carried them out, into the hallway, and I left Jaune there to watch over them. Once I was sure the three of them were okay, I followed Ruby out the window.

She was standing before a man I knew could only be Myrka. Seeing him for the first time was a shock. The strange design of his clothing was strange enough, but seeing four giant Beowolves standing in front of him, doing his bidding… that was downright terrifying. A weight seemed to hang in the air. As if his very presence was pressing me into the ground. I fought against it and drew Gambol Shroud as I stood next to Ruby.

"Oh, we have another one?" Myrka growled. "Should I ask for your name as well?" His clothes, obviously tailored and expensive, were torn, ragged and filthy. He had a streak of blood running down the side of his face. It dripped off his chin and had stained his suit with red. There was a fierce intensity to his gaze; whatever Ruby had done, she'd really mad this guy mad.

"No," I answered after eyeing him up. "My name doesn't matter."

"I like to know people's names before I kill them." He said with a sneer.

"That's why you don't need to know mine." I replied. The smile dropped from his face in an instant, replaced by a look of burning fury.

I looked down at Yang, who was laying down behind us, gasping for breath.

"You okay, Yang?" I called out.

"Yeah, I'll be fine in a minute. Just keep him off me until then." She replied. "Get on the attack soon," she added quietly. "I think his semblance is focussed on the Grimm holding Weiss. Once he lets them go, he can take you down in an instant." I looked over at Weiss, she was pinned to the ground and struggling to break free, but she was alive. And it looked like Yang was right. The Beowolves were just holding her down, not attacking. That must be why we're still standing. Still, no sense in delaying any longer.

"Well," Myrka announced. "Now that you've had your little chat, maybe we should get this over with. I have things I need to do once you four are dead."

Ruby and I didn't bother to respond. We met each other's eyes and nodded before leaping into battle

Ruby swung Crescent Rose as she ran, and the back of the scythe head smacked into one of the Beowolves and sent it flying away from her. She fired a round at Myrka, who dove to the side to avoid it. Before she had a chance to aim again, the second Beowolf was attacking her. It swung its claws straight at her neck, but she managed to dodge around behind it in a puff of rose petals. She swung Crescent Rose around, the blade slicing through the monster's upper leg.

While Myrka and his two Beowolves were distracted, I charged towards the two holding Weiss. Before they had time to react, or turn to defend themselves, I delivered a flying kick to the head of the nearest Beowolf. It let go of Weiss in an instant, spinning around to attack me. I dropped to the ground as it lunged and used my feet and its own momentum to send it soaring through the air, over my head.

A large gust of wind erupted in front of me as I got to my feet, blasting the other Beowolf away. Weiss picked herself up and brushed the dust of her clothes.

"You've got a Dust for everything, don't you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"More or less," She said with a smirk. With that, we both leapt away, into battle.

Ruby was still brawling with the Beowolves protecting Myrka and I used the distraction she made to charge at him. I bypassed the Grimm and fired Gambol Shroud as I rushed towards him. He was knocked back a step with each bullet, his face scrunching up in pain, but his aura protected him from the worst of the damage. I leapt into the air before I reached him and shifted Gambol Shroud back into a katana before swinging it viciously at him as I fell back to earth.

He leapt out of the way of my swing, and, as I readied myself to leap after him, a Beowolf lunged over his head and attacked me. I prayed that Ruby would be able to attack Myrka as I flipped backwards to avoid the strike. I folded Gambol Shroud into a sickle and grabbed onto the ribbon. Firing a round for momentum, I spun the sickle around in a lightning fast circle, cutting into the Beowolf's chest. It roared in pain as it lunged towards me.

I dove out of the way and fired Gambol Shroud at its back, then I yanked hard on the ribbon and pulled myself towards the Beowolf. The force of my pull sent me flying into the air over the monster's head and gravity brought me crashing back down. I landed on the beast's head, kicked off it and leapt across the battle field towards Myrka.

Ruby was flashing around him in twirling flurry of crimson petals. It was beautiful to watch. It was like a dance. She was dancing around him, swinging her vicious scythe in deadly swipes at him as she passed. She moved quickly and tried to keep him in between her and the Beowolf chasing her. Myrka dodged as many of her swipes as he could, and did his best to block the rest; not an easy feat without a weapon.

He fought well for someone who was unused to combat. Having a semblance like his hadn't stopped him from training his own skills. He blocked a good many of Ruby's attacks by kicking the shaft of Crescent Rose, or by stepping inside the arc of the blade and blocking the shaft with his hands.

But I forced my warrior's admiration away as I rolled into a landing next to Ruby. I began to swing Gambol Shroud at him, hoping to catch him by surprise, but a sudden blow from behind sent me sprawling.

I shook my head as I picked myself up, trying my best to clear it quickly, but I was hit again. This time I was sent sliding across the cobblestone courtyard. I used the momentum of the slide to get back to my feet and spin towards my attacker.

The Beowolf was in mid-lunge, its claws aimed for my throat, when Weiss attacked it from the side. I flinched back in expectation of the blow, but the monster was already lying on the ground ten feet off to the side. I nodded my thanks to Weiss and we leapt away again. She moved after the Beowolf she had just saved me from, while I rushed back to help Ruby.

