Free The Slaves Tp-Part 2
Longspikes doesn't have the training that Erebos has, doesn't have that beautiful fluidity that comes from long days spent perfecting the details. The lizard is perfectly correct in the assessment that skill will outperform strength, and as Longspikes is tugged to the side, the flat of the sword clanging off the side of his skull, it seems as though the theory is proven... but what the Longspikes has is experience. More than a dozen seasons of it. His ears ringing, his face aching on both sides now, but even so the instinct s stay sharp. That vice-tight grip doesn't release Erebos' wrist... it grips tighter, and as the Hedgepig is spun by the fluid redirection, he uses that in turn; planting his mighty footpaws into the earth and roaring loud enough to shatter stone and flinging all of his weight in the same direction, bending at the middle and... trying to fling Erebos over his shoulder like a hammer-throw.
Tungur would have been hit real hard with that swing, but the knives in his belt save him from any real damage. There's a loud metal clank when the blade hits his side, and then a bit of a deep cut, but nothing life threatening, just painful. He jumps to the side and lets his paw cover it
firmly. "Argh...you'll pay for that." he draws one of those bloody knives and takes a good few steps back, hurling it as hard as he can at Blackfur. He doesn't realize though that if Erebos gets sent flying back, he'll get hit square in the back by the large beast. He quickly looks down and spots only two throwing knives left, knowing he'll have to ignore those and keep them for when he needs them next.
The lizard smiles, but only briefly, only a fleeting shadow of triumph on his face as he lands a blow, before his momentum is turned against him. Erebos is well acquainted with the move Longspikes is trying, it being one of his favorites. But with the sheer force of the beast's weight and muscle behind it, he cannot do much to counter in a split second except to writhe and struggle and make it difficult to be directed. But over his shoulder the lizard goes, however slowly, and the spikes do their damage as he is scraped against them, the points snagging and tearing through his coat, one even gooing so far as to lodge itself in his side. Pain blooms in the lizard's mind, but does more to impede his momentum, and instead of being thrown, he merely flopped to the ground heavily a tiny distance away. Gravity still does its damage and the floor shudders as he comes into contact with it, his claw releasing his sword instinctively to break his paw. He groans and curses himself for false confidence, scramblingto his footclaws quickly. Both beasts are weaponless now; if he had tried to fetch it, he would have wasted precious seconds. The fighting pair look positively barbaric, with the 'hog's body paint and massive bulk, and the lizard's prehistoric feature and coat, now shredded and with tufts of cat fur and feathers sticking out, little bits breaking free and catching the breeze, swirling about the room.
Blackfur watches the rat closely and goes to slice at his left side before he has a chance to stab him with a knife,He then takes a chance and flees outside and into the main area of the camp.
(Outside in main area)
The camp is in a bit of confusion as fighting is out here as well. Blackfur growls low as he steps out of the slave cells with a bleeding shoulder,he hissses low as a couple guards are fighting a escaped mouse,he glaces around as he grips his sword,he looks back to the rat that seems to be fighting him.
Tungur follows Blackfur. "Come back here, coward. I'm not done with you yet!" one arm is holding his bloody side while the other bleeds as well. He's in decently bad shape and when he sees Blackfur again, he follows a little quicker. "You're dead cat..." he draws a knife and gets ready to hurl it at the feline's back.
There seems to be some sort of commotion going on A few beast rush from the main building to the slave cells, but hesitate as they get nearer. As blackfur opens the door, primeval grunts and hisses can be heard, only slightly dampened by the door slamming shut. The guards on duty seem confused, unsure whether they are to keep their posts or desert them and try and tame the mild chaos.
Tyree and the others have not been ordered across the bridge just yet. The major can see quite clearly that the camp is in some kind of confusion from across the bridge, as though the slaves are in revolt. "I wonder if we even needed to show up," he remarks dryly, making sure he has a good stock of what's going on. So much for useless maps and plans. So much for his strategy for dealing with a gate guarded by thirty archers and numerous patrols in the woods. But this might be mor fun. He draws his sabre and turns back to the others gathered. "Well, then, chaps, looks like we've got most of our job done for us, but I want this done by the numbers. I want the walls secured first, archers on the flanks, otters an' Fighters come straight up the middle towards the slave pens. Skipper Hallow! Care to join me up front?"
