The salamander's skill-empowered strike slammed into Reid like a freight train. Two claws split straight through his bone armor gauntlet, and the third carved into his lower torso. Everything parted in their wake.

The claws bit into Reid's skin, then muscles, and through his bones. The force of the blow spun Reid in a circle, and he watched his hand and forearm fly off in different directions. They'd been separated by impossibly clean cuts, and left Reid with only a few inches of his arm past his left elbow. That wound, and the gouge in his torso were both leaking blood.

He forced himself to concentrate through the pain, and planted a foot that slowed him down enough to hit the ground with his knees. He flexed his core to stop his body's leftover momentum, and nearly doubled over in pain when the split muscles on his left side tried to tighten. Reid didn't have time for pain - nor any battlefield healing. The guardian that did this was still close by. Reid forced himself to his feet and took a half step to face the guardian.

Reid surveyed the creature for a moment, and hoped he read things right. Just like the rapid regeneration, this new slashing skill looked like it had a trade-off. The guardian's arm was moving much slower than it had at the beginning of the fight. If Reid was right, the thing's arm was suffering from a debuff after the attack that slowed movement speed. Between that and the beast's mangled arm it had sacrificed to land the attack, Reid technically had the advantage. But a debuff would wear off. If he waited to see the attack again to confirm its effects or the timing, he might not live through the fight.

He could run. The salamander was slower, and Reid could probably make it to the safety of the wall. Survival was a smart play, after all. If he attacked, and the salamander's debuff timed out while he did - he might not make it out of the fight. The unknown was a promise of risk.

Reid was hurt. Missing an arm. Fighting a beast that was well above his level - and losing, by most measures.

He was also furious with the beast.

Reid roughly yanked the skill thread for strengthening and forced himself to maintain control amidst the sudden wave of rage. He pushed the power into his legs and his right arm, and leapt forward.

Reid's muscles burned as Requiem rocketed into the salamander's lower jaw and pierced its tongue. It flew up with the speed boost Reid should've been using from the start of the fight. Endurance was a fucking child's dream. He hadn't need to pace himself for future fights. He'd needed power, now, and he paid the price for not putting in his all.

Requiem pulped the salamander's internals and slammed hard into the underside of the crystal growth on top of its skull. A crack reverberated through Requiem and down Reid's right arm as the kill notification popped into view.

You have defeated Salamander - lvl 21. Bonus experience awarded.

Reid ripped Requiem back out of the salamander's head. The top spike had broken off, leaving only a stubby shard in its place. Two flanges were missing their top points. The force of the blow had been overkill, but fuck it. Reid needed decisive, and he got it. It still irked him that the crystal was stronger than his bone.

Reid told himself when he was level 21, he would be able to smash through the damn crystal skulls. The guardian's corpse hit the ground with a deep thud. Reid would be the only one taking off arms. And he'd smash through every goddamn skull of the beasts that that-

A cacophony of screeches sounded out from the main salamander group, and made Reid realize he'd nearly lost his grip on the rage crashing inside him.

He took a moment to quiet himself, and realized he was out of the fight. Reid couldn't keep going as he was. He needed to heal, and he couldn't do that directly in front of the enemy. But before that, he needed the severed pieces the guardian had removed. The wounds on his arm and torso throbbed with pain that made his vision distort.

His forearm was close by, and Reid struggled a bit to get it and requiem to fit in his right hand. After a few tries, he ended up holding his forearm between his thumb and pointer fingers while the rest curled around his mace.

His left hand was still stuck inside the bone gauntlet when he found it half-buried in tall grass. Reid scooped the gauntlet up with his pinkie, and looked to the salamanders. The Crimson Titan's swirling lava eyes bored into him. Reid shifted his forearm into the crook of what was left of his left elbow, and repositioned the gauntlet and mace. His hand slipped out of the bone armor and fell into the dirt.

"FUCK."

Reid dropped Requiem, pulled off his helmet, and turned it upside down. He stuffed his forearm and dirty hand into the makeshift bucket. He couldn't leave anything here. Reid needed to get back to the wall. Danny could heal him, and putting pieces back together would be significantly easier than fully regrowing a limb. He worked to get the bucket and Requiem into his right hand, and started back towards his ride. His vision shifted as he jogged towards the ATV, and Reid stumbled. He involuntarily bit down as he regained his balance, and groaned through a now-bloody tongue.

Reid shoved Requiem into the front luggage bars and hopped onto the duct-taped seat of the quad.

The Crimson Titan still hadn't moved. It looked between the bodies of the elite and the guardian, then to the other guardians beside it. It let out a series of pops that were echoed by the guardians, the elites, and then down to the main forces. A large portion of the lower leveled salamanders slowly started to advance.

Reid was in no condition to fight the Titan, but he was still angry. He'd won against the elite and the guardian, so the big damn lizard should've trotted its oversized ass out to meet him next. But no - instead it was going to sit back and send its forces forward. Maybe it was scared because Reid had killed a guardian. Maybe it never cared about the fights at all. Or maybe it had been testing Reid and he proved too weak to fight. Whatever the reason, Reid decided the big dumb lizard was a coward.

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Reid dropped his helmet-bucket into his lap, and thumbed the throttle with his right hand. He leaned in with his left...

SHIT.

Reid didn't have a left hand, and he was sitting on a manual quad. The right handlebar had the throttle control. The right foot peg had a brake. The left foot peg had the shifter, and the left handlebar had the clutch. Reid was one appendage short of proper operation.

He glanced behind him. The salamanders were starting to jog.

