Eldric stood tall before his companions. The air was still, heavy with the scent of blood and smoke.
Brian stepped up beside him and patted his shoulder. "Then we fight."
Eldric smirked and turned toward Mira. "Good. Mira, climb that rock and look for any usable weapons."
She nodded and began climbing, her boots scraping against stone.
Eldric faced the others. "You two—take that thing down with brute force."
Brian rolled his shoulders, muttering under his breath, I'll need a heavy weapon just to pierce its skin.
Darik grinned eagerly. "Finally! We get to use the skills those slavers taught us."
At the top of the rock, Mira crouched and surveyed the battlefield. Let's see what I can find. All around, knights lay fallen. The massive serpent slithered between broken carts, its movements fluid and terrifying. Each swing of its tail shattered armor and sent bodies flying.
Eldric shouted up to her, "What do you see?"
Mira looked down. "The serpent's tearing through the knights! It's destroying everything!"
"Check for weapons nearby!"
She scanned the area again, eyes darting between corpses and debris. Below, Brian and Darik stretched, preparing for battle.
Eldric called out, "Be ready to move on my signal! The longer we wait, the more people die!"
Suddenly, Mira pointed. "There's a battle axe—ten o'clock from the rock!"
Eldric looked at the others. "One axe enough to kill that thing?"
Darik smiled and leaned forward. "More than enough. Right, Brian?"
Brian nodded, tightening his fists. "Just say when."
Eldric leapt up onto the rock beside Mira. Patting her head, he scanned the battlefield himself—and his eyes lit up. So it might actually work…
He lifted Mira onto his shoulder. She gasped.
He looked down at the others. "We've come too far to die here! We'll slay that serpent—and start our new lives today!"
The wind roared as he shouted, "Go! Kill it!"
Darik and Brian sprinted from opposite sides of the rock, moving like blurs across the battlefield.
Darik glanced at Brian mid-run. "You grab the axe! I'll distract it!"
Brian nodded and veered toward the fallen knight's corpse.
Eldric jumped down from the rock, Mira still on his shoulder. She gasped, clutching him. "Why are we going there—oh… I see."
Ahead, a lone knight swung his sword, striking a wounded spot on the serpent's scales. The monster turned toward him, jaws gaping wide. The knight froze—accepting his fate.
Suddenly, something yanked him backward. He fell hard, just as the serpent's head slammed into the ground where he'd stood. Darik stood before him, panting.
The serpent hissed furiously, rearing up. But before it could strike again, a massive impact smashed into its skull—Brian landed with the battle axe, the weapon towering over him.
He turned to Darik. "Let's finish this."
Darik laughed and joined him. "About time!"
The serpent leaned forward and roared, the wind of its breath shaking the earth.
Brian spun the axe once, resting it on his shoulder. Both men began to run, accelerating together.
The serpent lunged. Its mouth opened wide, but Brian slid beneath it and swung upward. The axe hit—but didn't cut deep enough. The serpent jerked, flinging both of them back.
Meanwhile, Alric stood a short distance away, frozen in indecision. What do we do?
A scream made him turn—Eldric was running toward him, Mira still clinging to his shoulder.
Eldric reached him, setting Mira down and gasping for breath. "We need to take it down. I'll help you, sir."
Alric frowned. "How? You can't match its strength."
"We blind it," Eldric said firmly. "Then those two can finish it."
Alric leapt off his cart and rummaged through the supplies. "Can you use a bow?"
"Yeah."
He tossed him a bow and a quiver of arrows. Eldric caught them and slung the quiver over his back.
On the field, Brian and Darik kept the serpent busy. Brian's axe struck again, forcing the creature to flinch and turn its head.
Then—an arrow whistled through the air and pierced its eye.
The serpent screamed, thrashing wildly. Both men looked toward the shot's origin. Eldric stood firm, bow in hand.
At that moment, Mira began chanting. The ground filled with thick white mist, shrouding the battlefield.
Within the haze, Brian roared and swung the axe downward. It buried deep into the serpent's skull. Darik sprinted in from the side, dragging the blade along its scales, cutting a long, deep wound across its body.
From within the mist, Alric lunged forward, sword in hand. With a powerful leap, he slashed clean through the serpent's body—splitting it in two.
Silence followed, broken only by the serpent's final hiss fading into stillness.