Dimas has been woken up by all this commotion so he's already in a bad mood as he stomps out of the main building, axe already in paw as he snarls at the sight of escaping slaves. He goes to quickly end the nearest fight, crush a slave under his axe on his way to the cells.
Blackfur growls as he spins around and goes to stab Tungur again.A guard goes to try and get him from the side at the same time."Die already fool!"
--- A dozen rats clad in motley grey stand near the door to the main complex, each one carrying a loaded crossbow, their hooded heads looking slowly about. Other than the weapons in hand, they seem uninterested in what is happening... even as a slave mouse dashes past not half a dozen paces away, they just glance at the beast as he scurries towards the wall, then utterly disregard him. One, just as nondescript as the others but carrying a heavier weapon glances towards Blackfur as he dashes from the slave cells, Tungur in tow. The greyclad rats glance to one another, voices quiet in the chaos...
Tungur blinks and then stops in his tracks. He doesn't notice the guard, so as he parries the stab but the guard knocks him square in the side, sending him flying off to the side. "Argh..." he grunts, breathing harder.
Hallow is not most pleased with the sight and already ordering otters into something resembling a formation as she readies her bow. Mention of her name directs her attention onto Tyree and she heads for the front of the group "Officer" she's forgotten what rank he's supposed to be and doesn't consider it to be important right now.
"Skipper," Tyree answers Hallow, putting his sabre back on his shoulder. "Well then. Fighter hares an' otters first, rest of you know what to do. Blood an' vinegar an' all that. Don't pack yourselves together, stay spread out. Watch each other's backs an' this will be all over before tea time." Since. Most of the slavers are apparently already dead? Tyree raises his sword. "Long Patrol! Eulalia! CHARGE!" And across the bridge they go, taking the already confused vermin by surprise.
Tyree keeps his head down, eyes swiveling in their sockets as he identifies targets. One, two, three slavers across the bridge. They'll be the first to die. But Blackfur is his real target. Cut off the snake's head and whatnot..
Having been assigned to the middle of the pack, Ava is hurrying along the bridge with the others, dagger in hand, and med kit fastened securely over her back. The princess turned healer can feel her heart race and the adrenaline pound through her veins like liquid courage. This is her first real war, and she can only hope that her training will pay off. She sticks close to Tyree, for it is her job to keep the Major alive.
Tungur slowly stands up, slightly shaky. When the guard attacks him again, the rat floors him, smashing his nose firmly before he stares at Blackfur. He draws his final knife, and aims a hard stab to the feline's already stabbed shoulder, just aiming to make it even worse.
--- The small Longtail with the heavy crossbow advances towards Blackfur, ignoring the madness that is starting to break out. As Tungur lunges though, she halts, lifts that massive weapon to the shoulder... and pulls the catch. The horse-murderer thrums and bucks, a vicious iron-tipped bolt speeds forth, aimed low, for the leg...
Blackfur slices at a random hare that gets too close and smiles coldly,the dagger tungur throws hits and burys into his shoulder,he growls in pain as he rips it out,blood goes down his shoulder,he barkls out orders, "Kill the hares and otters..!" He slices at an otter that gets too close to him and smirks,he backs up some and looks around.
Hallow draws an arrow while Tyree's talking, for going into a battle she's rather calm. She spies out her likely targets too, guards, those crossbow beasts certainly have to go. She raises her paw as Tyree comes to the end of his short speech, letting it drop on the 'charge' been doing it too long, she has paw signals, still she adds her own "Charge!" and shoots off an arrow at the nearest of the guards before joining the running mass.
Tungur was about to finish the cat off by stabbing him but when that bolt his his thigh, he lets out an incredibly loud yell, falling onto his side, his sword going flying, leaving him .
It's not just hares and otters. It's shrews, too, shrews who charge out of the mass of larger creatures to spread havoc and mayhem with their agile rapiers. Who knows how long Blackfur's soldiers will last before they simply break and run? Tyree brings his sabre down in a two-pawed chop on his first victim, a rat who's unprotected neck is hacked almost in two. Tyree shoves him to the ground and moves on to the next one, his blade dancing around a spear before finding a home in a ferret's gut. He can see Blackfur already, big violent cat that he is, and carves a beeline towards him. Backhand to another rat stab him in the chest.
