Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 31

If one was suddenly placed in a situation where they needed to dispatch near a hundred animated corpses coated in metal and capable of bending steel with their hands, they might not be able to come up with a solution. That was doubly true if they were entirely out of magic when confronting this situation.

Argrave had faced worse odds. Granted, it had been within a game, and there was no imminent death in the case of failure.

One of the main reasons people were able to do much more in games than in real life was because of the limitations imposed by artificial intelligence. NPCs could not act like truly real people. They were incapable of making judgements and responding to the situation accordingly. They had to be programmed, and that programming could only account for so many scenarios. Once one learns vaguely how the AI functions, it becomes easy to overcome insurmountable odds. You can manipulate the AI into poor situations.

These tomb guardians could be compared to artificial intelligence. Though Argrave had thought while planning this might be a big hurdle, all he needed was time.

Argrave peered through a small hole in the palisades out at the crowd of tomb guardians. Though they had been headed straight for Barden, they now veered away, following after a lone figure: Galamon. He rode on horseback, circling around them and deflecting the odd magic arrow that came near him.

“We just need to wait,” Argrave said, leaning against the palisade as he stared out. “If we move too soon, the archers will take notice of us and fire. Those things are indiscriminate butchers.”

“You’re placing Galamon in much danger,” Anneliese commented.

Argrave turned his head around. He was surrounded by Veidimen. It felt strange being around them. With them, he felt as though he was average height again. With the pale skin, they might as well be kin.

“He’s tough, and he’s the only one I can trust with this. Besides, worst-case scenario, vampires can regenerate, and are much more physically capable than most. You should know this.”

Anneliese nodded. “It is merely disquieting. He is a great figure.”

“Yet the Veidimen exiled him,” Argrave stepped away from the palisade.

“He is still respected, even if Veid has punished him. I study his strategies.”

“It shows,” Argrave said. “Without your quick decision, things would have gone much differently.”

“I did not do enough.” Anneliese crossed her arms. “The battle should not have been so close.”

“What would you have done differently?” Argrave asked, curious to hear some insights from a future prominent strategist.

Anneliese did not take long to consider. “I would have tried to kill you as quickly as possible. Your magic sealed the first landing party’s fate. I did not think the commander would be willing to sally out of the palisades and onto the beaches. Things would have been much easier if you had remained within the walls.”

away and sat on a wooden crate that looked stable. “I left an

see now that may be otherwise.”

They were very leery of the snow elves—not that Argrave could blame them, exactly. Unlike the Veidimen, the humans were not used to setting aside conflicts to cooperate in the face of a greater

advisor. That incompetent moron nearly killed us all by allowing us to deal with the first landing party alone. If there had been more time to

with a strange posture. You’re hurt,” Anneliese said suddenly.

“What? Why?”

stepped forward. “You should be

“Save your

She took another step closer. “Our contract does not dictate what I do with my

as she asked. Anneliese held her hand out, and he felt an odd sensation like razor burn along his backside. The pain from

feeling. “I’ll remember that you spent your magic to relieve me of some

in your plan?” she

Not much magic will be needed, actually.” Argrave looked back out at the slowly fading mob. “Want

Anneliese nodded.

important. They’re reanimated by magic. Bludgeon them, sever limbs, stab them, crush them—those things don’t work, really. Not only is it very hard to pierce the metal, losing parts doesn’t matter to them. They’ll crawl after you if you’ve severed all their limbs. The key is targeting

placing his back against a house. “Magic is about the most painful thing for them, but Ebonice does the job nicely. Pierce their skin with Ebonice, it’ll be like a balloon popping—the things fall over like a house of cards, and we’re crawling away from Tartarus back to cloud nine. The things are devilishly strong, despite their slowness.

her hands,

he wore made no noise come out. “Shouldn’t be

something I

you?”

Galamon lure them away to one of the other Veidimen landing parties, have them descend on an unwitting group. You could simply leave them somewhere far

to clean up after yourself when you make a

back to the horde of metal monsters, now fading in the distance. “Those things, if left unattended, will cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. The cat is out of the bag, and now it’s time to skin it. I don’t want anyone to die,

have no loyalty to your

all animals, despite how some would raise themselves above that label.

lowered her head, thinking.

you are of good

he found that he

#####

exhaust it. The beast was admirable, keeping such composure near a massive mob of enemies. The tomb guardians followed him closely behind. Galamon needed to keep a constant eye on them. The archers,

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