The words of the imposters cut across the sky louder than any thunderbolt. The wind picked up, and his lie resonated with the nearby beastmen and beastkin. He had told them that we were there to skin the fur off of the children of the nearby settlement, and the residents believed him immediately.
Many of the nearby beastkin rushed us without a second thought. Male or female, the assailants didn't discriminate. They all came down upon us, and I was forced to take action. I had to shut down that lying bastard right away, or he'd further cause trouble for us. I ignored the snarling wolf beastmen, who trailed me on all fours as I rushed toward the Mark Imposter.
The man realized what my intent was, grinned, and opened his arms with a wide grin. "Get him! Sic' em! Don't allow the human and elf to have your children's tails!"
My blood was boiling at that point, and so I wound back to lay his ass out. That chance didn't come as the bear beastmen moved his bulky arm to intercept me again. This time, I held nothing back and blasted his arm. If you've ever been at the wrong place at the wrong time when it came to opening a door, then you could understand the predicament this imposter felt. Although he absorbed my punch, the bear beastman's hand rocketed forward and slammed into the imposter with incredible force.
The slow beastman was knocked on his face from the impact, but I didn't allow my work to be completed. I didn't hesitate to track down the tumbling impostor as he bounced down the road into the crowd. When I located him, he had finally begun regrouping with his senses. He still grinned mischievously as I rushed toward him again.
Instead of relying on the help of others, the imposter rolled to his feet and barely evaded my incoming right hook. He was nimble on his feet, but he was too afraid to strike back a counter. We danced back and forth for a moment, with him evading my powerful punches from every opening in the crowd. I hate to admit it, but whoever he was, this guy was hard as shit to hit. He was just too fast for me, and he knew it.
"Who the hell are you?! What are you after?!" I snapped after sliding to a stop from my attack.
"Ah, that's the two hundred silver question, but I recommend you focus on the others for now. These filthy beasts are incredibly protective of their young and hostile toward despicable outsiders! Once they've torn chunks out of you, I'll come back for what's left. Though had you just walked into the building, no questions asked, I wouldn't have resorted to such an underhanded tactic. So blame your friend for thinking he could make a fool out of me!"
I clenched my fists and prepared for another rush when I felt something heavy slam into me from behind. My blood began to boil even more as a thunderous roar erupted from the spot where I once stood. As I expected, he bolted back toward the crowd when I shifted my attention away from the impostor. However, this time, I doubt we'd be able to find him again. The last thing I saw of him was his orange and white tail shifting its color to grey.
The bastard had taken the appearance of another beastkin and blended perfectly in the crowd. That shit made me blow my top, and that dumbass black bear was responsible once again. I pushed myself to my feet and glared daggers at the man. To his sides were three malnourished beastmen with wolf features. Two of them were a dirty grey, and the other was as black as the bear. The bear towered over them, and there was no competition.
"Get the guards! We'll hold him here until they arrive!" The bear beastman bellowed in a near-demonic voice, and one of the grey beastman scampered off.
"There is no need. There is a misunderstanding going on. My fight is not with any of you!" I declared, but my attempts to dissuade them from this fight appeared ineffective.
"We won't allow anyone to take our children! We want justice, and I will deliver it!"
The bear pointed in my direction, and the two wolves snarled and charged on all fours. It would be a lie to say I wasn't startled by their charge, but I didn't allow that to stop me from defending myself. The bear beastman snarled and bellowed,
"You will not get away with your actions! Not today!"
The first wolf beastman, the remaining one with gray fur, pounced toward me. His claws were sharp and sought to sink into my flesh. Since Mark's Imposter was setting me up, I held no ill will toward these people. After all, they were doing what they thought was right in their minds. If I were an outsider derived from context and maybe had their history, I might follow the crowd and act too. However, that didn't mean I had to allow their claws to tear me to shreds.
I will try to hold back without harming them for as long as I can. The wolf beastkin swiped from the right, and I managed to avoid the strike altogether. I pivoted to my left to avoid the pounce from the second beastman. They were swinging for the fences, and had that last claw strike hit me, it would have dealt nasty damage. The two wolves responded quickly to my evasions and moved like a pack in their attempt to corner me.
"Hey man, I didn't do anything, but if you keep this shit up, then I'll lay yer asses out!" I said after I ducked a clawed slash aimed at my head.
They were quick for individuals in their state, but their effectiveness was halved due to the slick roads caused by the rain. When they recovered from their pounce attempts, they slid like dogs on a hardwood floor, but I soon found myself backed against a wooden structure.
I wasn't sure if that was their intention, but the bear beastman let out another bellowing roar. It was obvious that he was deciding to charge because the other beastkin moved aside. The ground slightly rumbled from his movement, and his massive arms swayed at his side before he climbed into a four-legged charge. It was as if I were staring down a runaway train, but I wasn't stupid enough to stand at that spot for long.
Much like how a matador deals with an unruly bull, I pulled the curtain on this dumbass. I waited for the last possible moment to move, and his massive frame, paired with the slick road, caused the beastman to crash into the structure behind me. Wood exploded in splinters, but before I could catch a proper glimpse of the outcome, the two wolf-beastmen charged again.