Dimas is almost to the slave cells when suddenly there's a whole lot more woodlanders in the area. He growls but glances around before ducking round the building. He doesn't get paid enough to be the front line, that's the job of the daft, he'll let them get a little cut up first.
Blackfur sees Tyree and grins,he goes to raise a sword towards him,aiming to slice at his arm as he gets nearer to him.
Shar draws close to Blackfur now, calmly cranking the windlass on her crossbow to reload it. "Madness. Ruin. Defeat." she says in her calm monotone. "Reap what is sown. Do not follow us. We will kill you." Her somewhat cryptic piece said, Shar turns and moves back towards the greyclad rats, her pace increasing to a fluid dash. When she reaches them, she doesn;t even slow, continuing past, the eleven of them turning and following, their shapes held low, dashing across the packed snow and earth like phantoms, to the far wall from the attack, and up to the battlements... and without firing a single shot into the charging mass of woodlanders.
Tungur looks down at the bolt and groans, laying on his back. He looks defeated. Completely defeated. He doesn't even try to move, and at that, he just gives up. He doesn't care if anyone sees him and tries to end him there, the rat laying near the cells staring upward. "What...did I get...myself into...this time?" he grumbles.
Hallow separates from the main mass along with a few archers, finding a spot to shoot from where they won't be accidentally shooting their own. Her aim follows the crossbow beasts but as they seam to be retreating they're left to it. A couple of arrows later at vermin in general and the fighting's becoming too mixed for a good safe shot. She draws her sword and signals a couple of others on the way as she heads for the place all the escaping slaves seem to be coming from.
Greyclad rats are not Tyree's concern. He was not called on to deal with cryptic strangers, but the cat that's right in front of him. His strong legs carry him a hop back from the cat's sword swing, taking up a proper fencing position. "Well, ol' chap. Looks like this'll be the first an' last time we meet. Shame, that." He jabs forward with a fake thrust to the legs and then twirls his sabre up high towards Blackfur's chest instead. Tungur will have to depend on the charity of other passing hares for help. Which probably won't be much.
--- An ear-shatter crash comes from the direction of the slave cells - one of the walls explodes outwards into a shower of wood splinters and flying timbier, and the biggest bloody hedgehog anyone has ever seen. The beast roars as gravity finds him again, snow and earth fountaining from hima s he rolls to a stop a good dozen paces from the ruined wall. He's bigger than any beast on the field, well-on the size of a badger, and a big badger at that with strangely long spines, some ahcked and cut, other painted in blue. Half his face and neck is awash in crimson blood, his huge fat bely soaking through in crimson, terrible wounds to any others, but the massive beast is already pushing himself back up onto his oak-stump-thick legs, steel-corded arms bunching again as he glares towards the hole he had come from.
Tungur looks at the crash, and rolls out of the way of any debris, which cause him to grunt and groan out loudly. "Argh..." he looks at Spikes. "Ya' okay Spikes?" he calls out as loud as he can. And upon realizing Spikes is out here, he quickly, or as quickly as he can, slides out of the way of where he assumes Erebos will appear.
Continuing after Tyree is Ava, who is following his lead as he cuts through the masses. As a rat dives upon her, she lets out a loud squeak of surprise, tumbling to the ground as the pair wrestle. She can feel a surge of white hot pain drive through her shoulder as the vermin jabs a knife into her, soaking her freshly pressed green uniform with red as it spurts and oozes out of the wound. Fumbling for her dagger on the ground, her fingers stretch outwards to wrap about her handle, then jabs it hard into the throat of the rat, watching it squirm and gag in a mouthful of blood.
Blackfur goes to block the swing to the legs and finds too late that the sword was aiming for his chest,he goes to try and kick Tyree as the sword stabs deep into his chest,a rush of blood is seen as his eyes start to dim a little,he grunts a little and has a shocked look on his face,he spits blood in Tyrees face.
If it seems strange that no slaves come pouring through the newly made hole in the wall, the reason soon becomes clear. A lizard clambers over the splintered wood and stone, one claw holding an overly large scimitar, and the other tearing at what little is left of his coat. As he throws the ragged piece of cloth to the ground, he reveals a gash in his side, dripping blood down his abdomen and thigh and what appears to be...a bite mark? On his shoulder, baring a little white - his collarbone. He is to full of battle rage at this point to notice the cold, and he pauses to take in the mayhem before him, eye ridges raising only slightly in surprise. And then then he is surging downhill towards Longspikes, sword held aloft and with both claws now. He bellows out a low rumbling note that carries like thunder across the camp.
