The two lizard guards stopped in their tracks as they came upon a seemingly lifeless body, lying a short distance in front of them.
Akan was the first to notice and with the pointing of his finger, he alerted his superior, Borun.
"What's that?"
Borun looked at him and shrugged. "I have no idea."
Notwithstanding their lack of knowledge on this strange figure, the two of them knew that they would have to check it out.
After all, it was their duty to do so.
Anything that happens within the entrance of the cave was the responsibility until the next morning.
Akan and Borun started to approach the lying figure. Sceptical at first, they mustered the courage to go closer.
Before them was a tall figure lying on the ground and appearing unconscious.
The two took a gross view of the figure and noticed its most prominent features.
…Tall with long, pointy ears.
Borun and Akan looked at each other with surprise, utterly befuddled at this.
"What could an elf possibly be doing here?" Akan asked his partner.
Borun, on the other hand, was unable to provide any answer whatsoever.
It was strange for an elf to be found in their territory.
"Maybe he got lost or something," Borun suggested. "We should take care of this before we get in trouble."
"But we might be able to help him," Akan argued, challenging Borun's suggestion to take care of the matter.
Borun raised his eyebrows. "If you are trying to get killed, Akan… then, that's on you. As for me, I am not."
He approached the younger lizardman and put his hand on his shoulder.
"We both know what will happen if we do that and it is discovered. We are as good as dead, Akan."
Akan turned his face away from Borun.
He didn't buy into the idea but at the same time, he understood the necessity of it.
It was either their lives or this elf's, no in-betweens.
While they still debated the issue, Borun's senses tingled and he shoved Akan back, creating a space between the two of them.
Akan was still overwhelmed, so much that his brain took time to register what just happened.
Meanwhile, Borun was already adjusting himself to the situation.
A clean slice passed between them but luckily for the two lizardmen, this elf missed and cut the air.
Drax's gave Borun a sidelong glance, marking him as the more troublesome one to deal with out of the two of them.
Thus, allowing Borun no moment of respite, Drax turned around and charged towards him, making a quick horizontal slash with his short knife.
He was faster than Borun could react and succeeded in giving him a cut across the upper chest.
'Who the hell is this guy?!' Borun thought as specks of his blood shot into the air.
Borun steadied himself, screeching backwards with the tail of his spear dragging across the ground.
In order to save himself from Drax's continued charge, Borun had to think and act fast.
The lizardman immediately swung his spear In front of him, taking advantage of the lethal nature of his spear's blade as well as its range.
Seeing this, Drax was forced to stop, allowing the spear to miss its mark.
"Tch!" he gritted his teeth with disdain.
Drax examined the horizontal wound across Borun's chest and a cloak of disappointment fell on him.
'I wasn't deep enough,' he thought, not satisfied with the extent of the injury.
Drax raised his knife and pointed it at Borun, a gesture that declared that he was about to engage him once more.
Borun obliged and equipped his spear, readying to give it his all as well.
He didn't know who this strange elf was or what he wanted but Borun resolved in his heart that he was not going to die here and abandon his family.
He was ready to do whatever it took to survive.
As the air of battle shifted to the two of them, a voice interrupted their flow, causing Drax to stare from the corner of his eye.
"Ho-Hold it… r-ri-right there!" Akan yelled, his hand jittering so much that he was barely able to hold his spear.
Akan's legs were noodles, weak to the extent that anything at all could distort his stability at this moment.
He was afraid.
Seeing how Drax nearly overwhelmed Borun, Akan was gripped by immense fear.
He was still young and inexperienced. A younger generation lizardman who had only fought a handful of times.
A glance at Akan and Drax could tell that he was not going to be a problem at all.
He could easily take care of the younger lizardman but he was not foolish enough to underestimate Borun or expect that the latter could stand still and watch his companion be slain.
"Who are you! And what do you want!" Borun bawled, steadying himself.
Drax squinted his eyes as he looked at Borun.
He could see resolve in Borun's eyes and at the same time, there was a glint of hesitation.
Drax was familiar with this feeling.
A feeling that makes you want to fight someone stronger than you and yet, the same feeling also seems to pull you back from charge head-on into your death.
He felt it many times when he faced Madame Coletta.
"Tell me where the Saurian King is."
A loud silence whisked past as soon Drax made his demand.
Borun was confused, as was Akan whose grip on his spear lessened more and more.
The two lizardmen did not understand this.
"Who?" Borun asked for clarity.
"I'm here for the Saurian King."
The two lizardmen looked at each other and, seeming to understand the message they passed to one another, they loosened up.
Borun let his guard down and stood erect with his spear by his side.
This left Drax surprised.
'Is he here to kill the Saurian King?' Borun wondered.
That was the first and most obvious reason why he would attack them and demand such a thing.
'An elf assassin? If he is, then…'
"W-What do you… want with the king?" Akan asked.
Drax sighed.
He turned around and stared Akan down, being the tallest of the three of them present.
"I'm here to kill him. So it's either his life or yours."