Tooth and Nail

Aedric leads those in the lower level in a desperate battle against reptilian forces

34.

Tooth and Nail

 

The reptilians attacked before his shout of alarm had even finished leaving his mouth.    Two rushed him and he defended as best as he could against the four flashing blades.   He kept the first creature back with his sword, but he did not have his shield and the second creature slashed and stabbed at his left side.  

 

Their blades hit hard, yet thankfully his Adamantium and Mithril armor deflected the bronze weapons easily and he was uninjured.   He had removed the jousting pieces from his plate armor which made him much more maneuverable, and all he could do was try to deflect the blur of blades from one of the reptilians with his sword while using his arm to try to fend off blows from the other one.  

 

They moved blindingly fast, producing some sort of hissing sound deep in their throats as they fought him.   They had the look in their eyes of a predator looking at their next meal and he knew one mistake could be fatal, even with his top-of-the-line armor.  

 

He could see Snoe out of the corner of his eye, and to his great relief and astonishment, she was holding her own against the two attacking her.   She had both of her swords out and they spun with a speed that matched the reptilians’ quickness perfectly.   It was amazing to see how each of her weapons seemed almost controlled by two separate people somehow.   One blade parried one of the creature’s sword slashes, while her other sword deflected a thrust from another reptilian weapon.  

 

Still, she was only keeping them at bay and was unable to attack due to the ferocity and speed of their assault.   The other Reptilians were moving around them, and were just now encountering the handful of young noblemen who had returned in full armor before the attack had begun.  

 

Two of the youths were cut down almost immediately, as they had left their coifs and helmets off.   Two others had their shields over their faces warding off blows, but were  being pushed backwards by the creatures.

 

Suddenly he felt something wrap around his ankle and yank his foot out from under him.  He fell backwards, knowing it was one of the long tails of his attackers that had pulled the dirty trick. 

The two creatures attacking him leaped forward with their swords pulled back to swipe at him.   It wasn’t an intelligent move in this situation and he simply held his sword in front of him and the first reptilian impaled himself on his sword, sliding dumbly down the blade for a moment before he realized his injury.   The second reptilian moved too fast to alter his course and his bronze swords slashed deep into his companion’s torso, finishing him off.  

 

Aedric didn’t pause for a moment and pushed the dead creature forward against the other one, who seemed too surprised to do anything but keep slashing at what was in front of him. 

Using his feet, he slid the dead dinosaur-like humanoid off his blade and scrambled to get up, while his other opponent pushed the corpse out of the way to continue his attack.

 

The reptilian brought both of his swords against the Elven knight, but instead of trying to counter one of the creature’s blades with his sword, he let both of the blades connect to his arms and sides.   He shot out suddenly with a sword thrust, aimed at the creature's long reptilian snout.   His ‘down-the-center’ attack worked as he had hoped.   The Reptilian brought his blades up to parry the thrust instead of stepping backwards and the blades were too late to pull his sword away.   His blade partially disappeared into the open maw of the creature, causing him to drop his weapons and grab at his throat as Aedric ripped his sword free, cutting deep into the throat of the reptilian.

 

With a gurgling gasp, the creature sank to his knees and then fell face forward dead.  

 

“Thrusts!”  He screamed to Snoe and the noble youths battling their foes, “Forward thrusts!   They have poor depth perception.”

The albino girl almost immediately ducked down and thrust both of her swords into the gut of one of her opponents with lightning speed.   Before he fell, she had turned savagely upon the other reptilian, parrying both of his slashes with her blades. 

The creature spun her swords out and she feigned a long slash with her right sword while bringing her left blade back at her waist, then shooting it forward.   The creature flinched to the side, but her blade impaled him completely through, causing him to swing wildly at her in pain.   She gracefully ducked under his blades then thrust her other blade with awesome speed into his neck.  

 

She didn’t wait to see him fall dead, but turned to assist one of the young nobles trying to find an opportunity to try the thrusting technique against his foe, while shielding his head from the reptilian’s flashing bronze swords.

The creature saw her moving against him from the side and turned his attention to her, which of course opened up an opportunity for the young man, who ran the creature through with his sword.

 

Aedric noticed a shimmering blue glow beginning to form nearby and knew it had to be the wizard returning.

Scooping up one of the bronze swords in his left hand, he ran forward just as the forms of the wizard and five more reptilians appeared.  

He knew he only had a moment, and before they had even completely materialized, he reached around one of the creatures and swung both of his swords at the wizard’s head, while he still focused on completing the spell.

 

His aim was true and the magic-user fell backwards dead, but not before he had brought the five creatures into the basement.  

Aedric didn’t have the time or speed to retreat.   All five of the creatures swarmed around him, hissing with glee as they attacked him from all sides to avenge the death of the wizard.

 

For an instant he was hammered by their blades, yet none cut through his strong armor.   Suddenly he was falling backwards, tripped by the tails of two of them pulling both legs out from under him.   He fell hard but had the sense to duck his head to his chest and position his swords in front of him.   One of the creatures indeed tried the same diving assault as his comrade had earlier, and died on the point of both of Aedric’s swords.  

 

Yet his weapons were pinned in the corpse and the other four reptilians saw their chance.

He knew they’d aim for his head, as his face was the only exposed part of his body not covered by armor. 

 

Releasing his grip on his weapons, he covered his face just in time and his arm armor rang with the slashes of the creatures’ blades.   Blindly he swept across with his legs and one of the reptilians stumbled slightly as he attempted to roll in the other direction and hopefully regain his feet.  

