by Sami Dougish
The usual incredible feeling of absorbing the essence wasn’t as powerful as it usually was, but it still felt incredible to taste the magic essence as it infused my body. I wanted more! I made to move forward, to charge past the final opened gate, but I was stopped, by an angry, and maybe even fearful voice from behind me.
“What the hell are you doing you fool?! This wasn’t part of the plan; you have ruined everything!”
Irritated, I turned around to see Micah, Oktai, Primus, and Adarossa, all looking at me in disbelief, and anger. I glared right back, tired of this waiting, now was the time to kill not talk!
“Yes, vessel ignore these lesser ones, let us feast together and drink the fears and screams of our enemies!” Raskorian roared in my mind, I could almost see and feel him unfurling his wings and roaring in anticipation of the fight to come.
“We are in a blind spot, I killed them with no noise. Notice how no one is screaming and attacking us? You can still ride your precious wagon into the compound and raid the guard post, you five should be enough to handle that small task!”
I turned back around, and yelled, “Oktai! With me, put that bow to use on my flanks.”
As much as I hated to have to rely on someone to watch my back, I wasn’t complete lost to my hate and bloodlust yet, I couldn’t take on the large amount of guards here alone once they organized, but I could distract them long enough while the rest of the group freed the prisoners. Oktai would be useful if he could discourage anyone from sneaking up on me, or flanking to surround me. I quickly reached down, and picked up the head of the guard by his hair, and held it in my left hand, as the blood still dripped from the head.
I heard Oktai cackle happily, and with that, I rushed through the last gate and into the compound. I looked around quickly, and saw a small group of guards heading towards the gate, a new patrol I guessed. They froze when they saw me charge through the gate covered in blood and holding a bloody head in one had with a large naginata in the other.
I made eye contact with them, and my vision began to turn shades of red. I opened my mouth, and roared at them in a blood fueled rage, and charged. I cocked my arm back, and hurled the head at them, and I smiled as I saw them instinctively recoil as they saw what it was flying towards them. The head landed with a wet thump, in the middle of the guards, and they all backed away from the fleshy projectile.
They looked back up and were greeted with the sight of me bearing down on them with deadly intent. I thrust the naginata forward and impaled the lead guard on the end of the Naginata like a speared fish, and the blade burst out if his back, trailed by intestines, and blood. I shoved further until my right hand gripping the weapon smashed into his ruined gut. The guard screamed as he dropped the sword he was holding, and clutched at his guts, as he screamed in horror as his inards fell to the floor. I released the weapon, and pulled out the hammer with my right hand, while my left swung in a vicious hook, that connected with another guards head, which knocked him off his feet, where he lay still, most likely with a fractured skull.
The remaining guards hadn’t even had time to draw their weapons before I had taken out the first two men. They all stumbled back, screaming for back-up, while fumbling to draw their weapons. It was futile though, as I began striking out with the hammer. With each rise and fall of the crude but effective weapon, bones snapped, blood sprayed out, and men died. Only a few seconds later, the remaining two ran, and I roared in anger as I saw them fleeing.
“Don’t let the vermin escape! Kill them, make their blood our own!” Raskorian roared as he matched the rage coursing through my body. These men would have no mercy for me, and in turn I would show them none.
I cocked my hand back, and hurled the hammer at one of the men. It connected with a solid and satisfying thump, directly in the man’s back, and he fell the ground, writhing in agony with a visible dent in his back. I had probably collapsed his lung and broken some of his rear ribs. I made to chase after the final man, but I felt something fly past my face, and the next second, an arrow sprouted out of the man’s back, and I knew Oktai had finally joined the fight.
I didn’t bother looking back at him, as I saw groups of guard coming around the far end of the compound. They had been drawn by the sounds of fighting and men screaming. They took one look at me, and at the carnage around my feet, and roared in anger as they saw their dead comrades. As a collective they charged at me. I counted only fifteen men, and not all of them had their leather or chainmail armor on. Half wore only what looked like training outfits, and I assumed they had just been in the middle of drills. I was in for a hard fight, but I relished the opportunity. From behind me I heard the sound of explosions, and I glanced back in surprise before I scowled, that was probably the mage using his filthy magic, well as long as they hurried up, we would be fine once they arrived to reinforce us.