I could barely even see Ruby, she was moving so fast. She was beset on all sides by the remaining three Beowolves, while Myrka was squatting and gasping for breath, his eyes pinned to the battle in front of him. I began to stalk around behind him, trying to get into this blind spot before he saw me.

I crept up behind him and raised Gambol Shroud to club him in the back of the head. But, just as I was about to swing, a Beowolf broke away from its fight with Ruby and leapt over Myrka's head, at me. With barely enough time to react, I back-flipped away in a desperate attempt to dodge the blow. I brought Gambol Shroud up as I landed. A flash of fear rushed down my spine as I saw the Beowolf's maw inches from my eyes; I'd only just managed to avoid it. A part of my brain shrieked at me to not kill the beast, that we needed them to distract Myrka. But my instincts kicked in and stabbed Gambol Shroud upwards, into the bottom of the beast's jaw.

The light left the Beowolf's eyes in an instant as the blade of my katana stabbed into its brain and sprouted out of its head. Its arms, that had been encircling me only an instant before, dropped to its sides. I nearly buckled under the dead weight, but managed to yank my sword out and step back as the Beowolf crumpled to the ground, a puddle of blood staining the cobblestones red.

I mentally kicked myself for killing it, but hurriedly turned to face Myrka once more. Just as I laid eyes on him, he let out a cry of pain and staggered to the ground, clutching his head in pain. I looked at him, confused, for a second before realising my advantage and rushing towards him. I didn't know why he'd fallen down, maybe me killing the Beowolf had something to do with it. Regardless, he was vulnerable now, and I needed to make the most of that.

But he got back to his feet before I could reach him with a roar of anger, and a wave of dizziness swept through me. A high pitched whistling rang in my ears for a second, the same I'd heard near his hideout, before fading away. I staggered to one knee, trying to remain upright, and I could see Ruby doing the same. But, as the whistling faded, I saw her bring Crescent Rose up just in time to block an attack.

I caught a glimpse of Myrka looking at Ruby with renewed interest and began to rush towards him. One of the Beowolves still locked in battle with Ruby broke away from her and leapt to intercept me. Letting out a frustrated curse, I blocked the monster's attack and dove out of the way. How many times were these things going to get in my way? I froze for an instant as a thought crossed my mind. If we could time an attack right after one of the Beowolves died, maybe we could get him while he was vulnerable. That was if that was actually the reason why he'd fallen.

As I backed further away from the Beowolf, I saw Ruby make the most of my luring it away. She jumped to avoid an attack from her opponent and landed on its extended arm. She kicked off from there, leaping into the air above its head and landed on the Beowolf's shoulders. Crescent Rose hooked around its neck and she jumped once more, firing rounds into the ground for extra force.

The wicked blade of her scythe sliced through the Beowolf's neck and sent its head tumbling to the ground. Ruby back-flipped in the air and landed as the body followed its head. She straightened up and faced Myrka. He glared at her in fury for an instant before he staggered to the ground once more, crying out in agony.

That was it. Killing the Grimm he was controlling definitely hurt him somehow. There were two left, we could use this. He picked himself up with a roar of anger and the whistling swept over us once more, only for a second. It was as if killing the Grimm broke his control, and he had to spread his semblance out before focussing on the Beowolves again. At least it wasn't affecting us for long, but I could tell by the look in his eye that our reaction to it intrigued him.

Ruby picked herself up as the whistling faded again and hurriedly blocked an attack from the Beowolf that Myrka had just regained control of. She locked with it for an instant, then swung Crescent Rose and threw the Beowolf to the side. She looked across the courtyard at Weiss and called out to her.

"Weiss!" she yelled. "Keep that one distracted, we've got a plan!" I was impressed that she'd worked it out as well. She must have noticed Myrka's reaction to losing a Grimm. "Blake!" she continued. "You take this one with me!" I nodded and leapt at the beast from behind, cutting into its shoulder. The cut tore into the tendons and left its arm hanging limply at its side.

I knew this was our chance to take Myrka down. He was vulnerable just after one of the Grimm died. But if we timed it wrong, we'd be done for. He must be almost certain now that Ruby and I were affected by his semblance, and one more time would confirm it for certain. It was a risk, but it was necessary. And Ruby was our leader, I had to trust her.

So I engaged the Beowolf, drawing it away from Myrka. Whenever Myrka tried to pull it back, I'd dive in the way, keeping myself in-between him and it. Myrka let out a roar of frustration behind me and the Beowolf lunged, leaping over my head. I spun to follow it and stabbed Gambol Shroud upwards. The blade pierced the monster's stomach and the momentum of its own jump sliced the blade down its body, gutting it.

The Beowolf crumpled to the ground with a thump and Myrka staggered to the ground in pain. Ruby leapt at him, swinging Crescent Rose with all her strength. He was down, vulnerable. If she hit him that hard, while he was down like that, he'd probably get aura shock. This was it, the end of the threat. The end of the battle. The end of the invasion. Go Ruby!

