Dog charged, carving a path of bloody ruin through the elven warriors around him. He eyed the chunks of wood that made up their armor warily, its density harder than he’d expected, more advanced than his prior foes. They surrounded him amidst the grove, bows drawn, shades of brown, blonde, and tan hair billowing silently. Antlers like a deer or moose jutting out from their angular, and form fitting helms. Their jagged, wild ears twitching as they jutted out from their heads.
“Surrender, son of man! Your death will be quicker.” An elf woman with pine brown hair called, “No need to complicate it.”
“So why are we talking?” He called, axe spinning between his hands, “Put me down if you can!”
“You really expect to fight through all of us? You’re leagues from the nearest battlefront!”
Dog glanced at the bodies in his wake, the elf stiffening. He charged, unwilling to entertain further conversation, his blade whistling as bone shattered, and flesh was cleaved. He moved forward, taking their attacks and arrows where he could spare it. His armor began to falter once more, arrowheads that burned his skin stabbing into his arms and legs.
“Pepper him from afar! Let the firebark do it's job job!” The lead hunter called, taking to the trees.
All women still. They must have tied up their men at the front again. Dammit. Dog spat, his ears working overtime as his body sped up, I need to move faster, make them miss their shots. The arrows are sapping at my strength.
Dog hurled himself into a nearby gulch, sheathing his battleaxe as he bolted through the undergrowth.
“Hold your fire! You’ll burn the forest!” The elf captain called, “Change to your Ironwood-arrows!”
That buys me time. I need to move! Dog pulled his hand axes from his belt, his feet light on the dirt as he bolted, throwing all caution to the wind in favor of speed.
“He’s fast! Watch yourselves, sisters! He may not be human! It's the axe-warrior from our sister's reports!”
Bastards. Dog grunted, glaring up at the cliff face ahead of him, They’re herding me. I need to go to the south, and move up to reach Victoria’s command post. I can’t without going straight through.
He turned, dashing southbound, trees flying by as the wind whistled in his helmet, “He’s taken the bait! Pin him down!”
Dog snarled, digging his axe into a nearby tree and pulling his body up. The wood elf froze, unprepared for him to join them in the canopy. His axe flashed, and she screamed, falling into the undergrowth.
“Watch yourselves! He’s in the trees!”
Where are you? Dog sniffed, honey catching his nose on the breeze, Three further south, seven to the north, and one to my western flank. Captain, I suspect. Her first.
Dog dashed, his mind recalling the lightness in their footsteps, the surety of their bounds. He nearly fell, eyes hardening as he began to acclimate soon after, launching forward with each jump as if he’d been launched on a springboard.
“Sisters! There’s something-Argh!” Dog paused, ears twitching as he listened, the scream coming from the northern group he’d out maneuvered.
“Sisters!” The captain ahead of him called.
He chuckled, eyeing her as she scanned the foliage beneath him. He dropped like a stone, slamming into her with his boot and driving the wind from her belly.
“Bastard!” She wheezed, drawing her blade. He smashed it from her hand, his axe cutting into her throat as he crushed her bow.
“Call them off, and you live.” He warned, “I won’t ask again.“
“Captain! Run!” A voice shrieked, the sounds of battle being joined.
Dog paused, “Something’s wrong.”
“Get off me! Unhand me you animal!” She thrashed beneath him.
“Those aren’t my reinforcements.” Dog hushed her, “Can you hear that?”
“What are you-“ Dog slapped her, his finger to his helmet maw.
“Shut up.” He whispered, “How many were there? Your unit?”
“I’ll kill you-“
Dog turned, jumping off the elf captain and raising his axe. An elf scout stumbled into the clearing, her arm low at her side. She bled from every part of her body, staining the earth beneath her as she shambled.
“Captain.” She coughed, collapsing at the edge of the clearing, “Warn the others, please!”
Dog jumped towards her, grabbing her up in his arms, “What is it? Who’s come?”
“The Bovir…” She wheezed, “They’re-“ She fell silent, eyes darkening as she slipped away.
“Ariel!” The captain cried, crawling towards her on all fours, “No, no, no, no!”
“Be quiet!” Dog hissed, “She’s only unconscious. We need to go.”
“We?” The captain glared, drawing her blade, “Unhand her!”
“We!” Dog insisted, “Can you not hear that?”
“Hear what?” She paused, her temper fading, blade falling.
