Ricardo was hacking madly at one of the monsters legs. After the fourth or fifth slash, his sword finally slid into the softer joint area and made a satisfying crunching sound. Encouraged, he heaved his sword to strike the final blow and separate the appendage, when the beast suddenly exploded with motion. It pushed itself off the wall and fell on some unlucky fellow that was standing in front of it.

The movement of the thing had pushed Ricardo away and he had fallen on his butt. Still in his battle frenzy, he scrambled upright and launched himself after the beast. He reached the front of the monster and saw it holding an arm in its mouth. He screamed and shoved his sword into the exposed neck. It penetrated the tissue between the plated area.

The monster spasmed. Then it went limp.

Dazed, Ricardo looked around. He saw his fellow soldiers do the same. Then he screamed with triumph, and the rest joined him. They had achieved victory, but it had not been cheap.

He noticed one of the screams sounded a bit different, and looked at the monsters head. Casimiro, his company leader, was half buried under the chitin cranium. He was panicked, clutching his right shoulder. It was bleeding profusely and, most importantly, lacking an arm attached to it. Ricardo looked at the limb stuck between beast's mandibles and had to contain himself to resist the urge to throw up.

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Cursing, he shouted at the soldier next to him for help and together they tended to agitated Casimiro. He ripped his shirt in two, but then realized the dark greenish fluid it was covered in might not be optimal for the wound and looked around for a more appropriate piece of fabric. A soldier that had been watching tossed him his own, mostly clean, garment. He tied it tight around the wound. It would help stem the bloodflow.

A hand on his arm. He looked up and saw Carano's face. His skin was chalky and he looked overexerted, but he made a small gesture and Ricardo nodded. Casimiro, who had calmed down by now, saw this. He tensed visibly, but otherwise complied. The fresh bandage was carefully removed and then the mage hovered his hand above the gaping wound.

Whoosh

The maimed leader screamed and then proceeded to slip into unconsciousness. The smell of cooked meat entered Ricardo's nose and now he could not contain himself. Gagging, he bent over to the side and started to vomit.

After recovering, they tended to the other wounded as best they could. The mage, exhausted, had to stop a few times.

Some of the soldiers dug a big pit. It would serve as a mass grave.

Night had fallen by the time the company, or what was left of it, had reorganized itself. It had been a long day.

Ricardo's gaze fell on the mound of fresh dug earth, where his fallen comrades resided.

Then he looked at the corpse of the now dead beast.

But it had been worth it. Oh, it had been worth it.