The Tall Slave continued to stand and watch everything that was going on, while Henrik began to meticulously clean and then pack away everything in his grooming kit. The lack of even an iota of sense of urgency that both Henrik and the slave were displaying in the current situation was astounding, and Brynhild, who by now had recovered from the brief moment of shock, was glaring at Henrik.

“Seriously?” She boomed at him as she banged on her shield once more to gain the attention of Harpies that were targeting him. “Leave that shit where it is and get to work!”

“Just give me a second, Brynnie.” Henrik said as he carefully wiped a blade with a moist cloth.

Brynhild just made a kind of frustrated grunt before taking her usual stance and waiting for the incoming attack. Ingolf, who was using Dispel with more and more regularity, felt as though he was being watched, and that made him jumpy. He was looking around, thinking he was being targeted by a Harpy or two, and was trying to figure out where they were. Despite being distracted, he was still playing his support role to perfection, and he forced himself to concentrate on the job at hand.

Little did Ingolf know however that he wasn’t being watched by a Harpy, or even by a Beast of any kind. The Nameless Slave, who was still standing in a somewhat central position in the camp was keeping his eyes locked on the Mage for some reason. He watched as though he was waiting for something specific to happen, and luckily for him, there were so many Harpies around that it didn’t take long for what he was waiting for to happen. Ingolf cast Dispel once more, and as he did, the slave’s eyes grew wider for an instant. His fists and his jaw clenched as if he realised or noticed something, and he felt something surge through his entire body. Whatever it was, it caused something to well up inside the Nameless Slave, who felt the urge to try something. So after watching Ingolf for quite a bit longer, he raised his right foot and stomped down on the ground. When nothing happened, he looked down at the ground with a somewhat perplexed look.

“It didn’t work.” He said to himself.

“What didn’t work?” Didi, who had been sitting on the ground next to him, asked.

The Tall Slave said nothing, and only continued to stomp his foot on the ground without stopping. While that was happening, the Harpy numbers were beginning to dwindle in a visually tangible way, as the numbers in the sky were no longer as high. The teamwork of the Demon Tooth Mercenaries was rather impeccable, and while they weren’t necessarily escaping without injury, they were covering for one another, ensuring that whatever injuries were sustained, they at best would allow for the injured to continue fighting and at worst, they would be out of commission, but not dead. While all this was going on, the Izdurian Slavers sat back and watched while they smoked and ate.

Every so often, Thorvald would completely destroy a few Harpies and then let out a War Cry, although it was different to the one he let out at the beginning of the battle. Instead of boosting morale and destructive power, this one was more to alleviate fatigue and inspire those who heard it to ignore any pain and injuries they had. Despite Thorvald simply screaming and raising his weapon being a relatively simple thing, the effect it had on everybody else was immense – immense and necessary. Everybody was fighting with injuries from the first wave, and they needed every conceivable advantage they could get to make it through. As things dragged on, the Harpies appeared to panic and become a lot more frantic, as if something was coming. This was noticed by more than a few people, as Ingolf slid into a patch of shadow to hide and drink a small potion. Unlike the previous one, this potion was blue, and it restored what little Mana Ingolf had available to use.

“Why are these Beasts behaving like this?” He asked himself as he wiped his mouth with his forearm and took a few deep breaths.

He spent a few seconds focusing on his breathing in order to maximise the effects of the potion. Once that was done, he stepped out from the shadows and looked around, looking for Harpies to target. What he did notice instead was just how ragged the breathing of his mercenaries had become, and how they were bleeding and nursing injuries.

“We need to end this soon, or we won’t last.”

Ingolf said to himself as he wiped some sweat from his brow before casting Dispel a few more times. He then looked in the general direction of Saheed and his people, shaking his head as he did.

“If that fat fuck and his zealots had decided to actually help, this shit would have been done by now.”

As if he heard what Ingolf had said about him, Saheed looked at the Mage, smiled and raised his hand, as if to wave.

“Fuck you.” Ingolf sneered before looking paying attention to the battle again.