I turned my attention back to the oncoming wave of guards and roared back at them in defiance. Oktai was still laughing behind me, as I felt several arrows fly past me in quick succession, and I saw the more heavily armed men, cry out, and stumble forward. Oktai had chosen his targets well. The men he had shot fell in front of their fellows, and caused several to trip over the bodies, causing a slight disruption in the flow towards me. I quickly reached down and grabbed the bloody haft of the naginata protruding form the guards back, and pulled it all the way through. The entire length was covered in blood, but I saw it slowly flowing off the weapon and into my hand.
Taking advantage of the disruption in the guard’s ranks, I charged forward to meet the oncoming men. The next few minutes were a dance of blood and screams. Instead of charging through them this time, I halted my charge, in front of the first rank of men. I had no intention of getting myself surrounded yet. I spun the naginata around my head and brought it down on the first man in front of me. The guard managed to raise his shield in time, but the force of the blow combined with the heavy weapon still forced the shield down, as I heard the guard cry out in pain. Hopefully I had broken his arm. Either way I kicked out, and caught him in the center of the shield, and pushed him away from me.
I had to pull the naginata haft back though to knock aside the swing from another guard to my left. I wasn’t able to retaliate though as I was forced to guard my right side from other guards. I ducked, knocked aside, and retreated from the guard’s attacks. They couldn’t hit me, but neither could I retaliate. I saw several of the guards, try and step past me, but each time they were met by a hissing arrow from Oktai. Who was standing some yards back from the fight taking precise shots at the guards.
I was steadily taking steps back though as the number of men slowly forced me back. Still I knew my opportunity would come, which eventually, it did. As I blocked a blow with the bottom haft of the naginata, I kept the weapon moving in its arc, and swept the blade up in a crescent, and cut through another guards leather armor, and opened a large gash in his chest which sprayed blood over me. He fell back, and his body provided me with precious seconds to concentrate on a small knot of enemies. I gripped the weapon, and hopped a few steps back, and used the great length of the weapon to swing it in a massive arc in front of me to clear myself space.
The guards all leapt back from me as I swept the weapon forward, but one had been too slow to react. He was at the end of the weapons arc, and I angled the weapon down to cut into the meat of his thigh. The weapons momentum, and weight allowed me to cut through the thick thigh bone, and the man collapsed with a scream, as the cut artery sprayed bright red blood out in a stream of red. Raskorian roared, and laughed madly in my head as he seemed nearly drunk on the power he was absorbing. He wasn’t the only one. My vision was turning a darker shade of red, as I let the animal in my soul take over more and more control, as the power of the enemies’ blood flowed through my body.
Letting out another blood chilling roar, I sprang back at the guards, who had seemed to have lost a large part of their eagerness for a fight! There were only six left now, and I went into full offens
ive mode, as I waded into them! I felt heavy thump from my side though, followed by a sharp pain! I whipped my head around, and saw an arrow sticking out of my side! My armor had kept the arrow from going too deep, but it was enough to hurt, and cause me to look around.
Another group of guards had arrived, this one even larger then the last. I hissed in frustration. We couldn’t fight them out in the open like this!
“Oktai, fall back, move towards the walls, we need to bottle them in!”
Oktai didn’t reply, but instead fell back as I ordered. He still managed to fire as he ran though, and I saw one of the new guard’s clutch at his chest as Oktai’s black arrow punched through the armor there. I turned my attention back to the men in front of me who had taken heart from the arrival of reinforcements. I grabbed the arrow shaft in my side, and wrenched it out, I growled in pain, but the pain only egged me on, and I rammed the bloody arrow head through the eye of the lead guard rushing at me!
I let the arrow go, and headbutted another guard, before swinging the naginata around to block another attack! I needed to stay close to these guards, to discourage their fellows from taking more shots at me. I would have to join Oktai in a few seconds though, as the guards had almost reached my position. They were only four ill equipped, and poorly trained guards left though, and they stood no chance against me. I put on a burst of speed, and knocked several blows aside, as I twirled the naginata and my body around them. I struck, once, twice! and two heads fell to the ground. The other two took one look at their fellows and ran. I roared at their retreating forms, and almost chased my prey down, before the arrow that whizzed by my head pulled me back to reality, I needed to get cover. I reached down, and snatched one of the guards dropped shields, and pulled it in front of me. I then angled in in the direction of the oncoming guards and raced after Oktai. I felt a couple of arrows thump into the shield and felt another skitter across the cobbled ground of the compound, but none hit me.
