The door to the old granary slammed open behind them as Gavril sprinted into the biting cold, boots crunching into half-frozen mud and patchy snow. He whipped toward Corren and Liran:
"Go! Kaavi's got dozens of puppets crawling up behind him at the warehouse! More of them will be there, go. We'll handle this fucker."
Liran hesitated only a heartbeat - then grabbed Corren's armoured sleeve. "He's right! Move!" They vanished into the maze of alleys and crumbling chimneys, footsteps fading fast.
Behind them, Tannic took a high spot along a fence post, bow drawn, scanning.
The granary door shattered.
And the bastard followed.
Bootsteps echoed off stone. Calm, slow, methodical.
The foul-mouthed twin stepped out of the granary as though he had all the time in the world. His steps were confident...mockingly so. The cold didn't seem to touch him. He had discarded his coat, revealing a sleeveless shirt half-soaked in puppet blood, his arms bare in the wind like he enjoyed the bite of winter.
He stepped out and looked at Gavril standing at the centre of the clearing, axes ready, and Tannic above, bow already notched.
The twin scoffed.
Twin:"Just you and Dickhead-on-the-Roof?" His voice was venom and mockery, thrown across the air like a blade. "Should've kept the other two around. You'll need them when I'll piss on your corpses after killing you!"
Tannic's arrow thudded into the doorframe.
Thunk.
The shaft embedded in the doorframe beside him. He hadn't even flinched.
Twin: "MISSED, SHIT-ARCHER!" (Spits) "C'MON, BEARDY! SHOW ME THOSE AXES!"
Gavril didn't reply. He just lifted one axe and rolled his shoulder.
The snow was patchy but cold. Hard ground beneath slush. Broken cobbles. Gavril circled wide, keeping a distance at first. The twin moved straight, like a brawler who'd never had to dodge. He wasn't huge...but heavy in the shoulders, every movement tight and coiled like he was used to close-range violence.
Tannic let another arrow fly. This one aimed lower.
The twin twisted. The arrow grazed his thigh and sliced fabric. He grunted, but didn't break stride.
"Keep shooting', archer!" he barked, voice rising. "I'll rip your spine out"
He charged Tannic's perch. Not a run. A bull-rush. Shoulder down, ploughing through knee-deep snow like it was straw.
Now.
Gavril exploded from behind the barrel. At his blind side. Gavril's axe swung low and hard at the left ankle.
The twin sensed it.
He pivoted with terrifying speed. Gavril's axe whistled through empty air. The twin's fist connected with Gavril's chest.
CRACK!
Ribs screamed. Gavril flew backward, skidding through slush. Air fled his lungs in a ragged, useless gasp. Stars exploded behind his eyes.
Gavril hit the ground hard... enough to taste blood in the back of his throat. But he didn't lie there.
"Move," he barked at himself in his head. "Get the fuck up."
The cold helped. It stabbed through his shirt like broken glass, jolting him to his feet before the twin could close in.
Tannic fired again. The arrow hissed past Gavril's shoulder and slammed into the twin's bicep...not deep, but enough to twist him sideways.
He roared. Not pain. Rage.
"You little mother-fucker!" the twin howled, ripping the shaft out and tossing it like trash. "I'll bleed you to death for that!"
Gavril rolled left, digging his heels into the snowpack, closing the gap with both axes raised. One high, one low.
The twin met him head-on. No dodging, no finesse...just brutal force.
The first axe struck his forearm and slid off thick muscle. The second found ribs but didn't cut deep enough. Gavril felt the reverberation up his arm as metal struck something harder than it should've been.
"Gods, is this fucker made of iron...?"
Then a headbutt. Blunt and fast.
It caught Gavril on the brow. Lights blinked. His vision swam.
"Should've brought your mother, too!" the twin spat, voice cracking with fury. "I'd have put her down slower!"
Gavril stumbled back, boots sliding on the wet stone beneath the snow. His axes shook in his grip, but he didn't let go.
His thoughts clawed at the inside of his skull. "Focus. Just shut up and fight."
Another arrow flew. This one missed...barely. The twin ducked mid-swing and barked a laugh.