Dimas continues to lurk at the far side of the slave cells, hiding round the corner, well, he wouldn't call it hiding, he'd prefer lying in wait. As the fighting settles from charge to pockets of fighting he creeps back out, slashing open the back of the first hare he gets to and bringing his axe heavily on the shrew next to them.
Whoof, big hitter this cat is. Tyree feels his cheeks blow out as the kick connects square in his stomach, driving him back a couple paces. That's gonna leave a bruise. The blood spat his face is added to the blood that's /already/ on his face. So he just shrugs it off, going to one knee momentarily as he blinks the stars out of his eyes. Seeing the cat start to flag he heaves himself to his footpaws once more and attacks with a two pawed horizontal swing, meant more to push Blackfur's sword out of the way for the killing blow more than anything else. Giant mutant hedgehog can be dealt with after Blackfur's dead.
Hallow releases a few choice curses as she's nearly barrelled into by a hedgehog, leaping out the way to avoid the debris. That's a new one even for her. She turns her attention to the hole on the wall as Longspikes gets up, raising her sword with another curse as she sees the lizard, though she is wise enough not to get in his way when he charges.
Blackfur feels his sword moves out of the way,being weak now from blood loss it isnt to hard as he is disarmed of his blade,more blood pours from his wound as the area starts to spin,he goes to try and grab the hare by the thoat as he falls onto his knees and coughs up blood.
Tungur watches Erebos charge his friend, and he has no ability to dash in the way to try and help out. He just lays there, watching. He blinks though after a moment or two, shaking his head as he tries to clear his vision when he realizes that maybe, no help will come for him. That just wont do, of course, so slowly, he tries to stand.
Longspikes's glance doesn't even flick to Tungur, the bloodied Hedgepig just glaring up at the hole. When the huge Montior slithers free from it, he starts to growl, eyes burning hot with blooded fury. He starts to lumber towards the beast, huge legs pushing hard, muscles bunching as he gets speed. He roars as he closes, a sound like the clashing of thunderheads echoing across the swirling battlefield, tucking in his chin and shoving one spike-clad shoulder towards the lizard with all his might, his spikes flaring as he tries to impale the massive beast on his own hide, far too maddened to pay attention to that wickedly shard sword...
Heavy fingers on his throat, claws digging into his skin. Fear bubbles in his stomach. Tyree pushes it away with thoughts of his duty, his purpose, grabbing at Blackfur's shirt and yanking them closer together. The rest of the battle seems to fade away as he grits his teeth and stares into the eyes of the creature he had been "fighting" for the last several weeks. "Cowards die many times," he snarls into the cat's eyes, driving his sabre towards Blackfur's stomach, where it would then thrust up to his heart. "Heros die only once. Let's see which one you are."
Erebos has gained too much momentum, that much is clear. The big lizard had not expected The hedgehog to have recovered so quickly. He attempts to stop, but he slips on the mixture of snow, mud, and dead leaves that have been churned up in the midst of the battle. He skids to an akward stop, his body lurching forward as his talons dig into the loam. and suddenly Longspikes is there, spikes first, closing the gap. He brings his scimitar down with the combined power of his heavilly muscled arms and gravity, but the distance is to close for any sort of slicing action, and he has to content himself with more blunt force, smashing the pommel of the sword down towards the pig's head.
Blackfur narrows his eyes at Tyree,he growls and goes to squeeze his thoat,he gasps as the sword enters his stomach,he watches the blood flow and lets go of the hare's thoat,he twiches slightly as the sword enters up into his chest,he trys to speak and blood guggles out of his thoat as the sword not only hits his heart but also a lung,the life light fades from his eyes and a look of shock and maybe terror at the fact he lost,go across his face,more blood flows down his chest as his eyes glaze over in death mist and he falls sort of backwards,then sideways and fallls to the ground,the shock terror look locked on his face.The leader of the Black Rose is dead!!
