Headed by a Snake

Tycondrius had used his ⌈Shadowfang Strike⌋ to appear in the midst of the main Iredar pack, surrounding himself by spear, bow, and crossbow. It was a risky decision, but he was determined to disrupt the enemy's ranged line-- a volley of bolts and arrows would devastate Decanus Constantina's scouts.

Tycon's hand grasped tightly around the throat of a golden-furred kobold.

It seemed he had chosen his hostage correctly, as the pack hesitated to fire upon him.

Tycon narrowed his eyes, feeling the old dog shift its weight.

It struggled to groan what would be its last words, "(My name is... SUN-FUR!!!)"

Tycon slammed the kobold down against the hard-packed dirt, dodging a precariously close ⌈Moon-Fang Hell Slash⌋-- a skill that launched a deadly projectile of mana. The crescent slash shot into the forest, sundering the thick branches of a nearby hardwood.

Tycon decided he did not want to be hit by that.

Pressing the tip of his sword against the golden kobold's armor, Tycon shoved the blade through the grounded dog's chest.

"(The dead have no need for names,)" Tycon barked in Iredar, loud enough for his enemies to hear.

"(SUN-FUR!!!!)" The kobold with mottled fur howled, "(NOOOOOOOO!!!!!)"

⟬ Spotted Kobold, Bronze-Rank Kobold Fighter. ⟭

The spotted kobold was clearly the pack's Alpha, both as the strongest Iredar amongst them and the one boasting a rare skill-type, allowing him to attack with his sword at a range.

"(Face me, Human!! I will be your opponent!!!)" The Alpha yelled.

"(Unlikely,)" Tycon shrugged.

The single Bronze-Ranker wasn't Tycon's aim.

Tycon picked up the dead dog and tossed the corpse into a trio of bunched up Iredar. Drawing his second sword, he quickly sliced the kobold throats to his left and right.

Bringing his swords back into a cross, he blocked the Spotted Alpha's jumping sword strike.

It was a heavy strike, but it was tolerable.

"(Leave my pack alone. Fight me!)" It growled.

Tycon smirked, "(No, I don't think I will.)"

He uncrossed his blades, forcing the Alpha back. Tycon half-turned to slip a spear thrust, piercing his sword through another kobold's eye. He slashed his offhand blade to the side, chopping straight through a dog-archer's trigger hand.

"(You are a COWARD, human!!)" The Alpha yelled, chasing after Tycon as he weaved through the pack.

Generally, yes, Tycon preferred to act cowardly, avoiding danger, and only engaging if it was advantageous to him. As ironic as it seemed, he felt safer inside the kobold pack than out. The Iredar wisely checked their fire, unwilling to accidentally shoot one of their own.

"(Have you ever felt so useless in a battle?)" Tycon taunted the Alpha, "(Are you enjoying watching your kin die, while you do nothing?)"

The spotted kobold growled in barely-restrained fury but otherwise kept his maw shut.

It was unfortunate. The Alpha was smarter than his peers. Tycon did not want to withdraw until he could bait at least one more activation of the Bronze-Ranker's ⌈Moon-Fang Hell Slash.⌋ A single well-aimed execution of the skill could kill or critically injure two or five of his Rhodok archers.

He thought well of Rena and preferred her alive rather than not.

The Alpha swung his heavy iron sword, which Tycon chose to deflect instead of block. The blade struck against the ground, kicking up a blinding cloud of dirt and rocks.

...Dangerous.

Though Tycon goaded his opponent, he was cognizant of the threat the Iredar posed. The one skill the Alpha had revealed had a devastating rending effect. He'd avoid that.

The Alpha also claimed a high level of strength, irrespective of his size. Tycon was certain his armor and physique could handle a mana-powered strike or two... but he hoped to avoid that, as well.

One of the kobold archers was blinded by the dirt cloud, allowing Tycon to slip his sword's edge against its throat. Dashing into the opportunistic and fleeting cover, he threw one of his swords back at the doggedly chasing Alpha.

The metal clang of his sword being deflected rang out, but it had bought Tycon a moment. He grabbed onto one of the pila he threw earlier and twisted it out from the corpse of a chocolate-furred Iredar.

He assumed a proper throwing stance, judged the distance, and hurled the pilum towards where Shield Maiden Gianna and Holy Swordsman Justus were fighting.

...

"Gia!!" Munifex Justus yelled.

The dark blue kobold had climbed up onto Gianna's shield, snarling with ravenous fury.

Justus kicked a dirty-blonde kobold away, but seeing another opponent rushing him with a wood axe, he dropped to a knee and braced his shield.

CLANNNNG! The impact rang against the metal barrier. Though shaken, he swiped his sword underneath his shield, disemboweling the axe-dog. It dropped its weapon and stumbled back, clutching at its belly. Blood and entrails spilled from its tiny paws as it collapsed.

A sudden and pained yelp went up from behind him. He turned to see... the kobold on Gianna's shield had been speared through... by a thrown pilum?

Justus looked over from where the pilum was thrown. Decanus Zehr was fighting for his life INSIDE the mass of kobolds.

The man was INSANE!!

"Munifex, shield UP!!" A voice commanded.

Out of conditioned reflex, Justus heaved his shield up, taking an unseen blow that caused his still shaking shield-arm to rattle and ache.

Decanus Ferrutius jammed the end of a pilum into the kobold that had attacked Justus, leaving a hole in its abdomen. Laughing, the wild-bearded Decanus drew his pilum back with a twist and again, thrust it forward, driving it entirely through the creature.

Ferrutius released his weapon, wiping his palm against his filthy armor. He turned to Justus with a sleazy grin, "Ohhh, it's the fish."

The orange-bearded Decanus unsheathed his sword, "You know, you should really pay attention."

Justus grabbed the end of the Decanus' spear with his shield arm. Bracing his arm with his sword hand, he swung the spear outward, colliding the dying kobold with another enemy that had leaped at the Decanus.

"I uh... with all due respect, Decanus," Justus smiled sheepishly.

Ferrutius' expression quickly changed from confusion, to shock, then normalized back to his creepy leer. "Oops! So it's Munifex Justus! You should have corrected me when I called you a fish. Now I feel like a fool."

Justus tightened the grip on his sword. Was the Decanus trying to thank him? He didn't know how to respond, so he kept his awkward smile.

The Decanus chuckled, "With me!!"

"I hear and obey, Decanus!!" Justus yelled.

The pair rushed forward, their two shields ramming into their attack group and splitting them apart. With practiced sword slices and thrusts, Justus struck down one and blocked an attack from another.

Ferrutius cut down the trio of kobolds in front of them, finally taking a look at Zehr in the distance. He twisted his face and cursed, "Flame TAKE you, Decanus Zehr!! What use is glory when you're going to get yourself KILLED?!?"

"I'm so SORRY, doggie!!!" Gianna screamed. She had reversed her sword grip and stabbed it downward into a fallen kobold's neck, "Justus, we have this from here!! Go help the Decanus!!"

Justus froze. What were his orders? His orders were to engage only after Zehr and Gianna. He did that. He did that!!

He was alive and fighting! Pained barks and whines and yelling surrounded him-- he could barely think.

He raised his shield to block another kobold's attack, retreating a step from the force.

His arms only moved as his training demanded.

"Hero of Leopardon!!" Decanus Ferrutius' voice shocked him back to reality, "I ORDER you to help your Flame-scarred FOOL of a Decanus!!"

"At once, Decanus!!" Justus yelled back, his voice hoarse.

With aching legs, he abandoned Ferrutius and Gianna, running as fast as he could towards Decanus Zehr.