battle of the frozen village

The glacial raccoon dogs all jump from one row of houses to the other. Pelting the narrow street we're on with icicles as they cross. We are sitting ducks if we stay here any longer!
I slash at the air a few times, trying to block as many icicles as I can, especially near my core. My scythe is nowhere near large enough to cover everything, and I can feel the icicles grazing my arms and legs.

I open the door of the house next to me...
Except it won't move!
Oh yeah, they froze the entire village. I suppose that also means the doors are locked in place.
If I can't get out of their attack range, I'll just have to get closer so I can attack them.
They might be a lot more nimble than I on the roof, but I think chasing on the roof is less problematic than not being able to come close at all? Also means I can see them coming before they actually form their attack.

I swing as hard as I can and use my scythe to pierce the ice on the thatch roof of the house, then I pull myself up. Trying to grab onto the edge of the roof is extremely tricky, so instead, I just put one leg over the edge and try to roll onto the roof.

Okay... This might be a little late to figure this out, but I'm starting to regret climbing on the roof!
While I was climbing up, the raccoon dogs have moved one house further and started forming their next barrage of icicles. Guess who the main target is now that I'm the only one getting closer to them.
Yeah...
At least I managed to stand up before they finished their magic circles!
That might only be because their last cycle of icicles wasn't aimed at me, considering they couldn't see me without jumping the street again, while there were plenty of targets left on that same street.

Before they can fire, I decide to use a projectile of my own!
I pick up a loose piece of the frozen straw roofing and poke my scythe into it slightly before swinging as hard as I can, flinging an ice attack right back at them. Take that!

The aim is not exactly great, but they are caught completely off guard.
In fact, one of them is spooked so much that it dodges way too far out of the way of the projectile (which wouldn't have hit either way), bumping into his friend, who takes a fall from grace.

I hear a slash below me, after which I see one raccoon dog lying on the ground, motionless behind the samurai.
One down, five to go!
Now that I can see them before they shoot, it's also a lot easier to parry the icicles!

Okay, maybe I can still not perfectly parry the projectiles from all five of them, but that's fine! Only a handful of icicles hit my limbs, mostly just scrapes, but this time, one of them gets stuck in my right leg. It hurts quite a bit, but those projectiles sure as hell aren't anywhere near as strong as the ember wolf's fire!

If this is a trial to earn their approval, I should make sure I don't need saving, but going at least a little bit above and beyond should earn me some respect with my traveling companions, right?

After they fire, they try to move to a roof further away. They might be more agile than I, but if I just plant my feet into the frozen straw hard enough, it's surprisingly easy to run on.
Too bad they moved to the right of where I climbed up instead of the left.
If I want to attack with a forward slash from my strong arm, I have to be cautious not to hit the slanted roof.

I catch up and target the raccoon dog closest to the top of the roof, slicing parallel to the roof. I had hoped to hit its torso, but it jumps just before my attack reaches it.
I don't know if it thought I was aiming for the legs or wanted to mitigate the damage. But it made a critical mistake by not completely dodging. My scythe is the sharpest it's ever been, it slices right through the hind legs, after which I can finish it off with an overhead swing.

At first, I thought that their one high stat would be super challenging, but ice is the easiest to magic to deal with, and their magic being their only real strength does make it a lot easier to anticipate their next move and think of a strategy to counter them.

And that was where I was wrong. As I finish the second tanuki off with an overhead swing, the other three simultaneously attack.
As I block the one going for my face with my right arm, the final two bite my left arm and leg, causing me to let go of the scythe and almost fall down.
Whatever potion my princess may have used did a great job, almost entirely healing the burns in no time at all, but now that they bite it again, it feels like the burns are fresh.
Wait... Did I even have burns on my leg? And wasn't it my other arm that got hit by the wolf?
Also, why is my arm smoking as I shake it off?

Okay, so maybe their ice is pretty effective after all... I didn't count on them going for a melee attack with their low stat, but if they can enhance their bite with magic, that's a different story. Because I didn't see a magic circle, I figured I had an open playing field, but it seems these guys can use a little magic without a visible magic circle.

I don't think I can fight three of them for much longer with my left arm in this state.
I scream "SWITCH" before escaping from this battle.
I grab my scythe with my right arm before jumping off the roof, as I hook it into the edge of the roof again. The momentum causes my scythe to cut right through the frozen straw, but luckily, it catches in the wood of the joist. I can't hold my entire weight with just my off hand. My grip lets out, and I let go after losing at least some momentum.
As I crash down, I ball up a little bit, trying not to fall face-first on the frozen ground.

To my surprise, however, I don't feel a hard impact at all. When I open my eyes, the samurai who said he would protect me is holding me in his arms. As embarrassing as that would usually be, I'm honestly glad he did. With the icicle in my leg and my arm completely ruined, I just want to get out of this battlefield.
Another one of the samurai cuts through the ice near the door of the nearest house before opening it. My saviour runs in while carrying me.
He puts me on the wooden floor before reaching for a piece of rope. It seems he also knows first aid, as he ties the rope around my right leg to cut the blood flow. I honestly didn't notice while I was fighting, but there's a lot of blood on my clothes.
My eyes start to feel heavy. I only hear one last thing before falling asleep as he tends my wounds.
"You sure as hell didn't make it eas..."
The rest of that sentence gets lost as my last sliver of consciousness fades.