In half a heart beat, Upi, the fallen Stakor was surround by his brethren. A couple of the strongest Stakors had already claimed the soft belly and squishy innards while the rest of the them growled and hissed at each other as they tried to steal a few bites. Those who were successful hurriedly torn a few pieces of morsels off Upi's body before their new challengers arrived and the hissing and growling started again.

Blood kept pouring out from where Upi's neck was cut open and had formed a trickle on the frozen ground. Those who weren't courageous enough to join the competition near the corps gathered along the black trickle and licked it off from the ground before they were frozen.

The smell and the sight churned Rolf's stomach as he lamented his childish fantasies of loving Stakor parents.

Axtlutl didn't join his soldiers; instead, he turned around and picked up the girl on the ground.

Rolf's heart swelled in his chest; there was no time to waste and the girl's life was in danger. He hauled himself up to his feet, pulled out the stone hammer and then shouted at Axtlutl.

"For Tynos!"

His shout caught Axtlutl's attention, he looked up at Rolf and bared his fans with a long hissed. Dropping the girl back to the ground Axtlutl pulled out his weapon: an ugly curved blade made out of pig iron.

The rest of the Stakors were so engrossed in their feast they barely noticed Rolf. Even those who did merely shot Rolf a quick glance before they return to the growling and hissing.

Rolf jumped off the the roof and charged at the Rat man while brandishing his hammer in the air.

Axtlutl was unfazed by the charge, he swirled his shoulder to the right as his right feet took half a step back so that he was facing the barbarian boy sideways. It was an effective stance to minimize the exposure to enemy while maximize stability during an impact. Rolf had learned such stance from one of Kram's private lessons in which Kram had also taught him the weakness of it.

Rolf kept on brandishing the hammer high above his head as he closed in onto the Stakor commander. He watched as Axtlutl kept on raising his blade from waist to chest until it was level with his shoulder. Axtlutl was convinced that the blow was about come from above, but it didn't.

When Rolf was finally close enough to the Stakor, he side stepped abruptly, lowering the hammer and swung the hammer from right to left in a sidearm sweep. The Stakor was caught off guard by the change in the attack direction. With his feet rooted to the ground, his frame was now too rigid and armor too heavy to improvise a defense in time. All he could do was to use his shoulder to cushion the blow.

Rolf's hammer landed squarely on the Stakor's shoulder; it was preciously aimed at the joints to dislodged the Ratman's arm. With a painful howl, the Ratman stumbled to the side.

The howling had finally caught the rat-solider's attentions. They stopped their infighting and looked to Axtlutl. When they saw their commander was injured, opportunism shined like grease off butter in their black shifty eyes.

There were about twenty or so Stakors, and more were gathering toward the commotion.

Axtlutl steadied himself; steams rolled out from under his bloodied fangs as he panted heavily. Already, he could sense that his authority was eroding among his soldiers.

Axtlutl took a deep breath and grabbed onto his broken arm. With a sudden twist and pull, he reset the join back into place.

Rolf grimaced at the terrible sound of joins grinding against each other, but Axtlutl's face was placid, devoid of any feelings.

Suddenly, the rat commander lifted the blade with his newly fixed arm and snarled, not at Rolf, but toward his subordinates. The opportunism in those Stakor's eyes dimmed as they turned their murderous gaze to the barbarian boy.

One of the Stakors hissed at Rolf and raised his hackles as he pointed a spear at Rolf. Axtlutl placed a restraining hand on the agitated Stakor and said in his lisping voice.

"Axtlutl show you s-ss-trength!"

At Axtlutl's command, the rest of the Stakors slowly back away. If their commander wish to fight the enemy by himself, they would gladly oblige.

Realizing his previous down fall, Axtlutl yanked his armors off from his body and threw his blade to the ground: he needed to be quick. The boy fought like a rat, fast an unpredictable, and so he had to fight like a rat too.

"Rat to rat." The half naked Axtlutl pointed a clawed finger and Rolf and then back at himself.

"For FUCK sake!" Rolf cursed loudly in his mind.

"I'm NOT a rat!" Rolf shouted as he charged at the rat-man furiously.

The rat-man was prepared this time. He knocked the stone hammer to a side with one arm, opening up the boy's defense, while thrust the other clawed hand toward the boy's chest.

Rolf reacted out of instinct, he pitched his body to a side and forward-rolled pass the attacker. He felt the Rat-man's claws grazed his back but it was not able to slash through layers of padded fur.

Rolf steadied himself and attacked his opponent from the flank before Axtlutl could turn around to face him.

From the corner of Axtlutl's eyes, he caught a glimpse of the incoming attack and he snorted contemptuously. He slammed the ground with his long and thick tail and lunched himself to the air.

Rolf was caught off guard by the development, but with only the slightest hesitation, he carried on his attack. In the air, Axtlutl executed a half pirouette so that he would face the attacker, he then locked his fingers and raised both arms high above his head before he bore them down on to the barbarian boy with all of his three hundred pound of muscles.