11.

They were missgotten and malformed behemoths of flesh and scale. None of the almost artistic grace of those he had seen in the lab beneath the sewers. Just lumbering forms filled with animalistic power, lunging forward with powerful surges in strength. Erak charged toward them without hesitation, sword sailing as the first of the quadrupeds leapt at him with a mouthful of yellow dagger teeth.

The dragonbone sword swept through the creature’s mouth, severing teeth and slicing free from its cheeks. The creature yowled in agony as its heavy, bulky body plowed into Erak, sending both of them to the ground. The immense weight of the creature pressed down on him, crushing the air from his lungs as he Erak wedged a hand between them.

The creature’s heat was intense, sweat beading immediately along Erak’s body as hot blood rained down from its ruined mouth over his helm. It snapped at him with shattered teeth, saliva mixing with its blood into a flood that rushed inside of his helm. Erak spluttered as he strained, his arms burning as he leveraged the beast off of his chest in a press motion.

He could hear Sammus fighting in the background the man’s curses and exhalations of exertion loud in the room as dueled the second beast. Erak surged in strength, throwing the beast off of him. It scrambled to its feet, long claws slashing into tile as it rose up. Erak only managed to get halfway to his feet before lunging at it, stabbing at the beast with his sword like a lance.

The tip pierced its chest and went deep into its vitals, ripping apart the creature’s heart with a single thrust. It stiffened as black blood leaked out of its mouth and pooled across the ground before it collapsed bonelessly to the ground. Erak put a boot on the creature’s shoulder and pulled the bonesword out of the creature before turning to look at three more of the loping quadrupeds that were coming at him.

Draconic Hound lvl. 22

Draconic Hound lvl.23

Draconic Hound lvl. 23

The three quadrupeds were circling warily around him, growling so deep it rattled his bones. Each was the size of a pony, misshapen with muscle and blood red scales, black eyes and yellow teeth. Erak glanced out of the corner of his visor to look at Sammus and his duel. Pomp had finished his own opponent and was helping Sammus as the two of them slowly whittled down their own opponent.

Traces of silvery light that lingered in the corners here and there in the small room was all that was left of the spirit that had been there moments before. Pomp’s savaging had left nothing of it that could be described as a true shape.

One of the hounds leapt, a blur of red scales and yellow fangs. Erak stepped forward and hit it with the edge of his shield, hammering it down and into the tile with a concussive blast of shattering tile. The creature squalled in pain and rage and tried to get to its feet, but Erak slashed apart a hamstring before the other two hounds forced him back.

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A claw raked across his leg, sparks scraping out and illuminating the dark room briefly. The second beast’s jaws snapped close where his other shin had been only a moment before. Erak kicked it in the face for its transgression, steel shattering teeth in a spray of bone. The creature howled but kept at him, snapping again a moment later as it tried desperately to get his leg in its jaws.

Erak hacked down with his sword, slashing apart its shoulder while its partner slashed at him again, striking like a cat. More sparks came off of his leg again and pain lanced out from the blow. The heavy strikes weren’t piercing the armor but the pressure was intense to the point of being bone bruising.

The first of the hounds got back to its feet, jaw hanging loosely as bloody drool leaking from its busted mouth. Its black jowls were speckled red with chunks of tooth riddling the loose lips. Erak attacked, matching their aggression. His sword sang and his shield was used as a battering ram to hammer the hounds back, trading blows and trusting in his increasingly dented and scratched armor to keep himself from dying.

Every sword blow split scale and muscle alike, the room filling with the stench of hot blood. A faint smell of brimstone clung to the beast’s blood, rapidly filling the area until it was all he could smell. Erak slashed through the eyes of the hound who’s jaw he had broken. The thick eyebrow ridge stopped the blade from sliding all the way home to its brain, but the scream of agony was rewarding in its own way.

Another hound hit him around the waist, ducking under the roundhouse shield punch he had sent toward it. He was picked up off his feet again, slamming hard against the ground and they were rolling across the lab. The screams of the blinded hound were an assault on his ears even as the second one's claws raked up and down his breastplate.

Sammus and Pomp cut off the third hound, having finally finished off their own. A distant part of Erak’s mind was happy they could be bothered to have intervened while he wrestled with this one. He didn’t like his odds of two of them gnawing on him while he was on the ground.

He let go of his sword and wedged his free hand under the creature’s jaw, grabbing its throat and beginning to squeeze. The hot scales were hard under his fingers, but they slowly shifted and gave way under continuous pressure. A scale popped and the hound started to growl. First in anger, then in pain, then in fear.

Erak strangled it, ignoring the blows hitting him until he felt another rush of Essence flood through him. He tossed the corpse off of him and got back to his feet. Sammus and Pomp had left their hound a bleeding mess of small cuts and lacerations. One ducking in to lay a blow before retreating, while the other drew its attention. The puddle beneath the creature was an inch deep and only widening as the beast began to mewl in pain.

Grabbing his blade up from the ground he walked over to the blinded hound and put it out of its misery. Its head flopped to the ground and the creature fell limp as Erak smiled as more Essence entered him. These beasts weren’t a massive challenge, but the draconic heritage of the beast’s had strengthened them beyond what their levels suggested.

Pomp lunged underneath a wild snapping attempt and grabbed its throat like a terrier, worrying himself back and forth as the much larger hound slowly strangled. Sammus was panting heavily, leaning against a wall with his bloody sword in one hand and the other hand on his knee as his chest billowed in and out.

“You really do take me to the nicest places, Erak.”