Myrka got to his feet and instant faster than before and focussed his gaze on Ruby. Crescent Rose slipped from her suddenly nerveless fingers and she slid to the ground. She let out an agonised shriek, a scream so loud and piercing that the windows behind us shattered. She jerked on the ground, her limbs going into uncontrollable spasms as she screamed.

Her screams rose even higher as Myrka grinned and stepped towards her. I couldn't even react. I couldn't hear the whistling, but I was too stunned to move. What had happened? We had been about to win. Now Ruby was at his mercy. I wanted to move, I wanted to save her. But he was right there. I would never get close enough to save her before he could hurt her, or kill her.

Not hearing the whistling myself was almost as terrifying as seeing him attack Ruby. That meant that he was focussing it all on her. She was getting the brunt of it. And her screams still rang out around us.

Her screams began to subside as Myrka squatted down next to her. But he wasn't letting off. It was as if she was in sho much agony that she couldn't even scream anymore. She couldn't do anything. Her spine arched as she convulsed, and she froze. She was in so much pain that she couldn't even move.

Myrka patted her on the cheek and got back to his feet. He lifted Ruby up by her collar and turned to look me in the eye. His sick, twisted grin widened even further as I heard massive footsteps rushing up behind me. I spun around and raised Gambol Shroud, ready to the block the Beowolf's attack, but it ran right past me, towards Myrka.

I turned back and watched in horror as it bounded towards Myrka and the unconscious Ruby. With a cruel wink, Myrka tossed Ruby into the air. The Beowolf swung its massive arm and clubbed her in the chest. A sharp crack echoed around us as Ruby soared through the air and hit the ground. She lid a few feet, came to a stop and lay still.

"Ruby!" I heard two voices scream from behind me. Myrka leaned back and laughed as his final Beowolf readied itself for another fight.

"Now, that's what you get when you get in my way!" Myrka laughed. "Let that be a lesson to you. If you keep this up, the same will happen to you. I have other pets around that I can call to lay waste to you. If you leave now, I will let you live."

"He's bluffing." Weiss hissed. She was standing to my right, with a white-knuckled grip on her sword. "If he could win this fight that easily, he wouldn't let us go." I opened my mouth to reply but, before I could, the world went white.

The ground trembled underneath my feet and a scream of fury filled the air. Not a normal scream. A resounding, echoing roar of unrestrained passion that sounded like it came from the mouth of rage itself. I felt my feet lift off the ground as a shockwave knocked me forwards. Weiss crashed into me in mid-air and we tumbled to the ground. When I looked up, Myrka was lying on his back and the Beowolf was struggling to regain its footing.

Before Myrka could regain his composure, a golden flame descended on him. He just managed to throw himself to the side, which no doubt saved his life. Yang thundered into the ground and smashed a crater into the stone. Myrka vaulted to his feet and sent the Beowolf at her. Yang ducked under its attack and wrapped an arm around its waist. With one arm, she threw the massive Beowolf to the side, and then threw herself at Myrka.

Weiss let out her own scream of anger and leapt at the Beowolf. The beast managed to drag itself to its feet and swipe at her, putting her off her attack, but she pressed her assault, her blows cutting deep and sending blood flying.

Myrka was barely holding his own against Yang's onslaught. He did his best to dodge and tried to deflect what blows he could. But every blow she landed was bone shattering. His aura was getting pushed to its limit.

Yang was a column of fire. And not just her hair was on fire this time. She was the embodiment of anger, a walking, fighting pillar of golden flame. She threw punches and kicks faster than I could follow, driving Myrka back.

I dashed after Weiss and sliced Gambol Shroud into the back of the Beowolf's leg. Its leg gave out with a loud snap as it's hamstring was severed and it tumbled to the ground. Weiss reacted in an instant, reversing her grip on Myrtenaster and stabbing the blade downwards, into the beast's heart. The monster twitched for a second, before Weiss pulled the blade out. It shuddered once as blood fountained from the wound and its heart stopped, and then it lay still.

Myrka tumbled to the ground, clutching his head in pain once more. This time, Yang was there to make the most of it. She sent a vicious kick into his side, so powerful that it lifted him into the air. He hit the ground and slid towards Weiss and I. Weiss lashed out at him once with Myrtenaster before dropping her sword to the ground and gripping Myrka's collar.

"This is what you get," she hissed coldly as she yanked his face towards hers, "when you hurt my friend." She conjured a glyph to help her and spun in a tight circle. She used the momentum of her spin to throw Myrka into the air, towards Yang.

The golden pillar of flame lunged towards Myrka with a roar and slammed her fist into his face. Another loud crack echoed around us as he was smashed into the ground. Blood gushed from his shattered nose and his head slumped limply to the side. He wasn't moving. It was over. We'd won.

Weiss ran towards Ruby without hesitation and I ran towards Yang. She had been damn near exhausted when I got here, and last effort must have worn her out completely. She stood over Myrka, swaying slightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She looked up towards me, her face looking somewhat dazed.

"Yeah…" she mumbled, her eye lids drooping. "I'm fine…. How's Ruby…?" Before I could answer, she tumbled to the ground, and began to snore.