The only two slaves who weren’t in the tent and were completely exposed miraculously remained untargeted. All the while, the Nameless Slave had been stomping on the ground nonstop, although it seemed he wasn’t getting the desired result. This however did not discourage or dishearten him at all, he just kept trying. All of a sudden though, the Harpies started going crazy and made an unholy amount of noise. The ones in the sky stopped flying in circles and all faced the Timberland, becoming louder with each passing second. Even the ones that were fighting down below stopped attacking and just flew about in a panic. The already dark sky suddenly became a whole lot darker, and the sound of heavy wings flapping in the distance could be heard, even with all the Harpy squawking. Moments later, the silhouette of something rather large darkened the sky some more and soon afterwards, the silhouette became a tangible thing as what could only be described as a giant Harpy landed in the middle of the camp with a thunderous crash. It looked like the regular Harpies, only everything was amplified. It was bigger, breasts sagged and drooped more, face was orders of magnitude uglier, teeth were larger, sharper, and dirtier, it was just an unbelievable specimen of Harpy. It was comparable in size to the Boss Level Barghest, which was still conscious and watching on in silence. This massive Harpy let out an ear-piercing shriek, before looking around and locking eyes on the Tall Slave, who unlike everybody in camp, paid the Beast no mind. In fact, he just continued stomping on the ground at regular intervals.

“What the fuck?!” Ingolf boomed “That can’t be… that can’t be a Harpy Queen…surely not.”

The giant Harpy was different to the regular ones, not least because of its size. It actually had what looked like hands at the tips of its respective wings, so it didn’t fly like its smaller counterparts, and it didn’t stand upright like the Barghest before it. Instead, it propped itself up almost like a dog and looked around. The other, smaller Harpies appeared to be stricken with fear, and had not only stopped making noise, but had even landed on the ground. The large one made a few cawing sounds, before spreading its wings and starting to claw at the smaller Harpies without warning. Blood and feathers seemed to be flying everywhere, and this display caused everybody to watch on in silence. What was happening seemed to be a punishment of sorts and regardless of it being brief, the effect it had not only on the other Harpies, but on the Humans as well was pretty big. The large Harpy then looked at the Nameless Slave, who was still practicing his stomping and seemed to be irked by the fact that he wasn’t paying any attention to it. It then shrieked loudly once again, opening its mouth as wide as it could, displaying all of the rotten, jagged teeth as some kind of rancid syrup dripped out from between the teeth. A blood covered, heavily calloused and clawed hand then shot towards the slave only for it to make contact with something solid right before it cleaved him.

Once again, Brynhild came flying in out of nowhere with her shield ready. This time, she bounced off of the large hand and landed in the mud with a wet squelch. She slid backwards and even went past the Tall Slave, and upon coming to a stop she looked towards the Harpy with a somewhat desperate look on her face.

“Freda, Olof, Anders, Edith, to me!” She roared as she banged on her shield repeatedly.

The sound of incoming footsteps hit Brynhild from all side, and within a matter of moments, she was joined by all of the she had called for.

“What are your orders?” One of them asked as they all looked at the Harpy.

Brynhild walked forward until she was standing in front of the slave again and took a deep breath before spitting to her right.

“Sonic Formation.” She commanded before assuming her stance.

There was just the briefest moment of confusion, which then turned into hesitation, but after that moment passed, they obeyed the command, forming a ring around the Nameless Slave and Didi – who was doing a fantastic job at looking frail and old.

“Sorry Ma’am, but just to confirm… we are protecting these two slaves?”

“If that giant Harpy bitch attacks, then we will defend – simple as that.”

Brynhild spoke in a tone that instantly made the others recognize that Brynhild would tolerate no further questions.

“Shields, ready!” Brynhild shouted, and her subordinates immediately responded to the order, raising their shields and standing at the ready.

The Demon Tooth Leadership, and Ingolf in particular, were rather taken aback by this display. The large Harpy wasn’t, and it launched an attack without any hesitation. As per usual, Brynhild was the one to meet the attack head on, and as far as destructive force was concerned, it wasn’t all that inferior to a blow from the Barghest. The force of the attack was such that it took everything she had to stand her ground and keep from buckling under the pressure. The Harpy then launched a series of attacks, and Brynhild held firm while making sure to observe from behind her shield with focused and unblinking eyes. Once the attacks eventually came to an end, Brynhild – whose knees and bent quite a bit under the ferocity of the attacks – stood up a bit straighter and took a deep breath.