“They’re coming.” He hissed, “Quick, up high. Can you hide us?”
She hesitated, eyeing her blonde companion in his arms.
“Go!” He growled, throwing the unconscious elf over his shoulder as he climbed, the captain following a moment after.
“Cover our scents, and pull the foliage near.” He instructed.
“How do you know I can do that?” She asked warily, tucking against him in the boughs of the tree.
“My mistress has a wise bodyguard. He has fought your kind before.” Dog whispered, “Be quiet, they’re close.”
Dog held his breath, motioning for the elven captain to mimic him as the tree began to shake. A foul, odorous scent filled the air and made Dog dizzy. They came in a blood thirsty hoard of cloven beasts, a mass of rusty metal and muscle. He felt the elven captain tense at his side as a group of elves were dragged by their ankles in the dirt, stripped bare of their armor, pale skin exposed to the air. Dog tensed next, a scent unfamiliar to him overpowering the rest. He scanned the hoard, hoping his tree held as they parted around it or shoved others over. He watched as a hulking mass of hate shoved through the crowd, skin ready to burst from the sheer mass beneath it.
Dog turned, watching as the captain froze, her eyes full of fear as its horns caught her eye. It sniffed the air, and Dog felt his leg grow damp as the captain began to shake, her eyes screwed shut. Dog pulled his handaxe free, sliding it from his belt.
The Tauros glared, but marched on, the horde following in his wake.
“What was that?” Dog whispered.
“A herd.” The captain collapsed, and Dog cursed as he grabbed her, “We’re finished. I’ve never seen one so large. The frontline will be completely overrun. We failed. We were too slow to win the war.”
“Why’re you attacking Korone anyways? Them? Why would elves who love the woods leave them?"
“Not them. This is worse. We have no choice.” She replied, “The grove has fallen, our people are wanderers now.”
“What do you mean? What ran you out?”
“The rats.”
Dog paused, “Rats?”
“Rats as tall as humans, and twice as vicious.” She explained, “They come from below like the stunted ones, or goblins, but outnumber them ten to one. Where there is one, there is surely more.”
Dog hummed, “I haven’t heard of their ilk before. Siegfried will be interested.”
“Your mentor?”
“Of a sorts.” Dog rasped, “Come, we need to make camp. Both our peoples are exposed, and vulnerable.”
“I cannot leave my companions in their clutches.” She spat, “I will mount a rescue. Then I will warn my people. You do not understand what they do to the civilized races, we are just more opportunities to consume and reproduce.”
“This many factions moving is dangerous.” He noted, “I need to get back to Victoria. This front isn’t worth the coin.”
“Coin? You’re a mercenary?”
“Of the Highgarden company.” He nodded, “Victoria knew the king of Korone’s father. This has been nothing but a waste of time and money. Louen should pull her forces back.”
“Why are you even this far out?”
“I was searching for a flank. After your people’s defeat in the fields the day before last, you’ve dug in too deep for our cavalry to do anything in the woods.” He said, “Victoria loves her cavalry. The bulk of them have nearly arrived. If I could have found one, we could have crushed your operations center and ended the war.”
“You didn’t have a horse?”
“I’m fast enough without one. Thought you saw that.” He said, “Now let’s go, we’ll scale the cliff, and try to set a bonfire to signal.”
----------------------------------------
“Can you heal her?” Dog asked, “Her fever is down for now.”
“No. I don’t know any spells for it.” She said, “She might not make it through the night.”
“Why? Her fever dropped.”
“Our kind lacks your constitution.” She explained.
“I see.” He nodded, “What do they call you, captain?”
“Maestra.” She said, “And you, human?”
“Dog.”
“Dog?” She paused, “Like… Like the animal?”
“Yep.”
“This isn’t me being unable to properly understand man-speak, right?”
“Nope. Arf, arf.” Dog said, the shadows from the fire before them licking his cheeks.
“Oh…”
“Problem?”
“I just expected something more ordinary. Like John, or Ted. Those are human names, right?”
“They are.” He said.
“There a story behind that?”
“Nope. I was traded for a dog.”
“Oh.”
“What’s Maestra mean? If anything?”
“Night fowl, I believe in our language. I think it may sound like something else to you.”
“Sounds elvish.” He chuckled.
“Ah. How long have you been a mercenary?”
“A long time.”
“Not very talkative, are you?”
