The Cowardice of Charleston of Capreolinae!

(Charleston)

"Go you stupid beast! Faster!"

Beastly roars echoed far in the distance as my heart matched the thunder of my mount's hoofbeats. There was a distinctive clash of might transpiring behind me, but I saw no reason to participate. A clash of strength is for barbarians and meatheads much like Bernard and that adventurer.

I had paid a fine coin for the services of that bandit and I was promised incredible strength by a member of the Ursa Major clan. For a while my coin was well spent, but upon lying eyes upon that dark skinned human, my perception changed.

'What the hell was that strength?!'

To best Bernard in hand to hand! That is utterly ridiculous! No way a normal human should be able to match strength with those types of beastmen! It was thanks to my quick wit and cunning that I was able to flee on the road to our headquarters in Ava Village. Hopefully, Bernard would be able to kill that man and his accomplice, but I must make haste with preparation.

It didn't take long before I laid my eyes on the wooden sign in the near distance. The men that were stationed there seemed wet behind the ears as my mount thundered past them. I ended up in the town square and fell off the horse when it bucked me off.

The dirt below greeted me, and my regal suit was ruined. Though that mattered little at the moment. I merely scrambled to my feet as various men of Bernard's gang circled around me. Confusion painted their daft faces as I pushed my way through the growing collective.

"Mister Charleston, are you-"

"Do I look fine, you fool?!"

My words snapped out as one of the men stood in my way. It was bad enough that I was forced to handle the operations here in this peasant town, but it was even worse dealing with these ignorant humans and elves. Their foolish habits of asking questions with obvious answers always irked me.

I moved with swift and decisive strides as I made my way to the inn that we turned into our headquarters. The place was much larger than the surrounding buildings and not as peasant-like as the others. The several sentires that guarded the building snapped their attention to me once they saw me storming through.

My footsteps creaked against the soft wood floors upon my weight being introduced onto them. The sound made my flesh crawl, but I dealt with it.

"Ezali! Ezali! Where is she?! Where is Ezali?!", I barked out once I entered.

The sight inside of the building absolutely appalled me. The thick stench of alcohol wrapped my keen nose and lit the fuse to my temper. There was nothing, but lazy elves passing around jars of elixir to their human counterparts. They laughed and cheered each other with a single care in the world.

They sat with their hands resting on the bosoms of the peasant women, and they seemed to be drunk on our prior successes. The sight was sickening, and despite my barking no one seemed to be paying me any mind. My face flushed with heat and my monocle began to cloud with due.

"Where is Ezali?! You…You-"

"Gah! Shut up already! I'm here! I'm here!"

A sharp voice spilled out, and I instinctively turned to face the individual responsible. The heavy aroma of elixir amplified upon the presence of this individual. The loud patter of boot steps echoed from the distant staircase.

The hair of this individual was rugged and unkempt, and an aggravated sneer decorated their face. A lengthy yawn revealed pointed, animalistic fangs, and leering crimson eyes landed on me. Her tanned skin was wrapped in pale outlines around her shoulder.

"Damn, Charles… What's got you bellowing now?! It's too early for that!"

Dressed in what essentially was nothing more than scraps of leather, Ezali rolled her shoulders. Her short brown hair had makeshift curls in it made solely from the split ends. While not the exact picture of lady-like or regalality, Ezali was indeed a woman. A woman with a strong physique befitting the right hand of her boss. Her khaki shorts barely made it to her knees with her thick calves poking out.

In a slow and thoughtless motion, she slid her wide arms into a worn sleeveless black jacket. Faded white spots appeared around the attire with its wearer seemingly willfully ignorant of the obvious imperfections.

"You need to rally your men pronto. We have an enemy-"

"The boss will take care of it! He's leading the party today, not me!", Ezali snapped in a harsh tone.

In a matter of seconds the black boots of the woman reached the bottom layer, she snapped her body towards my location. Her hands were placed atop of her waist as she surveyed the drunkard in the hall. Her muscles twitched with every step that she took and her tired expression hardened the moment she took the sight of her men.

She made her way towards the bar and once there physically removed one of her men from his position. She dwarfed the man with her tall stature, and her hand lashed out. Gripping his collar, Ezali pulled him away from the counter and casually slammed him onto the ground.

"Move.", she ordered.

There was no hesitation or delay in the drunk man's actions. Scurrying like an insect caught in a corner, he pulled himself away from her superior's wrath. Her actions aggravated me. Instead of moving with haste and adhering to my orders, the woman mindlessly waved me off.

"There is trouble. You must do as I say, and rally the men now before it is too late!"

"I do not take orders from you, little man. There is no problem that our boss can not see to him, himself.", Ezali sneered.

The gaze that this woman shot me was completely inappropriate. Her eyes looked at me as if she viewed me as nothing more than a nuisance. That alone angered me greatly. I couldn't prevent my frustrations from running my blood to boil.

'This.... premenscious minx! She knows that I line her pockets, but she still dares to look at me with such contempt!'