 

Aedric expected to be pulled from his feet by one of their tails before he had ever fully regained his footing, but thankfully, Snoe and two of the young noblemen attacked the four, giving him time to stand.  

 

Yet by then, the four reptilians had been joined by the three creatures that had teleported in the first time and all seven seemed determined to take Snoe and the noblemen down.  

 

He had no weapon, but he knew he had to act immediately.   Coming around from the rear flank, he tackled the nearest reptilian, grabbing one of his arms as he reared back to slash with his sword.   The move caught the creature off guard, making him fumble his sword as they tumbled forward.

 

Something primal seemed to come over the creature as Aedric wrestled with him, for the creature dropped his other weapon and began clawing and biting like a wild animal. 

 

Aedric punched and kicked, very glad of his armor’s protection.   The reptilian seemed made for just such a conflict and the Elf knew he would not best him.   He felt around for something on the floor to even up the odds with and almost immediately his hands found the end of the dead wizard’s staff.  

 

 

Grabbing it with his right hand he rammed the end of the staff into the snout of the reptilian.   The blow only momentarily stunned him, but he repositioned his grip and pounded him several times more until the creature pulled back to get out of range and then renew his attack.  

 

But Aedric didn’t wait, he used the added space to now swing the staff with both hands, knocking the creature backwards long enough to allow him to drop the staff and snatch up one of their swords from the floor.    The reptilian, fueled by his primitive aggression, lunged forward, his mouth open wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

 

Yet he expected this and he swung the bronze sword across quickly, catching the reptilian in the upper chest.   Then it was just a chop to his neck and he was finished.

 

Snoe and the nobles still faced six of the creatures and one of the young men was injured and barely standing.  

Aedric immediately attacked the nearest reptilian, injuring him before this one and two others broke away from the injured youth and engaged him.  

 

He knew his best chance was with a direct, up the middle attack, but against three of them, he wasn’t sure if this would be possible.

 

Suddenly there came a high pitched whistle from behind him, followed by the Queen’s voice, “Fall back, fall back quickly!”  He heard her yell from somewhere.

 

Moving sideways, he caught Snoe and the two noblemen’s attention.

“Fall back!” He told them, “Right now!”

Together they scurried backwards from the reptilian creatures and they only waited a moment before rushing forward after them.

 

But something moved forward over the heads of the four retreating figures and then fell down in between them and the reptilians.   It was a huge ghostly hand and the creatures crashed into it, staggering back, stunned and unnerved by the spectral form.

 

Aedric quickly rushed over and helped the injured nobleman limp down the hallway.   A short distance away, Queen Eioldth and some of her servants stood, and Aaron was with them.   The Queen held her hand as if motioning for someone to stop, her magic ring gleaming slightly as she projected the magic hand that kept the creatures from following the retreating foursome.  

 

“Your Majesty, give us a moment to regroup and we’ll push them back.” He said to her, but the lovely Elven lady only smiled somewhat smugly and nodded toward the end of the hall, bidding them all to watch.

They turned as the Queen quickly flicked her wrist in a slapping motion.   At the end of the hall, the ghostly hand responded in like manner, sending the creatures sailing into the wall.   But Eioldth wasn’t finished, and now she swatted to one side in the air and the ghostly hand pounded the reptilians against the stone wall.

 

The beatings continued for only a few seconds before all of their forms were still and lifeless.

 

They all stood there amazed at the magic, but Eioldth just lowered her hand, dispelling the ghostly hand, “Finish them off if any are still living and tend to any of our injured.  How did they get in here?”

“A wizard.” Aedric answered, “He teleported two groups of them, but I killed him.   Who knows though, there could be other wizards among them so we could have more visitors any time.”

The Queen nodded grimly, “We’ll be ready for them this time.   Bring any injured to the room at the end of this hall and post guards halfway down the hall so we’ll have a bit more time to react.   Then kill off any of those vile things remaining and join me down here while I tend to our injured.”

Aedric bowed and joined the others in following her commands.

Reviews

[Elina]

"...all he could do is try to deflect..." The "is" should be "was," here.
"...before the attack had began..." You should have "begun" here.
"...as they had left their coffs and helmets off." I believe that you want "coifs" here, instead of "coffs." ?
"The reptilian bought both of his swords against..." I think you were wanting "brought."
"...aimed at the reptilian’s long reptilian snout." You might want to change one of the "reptilian."
"...one of her opponent..." I believe you want to pluralize "opponent."
"The creature flinched to the size..." I believe you're wanting "side" here.
"...attacked him from all sides to revenge the death..." Were you possibly meaning "avenge," rather than "revenge?"
"Releasing his grip on his weapons..." Assuming I'm reading this correctly..."weapons" ought to be singular, yes?
"The Queen held her hand palm out in front of her..." I had to re-read this part because of the "hand palm out" portion. Not entirely sure how you would fix it, but it could be confusing as it is, now.
"...dispelling the ghostly hand, “Finish them off..." The comma, here, should be a period.

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you Elina, it looks like this chapter was rather sloppy on my part. I'll correct everything (hopefully) this evening. I'm about to put a new operating system on my laptop, and I'll have to delete the hard drive data, so it may be a while before I'm back on-line. I appreciate the time you have spent going through my chapters and proof-reading them. You are a huge help to me.

[Elina]

As always, it is such a joy to read your books, and I am glad to help.