by Sami Dougish
I finally came to the edge of the wall and waited to see if anyone would come up the walls. Five minutes passed, and still no one. Feeling confident that I wouldn’t have to worry about a sentry on the wall, I began to feel for any footholds or spaces I could use to haul myself up. Unfortunately, the wall seemed to be well built, and the wood was smooth, straight. No areas to grab onto. This is where those dragon claws would have come in handy. I wasn’t out of options though. The wall was only around twelve feet tall, and seeing as I was rather tall myself, I figured I could jump up and grab the top of the wood beams if I got a running start.
I moved back a good fifteen yards from the wall and turned back to face it. I chose to aim for a part of the wall that seemed to be positioned in front of a building’s roof. It would make it more likely for no one to see me from the other side when I got over the wall. I slung the sack off my back and placed it near the tree. I would have to come back and get it later. I gritted my teeth. This was probably really going to hurt my chest. Still, no use in worrying about it, might as well get it over with. I took a deep breath and then sprinted towards the wall. When I was about six feet away, leapt up as high as I could. I cleared some serious air, and my hands cleared the top of the wall. As I came back down, I grabbed onto the wood at the top of the wall. Fortunately, it wasn’t too thick, and I was able to get a firm grasp. All of that stopped mattering though once my chest slammed into the wall.
“GRRRGRGR!” I bit down hard, trying not to shout from the pain. My vision blurred slightly, and I almost lost my grip, but thankfully managed to keep hold of the wall. Still groaning, I pulled myself up, and over the wall. I did my best to land quietly, and once I was sure no one had noticed me, I took a moment to steady myself. This pain was making me angrier and angrier, and these bandits were unlucky they were the nearest outlet for me.
Once the pain had receded some, I looked around the wall. There were torches every few yards, but fortunately, my area was mostly dark. I still could really see the village as the roof was in the way. So, I slowly crept towards the edge of the roof. There was a torch near that position, and when I reached it, I debated whether or not to put it out. Leaving it there would make me more visible, but at the same time, getting rid of it might tip off some of the more observant bandits. In the end, I decided I would put it out, I doubted the bandits would notice the missing torch in their current state. I reached out, and pulled the torch down, and tossed it over the edge of the fence. The land a few feet in front of the wall was all churned dirt, so I want worried about anything catching fire.
Now that I was further concealed by the night sky, I looked out over the village. My earlier estimates had been right. It wasn’t large, but not small either. Maybe around two hundred or so residents. I saw a smattering of building, some I guessed were houses, and others were probably stores and other such businesses. One thing I had always heard guards mention was that a tavern was usually one of the largest buildings in towns and villages. After looking around, I spotted a larger building. It was easy to see, as it had the most noise coming from it, and was brightly lit inside. That was probably where most of the bandits were enjoying themselves.
The village looked a mess overall. I saw a building that looked to have been ransacked, and dead bodies littered the ground inside the village. Blood coated walls, and I saw that even a number of the livestock had been slaughtered. Most of the dead bodies were men, which told me the bandits probably wanted the women for sport.
From my vantage I could see rough the whole village, and from what I could see, there weren’t really sentries on duty. I saw the occasional bandit chasing a woman, or groups looting houses, but no one actually on watch. I nodded my head. I would need to find my first target.
My opportunity came a few seconds later, when a young woman ran into the house I was currently hiding behind. She was quickly flowed by a man who was laughing evilly and was in the process of taking his pants off. He disappeared inside, and the women began to beg.
I quickly jumped down from the wall, and pushed forwards into a roll, to deaden the sound of the impact. The roll still stung like hell as my chest was jostled, but I didn’t have time to pay any mind to it. I drew my hammer and placed my hand on the door. I slowly opened it and peeked inside. The man was on top of the woman and was gleefully trying to pull her legs apart.
“Come on girly, jus a lil fun eh?!”
Good thing he was distracted. I quickly pulled the door open and moved inside. The man didn’t even bother turning around, and instead called back, “Look I told ya, bastards, I ain't into sharin! Wait ya turn and then ya can- “
He never got to finish what he was saying, as my hammer slammed into the side of his head and expelled his brains all over the floor next to the girl. She screamed again even louder this time and began to sob fearfully.
I pulled the man off of her and looked down at her. She looked to be relatively young, no more than twenty or so. She was human unsurprisingly, and I had to fight down the growl in my throat. Humans killing, and hurting other humans wasn’t something that I really cared about.
“Quiet!” I barked at her. My voice made her flinch as if I had struck her, but she did what I said.
That was when she caught sight of me again. I say in her eyes the familiar look most people had when they saw my scales. Her expression was still filled with fear, but there was now an element of disgust there too.
“You are one of the Lizards!?” She spat at me.
