Bursting from the grass at full sprint with leagues of assumed undead monsters moments away from winning the high stakes game of tag had made Typhus unprepared to see the massive 2 and a half meter lizard talking to Sophia. Taking a staggered forward step with a look of bewilderment made him unprepared for the huge beast to throw a javelin made of rock past his ear concerning close.
Wind blasted past his face from the force of the object making his short dark hair whip around before hearing a loud gurgling noise and a thump on the floor nearby. "See?! You called Sasha a liar. You claimed no harm comes from your kind, and now what will your excuse be?!" The lizard spoke in perfect English only adding to the confusion on Typhus's face. "Okay! Did I embellish? Slightly. But you don't understand we are doomed if we can't take shelter!" Sophia was red faced and nearly screaming at the thing at this point.
With the moons slowly descending overhead the exact features were difficult to make out from the massive frame of the lizard. Typhus looked back with a lack of empathy towards the ghoul that now resembled a kebabed starfish as it hovered just above the green short grass. "You've come from the realm of death and you want me to believe you offer anything other than just that?! You take me for a fool? Or are you a sacrifice from that devil as an offering of peace?". Bringing its claw to the edge of its crocodile like mouth it lingered as if those were truly the only options it could understand.
While the darkness was still there, the creature was illuminated enough to see red eyes accented by yellow scales on the top of its head traveling down its back to a muscled tail that slid behind the huge black fleshy underbelly and inner thighs. Hunched over like their spine was misshapen it pointed a 2 meter spear looking weapon at Sophia than at the red grass and Typhus.
"If you can understand me, run! you idiot!" Typhus yelled ahead of him towards the lizard. Sophia took a step back from the giant as it opened its maw with its eyes showing shock.
Without hesitation or warning the lizard opened its hand and the earth responded to its call and spiraled into a javelin identical to the one he threw at the ghoul. "Hah! You are the first of your kind to speak to me unafraid. And you call me the idiot? I am Sasha the mountain. Mentor of the earthworms chosen.". Crossing their arms as if the name and title would change their situation entirely.
"That's super neat, you egomaniacal gecko, c'mon Sophia let our friend Sasha here earn some xp and let's get to the village!". Reaching the pair talking Typhus motioned for Sophia to continue ahead until a javelin was shoved horizontally across his chest with a strength that rivaled Nocturne's sending him flying nearly back into the tall red grass that bordered the flat grassy plains.
Adding some weight to their voice Sasha continued, "that village and its inhabitants was entrusted to me as a mentor, and I'll be damned if they taste the bitterness of you… Monsters who associate with the Wastes.". Pointing their javelin at Typhus while side cocking its head towards Sophia.
He had abandoned Nocturne, along with the Murkite sword back at the tiger trap base camp after being told this would be salvation. Tried to make the best decisions he could with limited resources. Chose to spend time saving Sophia rather than moving forward and pretending he heard nothing. Finally, and most importantly, he was wasting time that could have been spent finding Sylas. He didn't let his younger brother cross his mind for the last three days as he had basically already accepted his own death. Typhus had found his snapping point with this half creature claiming their bad intentions warranted their guaranteed death.
Slamming a fist onto the ground he looked back to the red grass and saw what must have been dozens of the lanky ghoulish figures swaying within the blades of blood red grass, only a few meters away.
Why?
Their pursuit had stopped right at the border, but one had already crossed the threshold. The skewered ghoul's long serpent-like tongue displayed ungracefully with the black blood leaking from the sharp toothed maw. The rock spike that had run it through had severed its spine in a way that detached the spinal column, vertebrae scattered around the impact zone.
"Have you regained your sense child?! Do you see that Sasha is the only reason you still draw breath?!". Straightening their posture Sasha grew to over 3 meters tall before letting out a loud roar that vibrated Typhus's chest similar to a flash bang he'd used in the army.
Typhus refused to be intimidated and instead sought to prove Sasha's theory. He watched as the ghouls' eyes shifted slightly to the growl before immediately snapping back to Typhus with predatory gazes.
'Not all those born of darkness worship it. But all respect it.'
His teacher's words swam through his mind. Perhaps the ghouls circled like hyenas to watch the lions settle their territorial dispute.
"So be it." Typhus whispered it toward the grass, cascading, shuffling and moving met his words. Standing back up he turned his back to the grass practically asking one of the creatures to leap out for an ambush.
Sophia continued moving laterally, not closer to the village or the red grass. She hadn't known Typhus long but he made it clear to her what his intentions were with his eyes.
