บท 21: Chapter Twenty: The First Commander

Drake moved back to where he had set his trap and waited patiently for the group of Kobolds to arrive. Drake had settled in a tree above two pairs of dummies he had set up in the bushes below him. They even had some of the extra swords and shields he wasn't using.

Soon Drake heard the rustle of branches and leaves, followed by rumbles and thumps, slightly shaking the trees.

So far so good, they haven't seemed to have noticed me this time, good thing I took that bath in the river to get the blood off and rubbed myself in dirt for good measure. Now I just need to hope it stays that way and I wait. He thought. The sounds of the Kobolds marching right under him filled his ears.

Drake looked down as he saw the two rows pass right underneath him. They had poked and prodded some of the dummies he had set up. Some of the dummies received a Mana Bolt and arrows, but Drake continued to wait because the one he wanted to ambush was the larger Kobold. He was worried that without the surprise attack he wouldn't be able to take down the beast. It was the mystery factor in this fight, and he wanted to take it down as quickly as possible if he could.

In moments the Large Kobold passed underneath his tree as well, it almost coming close enough to clip the bottom of the branch Drake was on. Causing Drake to start to nervously sweat.

Suddenly the Large Kobold barked and the group stopped moving. It began to sniff into the air trying to find the source of whatever it had just gotten a whiff of.

Drake practically shat himself as the loud bark sounded just below him, but hurriedly calmed himself. But when the Kobold began to sniff the air, he knew the jig was up, and as silently as he could began reciting Mana Bolt with his free hand.

When the magic activated he pushed off the branch, swinging his sword diagonally aiming to take the Monsters head off with his Heavy Blow Skill. Drake's Mana Bolt spell fired off, flying swiftly at the back of the monster's head.

But the Large Kobold moved and turned its head with unimaginable speed, unbecoming its hulking figure. It quickly dodged the Bolt with a tilt of its head, and opened its huge maw welcoming Drake's sword right into its pearly whites.

Drake's sword sparked and creaked for a moment in the Kobold's clenched jaw, a second later snapping the blade in half, to Drake's wide eyed surprise.

Drake hit the ground cursing, "You've got to be messing with me! What the hell are you made of?!" Drake looked up at the Large Kobold as it snickered at him, but it didn't move to attack Drake. "Are you looking down on me furball?!" He growled through gritted teeth.

The rows of Kobolds finally turned and began to fire a plethora of arrows and Mana Bolts in his direction. Drake cursed as he dodged and made a dash for the two dummies underneath the tree he had jumped off, firing Mana Bolts into the deluge of monsters on the way.

Within seconds he picked up both swords from the dummies and threw one at a mage that was in his path, trying to close in around him with the others. The sword caught this particular Kobold Mage in mid cast of a Mana Bolt, surprising Drake that it had a staff and even had to cast, as the previous one did not. But Drake would worry about that later, as he scooped up the staff in his now free hand and dashed out of the encirclement.

Drake dodged and weaved in and out of the tree cover, trying to position himself as close to the dummies as he could, hoping to use them to obscure their vision and confuse them.

Drake steadily took the monsters down one by one, with the new staff he just got his magic spells were again on another level, they were able to now cast instantly with no cooldown from the delayed cast time. And were leaps stronger as they were now able to penetrate the Kobolds shields. Combined with Drake's ability to move while casting, he had become a problem that the Kobolds were in no way ready to deal with.

Drake was now a small whirlwind of death as he shouted spells back to back, diving in and out of cover to slash at the backs of mages and rangers alike as he maneuvered the battlefield. The group of Kobolds were soon whittled down in numbers to single digits and retreaded to a semi circle around the Large Kobold.

The Large Kobold finally decided to join the fight and pushed past the small phalanx that had formed around it. It pulled its head and arms back then leaned forward to release a guttural roar at Drake. Drake was all the sudden stunned and unable to move, the next moment the Monster had seemingly teleported in front of him and launched an uppercut right into Drake's abdomen, sending him flying backwards and through a tree.

Drake grunted as he was sent flying, coughing up blood as he crashed into the tree. He flung across the ground momentarily then came to a stop, struggling to get up. He looked in the direction he had flown from to see the Large Kobold lumber at speed towards him.

It's not going to teleport again? Was it a skill? And what about that howl? How long are they down for? He tried to process, coughing as he rose.

He began quickly chanting his Mana Bolt at the oncoming monster, trying to maintain distance from it. But the Monster was just shrugging off the Mana Bolts, its armor doing an annoyingly good job of protecting it.

Drake didn't want to get in close but it looked like he may have to. He just wasn't able to get an angle to deal any significant damage to the Kobold's exposed parts from the distance he was at.