“No.”
“Ah…”
“What was your home like? I’ve met the Dark Elves and High Elves.”
“Truly?” Her eyes brightened, “I’ve never met any of our kin.”
“They were not happy to meet me.”
“Mercenary work?”
“Yeah.”
“What’re they like?”
“What’s your opinion on slavery?”
Maestra paused, “It is not something we practice.”
“You wouldn’t like the Dark Elves. That’s basically their entire economy. They are vicious, like yourselves. They like poison over explosives..” He said, “The High Elves are arrogant, and violent. They lack your peoples ferocity, but they make up for it with freakish organization, and efficiency.”
“Have you met one? Off the battlefield?”
“No. I’ve met an Ishlan.” He said, “She won’t go away. But I guess she’s technically my slave.”
“Technically?”
“She won’t leave.”
“Ah.”
“What was this glade like?”
“Beautiful.” Maestra said, her eyes wide, “The streams were cool to bathe in, and sweet to drink. No sun, we used the light of the mushrooms, and of the other fauna. Trees as tall as mountains, and thickets that you could spend hours exploring. It was paradise where none went hungry, and all in the world was at peace.”
“I’ve never seen such a place.”
“It was wonderful.” Her eyes darkened, “Then it was not. Our scouts failed to return one day, then people began to go missing. Then they came. The ground erupted with fire and metal while they tore our people apart.”
“The rats?”
“They were just everywhere all at once. A tide of rodents. They burned everything. They ruined everything.”
“Are they that deadly?”
“There’s just… They’re endless. Their individual skill is nothing, save for some monstrous outliers, but the rank and file is beyond count.”
“Why resort to combat with Korone over diplomacy? Why not speak this out first?”
“It’s never been an option. Our people have butchered each other for as long as I can remember. Besides, it is not a lowly captain's decision to make. That is up to our elders, and our men folk.”
“Why?”
“It’s before my time. The hate is undeniable, however. So many young ones dead. So many men died. It weakens our people. This will not be the first war. It will not be the last.”
“I have yet to see a male of your kind. Are they different? I assumed there were more at the battlefront."
“Men are rare amongst elves. They are protected, and cherished. You are more likely to produce a daughter in a coupling many more times than a son. Our males are different in form depending on age.”
“How?”
“Initially they appear to resemble us, if not much larger, and more muscular usually. As they grow, their connection to the wilds grows. They… Change.”
“Change how?”
“Are you going to betray me?” She asked abruptly, eyes alight with the flames of their campfire.
Dog blinked, “I hadn’t intended to. This entire war seems pointless now. They should just let you pass, it would allow them to prep the capital for the rats or the beasts. Better yet, ally temporarily to blunt the hoard so you may reclaim your home.”
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“So when we arrive to warn our people, are you going to tell them such?”
“I’ll tell Victoria, Louen, and Merlin.” He said, “But Merlin and Louen are only two people, Louen has advisors, lords and ladies, knights and other government officials. Victoria is only a mercenary captain, our influence is limited even with the dignity she’s served with.”
“Your mercenaries, what do they wear?”
Dog pulled a pauldron from his bag, a small fountain emblazoned upon it in red, “This is the emblem of the Highgarden company, we serve the White Death.”
“If this information doesn’t sway the monkeys of Korone, do you think your lady of the Highgarden will retreat?”
“If she doesn’t I’ll make her. But Merlin should understand the threat, and Louen listens to Merlin. If he doesn’t, I’ll just beat him up again. Louen lost to me. He’s also… Not so bad.”
“What of the king’s advisors? His lords?”
“I’ll just kill them. I already threatened to.” Dog shrugged, “We should run. There’s no point seeing our men bleed and die for coin like this, we’d be starting over. Victoria’s dream can’t afford it.”
“Her dream?”
“She seeks to rule her own kingdom.”
Maestra blinked, “Lofty aspirations for a manling.”
“She beat me, she’ll manage.”
“You are quite impressive.”
Dog grunted, “How do you know this one?”
“Ariel?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“She is my older sister. My twin, in your common tongue.” Maestra said.
Dog blinked, “How old are you?”
“Eighty of your summers.”
“How old is she?”
“One-hundred.”
“Ah…”
“How old are you?”
Dog scratched his neck.
“I know you age quicker than our kind do.”
“I’m not actually sure. Past eighteen summers, roughly?”