My hands twitched, and I almost brained her with the hammer as well, but I restrained myself, plenty more killing to do tonight. Still, her words infuriated me. I had just saved her from being raped, and probably killed, and her first words were to disparage me!
“I said quiet!” I hissed at her, my voice now carrying a deadly edge to it. She seemed to realize her position, and she immediately fell silent again.
“You all say my race is cursed, and to be hated, but if a human's first reaction after being saved is to insult their rescuer, then I believe that they are the cursed ones.”
The blood from the bandit began to flow into me, and I saw the women’s eyes widen, and she began to shake violently in fear at the sight.
“I have more killing to do tonight, I will not save you again! Get in my way, or tell anyone of my presence, and I will kill you! If I were you, I would hide in here until the night is done! Or you can try your luck back out there and see how that works for you! Either way, I don’t care!”
I turned away from her and dismissed her from my mind. I quickly searched the body and found nothing of real worth. I with that done with, I turned and moved out of the house. The smell of blood in the air was making my heart beat faster. That combined with the feel of the blood essence flowing into my body had me eager for more fighting. I saw another group of bandits, drinking in front of another house, surrounded by a pile of goods, which I assumed that they had stolen. They were close by and would do well for my next attack.
I moved behind the group and approached from the side of the house. I listened to them from no more than several feet from them around the corner of the house. I took a quick breath and dashed around the corner. The fight lasted for about five seconds. They were all drunk and didn’t register they were under attack until it was too late. My increased speed made the fight incredibly easy. My first blow took the nearest man in the back of the skull, and the hammer barely slowed as it crushed his skull, and blew his brains, and skull fragments over his companions. I followed through with the strike and slammed the hammer into the next man’s throat.
His windpipe collapsed, and he got out a gurgle of surprise, before blood dribbled out of his mouth, and fell flat on his face. The last two bandits were hastily reaching for their weapons, but they were far too slow. I pushed off the ground, and crashed into the seated men, knocking them off their chairs. They tumbled to the ground, and my hammer rose and fell twice in quick succession, and just like that I had four new bodies for my blood essence.
Their blood had splattered all over my face, and I watched in fascination, as most of it had been absorbed into my body.
I quickly got to my feet, and grabbed two of the bodies, and dragged them back into the shadows of the house. I then returned and did the same with the other two bodies. I wanted to keep my presence secret for as long as possible and keeping bloody bodies out of sight should help with that. I turned back to the village and grinned. I licked my lips, and the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. It was hunting time!
Over the course of the next several hours, I killed twenty-nine bandits. With each I killed, I fell further and further into the blood lust of my kind, and I found it harder to control the urge to announce my presence and meet the bandits in a pitched battle. I had to control that desire though, as even drunk and ill-trained, the large number of bandits in the tavern would be a hard bunch to deal with.
I had put my new found speed to good use, and I had marveled how only a 15% boost could make such a large difference in my fighting abilities. My strikes moved faster, my body reacted to my thoughts quicker, and I ran from house to house like a wraith. I relished the feeling of slaughtering all the men. One, they were human, two they were evil, and three, well I just enjoyed the killing.
I had interrogated several of the men I had attacked, and once I had what I needed I killed them. What I had found out was their band was around fifty men strong. They had been hiding out in the woods, away from the Thuum soldiers, and would raid villages, and then fade back into the forest when the soldiers arrived. Their leader’s only name apparently was The Boss. From what they had told me, he was a large man, almost as large as me, and was known for his cruelty, and fighting ability. They had all said he would be in the tavern, enjoying the fruits of his labor. Apparently, he always had first pickings of the loot of a town they raided.
I also found out that this boss apparently had a detailed map of Thuum and the surrounding lands. This was a rare find, as from what the men had told me, detailed maps were expensive, and cost quite a bit of coin to purchase. The boss apparently had owned the map when he first appeared and took control of the band of bandits by killing their old leader. They had used it to find easy villages to raid. I wanted that map, and it seemed I would have to kill this boss to get it. They told me he always carried the map with him.
That was how I found myself outside of the tavern, thinking about how I could get the men to come out. So far, I had done a good job at hiding my presence, but eventually, I knew that the men inside would wonder why it had quieted down outside. I was hoping they would send people out to investigate, and I could then use the opportunity to further weaken their numbers.
“Go in there and kill them all vessel! You have already slain over half their number, and the men in there will be intoxicated, and most likely performing sexual acts with the females. They are easy prey.”
Raskorian had a way of putting things, that made me want to laugh and roll my eyes at the same time. He had egged me on the entire night, and it seemed to be a trend that he only approved of my actions when it involved me killing people and letting him absorb their blood essence. The more I killed, the harder it was for me to resist the urge to throw caution to the wind, my bestial side wanted to let my blood fueled rage take over.
“I considered that but there will still be at least fifteen men in there, and the building only has two floors. Most will probably be on the ground floor.”
