N24, The Battle of The Ratmen Village (2)

‘Fuck them all!’

They had really made a blockade. ‘Of course, they wouldn’t let us leave so easily.’ I thought. They wanted to massacre everyone inside the village. The wooden barricade in front of me was tall and solid. It had been arranged in a way that not even a rat could slip between its pieces. I could see the damn warriors' figures through the small spaces between the gaps in the wooden boards.

‘Should we attack it?’

No, that was impossible, we didn’t have the means to break the barrier. All we would accomplish would be to wound ourselves against the metal spikes.

‘Should I try to bypass it from above, then?’

Also no, even if could jump over it, I didn’t know what dangers or how many enemies awaited me on the other side.

What’s more, I wouldn’t abandon my followers! They had been with me from the beginning of this life.

‘Ugh, so frustrating!’ How much I wished I could just grab a mace and smash that damn barrier.

We couldn’t break these barricades by ourselves. There were only two ways out I could think about. I could try my luck with the small cavern that left from the tannery or I could join the chief and hope we could make it out of this fight together.

‘What to do, what to do?’ I was gradually losing my cool.

I hadn’t verified if the narrow cave in the tannery led outside of the village. Furthermore, I couldn’t even be sure the humans hadn’t blocked it too.

As for the chief, I didn’t know how well he would fare against those powerful humans I had seen on the slope.

I turned around and watched the state of the battle. Most fights in the flat area had ended, but on the other side of the village, among the burning flames that devoured the packed tents on the slope, the ratmen were still resisting the assault of the human warriors.

‘Those humans, after fighting for so long… They will be tired.’

Yes, there was no need to think so much, joining the village’s chief was the safest option. Even if he couldn’t kill all the enemies, he would probably lead the remaining ratmen to break the blockade in one of the entrances.

Behind me Number Two was getting restless, he was eyeing the people behind the barrier with an obvious desire to fight. Number Three was also nervously looking around and only Number One remained calm while dutifully waiting for my orders.

With a howl, I ordered the three of them to follow me. We advanced alongside the external perimeter of the walled grounds towards the west and soon reached the proximity of the slope. Now the last obstacle before us were the groups of human warriors that were gathering at its base. They weren’t oblivious to our movements and began to fuss as we approached.

‘Can we pass through them?’

I stopped for a moment to assess the situation. The was enough space between the enemies for us to avoid their weapons. We just had to rush in with swift movements, but I feared that a certain follower of mine wouldn’t resist the temptation to fight.

As I was musing about this problem the enclosure of the walled grounds burst behind me without warning. A few rocks brushed my body and a dust cloud blocked my vision for a moment.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to find the dungeon wolf here.” Said a voice from within the debris cloud. “I was supposed to check that stinky place before going to help the guildmaster.”

In front of me, the figure of a warrior brandishing a heavy-looking war hammer became clear. “Well, I guess this can be helped,” the man said adopting a fighting stance.

‘Damn!’

My instincts were telling me I shouldn’t face this warrior, but I couldn’t just escape. After the dust dissipated I saw that my followers were on the ground after being hit by the wall’s explosion.

Hiding my hesitation, I glared at the man that smiled at me from under his helmet. I had to distract him long enough for my followers to recover. With a loud roar I charged at him, but my move was interrupted by the sudden appearance of his hammer.

Jumping back, I tried to attack him one more time before he could change the trajectory of his weapon, but it somehow showed again before I could get close to the man.

‘He is really dangerous.’

I didn’t know how he was able to swing that heavy object with such speed. If that hammer hit me it could inflict a heavy wound. Knowing the danger I chose just to feint around him, and just attacked the man from his blind spots. Despite playing it safe, his hammer grazed me several times, while I was unable to approach the man at all. The difference in our strengths was clear, he had not moved from his spot since the battle started, but I couldn’t even take my eyes off him to check the state of my followers.

Frustrated, I rushed at him once again. I would take a hit and crash against him. If I was able to close the distance, he wouldn’t have space to swing his weapon and his strikes would have a lot less power. I jumped and gritted my teeth for the imminent blow, but instead of his hammer, I was received by a kick.