Eyes akin to flaming spheres bore into my flesh, but I soon matched her intensity. Waltzing up the woman, I straightened the collar of my suit and peered up at her.

"I will let you know that I am your boss' boss and you will listen to what I have to say! Your boss has found himself laid flat on his ass, and the man that did it will not stop until he arrives here!"

My words immediately caught the attention of Ezali. Her face was wrapped with disgust and disbelief as she mulled over them. Rising up from her position, she loomed over me like a dark cloud. Hands resting on her waist, Ezali brought her face down to meet my own.

"Cut the shit. You're lying through those buck teeth of yours, Bastard. No well in hell, some lazy punk from the city was capable of beating the boss!", she growled.

There was obvious anger building in her tone. I met her stout refusal with an even more stubborn nod of my head. Although I had soured the mood of the woman, it still didn't give me a reason to back down. After all, it was my hard-earned coin that allowed them to run roughshod over these filthy peasants.

"I have no reason to lie, Imbecile. I expected a great return of profit on your clumsy crew's endeavors, and Bernard has ensured that I reached a small one. There is money at stake here, and now he's on the brim of defeat."

Clouds of anger flashed above the head of the woman, but there was an ever-increasing sense of hesitancy growing behind the surface. Her eyes shot around the room as she seemingly pondered my warning.

"It is still imposs-"

At that moment a loud eruption splintered our attention. The very roof above us splintered in its place was a hole. The wood floor splintered and at its epicenter now lay one of our men. His eyes had no color in them and his body was limp as a log.

Underneath him were the remnants of what once stood as a table. Looking over his features, I would recognize the man as the woman who met me when I rode into town. He was one of the men who was normally stationed to guard the residential area of the village.

Immediately it was a sobering experience for those drunken fools, and my warning now held incredible weight. Ezali was the first to move. In quick strides, the woman moved to the unconscious man and checked his body out. Her eyes locked onto me and with them brought a resignation.

It was now obvious to her that no regular villager was capable of doing this to one of her men.

Her eyes sharpened as I could see the wheels turning in her head. Her body tensed up and with it, Ezali sprung to a standing position. With quick steps, she moved towards the entrance, and I followed in her steps.

"What happened out there, Charles?!", she growled as she kicked the door open.

"I'm telling you, this was going well, but then this… human managed to overpower Bernard. It was freakish."

The sun beamed through the door and once our feet hit the dirt, another body was sent crashing our way. His body thudded across the dirt, leaving a small trail from the east. That was the location that we looked at, and what we found made my heart skip a beat. A voice boomed from that area, and with it brought a sense of dread.

"Freakish?! Aight Bastard. I'll knock your ass out for saying some shit like that."

While at first glance, the man didn't seem all too special, but those muscles proved to be extremely dangerous. The wind carried his braids, and a sick snicker plastered over his face. On his shoulders rested one of our sentries and he pinned another one under his foot. The man cried out in anguish as being stepped on by that man was likely akin to being stepped on by a boulder.

Ezali growled towards the man. Witnessing her men being treated with little regard soured her mood quickly. She sized him up and down, but I opted for a more safe approach. Without hesitation, I immediately stepped behind the giantess. Moments later, the men that we left inside of the building began pouring out. They surveyed the situation and without any orders, they began to encircle the man.

"Who the hell are you?! How'd you get here and why are you here?!", Ezali questioned, her tone rough.

She clicked her teeth once she realized that I had taken refuge behind her, but that man never left her sight. His hand raised and with it, grabbed the collar of the man draped over his shoulder like a towel. In one swift motion, he tossed the defeated sentry over to us. The body bounced once it hit the ground making Ezali's nose wrinkled as a response.

"You're asking too many questions. Just know that I am here to kick all of your asses."

The bold words infuriated the woman, but she didn't make any rash movements. To be honest, it was quite strange to see her like this. Ezali stood like a statue, surveying our opponent. Normally, she would simply rush in and demolish anyone that decided to oppose her. She did that with those fools from the village, but this time it was different.

"Here to kick our asses? Don't make me laugh!"

One of our men jeered at our opponent. The drunkard was clearly not thinking well as he broke our formation and attempted to charge him. These elves were always too full of themselves, and their arrogance only grew once elixir touched their lips. One could tell that this particular man had far too many sips. His feet could barely sustain his body, but he wobbled towards him. His fist reached back and then…

"You should've known better than to test me with that weak ass punch.", our opponent chimned.

Our enemy made light of the man as his tone was filled to the brim with amusement. Witnessing him slap away the incoming hand of his attacker, and then striking him in the center of his chest was like watching a horrific accident. The drunkard hunched over from the impact, and in mere seconds was tossed aside by his arm.  He was airborne before he was once again reintroduced to the harsh ground.

Landing on his back, the man spasmed before spewing the elixir that he had consumed before that moment. He lay there with eyes pure white before stillness wrapped him like a blanket. Right before all of our eyes was a sobering experience. If he hits you, then you are done.

"Aight, who's next? C'mon step up. No need to be shy. I got plenty cans of whoopass to spare."