Alphonse disappeared amongst the foliage that bordered the clearing and made his way to the opposite side without incident. There didn't appear to be any enemies waiting in ambush if the main camp fell under attack. He ventured a short ways further to see if the monster that left the larger prints lingered nearby.
The monster had left in a hurry, and likely in the midst of a rage. More collapsed trees suggested that something demanded its attention. There was a strong possibility that this monster was leading the deirgu. The smaller monsters didn't take prisoners, and they were too simpleminded to carry out a meaningful interrogation.
Alphonse saw and heard nothing. Something that large was difficult to miss. Still, he figured it could be somewhere within earshot. It might decide to join late after the fight broke out. Their attack needed to be quick and efficient. They didn't need to kill every enemy for a rescue mission.
He returned to the open area after his quick scouting expedition and observed the deirgu. There were a little more than a dozen. Four archers. Eight spearmen. The rest, unarmed.
He ran the list through his head again to better track his observations. He watched their movements to discern any patterns, but most of them stood in the same place looking bored.
'Three watchers in the middle keep an eye on the ones guarding the edge at cardinal directions,' Alphonse thought. 'Basic formation. Not surprising.'
The deirgu held a solid position with a view of nearly every angle. The weakness in their setup was the complete exposure. A trail of jutting rock formed a blind spot at the rear of the circular formation. It cut just outside the center of the small clearing, forcing a watcher to constantly look up at its fellow standing on top.
Alphonse settled himself behind some thick foliage, positioned slightly off-center from the deirgu's position on the arced rock formation. Its zenith angled towards the forest, which meant its body would fall away from the center and towards him, out of sight.
He readied an arrow on his bow and drew back on the string. The distance didn't concern him. He'd taken further shots in his own world. The watcher craning its neck to look up was the problem. His attack required patience and a bit of luck.
After about a minute, the deirgu on the ground looked down and massaged its aching muscles. The one standing above made some of its harsh cackling sounds. Alphonse released the arrow and it stuck through the rodent creature's head just below the ear. He rushed forward in a crouch run and positioned himself behind the tall rock. The monster teetered for a moment before falling backward, and Alphonse caught the corpse to minimize the noise. It wasn't a big monster, only about three feet in height and skinny. He then climbed the face of the rock formation and peered over the side to observe the watcher below.
A series of clicks emitted from the creature's jutting mouth as it called to its neighbor. The other watcher turned away to regard its comrade. It failed to notice a certain catgirl with a large axe appear from the surrounding forest and cleave the head of who it was supposed to keep an eye on.
Alphonse had already situated himself and fired an arrow at the enemy closest to Kirie's first victim. The arrow lodged in the monster's head, and it died before hitting the ground.
The enemy went on full alert. The gibbering, clicking noises rose in volume. Their attention was soon drawn to Kirie's dramatic entrance. They took a few fearful steps back upon seeing the massive double-edged axe resting on her shoulder.
Alphonse took advantage of the distraction and landed behind the two watchers below. He pulled the first one back and stabbed it through the chest with a dagger. The second monster didn't have a chance to respond as the short sword in his other hand stuck in its jugular.
The other monsters towards the front remained focused on the catgirl with the wicked grin on her face.
"You guys don't look so good." She extended her weapon at eye level - the enemies' eye level.
A brave deirgu chattered to its comrades and they readied their weapons. They shrieked at Kirie and started to charge forward. Their attack faltered as one of the group took an arrow in the back and fell on its face. A few to the rear whirled about to face Alphonse. One of them briefly saw the tip of an arrowhead before its eye exploded.
It was a simple matter to throw off the deirgus' coordination. About half of the remaining pack went for Kirie, and the other split off to pincer Alphonse. He fired off another quick shot and punctured an enemy's thigh.
Alphonse chose a tactic suited against larger numbers. He started to backpedal as a taunting gesture, turned on his heel and retreated to the forest.
He knew his party was capable enough to handle the rest. If the big monster decided to show up, then he'd likely be the first to see it. He was sure its heavy footfalls would be enough of a warning sign as well. If not, hopefully Asa would talk sense into Kirie and fall back.
Alphonse broke the forest edge and ghosted into the gloom of scattered shadows. As expected, the deirgu didn't find this acceptable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asa watched as Alphonse disappeared into the trees with a line of the shrieking monsters in tow. He'd done a fine job of timing his attacks and playing off the enemies' lack of concentration. This made them all the more fractious and disorganized.