Tungur manages to stand but as soon as he takes a step towards Longspikes and Erebos, he collapses again, the pain just too great. He watches them and closes his eyes. "I wont die...not here...not now..." he groans out to himself and then pulls himself along as best as he can, working towards finding someone...anyone...hopefully Jo...to heal him.
Dimas has starting grinning as he shove the handle of his axe into the face of an invader and ducks a sword while taking out the feet of another. He just sees Blackfur fall but many of those further away are too busy fighting to notice and he doesn't care to stop. He's having fun. The shrews are especially good for sending flying even if they have stabbed him a few times.
Longspikes was inches from spearing the monitor like an apple... CLose enough to smell that foul blood, to reach out and grab that throat, to squeeze the very life from the scalekin... But it isn't to be. As he is bearing down, that huge sword comes down, propelled by a strength never seen before, it connects with the huge hedgehog's skull... and the lights go out. The huge form stumbles and sags, carried by momentum to slam into Erebos regardless... but instead if pummeling fists and dreadful piercing spikes, it is just a dead weight flopping onto Erebos like a lead blanket... albeit a tremendously heavy one. Dead, no... he still breathes, but the hedgehog doesn;t move, his huge body gone limp.
Tyree wheezes as the cat's Vice grip tightens around his throat. He has a surprisingly strong grip in death. But he can feel his sabre pierce through all his organs, and then the handle leave his paw as he lets Blackfur stagger backwards and those claws leave his neck. He stares in somber silence until Blackfur collapses, and then breathes deeply. "Well that was surprisingly easy," he murmurs. He didn't even lose an ear. He picks up Blackfur's sword, as his is still lodged deep in the cat's chest, and turns to the limping Tungur, ears twitching as the battle ebbs and flows behind him. "... Are you friend or foe to Redwall, sah?" he says, raising his sword. He's not above killing a wounded enemy.
Tungur stops and stares upward at Tyree. "Talk to...Jo...Flicktail...friend...if you don't believe me..." and finally, he's out like a light on the ground. Far from dead yet though, his will to go on and have a life outside of evil just way too strong for his body to give up. For now.
Monrok runs over to Tyree. "Do you need help sir?". He pulls out his sword and smiles. "Perhaps I can be of assitance." He then charges after a ferret and easily overcomes him, he stabbs the ferret and starts after a stoat, the stoat catches him off guard and slices him down the arm. "Ugh...die vermin"
Tyree turns to Monrok and points the sword at him. He just got done killing a cat, he's not going to react well when another comes rushing right up to him in the heat of battle. The rest of the vermin are falling quickly, however, seeing their leader dead there isn't much left to hold them together. Oh, wait, Monrok's asking to /help./ Tyree blinks and lowers the blade. "You can carry this poor chap to a healer," he says, pointing at Tungur lying on the ground.
Jo sighs and shakes his head, "I am a healer, Sir."
Dimas is slowly becoming one of the few vermin still up and fighting and no longer fancies his chances. One more otter down and he pulls a shrew off his back as he backs away, throwing the small beast into one wall of the cells before slips back round behind them and quietly sneaks away.
Monrok finishes killing the stoat and nods to Tyree. "Of course...where's the healer?". He picks up Tungur easily, considering Tungur is only a rat..and he is a cat. He looks at Jo. "You are closest healer sir...perhaps you can help him"
Jo chuckles and smiles wide, "Course I can, he 'as already been enough trouble as it is. Broken rib, broken arm, cuts...bruises." He takes Tungur off the cat's paws and drags the rat out of the whole mess of things.
Tungur looks completely, and utterly dead. There's hardly any movement of his own will. He's breathing still, yes but lightly. There's a slice going down his side, a little tiny one on his cheek, two stab wounds on either side and a bolt sticking out of the outer left thigh from a crossbow. After a few moments in the cat's arms, he groans. "Jo..." and he's out again.
Having been disengaged from the group due to her own fighting, Ava was lost in the crowd of swarming bodies, blades, and blood. With her shoulder wounded and tied off to try and prevent the flow of blood, she found herself struck once more in the side. For now, she is sprawled out on the ground, wheezing, and laying in a pool of her own blood. The body of a weasel is sprawled out next to her with a dagger wound in his gut which spilled his intestines to the dirt. It seems that the medic herself may be in need of one. For now, the world is foggy and all the noises whipping around her ears is a symphonic blur.