‘How?’ I had attacked from behind, but the warrior had rotated in place with incredible speed. Not only that, he had been able to change my trajectory despite all my momentum and body mass. This didn’t make sense at all!

Still confused I glanced at my opponent and saw him swing his heavy hammer in a downward strike. ‘Shit!’ I had no time to evade, it was going to hit me.

The weapon descended toward me, but at the last moment the warrior slightly changed its trajectory and it sunk into the ground at my side. The crash was so strong that the stone wall close to us shook and a small hole was left in the dirt.

Near me, Number One growled. He had been the one who forced the warrior to change his movement. While the man was focused on me, he had almost succeeded in biting his leg, but the strike of the hammer made him retreat.

During the small break created by my first follower, Number Two and Number Three joined us and we encircled the warrior. With their help, I could stand a chance, but I needed to end things quickly before someone else joined the fight.

Despite the appearance of my subordinates, the warrior wasn’t flustered. Instead, he smiled, and with a thrilled voice, he said, “So now it’s four against one? Well, I like the odds. It reminds me of my days as a beasthunter.”

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He even made signals to some approaching humans to stand away from the fight. His nonchalant attitude made me mad. Did he think he stood a chance against the four of us?

After that, I teamed up with my three followers to attack the man. With the experience of dozens of hunts, we harassed him from all sides, waiting for an opening to strike. We moved around and jumped at him from several directions at the same time, assaulted his legs and arms with perfect timing, and tried to seize an opportunity after each of his swings. We used all the tactics we had, but the movements of the man were lightning-fast. He evaded all our attacks while brandishing his hammer with deadly precision.

None of us had received a direct hit yet, but I could see bruises and cuts on all of my followers.

‘Damn! Why can’t we reach him?’ Our synchronization was flawless, there was no way the four of us couldn’t make an opening. I hadn’t had any problem with the other warriors I had faced before him, but this man was somehow different. Each time one of us seemed to be about to reach him he suddenly became a lot faster and evaded our bites.

‘What’s wrong with him! How does he realize those bizarre movements?’ I was growing frustrated. If it wasn’t for him we would have already joined forces with the village’s chief.

“Well, enough playing. I really need to go help the guildmaster.” The warrior suddenly said glancing at the slope.

‘The heck?’ Was astonished after hearing his casual remark. Did this man really have enough leisure to look away from our fight? ‘Does he think this is a game?’

As I warily looked at him his War hammer became a blur and with a horrible sound Number Three was sent flying.

I froze in place for a split moment, I saw Number Three crash against the ground several meters away from us. He rolled for a couple of breaths before hitting the charred remains of a tent and then stopped in place.

‘No way…’

I was horrified by the impossibly fast blow. What’s worse, Number Three wasn’t moving. I wanted to go to his side immediately, but taking my eyes from this monster in front of me for even an instant would be the death of all of us.

“Well, aren’t you coming,” he said with a conceited smile and casually swung his hammer.

I knew he was taunting me, but an overwhelming rage was taking hold of me. He had been playing with us all this time!

Besides me, Number One and Number Two were also mad. My first follower was able to control himself and only growled at the warrior, but Number Two wasn’t the kind to have any self-restraint. He jumped at the opponent’s throat right away.

‘Shit!’

With a swear, I followed behind his careless attack. I rushed at the warrior as fast as I could, but I wasn’t quick enough to save him from a blow of the hammer. Seeping with rage, I ducked under the weapon’s trajectory, then bit the warrior's boot as it crashed against me with exceptional strength.

This bastard had kicked me once again. My mouth was bloodied from the crash and I was sent rolling to the ground. It hurt like hell, I could see one of my fangs on the floor. I felt the urge to curl my body and wait until the pain lessened, but I simply couldn’t afford it. For the first time, my attack had connected. When he leaned on his leg after the kick, the man couldn’t suppress a wince of pain. I didn’t know how deep his injury was, but I had to press on it.