Kirie's haughty attitude and flair for the dramatic also served its purpose. Asa watched as her sister brandished the double-edged axe and prodded its head forward in a taunting gesture. An audacious deirgu mimicked the motion with its crude spear and let out a high-pitched cackle. The remainder of the group skittered to the sides with melee weapons held in trembling hands, raised up in an attempt to encourage their comrade. Those to the rear revealed slings from their tattered armor and twirled them at their sides. A single enemy awkwardly nocked an arrow to a simple short bow.
The deirgu with the spear leaned forward slightly and shifted into an open stance. The chattering from its fellow monsters fueled its false bravado.
Kirie didn't miss the opportunity. The eye of her axe's handle struck the monster square in its nose as she took a sliding step forward and extended her arm. The creature's weapon flew from its hands and landed with a dull thud in the grass a few feet away. A pair of deirgu standing to either side stared dumbly as their comrade rolled back and forth on the ground with both hands cradling its bloodied face.
Kirie brought down her axe and cleaved the deirgu's chest before the other monsters had a chance to reorient themselves. She wrenched the axe free one-handed and brought her other arm up to deflect a flung rock with her wrist guard. She ignored another projectile that went wide by a few feet.
She let out a derisive snort as the remaining deirgu attempted to formulate some sort of plan to surround her.
"Two for me," she muttered. She casually sidestepped another rock to further demonstrate the futility of their attacks.
'Stupid, nasty things,' Asa thought as she watched the exchange. She tore her attention away from her sister and moved to the center of the clearing where the family sat bound. She held a finger to her lips as the young girl noticed her and struggled against the bindings. Asa cut the vines and removed the gags when the mother managed to calm her down.
Another yelp from a deirgu indicated that Kirie was about to engage in a true fight. The battle of taunts was over and ready to escalate.
Asa rested a hand on the middle-aged man's shoulder and pointed to where she'd emerged from the forest. "Wait over there."
The two adults nodded and started to lead the way. Their eyes lingered briefly but were enough to express their gratitude. They'd only taken a few steps when it was apparent that the young girl hadn't moved to follow.
The girl sat transfixed for a moment as she stared at the two slight protrusions pushing against the hood of Asa's healers robe. Asa noticed the girl's eyes radiate with nervous delight, temporarily quelling the current situation. Asa removed the hood to reveal the long crimson hair that flowed around her cat ears. She gave the girl a slight smile and a twitch of the ears before urging her to the forest.
The monsters had managed to coordinate a decent offensive and moved to attack Kirie during that short time.
Asa pointed her staff when she noticed a deirgu move to one of Kirie's blind spots. The monster's spear bounced off a small set of translucent, melded hexagons that sparked to life as the weapon made impact. The vibrations ran up the deirgu's arm as if it had smacked its weapon against a stone pillar. Kirie drove the head of her axe into the monster's throat and it keeled over. She brought up her wrist guard again and deflected an arrow that the deirgu archer timed too late.
Asa followed up behind the archer and stabbed it through the back with the sharp end of her staff. Its lanky fingers clawed behind it instinctively and went limp after a few seconds. She dumped the body and casted another protection spell with her hand extended behind Kirie to shield her from another attacker.
Her sister whirled about and lopped the enemy's head off after it stumbled into the protection spell. The head rolled through the tainted grass and rested in front of another deirgu. The monster shrieked and threw its spear in a pitiful attempt to ward her off, but the weapon dug into the ground a foot off its mark.
Kirie stood over the cowering monster and raised the axe above her head. Flashes of dying light that broke through the forest painted the catgirl's face in splotches of shadows. Her menacing blue eyes glowed like those of some demon as her pupils narrowed further.
The axe sprayed a fine mess of blood and gore as it pulverized the monster's skull. A sickening splat was followed by a broken sound like shattering timber and seemed to echo through the clearing.
The enemy was plenty demoralized in no time at all. The monsters let out short heaves and sprays of saliva as pure fear took over. The few that remained tossed their weapons down, scurried into the forest and vanished from sight. The shrieks continued in the distance even after they were long gone.
"We need to go," Asa said. "The big monster might show up." She suppressed a wince as her sister pulled the axe free from the deirgu's skull.
Kirie stared emotionless at the body twitching at her feet. "Ugly things. Messed up my kill count."
Asa rolled her eyes. Of course she would be worried about such trifling details.