There was blood on Maxim's hands, and in his hair, and in his mouth, and he couldn t remember ever having felt happier.

He had only recently undergone the Jager transformation, and this had been his first battle in his new form. Sure, there had always been a definite rush of adrenaline during battle, and it only got better afterwards when you realised you still weren't dead, but damn, nothing had ever compared to this.

He tried to raise his sword in victory and realised he couldn't. Close examination showed his arm was dislocated. Huh. When did that happen? The pain chose that moment to decide he was out of danger and it could officially kick in. Ow. Apparently just because Jagers could take a lot more damage than a human didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Oggie and Dimo appeared from somewhere in the mess of smoke and bodies and broken clanks that remained of the battlefield, brushing various types of unmentionable debris off their clothes (paying special attention to their hats, of course). Oggie spotted him and waved.

"Hoy, Maxim!" he called happily. "How hyu feelink?"

"Vell, better den my first battle as a human vent, goink by de fact Hy iz schtill upright," Maxim replied with a grin, gasping as he jerked his arm in an attempt to wave. "Could hyu help me put dis back in?"

Dimo looked at Maxim s useless arm and nodded. "Hokay - Oggie, hold him still. Maxim, brace hyuself ..."

Maxim found himself the victim of a bear-hug from a grinning Oggie. Oggie seemed to be having far too much fun doing this, but before Maxim could protest Dimo grabbed his arm and wrenched it back into the socket. There was a brief interval while Maxim saw stars and tried to get his breath back, and then he swore. Loudly and at length.

"Yah, hyu gets used to dat," said Dimo unsympathetically.

"Owww ... tanks ... I tink." Maxim tried experimentally to move his arm. Amazingly enough, the pain was already nearly gone. Apparently Jagers were just as tough as he'd heard. "Huh. Yah, dat does feel better already ... Oggie, vhy are hyu crushink my ribs? Hyu tink Hy hev not suffered enough?"

Oggie released him and picked his halberd back up. "Oh, schtop fussink! Hyu iz von of us now, and ve iz Jagerkin!" He raised the weapon above his head and started to do a little victory dance. "Ve iz death! Ve iz destruction! Ve- ow!" He dropped the halberd and sucked his finger ruefully. "Hy gots a splinter."

"Vot hyu vant us to do, kees it better?" Maxim grumbled, wiping off his swordblade.

Oggie's eyes lit up. "Vould you?"

"No."

"Aww."

"Hy could cut de affected finger off if hyu like," Dimo offered, smirking.

"Don't hyu dare."

"Oh, hyu'd prefer I cut off de whole hand?"

"Not funny!"