I stood on my feet once again and glared at the warrior. “I like your gaze!” He shouted at me with a maddened smile. “I will end you with this attack!”

‘You wish!’

Full of emotions I charged at him and Number One also timed his assault with me. Both of us rushed at the warrior, who lowered his stance before delivering a powerful blow with his weapon. His intention was to sweep both of us at the same time, but he didn’t expect the sudden arrival of Number Three. With a limping leg, the brown dog sunk his fangs into one of the man’s arms, delaying his move.

The hammer hit me and pushed my body against Number One, but unlike my followers, I wasn’t sent flying. Thanks to Number Three’s intervention the power of the hit had been greatly dampened.

Not wasting my opportunity, I bit the warrior’s leg that was closer to me. Besides me, Number One closed his jaws on his ankle and Number Two appeared just in time to gnaw at his other leg.

“Fucking mutts!” For the first time since the beginning of the fight, the warrior’s voice had a tone of urgency. I increased the strength of my bite and felt his bones crack under it. The man began punching my head repeatedly in a desperate effort to get rid of me.

My initial plan was to topple him, but the implacable strikes of his gloved hands reverberated inside my skull and darkened my vision. In a rush, I pulled my closed fangs and viciously tore as much flesh as I could from his leg.

As I took a couple of steps back, I heard the warrior shout in pain. I looked at him, he was pinned by my three subordinates, and the lower half of his right leg was a bloody mess. He hadn’t let go of his hammer, but with that wound, it was only a matter of time until we ended him.

‘No, I have to finish him right away.’

Now that he was in danger his comrades would soon join the fight. I took an impulse and rushed directly at his neck. The fight would be over after this.

With my hind leg still on the ground and my forelegs in the air, my jaws quickly approached the warrior. I could already feel my fangs closing on his flesh when a sudden shock made me lose my balance.

‘What the hell?’ From the ground, I tried to understand what had happened. The man had been able to pull Number Three, which was weighing him down after biting his arm. He had made my subordinate crash against me, before sending him flying.

‘That’s not possible!’ I thought as I stood up. ‘Where does he get all that strength?’

The fatigue of the combat was getting to me. I had to end this monster already! With unsteady steps, I ran toward the enemy, but in the middle of my charge, a horrible scene froze me in place. With just one hand! Using only one hand this monstrous human swung his hammer and bashed Number One’s head. My subordinate fell to the ground on the spot. Motionless.

I could see blood flowing from his mouth. Completely mad, I roared, and rushed at the warrior with only one thought in mind. ‘Killing you is the last thing I will do in this life!’

Nothing else mattered. I would kill him. I would end his cursed existence. Reuniting with the village’s chief was secondary. Escaping from this place was secondary. This man had to die here!

I stormed towards him, but the monstrous bastard was somehow able to swing his damned hammer again! Unable to stop him I was sent flying.

‘How! How are you still standing!’

I was enraged, confused, and had lost my sense of direction. I felt someone approach me and lashed at him. It was another human warrior. These bastards had come to help that monster, but I wouldn’t give them the chance!

I ran blindly in search of my target. In my fury, I tore the flesh of any warrior that dared to approach me. I also felt some of their weapons hit my body, but they felt like puny stings.

In my bewilderment, I clashed against several men while advancing in the direction I thought he would be.

‘Where are you, bastard!’

These other humans had to be hiding him! In front of me, there was a group of ten or so people, they had to be here to stop me. I jumped at them and they fell onto the ground. A small warrior tumbled back as he lost his equipment. He tried to resist me despite his empty hand. I was about to tear his neck open when his helmet rolled out of his head.

‘Uh? A child?’

For an instant, I hesitated and my fangs didn’t completely sink into his throat. It was a fatal moment of indecisiveness that the other humans used to attack me. I felt several weapons digging into my flesh and scratching my bones.

‘Fuck you! A child! You brought a child here!’

At this point, everything about these humans made me mad. They had barged into our village, burned our houses, and massacred us. Why? What had we done! I didn’t understand the reason. Completely enraged I felt my life slipping away from me.