Author's note: Special thanks to Ardon G. Fowl, Jack Gwen, Reversal, Swedish Millionaire, and VC whose contributions made this chapter possible.
This is a big one! There'll be one more chapter to wrap up the first arc of the series, most likely to be released here before the end of December. As always, I'd love to hear what you think, especially if you enjoyed the chapter! Take care, and enjoy the read.
Kousaka~
***
We ran for what felt like about five minutes before Lucia tapped me on the shoulder.
"Nathan," she said, and I nodded, pulling up to a halt, and signaling to the others to stop.
"What do you see?"
"Five Accayans," she said, and I nodded.
How should we approach this?
Darting in with weapons drawn would certainly escalate things, though I did feel as if we needed to make clear that their own aggressions would not be tolerated.
"Be ready. Put on your helmets, but keep your weapons sheathed," I said.
Francesca nodded, her own spear slung over her shoulder, and at my signal we began our approach; but we got no more than within a hundred feet of the group when howls sounded, and Lucia tugged at me.
"Nathan; surrounding us!"
"Backs together," I said, and we quickly moved into formation, keeping an eye out for an approach.
Then I spotted one; he had grey skin and wore a kind of protective armor; brown in color, and seemingly some kind of leather at a glance; but the feature that almost immediately drew my eye were his ears, which much unlike our own, were at the top of his head and very much like a dog's; or maybe a wolves'?
"Nate, they're wolfmen," Francesca said, and I chuckled a little.
As the group approached, a few more stepped out into view, and I quickly noted that their noses had a slightly snout-like appearance to them as well; though otherwise, for the most part, they seemed very much human.
"Are you Vasiliás?" A voice called, and I turned toward the sound.
He was a slender man with a lithe, though muscular frame, and a face which seemed to me quite youthful; but in his eyes burned a kind of determination that almost immediately endeared him to me, and in his hand was a spear aimed at my chest.
"King," Lucia whispered. "Are you king?"
I nodded, understanding what she meant.
"I am. To whom do I owe the pleasure-?" I began, but as I stepped towards him, a growl sounded from deep inside his throat giving me pause.
"Vasiliás is mine; seize the rest!"
The man darted at me, and Francesca cut him off, deflecting his spear with her own; but as she moved to end him, I cried out:
"Don't kill him! Fight without your spear."
She shot me a questioning look, but as there were roughly fifteen of the wolfmen descending on us, she simply nodded, slinging her spear over her shoulder as she engaged.
I swept the legs out from under one as he darted at me, and I kicked another in the chest, sending him sprawling, before turning to strike another in the face with the butt end of my halberd.
"Nate; what do we do?" Bianca asked.
Lucia, however, was already in the thick of it, kicking one of the wolfmen in the shins, before leaping into another with both feet; knocking him to the ground as she fell, before rolling back onto her feet and moving beside me.
"Jab at them with your fists, like if you're using a dagger," I said, and Bianca frowned.
As I struck another wolfman in the face before sweeping another off the ground with my halberd, however, the group seemed to be backing up, their eyes drawn elsewhere, and as I followed their gazes, I spotted Francesca engaged with the young man, who it seemed, was their leader.
That determined look I'd seen from before, however, now seemed to have been replaced by a look of frustration, and he was baring his fang-like teeth as he tried to pin Francesca down; but she was dancing around him with much ease, easily controlling the fight despite not even drawing her weapon.
"Get out of my way, pest. My quarry lies beyond you!"
She laughed a little, and he growled in response.
"Can't fight my king if you can barely even keep up with me, can you?"
His ears twitched at her words.
"You are a
girl
? Go home and play with dolls, little girl! Men are here to do battle!"
Francesca's expression quickly became fiery, and as he lunged at her, she easily sidestepped his spear tip, and grabbing the weapon at the head, she brought it down on her knee, hard, and the wood split and cracked.
She took the spear point and threw it aside, advancing on the man, and he growled, discarding the broken tool.
He leapt at her with his hands, and she drove her knee into his stomach, sending him rolling; but as he struggled to regain his footing, she never gave him the chance, moving behind him and getting her arms around his neck, she put him in a chokehold and began to squeeze.
He fought and squirmed, kicking and flailing in his fight to break free, but Francesca was much stronger than he was, in no short thanks to her armor, and I eyed the rest of his group as his flailing finally weakened, and eventually, he went still in her grasp.
Francesca let go of him, and stepping over his slumped form, she shot a look at the rest of the group, daring another challenger to step forth.
"How can she be that cute and awesome at the same time~?" Bianca whined, and I chuckled a little.
"Didn't you know? That's the little lioness of Kleiner Hein," I said, and Bianca frowned.
A flash of movement from the side, however, sent me on alert, but instead of the retaliatory strike I envisioned, the gathering of wolfmen had instead thrown themselves prostrate in Francesca's direction, and as their leader let out a wounded whimper, he too crawled onto his knees and prostrated himself before her.
"By right, you are now a polemarchos of Eridia," the man said, and Francesca studied him, regarding all of the group with an awkward expression, before shooting me a look that said 'help, please?'
"What's your name, son?" I asked, moving to the man, and he looked up at me, before turning his gaze towards Francesca.
She shot me a worried look, and I bit my lip as I regarded the gathering, but as I studied the man, I noticed something.
"Wait- that's armor, isn't it?" I asked, and Francesca quickly followed my gaze.
"Archontas, your leave to speak?" the man asked, and Francesca looked to me again.
"I think he's asking you," I said, and she bit her lip nervously.
"Nate- I, uh. I dunno how to..."
"Tell him to answer my questions, then," I said, and she nodded.
"Answer to him," Francesca said, and the man nodded.
"Your command is our duty, Archontas."
"You can stand up," I offered, and as the man glanced at Francesca, she nodded, and he climbed to his feet.
"Those slivers," I said, gesturing to his arm. "Where did you get that?"
"Plundered from the warriors defeated in battle," the man replied.
"Warriors? You mean otherworlders?"
The man studied me.
"I do not know this word."
"People like us," I said, gesturing to Francesca and myself, and he nodded.
"Inferior in skill, but similar in feature," the man replied, and I bit my lip.
Was he really strong enough to have killed one of us?
In armor no less?
I regarded him with some suspicion.
"What are you called?" I asked.
"Iduma of Eridia," he replied, and I nodded.
"And why are you here, Iduma of Eridia?" I asked, and the man gritted his teeth.
