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Tobias cracked his neck as the strange fog rolled in. On any other day, the prospect of a magic, potentially soul-devouring mist would have concerned him - but with things as bad as they were, he was just glad for the concealment.

Twirling his knives in his hands, the thief jogged off  parallel to the incoming force, running behind a building to get a better look at them. His head swam slightly as he did so, and Tobias reminded himself that he didn't have much more blood to shed for this doomed cause. [i]Don't get hit, then.[/i] The drink wasn't exactly going to help with that - if he survived this, he'd need to enact some policy about waiting for retribution a few hours before celebrating victory.

Then there was that damned song - he knew an enchanted song when he heard one, and [i]that[/i] one was trying to fuck with his head. Why did he never become a bard?

The rogue peeked out from a wall and counted nearby foes. Three men walked past his hiding spot - two in leather, one in chainmail. Worse, the one in mail was walking a dog - no, fuck that, a [i]wolf[/i] - around on a chain.

That wouldn't do for all the rogue's clever tricks. Puppy had to go, and puppy had to go [i]now.[/i] Tobias stepped silently from behind his cover and sent a dagger spinning forward. The animal was struck with a whimper, but didn't go down - it sprinted, slavering, for the rogue. 

Tobias cried out as its jaws enclosed around his arm, falling back from the impact. The beast snarled and yanked, trying to tear his limb off, and with his free hand he stabbed at it frantically, jabbing again and again until finally, its thrashing stilled. 

Tobias rolled the animal's body off him and proceeded to have exactly no time to survey his injuries before the mercenary who'd been holding the animal was jabbing at him. Tobias kicked up to his feet and brandished his dagger out. In a blind fury, the bereaved pet owner swung repeatedly, advancing on him, and it was all Tobias could do to duck and dodge each cut. A retaliatory jab skirled off his foe's armor - new plan, then.

The thief ducked a swing aimed to decapitate him and came up, drawing his dagger across the side of the man's arm. It was a barely superficial injury, but it certainly took the man's attention - and so he didn't notice Tobias's other hand nimbly undo the buckle and yank his belt free. 

The footpad somersaulted backwards, reeling a little bit at the landing. With an angry shout, the mercenary charged after him, only to realize rather suddenly that his pants were around his ankles. A furious charged turned to a belly flop as his enemy crashed to the ground at Tobias's feet.

By now the others were coming, brandishing knives ready to throw. Quickly, Tobias kicked the longsword away, grabbed the stunned, pantsed man behind him, and held him as a human shield, keeping him controlled with both hands by holding his own belt around his neck. The two assassins paused, daggers still in their hands, unsure how to proceed after this turn of events.

The short impasse was broken when the sound of hoofbeats came through the mist. A fourth man on horseback charged out of the fog, murder in his eyes as he brandished a shortsword. Tobias was able to duck the sweeping blade unharmed, but the same couldn't be said for his captive. The headless corpse toppled to the ground, making Tobias's stomach turn and (perhaps more importantly) leaving him unprotected. A dagger took him in the shoulder, making him cry out in pain. Quickly, the thief yanked the blade out and held it, brandishing both knives at the two oncoming assassins. 

His arm bled, his heart raced, his head swam. Being brave would be easier if he wasn't so scared shitless.