Blue Scales

"There's another one over here!"

"Group up, don't lose it!"

I rest between a house and some barrels when I hear the voice of Melior's court mage. When I peek from my hiding spot, I see white robes and a long staff behind a line of soldiers.

"Don't back down!"

"Kill the beast!"

Cries of soldiers ring out as a beast woman attempts to fight back a swarm of ten spears. She fights well, killing half of the soldiers before receiving a blast of light blue energy to the face.

"Now!"

Her body becomes a cushion of pins. Bloodied arms manage to rip out one more throat before she falls dead to the ground. I'm about to use this peace to make myself known, but my hair suddenly stands on end.

"Lady Hessa, behind you!"

The knight was too late. From the trees above, a flash of blue descends upon the mage. The curved object tears into her back and sprays red across the grass. It's only while the figure leaps back into the trees that I catch a sand coloured tail behind the weapon.

"Where did it go!? Somebody tend to—"

The knight is cut off by the same blue blur. The attacker once again leaps back into safety with reflexes that are well above humans.

One by one, the knights are picked off. A single targeted blow is enough to increase the number of bodies on the ground until only a single knight remains.

"You beast!"

He raises a shield and manages to block descending death, allowing me to gaze at the beast.

"Are those…shields?"

The killer is a girl half the size of her target. She bounces around with a small frame covered in brown animal skins like the rest of her people. The strange parts are the weapons in her hands. I've seen beastfolk carrying weapons of bone or stone, but this something completely different. The two dark blue surfaces in her hands are enough to almost completely protect her entire body.

"GAAH!"

He survived the first blow, but was immediately felled by the second. However, he served his purpose well.

"Take this, beast!"

Hessa is not dead yet, and she uses the opportunity to fire another blast of magical energy at the beast. Even the air flees in its wake, but the force was not enough to break through the defense of the girl's shields. Her sandy hair waves as she deflects the strike and flies across the grass.

"Don't expect this to be easy!"

A shining barrier appears in front of Hessa, standing between her and certain death. My ears are struck by the sound of smashing glass. The barrier holds, but its surface is riddled with cracks.

"T-This can't be!"

She launches a ball of flame at the beast, but it gets blocked. Once again the beast strikes and once again Hessa keeps her head intact. Blasts of fire, ice, lighting, and many others are useless. No matter how hard she tries, the mage is unable to land a hit on the incredibly agile girl. With each exchange, more and more cracks appear in the magical barrier.

"D-Dragon scales…"

Hessa attempts to defend once more, just for the wall to shatter into hundreds of fragments across the grass. When that thick and furry tail finally comes to a stop, Hessa lies dead among her soldiers.

I feel like I've been in this situation before.

"Crap…"

My attempt to flee the scene does not go undetected by the bloodied beast. Only a few seconds pass before the beast girl is on my tail.

"I have no choice…"

I turn and aim my gun at the oncoming threat and make contact with those narrowed green eyes. There is no room for being conservative here. I shoot or I die.

BANG

A red spear collides with a blue shield.

Bright light attempts to drill a hole into the impenetrable armour. She layered the plates before I pulled the trigger, so I only caught a glimpse of that vicious green eye as she pushed against the force of a bullet.

"Urk!"

It's a quiet growl, one barely audible from the screech of metal against an equally strong, if not stronger material. The bullet has nowhere to go but forward, causing her feet to slowly slide across the dirt. Trails of light paint the sky red from the point of impact.

"Hmph!"

The beast braces herself and pushes forward. The bullet seems to move backwards for an instant before flying off to the side. The red beam slides across the scale and ricochets into a nearby building.

"Tch!"

I point the gun back at the beast girl. Time seems to stop for a moment, the two of us staring at each other unsure of the next move. If I shoot again, I likely won't be able to pierce her defences. At the same time, she won't be able to make up ground against such an explosive force. It's truly a stalemate as far as she's concerned. I'm the only one aware that I'm unable to keep this dance up with a single bullet remaining.

Even if I'm almost out of shots, I thrust the barrel forward as if I had hundreds at the ready. Fortunately, my bluff is successful.

"Hmph."

With her shields still up, the beast girl leaps atop a nearby building and disappears from sight. After a few seconds, I can't even hear the rustling of leaves above.

"Not a moment to rest…"

I walk up to the pool of blood and crouch next to the body of Hessa. It wasn't long, but I thought that she could have been an ally in my fight for survival. Magic is one of the few areas that I lack any knowledge of. Her help in understanding its uses and limits would have made my life considerably easier, but none of that matters now.

Adjusting the white cloth, I cover her face and leave her to nature's grasp. Scanning the area, I find that the trail of blood continues.

"This girl…"

The same kind of wound, each applied with speed and efficiency. It always strikes the neck. If not there, it simply tears through metal and slashes to the heart. Each casualty can be found in a group no larger than five or six knights, but the bodies add up as more and more of them spread throughout the village. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that some 20% of our forces were wiped out by this one beast.

At this point, the entire battlefield had grown quiet. Neither man nor beast walk through this destroyed settlement.

"This one is the last! If you still stand, fight!"

A loud crack of lighting shoots into the sky at the other end of the village.