Maestra blinked, “You’re… Very young, for one so strong. Practically a babe. We are not even allowed into the greater glades until we are fifty. How long have you been training?”
“A fortnight and a bit extra.” He said.
Maestra laughed, “You jest?”
“No. I have fought since I was very young, but I have only had formal training as of recently.”
“You were running through the trees as if you had been alongside my sisters your whole life?”
“I’m a quick learner.”
“That was beyond any prodigy I’ve ever seen. I should know.”
“I’m a really quick learner.”
“Hmm.” Maestra said.
“Are you and this one close?”
“We’re sisters.”
“That means little at times.”
“Among you monkeys, maybe.” She snorted, “We live a very long time. We spend a long time with our loved ones. It’s not like the lesser races, all of my kind are irreplaceable. What could be better than spending an eternity with someone you adore?”
“What could be worse than spending an eternity without the one you adore.” He realized, “Your hate for Korone must be deep, then. That pain is not easily forgotten.”
“You understand, then.”
“No. I’ve never had anyone important to me. But i have seen it.”
“No one? Not even your commander? Or comrades?”
“Nobody.” He answered quietly, eyes on the campfires in the distance.
“Truly? You’ve never had a lover? Not even as a boy?”
“There was one, once…” He trailed off.
“When you were a boy?”
“No. A campaign several months ago, far to the north of here. The land is harsh, and violent. Few plants grow, and what animals there are… They are large, and territorial. Everything wants to eat you, to consume. Food is warmth, and no food means you die.”
“No plants?” Maestra asked, “Ever?”
“It’s a place of eternal winter. There are forests, but they are covered in snow most days. Great pines that touch the sky, and stretch for any sunlight they can reach. The people there are even harder. They are large, nearly as large as the orcs that roam there. Some say wolves who walk upright like men dwell further north, near the ocean, but I have never seen one.”
“So who was she? What was she like?” Maestra asked.
“She was kind, too kind.” He replied.
“Tell me about her.” She said, rolling her eyes.
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything, everything? We may die on the morrow, this is interesting. Love so short must be passionate.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged, “Her name was Yana.”
“Was she pretty?”
He grunted, “Up to you. Everyone looks the same, where she comes from. She was tall, with bronze skin and dark hair. Her eyes were gray, and she looked angry a lot. She was kind, it was stupid.”
“She sounds exotic.”
“She looked like they all do, as I’ve said. Dumb girl.”
“Why is being kind stupid? How’d you meet?”
“Kindness feeds no one. It is not without it's use, but the battlefield has no need for it. She was… She caused many issues, she was too vocal, and wasn’t liked. I met her on the front, during a raid. I was chosen to man the vanguard, and we saved their poorly planned rear assault.” He explained, “Do not confuse my meaning. I respect kindness, integrity, honor. But it has a time, and a place.”
“You two bonded?”
“No.” He said, “I didn’t, at least. Most pair up in the north, better four eyes then two, and a warm body against yours amidst the storm is beneficial.”
“You were intimate then?”
“Yes.” He said.
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. Probably still out there fighting. She wasn’t weak. Just too kind. When you are fighting for coins, you don’t get paid unless you do as you’re told. She’s lucky I was there.”
“You say you don’t care about her, but you intervened on her behalf?”
Dog said nothing.
“Are you ashamed?”
“No.”
“I am happy to listen, you saved my sister. Despite our differences, and the pain you caused, you have done right by me, and have been honorable. I am not so young that I cannot understand that this is war, and far from personal.”
“How very mature of you. No. Nothing to listen to. Even if I wanted to say, I wouldn’t know where to start.”
----------------------------------------
“Our bonfire will not reach, not unless we burn the entire region down.” Dog said, “I can’t even see the camp from here, they might just assume it’s an elf base. The goat men didn’t use any fires, so they wouldn't see them. Still no sign of your rats, either.”
“So what do you suggest? We need to rescue my kinsman first.”
Dog growled, gnashing his teeth, “This’ll be annoying. Is there no way around that?”
“I refuse to leave them in their clutches. You don’t understand what they do to us, especially women.”
“Fine.” Dog sighed, “Can you get your kin out quickly? Can you carry wounded?”
“I can. What will you do?”
