Lizardfolk

A cabal of dark green, serpentine shapes bound down the slope and line up in the middle of the road. It seems the lizardmen you were warned about have set up an ambush camp at the foot of the mountain, and your quartet has the luck of running into a full raiding party.

"Sabine, should we pass around them?" Anya asks over the wind.

You know in your gut that you wouldn't make it if you tried to dodge engagement. The terrain is rocky, the horses have been running for so long, and several of the lizards are armed with javelins. The only way to get past is to fight through them.

"Charge into them!" You call back, and spur your mount faster.

You're coming up on the lizardmen's position fast. There are seven of them, all dressed in incomplete sets of dull iron armor and wielding short spears and curved swords.

You draw your holy blade as a particularly tall and well equipped specimen you assume is the leader draws back his arm to throw his javelin.

He flings his weapon and you move your to have your horse dodge it, only for a blast of fire to knock it out of the air.

Dumbfounded, you find your eyes seeking Xallia out. She sits behind Anya, purple skin vivid and undisguised in the strong afternoon sun. She catches your gaze and give a loud, evil laugh before shooting more dark spells at the reptilian brigands.

Glenda joins in with her bow, returning fire with unerring sylvian proficiency as Xallia clears the air of enemy projectiles.

Between the two of them, you reach the band of monsters untouched, while three of their number are laboring with arrows sticking out of them.

Your horses are not war changers, but know how to deal with assailants despite this. They run straight into the knot of lizards, bowling them over with sheer momentum, then start stamping and flailing with their hooves. Two of the lizardmen are thrown clear and pick themselves up with difficulty. And with that, the fight proper begins.

Your mounts continue to lash out valiantly, which unfortunately upset the efforts of their riders. You have some training in mounted combat, but Xallia and Anya are floundering. Glenda also can't line up anymore shots and has resorted to stabbing at the lizards with her vast arrow.

The big lizardman strides up to you, hissing malevolently from under his battered helm. You cross blades with him in the midst of the pandemonium, his brutality no match for the sword of St. Magdalena.

You slash at him with all your strength and try to keep an eye on the surrounding chaos. Glenda is now using her bow to club a combatant over the snout, Anya is tugging desperately at her mount's reins and Xallia is waving her arms around and chanting.

You return your full attention to your duel just in time to catch your opponent preparing to leap on you. You brace your sword and catch him as he lunged bodily for your face.

Long jaws full of jagged fangs snap scant inches from your face, held back only by the flat of your weapon. You push back desperately and struggle to keep your balance long enough to come up with a strategy.

Suddenly, like an act of your Goddess, a brilliant flame surges from behind your and knocks off the snarling beast man at your side.

He goes tumbling end over end several feet, and when he finally stops, he jumps up and hightails it, beating at the curious burgundy flames that caught on his leathers. This retreat is immediately picked up by five more lizards, similarly singed.

"Good move Xallia," you call over your shoulder, because who else could have done it.

"Don't sweat it, I'm full of stunts like that. This next trick is what I really want to show off."

You turn fully around to address her, and see her dismounting.

"What are you doing? We need to keep moving if we're gonna reach Grelangen tonight!" You call out, still strung on adrenaline.

"I get it, I swear," the demoness waves you off distractedly. "Just take two minutes to catch your breath and let me do one little experiment."

She walks around your steed, and a you turn in your saddle and watch as she drags up a knocked out lizardman to sprawl on a boulder.