As Anastasia and her troop stood in a defensive circle, shields and spears raised, blunderbusses aimed and ready, they watched as the two sea monsters burst from the waves into the crowd of cowards who had dragged their boats into the water.
Within mere seconds, they shredded through them like paper, lunging on the unsuspecting, panicking brigands, many so steeped in shock and fear that they barely reached their weapons before death. Claws and teeth eviscerated bone and tissue, men and women decapitated, disemboweled, ripped apart, and torn into pieces, the shore water painted red with the gore of twenty, mounds of organ and limb congealing on the surface, boats floating unattended.
As the monsters finished tearing through the first crowd, they lunged at the rest of them. One caught a dagger in it's shoulder and charged for the source, attacking Libe, it's head cut from it's shoulders after a brief strife. Anastasia witnessed Libe's skill and smirked, taking note of the young swordswomen. More importantly, she took note that, though the beasts were savage in strength, their bodies were not as armored as she had believed, at least not these runts.
She watched as the other monster chased Jericho after his missed trident throw, staring blank faced at the humerous specticle as he turned and shot the thing in the shoulder, then bashed it across the face, sending it stumbling a step back, hissing and snarling.
She burst into a fit of laughter at the sight, a wave of calm washing over her and her hunters at these "runts", while her initiates were practically shaking and pale, staring wide eyed at the carnage the creatures had left on the shore, many muttering prayers. They glanced back at their laughing leader, who put a hand on their shoulders and parted them, picking out a small vial filled with "green" liquid, turning to her hunters and barking out quickly!
"Ballanger Guard! It is time to show the true might of royal sanctioned hunters! TAKE YOUR POTIONS!"
Her hunters let out a warcry and a cheer, repeating her gesture and taking their vials, making a brief performance of being "affected" by the "potion", shaking and grunting. She stuck her poleaxe in the sand and slipped off her cloak and blunderbuss, cracking her knuckles.
"BORIS. DANIEL. WITH ME. TAKE IT'S ARMS."
She turned and bolted for the creature attacking Jericho as it regained it's senses and began a new assault and chase. She and her men sprinted across the sand like horses, closing the distance in the blink of an eye, Boris and Daniel gripping the creature's arms, pressing their armored fingers into it's scales, digging their heels in, somehow matching the monster's strength as it sought to break free of their hold and lash out, chomping at them in futility.
Soon followed Anastasia from behind, who grabbed the creatures mouth as it let out a hissing, girgling growl, letting it's razor teeth bury themselves into the leather of her gauntlets, piercing her fingers, as she smashed her knee into it's spine with an audible CRUNCH of scale and bone, then screamed and pulled it's upper jaw back, splitting it's mouth wide open to the air, rupturing the tendons of it's cheeks, it's tongue wriggling like a worm, a painful screech resounding through the beach as spasmed in their grasp.
In unison with her men she tore it's head back, bending and crushing it's neck and spinal cord, tearing off the top of it's head, strings of taut oily tendons keeping it from fully breaking off. Boris and Daniel pulled back and twisted it's arms out of it's sockets, then gripped it's elbow joints and snapped them forward, broken, bent bones emerging from it's scales and skin. With a final tug they ripped the arms off fully at the elbow.
The tortured monster's body fell and seizured on the ground, it's growl girgling off into a soft hiss as life left it and it released it's bowels in death, as most creatures do, the smell of fish waste mixing in with the iron tinge of blood and human gore in the air.
They threw it's body parts away and she turned to the crowd of survivors, her recruits included, many staring in a mix of disgust, fear, and awe, quite a few vomitting and some weeping as the shock passed over.
"THIS IS THE MIGHT OF THE BALLANGER GUARD," she roared, smiling wide. Nobody applauded. She didn't mind, she hadn't had a good goring in some time since her last man-hunt.
She turned to Jericho, giving him a wolfish grin and a wink, chuckling, "Nice shot sailor."
Turning away, she approached Libe, the younge swordswomen, giving her a warm smile, "My commendations to your skill! You dispatched that beast with suprising efficiency. You have my respect, truly you are one to take note of. Ah, but, pleasentries will have to wait, there are still more of these beasts running afoot."
She turned back to her men, Boris and Daniel lazily rejoining the ranks, wiping the slim of the fish monsters on their pants, chuckling amongst themselves, then turning to her. She called out, "Feodore! Stay here with the recruits and watch the boats, they're our only ride home. If more of these ... smaller ones show up, handle them as you see fit.
However, if our true target arrives, fall back and throw a signal bomb. If we do not come in minutes, blow the whistle and run for cover 'til our arrival."
Feodore, one of the smaller male hunters, shrouded in black leather armor like the rest, gave a faint nod, turning to the pale, sick, trembling recruits, speaking softly to them and reassuring them of divine protection and blessings. It seemed to only slightly help.
She turned to her remaining 7 elite troop, "The rest of you, with me to the western beach, the Captain requires our aid!"
She looked over shoulder at Libe, nodding at her to follow, "Come, I am sure your skill will be needed. The others on the eastern beach are the only other skilled hunters I have seen besides us, they will handle the other creature."
She looked over the rest of them, looking at Jericho in particular, "Anyone else wishing to impress the Captain come with me!"