“I’ll draw the herd out, I probably have the best chance against them on open ground.” He said, “I’ll feign ignorance, stumble upon their camp and start killing anything that wakes up. They are still stirring, I’ll make noise and drag them away. You take your kin, and rendezvous here further south, I’ll meet you there and we’ll warn our people.”
“Are you sure?” She asked, “Are you certain you can escape?”
“Sure.”
“These are not like men, these are Bovir. Even the weakly goatlings are faster, more agile. They can outpace some of your people's horses.”
“Let them try.”
“You need not sacrifice yourself-“
“I’m not.” Dog snorted, scratching his ear, “I wouldn’t take a fight I couldn’t win. Victoria would kill me if I died.”
Maestra laughed, “Very well. If you require assistance, lead them towards the tree. I will entrap the foliage, and turn it into a maze of spikes and thorns.”
“I won’t need it.” He waved her off, heading for the herding ground.
“You are a brave man, Dog. I will owe you a great debt. Shall I take Ariel from you?”
“No need, you’ll need to be fast. She’ll slow you down.”
Dog vanished, leaping into the trees. He recalled his prior exploits, his muscles following his commands easily despite their exhaustion as he bound through the trees. He eyed the wooden shell on his back, Ariel strapped safely inside, tied to his torso with vine and ironwood.
This isn’t like you, Dog. His voice whispered in Dog’s ears.
“Shut up.” Dog barked, pulling his hand axes free, using them to swing himself over branch and burough.
You’re a tool good for no one. Nobody needs you. Nobody but me. What did you say last night? Kindness has no place on the battlefield.
“Who cares?” Dog sighed, “I’m not afraid of you anymore. I’ve met people who are stronger.”
You think they’ll protect you?
“I think they’ll teach me.”
Teach you what? You’re too dumb to learn anything useful. You’ve always been a dumb little dog.
“And maybe I’ll always be a dumb dog. But I’m not your dog anymore.”
You think these elves care? You’re a spec in their lives. She asked you about yourself, and that’s enough for you to throw your life away? Gave you a sob story so you'll fight for them? These immortal immoral wastes?
“I’m not throwing my life away. I wasn’t ordered to.”
Always at your master's beck, and call.
“Just not yours.”
You can’t trust them. They’ll all betray you.
Dog paused, a skunk-like stench filling the air, “Maybe not. But I don’t need to trust them. I just need to learn from them.”
Dog slowed, stopping on a branch and dropping to a hang, his axes embedded in the bark as he eyed the camp before him. The beasts milled about with little to no shelter. There were no dedicated latrines, they simply emptied their bowels wherever convenient, sometimes on one another. His eyes and nose searched, hunting for Maestra’s companions. His frown deepened when he found them, covered in mud and dung from the beasts around them, tied together in a pit at the edge of camp where the larger bull-like men and goats fought for dominance, their small kindred watching on and jeering, clumsily made spears and teeth quick to rip any unfortunate loser apart.
“Nasty beasts.” Dog remarked, “Think I’ll make my entrance there. Should wait for Maestra's signal.”
Dog glanced towards the grove at his back, eyeing the small flashes of light from the trees, reflecting the light from the rising sun.
“Never mind.”
----------------------------------------
Maestra sighed, noticing a distinct lack of activity as she flashed her arrow with the rising sun, “Maybe he can’t see it?” She thought.
A dozen braying-screeches sounded out through the herd, a vicious roar silencing them as blades flashed, and horned heads filled the air, “Come on then! Come and give me a fight you dirty bastards!” Dog howled, rousing the herd, his axe flashing on the opposite end of the bluff. They gave chase as he butchered them, drawing as many out of their burrows and sleeping spots as he could, any too slow to escape simply executed on the spot. His axe was unmistakable, crushing bone and rending flesh in a whirling mass of steel.
The tide changed, and Dog’s rage fueled snarls and animalistic barks sent many of the weaker Kids scrambling to escape his wrath.
A titanic roar split the air, and Maestra covered her ears as a familiar tingly feeling filled her lower belly. Several grating bleats sounded out, and Dog began to retreat. A sizable chunk of the hoard followed him out of the clearing, braying with bloodlust as they sped after him, nearly keeping pace with the short man. Maestra sighed in relief, before realization set in, freezing once more as a pair of wicked horns followed after the herd, its pierced nose shining in the low light as it let out a loud, Moo!
“By the Gods.” Maestra sighed, descending to where her imprisoned kin lay trapped.
