Loss

The soldier had dropped both his and Han's sword. Han picked up his short sword, but when he wanted to pick up the great sword, an armored soldier stepped in his way. As he looked around, Han saw more and more gazes laying on him. Multiple soldiers in full armor stood before him, the noise of fighting was slowly dying out in the background. A couple of screams died out in the crackling fire and the clacking of armor.

Karl lifted himself up. Using his magic, the blood from his wound had already hardened. Two of his men helped him up as he realized their impending victory, "Aside from the injuries, everything turned out as planned, after all." He thought.

Just then, a new sound drew not only his attention, but that of his men and the slave as well. From behind the house to his left, Karl hear could somebody choking, fighting for air and flailing around. The clattering of chainmail could be heard.

Han backed off slowly. At the same time as he listened, he carefully watched for the soldiers movement. They quickly started following him, but not to chase Han, instead to help their comrade who seemed to be dying. He walked back until he could look around the corner of the building. The sounds had stopped. The armored, dead body came into view. On top sat a monster.

It had the upper body of a human woman. The legs hidden in black smoke were bend back, shaped like a wolf's. Red light shone through the smoke, but also came out of its eyes. Its lower arms were deep black, like the light shining onto them as they choked the man had been swallowed. Its head slowly lifted to look at Han, it fledged its teeth at him before digging its back legs into the ground.

Karl took a step back, shock befell him when the thing jumped onto the slave in leather armor. The brown-skinned man was shivering as he was pressed on the ground. They only watched as she took his life. It was a woman in a long skirt and black blouse, but her hind legs were inhuman.

"What kind of magic-" Before the soldier could end his sentence, the woman jumped onto him, gripping his neck like she had with the slave before. The man next to them swung his short sword into her direction, but she easily jumped away. Only when a third came up behind her, she let go.

Instead of running away, the next moment she jumped onto the farthest of Karl's men. Now, all of them started running after her. She hopped off her target and dodged the spear coming for her back. The same moment, a sword managed to cut into her arm.

The mysterious beast continued drawing the king's army's attention. The man in iron armor signaled to move forwards. He wore a red cape around his shoulder, a black lockpick was painted on it. His fighters started crouching through the field, a hundred figures closed in on the hamlet.

"Somebody shoot it down!" Karl shouted. The woman had climbed the roof of the smithy, her black hair fell into her face as she looked down at them. One of his men drew his bow and took an arrow from the dead defenders body. He tried catch her in a vulnerable position, but she moved across the roof whenever he tried, "I don't think we can do anything about that thing."

Of the remaining uninjured soldiers, all fifty were staring up on the rooftop, watching the woman dance around their lone archer. Only when it was too late did they realize their mistake. A scream reached their ears. Furthest away from the woman on the roof, three of them had just dropped to ground, unmoving.

Karl watched another two of his soldiers get stabbed in the face before he ordered to attack, "There's still more, shit!"

All of the soldiers had turned into the same direction. Exactly as planned, the second group now sneaked up from the opposite side. With their backs turned, the soldiers made easy kills. Another big bunch of them dropped.

"This will be easier than I thought." The man smiled, revealing his crooked, yellow teeth. He limped into the light, drawing little attention. Only one of the locks had noticed Cal's different armor, the tall man gripped his greatsword and frowned. The soldier came running quickly, Cal unsheathed his long dagger, he did not plan to use it.

Karl slowed his attack, he held his sword in front of his body, pointing towards the unhygienic newcomer. The man looked half asleep, his eyes were half shut and his hair pointed in all directions. An unshaven beard clung to his face. He lifted his hand and smiled. Karl lifted one of his arms to defend for incoming magic, but unlike he had ever seen before, his opponent dropped his dagger and covered his eyes with the now free hand before a blinding light exploded in the other.

Karl's eyes felt like they had been brought to a boil inside his head, the pain spread across his face and he could see nothing but right sparkles behind a black background. A moment later, the sparkles had disappeard, now there was only nothingness left.

Cal dropped the wooden wheels, the weird chair had broken in half when he smashed it over the guy's head. He walked towards the rest of the soldiers, his smile slowly fading away. Cal did not like his view, multiple slaves layed on the ground before him. Only the entrance to the barn lifted his mood, a dozen of commoners and slaves, women and children alike, were covering on the strewn hay floor.