The Mimic in Monsterland

“Name’s Liam.” I nodded at my new companion.

He nodded back. “Chu. Let's go. Sarge was ushering people in to the academy by the western side. No doubt he is still there defending.”

He placed the greatsword on his shoulder and jogged forward. I called after him. “Wait.”

“What?”

I held up my broken spear. “You wouldn’t happen to have another, or a dagger for that matter.”

He put his hand behind his back, I heard the shwing sound of a blade unsheathing. He handed me an average length dagger. I received it and gave it a few test swings, it was well balanced, way better than the crap iron daggers of the gremlins. I chose to keep the broken spear in my right hand and use the dagger in my left. Dual-wielding felt better than just using one dagger. And the spear was still very much usable. I thanked Chu.

“Just make sure I get that back. Sentimental value.” He went back to jogging.

I followed after him, keeping my eyes peeled on the battle around. Most of the monsters were the same kind that were in the raid. Boars, goats, moose. No massive balls of putrid flesh thank god. Don’t think the spear and dagger combo would do against them. Now fire claws on the other hand. That would probably get me somewhere.

After a few moments, I saw another group fighting off a herd of goats, no ram horns this time, just the tri horns. But the group of splicers were still outnumbered three to one. I began to veer towards them. But Chu grabbed my shoulder. “Where are you going?”

I pointed at the group of three splicers. “They need assistance.” He peered over at them, then shook his head. “And we have a mission, that comes first. They will be fine, those tricorns are easy enough. Now let's move.”

I looked back, something in me irked at not helping them. Yet I trailed after Chu. He was right, those goats aren’t very difficult, tier 3’s at best. And the mission was important. If we can get this sergeant back to Terl, we may be able to shift this battle around, before reinforcements get here. I hope they get here soon though.

We ended up assisting some other groups on our way to the side of the academy. A few geckos were attacking a pair of splicers. Their fight was directly in front of us so even Chu couldn’t ignore it. We made quick work of the geckos. Which did not annoy me in the slightest. Nope, a monster that gave me so much trouble, cleaved in half by Chu’s greatsword without much effort. Not frustrating at all.

I told myself it was easier only because it fought in a bad location, if it was a cave that fight would have gone much differently. Why am I complaining at a time like this? Just move dumbass.

One of the splicers happened to be a support. The partially scaled elf gave the both of us a quick Basic Healing boost and we continued. My back loosened up and stopped aching. A huge relief. My health was now sitting at 80%. I hadn’t checked it after the goat/ram fight, but it couldn’t have been great. It’s probably for the best. I didn’t need any extra stress.

Stamina was going up a little bit as well, sitting at 70% now. I wondered if Basic Healing helped it some. I forgot to ask when Jaren was explaining it.

We approached the building from the side. The fighting was more concentrated the closer we got to it. Monsters surrounded the building. Little pockets of splicers fought them off all around the building. I couldn’t help but contemplate why the monsters were fixated on the building. Did monsters have an innate drive to kill the sentient races? From how Chu was explaining it, they hid some kids in the building. There were kids inside already, presumably.

My face twitched at the thought. Anger rose up in my chest once I realized that children were in danger. Anger at the monsters mostly, but some saved for myself. I’d never forgive myself if my pathetic lollygagging got any of those kids hurt.

“He’s on the backside! There’s a big gate back there. He’d post up there.” Chu yelled out. I acknowledged and we charged around the side. Chu swung his blade around at some of the monsters in front. I followed up his attacks with some finishing blows. Chu’s fighting style was simple: Big sword go vroom. It was easy to fight around him. I either distracted an enemy for him or killed the ones he’d nailed already. Not a whole lot of practice is necessary for such a forward fighting style.

I sliced through the undercarriage of a moose that was sending missiles off at the flank of a small group of splicers fighting near the building. It whined out, until Chu’s blade came down on its neck, severing it.

“Nice one!” I yelled out.

He nodded, but then suddenly brought his blade up and sliced down at me. I didn’t move; Preflex went off, but it wasn’t coming for my torso like his blade seemed to be. It was aimed at my back. I heard a squishing sound and turned to see Chu’s blade stuck in another moose’s head. One who was going for a point-blank shot at my rear.

“Thanks, heh.”

He just shook his head, bringing his sword back up to his shoulder. We looked out at the fighting. But even with all of our teamwork, we weren’t getting much closer to the sergeant’s location. Another group of boars was drawn away from the building and heading our way. I readied myself but Chu just held out his hand.

“We need a different plan. We won’t get to him blindly hacking away at the beasts.” He looked around, taking in the area. His gaze ultimately rested on the building, specifically the roof.

It's not a throw me over there kind of answer, is it? Sure, I’m smaller in this form, but I don’t think he has that kind of power. We were still a few hundred feet from the building. No way he could make that toss.

“Okay, instead of fighting up to the Sarge, let's get to one of the squads near the building. From there I should be able to toss you up to the roof. We were blessed with no flying monsters so it will be one of the safer areas. Then you run to the back side, where Sarge is.” Chu said.

I nodded. I was right about the throwing part. The plan was sensible though.

“Sounds good. Let’s do it.” I answered.

