43 Light-tailed Lizard Hoard (1/2)
Seeing Jack retrieve his bow, Maynard understood what he needed to do. He drew a single sword and brandished a menacing grin. 'Where's the main body? Ya know?'
'I'm not 100% sure just yet, but there's probably a few of them,' answered Rydel, trying not to speak verbally and incite the lizards to action. He understood that light-tailed lizards sensed heat and were extremely sensitive to sound vibrations. 'If we could light this place up, that would be best.'
Jack understood Rydel's hint and looked to Bowser. 'We can get lights up, but you'll have to protect me and Bowser in the meantime.' When Rydel and Maynard agreed, Jack began to act.
He let Bowser bite down on a bundle of three arrows, lighting them all. The moment the lit arrows left Bowser's mouth, an unearthly screech sounded out, piercing the ears of the party. Jack called out verbally, ”Don't move! Here they come.”
On cue, a long and slender body covered in dull black scales appeared from out of the darkness, diving towards Jack. Unfazed, Jack nocked an arrow and fired it. He didn't aim for the monster because if he had, it would only be a waste of an arrow due to his low level. His aim was elsewhere, about ten meters in front of Rydel.
While Jack was busy firing an arrow, the beast that targeted him was swiftly beheaded by a katana. Maynard's smile remained as he saw Jack shooting the second arrow without hesitation, this time ten meters past the rear of the party.
With the additional light, Rydel aimed as well. As Jack launched the third arrow to make a perimeter, Rydel shot an arrow into the darkness. His eagle eye became sharper with increased visibility and gave him a couple of new targets. More screeches sounded out as everyone heard the 'THUD' of an arrow piercing flesh. Jack spoke up for the whole party to hear, ”Everyone against the wall; let Rydel and Maynard focus on what's in front of us.”
At the same time, he pulled out another three arrows and let Bowser do his thing. They had already been discovered and were probably surrounded the moment Brunar announced their presence with his popping back. With that in mind, Jack worked on increasing their field of view.
”I'll help too!” Brunar stepped up, confident in his strength. No-one stopped him because he really would be a big help to the two pillars the party depended on.
Jack nodded and aimed in between the front and middle arrows making the perimeter, shooting the arrow out an additional ten meters. What everyone saw was startling.
There were two more of those slender black lizards revealed by the light of the fire. The next arrow Jack shot in between the middle and the rear had the same result, exposing another two lizards. It was the final arrow, which was fired up the middle another ten meters, that caused the party's hearts to skip a beat.
Thanks to the last three arrows, they noticed a total of six black lizards intertwined in the darkness. Maynard yelled a question, ”Aren't they supposed to be in packs of two or four?”
”They always hunt in packs of two to four but considering the recent changes in the local ecosystem and all the goblins claiming the third level, it's hard to predict how some species have adapted. These Light-tailed Lizards aren't supposed to be up here, they've only been spotted in the third level until now.” Rydel quickly deduced some sort of explanation. ”What I fear is if the entire pack migrated together and we happened to wander into their new territory.”
'Lots of lizards, hard fight.' Bowser confirmed Rydel's suspicion immediately, bringing a sorrowful smile to Jack's lips.
”Bowser senses a lot more of these things. I'd guess you hit the nail on the head captain,” stated Jack, causing everyone to swallow some saliva. ”Let's treat this as a warmup for the goblin city raid. If we can't beat this, how could we ever raze a city?”
Jack tried his best to lift everyone's morale, with a statement that was both true and untrue. The lizards weren't as formidable as the goblin hordes in goblin city. If not, then why were they driven out and the goblins remained. The major difference between them was that they could premeditate the goblin city raid while they had to think and act on the fly amidst the lizard nest.
Lighting another three arrows, Jack continued to expand their perimeter, now filling in the gaps of his scattered arrows and revealing almost a dozen lizards. Troni stood beside Brunar, ready to attack when needed. Slivia did her best to steady her shaking hands and retrieved her wooden staff.
Somewhat excited, Maynard's grin expanded. With a thought, he asked Rydel, 'Hey, ya want to test the new skills? Bet I can kill more than ya.”