Strangely, the first attack was all it took for Jack to start getting in the flow of the fight. The rush of five attackers kept him on the defensive for the majority of the next several moments, until the gnoll with the spear managed to overextend himself with a thrust aimed for the s.p.a.ce where Jack"s chest had been only a split-second before.Seizing the opportunity, Jack instinctively grabbed the gnoll"s wrist with his left hand, and with a powerful blow from his axe, severed the creature"s arm at the shoulder. The gnoll shrieked and grabbed at the gushing stump of its shoulder with its other hand, before crumpling to the ground in a b.l.o.o.d.y heap.
Realizing he now had a gnoll arm in his off hand, Jack got a sudden inexplicable impulse to score some style points, and when the next attack flew at his legs, he leapt over the attacker"s blade, and smashed the gnoll square in the mouth with the severed limb, knocking the creature stumbling several feet off to the side. Jack rushed the disoriented beast, and with a second, resounding wet thud struck the creature"s head with such force that something cracked, and it slumped to the ground in a twitching heap, its neck now sitting at an abnormal angle. The arm, for its part, was also apparently broke in the process as well, and hung like a limp, b.l.o.o.d.y noodle in Jack"s hand.
He dropped it non-chalantly, and turned to face the other gnolls. Almost without him noticing, the fear that had nearly immobilized him only a minute before was almost entirely gone. Well, not gone, really. He still felt the presence of fear even now, with his heart racing and stomach roiling, but a strange sense of self-a.s.sured calm filled him now, overruling that panic in favor of practical focus.
Frumpkin was right.
...G.o.d dammit.
He was never going to hear the end of this.
As he turned his focus back to the rest of the remaining four gnolls, he saw for the first time that they had gone from pressing the attack to seeming unsure of whether to continue coming for him, or turn and flee. Seeing an opportunity, Jack sprang forward, rushing at the nearest one of the four and bringing his axe around in a wide arc, attempting the cleave the beast in half. It raised the blade of its cleaver-like sword and braced to deflect the blow.
Jack"s axe struck the cleaver blade, and with a roaring screech carved straight through the blade metal and sank halfway into the creature"s ribcage until it buried itself stuck in its spine. The gnoll expired instantly with a gurgle, and Jack went to try and pull the axe blade from the gnoll"s body.
It wouldnt budge.
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He pulled harder, twisting and jerking, but to no avail. The d.a.m.n thing was stuck, and it wasn"t coming out.
Seeming to notice his sudden dilemma, one of the remaining gnolls began to cackle its hyena laugh, and Jack looked up to see the three of them approaching him now, the looks of uncertainty and anxiety on their faces replaced with new-found confidence at this unexpected turn of events.
And just like that, the fear that his new-found sense of confidence had been masking poured back in, and Jack felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of dread crawl up inside his head. He let go of the axe handle, putting up his hands and slowly backing away from the approaching gnolls as snarled and snapped with glee at their pending revenge.
"Hey, uhh.... Rose?" Jack called out, "Uh, a little help?"