The Axe Falls 2 -ch 13-

“This was always a fun way to collect bounties. It just always made handling the bodies rather… messy,” Julie complained from behind him. “You can’t touch them immediately and end up having to wash them down to a significant degree.”

Nick didn’t respond, he just stared into the cloud of smoke and poison. Waiting for whomever was going to come and challenge him.

A man with a sword and chain mail burst out of the cloud. Rushing toward Nick at a dead run and not seeing him for the first several steps.

There sword was held out and to their side. Readying themselves to make a dashing swing, like to stomp forward with their right foot and bring their weapon around.

The force of it would be quite high given the size of the man.

Nick, however, wasn’t too concerned.

This type of response was expected from someone in this situation. To the point that Nick had already mentally gone over it.

The enemy’s haste to get away from the poison would cause them to rush to him. Putting themselves well into Nick’s range without considering his weapon.

No sooner than they were just outside of his standing reach then he activated Advance, Lunge, and Pierce at the same time.

While the three abilities were technically different to one another, they could all theoretically overlap in the same situation given his weapon.

Advance was to move forward, Lunge was to strike forward with the spike atop his weapon, and Pierce was to punch through armor.

Nick closed the remainder of the gap in a flash, the poleaxe’s head thumping into the man’s chest. Right above where Nick had been aiming for.

With any luck it’d skewer his heart.

Critical hit!

Lung punctured!

Heart punctured!

Well shit.

Went a lot better than the first time I did that in the woods.

Practice makes perfect.

Jerking his weapon free of the man, Nick utilized Disengage as well as Throw Dirt.

However he did the latter ability while attempting to use his foot instead of his hand. Digging at the ground with his boot tip.

A small spray of grass and a clod of earth peppered the man’s face. It didn’t look as effective as it probably would have been if it was actually dirt or using his hand, but it hadn’t been worthless either.

Julie’s hand appeared around his right side, just about from under his armpit and sticking forward with her palm extended.

A massive spear of ice formed and was ejected right then and there. The spell going off and slamming into the dying man’s guts, knocking him backward from the waist down, and face forward from the hips up.

Hitting the ground with a heavy thump he laid there unmoving.

Sara had taken up the spot on Nick’s left, her blade held loosely in front of her. She always tended to have the look of a dancer at rest.

Several more people had stumbled out of the cloud now. Two had light weapons that were either short-swords or long knives and the third had a large polearm that looked like a halberd.

Julie had peeled herself off his back by this point and was now standing out to his right. She had a spell being formed up in her hands.

One of the people with the long knives made an underhanded throw at Julie. A small throwing knife zipping through the air, tumbling end over end.

As it passed by Nick, Sara’s sword tip punched out. Striking the weapon out of the air with a pinging sound.

Only for the swordswoman to withdraw back to her place, her sword coming up in front of herself in a defensive posture.

Nick realized he was in the wrong spot and slid his feet one over the other, then grabbed Sara by a hip and pushed her to the center.

Then he closed on her left.

“Nicky, you’re so rough. Treat a lady delicately, hm?” Sara teased coyly. “I’m not Jessie, you know. I expect tenderness and care. You should treasure me.”

“I do treasure you, that’s why you’re at the damn center,” growled Nick as the man with the halberd started angling himself away from Nick.

As if he wanted to engage Julie instead of Nick.

Not a great choice there bub. She’ll just—

A massive ball of fire tore through the air where the man had just been. Roaring past him and vanishing into the still widely spread poison.

It made a strange swirl in the cloud as it slid into it.

As if realizing his mistake the man with the halberd fast-spun and then ran away. Moving around the long side of the poison cloud.

As he did so, two more stumbled out of it.

One had a staff in their hand and the other a sword and a shield.

Ker forward out of the grass as the man with the halberd ran past him. The big Fisher had been told to not use his teeth and instead used his body.

Causing the man to trip and go tumbling into the grass. Most of him vanishing from view even as Ker went after the man.

