These count as mine!

Blood splattered across the inner wall of the palisade as Bunyips were torn apart in mass. Jeremiah watched as the boy D stood at the broken log where the Bunyips were flooding in thru. It only allowed one or two to come in at a time to be met by the swinging hatchet that cleaved into them seemingly tirelessly. His other hand seemed to be lashing out constantly too. The glint of what appeared to be a dagger flashing. Looking around he couldn't find any signs of Eli or Daniel which made him frown but for now, he had no choice in the matter of searching for them. He did spot the broken bodies of the flying creatures and only then did he start piecing together the strange phenomenon of the sudden increase in weight. It must have been magic from the boy that was used to pull the flying Skrags from the sky. Looking up he scanned the starlit night skies for any more of the flyers before breathing out the first sigh of relief that night.

As long as the gate held they could handle the breach in the wall, in a way it was a positive thing to have happened. As long as they kept slaughtering them as fast as they got in they were at least making progress. Still, dawn was a long… long way away. Kneeling down to look Dorothy in the eye, Jeremiah spent a few moments convincing his daughter to return to the house now that the Skrags seemed to be dealt with. Once he was sure she was inside he redid the barding for his sword then charged towards the breach in the wall.

It reeked of copper and rotting fish with gore nearly ankle deep around D who stood like a planted tree just slaughtering Bunyip after Bunyip that hurled itself at him. Considering the small wall of fishy corpses Jeremiah was surprised the boy hadn't collapsed from exhaustion already with his wild swinging, yet he never seemed to slow down as he hacked away. Coming up closer he appraised the situation. D was covered in the sticky blood, Jeremiah noted that he even had it all over his face and neck. Guessing that one of the Bunyips had managed to get too close before being cleaved apart still, he was a bloody mess.

"Move aside boy!" Jeremiah started to step in to let him rest for a bit and was shocked with the boy practically snarled at him.

"No!" Jeremiah pulled up short shocked. Was this boy that determined to defend the wall? Jeremiah was both impressed at the boy's valor and disappointed in the boy's youthful ignorance. As valiant as it was for him to hold the breach alone, there was no way he could last forever alone. "Step aside boy." Again, he demanded the boy let him take over for a bit, his voice more gentle this time.

"NO! You just want to steal my kills." Half turning to the older man D managed to continue cleaving apart scaled heads as they pushed through the gap while motioning to the piles of corpses with his free hand. "I killed these. These count for me."

Jeremiah looked again at the piles of scaled corpses on reflex to the boy's motioning before blurting out. "That's what you are worried about boy? You win! The sword is yours after this by far and if we survive this you will be paid for every kill! I guarantee it on my daughter's life! Now step aside and rest for a moment while I hold the breach!" For a moment it looked like the stubborn boy wouldn't budge before he went into a fury taking several steps forward as he pushed the invaders back through the breach. Only then did he step aside to let Jeremiah, falchion in hand, step forward.

Despite the size of the large blade, Jeremiah handled it with practiced ease, he swung the wide single edged and slightly curved blade gracefully. Each strike slashing and drawing against his target before flowing into the next swing. Each strike was done in such a fluid motion it made Jeremiah's barrage of attacks both lightning quick and seemingly effortless. Once his rhythm was set he glanced over to check on the blood soaked boy out of worry. Instead of finding him resting, he caught sight of the boy. Who was at that moment scaling the wall, right before he disappeared over it. Jeremiah could only shake his head in confusion, though he worried for the boy he couldn't do anything to help him. He had to hold the breach. Nor would he risk Dorothy's safety. Instead, he yelled out. "You'd better not die!" under his breath he muttered. "I still have plans for you boy."

**********

D didn't know if he really trusted the man Jeremiah to keep his promise both to give him the sword and to pay him. But he did recognize the truth of the fact that if they didn't survive he wouldn't get anything. Jeremiah was lucky in the fact that D, though heavily pragmatic and distrustful, was more than a little naive. If he was more malicious he would have realized when everyone else was dead then there would have been no one to prevent him from simply looting the settlement. Instead, he was determined to make sure they survived, or at least that Jeremiah did. So that he could get paid.

Once over the wall, he dropped down into the swarm of Bunyips on the other side. He'd dined on the first few that came through the wall and like the monsters now was able to produce a single long metallic claw on each hand. Curved, razor sharp, nearly a foot long, and protruding from his palm just below his middle finger it was a simple weapon. Simple, and deadly. Compared to his hatchet it was much easier to simply lash out with his hands letting that blade slice cleanly through target after target. Now free from prying eyes he also had no other reason to hold back. Both hands sporting a Bunyip blade, his tail whipping around, and nearly a foot of height gained as well as increased mass he was slaughtering his way through the horde. Yet even in that madness, he was mentally counting each strike, each kill. One hundred sixteen, one hundred seventeen, one hundred… D wanted to make sure he was paid his due.