She arrived quickly, cutting the weaker goats and young calf’s down before they could alert the other half of the herd, her arrows finding their eyes with practiced precision, cutting out of the trees like thunder from the sky. She glanced down into their pit, surprised to find a familiar looking axe, her sisters roused, but weary, her lieutenant armed and brandishing the human blade.
“Sisters?” Maestra whispered.
“Captain!” Lieutenant Leera asked, “Why are you here? The strange human was here. Did you alert the patriarch?”
“I couldn’t.” Maestra said, “The herd rests in our way, too many guards. But I would not leave you to suffer at their hands, beloved. Are any of you harmed?”
Several exchanged glances, cheeks red with humiliation.
“Some were not so lucky. They must be cleansed.” Leera spat, “Wretched beasts.”
“It will be done, sisters.” Maestra glared, “Come, I’ve prepared your gear. We rally with Dog to the south after he’s thinned their defenses.”
“Who’s dog?” A blonde elf asked.
“The manling.”
“Why would we rally with a monkey?” Leera asked, “He killed our sisters, he butchered us!”
“And now he frees us.” Maestra said, “We have shed each other’s blood, that axe that freed you is his. You said as much. We face a larger enemy.”
“Captain, one of the rats was here. I suspect it was… A liaison, of sorts, to the Bull. Something bigger is happening. ” Liora spoke.
“We must hurry then. Dog cannot hold them forever, he’s only human. Come, sisters. To the trees!”
“What kind of a name is Dog?” Leera scoffed.
----------------------------------------
Dog spun, catching the spear aimed for Ariel’s carrier in his arm. He grabbed the young goat man by its fuzzy, human-like neck, and squeezed. The goat man dropped, its fuzzy legs still kicking as Dog bled, his vision spinning.
What am I doing? This really isn’t like me.
Dog lashed out, his axe embedding itself in the skull of a younger bull. It screeched, clawing at its head as it fell in a heavy thud! Dog turned, eyeing the crowd around him with bored eyes.
That last spear went deep. My arm is nearly pulped. Hand axes are gone, just down to Her. Dog sighed, pulling his battleaxe free, Am I really going to die for an elf I’ve only met once? Killed by a fucking goat?
He paused, feeling Ariel shift in her crate.
Dammit. Dog reached down, pulling an arrow out of his thigh. When did I get so weak? I should just leave her here. I could still get out on my own. This is dumb.
Dog dodged, his axe reaping a bloody toll as he swung it through the air, the Bovir surrounding him bleating to each other in their alien tongue, each taking turns to jab at him with a spear or axe, trying to take him when he was distracted.
What are you doing, Dog? Victoria’s going to be so angry. His legs pumped on, If I slow down here, they’ll find Maestra. I need to draw them towards the river, turn their numbers into a disadvantage.
Dog ran, ignoring the blood spurting from his leg and arm as he swung, taking the measure of his axe in his mind as he forced the monsters back, trying to maintain his distance while keeping them from Ariel.
“I smell elf!” Another billy grunted, his common was short, crude, breath foul and rotten, “Where elf, man-thing!”
“Up your ass.” Dog rolled his eyes, swinging at the beast. It dodged, laughing at him with heavy snorts.
He felt water around his feet, and in his boots, glad to be lacking his armor. He turned, facing the coming hoard, his mind calm. He swung, twirling his axe like a toy on a string. The Bovir stumbled over one another in the water, their hoofs bogged down by mud or rock as they struggled to maintain their footing on the slippery terrain.
“You dumb animals.” Dog snorted, driving his weapon into a slow one’s chest, splitting its bulbous rib cage in two and filling the stream with it's blood, I’ll return, Victoria. You have too much to teach me. Snow wanted to see the world. I will return.
He shifted, dodging another strike, and slamming his head into its source. It brayed, greasy eyes squeezed shut, before Dog decapitated it, the river full of headless bodies. He swung, and swung, his arms numb, the herds numbers endless.
“Stinky monkey!” Something chittered from on high.
Dog cocked his head, an unfamiliar scent on the wind, his face stained with blood. He scanned the treetops, grabbing a club aimed for his face, before a second found the back of his knees. He twisted, kicking out and forcing his knee back into place, the attacker sent flying. He turned the club, wrenching it from the others hands and cracking it over his head, watching as its mouth foamed, before it collapsed in the river at his feet, drowning slowly.