Nick briefly had the impression that Ker had used his claws to tear the man’s achile’s tendon out of both feet, but he couldn’t confirm it.

The man with the staff had noticed Julie and pointed it at her. To which she had also brought forth a staff from somewhere and held it up in front of herself.

There was the briefest of moments where spells formed and failed in front of both casters as they held their own magical duel. Nick could barley figure out that they were even casting spells at one another let alone how it was happening.

I’m not cut out to be a caster, haha.

Shit.

Holding his position, Nick looked to the three moving toward himself and Sara. The one with the great-sword had apparently decided he wanted a piece of Nick.

“Leave a gap for Ker when you deal with those two,” Nick advised. He could feel that Ker had already trundled his way over to the scrum. Low to the ground and readying himself.

“Awww, are you worried about your fiance to be? Sending your familiar over just for me? Nicky, I’m flattered. Remind me to let you kiss my cheek later as a reward,” Sara cooed, sounding somewhat on edge.

I never did ask what happened to her.

“Can kiss my ass,” he grumbled, aiming the tip of his poleaxe at the great-sword user as he moved over to engage Nick.

“Nicky, Nicky, you can’t speak to me like that,” purred Sara. “If you want to explore with me, you need to ask sweetly. Maybe with a small gift? Then I’d—”

Sara’s shoulder bunched, her body flinched, and her sword came out in a diagonal slash, followed by her going low in a crouch.

Her attack had been a parry to knock aside the closest of the three chopping at her with his short-sword. Knocking it away from her and into the side of the other next to them.

As Sara got low, her sword then shot forward in a thrust.

Because her shoulder was now in line with the foe’s stomach, her straight-forward attack reached them with the last three inches of her weapon.

The blade punching through their leather armor and sending them backward a step.

Only for Sara to stand upright, her sword flicking upward into a defensive position. Held at a forty-five degree angle from herself.

“Then I’d be willing to consider anything you wanted, Nicky,” Sara finished with a laugh. Her helmeted head tilting to one side and looking at him from inside the slit.

Nick ignored her, stepped forward without using Advance or Lunge and threw out a slow and lazy thrust at the man with a great-sword.

He had been holding it upward with the tip toward his right shoulder. The thrust came at him on his left side and he blocked it toward his left, pushing the poleaxe wide.

Which was Nick’s plan to begin with.

The axe-head of his weapon was facing one of the two with the short-swords now.

Whipping his weapon to the side, Nick embedded the head of the axe into the man’s side. Looking as if it parted the hardened leather armor and sunk further.

Slicing into his flesh and probably between the ribs.

There was little armor that could stand up to the End of the Line.

A dead cow’s skin would certainly not hold up.

Using Disengage, Nick stepped backward with celerity. His weapon being torn out of the enemy as he did so.

Nick had never once looked away from the great-sword user. Holding his gaze with a wide eyed and eager look.

Only to smile at him as he brought the poleaxe back around and pointing it toward him.

The man who had been slashed was ignored by Sara, who took the opportunity to push in on the second man.

Her sword flickering out in several lightning fast attacks.

A fourth was diverted to snap the tip out to the other man, only for the fifth to return to her original target.

She had missed that fourth attack but it’d sent the man back several steps further. More or less pushing him out of the fight.

Only for Ker spring up out of the grass. His claws lashing out several times against the back of the man’s leather clad knee.

In just a heartbeat or two the knee buckled and the man was supporting himself on one leg.

Unable to help himself, Nick let out a shuddering breath. He could feel a need to move forward.

To engage his target again.

Immediately.

The scent of blood was everywhere right now.

A stench that made Nick’s nostrils flare and left him craving combat. To fight and right now.

He wasn’t enraged, or even annoyed, he just desperately wanted to fight someone right now. Fight them and kill them.

His heart was beating heavily though methodically. There didn’t feel as if there were any rush to this fight.

