"You'll pay for that. Greel!"
Greel didn't respond except to send another wave of water into Leera's face. The other male shrieked his challenge and bore Greel down into the water of the ocean, though they both popped up before long, expelling water from their nostrils and gasping. They had no idea how to swim, and though it was an interesting battleground, they both feared submerging their heads into the water. With grappling more off the table, the hotheaded youngsters resorted to striking each other with their tails and claws. The fight grew in intensity, blood beginning to be drawn, and I left Brutus to sort them out if necessary while I focused on the sea itself instead.
Approaching the northern tip of the continent was a surreal experience for me. We'd seen the sea stretching out over the far coast from New Nievtra, and seen it a bit as we'd approached the Sheer Pass, but I hadn't gone close to it before. Now, if I looked north or east, I couldn't see anything but the vast expanse. The thoughts of what could lay under those roiling waves, or what lived across the sea incited my curiosity. Then, the water itself was strange–salty. The flavor was one I associated with luxury, and I'd never thought that the entirety of the ocean would be filled with it. Even so, I didn't want to drink the liquid, it turned my stomach with the excessive salinity.
"There isn't anywhere else to go in this direction." Farahlia interrupted my thinking, and when I turned to her, she bowed her head. "Forgive my impertinence, Alpha."
"We're close." I answered without specifics. "I think we'll find their tracks in the next couple of days. There should be plenty of them around, so their trails won't be too difficult to find."
"As you say, Zaaktif."
I waved the obsequious female away and she walked off. Silf, however, didn't hesitate to stay nearby. I walked closer to him and stood tall and proud, looking down my snout at him. The Sik'Tal khatif looked back and forth, wondering what I was so serious about. As soon as he was unprepared, though, I grabbed him under his shoulders and threw him headlong into the water. A giant splash accompanied his sudden dousing and he floundered while trying to get back to his feet. Silf sputtered water and sand out of his nostrils and I couldn't help but laugh uproariously. My broodmate sighed as he stepped to his feet, blowing water from his snout again and again.
"I can't even do anything back to you." Silf jokingly complained. "Brutus wouldn't let me get close!"
"I could be persuaded." Brutus surprised us both with his response.
"What would it take?" Silf questioned.
"An agreement for total cooperation."
Silf didn't answer verbally, instead throwing himself at my legs with reckless abandon. While I raised my knees to knock him back, Brutus blindsided me by smashing his tail into my hip. The two attacks, coming long before I'd expected them, took me by surprise. I stumbled, nearly falling into the water. That couldn't be allowed. I roared and activated [Combatant's Bloodlust]. My oldest [Skill] filled my veins and I saw the points of weakness in both. To my surprise, Brutus's body displayed a mere two or three minute spots along his legs and nothing else. Silf, still wrapped around my legs, though, was painted in vulnerabilities.
Though I refused to kill or injure my "traitorous" subordinates, Silf was so much weaker than me that a cruel idea crossed my mind. As soon as it occurred to me, I reached down, grasped Silf's tail in both hands, and then whirled and smashed him into Brutus. The air whooshed out of Silf with a pained groan, while Brutus just took the attack without hesitation. In fact, Brutus didn't even step back, instead leaning into the attack to reach me. I let Silf's tail slip free as the stunned khatif struggled to keep his head out of the water.
Brutus bellowed a wordless cry of challenge as he swiped his claws at me. They went wide as I ducked below. Even so, I didn't press the attack and wasn't tricked by the apparent vulnerability. He was larger than me now, at least a foot and a half taller, and his reach too was significantly greater than my own. Worse, there were no weak points to my vision, and when I feinted forward, Brutus's knee whipped out in a brutal strike. He pressed the attack, ignoring the failed strike. His claws sought to seize any part of me he could reach, but I kept moving. When Brutus committed, I stepped closer, into his guard, and flexed the durable scales along my right forearm. They slotted together and Brutus's claws clanged off of them.
Now that I was inside his stance and he couldn't leverage his greater height and reach against me, I pressed in. Brutus lunged forward, his jaws agape and reaching for my head. I jabbed my curled fist forward into his throat. The effect was visceral and immediate. Brutus gagged as his windpipe ached painfully. He wheezed for another breath, still trying to bear me down into the water. I evaded, trying to circle around him, but Silf wasn't out of the fight.
He lunged to grab my legs, catching only one. Even so, with the water and his weight, I was stuck. Brutus lashed out again and again with heavy blows. I caught them on my forearms' thick scales, but he was far from finished. In the same moment I tried to kick Silf off my leg, Brutus whirled around and smashed his tail into my ribs. I felt several crack as I was sent flying a couple feet back and into the water. I sprawled, but rolled to my feet. It was a struggle, but I kept myself from coughing. The ache in my ribs was bad, but I was far from finished.
With two quick steps, I caught Silf again, and this time, he wasn't my weapon. I held him by his throat and squeezed, though not for long.
"You're out, now." I spoke loud enough for Brutus to hear as well. "You'd be dead, so it's just me and Brutus."
"You're right." Silf choked out and I dropped him to the ground, my body aching. Brutus didn't give me time to recover and rushed back in. As he pressed in, a small part of me wished I could use so many of my [Skills] made specifically for battle, but most required killing enemies to gain benefits. [Victor's Spoils] especially would help with my ribs, but I wasn't about to kill my ally because my ribs were sore.
With the cracked ribs and forced labored breathing, I settled myself and fought back and forth with Brutus. Without using [Spear of the Many] or any of my more destructive [Skills] from my sonilphon, we were pretty well matched, at least with me forced to move less flexibly than usual. With [Pain Tolerance], I was still mobile, but I needed to limit my movement. Eventually, I forced myself to stumble to the side, showing weakness I felt, but exaggerated. Brutus, excited, fell for the feint, and I stepped into his guard again. This time, I showed less mercy, and struck with both of my hands' claws. They sunk several inches into his sides, where I left them. While Brutus's blood covered my hands, I looked up at him.
"I'd call that my victory."
"You could have called it with your first throat strike." Brutus countered, his breath wheezing. He stepped back, uncaring of the blood that ran freely down his sides and coated his legs. "Thank you for taking it as far as you did. I appreciate the opportunity to learn."
"I thank you, Brutus, for your hard work."
While I walked over to Silf to see if he needed any further assistance, Hala shouted out for my attention.
"We've found something!"