When Kiba gave the signal for the two frost drakes to charge he manoeuvred through the surrounding foliage. His every step silent and graceful only gently disturbing the ground and plants as he moved closer to his target. Taking no chances he was slow and steady, using the mighty roars from the drakes and the reckless attacks as cover for his approach. He had watched Eha and her team fight, analysed their habits, techniques and most importantly their spatial awareness.

A direct attack by a large monster, loud and distracting more than enough to narrow one’s field of vision. Nanuk was taken care of, forced to endure alone against one of the frost drakes while the remaining three attacked in tandem.

The first conflict resulting in the frost drake enduring a swift blow to its temple and then a subsequent arrow to its shoulder, but such blows weren’t nearly enough to perturb its momentum. Like an egg striking against rock it roared defiantly in response, keen to take a large bite out of Khiran and his little hammer but suddenly the ground beneath its feet shifted becoming viscous mud. Its great weight and tank-like build immediately worked against it. Even slight movements were unsteady, every reach for the enemy came up empty at best and at worst was rewarded with a hard hitting blow. The drake was practically a sitting duck, all manoeuvrability gone, a punching bag for Eha, Khiran and Lur to wail on until it died.

Kiba made not a single sound during this exchange, his eyes watching like a hawk as his initial 30 metres became 20 then 10 and finally 5.

He was so close, near enough to see every single detail of his target, the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed, the way his fingers twiddled with the arrows in his hand and the unflinching focus dwelling within his eyes as he stared at the restrained frost drake.

Kiba gazed at the archer’s jugular, his weak, unprotected neck and readied himself to pounce, holding that position until the absolute perfect moment. If he moved now Eha or Khiran could probably alert him in time causing his attack to deal severe but not fatal damage, a failure in his opinion.

He waited and waited, seconds trickling by until the frost drake sloshing around in the mud reared its head, its chest rapidly inflating and emitting a radiant blue, white glow.

The monster’s breath attack, by far its most deadly weapon and one that even someone with Eha’s skill couldn’t take likely.

’She’ll block it with magic before ordering an aggressive offensive.’ He had seen her do this before, enduring the blast before taking advantage of the drake’s weakness lull.

"[Shield of stone]" Eha chanted and conjured a large multi-layered stone shield between her and the frost drake, isolating all those sheltering behind from harm. And as practised Khiran and Lur joined her, patiently counting down the seconds until the drake ran out of juice.

As the limit drew near and Lur readied himself to fire an arrow down the drake’s gullet he pre-emptively moved closer to Kiba’s current hiding spot so as to get the best timing for his shot. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

’Now!’ Such an action however was exactly what Kiba had been waiting for. Eha, Khiran and Lur’s attention was completely focused on the frost drake, their minds thinking of nothing but how best to kill the beast the moment its breath attack ended. Lur was vulnerable and his allies distracted so he made his move.

Shuffle Shuffle

The foliage was pushed away, and the ground trembled as Kiba tensed his body to pounce on his unsuspecting prey.

Surprisingly however despite the din of battle and the attention grabbing situation happening dead ahead Eha for some reason or another decided to turn her head right when he started moving. She saw nothing more than slight movement in the bushes and a patch of dense white fur, but alarm bells rang and without wasting a single second she screamed her companion’s name in warning.

"LUUUUURRRR!!!!"

Unfortunately despite seeing Kiba and even reacting as fast as she did it was too late. The moment her eyes caught his movements Kiba was already leaping at Lur, his claws outstretched to grab his body and rend it apart but only as a last resort. The real attack came from his fangs and terrifying jaws.

Lur barely registered the desperation in his boss’s voice before he felt a moist sensation around his head then for some reason his vision twisted, spinning around and somehow gazing back at his aghast companions.

’Eh?’ He had no idea what just happened and before he could start processing it he heard an eery crunch and the world went black.