The smile that continued to curl Nick’s mouth grew to the point that he was flashing his teeth at his opponent.

Unfortunately the man had been cowed and didn’t look like he wanted to engage any further.

Instead, he had backed up a step. Creating a gap between himself and the man with the short-sword who was weathering Sara’s continued attacks.

Nick gave his poleaxe a casual spin, flipping the point over till it pointed to the left, with the butt of the weapon moving out past to the right.

Taking several steps forward Nick did it in a way that put distance between hismelf and the short-sword user. As if he didn’t want to involve himself as he pursued the great-sword wielder.

I love this weapon.

It’s so versatile, grandfather.

“Yes, there’s a reason our line has trained with it as long as they have,” agreed Lucian, a similar eager tone in his voice that matched how Nick felt.

Even as he finished the thought Nick drew his left hand back while holding the weapon loosely with his right hand.

The ferrule’s sharpened point slamming into the hip of the short-sword user. Snaking right past his guard even as he worked keep Sara back.

He bent over at the waist over the ferrule.

A second afterward and Sara’s sword snuck right through between the man’s chin and the top part of his leather breastplate. The blade piercing his throat and coming out the back of his neck.

The man with the great-sword took the opportunity to rush at Nick. His weapon coming out in a wide flat arc.

Trusting in the strength of the head of his weapon, Nick lashed out in yet another thrust. Attacking the great-sword directly this time.

A second before the weapons clashed Nick took a step forward and partially to the side.

The weight of the two weapons coming together made a collosal sounding bang. Knocking each of them away.

Nick’s poleaxe went down and to the left while the great-sword went backwards.

Having expected this, Nick now used his freshly planted boots to leverage the poleaxe in a backswing. The hammer head coming out in an attack coming from below.

Before the man could react, the hammer-head slammed into the side of his knees and bent it grotesquely.

Except as the man fell backward, his thigh and calve pinched the poleaxe and trapped it.

Nick let it go, unhitched The End, walked up to the man as he struggled on the ground, and slammed the axehead straight into the man’s face.

Whipping the weapon back, Nick brought it down again. Then again. Hammering the weapon home several more times, Nick turned away.

There wasn’t much left other than bloodied meat that had been the foe’s visage.

Spotting the caster that was still locked in a duel with Julie, Nick rushed forward at a dead sprint. Looking to catch the caster before he knew Nick was coming for him.

He knew for a fact that despite being as big as he was, he could move quite fast. Faster than most people would ever expect of him.

Reaching the caster in a flash, Nick realized it was a woman.

A rather pretty woman.

Which made it all the more a shame as Nick brought his axe down on her face. Noticing she had rather pretty eyes a second before the blade slammed into the bridge of her nose.

Going down in a heap the woman made a strange gurgling noise as Nick jerked the weapon out.

Only to blast it back down into her face.

Again and again until he was positive she wouldn’t be able to see or do much of anything.

Growling Nick looked around. Trying to find someone else to fight and do battle with.

There was no one up and moving.

Taking in a short breath Nick huffed it back out. He licked his lips and found blood had at some point been splashed across his face.

The taste of it was strong and left him reaching into the belt pouch at his side.

Turning, he looked over to where he’d seen Sara last.

She was standing over the man Nick had brutalized with The End. Only to casually run her sword through their chest.

Then she turned and came over to Nick. Her visor covered face left Nick wondering what she looked like underneath.

“Nicky, Nicky, you can’t do this kind of thing, you know?” she murmured as she came to a stop next to him.

Unbuckling the pouch Nick pulled out the cloth their.

“What’s that?” he asked, hesitating. Wondering if Sara might see him differently now after how he’d fought.

“You got your own pleasure out of it but left her unfinished,” Sara chided him, then reached past him and casually stuck her sword through the chest of the downed magic user. “I do hope you have better manners in the bedroom. This is just appalling.”

Grinning, Nick clearly needn’t have been worried. Sara was unbothered.

