The fight by the numbers seemed like it would be easy. Eleven adult men versus ten small foxes, a Superior defensive position, and better weapons. Reality was not so simple; The foxes had more mana, and more experience using it in battle, while the men had only barely been introduced to mana. The superiority of their weapons was questionable, with how sharp the foxes claws were, and their defensive position wouldn't mean much if the disorienting effect took hold. Even their size wasn't likely to be much of an advantage against predators who fight the grass-beasts as their prey, even with a size disadvantage. The foxes crept closer , one or two howling at all times, creating a strange melody which amplified the disorientation enough that there might be difficulty even with mana protecting their ears. When the tension thickened the air to the point that a lesser man might choke on it, the first fox leaped in to swipe at the ankles of a man in the rear of the formation. A quick response of pushing his shield downward to block, at which point they found how sharp the claws of these foxes truly were. The claws made huge rents in the shield, and it was clear the only thing that prevented it from falling apart was the lack of strength put in by the fox. With the attack itself blocked, however, support from the soldiers were able to attack the fox and prevent a followup attack. The foxes would not stand idle, however, and also came to support their first attacker. The fight rapidly devolved into a chaotic melee on three fronts with more feints and counters than actual attacks. Cillas, Gillard, and their third were facing off against the Alpha and his two pack mates, hesitant to begin the engagement. Each knew that they were the axis of the fight, around which the cries of victory or the jaws of defeat would revolve. Finally, Gillard surprised everyone by manifesting a spear of mana and throwing it at the fox alpha. Caught off guard, it was forces to dodge hastily, which left it's flank vulnerable. Cillas took advantage of this weakness by committing to a strong attack into the flank while his third occupied one of the pack mates. Of course, the fight would not be won so easily, as the unoccupied pack mate was able to jump in and take the strike on it's claws to protect the alpha. Luckily, the strength of Cillas' swing caught it off guard, and he took it's foreleg as price. A crippling blow, the men of Lodras had the advantage immediately. Alas, it was not to last, as the alpha recovered from his dash more quickly than anticipated and was able to swipe at the legs of the third guard, which forced Gillard and Cillas to give up on finishing the injured fox to protect their own man. This tense stalemate did not last long, since the injured fox began to slow from bloodloss. With it's slowed reactions, the fox was unable to dogs several light attacks, gaining more and more injury for it's efforts, and eventually the alpha was forced into a more aggressive stance before their disadvantage spiraled out of control. It's aggressive stance allowed small injuries against Cillas and his men, but at this point, unless they made any major blunders, the fight was a losing proposition for the alpha. As time passed and it still could not regain an advantage, the alpha's desperation began to show, as it got more and more aggressive, committing to attacks which had a guarantee of trading injuries at best, and taking injury for no gain at worst. In a final gambit, the alpha jumped back and released a howl altogether different from the standard disorienting one. Blood began to seep more strongly from every injury the foxes had obtained, but in return, they were stronger, and faster than before. "Kill them quickly, it's a suicide gambit!" Abandoning defense, the guardsmen used their larger bodies to their advantage to crush the fox groups while taking serious, but not crippling injuries. As the alpha finally fell to a spear blow from Gillard, the fight was finally over. The mana gains from this fight had been substantial, and the more severely injured of the group were quickly tended to before everyone except Cillas and Gillard began to meditate to recuperate and maximize their benefits. "These foxes had some reason to want us dead for finding this oasis, even at the cost of their own lives. Your hunch about it's usefulness is sure to be as you suspected, Milord" Cillas thought, "You are right, but the problem is that before the fight began, I could see in the alphas eyes; we were prey, not threat and no problem. Even with our strategy and skill, the fox scoffed, like we were missing something essential that even the lowest prey has. I suspect mana has many, many more uses than we've discovered, especially defensive and offensive in combat. This fight was won more with luck than with preparation, and I'd like to avoid that in the future." "Milord, you are as insightful as always. What should we do with this oasis though? It's a bit far to be easily guarded; perhaps an outpost of some kind?" "We will discuss our options more when we return, the other commanders are likely to have good input. There are other things I'd like to discuss with them as well." Thus the day wound down, each member of the guard healing well and gaining large amounts of mana from the fight. The corpses were gathered and the men settled in for the night. Thankfully, it passed by uneventfully and they were soon on their way back to the city. Luckily, it could be seen from their position, so they simply made an effort to clear a path so they could find the oasis again easily. They made it back to the city and it was obvious that clearing the grass was a huge effort, as there was enough space to begin plowing farms already; Hopefully the season was right and they would get at least one harvest, or things would be very difficult for the winter. The group separated quickly, with Gillard and Cillas returning to the command offices. Cillas began the meeting simply,"We have a lot to discuss, so let's get right into it."