“Your point being? Vessel these lesser people are mere prey before us. You are no longer a slave that needs to hide out in the dark of corners to stay unnoticed. You are a killer, a predator. These lesser ones are not prepared for us, go and end this! I long for more blood!”
As much as the insane dragon insulted me, and made me want to beat him senseless, I did admit, we shared similar opinions of fighting. He was right, the men were all likely well and truly drunk, and wouldn’t be in much of a position to fight me.
I stood up and looked and flexed my shoulders. The pain in my chest had all but been forgotten as I had carved a bloody path through the bandits in the village. I was going to enjoy this. I let my mental barriers down, and felt the bestial portion of my soul assert itself, and my vision turned red, as I let the animal have full reign over me. My mind went blank with all thoughts fleeing my mind leaving only thoughts of a bloody slaughter. It was time to end this.
I held the hammer in my right hand, while in my left hand was a second weapon. This was a heavy flanged mace that I had taken from a dead bandit. It was crude in design but had worked well enough when bashing in the bandit's faces and collapsing their chests.
Without hesitation, I marched up to the front of the tavern. The door was closed, so I walked up to it, and kicked it as hard as I could. The door broke off its hinges and fell to the floor. I heard several surprised shouts as I quickly ran through the entrance.
Once inside, I finally gave in to the battle lust and roared at the assembled people in the room, and my weapons went to work. I brained the two men nearest the door and cackled in satisfaction as their blood painted the wall behind them. People screamed, and the bandits began to reach for weapons. I didn’t wait and just threw myself into the fray with abandon. I kicked out and sent one of the bandits flying back into a few seated comrades, who crashed to the ground in a heap as their companion landed on them.
Women were screaming and running in all directions, some tried to run out, but fell back when they spotted me, and others dove under tables, or behind chairs, as I let loose of my control and fell into the slaughter. I barreled into a knot of three men, and they all stumbled back on unsteady legs, as they tried to find their weapons. I never gave them the chance.
The mace and the hammer fell. The mace took one in the shoulder, and he screamed as his shoulder fractured, and the flange of the mace tore through flesh until it separated the arm from his shoulder. Blood sprayed out from the artery, and the man fell screaming, clutching at his arm. The hammer struck another man in his chest, which collapsed, and wrapped around the hammers head. I yanked it back and head-butted the third man. His nose pulped under the blow, and he fell on his ass, blubbering and clutching his ruined face.
I had killed five men in the first few seconds of the fight and had no intention of slowing down. I whirled into the other men, and my hands became a blur of motion. Blood was swirling around me, a mix of the blood Raskorian was pulling into me, and the blood flying off my two weapons. I began to laugh maniacally as I tore through the bandits on the first floor. They had all been drunk and seemed barely capable of standing steady on their feet, and I shook my head at the notion I had that these men would provide me with any trouble.
That was when I heard a roar from behind me. I spun around to face whoever had arrived and was greeted with the sight of a large man in full leather armor rushing me. Even with my enhanced speed, the man was too close to avoid, and he barreled into me like a charging bull. He didn’t stop there though, and he gripped me around the waist and tried to force me to the floor. Unfortunately for him, I was no easy man to take to the ground. I slammed my elbow down into his back, and I heard him wheeze, as my elbow broke several of his back ribs. His grip slackened, and I let the hammer slid down until I was holding just under its head. I jabbed the hooked point of the hammer into his ear shoving it in as deep as I could. Once lodged in I yanked it to the side.
He let out a squeal of pain, and I twisted the hammer and used it as leverage, to pull the man aside. Blood began pouring out of his ear, and he collapsed to the ground. Though I had managed to get free, his charge had given the men from upstairs time to get down here. These men seemed to be more alert, and instead of a ragged attack, four men charged me at once.
With a growl, I ran to meet them. I knew that inside; I would have an easier time killing them all. If I retreated out of the tavern, they would have more space to effectively surround me, and I would be at a disadvantage. But If I kept them inside the tavern, the numbers they had would count for less.<
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The first man took a swing at my head with a sword, which I met with a quick block from my mace. I couldn’t follow up with a strike though, as his companion swung at me with a spiked club. The blow was slower, so I was able to let this one pass by me, and I kicked out with my foot. The blow was off though, and I only caught him a glancing blow to his side. Still, it was enough to stagger him and give me time to intercept the other two men.
I lunged towards the man whose blow I had deflected and gripped him around the waist. With a straining of effort, I threw him towards his companions, who took a moment to move out of the human projectiles way. While that was happening the man, I had kicked, had recovered and was coming in for another attack.
Not having time to engage him, I simply lobbed my mace at him. The attack caught him off guard, and the fast-flying mace took him in the face. He wasn’t even able to scream, and instead, let out a garbled groan as he slumped to the floor dead.