Standing upright he accepted his own bloodlust to the highest degree. He stopped caring about ethics, morality, obstacles, and dove into the natural instincts humanity graciously gave in extreme circumstances. For their part Sasha hadn't responded with the same bravado they held moments ago, seeming indecisive about the willingness in Typhus's eyes.
Walking forward he picked up the silver sword that flew from his hand when Sasha had thrown him. Picking up his pace Typhus closed the distance in full sprint. "Have you lost your mind? This is a waste of time and energy.". Raising the javelin to above their shoulder the muscles tensed and filled with blood signaling the flow and snap of the throw to the human who had gone mute after standing.
Releasing the javelin it hurled past what Typhus could see in the dark of the night. Utilizing spatial awareness he was able to open his chest allowing the weapon to spiral past him, continuing to the red grass which knotted itself causing the javelin to fall still spinning in place without damaging the grass at all.
Typhus spun further while not losing any momentum towards the house height opponent. Two more javelins came hurling towards center mass of the human. Dodging the first by sliding across the grass it sailed overhead, while the second was aimed lower. Tilting his sword to a 65 degree angle he deflected into the dirt next to him. Dirt exploded outward creating a familiar crater next to him, shrapnel of moist mud and debris from the javelin shot across his face and clothing.
Reaching Sasha finally, Typhus leapt to the lizards right leg aiming a thrust between where the patella and shin bone would be if it shared human anatomy. Nearly at the height of his chest the sword was awkwardly angled to hit its target. Waiting until millimeters away from their flesh the massive lizard moved its tail to underneath itself lifting high above Typhus while simultaneously bringing its arms over head.
Missing the thrust just barely, Typhus quickly pivoted on his lead leg spinning in place while horizontally slashing at the tail that held Sasha up. Detaching their own tail rather than let the blow connect Sasha brought their entire 3 meter frame to bear on top of Typhus.
Sophia winced outwardly as Sasha fell from meters above the man who had shared survival with her. Dust exploded outwardly from the impact site shaking the ground enough for her to stumble in place.
A chill breeze carried on the night air cleared the dust quickly to reveal Typhus smirking with blood running down his face from the debris that got sent out in all directions. Looking into the floor the lizardman was expecting the human to be a stain on the floor underneath him.
In a deep voice Sasha held a new level of contempt for the human, "How are you still alive?!"
"You would be amazed how often I hear that" Typhus retorted while spinning the silver blade around his wrist before stepping forward to continue the fight.
Having rolled the double fist attack across his back at the right moment he escaped the brunt of Sasha's attack. This battleground was unfortunately not unbiased to the skills of the fighters giving the large lizard the natural advantage.
He has reasoned that the current battle was not going to be about single decisive blows for either combatant. So far every attack Sasha had used came with additional projectiles from the impact. Shrapnel had always been a problem in weaponry's history, but Typhus wagered he had an ace up his sleeve that Sasha would not expect.
Wordlessly, he kept the assault coming unwilling to give Sasha a moment to think. Deflecting jabs from all directions the human advanced forward accruing small cuts over Sasha's lower legs on the softer inner flesh that their harder scales enveloped.
OUUUUUUUUHRRRRRREEEEEEeeeeee
With each successive slash the ghouls ferocity and movement picked up within the red grass. He had no time or attention to spend analyzing the reactions but Typhus couldn't imagine they were cheering him on.
"ENOUGH!" Sasha half roared as they raised their rear leg to try to kick Typhus away from close quarters. Taking the opportunity he leveled the blade directly into the foot with a forward stab diving half its length into the flesh of his foe. Twisting its handle sideways rather than ripping laterally, the blade didn't move past the twist due to the strength of the lizard man's wrinkled leather skin.
Slipping the sword out from the foot he landed two long slashes across Sasha's chest before attempting to place his palm on their chest. Sasha whipped their head upward before opening their mouth wide. Their hundreds of mangled and twisted teeth had long trails of saliva and blood revealed for a split second before slamming it shut towards Typhus who stood within a meter. Ducking in time to keep his head Sasha got hold of his arm with its clawed fingers and dug in swiftly, deep crimson blood flowed down his bicep to Typhus's hand.
Fuck me. Did the gecko really know about the Axillary artery? Or was that a coincidence?
Gritting his teeth Typhus released his sword from the clamped down arm, "Fine! Let's play the bleed out lottery together!". Bouncing once off the ground he used his foot to scoop the weapon into his other hand and drove it deeply into Sasha's inner leg making sure to pierce where the Femoral artery would be.
Due to the mass difference the blood that erupted was like a broken fire hydrant. Rather than releasing the grip Sasha lifted Typhus while the blade was still within their leg giving them both almost guaranteed death if the logic of his world still held any semblance of truth.