179 Team

Thomas yanked the string. Three jets of water erupted from the shallow stream. Doevm, Elero, and Frey all shot up. Their sharp weapons tore through the unprotected stomachs of the three closest Bullfrogs. The three emerged the other side of their victims covered in blood. Before any of the nine remaining Bullfrogs, they lept to a section of soil across the way from Thomas. The ambush did not deter the remaining Bullfrogs. Rather, their eyes dilated and they let out a deafening croak. They expanded their ball-like bodies and lowered their bellies to the ground. Blue life essence swirled around them.

A small group of three Bullfrogs split from the nine and glared at Thomas, who cursed at them. He didn't take out his Amphiboard. He knew he didn't have enough control to escape with it. "What, are you too afraid of me?" Thomas yelled over while wearing a nervous smile. He glanced at his companions: "I'll be back in a bit." Then he turned around and ran by jumping from one section of soil to the next.

Three Bullfrogs hopped after him. Tongues lashed around him and pelted the ground. Trees shattered and battered against his armor. Anything that held firm, was pulled back into their jaws, and crushed. Thomas didn't look back. He didn't have the courage leftover. He just kept running away from the group, as was the plan. He and the three Bullfrogs turned into shadows in the fog. Then, they were gone.

The others didn't have time to watch. Elero and Doevm got behind Frey, who held out his shield and expanded it to its biggest form. Tongues shot out from all six Bullfrogs, who now knew better than to jump. Frey deflected each tongue, lest they stick to his shield and rip it from his arms. He didn't have his spear at the ready because he had to use two hands on the shield. "Don't take any direct force," Doevm said over his shoulder as he drew his throwing knives. He handed some to Elero as well, who took aim at the other Bullfrogs. "Just deflect them. That's all you need to do."

"Easier said than done," Frey groaned. Each time he deflected a tongue, the force pushed him further back over the unstable dirt. He kept digging his boots deep in the soil every chance he got but it was never enough. Even as blue life essence surged around his limbs, his muscles screamed at him. "Come on," he muttered under his breath. "Go. What's wrong?"

"You know why we aren't going," Elero said. "Now shush we're trying to get the rhythm of things." She dove back into her thoughts and went into quiet concentration.

Doevm took a breath as he delved deep into his mind. 'There is a pattern. They open their mouths, their tongues stretch out, then they reel back as soon as they finish. Each time they shoot out their tongue, they lean ever so slightly forward. I need to time this just right so that when they are closing their eyes, I launch them.'

He reeled his fists back, which held three throwing knives each. He waited for the thuds, the tongues slamming against the shield. "I'm waiting on your mark," Elero said, who was in a similar stance to him. "I'll match your pace."

'Now,' the voice said. Both Doevm and Elero launched their throwing knives.

The knives turned in the air. They flew over Frey, over the tongues, and sailed over the water until they landed in the eyes of all of the four Bullfrogs. The four Bullfrogs let out terrible shrieks that even caused the two Bullfrogs behind them to reel back and let go of the Bullfrog corpses. At the same time, the three took out their Amphiboards and charged forward.

When the Bullfrogs had opened their mouth and reeled back from the pain, their stomachs unconsciously rose out of the mud. They became prime targets for the group, who slashed and stabbed straight through the pale underbellies. After Frey finished off his target, he changed his grip on his spear and threw it into another Bullfrog.

The remaining two Bullfrogs left the corpses, which were nothing but bloody torsos at this point. They croaked and lept at the closest ones to them - Elero and Doevm - who paddled just inches away from their snapping jaws. Blades flashed but the Bullfrogs sunk their head into the mud, causing the weapons to spark off their hardened skin. The Bullfrogs whipped their heads upwards and knocked both Elero and Doevm into high into the sky. Then they coiled their back legs up and got ready for the kill.

Frey cursed, realizing that he had quite literally thrown away his only ranged weapon. But then another thought ran through his head. Gyzers erupted around the two Bullfrogs however, only one of them flew into the air. Frey had grabbed the other one by the leg, keeping it from jumping.

