The lizard’s scales looked to be almost invulnerable to weapons of steel—but every suit of armor has its chinks, and I happened to be an expert at manipulating them. There was a longsword lying on the ground nearby, perfect for what I was hoping to do. I couldn’t use Grave Oath to kill the beast; because it had no soul, it would be just a regular weapon against it.
First, though, I needed a quick distraction, something for it to focus its attention on.
I quietly pulled one of my throwing stars from its sheath and took aim at the soldier nearest to the lizard. These stars hadn’t been particularly useful against the paladin, but I suspected they would work pretty well against your average, poorly trained thug.
After tucking Grave Oath into my belt for easy access, I flung the throwing star at my target. It whizzed through the air and slammed into his throat. As soon as the black steel pierced his flesh, its necrotic magic began to do its grim work. The man gasped with pain and shock, dropping his sword and clutching at his throat, which was rapidly turning dark gray, along with the lower half of his face. With a stifled scream, he staggered forward and dropped to his knees, and as soon as he did, the lizard stormed forward and slammed its mighty jaws shut around his torso, tossing its head up at an angle so that it could chew him more easily.
His screams of agony, muted by being inside the huge lizard’s mouth, were punctuated by the sickening cracks of bones snapping as the powerful jaws did their work. These gruesome sounds were soon drowned out by the screams of horror from the man’s comrades. This was the perfect moment to strike.
I charged out of the shadows at full tilt, scooping up the longsword from the ground as I sprinted, and launched myself into a flying leap onto the huge lizard’s back. It spit out the chewed-up soldier and bellowed, rearing up onto its hind legs to try to throw me off, as I had suspected it would. I lunged the longsword at the beast’s tiny earhole near the back of its head—its only vulnerable spot, aside from its eye. My aim was precise, and the blade slid into the creature’s head, hit its brain, and ended its life in the blink of an eye.
The great lizard flopped down, its crashing weight sending a minor shockwave through the ground, while I slid acrobatically down its head and landed gracefully in front of its mouth, giving the shaken soldiers a melodramatic bow.
“Soultaker,” one of them hissed.
“My reputation precedes me, I see,” I said with a grin. “And it’s such an apt nickname, considering what I’m about to do to all of you. You might be feeling relieved that you’re no longer about to get eaten alive by a giant lizard, but getting your soul sucked into my dagger is, unfortunately, only slightly less agonizing.”
“Get him, boys!” roared the soldier, charging at me with his spear leveled.
I sidestepped his charge, whipped Grave Oath out of my belt, and slammed it into the back of his neck, severing his spinal cord and sucking his soul out of his body in one slick move. Two soldiers charged at me simultaneously, one wielding an ax, and the other a saber. I plucked Grave Oath from the dead soldier’s neck with my left hand and grabbed his spear with my right as he fell to the floor. I took two quick steps toward the charging men.
Instead of engaging them immediately in combat, I used the spear to pole vault over them. Upon landing behind them, I thrust the spear through the axeman's torso, and as he dropped his weapon and staggered away, I tossed Grave Oath into my right hand as the saber-carrying soldier spun around to face me.
“Those other oafs may not have posed much of a challenge to you, Soultaker,” growled the man, a wiry fellow with streaks of gray in his dark-brown hair, “but unlike them, I actually know how to use my weapon. Have at thee!”
He shifted into a swordsman’s stance with a high guard, one that I recognized well; he, like me, had spent at least some time being trained by a master fighter.
“Good,” I said, grinning as I twirled Grave Oath in my fingers and bent my knees as I sank into a fighting half-crouch. “I like a bit of a challenge. Keeps me on my toes.”
He darted forward with a snarl, whipping his saber in a whistling diagonal downward arc at my leading shoulder. I sprang back, evading the slash, and immediately lunged forward with a counter-attack. The soldier moved with surprising speed and almost caught me off guard by turning my blade and aiming an unorthodox outside cut at my leading knee, forcing me back. He wasted no time in pressing his advantage, and we traded a flurry of rapid blows, saber against dagger, as I retreated and he advanced.
As we paused, breathing hard and circling each other, a scream cut through the tense silence: Elyse.
“I’m done playing with you, asshole,” I growled. Elyse was in trouble; I needed to end this clown’s life and go find her.
My concentration deepened as he prepared for another attack. I drank in the most subtle details of his micro-movements. His balance was nigh perfect, but he slightly favored his right side. I knew just what to do. As he charged in for another lightning attack, I feinted for his left—which he was no doubt expecting, having noticed me observing him—but then, I abruptly dropped like a stone as he swiveled to his left and immediately rolled right before bringing Grave Oath up in a
