Chapter 23: Change of Plans
Quintus watched as the bumbling adventurers engaged yet another one of the panthers in the exact same way as they had tackled the last several. It was honestly a bit disappointing. They never tried anything new. Instead, they stuck with a method of fighting the beast that worked, but left everyone injured to some extent. It wasn't even the most efficient method, given their capabilities.
However, his judgmental musings were interrupted. A loud rumble shook the trees behind their group, making him and every other soldier under his command spin around and draw their swords.
Quintus slung the shield off of his shoulder and gripped the straps tightly, holding it to his arm in a practiced motion. Without even having to call out a command, half the soldiers grouped up while the other half watched their flanks. Quintus took a half step back, interlocking his shield and forming a wall of three with the men on either side of him.
Just as he completed the maneuver, a head-sized rock came hurtling toward their chests.
Ducking behind the shield, he braced, pushing his right foot back slightly and set his shield against his shoulder. The wall angled slightly upward, deflecting the projectile and sending it sailing up and into the trees. The men exhaled with heft grunts as it made contact, and Quintus felt his arm tingle with the impact, but otherwise they were unharmed. Glancing up, he searched for the source of the attack.
"On the right!" One of the lookouts yelled.
Quintus glanced a few degrees right of where the projectile had come from. There, a long shadowy shape moved between the trees. It wasn't tall. In fact, it seemed to keep rather low to the ground. It moved in an odd, sinuous way, as though slithering, though he thought he could make out legs moving along its form.
ThePrimus Pilus blinked, and the second his eyes closed, he heard another whistle of something hurtling through the air. He reflexively ducked down again, barely catching a flash of movement as another rock slammed into their shield wall. This time, the impact sent him half a step backward. He managed to keep his shield in place, but the man on his right wasn't so lucky. Without someone on his other side to brace against, he stumbled slightly, and another rock headed their direction without a second of hesitation.
Quintus had a half-second to make a decision. He moved on instinct, putting aside the formation training so deeply ingrained in him for a moment to step in front of the stumbling man. His shield slapped the rock aside. His left hand rang and went numb, violently unclenching as it took the full force of the attack alone. The only thing that kept him from losing his shield altogether were the straps further up his forearm. But he'd succeeded—the stone's path diverted into the ground nearby, sending up a geyser of soil as it thudded into the earth.