It Never Goes Smoothly
The group of mercenaries was small, only a handful of men walking through the defenses of the city. Bands of militia made up most of the backbone of Trushet's 'army', a force of men and women of many races just trying to keep their home's safe. Were it not for the nigh impassable mountains the city was built into and solid wall surrounding the outer area they would have lost long ago to Yirk's well trained and supplied army.
Leading his men through the maze of tents and militia, moaning citizens who were waiting to be healed by any means available, the falcon commander Shekhar kept his eyes serious. But underneath his scared beak and guarded eyes, anger simmered.
This was no siege. They weren't going to accept any terms other than their own desires. Yirk wanted land, and had been steadily driving more and more settlements towards Trushet. Twice his forces had nearly caught the city ablaze, once by magic and once by mundane means, and it was showing in morale. A number of mercenary forces had been contracted, even more caught up in it because they were infuriated with what was happening. Shekhar and his band were in the latter group.
Around them citizens and foreigners with no choice but to fight nodded, some cried in desperate hope for them to save loved ones on the battlefield. Shekhar never stopped walking, his right hand man Krishna close by. Sunderfoot, Glasga, Lars, Meeps, and Thunder were in tow while the four absent members tended to wounded. They were a small band of mercenaries but highly specialized in their own unique areas.
Passing by a small squad from another, large mercenary band Shekhar stopped abruptly as he noticed what was going on. Two of the men, twin bears from the look of it, were harassing a few of the women who tending to wounded.
The falcon's hard eyes narrowed only so slightly, something his group caught onto quickly. Krishna moved forward, the large komodo standing two heads over his commander, and whispered to his friend. "Do you want us to stay or go?"
He knew Shekhar was in a foul mood, but this was something he found unacceptable. Barely opening his beak to whisper the falcon's voice was cold. "Go."
Nodding, Krishna waved for the others to follow him.
Once they were gone Shekhar, unnoticed by the group harassing the women, began to approach. One of the bears was getting more aggressive in actions, and with a violent yank he tore off the blouse of one of the women, an average looking mare. Her breasts exposed, she tried to get away but one of the mercenaries who had refrained getting involved jumped in. She was a rather burly wolfess, and her cruel smile was overbearing.
The other two trapped women tried to protect the mare, but were violently held back and fondled by the bears. The wolfess was obvious in control of the situation and soldiers.
Fondling the defenseless mare, nipping at he neck with a cruel smirk, the wolfess muttered what she had planned for the mare. She pulled the front of her trousers down, her bulging undergarments giving show to the fact she had more than a few surprises in mind. As the hermaphrodite wolfess shoved the mare down and moved in to have her way, something made her stop.
Her head turned to face Shekhar, whose pale green eyes were seething with anger.
With speed beyond measure he drew the sword at his side, the thin blade hissing as it left the leather scabbard and lashed through the air. The edge of the sword was at the side of the wolfess' throat without a trace of movement from the falcon. Razor thin, it had already nicked the wolfess in several places along her muzzle. A trickle of blood no doubt got her attention, he head turning to face Shekhar.
"You little shit, I'll kill you. Maybe after I've had some fun with you, that is," The cruel smirk returned, the falcon's eyes eerily clam once more.
A flick of the wolfess' eyes signaled for a rough looking scale to approach. Two axes had entered his hands when he had heard the hiss of steel, and now one was swinging for Shekhar's neck.
Wood splintered and the wolfess howled in pain. Stumbling backward the monitor clutched his stomach from where Shekhar had apparently kicked him, even if the only indication was a light wound showed through his leather armor, talon marks stretching along his torso. It was a warning, unlike what had happened to the wolfess.
The thin blade had a small amount of blood on it, and the wolfess was on the ground holding her limp and bleeding arms, all the while snarling in anger. "Kill this bastard!"
Only the monitor that had attacked him earlier dared get near Shekhar. Sheathing his sword in a similar unnoticeable motion as he had drawn it and attacked, the falcon turned to face the monitor.