"L...L...LUR!!!!!" Khiran entered a state of shock. One moment Lur was by his side, licking his lips in anticipation of another easy frost drake hunt and the next some massive creature leaped past ripping Lur’s head from his shoulders. The change was too sudden, confusion and then anger hit him before fear. He raised his large two handed hammer and prepared to charge at this new aggressor who held his friend’s head in between its teeth but before he could a cold, chilling voice held him back.

"KHIRAN STOP!!" Eha though no less shocked than her companion didn’t lose her cool, her mind already trying to salvage their current situation. Before they did anything they needed to know what they were up against otherwise it wouldn’t just be Lur they’d lose.

Crunch!

As if unsatisfied by their lack of outburst Kiba brought his upper and lower jaws together, crushing Lur’s head like a watermelon. He then smiled in their direction revealing the remnant of blood and brain matter across his white fangs hoping to taunt at least that brutish hammer wielder, but he underestimated the control Eha had over her subordinates.

"Khiran cleanse your mind; we can mourn him after we’re done but right now you need to follow my orders to a tee understand." Eha moved towards Khiran, placing a hand on his shoulder and spoke.

"....Yes boss." A flash of rage and fury brushed across Khiran’s eyes but after taking a deep breath he calmed down, his body no longer tense and taught.

’Frightening woman.’ Even though she was his opponent Kiba couldn’t help but feel respect for Eha, she was a good leader and a damn good adventurer.

"It’s stronger than the frost drakes for sure but since it ambushed us it might be wary of a direct fight." Eha did her best to analyse the situation, taking a good long look at Kiba, noting his size, his claws, fangs, speed as well as his wings. His species hadn’t clicked quite yet but he was clearly a tiger of some sort, usually a solitary hunter.

’Did we enter its hunting ground at some point, or did it just come across our situation and decide to take advantage?’ She wasn’t just thinking to herself, the moment she reached Khiran she started chanting a defensive spell for the two of them.

Patches of rock armour formed across their existing armour as well as their more vulnerable areas such as the neck.

Kiba saw this but didn’t make any move to stop her as he was also thinking. The first step of his plan was simple, take out the archer but after that it was a bit hazy. Depending on the results of his ambush Khiran was set to be his next target, close combat exchanges offering a multitude of opportunities to kill him, but his instincts warned him that Eha was too dangerous to be left alone thus his gaze remained fixated on her, watching her every move. The frost drake after rebounding from its breath attack should be able to play around with Khiran thus allowing him to focus on the true threat.

"Tsk it’s smart." Eha couldn’t help but click her tongue, most monsters they’d face off against weren’t intelligent enough to ascertain who the true threat was. Khiran was bigger and stronger looking, so they tended to be more wary of him rather than her, but Kiba was the opposite. Despite having the chance to continue his attack he stayed in place and practically ignored Khiran after his taunt fell on deaf ears. Now that she could see him in plain sight and was fully aware of his presence Eha had little to fear, at least in her opinion.

Magic was incredibly versatile especially in the hands of someone like her who unlike most mages lacked a natural air of arrogance and useless pride. Flashy and powerful was all well and good but such a primitive outlook for spells don’t you think, a hammer or sword can damage an enemy just as good, but what they can’t do is enhance, control or restrict. Take the 3rd circle spell [Mud floor] for example, its offensive power was practically nil but thanks to it a frost drake was effectively powerless, nothing more than a punching bag for Lur and Khiran to slowly beat to death.

If Kiba had continued to attack he would have ended up with a face full of magic, a volley of rock spears, an eruption of a mud geyser beneath his feet or large solid earth walls trapping him in place Eha had multiple options but thanks to his earlier stalking Kiba was well aware of this so he did not make a move, not until he was certain he could rebuff her chosen counterattacks.

For all intents and purposes this was Kiba’s first time fighting against a pure and proper mage, so his hesitation was warranted.

Alas their standoff couldn’t drag on forever.