“Aegis!” She called out, prompting the others to change their positions and move up to stand next to Brynhild.

Two crouched down while two stood tall, but they all pressed their shields together and created a larger shield, ready to block the next round of attacks. Before the next series of attacks came in though, the sky darkened once again. This time however, there wasn’t quite the wait for whatever it was to drop as yet another giant Harpy hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud.

“Another Queen?!” Ingolf boomed as he ran towards Thorvald and his troops.

Before he reached them, yet another Harpy crashed into the ground, causing Ingolf to stop in his tracks and look towards the third Harpy Queen in shock. A fourth one shook the ground before Ingolf could even begin to process the prospect of having to face a three of these giant Harpies, and he even stumbled a bit as his gaze shifted between all of them. The Beasts then all began shrieking and cawing as the spread their arms and began swinging at random, catching not only the other Harpies, but a number of mercenaries as well. Blood, bodies and body parts flew around the entire camp, and those who managed to avoid the claws were showered in Beast blood. Ingolf and the rest of the Demon Tooth Leadership all watched in shock with mouths agape at the sight before them, yet things only went from bad to worse as the Harpies all let out a massive shriek in unison. They didn’t even attempt to hum or sing, they just shrieked and the power of the combined wail hit everybody hard, causing the vast majority of the mercenaries to drop their weapons as their bodies were wracked with fear and intimidation. Their bodies started to shake, and the pressure being exerted by the shriek even went as far as to paralyse the mercenaries – and the slavers. This was an attack on their mental strength, however Ingolf and the other leaders were somewhat able to keep their heads.

“H-Holy shit!” Ingolf said through gritted teeth. “I need to try and Dispel this.”

The Mage, who was still able to move, raised his staff and attempted to stammer out the full incantation for the spell, however even concentrating on the words turned out to be a difficult thing to do under the current circumstances. He looked around as this all happened, trying to see if there was somebody who could at distract one of the Harpy Queens in order to weaken the effect, however there was no such luck as even the formidable Thorvald was battling to remain standing. Ingolf figured that he had to do something, and in a last-ditch attempt, he held the staff up and just screamed.

“DISPEL!!!”

All of a sudden, something swept over the entire encampment – something that Ingolf had never experienced before. The energy that pulsed out caused blood, water and mud to lift up off the ground for a moment, while time seemed to slow down. The slow down lasted for the duration of the pulse, and when it stopped and everything went back to normal, two things happened. First, the Harpies ceased their synchronised shrieking and secondly, the effects of the shrieking immediately came to an end. All the mercenaries and slavers stopped shaking, stopped being scared and no longer felt any of the discomfort they had been experiencing just seconds before. Everybody looked around, appearing to be completely confused.

“…w-what just happened?” Thorvald asked between breaths as he looked at Ingolf.

The Mage, who was also completely dumbfounded, looked at the head of his staff.

“…did I do that?” He asked as he looked around.

Nobody answered his question, no matter how much he looked around. Even the Harpies looked confused, however they quickly regrouped and attempted the shriek again, however just as they started, the strange energy pulsed out again and stopped them in their tracks. The confusion started doing the rounds again, until the silence it brought was broken by Didi.

“I cannot believe it.” The old woman stammered as she looked up at the oddly satisfied looking Tall Slave.

Her utterance caused nigh on everybody to look at the both of them, and the Nameless Slave stomped on the ground again, causing the energy to pulse out from him like a nova of sorts and spread out until it hit the walls of the camp.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ingolf asked as he looked at the slaves. “Was that an Area of Effect Dispel? Did he have that fucking skill in his locker the entire fucking time?!”

“No…” Brynhild answered as she joined in the conversation. “He watched you cast it and…”

“He watched you cast it, and created a similar skill, Demon Tooth Leader.” Didi said as she looked on in disbelief. “He analysed and felt your spell, and then recreated it as a skill – as a Mass Dispel.”

Before anybody could react or say anything further, the Tall Slave looked around at everybody and shook his head.