We backed away from the pseudo-circle of monsters attacking the building, looking for a smaller line where we could break through the easiest. The boars backed away from us and returned to their assault.

It only took us a minute to find an adequate route. There was a larger group of splicers, six from what I could see, fighting off a mixed group of red wolves and boars. The wolves were almost the same size as the toxic boars. But that meant there weren’t many of them. And we could get the drop on them.

I went out first, aiming a blow at the hindlegs of a wolf. I sliced through its back leg, it roared out and snapped at my face in a feat of agility I didn’t know it had. Its teeth were inches from my face until Chu’s blade caught the teeth. I shoved my half-spear, along with a slice from the dagger, into its throat while it chewed on the sword. Blood fell to the ground, and a moment later, so did its owner.

The other two wolves around noticed their brethren fall, however, and circled around us. The line of boars focused on the splicers we were trying to get to.

The last trick won’t work on two of them. Distraction is only good when dealing with one of them.

Chu and I naturally stood back to back, keeping each wolf in our sights. Running at them would be stupid, so we were stuck being the reactive side of the fight.

Drool spilled out of the mouth of the wolf in front of me. Its eyes never left mine as it prowled forward. I swallowed. My breath quickened. I checked my health bar for a split second. But it was a second too long. The beast shot out when my eyes left it for that single moment. With no other option, I returned its assault, with Fight and Flight turned on. Its jaws crunched at me, and I barely got out of the way of its teeth. But I felt a slash on my chest. Its bulky claws found purchase while I moved.

I jumped back, but it didn’t let up. I had to keep FnF up to keep dodging its flurry. I swiped at its maw once or twice, but only glancing blows. Stamina at 39% Damn it. I can’t keep this up. [Exhaustion] 

A loud clang rang out nearby. Yet I kept my attention on the wolf. I’d learned what it does if I don’t. The wolf on the other hand had not. It seemed to be compelled to search for the source of the sound. I took the opportunity to jab the spear in its chest and slice its leg.

It yowled out in pain, but with a few more FnF-empowered attacks, I shredded through its flesh. It whimpered, then hit the ground. I huffed, then felt the searing pain on my chest. I checked the wound. The wolf’s claws raked down my right pec and stopped above my stomach. It wasn’t too deep, but there was a good amount of blood. I could keep fighting. I checked my health, 56%. Not great. Another heal would be nice.

Chu finished his fight around the same time but without all the wounds and blood. Must be nice. He walked up to me and handed me a bottle. Health potion?

“Water. Wash the blood off your hands and chest. Take a swig too.”

The disappointment of the mystery bottle being just water vanished pretty quickly once I cleaned myself and drank some of the water. It was shockingly cold, a pleasant surprise for sure. What shocked me even more though was the fact that the wound closed up as I washed it in the water. Magic water! Sick!

“What was that clang? It was a godsend.” I asked Chu, who also cleaned a wound with the water after I handed the bottle back.

Chu gestured his head over to the group we were heading for. “Him.” I turned and saw that most of the boars and two more wolves were snorting and snarling at a person in full plate armor, holding a massive shield in one hand and a hammer in the other. The air around the armored man was tinted yellow and red as he banged on his shield.

This threw the monsters into a frenzy. They lunged at him, but the other sighters in the group attacked the flanks. “Gotta love a good tank.”

“What?” Chu asked in bewilderment.

“Nothing, let's go.”

We helped the fighters finish off that particular pack of beasts. We asked if any of them had any healing or stamina recovery, and Chu was running low as well. They thankfully had one but she could only give stamina at the moment, her healing ability had a cooldown. My stamina got back up to 65%. Serviceable.

Chu found another strength based fighter like himself. They had one thankfully; she was short and stocky with a wide face and short black hair, leading me to believe that she was a dwarf. But aside from having dog ears like the only dwarf I’ve seen, she had fur running along her arms, and claws to boot.

Chu gave her the rundown on the throwing-me plan. At which I couldn’t lie, I was a little excited for. Always liked trampolines as a kid. Couldn’t be much different. Right?

After stuffing the knife and spear under my belt, I climbed up on their hands, awkwardly trying to find balance. Got to give it to cheerleaders, this is a lot harder than it looks.

Once we all settled and found balance, Chu counted down. “3…2…1… GO!”

Flying through the air like that was not at all like a trampoline. It was much scarier. I floundered in the air at a way faster velocity than I expected. And they threw me a little too high. I passed by the roof of the academy by a good twenty feet before the gravity kicked back in and sent me into the roof with a crash.

I face-planted the wooden roof. I turned over with a grunt and a groan. My chest was killing me, the wound that had just stopped bleeding opened again. “Yep. Not doing that again.”

I got to my feet slowly and brushed myself off. I looked over the edge of the battle. Chu and the gang were already beset by another group of monsters. Geckos, goats, and another ram horned one. So they had their hands full.

I trekked across the roof, making for my destination. Chu was right, there weren’t any monsters up here to bother me so I started running to the end where the sergeant was.

Splat!

Something hit the front of my shoulder, making me stop. I felt my shoulder. It was a familiar substance. I scanned the roof. And there it was. Another damned gecko.