Hallow hasn't been keen to get too close to the fight of the giant beasts, one battle against monitor lizards was enough for a couple of lifetimes. There are a few otters with longer pointy weapons to hide behind that do try to get the unconscious hedgehog from the lizard but she considers them better equipped for the job and is headed for the door to the slave cells again, just after more come out it seems "All the slavers dead in there?"
Monrok nods and goes to join in the fight. "Slavery is Wrong...you will all pay for your actions this past seasons....you will pay the ulitmate price"
Several ex-slaves move to the body of Longspikes. They carefully, and quickly start to drag the brute's body along, trying to get him out of here before he too goes Blackfur's path.
Tyree spins around at Jo and blinks. Is everybeast but him here a wizard, able to appear wherever they want? "Erm. Right." Tyree nods at Tungur. "Start with that one. Then help the others." He looks over the battlefield. Looks like they've won, since the cheering has started in some places. A small victory, but a pleasant one nonetheless. And the first under his command! He puts his paws on the handle of blackfur's sword and stick the tip into the ground, breathing calmly. He only just now notices the claw marks on his neck, and the way he wheezes, and how his voice is rather scratchy. Note to self. Do not let a giant cat choke you with its bare claws again. Ava is quickly found by 67th hares, tended to by other, more experienced field medics quickly. Tyree looks at Hallow and nods. "Near as we can tell. Slaves killed everythin' inside, it seems, an' we cleaned up out 'ere."
Jo frowns and looks at Tyree flatly, "I know sir, i've been locked up for near a month hear. I've 'ad to heal plenty and now its something jus' natural." He lays Tungur down and starts to give him a once over.
Monrok smiles. "Where's the cat?...I want his Black Heart"
Erebos and the unconscious form of Longspikes slide down the hill, stopping only when the two hit the wall. The great lizard sturggles for a moment, their blood mingling together. And then with a great heave, the hedgehog is pushed off of the monitor and rolled to the side, the wounds on his shoulder and belly still bleeding profusely. The lizard scrambles to his footclaws and hisses, swinging his sword around him in an arc and forcing the otters back a bit. His tail lashes and he backs up against the wall, the adrenaline coursing through his body, electrifying his skin. "You zee what I deed to zat peeg zere? Any of you come near me, I weell make zhort work of you!" He rumbles. Oh holy... it talks! Erebos looks between the otters, who despite their known hardiness, seem a little unsure, and then quick as a flash he gets his claws and the flat of the blade on top of the wall. With a grunt of pain, he heaves himself up onto the stones, staring down at the beasts in a challenging manner.
"Archers!" Tyree calls once the giant lizard heaves itself onto the wall. "Lizard on the wall! Loose!" And any hare archers who may have heard him quickly send Erebos on his way by
Hallow takes a deep breath and after a quick survey of the battle field sheaves her sword. She seems satisfied "Right. Clean up time then" she stalls a couple of her own and directs their efforts "Living place over there if it's safe to move them, once they're sorted, the dead move over..." she's pointing but stalls as Tyree shouts and quickly snatches her bow to join in with the swarm of arrows quickly headed for the beast.
Jo sighs and shakes his head, "Sorry Tungur." He pushes the bolt through the rest of the way, he smiles just a little as it goes through just skin. Nothing major.
Monrok is fighting three very tough rats...at the same time, his efforts are valiant, but he is easily overcome, and knocked out by the hilt of a vermin sword. The Rats are takin care of by a few long patrol hares, but not before Monrok's leg is severly injuried...he is carried to safety but will need medical attention.
Tungur groans out loudly in his 'sleep' as the bolt get pushed through. At least he's not dead. And if there had have been more time between him collapsing and getting to a healer, he'd be dead for sure.
Jo carefully pulls the bolt out and smiles, "One thing done."
Erebos hisses angrily at Tyree, but can do nothing more than that as the volley is let loose. As quickly as his injuries and exhaustion permits him, And drops over over the other side of the wall. A few of the beasts were qucker than the others and had released their arrows before the call. On arrow glances off his scales at an odd angle, but another stick into his shoulder, and a third into his lower back. There is a heavily thud - it seems like he did not land gracefully, but that is all. If any beast were to go out and search for him, they would be at a loss. The monitor has slithered away into the trees, to blend into the growing darkness and lick his wounds.
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