Headed By A Snake

Four of the kobolds charged simultaneously.

Easy enough. Tycon dashed to the side, so the enemy formed a line in approaching him.

The thin-furred kobold came at him with her flail raised. Tycon cut a red line across her throat and kicked her back into her fellows. Stepping forward, his axe chopped into the side of another kobold"s neck. Using his sword, he deflected an opponent"s blade before lacerating a deep wound on a spear-dog"s white-furred forearm. He thrust his sword into the last sword-dog"s gut before hacking his hatchet down between the spear-dog"s eyes.

His hatchet was lodged deep into the Iredar"s skull, straight down its center at an aesthetically pleasing 90-degree angle.

Tycon took a moment to admire his handiwork.

He released his hold on the hatchet. The kobold fell to its knees. Its eyes rolled back. Then, it collapsed backward like a discarded children"s doll.

The Alpha and the remaining 4 Iredar watched in silence.

Tycon shook his head, laughing to himself. He grabbed the end of his hatchet and pressed his foot down against a corpse"s maw. He wrenched it out, flinging blood and bits of brain at his ever-so-patient audience.

There was nothing quite as intimidating as a bit of violent disrespect.

The Alpha stepped forward, his actions strangely calm and measured, "(I will fight the human. Return to the tribe.)"

"(Should your packmates run, I will kill them.)" Tycon grinned, "(The only one with a chance to escape is you, Alpha. How about you run instead?)"

"(Does your cruelty know no bounds?)" The spotted Alpha howled in grief, "(WHY?!?! Why, Human?!? You are amongst the strongest, the fastest, the goodest of boys!! This slaughter is beneath you! Let my brothers go!!)"

Tycon leaned down to wipe the blood of his hatchet on the white kobold"s fur-- the body he continued to rest his foot on, "(I suppose I only need one or two of you to return to your tribe. You would need to report your Alpha"s death, no?)"

"(You"re not a human, you"re a G.o.ds-d.a.m.ned monster!!)" A kobold yelped in fury.

Tycon raised an eyebrow. The pup who spoke up was the smallest amongst them, a shortbow carrying archer that had somehow survived Deca.n.u.s Constantina"s onslaught.

The Alpha smacked his paw against the smaller kobold"s nose, barking back to Tycon, "(Human, forgive Nipper! He knows not what he barks!!)"

"Hmm." Tycon tapped the flat of his sword against his shoulder, "(Choose one amongst your brothers-- one that you wish to live.)"

The Alpha grabbed the aggrieved pup by the shoulders, "(Listen to me, Nipper. Return to the tribe. Tell the Chief that we need to leave this place. Everyone is to pack-- take only what is important. Head west. We"ll head to the Kingdom, far, far away from here.)"

"(But... but Alpha. I... I dishonor you by leaving,)" The pup"s ears drew back as it whimpered.

"(No, pup. You don"t dishonor me.)" The spotted Alpha licked the side of the pup"s snout, "(The younger generation must go on-- the tribe must survive. Its fate rests in your very paws.)"

"(Go with honor, Nipper.)" "(You"re a good boy.)" "(Run like the wind, pup.)" --the other kobolds rea.s.sured the young one.

Nipper took a hesitant step back, unwilling to leave, "(Alpha... I"ll never forget you.)"

The Alpha nodded, "(I have no regrets. Go. Tell my mate--)"

Tycon threw his hatchet, its edge cracking into the side of the pup"s skull. The pup fell to the dirt, motionless. Its eyes still gazed on, looking slightly up, as if unaware it had died.

"(What?)" The Alpha tilted his head, one of its blue ears falling flat on the top of its head, "(No... you didn"t.... You couldn"t have...)"

The Alpha turned towards Tycon, its entire body trembling. Saliva and froth began to bubble from its maw, "(What... what have you done?)"

Tycon smirked. He wanted to incite a frenzied rage into his opponent. An angered and grief-ridden opponent was more predictable and easier dispatched than a cunning warrior.

His offer implied an offer of salvation. His true purpose was to glean the death that would wreak the greatest emotional havoc.

It appeared to be working... if perhaps too well.

The Alpha ducked his body low, growling and barking, "(You"re no human, you"re a SNAKE!! You offer nothing but POISON, you dishonorable cur!! BAAAD HUMAN!! BAAAAAD!!)"

"Your vengeance is right here, Iredar." Tycon bared his teeth in a mocking grin, "Come and take it."

...

Munifex Justus hurdled over a huge fallen tree, "I still don"t understand why the Deca.n.u.s gave me his helmet."

He turned back to grasp Gianna"s arm, helping her over.

Whew. She was actually pretty heavy with her heavy s.h.i.+eld and armor-- not that he was stupid enough to say that aloud.

"Thank you, Justus-- um..." Gianna glanced down.

Justus followed her gaze. He was still holding onto Gia"s hand. He quickly released it.

"Ah, sorry, Gia. That uh... that tends to happen a lot, doesn"t it?" Justus smiled with no small amount of embarra.s.sment.

A groan of annoyance came from nearby as Deca.n.u.s Ferrutius approached, "Seven h.e.l.ls and a bucket of angel s.h.i.+te! Deca.n.u.s, put on your Flame-scarred helmet."

"But I... it"s not mine, it"s his," Justus stared at the Deca.n.u.s helm he held.

Gianna took Justus" hand back in hers, "And it was Deca.n.u.s" Caelistis before that. Deca.n.u.s Zehr gave it to you because he trusted you."

Ferrutius shrugged as he walked past, "You"re a good sc.r.a.pper, Deca.n.u.s Justus. And since Zehr went rus.h.i.+ng off to sacrifice himself, you"re a decent replacement."

Justus scowled, "He"s not dead, Deca.n.u.s Ferrutius."

"Even if he"s not, he"s no use to us now," He shrugged... "As a side, if he is dead, I"ve got one up over the b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Justus smoldered in anger. Zehr killed nearly a dozen on his own and led away another ten more. With only those achievements, the Deca.n.u.s had done more than enough.

Gianna grasped Justus" hand tightly, "You knew to worry about the kobolds even before I did. I think Deca.n.u.s Zehr sensed that."

Gia"s soft hand put Justus" mind, somewhat at ease.

"Wellllll~! I don"t like it, ONE BIT!!" Rena pouted, walking ahead.

Justus gave Gia another smile before releasing her and hurrying to catch up to the others. He placed the cooled, crested, modified Deca.n.u.s helm upon his head, its protective weight more comforting than bothersome.

He didn"t pull the visor down, though. It seemed too... Zehr-ish for him to do that.

Rena spun on her heels, stopping to complain, "How could you just let the Deca.n.u.s go off like that!?"

"Well, that..." Justus hesitated.

Zehr had given him clear orders-- but that"s not an excuse that Rena would accept. Most likely, he would get the back end of a crossbow smashed into the side of his helmet for daring to cite "orders"...

It was true, though!

Gianna walked beside Rena at her opposite side, "Miss Rena... you saw how fast Deca.n.u.s Zehr moved. He must have the Scout cla.s.s-- he would have better mobility without Justus."

"But... but..."

Justus rolled his eyes. His childhood friend was going to cry.

Rena looked up with moist and sparkling eyes at Gia, "Why didn"t he bring meeeeeeeeee???!"