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Feyrahl, SoFurry Edition

So it Begins, Ch 0.2

Mac had never been physically gifted, but he was no slouch. Still, he'd always been well-behind the curve when it came to aggressive sports such as wrestling or football-- pretty much anything pitting him against another person with any degree of physicality. One thing his past did not include, however, was fighting for his life. Despite how much he lacked when it came to combat skill, Mac rationalized that having three combatants on the front line would have increasing returns, especially when the two Lions were outnumbered two to one.

In addition to the conclusion that three versus four was better than two versus four, the Human knew that the act of hitting something with a sword was neither an art nor a science. In fact, he'd once overheard a campus Dungeons and Dragons group joke that using a sword was basically as simple as "stick the pointy thing into the soft thing that screams and bleeds". As it turned out, however, things were not quite so simple... especially since he was fighting for his life.

In addition to Khosk growling out in objection about him stepping into the combat line, Mac also had to contend with the attention of the strange, four-legged reptilian predators; of the four of them, he was only able to keep tabs on two, and both seemed highly interested in him. Whether it was because he was smaller than either Lion, or if they were possessed of enough intelligence to realize he was the weak link, he honestly didn't know, but what he did know for certain was that he was in trouble... a lot of trouble.

Khosk shouted out a warning from off to the side, accompanied by what almost sounded like a tone of frustration, but Mac was more focused on the lizard creature barreling in toward him. He took a half-step back, raising the blade Vihas had given him in front of himself, slashing it back and forth through the air in an attempt to fend the beast off. Unfortunately it didn't seem that dissuaded and, in fact, slowed its charge just enough to double-step and renew its forward motion while his blade was out-of-angle. He saw the lizard's large muzzle open impossibly wide, time slowing down as he saw death approach with lots of sharp teeth... only to have it repelled when a large wall of ice appeared between Mac and the beast.

A metal-sheathed paw grabbed hold of Mac and yanked him back into formation-- the Human hadn't even realized that he'd stepped forward as he flailed his weapon. Vihas offered a curt statement, gesturing at the ground like a puppy's caretaker might do in an attempt to get it to stay. The Lion had no further opportunity to provide him any more direction as another lizard pounced him, lashing into the metal covering his arm as he shoved it into the thing's maw to intercept the bite.

Still intent on not being useless, Mac came to Vihas' aid, slashing down at the thing's neck in an attempt to help free the Lion. Erring on the side of caution to avoid hitting his companion, the blade ended up striking the lizard on the shoulder, digging in a deep cut through the scales, but doing no real damage as it was repelled by a very sturdy shoulder blade. He cursed, taking a step back as it turned to him and hiss-growled.

The beast went into a pouncing crouch, only to have a bolt of fire slam into its snout as Khosk blasted it from the other side of Mac. Vihas seized the opportunity to drive a razor-sharp icicle down into the thing's skull, not only pinning it to the ground by its head, but killing it cleanly, Mac took that moment to reassess the situation: one of the predators was down, leaving the combat a 3 on 3... or, more likely, a 3 on 2.5 considering his relatively low aptitude for swordplay. Still, he rationalized, it was a start, and they were one step closer to surviving.

With the wall of ice still in place, Mac wasn't in the best position to aid in combat since his whole flank was blocked, but it also meant he was able to take a moment to assess the situation: Khosk was on one side of him facing off against one beast while Vihas was on the other side staring down a second-- the third one had pulled back slightly and was ever-so-slowly rotating its position, moving into what looked like a better position to go after a flank. He shouted out a warning to the two Lions. "Hey! The one in the back is moving around behind us!"

Khosk shouted out what sounded like a growling reprimand as he clashed with the beast he was fighting, alternating between parrying and striking, exchanging multiple blows with the lizard without clear advantage from either combatant. Vihas, on the other side, had transitioned to two blades of ice, doing a fine job of fending off the one he was fighting against, but he appeared to be more focused on forcing it back and defending the position rather than trying to hit it with a decisive killing blow. Mac realized that, with the lizard so focused on the Lion, perhaps the Human could be of some help, and he moved to lend aid-- that was when the third lizard rushed in.

The young man spun at the sound of the reptilian roar and barely managed to get his blade up in time, intercepting its jaws. The creature's large bulk collided with him, knocking him off his feet, and the thing landed atop him, trying to bring its jaws to bear, but Mac somehow managed to keep his blade in its mouth, forcing its teeth away from him. Unfortunately it had claws, and it began adjusting its position atop him in an attempt to bring them to bear. Before it could, however, both of the Lions came to Mac's rescue.

Vihas arrived first, spearing it in the side with one of his rapier-like ice blades and Khosk came in from the other direction, flaming sword sliding between its collar bone and shoulder blade; the short-maned Lion used it as leverage, twisting the weapon to force the creature off of Mac, at which point both Lions stabbed it again for the final time. The beast expired... just in time for the two beast man to get assailed by the remaining two Lizards; Khosk forced the basket hilt of his blade into his opponent's jaws, absorbing the worst of the bite, but the one attacking Vihas clamped right down on his armored arm... and pulled it right off of his body!