Before he was able to get in close to the Kobold, it teleported again right in front of him. But there was no shout this time to stun Drake, and he turned to dodge the subsequent straight hook from the monster.

Drake then brought his sword down on the monster's exposed elbow with his Heavy Blow but it was blocked by the Kobold's other gauntlet before it could connect. The two then were locked in a back and forth scuffle of dodging and striking at each other, with Drake losing out in technique.

He had more Dexterity than the monster it seemed which allowed him to keep up with the monster. But he was still just a person who hadn't had much experience in fighting. And his amateurish evasions of the blows were only enough to keep him from being hit directly. Resulting in Drake soon accumulating small wounds and cuts from the spiked gauntlets.

But Drake wasn't just becoming a punching bag, he was slowly outlasting the Monster, as he chanted close range Mana Bolts into the monster whenever he could, slashing at its uncovered joints whenever possible. Small dents and holes were starting to form on the beast's armor as they continued to exchange blows.

The tide of the battle abruptly changed, as the Kobold jumped backwards, rearing its head back again. When Drake saw the motion he knew what was coming, but he was too close and unable to get out of range of the shout. Stunned, Drake looked on helplessly as the monster again teleported to him and clotheslined him into the ground.

Drake spat blood as he was slammed to the ground, almost losing his grip on his weapons, but he somehow still had clarity despite the blow, knowing if he lost his weapons now he was dead for sure.

He quickly slashed at the legs of the Kobold from the ground, slashing one of its exposed calves dropping it down to one knee as it wailed in pain. The first real large amount of damage Drake was able to deal to it.

Drake hopped to his feet and kicked in the Kobold's other leg with all the strength he could muster, forcing it to a weird angle with a snap. Now was Drake's opportunity to unrelentingly open a can of whoop ass on the Monster. He brought down his sword on it, screaming his Heavy Blow Skill with every swing.

He had made some progress on the beast knocking off its helmet and nicking its head, battering it with small cuts here and there, but couldn't get any substantial damage as it held up the metal gauntlets in defense.

After a few seconds of Drake keeping the Kobold on the defensive it finally swatted away Drake's sword and in the same motion dashed forward grabbing Drake by the throat, forcing him to drop his weapons from temporarily blacking out. Then the monster teleported, slamming and pinning him into a tree. Drake's legs dangled off the ground awkwardly to the side as the Kobold was leaning limply to the side, one of its legs broken from earlier.

The Kobold smiled triumphantly at Drake, its left eye closed and bleeding from his earlier assault. The Kobold brought its face closer to Drake as he scratched and clawed at the monster arm holding him, grunting and gasping for air. The monster's maw slowly opened up to bite down on Drake's head. The monster taking an agonizingly long time to savor its captured prey.

Drake continued to struggle as teeth drew ever closer to him, flashes of his promise to get stronger and change, vivid in his mind. He wouldn't give up till the end this time, until he took his last breath. Fire was still lit within his eyes. His still flailing hands touched something to his right, and he immediately grabbed it and swung down at the beast's uncovered head.

A pained howl pierced the surroundings as the Large Kobold lurched backwards, a pickaxe in its left eye. Drake dropped to the ground and coughing for air. Then quickly taking in a deep breath before jumping onto the Large Kobold's lurching chest, his hands finding the pickaxe and ripping it from its skull.

Drake glared into the monster's remaining eye and smiled, bringing down the pickaxe with a Heavy Blow as if he was prospecting for oil. And he struck gold as a fountain erupted from the monster's skull. It fell all the way backwards in a heap with a loud thunderous crash.

From his roost on top of the felled Kobold's chest Drake stared at the remaining monsters from the group covered in blood, and more covering him from the temporary fountain he had created out of the Kobold's skull.

The Kobolds whimpered at the sight of their fallen leader, and turned to run back in the direction of the outpost they had come from.

Drake was almost completely spent and threw the pickaxe at the back of the monsters, catching one of the Rangers in the thigh. He surged forward with the last remaining dredges of his stamina and strength, catching the wounded Kobold Ranger by the back of the head and slamming it down into the ground with a crunch.

The remaining Kobolds didn't even stop to look back and continued to run. Drake kept chase but was unable to sprint anymore so he hobbled to the end of the tree line, shooting Mana Bolts from his hand the whole time into the backs of the monsters. Stopping at the treeline he fired at the fleeing monsters until arrows began to pelt the tree he was leaning on.

Drake spat a mouthful of blood in the direction of the outpost, "Bring more next time! I'll be here all day!!" He screamed, smiling with a red tinted grin.