Without a second thought, Alice removed her sword from its scabbard and threw it as hard as she could. The blade spun through the air and stuck in the ground, right next to Kar. Alice swallowed hard, staring wide-eyed at the weapon. She hadn't expected it to land so close to him. More importantly, she'd never seen Kar wield a sword before. His weapon of choice had always been the spear. Alice's eyebrows drew together. When had she turned into such a worrywart? Kar probably had some sort of plan. He wouldn't have rushed in like that otherwise. On the other hand, why wasn't Frederick doing anything?
"Thank you," Karabell said in a light tone as he pulled the sword out of the ground. "Now I can fight."
Karabell scoffed at himself. The look in his eyes was as cold as ice. The creature glared at him. He could clearly feel the ominous aura attempting to wrap itself around him. His expression remained unfazed. If anything, it grew a little darker. He'd figured it out. How could it have taken him so long?
"That's not going to be enough to scare me, you know? You should honestly give up," Karabell said, but his voice fell to a whisper. "Well, whatever."
He launched himself at the Aberration. The beast raised its arm and tried to swat him. Karabell didn't attempt to dodge. He didn't need to. The creature's hit wasn't going to connect anyway. He was simply moving too fast. The claws swished through the air, missing him by only a hair's breadth. The Captain raced past the beast as his eyes locked onto the sole object lying on the cave's floor. The Aberration turned around just in time to see the fighter lift his spear off the ground. The creature immediately backed away, staring at the two soldiers.
Karabell took a defensive stance, keeping Alice's sword as close to his body as possible. He tightened his grip on his spear and glanced over at Frederick. It looked like he'd snapped out of it. The Commander's breathing had become rhythmic, and his eyes had regained their shine. Noticing his steady gaze, Frederick raised his fists in front of him and gave a nod of approval.
"Glad to see you're feeling better. Listen," Karabell began in a low voice. "The feathers covering that thing's head are odd, to say the least. We can't rely on my spear to do the job. There're no holes in that thing's defense, but I'm sure you've figured that out already. So this what we're going to do. Focus on getting the Ringleader to open its mouth. There's no other way to defeat it. Taking out its eyes wouldn't be enough to kill it. Even if we somehow manage to puncture its brain, I still doubt that it would take that creature out. It would take too long for the poison to spread. We need to shove one of the weapons directly down its throat. That's our only hope."
"You think that beast will fall into a trap that obvious? And will something like that even work?" Frederick asked as he shot Karabell a skeptical look.
"It has to. Think about it. As long as the weapon pierces at least one of its internal organs, the poison should spread through its body like wildfire. Besides, what other choice do we have? If that doesn't kill it, nothing will. The tricky part will be opening the Aberration's jaws, though," Karabell replied, adjusting his stance slightly.
"Agreed. Sweet talk won't get us anywhere, so I'll just have to pry its mouth open. That monster's starting to get on my nerves, too, so this'll be the perfect opportunity to let out some steam."
Frederick let out a short cry and bolted towards their opponent. The Aberration was still on all fours. His arms would easily reach its mouth. However, Frederick hadn't been strong enough to break the creature's bones. Could he really pry the creature's jaws open? But he needed to try. If that didn't work, nothing would. Frederick stared at the monster, hatred glistening in his eyes. They would put an end to that thing. Killing living beings was what he did best. He was a murderer. He'd always been aware of that fact. But those ruthless beasts had killed more than their fair share of people. They'd forced everyone to either spend their lives running away, praying each day that they wouldn't get eaten, or to fight back, laying down those very lives in a desperate attempt to prevent the beasts from murdering their kin. They were like a plague. Frederick's methods had often been criticized. But he'd always been the strongest soldier. He was the Commander, and his word was absolute. Killing those he deemed too weak was necessary. Weaklings didn't have a place in that world. His warriors had all been the cream of the crop, yet they'd still lost against the creatures.
Frederick braced himself. The Ringleader swiped with its right forelimb. It was starting to annoy him. Was that creature simply stupid or was it underestimating them that badly? Always fighting on the defensive, attacking in the same dull manner and waiting for them to make mistakes. It was probably trying to tire them out. Frederick grinned. Like hell was he going to fall for such an old trick. He swayed left as the claws whizzed toward him. Frederick felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, but it didn't bother him. It was probably just a scratch, since he could still move his arm. As blood trickled from the shallow cut, he lifted his fist and connected it with the beast's chin. The creature swung its other arm, but Frederick had already moved out of the way. He ducked to the side, panting. Shallow or not, that wound hurt. He just needed to open that thing's mouth. Summoning his remaining strength, Frederick sloppily clambered onto the creature's back before it could do anything to stop him.
The Commander forced a smile. Karabell hadn't lied. That weird material covering the Aberration's neck resembled feathers in appearance only, but he didn't have the time to worry about that. It didn't seem like the Ringleader had become aware of his intentions yet. Frederick knew that the beast wouldn't try to hit him with its claws, for fear that it might damage its own protective covering. It simply thrashed about, fruitlessly struggling to shake him off. Frederick moved swiftly, wrapping his arms and legs around the beast's neck, as if trying to mount a terribly large horse. Every muscle in his body tensed as he leaned forward and jabbed at the creature's jaw. He noticed the creature lifting its hand in apparent slow motion. He needed to act quicker. They were all counting on him. He could almost hear their voices. Frederick slammed both of his fists into the Aberration's jaw, over and over again. It had to work. Why wasn't it working? So, after all, he wasn't strong enough. No, his punches were effective. He'd managed to weaken its mandible significantly. He could feel it. If only he'd had a little more time. One more hit... The beast's talons were getting closer and closer. He'd failed.
"Do it now! Do it! Now!" a croaky voice split the air, carrying great sorrow.
The Aberration froze. Its arm started shaking, but stopped mid-air. Frederick did as instructed. He didn't know how, but Gull had apparently been able to prevent the creature from killing him. At least for a short while. The Commander understood that he couldn't let that chance slip away. He struck the foe's jaw with all his might. At last, he heard something crack. He'd broken it. The creature's jaw unhinged, revealing its sharp fangs.
"Karabell!" Frederick shouted, jerking his head in his direction.
The Captain had the same cold look in his eyes. He drew in a long breath as he lifted his spear. The weapon flew through the air, and, in the next moment, a pained shriek escaped the Aberration's throat. It could only mean that the spear had found its target. The creature collapsed to the floor. Karabell stared at its expression as he walked slowly towards the beast. The Ringleader's eyes were filled with sadness. A strange battle indeed. And an even stranger foe. It almost felt unreal. Had they won? Was that it?
"Did it work? Is this thing dead?" Frederick asked. He got up, patting the dust from his trousers.
"Not yet. But it'll die soon," Karabell responded as he jerked his spear free. "I have to admit, I didn't expect Gull to help. We couldn't have done this without him."
"Too bad our... feathered friend doesn't have much time left either." Frederick gave a predatory grin. Ally or not, Gull was still and Aberration. And it was going to get what was coming to it.
"That is not necessarily the case," a familiar voice rang out in Frederick's mind.
"What?" The Commander looked around, bewildered. There was no one else there besides them. Where had that voice come from?
"Relax." Karabell's voice was calm. "I heard it too. Telepathy," he explained casually, still glaring at the Aberration. "I thought you weren't in the mood to talk. I'm a little surprised, but I suppose we can hear you out. It's the least we can do."