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There was a delayed reaction when Zell decapitated the giant orc.  There was a small section in the back of Chip's mind that wondered if everyone was as shocked as he was.

This part of Chip - which seemed to operate with soberness and logic whilst the rest of his body was engulfed in the nerves and adrenaline of the loud battle - this part in the back of Chip's mind had been really rather uncomfortable as Chip stood by Biff and Kipper, watching the duel between the two Captains of each side.  Uncomfortable and speechless.  Who was this man and what had he done with Captain Zell?

Zell Brooks: A man with an easy laugh, an easier smile, a charming arrogance and witty lines.  A man who had made the Lions feel about as confident and secure as they had any right to be, in the days leading up to the battle.  He'd brought them all together instantly, by giving them a reason to call themselves Lions.  By talking them - mostly strangers - into loving eachother like family.

But this was not the same man.  All of those qualities were replaced by one dominant force... rage.

And were Chip's ears working correctly?  Did he hear the name 'Baphomet' out of the mouth of his Captain?  When Zell teleported, behind the mutant orc and onto the battlements, only to jump off into a 360 slash that took the monsters head clean off, Chip was sure Zell had called out to the Devil.  Maybe it was just in Chip's head - a figment of his imagination mixed with the sensory overload of battle and the shock of seeing Zell in this rage-state.

What was not in his imagination, however, was what Zell did during the delayed reaction as the mutant orc's headless body fell to it's knees and then keeled over.  With the thumb and palm of his gloved left hand, Zell, in one smooth motion, wiped the blood from his katana and then... licked the orc blood from his glove!  One giant lick of his tongue, hand moving across his face, staining his mouth, nose and chin with ichor.  And then he looked at the Lions who were watching and Chip saw the crazed wide eyes of a frenzied madman.  Like a Wildling from the Badlands of the Southeast.  A soulless menace, devoid of thought and fuelled by nothing but fury.  Horrifying.

He roared.  Like the Lion he was.  And Biff, Kipper... Chip too... they roared with him.

And just like that, the delayed reaction was over.  It had all lasted mere moments - even the duel itself was only, roughly, a minute long - but it had felt like forever.  The Lions charged before the orcs on the other side of Zell, giving the defenders the momentum in their small portion of the chaos on the walls of Valhiem.  Once again they were fighting like everyone else, incited and enraged alongside their Captain.  Chip was once again loud and bloodthirsty, eager to slay these disgusting creatures who dared threaten to destroy his home.

The shock of seeing the dark side of Captain Zell, faded into insignifance.