Shoram

“Hey, the ropes are nice and all, but I’m still not grasping the plan here,” Cedric said with an urgent tone as the growling beast stood back to its feet.

“We just gotta work together, buddy,” the bandit replied, gritting his teeth as he held the ropes taut.

“In other words, you’ve got no plan,” Cedric remarked, standing to his feet.

“Heh, you’re the Heir, so it shouldn’t a problem, right?” the bandit answered, forcing a smile.

The beast lunged at the bandit, swinging its pitchfork wildly despite the ropes’ control. The bandit hopped out of its path and bounded around to its backside. His ropes pulled the beast’s arms, causing it to teeter as it turned to face him. As it reached for the ropes, the bandit pulled them out wide, preventing it from grasping them.

It lunged forward again, solely focused on the bandit. Cedric took advantage of the opening and shot in, teeth gnashed. The beast, astute despite its rage, kicked its left leg out as he struck. The kick threw him with force into the wall, where he slumped onto the ground.

“Ah!”

The beast cried, grasping at its foot, a wound forming where the sword had just clipped it. As it reeled, the bandit leapt toward its head, using the ropes to propel him. Just as the beast noticed and reached for him, the bandit spun through the small gap between its hands, his dagger slicing through its shoulder.

Cedric watched the graceful maneuver as he crawled to his knees, regaining his senses.

So that’s how this is going to work… just be the decoy, huh?

Guess it’s the only way to cooperate with this guy.

He jumped to his feet and rushed the beast once more. Its attention drawn away from the bandit who was regaining his footing, the beast swung its pitchfork down at Cedric.

Ready for this, Cedric dove to the side, just avoiding the pitchfork as it slammed into the ground. The beast followed up, sweeping the pitchfork toward Cedric’s rolling body. He raised the sword in defense, but the blow never came. The beast’s arm instead stopped, restrained by the rope.

Cedric leapt back toward the immobilized arm and struck down on its hand just as it broke the hold, pulling the bandit toward them. The sword sliced into its hand at the same time as the pitchfork slammed into Cedric’s body, knocking him across the floor and into the opposite wall.

The airborne bandit used the rope’s momentum to swing around the beast’s left side as he drew a small knife and threw it with precision into the beast’s right shoulder. While he circled around the beast, he whipped the rope that had been attached to its right hand over its head, forcing it to wrap around its neck.

The bandit landed in a run and completed the circle around the beast’s right side, completely immobilizing its right arm in a coiled position around its neck. As the beast cried out and reached with its left hand to pull the knife out, the bandit stopped in his tracks and thrust the rope to his left. The beast, led by its left arm, was spun to its right.

Its back faced Cedric, who sprung back to his feet and charged forward, ignoring the small punctures the pitchfork had jabbed into his chest.

The bandit glimpsed his move and charged in himself, looking to swoop under its left arm as it grasped at the stuck knife. The beast reacted to him just in time, sweeping its left arm out wide. The bandit managed to deflect the beast’s pitchfork, the rusty weapon skidding across the floor. However, the impact sent him flying away as well. The ropes loosened as he soared toward the wall and crashed violently into the rock.

As his body dropped to the ground, the momentum of the beast’s left arm created a wide swing unknowingly aimed at the approaching Cedric.

Just before it reached him, Cedric dropped to his knees in a skid. As the beast’s palm opened up on top of him, it noticed his presence. Just as it began rearing its now freed right arm toward him, Cedric thrust the sword upward, mid-skid, and plunged it straight through the middle of the beast’s hand as it passed over him.

In one quick motion he pulled the sword back through, and the beast immediately redirected its attacking right hand, grasping the now injured left.

“Ahhggghhgghhhhgg!”