“What are you all waiting for?” He asked. “Organise and attack those things before they recover again. I will assist you in stopping that infuriating noise, so focus on attacking.”

As usual, nobody understood a word he said and they all turned to Didi for the translation. She quickly blurted out what the Nameless Slave had said, and surprisingly enough, the mercenaries took that as their cue and regrouped. The Leadership started barking orders once more, and Thorvald and his crew started letting out War Cry after War Cry in an effort to galvanize the conscious crew. Those who could hold their weapons were organised into teams, and the Demon Tooth was showing the kind of organisational skills and composure that one would expect from a veteran mercenary group. They were organising themselves on the fly, as they were also attacking the Harpy Queens. Ingolf, who by now had been rendered almost completely useless, had taken the responsibility of organising the four teams to take on the Harpies, doing his best to arrange the teams in such a way that they were all more or less balanced. Thoughts of how the slave managed to copy his spell and just who or what he was were playing heavily on his mind. As Ingolf hung back and watched the teams fight the Harpies, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked to his right and saw Henrik standing there, with an obvious sheen to his skin. A sweet smell wafted into the Mage’s nostrils, and he could almost see the sweet smelling vapours emanating from Henrik and floating over to him.

“You infuriating piece of shit.” Ingolf said with a snarl. “What on earth compelled you to not only cut a slave’s hair while we were under siege, but also do so during a fucking battle?! Shit, even after you were done playing barber, where the fuck did you go?! Why are you smelling like a high-end brothel?”

“Look Boss, in hindsight I can see how deciding to cut that dude’s hair might have been a bad idea, but it was just so damn scruffy…” Henrik said with a shrug. “Besides, we managed to take out the small fry, didn’t we? All we have to do now is finish off these ugly giants and everything will be fine.”

Henrik rolled his neck a few times as he started walking towards one of the Harpy Queens.

“Where are you going?!” Ingolf boomed. “I’m not finished with you yet!”

Ingolf then found himself keeping quiet and blinking a few times as he noticed something about Henrik’s demeanor and the way he was walking that made him realise something.

“That dandy… he’s actually serious.”

Henrik drew both of his weapons from their sheathes, however this time, they were glowing just a touch. He looked back at Ingolf briefly, while a kind of black smoke began to waft out from beneath his clothes. Ingolf’s eyes grew wide for a moment, however after blinking, he completely lost sight of Henrik.

“That guy is seriously using that skill? Wow…”

While everybody else was engaged in combat with the Harpies, elsewhere in the camp where absolutely nobody was attempting to assist, Saheed and his slavers watched on. Unlike when the Harpies first appeared, they were actually keeping a keen eye on proceedings, with some even having their weapons close by. They were still rather relaxed however, and continued to smoke while some were in the tent, having their way with some of their favourite slaves. Saheed was one of those who was paying particular attention to the flow of the battle, and suddenly noticed the silhouette of somebody tall and muscular approaching them, with somebody much shorter and somewhat hunched over following next to them. It didn’t take long for them to realise just who it was, and soon enough, the Nameless Slave along with Didi came into full view and then stopped right in front of Saheed. Many of his guards stood up and to meet him, with one even brandishing his whip and his scimitar.

“Why are you two walking around so casually?! You seem to have forgotten your station – get in the tent!”

A conveniently timed attempt at the synchronized shriek by the Harpies caused the Nameless Slave to instinctively stomp his foot, producing the pulse of Dispel energy. It not only did what it was created to do in dispelling the shriek, but being in such close proximity to the bonfire, tents and slavers, the pulse had a tangible effect on everything. Tents and clothing fluttered, the flames warped and distorted and smoke was blown away. In spite of all that not specifically being planned, it still served as an effective stunt to not only get the attention of Saheed, but silence his dogs that were most prone to barking. The fat Izdurian looked at the slave with a cocktail of anger, disdain and just enough trepidation that he raised his hand, as if to tell anybody not to say or do anything.

“What do you want?” Saheed eventually asked as he slowly lowered his hand.

“For you to get up off your soft seat and go assist with the fighting.” The Tall Slave stated very clearly, before Didi translated what he said while looking somewhat reserved.

