“Those who lead from the front either die young, or live to become a nightmare to all on the battlefield. Tread with caution where they walk.” Tarthan proverb.

  Man and varanian circled each other, neither daring to attempt to draw first blood.

  “It’s not too late,” Garassk said, trying to defuse the situation. “This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed. We can all walk away from this.”

  “After everything you’ve done?” Drakkill growled. “All the men you’ve killed? Only one of us will walk away from this.”

  “We’re just trying to help someone,” Garassk protested. “If we all walk away, we’ll never see each other again. And I should note that I only got involved in all of this because your men attacked me first, and all I did was ask what was going on.”

  “You shouldn’t have come here if you didn’t want to be attacked,” Drakkill replied. “As for the ‘help’ you’re providing, you’re helping a fugitive. The penalty for such insubordination is death. I will not waver for this judgment.”

  Savrassa shrieked and charged forward.

  “No, wait!” Garassk cried. But it was too late. The fight was on.

  Drakkill jumped to the side as she thrust her spear forward. She moved to attack again, but he swung his halberd and swept her legs, sending her to the ground.

  “So much for negotiations,” Garassk muttered, charging forward. Drakkill blocked his swipe, but that just gave Savrassa the time she needed to roll away from the fight. Garassk made a few more swings that the knight countered. Despite holding his own, he could tell that Drakkill was a skilled warrior, and would likely win unless he could gain the upper hand quickly. But what could he do? He broke away from Drakkill and circled the man a few times. Drakkill was clearly getting confident, never taking his eyes off of him, and even posing in ways that dared him to lash out. Garassk finally snarled and charged. Drakkill stepped aside, and Garassk swung his tail and sword, pommel-first, to try and get a strike in. Drakkill ducked the sword blow and grabbed his tail, halting him in mid-air.

  “Gah!” Garassk cried at the sudden stop, Drakkill threw him backwards and laughed.

  “You clearly have some training,” he called out. “But it won’t save you.”

  Garassk rolled out of the way as Drakkill attempted to stomp on him. He scrambled to his feet in time to see Savrassa trying again. She swung her spear without care, but only managed to hit his armor. She left no dents, but made a lot of noise. Drakkill spun around with lightning-speed as Garassk prepared to strike, grabbed her, and threw her into him. The two of them tumbled to the ground before rolling away from each other and getting up.

  “So what do we do now?” Savrassa asked, rubbing a sore arm.

  “Change tactics,” Garassk said. “I don’t know what specifically, but we need to try something different.”

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  Drakkill charged forward, forcing them to scatter. Garassk found himself on the defense, while Savrassa flailed ineffectually at his assailant. He struggled to find a way to buy enough time to figure out a new strategy.

  Before he had the chance to think further, he found himself backed against a wall. Drakkill charged forward for a stab. Garassk panicked and jumped before realizing the he could climb up the wall, stopping at the top of the pillar. Drakkill swung a few more times at him before realizing that he couldn’t reach. After that, he paced around the pillar and watched Garassk, waiting for the next chance to strike. Garassk breathed a small sigh of relief. Okay... now I have time to plan, he thought. What to do, what to do…

  Savrassa swung her spear at Drakkill’s head, but all it did was bounce off.

  Dammit, Garassk thought. Forgot about her. Drakkill turned around and raised his weapon.

  “Just you and me,” he taunted. “You’d best learn how to use that spear properly.”

  He forced her to back away defensively almost immediately. Garassk looked for an opportunity to help, but he remained in Drakkill’s view throughout the fight. Savrassa, for her part, was holding him off rather well. She did her best to evade his every attack, and didn’t throw herself into any offensive strikes at all. But Garassk knew that she wasn’t experienced enough to know when to strike back, and would likely tire before Drakkill did. He looked around for any trees or other parts of land he could move to to keep the high ground while preparing an ambush. Everything was too far away.

  Drakkill’s confidence grew as the fight went on. Savrassa was slowing down and hesitating in her strikes. Garassk tensed, wishing for an easy way to join the fray and even the odds.

  He eventually realized the he would have to make his own opening, and jumped down. Drakkill clearly noticed and lashed out at Savrassa, forcing her back. Garassk held his sword by the blade and charged forward. Drakkill hurried to incapacitate Savrassa, but Garassk managed to catch up to him, ducked a swing from the halberd, and slammed his sword into the man’s torso, staggering him. Drakkill shouted in surprise before regaining his footing.

  A hit! At last! It wasn’t much, but Drakkill no longer seemed invincible. Garassk let out a small hiss of satisfaction.

  The knight backed away, clearly thinking about his next move. Garassk pressed the attack cautiously. He knew from past experience that getting cocky after landing one hit could result in that being the only hit.

  After several rounds of striking, blocking, and waiting to wear each other down, Garassk finally managed to cut into Drakkill’s side, causing him to flinch a little. He followed up with his tail mace, denting the armor at the shin. Before he could add a third strike, Drakkill slammed the hammer of his halberd against his side and rammed him to the ground. Garassk rolled away to avoid a killing blow. He got back to his feet to find Drakkill waiting to see which of the two varanians would make the next move.

  “Savrassa, go back to Rathorn,” he said. “Leave Drakkill to me.”

  “But…” she protested.

  “Take your eggs and get out of here!”

  “Eggs?” Drakkill called out. “There are eggs here?”

  Savrassa prepared to attack, but Garassk motioned for her to stand down. Luckily, she heeded his suggestion.

  “Let her go,” Garassk warned. “This is between you and me. Kill us if you can, but Savrassa and her eggs don’t need to be a part of this. Let them go, and you’ll never hear from them again.”

  No one moved for the next few seconds. Had he managed to negotiate a peaceful resolution after all?

  Drakkill made a stabbing motion, forcing him on the defensive. Garassk barely had time to figure out how to counter the attacks. Drakkill eventually managed to knock him to the ground.

  “I have a better idea,” the knight snarled. “I kill you, and the other one brings her eggs to me. We return with them, and they hatch to serve under me. Defiance will result in me killing all of you, and me deciding what to do with them. Perhaps I’ll smash them to keep future lizards from trying to avenge you, or hand the eggs off to my personal chef for a celebratory meal. Lay down your weapons. I won’t be staying here much longer.”