R.
“Don’t let them surround you~!” Biggest of the human voice echoed between cries of chirping monsters and whistles of swinging swords.
He had to be the leader of the group.
– He looks sooo tasty.
One of the raptors thought, drooling over all that muscles under the armor and then shook his head.
– Focus, fool! Think with bigger words! Think tactics!
R. was the packs smartest raptor, although most of them didn’t give a shit about it. These animals at best were at the level of a dog or a fox. Cunning and smart, yes, but still driven by their base instincts – strong was better than smart and all the ladies liked big raptors. It wasn’t easy to make them do, what He wanted. And R. wanted to win – and eat. But most of all – to grow stronger so that no other monster threatened his life ever again… and get laid.
Two bangs rang. Humans with the boom–boom sticks shot the metal monster that already laid on the ground.
“Ahhh! \ ( >Д< ) / »
– Wow, that almost hit me! Wait, are those muskets? So cool!
Little raptor was thankful that that human's aim was worst then drunkard piss, but still, R. moved more to back so others raptors would act as meat shields.
– Better safe than sorry.
“What happened to the Black Knight?”
“Em, that burning pile of metal? It ain’t moving, sir!” Other human-made sounds back.
“Good shot soldier!” Redhead human shouted.
R. could understand a couple of words here and there to get the gist of what they were saying.
– They would shit their armor if they saw what really killed that metal thing, hehehehe!
R. certainly had left a smoking pile himself. You don’t say hello to chtullus dog every day. He hadn’t even known they existed here until today.
“Men, keep your distance. Until we haven’t confirmed its demise, it's faking it. And add some damn light.”
Lanterns rolled to sides, scattering attackers and giving more room of light. Baby Raptors dived in and out of shadows, confusing both the soldiers and themselves.
“Ahhh! \ ( >Д< ) / »
«The light! It blinds!ヽ( °`皿°)ﾉ»
«Ahhh! Boom! Boom! ( ≧o < ; )»
«Ahhh! So dizzy… \ (@ ~ @) / »
«Stop whining and bite asses! ( ಠ ロ ಠ) – »
“Ahhh! But boom – boom light!! \ ( * D*) / »
« UUU~! Scary!ヽ( >皿< )ﾉ»
« They won’t go boom boom! The light doesn’t hurt! Calm down and focus! ( ಠ ロ ಠ)/ »
Chaos entailed anyway.
– This is a mess. Dumb animals.
R. shook his head. Rest of raptors had mistaken simple lanterns for magic bombs that some adventurers trowed at monsters. It was hard to explain to these animals, that humans wouldn’t waste magic bombs for low-level monsters like them.
Still, one shouldn’t underestimate these “clever” little creatures. What they lacked in brute strength, they made up with resilience – tiring out their prey and forcing it to make a mistake. It didn’t matter that in the hustle they themselves often tripped and fell over their own feet or tales. That only meant less competition for the tasty bits.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
He only needed them to fall in line and make full use of their advantages.
«Group A – head, eyes! Group B – get those balls! (T益T) ﾉ» R. chirped in his best alpha male voice, thrusting his chest out for full effect.
« Aye!ヽ( >`ロ< )ﾉ !»
In the confusion, some of the raptors answered, believing that the order came from one of the bigger males. Keeping orders as simple as possible was the key.
R. watched a couple of raptors split from the pack and sneaked around while the rest distracted. He himself, of course, did none of this and kept himself at safe distance. His job (self-appointed) was to watch and to stay safe.
Those who were the more agile ones waited for their chance and leaped on shoulders and backs to try trust their long nails trough helmet eye slid into the juicy, tasty bits. Meanwhile, the bigger ones moved to disorient – circling, hissing, playing hit and run while targeting all the weak points – joints, holding straps, bends in the plate armor and balls.
All the little Raptors know, from tales of their Raptor grandmother, that the most effective (and delicious) human weak spot was their balls. Most times they found them between legs, but sometimes they hide higher on the chest. And those humans usually had higher pitch squeals.
From what the raptors saw, most had the low balls, but maybe the one at the back, groups smallest in size, had the high balls? Curiously, one of the sneaky fluff balls got behind it and was about to lurch, when another human moved in front and caught it by surprise. Already in motion, little raptor took his chance went for the new target's head.
Just missing sharp blade, raptors teeth met with the hard surface of the metal helmet.
“AAAA~!” Two screams echoed.
On from the raptors, whose toe got stuck and dislocated and other from the human in whose nose its long, sharp-nailed toe was stuck in.
“Get off! Off!” Redhead bellowed trough downpour of his own blood.
– Wow, he looks scary…
CLANG!
– And dangerous!
R. gulped, watching as the human freed his hand by dropping the weapon and grabbed the little creature by its slender neck. Captured raptor managed to only let out a small squeak of surprise before his windpipe got crushed. Raptor went limp in the adventures hand, but it didn’t end there. The redhead pulled the dead raptor away from his face, unleashing a flood of blood pouring down his face. And then the human started senselessly bashed the dead animal against the ground, echoing sounds of breaking bones.
– Monster!
At that moment a group of three decided to jump and sweep redhead off his feet (so romantic).
“AAAAh!” His cry might as well been dining bells.
Seeing easy pray all nearby scavengers lurched fallen soldiers' way. The only thing the human could do was get his shield between him and them, basically acting out the part of the turtle.
This amused the little creatures, prompting them to jump on the makeshift stage and start the very first Raptor rap concert.
«Cluck – Cluck – Chicken Nugget! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)»
«Bark – Bark – Bitch! Dog on top! (^ε ^; )»
«Suck this tail, swallow that nail and call it Raptor colada! ( ಠεಠ) ﾉ»
«Yaaas!ヽ( >`ロ< )ﾉ !» All the Raptor ladies squalled in approval and twerked their tails.
In their short lives, they had to embrace fun when they got the chance to do so. Well, almost all of them did it.
– Idiots. The fight isn’t over yet!
The smaller human moved to help out and tried to fight off the raptors, who hissed at him in response.
“Move out of the way, boy!” The bigger fought through the raptor lines and joined him, activated his skill. “[Taunt]: Tail flickers!”
– FU ~!!
R. quickly run even farther away.
Magic words rang through the hollow hall. Unseen, invisible strings grabbed at closest monsters and pulled them big humans way as he took a stance to protect his pack. The words of power had adorned creature's eyes with a reddish glint. Lost in the haze of sudden blood lust, effected Raptors couldn’t resist even as they rushed straight to the embrace of the cold steel.
First of the creatures easily fell for the blade, running right through them or got crushed by the banging of the shield. Little human helped with stragglers.
«Kill – asses! \ ( @w@) / »
Twitching bodies started to litter the battlefield, painting the floor red, and yet, those with the red glint in their eyes kept on running to their death.
R. and the remaining raptors watched in morbid horror and uttering not a sound. Some turned their tail and run. Others stayed, unable to move. But no-one attacked. They had learned their lesson.
This raptor party was over.
– Scheisse~!