“What?!” That slaver brandishing his whip boomed incredulously, prompting Saheed to raise his hand again.

“Listen here, my dear slave – those barbarians have been compensated to protect us, not the other way around. We got involved in the first battle because we were caught by surprise, however this time, they had time to prepare. They must do their jobs.”

“It would do you the world of good not to lie to me, Fat One. My eyes see through everything, and I know the real reason behind you and your dogs sitting back here, hiding and hoarding the Healing beverage this old woman prepared.”

Saheed’s eyes grew large as he shot up to his feet and even sneered.

“Silence! You know nothing, you savage! How dare you even claim to—”

“One of the Holy Tenets of Izdur is that if non-believers and infidels partake in the splendors and blessings bestowed to you as believers, they must either convert, prostrate themselves, and pledge to worship Izdur. If they refuse to do this, they shall then be slaughtered and burned to ashes by the everlasting, ever-burning Flame of Izdur.”

Saheed and the other slavers watched on with wide open mouths as this slave casually recited one of the Tenets. They had no idea how he knew of it, but the surprises didn’t stop there as he continued.

“The Pale Ones all had fun with the slaves, didn’t they? They didn’t turn you down when you offered the services of those in the tent right now. So you staying in here while they fight, get injured and inevitably use the Healing drink will give you the advantage when you eventually attack and kill them, no?”

There was stunned silence within the group of slavers, which was then broken as the slave continued to speak.

“You know, that Deity you all worship is ridiculous. If somebody was dying of thirst and one of you gave that person water, if they didn’t follow that up with conversion and worship, that would mean death. What a pathetic entity, Izdur is.”

“You INFIDEL!!!!” The slaver with the whip in his hand bellowed before raising his hand as if readying himself to strike.

A second later, the crack of the whip echoed throughout the entire camp. That however wasn’t the only sound that was heard coming from that section of the camp, as the sound of someone crying out in pain also rang out for a second. While everybody who was not a part of the slaver group was too preoccupied with not dying and taking out the Harpies to notice, Saheed and his subordinates watched on in absolute horror as the tall slave stood over the hunched over and unconscious body of the slaver who had attacked him. The group watched as the slave easily avoided the slaver’s whip, closed the distance between the two of them within the blink of an eye and then drove his knee into his attacker’s abdomen with such force that he was actually lifted off of his feet. Something sounded like it cracked or broke, but nobody could tell what it was. The slave then looked towards Saheed with an intense looking scowl.

“Stop wasting time and go already.” He commanded.

Saheed’s face was contorting due to the rage he was feeling. His God was insulted, his subordinate was injured and he was disrespected – all this done by a slave in shackles. The plump slaver let out an enraged roar before clapping his hands together, as if he was about to start reciting his prayer. He closed his eyes and started rattling off the prayer with such speed, it sounded like he mumbling the most unintelligible gibberish every heard. Saheed’s body was quickly enveloped in the Flames of Izdur and he then started to levitate. He opened his eyes, and as the flames began to pulse out of them, he suddenly saw something that stopped the prayer in its tracks. The Nameless Slave was surrounded by some kind of energy and unlike Didi, who merely felt them, Saheed actually saw multiple tentacles slithering and moving about. It looked as though they all came from the slave’s eyes, and before Saheed could question what was happening, a large number of the tendrils shot forward and tried to force themselves into his eyes. After Saheed moved his head and evaded them, they instead wrapped themselves around his head and looked as though they were pull him towards the slave. The Flame of Izdur then shot out of his eyes and engulfed the tendrils, setting them alight. The flames ran down the entire length of the tendrils, looking like they were going to set the Tall Slave’s face on fire. This made Saheed burst into laughter as he grinned.

“Why were we all so frightened of you, you blasphemous savage?! You shall pay the ultimate price for insulting out God!”

While he was still laughing, Saheed suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, which resulted in the laughter immediately dying down. When he looked to see what was going on, he saw that the flames on the tentacles were no longer the bright orange that they were before, but a shade of grey that caused the Izdurian to panic. As he tried to reach up and grab the tentacles, the remainder that hadn’t shot out towards him initially did just that, and the floating slaver’s face was completely assaulted by a seemingly ever-growing number of tendrils. Saheed began letting out a series of screams as the tentacles made their way into his head – and not just through his eyes. He felt them forcing their way into his brain, into his mind and into consciousness.

