There were roughly 50 diamond dogs that came pouring out of the cave mouths and toward us, all of which were armed; though the degree of which they were armed was highly varied. A few were armed with high quality weapons such as long swords and spears, while most had weapons made out of crude iron. Others were making use of bones to use as clubs or a stick covered in spikes as a club; a few even had bows. Their armor was just as varied; most had no armor on whatsoever, while some were wearing rusty chainmail, leather, and even bones as armor.
'This is gonna be a tough fight even if we win.' I thought as I drew my sword
"Now!" Howling Wind shouted as soon as they got within range of the others. The first few dogs weren't quick enough and two of them were killed on the spot. When they got to us, about 5 of them were already dead and three more were wounded. The first one to get within striking distance tried to do an overhead strike that left him open to a cut across the side; the next one I made the first move and cut its hamstring so it couldn't walk but changed to a block to avoid a cut to my neck and countered with a cut across the chest.
I cut the arm off of one diamond dog and rolled into a diagonal cut to avoid it and took to the air to get a better view. About fifteen more of the dogs were dead but more were coming out of the caves. I looked toward the rocks just in time to see one of the dogs who had snuck out of the melee try to sneak behind the rocks. "Lookout!" I yelled as it was about to kill Silver Stronghold. He turned just in time to block and shield bash it then finished it with a thrust to the neck. I flew back down as fast as I could and used the momentum to kill four diamond dogs in one strike.
I continued to fight as hard as I could, but I was getting tired and one of the dogs managed to get a cut across my back only to be stopped by my chainmail. I quickly pivoted and cut the dog across the stomach, causing its guts to spill out. I narrowly dodged an arrow from one of the dogs and it went into the back of another; killing him instantly. I then charged the archer before he could manage to notch another arrow and cut him across the throat.
'This might be fun right now, but I have a feeling I'm gonna hate myself after this is over.'
I eventually ended up back to back with Howling Wind which seamed to cause the dogs to back off for a moment. "How many have you killed so far?" he asked as we prepared for them to make a move
"Eight directly, as well as causing friendly fire that killed another; don't know if the one who's arm I removed is dead, but if so that makes ten, how 'bout you?" I replied.
"Eleven or twelve, I think." Howling Wind answered as the diamond dogs started to move closer. "And it looks like were gonna have to kill a lot more before this fight is over."
"True, but I don't think we can win this; they seam to be trying to take us alive so they can add us to their group of slaves." I said as I raised my sword to strike.
"You noticed it too? well, I'm not going to make it easy for them." he replied as he did a quick swing of his swords to clear the blood off them.
"Me neither, but just in case, I'm not going to use my magic unless it's the only way to keep us alive." I continued as I cut one of the advancing dog's heads off.
"Fine by me, just don't get yourself killed." Howling Wind said as two of the better geared dogs came out of the crowd and looked like the wanted to challenge us.
"Heh, Likewise." I shouted as we both accepted the challenge. My opponent was a large Diamond dog in rusty half plate that was carrying an axe and a small shield. I was the first to attack; I tried to get a strike at his exposed neck but he was a bit quicker than expected and blocked my strike and pushed me away. I tried to get a few more strikes in before the dog decided he'd had enough and charged me, shield raised.
I used my wings to help me flip over him which caused him to have to stop for a moment to regain his balance. In that time I noticed that the straps on his armor were haphazard and starting to decay from age. I then decided to use that to my advantage. "Is that all you've got? If you moved any slower I could have walked out of the way!" I taunted as I sheathed my sword and drew my dagger
The taunt had the desired effect as the brute charged me again. This time I did a roll to the left to get out of the way, while he was recovering I used my knife to cut several straps from his armor which caused the right half of it to become so loose that he had to remove it. The diamond dog was really angry now as he dropped his shield and began to hold his axe in both hands.
The loss of weight from my attack and the shedding of his shield caused him to get a bit faster and he managed to get me in the side and punch through my armor a bit. The wound wasn't life threatening right now but it was bad enough that if I didn't get it patched up I'd eventually die of blood loss and it hurt like hell and gave me a grim reminder that I could very well die here. The diamond dog tried to cleave me in two but I dodged and caused his axe to get stuck in the ground; I wasn't in position to cut any of the fastenings so I started to attack his right arm.
'Guess I need to be more careful next time'
By the time the diamond dog got his axe out of the ground his arm was injured enough that, while he could still use it; doing so would cause extreme pain and make him lose a good bit of blood. It appeared that his injury only made him even more angry as he started to charge me again but kept swinging his axe wildly; That was a big mistake.
I waited until he tried to do an overhead strike and pushed the bottom of the axe before it got to the descent of it's arc causing it to fall behind the dog's head. The weight of the axe also caused him to fall on his back; I jumped on his chest and smiled. "You lose." I said as I slit his throat.
I turned around just in time to see Howling Wind finish his opponent by cutting off it's head. "Looks like you had a bit of trouble fighting that one." he said as he saw me clutching my side.
"You didn't exactly escape unscathed yourself." I answered as I motioned to the numerous small cuts all over his body.
"Well, either way let's finish the rest of these mutts and get the ponies out of there." Howling Wind said as he cleared the blood off his blades.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." came a deep voice from where the others were supposed to be.
The diamond dogs parted and allowed an even larger dog than the one I killed through. He was at least seven feet tall in a full suit of maintained plate armor. In his right hand he was holding a warhammer with a head about the size of my chest but it was in his left hand that got my attention. It was too far away to tell exactly what it was, but I had a good guess as to what it was.
'Please let me be wrong.' I thought to myself as the diamond dog's leader began talking again.
"Can't tell what it is? Here!" he shouted as he tossed the object in his hand. When it landed I realized in horror that I was right: it was Burning Impact's head.
"You Bastard, what did you do to the others!" Howling Wind shouted with so much anger that I nearly had to restrain him.
"Don't worry he was the only one we killed; but we won't hesitate to kill the rest if you don't surrender." the dog's leader replied
"Why should we believe a word you say?" I said in as calm a voice as I could manage.
"Because; even if they're all dead, you'll never be able to kill all of us." the diamond dog leader replied with a smile.
"He's right, even if they're dead, we need to keep the kidnapped ponies safe." Howling Wind said with a dejected tone in his voice.
So with that, we dropped our weapons; and surrendered.