“What’s this?” Dog asked, a rusted, filth stained axe digging into his shoulder pauldron, earning his new foe a crack across the jaw, “Your scent is new.” A dagger flew out of the trees, and he shifted, letting it embed itself in a goatman at his back.
The blur stilled above him.
“Found you.” Dog said, catching another axe in his dead arm. He spun, his axe taking off chunks of fur or tearing his enemy apart, before he leapt, swinging at the densely packed greenery above him.
He blinked, a dagger flying towards him as he flew. He twisted, swinging his axe again and twisting himself into the air, using its bite in the tree to leverage his body. He landed near his new foe, the creature screaming and hissing. He eyed it up in surprise, and mild recognition.
“Sneaky, but not sneaky enough.” Dog noted, “You’re one of the rat-men.”
It glared, pulling a pair of blades off its belt, a third working its way out from behind its back, held in its hairless, dexterous tail. Its maw and face were unusually human in some aspects, bright red eyes twinkling. Long, muscular legs balanced expertly on the branch, their shape mostly human aside from the splayed rat feet, and long heel that stretched back to its calf. Its body was covered in form fitting leather armor that was of higher quality then Dog had expected, daggers and trinkets held to itself with straps and buckles. Short, knotted and wavy white hair hung low from its hood, ending at its chin.
“Not monkey…” It eyed him, eyes trailing to the bloodied axe.
“Not a man.” He noted, eyeing her wicked claws. Her ears twitched, eyes darting between him and the herd struggling to climb below them. He studied her further, noting the piercings at the end of her tail, the object akin to a spear tip, her ears covered in short, dense fur.
She hissed, and he sniffed again, bringing his axe closer.
“You’re a dangerous one.”
“You are manling. Why here? Why fight-fight dumb goats? Not turn yet-yet!” It chittered.
Clever little rat. Does it think other humans are in the area? “I don’t like goats.” He said, “You’re working with them.”
“Shut up!” It snapped, white teeth flashing as it pulled itself into it's cape, “Dumb monkey-thing! How you climb tree? You want fall-fall? I send you to goats!”
“You’re welcome to try. I need you to stop throwing knives at me.”
“Monkey-thing die! More knife!”
Dog pulled his axe nearer, and it shifted back.
I should catch it if I can. Merlin could study it. Dog barked, and jerked. It recoiled in surprise at the sound, unable to fathom how it had come from the person in front of it. He laughed, tossing his axe onto it and watching it scramble, unable to escape the weight on its belly lest it risk falling into the river of spears and beasts beneath it. He moved forward, cracking his fist into its face and dragging its unconscious body over his shoulder.
“Time to go, I think.” Dog noted, eyeing the beast shoving its way towards him from where he’d run from. He scaled higher, sheathing his axe and disappearing into the trees, ignorant of the cut on his shoulder.
----------------------------------------
“Maestra.” A voice rasped.
The tall elf turned, watching as Dog dropped into their camp from on high, several bows drawn on him.
“Stand down!” Maestra ordered, ignoring the scoffs and glares as she approached Dog, “You made it. I was worried I’d have to leave you… What is that?”
Dog tossed the rat-woman on the ground, “One of your rats.”
“No it isn’t.”
Dog glanced at it, “Oh. It looks like a rat.”
“It’s a woman.”
“Well… Don’t most things reproduce via women?”
“The rats hoard their women. They produce several spawn at once, only the strongest earn them. They are kept like cattle, sold off to produce the strongest rats. They never leave their maze warrens. That’s impossible.”
“It was wearing a cape when I found it.” He shrugged, “Maybe they don’t know it’s a woman.”
“Impossible. The females produce a smell that draws the rest. I’ve never seen a white one before, and not one this clean.” Maestra acknowledged.
“Do you want me to strip it? It’s got tits. Maybe teets? I didn’t check it.”
Maestra laughed, “I’d rather not. Shall I gut it?”
“No need. A great human wizard is aligned with Korone’s boy king, he will know how to make it speak.”
The rat stared up, red eyes shaking as it shook in its bonds, quiet squeaks emanating from it's chest.
“Don’t like that, do you?” Dog grunted, his boot on its head, “Caught it ripping chunks of its cape off, the damn goats were following me by scent. We need to move, they aren’t far behind.”
Dog broke into a sprint, the elves at his back as they ran through the night.