“Look at how pathetic you are.”

Saheed heard these words ring out in his head, and for the very first time, he was able to understand what the slave was saying.

“This is all the protection he provides? Or perhaps is your link with him not as strong as you would like it to be? Either way, you are now completely at my mercy, and unless you wish to feel the kind of pain and anguish that even Baahlen would not wish on those souls sent to him, you will obey my previous command.”

“Where are you?!” Saheed screamed. “Why are you in my head? Who are you? What are you?!”

Saheed suddenly felt pain so intense, it was as if his blood was simultaneously boiling and curdling. Every single part of his consciousness was screaming in writhing in agony, yet the pain itself as well as its source could neither be identified, nor specified. All that the Izdurian could tell, was that it really, EALLY hurt. After what felt like an eternity, there was a sudden break in proceedings, which allowed Saheed time to collect his thoughts. He could hear his own heartbeat absolutely thundering and echoing within his consciousness. An extremely bright light flooded his consciousness – so bright in fact that it too brought about its own pain.

“Round up your followers and join the fight. Bless the Mercenaries weapons, or you will feel what you just felt until your miserable soul bursts. I will not say this again.”

In an instant, everything went dark and Saheed felt the Tall Slave’s presence exit his consciousness. He too was suddenly and violently ejected from his own internal world and brought back to the world of the living. Saheed’s breath was haggard, his fists were clenched, and he had broken into a cold sweat. There was complete silence amongst the Slavers, who were all staring at Saheed. After suddenly realizing that all eyes were firmly fixed on him, Saheed’s eyes snapped around and looked at everyone, before settling on the Tall Slave and Didi. Silence persisted, as the two men stared at each other. The silence was destroyed quickly however by the sound of combat in the background. Another attempt of the shriek was made, which was promptly dispelled by the slave – who had yet to break eye contact.

“…we will be joining the fight. Prepare for battle.”

Saheed tried to sound as authoritative as possible, but there was just a quiver in his voice. When he saw that nobody had even shaped to move, as if they couldn’t believe what they had just heard, prompting the portly man to speak again.

“DID YOU ALL NOT HEAR ME?! I SAID PREPARE FOR BATTLE!!”

“By the Grace of Izdur, we obey!” Was the reply that was roared in unison.

All of a sudden, the relaxed atmosphere was replaced with frantic preparations, as even those who were busy in the tents burst out, fixing their clothes in the process. In less than two minutes, the Slavers were in formation and ready to roll. Before they joined in the battle though, the Tall Slave stepped right up to Saheed and stood right next to him, before speaking.

“Get in there, coordinate with the emaciated Mage and end this as soon as possible. This night is far from done.”

Didi quickly translated what was said, which visibly enraged Saheed to the point where he was engulfed in the Flames of Izdur without even having recited the prayer as usual. The flaming Saheed led the Slavers from their little camp without speaking a word, and they all knew to follow quietly. As the Slavers joined in the battle, the introduction of the Flames immediately illuminated the battleground.

“So you finally decided to get up off your ass and join us, you fat frivolous fuck!” Ingolf boomed in the distance.

The Tall Slave moved towards the tents in which a few of the slaves were used. He stood at the entrance before walking in and seeing the men and women in various stages of bondage and disrepair. Didi followed the slave in and was slightly taken aback by the sight that greeted her.

“…how could those slavers do this in the middle of a life-or-death battle.” Didi said out loud, not to anybody in particular.

“They were aware beforehand that those ugly bird creatures are especially weak to fire, so they could get involved in the fight later and still come out on top. Look at these restraints – these people have been left like this, waiting for the slavers to return and use them until they are spent.”

Didi just listened to what had been said in complete silence, before watching as the Nameless Slave turned around and made for the exit.

“Untie those people, get them dressed and bring them to the tent with the rest of the slaves.”

