Duce pushed Echo to the side. "Stay out of my way, old man! I can handle this-"
"Haha, old?! I'm not even 30 you little bastard!" Echo yelled as she shot the shotgun at Bella. Bella dropped to all fours and began running around the trees for cover. Echo and Duce were back-to-back. "Watch my back!" Echo yelled.
"Oh, cry me a damn river." Duce sighed. Sasha hid near the two. Bella used a tree and launched herself at Duce and Echo. Duce spun and so did Duce. Causing Duce to face the jinn. "Jinn…armadillo skin!" Bella flipped over Duce and landed in front of Echo. "HUH?!" Echo yelled as he used his other hand and quickly pulled out his pistol. He let off two shots. Bella quickly caught the two bullets and tossed them back at him. "Oh sh-"
Before the bullets could hit against Echo's flesh, Duce had grabbed him by the bag that was on his back and pulled him back. Causing him to fall down. Duce used his staff to reflect both the bullets. Duce took a fighting stance and ran at the jinn. Bella laughed as she pointed at Duce. Duce could see a white line coming at him. "Get down!" He yelled. Duce was still running. He dropped to his knees and slid across the ground to barley avoid the slash. (This boy…) Bella began to think. Duce popped back up from the ground and pushed a button at the bottom of his staff. A long piece of metal erupted from the tip of the staff. Duce jabbed the staff at Bella, who was dodging each strike with ease. Bella caught the staff and pulled Duce in. "You just aren't strong enough…Duce." Bella whispered as she kicked Duce back. Duce planted his feet and quickly clapped his hands. "Jinn snake!"
The snake emerged behind Bella and wrapped itself around her. Bella just smiled at Duce. (These two are in the way! Don't they see I'm trying to get away?!) Duce thought. Duce quickly turned to face Echo. "Run that way and wait for me to come and get you!" Duce demanded. "Nah." Echo replied, letting off a few rounds at Bella. "You dumb ass! Don't you get I'm trying to save your life?!" Duce yelled. "No, you're the one who doesn't get it, boy!" Echo snapped back. Duce went silent. "Years ago, I led a group of brave soldiers into battle. They sacrificed everything to save me and I led them all into a hell! So damn it, if I wanna stay and help a kid…then that's what I'll do! Even if I die!"
"You're insane…" Sasha whispered to Echo. "Nothing insane about it, Sasha!" Echo yelled. Sasha's eyes widened. Duce just continued to stare at Echo. "Not again! Not this time! Listen, Duce I- I can hold her off. It seems that you're better off finding Leo and the fire man again. All I need is to just slow her down. I can make it happen, believe me."
Duce glanced at Sasha and then back at Bella. "As a slayer, I can't allow a civilian to-"
Echo walked forward and reloaded his shotgun once again. "A civilian wouldn't be trying to fight the damn thing! Get a move on!" Echo yelled. Duce quickly ran. He used his jinn eagle to pick Sasha up and carried her off.
Echo watched as the two disappeared into the forest. "Ha! Little dumb ass. There no way in hell I-" just then, Bella broke free from the Snake's grip and charged Echo. "You little…you little bastard! I told you I had it-"
Echo was surrounded by a thick smoke. (Sasha took my smoke bombs?!) Echo thought. He looked up to see Sasha riding the eagle and tossing the bombs down. "And she called me crazy." Echo sighed.
Bella swung her sharp nails violently around the smoky area. She used her jinn energy to try and see through the smoke, but for some reason…it just wouldn't work. (What's the meaning of this?! Why can't I sense or see him?) Bella thought. Just then, Bella could've sworn she had just seen a shadow walk behind her. She spun around to see nothing, just more smoke.
Echo's voice began to speak out. "That man Leo. He sure is smart. He added modifications to my smoke bombs. Being that you're a dead woman and all…it's only right that we add salt and chalk particles to block out your senses." Echo chuckled.
(The smoke has salt and chalk?!) Bella thought. Bella frantically ran around, trying to escape the smoke. Duce shot his shotgun, knocking the jinn to the ground. Bella rolled over to see holes in her arm from the bullets. "Now, I know what you're thinking! How did the bullets just harm me?!" Echo asked in a mocking voice. "Leo also…knew that jinns are energy based entities. Us knowing that, he decided to add an electromagnetic pulse affect inside of the bullets." Echo explained as he vanjsied back into the Smoke. "I know it's gonna sound wild, but it's like he just made it with him mind. Leo didn't see it, but I did. The man had some strange black energy around him and suddenly, the bullets to my pretty baby started to glow. Crazy, huh?" Echo asked, his voice echoing through the air. (He thought it and it was created? Is that…his ability? I knew Leo was special, but I would've never thought he'd truly be this special.) Bella thought as she quickly avoided the bullets. Bella jumped high into the air and held out her hand.
"I'll just destroy this entire area with a energy blast!" Bella shouted. Energy began to build up on her hand. Before she could release the shot, Duce came in and kicked Bella, knocking her aim off.
Echo smirked. "Glad you two caught my bluff. I definitely wasn't planning on dying right there." Echo said as Sasha used the eagle to pick him up. "Now's our chance! Get on!" Sasha yelled.
Echo jumped on and the massive bird lifted into the air. While Duce was in the air from jumping, he looked to see the eagle headed towards him. "This is my fight! My duty is to protect you! Fly away…Eagle!" Duce shouted. The Eagle let out a shriek and flew off in the opposite direction. "DAMN YOU!!" Echo yelled.
Duce smirked and immediately locked on Bella. "Okay…enough games then, Duce. Sorry." Bella whispered.
******
Astor crashed down. His powerful flames covered the area like a fire tsunami that splash and crashed against the forest floor.
"This…is gonna be a damn Long night." Astor sighed.
******
Next chapter In two days
The weapon 5