Wiping at his face with the cloth, Nick tried to get all the blood off. Then he folded it over and wiped down The End, only to hand it to Sara.

Somehow she’d gotten her sword stuck in the dead woman and only now got it pulled out.

“Thank you. I didn’t… err… oh,” Sara muttered as she took the cloth from him. “You… kept them.”

“Not every day a High Elf gives you their panties. Of course I kept them,” Nick replied with a laugh as Sara realized what the cloth was. He went over to retrieve his poleaxe.

Julie was over there and quietly shoving at the dead man’s legs. Only to then stand up, pulling out a blade and then stabbing it down into the man’s knee.

She began to immediately saw at the limb, working to sever it outright. It seemed she had wanted to retrieve it for him personally.

By the time he got to her, she’d cut the leg away and was now lifting up his poleaxe. It looked as if she were struggling with the weight of it, but she managed it.

“Here you are, my lord,” she said, holding the weapon aloft to him. There was a great deal of blood splattered across it. “Don’t fuss over the mess, we’ll need to wash the entirety of our bodies and gear.

“Just after we loot whatever we want from them, in fact. We can’t leave that wolfsbane on anything at all.”

“Good point,” he replied and took the weapon from her. Grasping it at the midpoint.

He hefted it easily and then let it hang at his side.

“Neat wizard’s duel thing. I didn’t realize you could do stuff like that,” Nick said after a slight pause. It’d looked interesting and he wanted to know more.

“Yes, it’s a lot like going back and forth with swords. It only takes one slipup and that’s it,” remarked Julie with a thoughtful look on her face. “I was playing it a bit conservatively because while I could’ve pushed for a kill, it would’ve opened me up to more risk.

“I figured I would just keep them busy and wait for you or Sara to come strike them down.

“Thanks for stepping in when you did. I admit when I let that slip of a firebolt through I got a bit spooked. She was much higher level than I expected.

“I was a bit rattled and having a bit of a problem to get my head back on straight.”

Uh.

What?

“Right around when you smashed in the great-sword wielder’s face, Julie got a bit cocky and lax. A spell slipped past her guard. You went and ended their duel,” Lucian explained.

“No worries,” Nick said absently and then started moving at a light jog. He wanted to go check on the other group.

They would probably have an easier time of it given their numbers.

Especially when you included Rahak and her powered up bone-carvings from bone purchases in the ledger, but he still wanted to make sure of it.

Then we wait for another patrol to find this one and maybe take that one, too.

There was no reason for Nick to be worried.

By the time he made it around the remains of the cloud of posion that was spreading out now, he found Jessie casually slitting the throats of everyone on the ground.

Dead or not, she would go person to person and make sure of it.

That’s just how she was.

“Oh, hey Nicky, my love,” Jessie said as she slipped her dagger through the throat of a young woman in chain mail. Pulling it out the other side she looked at the woman and judged her as dead. “Did you need to come check on me? Make sure the Queen of your Rod was alive and well?”

“I mean, yeah,” Nick said as he came to a stop near her.

Claudia and Rahak were further away and already working at looting corpses.

Nick had handed over his dimensional backpack to Claudia to manage things. She didn’t mind it and had wanted to do more for the group.

“I need you Jessie, hon,” Nick murmured, catching the Dark Elf’s eyes.

She smiled at him, tilting her head to the side.

“Mmm, we’ll need to find a quiet place for us tonight. You need to work at giving me that heir again,” she stated and pointed a blade tip at him. “Especially when you look all hungry at me like that.”

“I’m the King of your Bits. Of course I look at you hungrily,” he replied.

To which Jessie only smiled at him more widely.

“Nicky dear… I love you,” she purred.

“As I love you,” he answered.

He wanted to kiss her, but he wasn’t going to torture Claudia like that. There was no mistaking it when she got awkward if he showed Jessie affection.

Thankfully, Jessie didn’t seem to mind, and went back to slitting throats.