He then walked out of the tent and left Didi to do as he commanded. By the time Didi was done and walked out of the tent, the sounds and sights of battle had well and truly filled the entire encampment, with Ingolf skillfully coordinating everything in real time. Much to her surprise though, Didi found the Tall Slave waiting outside the tent for her and the others, and with little more than a head tilt, he signaled for them to follow them as he escorted them back to the slave tent. The frequency with which the three Harpy Queens attempted to shriek decreased significantly as they were pretty much focusing on staying alive as the addition of the Flames of Izdur had them pretty much battling to survive. One of the Queens let out a different sounding shriek, and afterwards, all the remaining regular Harpies cawed in response before banding together in front of the Queens - creating a vertical barrier of squawks, plumage, and leathery breasts. The Slavers and Mercenaries were on the remaining monsters in a flash, combining their efforts to not only finish them off, but also their giant counterparts. Before they could do any meaningful damage though, the Queens let out a completely different sounding harmonized shriek – one that was accompanied by gusts of wind so violent that even the barrier was blown away. The reason behind the Queens making their minions shield them was so that they could merge into the monstrosity they had become in peace. Three heads, six massive, low-hanging tits, huge wings, a body almost double the size of the Queens separately, everything was just amplified and clearly more dangerous.

“…well, shit.” Ingolf simply said with a tired shrug and a sigh.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Demon Tooth Leadership quickly assembled around Ingolf – including Ola, who had been in the shadows with his Archers, taking care of the Harpies as best they could.

“What’s the plan?” Thorvald asked, his gaze fixed on the giant Harpy creature, IceBane gripped so tightly it looked like h was trying to snap it in half.

“Having taken care of most of the stragglers, we can pretty much focus on that three-headed thing.” Brynhild chimed in.

Henrik, who nobody had seen since he joined the battle, said nothing, only nodding in agreement. His hands and daggers were pitch black – covered in the blood of the Harpies he had killed.

“We will keep attacking from the shadows, but will also mostly focus on that thing.” Ola added.

“Me and mine will draw and hold its attention for as long as possible. You all need to do as much damage as quickly as possible and get this done.” Brynhild chimed in before banging her shield three times with her sword and pointing it towards the Harpy Queens.

Her and her squad immediately set off to confront the creature, giving the rest of the Leadership a bit more time to discuss things. Ola also nodded and then sprinted off into the encampment, while Thorvald looked at Ingolf.

“Well, you heard the lady. Work on an offensive Spell or something.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary since that bastard Saheed and his Slavers are here. These Harpies are especially weak to the Flames, so we may as well take advantage of that.”

“Good point, but I don’t trust them.”

Thorvald raised IceBane above his head and let out a Warcry, prompting his squad to do the same and also charge, engaging the Harpy thing along with Brynhild’s squad. Henrik, took a deep breath before looking at Ingolf.

“You’re also counting on that slave as well, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Counting on a slave and a Slaver to help bail us out. How sad is this?”

“Tell me about it.”

Henrik chuckled before taking two steps and disappearing in the blink of an eye. Ingolf faced and then approached Saheed, who was floating nearby. He was smoldering almost a little too intensely, which made him a little unapproachable, but Ingolf didn’t care.

“Saheed.”

“…”

“You heard what we said, right? Help us. We need you to come with the firepower and burn that hideous thing to a crisp.”

“…very well.”

“We need your guys to help Thorvald and Brynhild to keep it occupied, while you prepare your most powerful Spell, if possible. The Flames of Izdur are potent enough to burn anything to ashes.”

Saheed said nothing, and only intensified the strength of his Flames while his Slavers moved towards the Harpy Queens. This meant that there were three separate squads all attacking the… thing – not allowing it any time to recover as each team attacked more or less consecutively. To its credit though, the Harpy thing was orders of magnitude more difficult to handle in this form, with a flap of its wings enough to send which ever squad that was in focus to the floor. Each head would let out a different shriek which would have different effects, with one paralysing, the other stunning and the third causing fear. The effects of these shrieks all required Dispelling, with both Ingolf and the Tall Slave obliging as and when necessary. That being said, Ola and his brigade were doing a good job at whittling away at the creature, and Brynhild’s team was incredibly skilled at pulling and holding the attention of the enemy for just long enough that the damage dealers could do their thing effectively. Saheed, who had been focusing on charging his Flames, refreshed the enchantment on all of the weapons, including the previously unseen archers, leading to more damage being done. Despite the fight looking to be increasingly more difficult than the one against the Barghest, it was actually a much smoother fight. The Harpy Queens became more and agitated as the fight dragged on and they took more damage, with Ingolf noticing and looking towards Saheed.

