Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave walked out into a wide-open valley, alone in spirit but not in fact. Excluding the thousands of blood-infused wind eels soaring above him as a cloud of death, he had the charming company of the Shadowlanders, playing the role of the lurking mountain lion ready to leap down upon him. In the back of his mind, he kept at close attention the blood echo positioned miles away. One of the good fortunes about being in an area where the enemy had no knowledge of him meant that he could call upon old tricks where necessary to gain an advantage.

And considering what he’d volunteered for, well… he would need every damned advantage.

Elenore’s blessing of connections didn’t function in this place, but they weren’t without methods to communicate long distance. There was a baby’s head on Argrave’s shoulder, and he was doing his best to ignore what it looked like as he listened to what it said—or rather, what its creator said, speaking through it.

“They’re just now starting to take the bait. You’re far enough away from us that they seem to be willing to try something. The horseman, though, isn’t getting any nearer,” Bhaltair said, conveying the details from the other members back at their base of operations.

Argrave’s gaze went upward, scanning the tall mesas cautiously. Their plan was rather simple—Argrave, alone, should poke out at the edge of the boundary, clearing the dark away to hide his true goal: baiting the enemy to attack. He told himself he was in no more risk here than he was back with allies. Well, perhaps a bit more. Or a lot. Regardless, Anneliese could heal his wounds no matter the distance, and if needed, he could still swap places with the blood echo.

“About ten… no, about a hundred… mmm…” the baby’s head trailed off.

Argrave looked at it, resenting the sight of the peach-colored thing tied to him with leg tendons. It looked like he had a twin brother absorbed in the womb on his shoulder. “What’s happening?” he asked Bhaltair.

“There’s about… it’s upward of about half a thousand, I’d say, and increasing. They’re approaching your position in groups of one hundred. It’s not like that first attack was. Anneliese’s scouting efforts with her bird say these could be considered full military squads, with leaders. They have fliers, some archers…”

“Archers?” Argrave repeated, feeling some fear. Charging beasts he could handle—he’d sparred with Orion enough to be confident in taking a close-quarters foe. Projectiles were another matter, doubly so projectiles coming from these freakishly strong opponents. One blind spot, and he could get a bolt through the back of the head.

“Yes. They’re taking a position on the plateaus, and—oh. You’re surrounded. But there is some good news. That horseman’s come back out. We don’t have a visual on him, but Roland’s confirmed it.”

“Alright. And what does that mean for the plan?”

“If you can hold out… we can cut off their escape back to the darkness, set up the ambush we’d planned,” Bhaltair said certainly. “We’ll help entrap the horseman. But at the end of the day, you’re likely the only one that can do any significant damage to him.

in this silent

“I’ll tell everyone.”

there right at

the head said, and Argrave looked. “Good luck. Now,

there was nothing there. In the next, an entire squadron of tentacle-faced monstrosities stood on the edge of the mesa, with bows of shadow drawn far. When they all fired at once, Argrave figured this is what it must’ve been like to face a volley of [Bloodfeud Bows] from his blood echoes. Ordinarily, Argrave

the past months,

the ground. He hovered just below his cloud of blood-infused wind eels, using them as shields. He

their place, looking down upon the valley. So long as Argrave stayed moving unpredictably, it seemed an impossibility for him to get hit. Then, Argrave heard a familiar roar and looked upward, peering past his constructs. Fully healed of the gaping wound Argrave had caused, the one-eyed dragon of shadow had brought with it several similarly draconic minions. All Argrave saw was a bunch of

completely block any attack from the archers as

recognition dawned, Argrave frantically stopped his

and leapt downward with a spear of shadow held out to impale. Argrave moved to the side as quickly as possible, but in response the rider merely

rider landed on one of the lesser dragons—which, now that they were near, were far faster than Argrave had ever imagined. The shadow knight didn’t hesitate a moment in leaping forth at Argrave again, conjuring a sword as if from thin air. Argrave used the A-rank [Devil’s Claw], and a black hand with sharp nails took form out of

maw, slicing straight through the beast. Moments later, projectiles soared upward from down below, and Argrave cast a brief glance to see the archers had repositioned. In the valley where he’d

it made the decision simple. He’d go high enough their arrows couldn’t reach, stalling. Along the

ensured he kept pace with Argrave as he ascended easily. The only reason why Argrave managed to get by without taking a wound as harsh as their first encounter was because they fought in the air. Whether it was luck or a

SET UP!” Argrave heard the baby’s head

of how amazing it was to have competent allies, Argrave took the time to look up at the gigantic dragon. On the low end, Argrave had his wind eels descend upon those that had occupied the

opening. His slowed ascent gave the other dragons time to catch up. Above, the gigantic dragon put some distance between them. Argrave could feel

its head. He called to his mind the rather disgusting spell he’d prepared, and then… well, he didn’t defend. It might be said that he tackled the rider, grasping him firmly. Then, he unleashed [Withering

and time again. He kneed Argrave, and the spikes dug into his guts. He pulled on the sword like it was a joystick at

spell that, much like [Bloodfeud Bow], grew stronger depending on how much magic and blood someone fed it. It was a parasitic entity that took root in whoever its caster touched, slowly disabling and killing them. Argrave created enough to kill just about anyone a thousand times over, but the knight continued to bash Argrave as they whirled through the