Even as Doevm flew into the air, his eyes went wide at the sight below him. "This is just stupid at this point!" He said looking down at Frey, who swung the entire Bullfrog around. He let it fly into the other Bullfrog and knocked it out of its pre-determined flight path.

As the Doevm and Elero went from rising into the air to falling towards the ground, Doevm tossed a rope to Elero: "Pull on it!" They both tugged on their ends, which brought them close. They went back to back and pushed their feet together, which were wrapped in thick layers of life essence. "Push!" They pushed off each other and plummeted towards the Bullfrogs like falling blue comets. Doevm put away his spear. He balled both fists up and held them in front of him just before diving into a Bullfrog's back. Elero struck hers at the same time. Two synchronous booms echoed throughout the swamp as the Bullfrogs were crushed into a paste.

"That was ridiculous," Frey said as he ran over. "Even for you Doevm."

"And what do I call you?" Elero asked as she woozily got to her feet. "Frey the frog thrower? That's the second time in two days. Are you going to fight an ogre with your bare hands after this?"

"Guys!" Thomas's voice came from the distance. He raced out of the fog, still jumping from one section of soil to the next. "We still have three more!" He spoke in loud, short bursts, too tired to form complete sentences. Three bulbous figures of the Bullfrogs sprang forth only for Elero to run forward and meet them. A giant smile formed on her face.

"Mine!" She practically sung as she jumped over water to the patches of soil. Tongues flew out, but she dodged between them. She weaved in impossible directions while her legs constantly changed shape. Her longsword flashed at the tongues, which fell to the ground and wiggled for a bit before finally going limp. The Bullfrogs shrieked as she hacked away at them.

The three watched on with their jaws on the ground. "Was she always like that?" Thomas asked.

"Of course," Doevm responded, engrossed in the scene before him.

"I don't think I'll ever get to that level," Thomas gasped as Elero sliced an entire Bullfrog in half. Its innards slid to the ground. She moved to the next without so much as wiping the blood from her eyes.

"Of course you can," Frey stepped forward and put a hand on Thomas's shoulder. "You did good work today. Keep it up." Just then, time slowed to Thomas again. His vision of Elero as she took down the last two Bullfrogs went blurry as his lip quivered.

"I guess I did," Thomas smiled. He looked back at all the corpses that he had made.

"Was that not obvious?" Doevm asked, his gaze not leaving Elero.

"No, not really." Thomas scratched the back of his head. "I guess I never thought I would do…Well, I thought I would do something just not…Nevermind." He paused, trying to think of the right words. "It's not important. I just…hey Doevm. Do you think you can teach me how to make those spears?"

"Sure I guess," Doevm shrugged. "But when we get to the academy, you're going to need better spears than those. Wood won't last very long."

"I know," Thomas sighed. "But it's better than nothing." He looked to the launcher, which he kept tight to his chest. "And better than just my plain old spear. For me at least."

Elero finished slaughtering the poor, innocent, giant, monstrous Bullfrogs and ran over to the rest of the group. She was still breathing hard but she regained her breath in a few moments. "Sorry. I needed to get that out. I just need to fight every so often or I get itchy." She got onto an Amphiboard and looked to the massive pile of corpses. "But let's go collect our prize before-" Before she finished, something plopped into the water, drawing all four of their gazes. "Did anyone see that?" Elero asked, readying her weapon for another fight. She scanned the surroundings with a layer of life essence in her eyes.

"Better question," Doevm turned to the right, where dozens of strange blueish meats hung. Their fluids were still draining out of them, as if they hadn't been there more than a few moments. "Does anyone smell that?"

The rest of the group sniffed the air and a strange ghastly smell snuck into their lungs. It was so foul that Thomas began a coughing fit. Doevm pushed off the soil with his Amphiboard and signaled for the group to follow. Sounds filled the swamp which were even louder than any Bullfrog croak. Dozens of cries rang out. Shadows of various shapes and sizes appeared in the dense fog around them. "Those are no ordinary meats." Doevm said. "Those are beast baits, which attract anything which can smell them. Run."