“Isn’t it ready yet, Saheed?” He unknowingly said out loud.

Clearly, Ingolf wasn’t the only one who noticed the agitation, as the Nameless Slave appeared, with Didi in tow. He stood next to Ingolf and watched on in silence for a bit, before speaking while still watching the battle.

“The Fat Man should probably order his subordinates to use their whips as lassoes to keep the creature grounded, because once that thing in airborn, we will be at a disadvantage.”

Didi quickly translated the slave’s ‘suggestion’ and Ingolf took it upon himself to pass along the message, mostly due to the fact that he too felt that something was coming. To his credit, Saheed wasted little time in passing the command on to his men, and they obeyed just as promptly, grabbing their whips and indeed using them as ropes. Even though this was done in time, the Harpy thing had reached its limit and leapt into the air with a powerful flap, causing the Slavers to drop their weapons and hold their whips with both hands.

“Hold the creature still! I am almost ready!” Saheed barked, which was easier said than done as it clearly was gearing to unleash some kind of large-scale attack.

It became apparent that the Slavers were not going to manage alone, and Ingolf drove his staff into the wet ground.

“Demon Tooth! Find a whip and hold on to it for dear life! Archers, focus on dealing damage! Melee fighters, hold that fucking thing down!”

For such a sickly, emaciated looking man, Ingolf’s voice contained a gravitas and authority that spurred everybody into action. The Izdurian Slavers and Demon Tooth Mercenaries all did their jobs as grunts and groans competed with the shrieks and caws of the Harpy. Ingolf was practically casting Dispel every few seconds trying to keep up with the cries, but was also quickly approaching his Mana limit.

“Fatty?! Not yet?!” He boomed.

“Silence!” Saheed snapped back as the colour and intensity of the Flames deepened to such a degree that everybody was starting to sweat.

Just then, the thing jerked and pulled one of its wings, lifting the group of men and women that were holding onto the whip off its feet and sending them flying.

“Fuck!!” Ingolf roared. “How cliched!!! All of you, get your shit together and grab hold of that—”

The Mage did not finish giving his order as within the blink of an eye, the Tall Slave was on the scene and quickly grabbed the flailing whip in both hands. He spread his legs, bent his knees and hunkered down so deliberately; most couldn’t believe what they were seeing. As if activating every muscle and sinew in his arms and legs, his limbs flexed and tensed as he stood perfectly still, holding the whip alone. The lassoed wing was unable to move a single centimeter, causing the Harpy Queens to let out panicked shrieks. It was however too late as the slave bought the Izdurian enough time to finish preparing. He clasped his hands together between his crossed legs, before splitting and raising them to shoulder height, palms aimed squarely at the enemy.

DEATH GODS’ FLAMES OF PURIFICATION.”

Just as Saheed cast the Spell, Ingolf absolutely screamed for everybody to release the whips and get away, which they did – just in time too, as the Harpy Queens all burst into almost unbearably hot flames. The combustion was as bright as it was hot, with most of the squads having to either shield their eyes, or face the ground. The cries of the Harpy heads were intense and filled with pain, but they barely lasted ten seconds before being completely drowned out by the sound of burning flames. After a few more seconds, the creature fell to the ground unceremoniously, crashing down to the mud below with a squelch. The only person who was still standing close by and holding on to the whip was the Nameless Slave, who stared at the smoldering creature silently before releasing the whip.

“These flames will not be enough to kill the creature, so tie it up and place it next to the canine.”

The Tall Slave said this as he looked at Ingolf, before turning around and walking towards the slave tent. The Mage looked to Didi, and once the command was translated, he looked at the burning creature in disbelief, and then towards Saheed, who by now was on all fours in the mud, shaking his head ever so slightly.

“...have mercy, Oh Lord of The Dead. Forgive me, Great Izdur.”

Without questioning what was going on any further, Ingolf set about passing along the command.