They howled with anger, but I had had enough of dealing with these two unruly pups. When they came to attack this time with the same predictable pound and slash, I moved to counterattack. The gray one was the first to make a move since he was slightly faster than his partner, and as such, he took the punishment first. As expected, he attempted to scratch my face again, but a slight repositioning of my head was enough to avoid his attack.
My hands tightened into a fist before I struck the beastman with the meanest liver blow that he's likely ever experienced in his life. He yelped in pain, but I wasn't finished with his services. With his partner preparing for a pounce of his own, I grabbed the devastated beastman by his waist and pushed in the direction of his charging ally.
I hoped they would have collided, but the other leaped over his tossed ally and recovered quickly. I was expecting him to charge again from another direction, but that son of bitch decided to leap onto the top of one of the wooden hobbles that these residents called their home. His eyes gleamed with malice as he hopped from one to another before pouncing from above.
I don't know what he was going for, but that display didn't affect anything in his favor. Instead of his body, I caught him straight out of the air with a flying elbow strike. Being intercepted out of the air by the point of someone's elbow was no pillow fight, so I wasn't surprised to see the beastman spin into a nasty crash onto he road. His body hit with a vicious thud, but I had no time to look after him.
"Somebody stop him! Don't allow him to escape! We'll work together and overrun him!"
I couldn't help the annoyed scoff that escaped from my lips. That voice came from the Mark Impostor; he wanted me to know that. He was still using his voice, but I couldn't locate the instigator as I glanced around the ever-increasing circle of furry-eared people. Many of the beastman listened to his words, and more hardened challengers spilled onto the crowd.
They snarled before dark brown bear-beastman spoke on behalf of the others, "You aren't welcome here!"
"How about you bastards step aside and let me leave?" I snapped while cracking my knuckles.
"You aren't going anywhere until the guards come for you! You can't attempt to steal our children and walk away unscathed!"
This beastman was smaller than the black one that crashed into the nearby structure. No gray hairs were visible, either, indicating that this one was younger, too.
"We can talk about this, and once you listen to my side, you'll find that you're being misled. I am not your enemy! I don't want your fucking kids man, so how about we call this-"
"Don't allow his words to deceive you!" shouted Impostor Mark's voice. "This man is cunning and thinks we are too stupid to realize when we are being duped! If we allow him to go unpunished, then we-"
"Cut the bullshit, you chicken-shit bastard!" I growled. "Come on out, and stop using these people as shields! You're going to get them hurt, because there's too many of you big fuckers trying to gang up on me and I'm reaching the limit on my patience! I'm gonna start cracking skulls if ya keep fuckin' with me!"
For a moment, I thought my outburst was enough to derail any chance the fight would continue. For what it was worth, it didn't sit right with me that I was laying out these people. They were victims of the impostor's deception, but were beginning to outnumber me greatly. At least six wolf beastman and three bear beastman were stepping forward, and four wolf beastkin pooled from behind them.
Many of the fighters were malnourished, but they had such unbridled anger directed toward me that I naturally reacted with my own. I squared up with the group as one of them shouted, "Surround him!"
This is not how I envisioned my day going, and I blame Horace for this shit storm. Had he not withheld information from us and attempted to lose us, we would have never met Impostor Mark. If we had never met Impostor Mark, then we wouldn't have ended up surrounded in the slums by overeager and angry beastman. Bonner and I would sit at the inn with our feet up, waiting for Mark and Claire to return. Instead, I have to fight my way out of here by myself.
It was then that it hit me.
'Where the hell is Bonner?'
I shifted my eyes through the crowd of furry bodies and realized that I didn't see an elf. My heart suddenly kicked into action as my mind raced through possible conclusions. Bonner was not much of a fighter, so it is possible that he was quickly overwhelmed by another group of beastmen when I was dealing with my own. The thought of my friend lying in a pool of his blood, because Horace chose to keep his mouth closed, burned me to my core.
"That damned bastard!" I said through gritted teeth.
My expression hardened at the thought that the Impostor Mark managed to capture the elf. There was a lot of chaos going on, so it was possible since I hadn't seen him for a few minutes. This explanation for his disappearance seemed more reasonable, but I needed to confirm.
"Bonner?! Where are you?! Are you alright?!" I called, but there was no immediate response.
I had hoped that he would respond, but my questions provoked one of the more eager beastkins. An orange blur appeared on my right, and I didn't catch a glimpse of white until I managed to lean my head backward. Whatever that blur was, it left a nasty sting in its wake.
"What the-" I didn't get to finish before the blur appeared again.
I was ready this time and took several steps away to avoid whatever attack came my way. However, it was not as easy as I thought it would be. There was a bright flash from an object before it raced toward my face. Thankfully, I was able to move my arm in the air because a knife plunged into my forearm.
Although I faced the gnarly claws of Bernard in close combat, there is nothing that could prepare you for having your arm used as a sheath. Pain shot throughout the impact zone as this blurry assailant was revealed, and sure enough it was that god damn impostor! Having my blood spilled by that snake made my heart pound with vengeance. It was at that moment that I made a simple decision: I'm going to punch this motherfucker as hard as I can!