Crying out in alarm, Mac managed to scramble up to his feet, grabbing his blade from where it'd fallen on the ground, and he raced to Vihas' aid. The Lion seemed completely unaffected by losing his arm and, by some stroke of luck there was no huge amount of blood gushing from his torso-- then again, Mac wasn't able to take a very good look as he sprang forward, lashing out in a one-two strike with the blade he'd been given; both attacks landed-- the first cut deep into the lizard's front leg, causing it to buckle, but the second blow barely did more than cut some scales on the thing's bony head.

The Lizard dropped the disembodied arm, hissing as it wheeled around toward Mac; Vihas took that moment to strike, leaping atop it and attacking it from behind, skewering it cleanly through the back. The beast struggled for several seconds, letting out a bubbly, screeching roar, but its death throes didn't last long and, ultimately, it stopped, laying still as one final burble before going silent. Once the kill was confirmed, the Lion nonchalantly strolled over to where his arm lay; he picked it up, and carefully reattached it to his shoulder. Mac stood in wonder as Vihas rotated his wrist, flexed it at the elbow, then glanced toward the Human; unless he was mistaken, Mac saw the Lion look away self-consciously, ears reddening slightly at being observed.

Turning to see if he could render Khosk any help, only to see that the short-maned Lion had already finished his own foe off, leaving its corpse blackened and smoldering. He was also staring right at Mac. Stalking forward, the Lion began growling, half-snarling out words that could only have been some kind of dressing-down; Mac knew when he was being berated. Still holding the sword he'd been given, Mac couldn't believe that Khosk couldn't see that he'd helped. "Hey... I don't know if you were paying attention, but I was helping! There were a few times when I--"

Scowling, the Lion snatched the blade out of Mac's grasp, spitting out three words with obvious venom. He moved over to Vihas, holding the blade out as he spoke to him calmly, and with obvious concern. The longer-maned Lion accepted the weapon and stowed it back in its sheath, responding with far fewer words. He gestured once toward Mac before rotating his armored shoulder, and let out a humorless 'ha'. Khosk glared daggers at the Human before looking back to the other Lion, saying a few more words before separating from him and making his way toward Mac, who didn't much care for the look in his eyes.

"Listen, Roon Khosk, I was just trying to help. When my life's in danger I can't just rely on others to--"

He was silenced by a large, furred paw that palmed his face, middle and ring finger pushing down on the top of his scalp while the palm forced his jaw closed. From there, he was forced down to a sitting position before Khosk released him, staring down at him as what could only have been a lecture came pouring out. Based on how easy it was for Khosk to manhandle him, Mac was thankful that the Lion's fury was verbal-- small favors. The dressing-down lasted for what felt like forever, made all the worse because Mac couldn't understand what was being said, but the intent was clear: don't be stupid, puny Human.

It was a bitter pill to be sure and, judging from the silence of Vihas off to the side, Khosk was not alone in his impression that Mac had done more harm than good in the combat. Truth be told, Mac was still surprised that the three of them had come away mostly unscathed-- he had some bloodied knuckles from where his hand hit the ground after being pounced; Khosk's paw had been pierced by one's teeth when he'd punched his sword pommel into its maw; Vihas had lost an arm! That last one stuck with Mac as an oddity since, as he eyed the long-maned Lion, he saw that Vihas seemed to have absolutely no trouble using it.

Had magic allowed him to survive the attack with nothing more than minor inconvenience? Was magical healing a THING? He would have continued considering the impact of the dismemberment-followed-by-re-attaching if not for getting cuffed on the back of his head by an open-pawed slap from Khosk. The Lion barked more orders at him and pulled the Human to his feet, gesturing toward the road before giving him a light push; at least it seemed more directional than bullying.

Letting out a long sigh, Mac began walking. "Yeah... Yeah... I'm going."

The party continued onward; both Lions appeared to be in a foul mood with Vihas refusing to meet his gaze, and Khosk scowling every time Mac caught the short-maned Lion gazing in his direction. Well, the two Lions certainly hadn't been his friends when he first met them, so had he really lost anything by making them angry? Yes, he reminded himself: they were the closest thing he had to 'friends' in his current situation. He found that realization both frustrating and a little sad.

Rather than trying again to start up a conversation, Mac decided that he was going to give discussion a little break-- not just because they couldn't understand one another, but because they'd already been attacked once and the young man couldn't help but keep focused on his surroundings; he definitely didn't like the idea of being surprised by lizard beasts again. He remained on guard for well over an hour-- right until the two Lions came to a stop. Turning to regard them questioningly, they only responded by pointing ahead. Looking at where they gestured, Mac inhaled deeply as he took in the sight of an enormous wall, behind which stood a large castle. He wasn't sure where he was, but, based on the Lions' expressions and demeanor, apparently it was their destination.