Reid let out a series of mumbled swears and leaned forward at an awkward angle until he could hook his elbow around the clutch. His chest pressed into the center of the handlebars, and the position left his face uncomfortably close to Requiem's flanges. Reid pulled with his forearm, lifted his foot to shift, and let out the clutch-

The ATV bogged out and died. Reid swore at himself. Simple. Standard. 'One down, four up'. The ATV had been in neutral, which was between first and second gear. By shifting up, he'd put the thing into second gear, where it bogged and died.

Reid Kicked down to first gear and pulled the clutch in with his stumpy arm. He thumbed the electric start - and felt some of his tension ease when it worked. Reid looked back over his shoulder. The salamanders were only thirty feet away. He swore and jammed the throttle as he let go of the clutch.

The quad's front lifted off the ground as the engine put power to the wheels. Reid's forward lean kept the thing from tipping over, and he let the throttle go until it bounced back down to the ground. His chin slammed into the front storage rack - and dented it. His mace looked even closer to his face, and Reid swore he could feel Requiem with his eyelash when he blinked.

He painfully pulled the clutch in again, shifted up into second, and thumbed the throttle. The ATV pulled forward - this time with more speed than torque. Reid spared a glance behind himself. There was a visible division now between the group advancing, and a larger contingent that had stayed back with the Titan.

Fucking coward.

Some of the 8 foot salamanders were nearly within striking distance of Reid - and he wasn't going fast enough yet to outrun them. Gunshots cracked through the air as the defenders opened fire, and bullets whizzed through the air all around him. Reid head screeching, but didn't turn. He shifted into third gear and mashed the throttle once more.

He could see the defender squads. Some of the powerful ones held bows. Many had their retorting rifles braced against the walls of the battlements. They'd chew through ammunition until the things were in bone-arrow range, then swap over. And they'd probably started shooting early to get the group off of Reid's back.

Fourth gear.

A stray bullet split one of the ATV's plastic fenders, but thankfully didn't pop the tire. Reid hunched down further on his machine. he'd rather have a bullet hit him than damage the engine.

His walkie-talkie, still clipped to the handlebars, crackled with words he couldn't make out over the ATV's high whine.

Ahead, he saw two people lower a wooden ladder down next to the front gate. They couldn't open the doors if they wanted to right now. Reid had them bar it shut and reinforce it after seeing where the salamanders spawned. No, teleported? Fuck. Didn't matter.

Reid didn't have the time or free hands to climb anything. His chin bounced and put another dent in the metal.

He looked between the quad and the wall.

Should work.

Reid shifted into 5th gear and gunned the throttle. The engine topped out, and Reid leaned back for the first time on his ride. He was done shifting.

Reid gathered Requiem under his arm, and the helmet-bucket with his severed parts in his right hand. His mace's spiraling points dug into the skin above his rips, and the inside of his bicep. They were a good idea in theory, to stop other weapons from sliding down the blade - but in practice, they'd hampered Reid more than anyone else.

Reid put a knee on the quad's seat and pushed the throttle down with his knuckles. New pain bloomed in his left stub as he used it to stabilize the steering. People on the wall had started to realize Reid wasn't slowing down. They shouted at each other and raised the ladder, then cleared out where they figured he would hit.

Reid let go of the throttle and got both feet under himself just long enough to kick off the quad's seat. It roared into Mark's steel-tough wooden battlements and compacted into a mangled mess of plastic and metal. Less secured pieces flew off in every direction - including a few that bounced off Reid.

Reid sailed up towards the top of their improved walls. He rotated his body to prevent Requiem from catching on the wall, and for a moment, he seemed to be home free.

Then his foot caught on the outer lip.

Reid's momentum halted and wood compacted under his toes. Requiem launched forward and put a hole in the bed of a pickup truck out below. Reid's helmet - and his severed appendage pieces - flew into the rear window of an RV and shattered it. Someone screamed inside.

Reid's bare face slammed into the wooden floor, and he rolled onto his back. He felt blood flowing down one cheek.

Danny crouched over him a moment later. Lowell was behind him, and Walt was behind Lowell. The boy barked orders as Reid waited for the three of them to stop spinning.

"Lowell, get down there and bring back the bits that went into that RV - make sure nobody damages them. We need a quick recovery." Lowell jumped straight off the wall and landed in the dirt with a grunt. "Squad 4 - Squad 7 - any melee fighters, start moving throwables over here, NOW! Danny - heal as fast as you can. Burn yourself dry if you need to. Mark, make him a chair."

Reid hadn't noticed the woodworker was near him.

"What kind?"

Walt scowled. Or smiled? He was still all wavy in Reid's vision. "Get him high enough that he can see over the wall, and make it sturdy enough that he can throw from it and not fall over."

Mark's head bobbled in understanding.

Walt shouted at he other squads around them. "The salamanders are pulling back! Hit them while they retreat! Pour it on!"

Danny was shaking Reid by the shoulders.

Reid tried to talk, but his tongue wasn't working right. And it was still bleeding. He murmured through the blood. "Hmmm?"

"Reid, this will go faster if you're working on yourself, too. Can you heal?"

Reid swallowed blood and closed his eyes. He still felt woozy, but the effect was diminished when he pushed himself into his body. Reid started reconnecting blood vessels in his torso out of instinct, and Danny's healing sped up the process.

"Good! Good! Okay - don't touch your arm until Lowell gets back with the rest of it."

By the time Reid was finished with the immediate work to his torso, Lowell was back with his hand and forearm. Danny and Walt were arguing.

"It's a serious concussion, and it's impacting his ability to think clearly! I'll finish healing that, then I'll put his arm back on!"

"For god's sake, Danny, he doesn't need to do long division! Just get his arm on, and then you can fix his head while he throws rocks at the beasts!"

Danny let out a dissatisfied grunt. "Fine, just don't hand him any of the explosives. He could hurt himself."

Reid swallowed another mouthful of blood and grinned. Explosives sounded fun.