What lurked in the falcon's eyes was a dark thing indeed, power and experience that they lacked. And something much more terrifying than a veteran of many battles. He was predator unlike any they had encountered before. Tints of some kind of magic floated within his eyes, flecks of onyx within the pale green irises.
It didn't deter the raging lizard. Strong and precise blows rained down upon Shekhar, his arms neatly deflecting every strike aimed towards him. At the same time he refused to move an inch as he batted away blows fueled by an anger related magic.
Grabbing the lizard's first and twisting his arm and body in while riding the punch aimed at him, the falcon ducked under the monitor's arm and shifted his position and weight just right. The pop of dislocation mixed with a hiss of anger, though it was short lived. Two talon like fingers thrust into the monitor's back and sides, not drawing blood despite their sharpness, yet dropping the large scale like a wet sack.
Pale green eyes moved towards the bears. Reaching for his sword, the falcon knew what they would do before it even happened. Instinct was a powerful tool.
Releasing their grips on the two women, they ran quickly to the sobbing mare and helped her cover up. Hurrying her to her hooves, the women were gone before Shekhar finally spoke.
"The insignia on your armor, you are of Marlon's troop. He's an old friend and a good man. Don't ever disgrace his name again by acting so monstrously. If you are here for the coin, you have defeated yourselves by attacking those who are paying you to protect them. But if you are here to help for the simple sake of assisting people in need, you are no worse than the forces Yirk throws at the walls every day."
Snarling at him, the hermaphrodite wolfess forced herself to stand despite her arms flopping uselessly by her sides. "What do you care? We're stuck here in this hell hole because the captain refuses to leave, and morale is shit if you haven't noticed."
"It doesn't excuse behaving in that manner." Shekhar nodded at the wolfess' trousers around her feet, her cock sheathed due to the interruption created by the falcon. "Instinct is a weapon like any other. Misuse or interpretation can be dangerous for everyone. Now go. Your arms will work normally by tomorrow, though you won't be able to lift a weapon for at least a week. The monitor, just relocate his shoulder and he'll be back on his feet and fighting in a day. If your commander's ask, point him towards Shekhar."
Glancing at the bears, they took it as their cue to collect an angry commander and unconscious warrior lizard. Taking them towards their makeshift barracks in the area set aside for the mercenaries, Shekhar walked away after a few minutes of simply watching people return to their tasks.
No one stopped to say anything to him. The look in his eyes was that of sadness, unlike they rage and predatory power that had lurked beneath only moments ago. It didn't last long, however, as once he made it to his original destination he was composed again.
But things were not looking good.
The komodo dragon known as Krishna left the meeting hall once Shekhar had arrived, nodding at his friend. He didn't fail to notice the almost invisible look in the falcon's eyes.
It was an unspoken fear. Not for the men and women under his command, but for the people of Trushet. Krishna saw the discontent brewing within, the lack of hope and frustration from the mercenaries. Citizens had been uncomfortable enough with mercenaries, but now hostilities were starting to strengthen. They had known it for some time, but the monitor knew whatever happened with the group harassing the women early had made it hit home for Shekhar.
Not that his commander, and friend, would let it show willingly to anyone. His emotions hid behind his pale green eyes and scarred beak, and Krishna only saw them because he worried for him.
Inwardly sighing, the large monitor walked out of the makeshift command area, nothing more than the sturdiest manor in the city, and back towards the barracks the others were at. Being a small band of mercenaries they had volunteered to share quarters with others. The group they were rooming with were veterans of a number of conflicts and contracts alike, and had a rather frisky relationship with one another. And anyone who was interested.
A number of mercenary groups were like that, simply because it helped keep morale up and kept them out of trouble.
Not everyone was a crazed sex maniac- Shekhar and Sunderfoot the most notable examples. Krishna joined in from time to time, but neither Sunderfoot nor Shekhar had ever been involved to his knowledge. The commander he knew why, but Sunderfoot was a mystery. Few were inclined to ask either, given his rare nature. Sunderfoot was a common basilisk, able to run on water like fellow members of species, but what kept most away was the crystal orb in his right eye socket. Magical power practically thrummed around him, and had turned all of his scales a sickly bleached white.