"Your boyfriend's blind!" he snarled, swinging a punch at Gavril's ribs again.
Gavril didn't block. He stepped in.
The fist grazed him...barely. But Gavril's own axe handle jammed into the bastard's thigh, and he twisted hard.
The twin shouted, his balance breaking for the first time.
Snow crunched behind them.
Gavril didn't turn. He just grinned through the pain.
"He's slipping," Gavril muttered under his breath, dragging in air between his teeth. "That temper... just keep poking the wound."
He shouted across the clearing: "Did your brother teach you to fight, or just scream and flex your cock all day?"
The twin froze.
Then...
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"
He charged again, teeth bared like a feral dog. Slush and snow flew from his boots as he slammed toward Gavril with reckless fury.
Tannic fired again. Too late.
The twin was inside Gavril's reach in seconds. A hammering fist came for his temple.
Gavril ducked low...so low he nearly fell. His right axe lashed up into the man's ribs, this time biting deep enough to draw real blood.
A snarl. A punch. Gavril caught it on the flat of his axe but staggered from the force.
"This isn't working," he thought, grinding his teeth. "He's too damn strong up close."
He needed space. Time. Anything.
"Move, Gavril," he muttered again, backing toward a narrow side alley beside the granary wall.
The twin followed like a hunting dog, arms flexed, eyes wide with rage.
"You gonna run now, bastard?" he shouted, breath fogging. "Gonna cry now?"
Tannic's voice rang out...calm and sharp:
"You talk too much."
An arrow thudded into the twin's hip. This one stayed in.
He screamed, wheeling toward Tannic. "I'll fucking mount your skull on a stick, you pointed-eyes fucker..."
That was the opening.
Gavril lunged from the side, axes crossing like scissors.
He lunged in again, closer this time, axes swinging in tandem. The axe in the left hand leading first.
CLANG.
The blade struck meat...but felt like iron. Gavril grunted.
The twin turned, winding up a punch...
But Gavril didn't let go.
He used the second axe in his right hand like a hammer...slamming the back of it into the embedded one's handle.
CRACK.
The axe buried deep…but the bastard didn't even flinch. Not yet. Not until the second blow hit and nerves caught up with him.
Again. Again.
THWACK.
The axe buried deeper.
Blood burst across the snow.
One more. One more.
CRUNCH.
A sickening tear. The bone snapped under pressure.
The twin reeled...
Gavril twisted with everything he had and chopped.
The forearm came clean off.
It flopped into the snow like butcher's meat.
The twin screamed...a raw, wild sound, not fear but rage. His body buckled, arm spurting hot blood.
Gavril didn't stop.
He pivoted his weight and slammed the flat side of one axe into the twin's jaw.
THWUNK.
The skull twisted sideways. A spatter of red flecked the air.
Again. Again.
WHUD.
The twin dropped to a knee.
Again. Again.
THWACK.
There was a fracture now. Audible.
One more. One more.
CRUNCH.
The sound of splitting bone.
Tannic's voice cut through the air from above. "Gavril! He's not down!"
The twin, bloodied, half-sagging, looked up...eyes burning, almost shining.
"You're dead," he muttered.
His breath steamed in the air.
And slowly...like something rising from the grave...he stood. Stump dripping. Face mangled. Teeth clenched.
His remaining fist twitched.
Then clenched.
Then rose.
Gavril took a single step back, sucking in a breath that felt like swallowing broken glass. Both axes felt impossibly heavy in his grip, slick with gore and sweat. He met the twin's gaze, seeing nothing human there, only the void of endless, stupid rage.
He whispered under his breath.
"Shut up, and fight... now!"
The twin lowered his head like a bull scenting blood. His shoulders bunched, the muscles in his neck standing out like cables. The pointing finger curled back into a fist.
And for one long, suspended moment, amidst the wreckage, the blood-soaked snow, and the moaning wind. The snowflakes hung motionless. The only sound was the twin's wet, ragged breathing and the frantic hammering of Gavril's own heart against his shattered ribs. The line was drawn in crimson snow. The next move would end it.
For one long moment...the world held its breath.