Chapter 9 - Slipping

"No shriek yet. Een should be able to get a hit in soon. Then it's my turn. I really hope those two had better luck than us," Karabell heard himself saying.

Superiors weren't to be taken lightly. Een swung his axe around a few times, but the creature effortlessly dodged his blows. Alice's words came to his mind. Last time they'd killed a Superior, they'd attacked from four directions at the same time. Now, he had to create an opening for the Captain all by himself. At least the creature had scales, which made it a perfect target. But the pressure it exerted was overwhelming. No matter how much he wanted to keep an eye on the entrance, it was taking all he had to make sure the Aberration's counterattacks wouldn't hit him. In a battle of attrition, he didn't stand a chance. After a few narrow misses, however, his axe finally collided with the Superior's rough armor... but not at the right angle. Een clicked his tongue, and his features hardened. Despite that, he was getting closer.

Karabell waited patiently near the staircase's landing. Normally, he would've gotten mad at Een. Even if he probably wouldn't have let that show. But he didn't have such a right in that situation. After all, he'd more or less forced him to come. He'd divided the team once again, putting everyone's lives in danger. If something happened to them, it would be entirely his fault.

Een took a deep breath, relaxing his body. The Captain had once told him that he was the most cautious member of the team, almost to a fault. But Een had gotten tired of fighting like that. Never taking any risks, always prioritizing his safety. He needed to draw a line between caution and cowardice. If he couldn't do that, they would all die. Taking down the enemy... It was a hard task, but not impossible. The creature was almost at the edge of the roof. A fall from that height wasn't going to kill it, but he doubted that the Superior would walk away unscathed. Their escape route had been cut off, but the same could be said about the Aberration. No, that thing could probably manage to escape. So what was he supposed to do? Een leapt at the monster without a second thought. He knew he couldn't be able to dodge the next attack completely, but he was willing to take that risk. A sharp pain shot through his left shoulder. One of the creature's claws scratched his cheek, drawing blood. Een winced, but his victory had already been decided. He'd managed to get behind the beast, and was now barely keeping his balance on the edge of the roof. Blood trickled down his arm. But he'd won. With two quick blows to the back of its knees, he knocked the Superior down. The creature's scales clanked loudly as its body hit the concrete.

"Scales... Watch your steps," the twisted voice cried, as if begging for mercy. Een jumped on the creature's back, hacking away at its scales. It was such an unfair advantage... That natural armor that made fighting them one-on-one almost impossible. It annoyed him. He'd cursed his own weakness countless times, but he'd finally understood something. Sometimes, the safest choice wasn't the best one.

After seeing Een putting his life in danger like that, Karabell's heart threatened to jump out of his chest. Nonetheless, his plan had worked. Having to rely so heavily on his and Shono's weapons, then simply delivering the last blow just felt... wrong. But that was the only way to defeat those monsters. Against a feathered one, he could've managed alone. Killing a scaled Aberration by himself, however, was out of the question. He effortlessly sunk his spear into the Superior, breathing a sigh of relief. Een smiled as he gave the Captain a thumbs up. All of a sudden, Karabell shoulders tensed. For a moment, he'd completely forgotten that the battle wasn't over, enjoying their small victory.

They'd defeated the Superior, which was a great feat in and of itself. That, however, didn't make the five Aberrations staring them down any less intimidating. Karabell forced down his panic. The creatures had gotten there faster than he'd expected. The entire fight had lasted about a minute, and the staircase should've been narrow enough to hinder their movements.

"You can't expect an ambush. That's the whole point, huh?" Een said, but the humour in his voice did not match the concern in his eyes. They were still standing right next to the Superior's corpse... too close to the rooftop's edge for comfort.

"Yeah... I just had to say that, didn't I? I realize we don't really have much of a choice, but I'll ask anyway. Ready for round two?"

Five Aberrations. The same ones they'd seen before. Een knew what he needed to do. The Captain could take out the two feathered ones on his own. So he just needed to fend off the other three until he managed to do that. Then, they'd attack together and... But the Aberrations didn't react in any way. They just stared blankly at the two fighters. One of them took a few steps forward, glaring at Een. Karabell could swear he saw the creature's eyes narrow as it glanced at the shallow wound on the soldier's shoulder.

"If you want a job done well, do it yourself... or something like that," the feathered monster snorted, casting a sideways glance at its brethren's corpse.

"I'm done with this," Een almost shouted. He could feel his sanity slowly slipping away. Regular Aberrations, Garglings, Superiors. He'd known about those since forever. Alice'd discovered that weird Gargling that could shriek. He could understand that much. But that was the second time they'd heard a creature speak. Coherently, even. And, to top it all off, it wasn't even a Superior, judging by its size. Why were so many different Aberrations emerging all at once? He'd only really been a soldier for a few months, so he certainly lacked experience. But he hadn't heard of any creature like that before. Those mindless monsters. Those creatures he'd thought to be mindless monsters for so long...

"Isn't this nice? This one's actually intelligent. Calm down, Een. Wouldn't you like the opportunity to have a chat with it? I'm sure it would be... rather interesting." Karabell smirked, not even trying to hide the hostility imbuing his words. "You're another Superior, aren't you? Why didn't you step in to help your buddy when you have an entire squad of Aberrations at your disposal? Well, whatever. I'm curious to see just how smart you are. But first, we'll have to bring you down," the Captain finished, pointing his spear in the Aberration's direction.