Lost in his thoughts, Krishna realized he had wandered off in the wrong direction and had ended up near the makeshift field hospitals where magical and mundane healers worked to keep troops and citizens in fighting. Cursing himself under his breath, since this was far from the place he had intended to go, the monitor moved to turn around too quickly and knocked into someone. Stumbling, a hand reached grabbed him to try and steady the owner he had walked into. It succeeded only in bringing them both down.
Rolling to avoid crushing whoever had been knocked over, the monitor hobbled back to his feet with an apology, blindly helping up whoever it was he knocked down.
It was then that he realized he knew the one he had knocked over. It was the wolfess Shekhar had dealt with earlier, her arms bandaged. The only difference was her eyes- they lacked the same viciousness he had seen lurking around earlier. "Wait, aren't you the wolf from earlier?"
Holding her right arm and grimacing, the wolfess looked confused. Warning signs shot off in Krishna's head when he heard her response. "What? From where? I've been in the infirmary for the past three days along with the rest of my troop. One moment we were playing a game of cards and the next we were being treated for serious wounds."
Looking the wolfess over, Krishna knew Shekhar hadn't been the cause of the wounds covering her. The commander disarmed when he could, but the wolfess looked like she had been beaten severally. One of here eyes was swollen shut, and bandages covered most of her upper body.
Swearing, Krishna stopped just as soon as he started to run. The commander needed to know, but it was likely that the troop's pretenders didn't know their intended victims had survived. Even if his commander needed to know and he had no direct tie to the troop, Krishna's own code kept him rooted in place.
He had to stay, consequences be damned.
Confused, the wolfess spoke up. "Are you okay? Is something the matter?"
"... Yes. But worrying about it won't help. Sorry about bumping into you, are you alright?"
Shaking her head, the wolfess smirked. "No worse than usual. I'm good shape compared to the rest of my troop." Her mood darkened considerably as the words eked out. "You remind me of my corporal. Not just because you're a monitor as well, but you have that same stone like reliability about you. If I know who killed him and put us in here I'd..."
Placing a calming hand on the wolfess' shoulder, Krishna spoke quietly. "I think they are still here, the people who did this. If you want to protect your troops stay calm and act like this conversation never happened. There are those pretending to be your troop, all of you were meant to be killed in all likelihood. However you survived, something they might not know. My commander and I ran across them harassing a few local nurses. He probably roughed them up as a warning. Which means they might be targeting him now, if they weren't before. He's helping lead the air defense of the city."
For a moment, the komodo dragon was unsure whether or not the wolfess would keep calm. But the anger was pushed out of her eyes quickly, and she nodded slightly. "If what you say is true, Captain Marlon is in danger as well. Likely all of the mercenary captains."
"As are you and your troop. This is one of the least defended areas, given its distance from the walls. Considering we haven't thought the possibility of being attacked from within very credible, almost all of our forces are focused on the walls. Which means I'm needed here more, since my captain can handle himself." Krishna turned for a moment. He was extremely wary of his surroundings now, looking at everything as a possible threat.
Only his training kept him from growing anxious. Relaxing his tensing muscles, he forced his breathing to remain calm. "I'm going to go for now. Stay close to your troops, and just shout for help if anything goes wrong."
"What's your name?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry, I'm Krishna."
Nodding, the wolfess bit her forefinger hard enough to draw blood. Before Krishna could ask what had possessed her she wiped the blood across his breastplate, a trace of magic flowing obvious to his senses. "I'm Liv. That is a basic warning seal, one time use. If it goes off I triggered it's release, and you should know my rough location."
Nodding, Krishna slipped away before anything else could be said. He was noticeable in a crowd, but he knew how to look busy. Hopefully his suspicions would just make him look like a paranoid fool, but he had his doubts about things going smoothly.
They never did in war, afterall.