Blood still fell from the wound in my side, but it wasn’t too deep, and there was nothing I could do about it as of yet. Instead I just focused on getting to Oktai. The small man had positioned himself behind the wagon and was taking shots at the guards. These guards seemed more prepared though, and they held shields up in front of them, and less and less of Oktai’s shots found flesh. Still he had chosen a good spot to defend from, and I rushed around the edge as well.
I didn’t have any time to rest though, as the guards were still steadily advancing. Oktai laughed uproariously though, and yelled, “Mute?! That is not an apt name for you! From now on I will call you Zatara!”
I had no idea what that meant in his language, and I had no time to ask, Instead I stepped out from around the wagon, and with a roar, hurled my naginata at the oncoming guards. The heavy weapon smashed straight through a guard’s shield, and lifted him off his feet, as the weapon sank directly into his chest, I bellowed in a satisfaction, as I ducked back and drew my Mace.
“Keep firing!” I growled at Oktai, as I held the shield up in front of me, and dove around the corner of the wagon, and charged towards the oncoming guards. I guessed they hadn’t expected me to do something so incredibly stupid, as I saw eyes widen in shock, as I barreled towards them like a battering ram. I was a head taller than most of them, and probably outweighed them by a hundred pounds as well.
I felt an arrow thunk into the shield, but I paid it no mind, as the next second, I crashed into the guards with the force of a boulder. I felt one man seem to compress under the force of my charge, before he was launched back from the force of the collision. I kept pushing though and ended up several men deep into their ranks. Without wasting a second, I began madly striking out with the shield, and mace. I wasn’t aiming to make precise hits, just trying to keep them from overwhelming me with the weight of numbers. I still managed to cave several skulls in though as the men scrambled to get space to fight me. For a second their numbers worked against them, as they had trouble turning to deal with me suddenly being in their center, but I knew it would last long, and sure enough it didn’t. I felt a blow land on my back, which knocked me forward. I growled, and lashed out with the mace, at the man I stumbled towards, who barely evaded the blow. Still another guard jabbed forward with a sword, and I felt hot pain flare up in my upper left thigh. The blade had pushed past the armor, but not enough to nick the artery. I let the pain push me into a greater rage, and I roared, as I spun around in a full circle, letting the mace clear my way. I felt a satisfying thump as the mace connected with another man, but my victory was short lived as they pressed in around me again! Plus I caught sight of what looked to be yet another group of guards charging forward to meet us!
“Where the hell were those damn useless dwarves?!” I thought angrily as Raskorian roared in my head to get myself out of the fray.
As if on cue, I heard a loud roar from my right, and I, and the rest of the guards looked up, to see a mass of men, women, and dwarves flood out of the compound’s headquarters. I roared in excitement as I recognized Orizmad and Primus leading the charge, followed closely by Adarossa, Micah, Brazkin, and what I assumed were the dwarves and humans who had been kept prisoner. Both sets of reinforcements clashed with me and the other guards in the middle almost simultaneously, and with a blood crazed roar, I threw myself back int o the enemy. Where at first, we had been badly outnumbered, we now had a near three to one advantage over the guards, and soon enough, the superior numbers, skill, and motivation of our force won the fight.
The guards began falling like wheat before a sickle, and the fight ended, when I chased down the final guard, who turned, and through a panicked blow at my face. Quicker than the terrified man could follow, I caught his swing with my left hand, and smashed him in the side of the head with a closed right hand. I threw the hand forward again and crushed his throat with a quick blow. He was probably already dead, but I kept him upright with an iron grip, and walked him backwards and punched him once, twice, three times roaring at the top of my lungs the entire time letting my primal instincts fully envelop my mind! Until finally, with a fourth hit, I let go of his arm, and he slammed to the ground with the momentum of the fourth punch. Not done I raised my booted right foot, and drove it heel down into the man’s already ruined and cracked face. My boot crushed his skull, and his brain splattered all over the ground as I ground the flesh into the floor with my boot. I pounded my chest once with each hand one after the other, and then held them up, and roared my anger, defiance, and victory at the sky!
Chapter 11
DAMN! I felt…. good! I barely felt the pain of the wounds I had taken, and instead, the battle lust, and blood fueled rage coursed through my body like liquid fire. I knew I should be tired, it had been a long and hard fight, but all I felt now was a desire to kill more humans. The feeling was almost sexual, and I wanted, no needed to kill more!
“Vessel, though I am very pleased with our harvest, and your bloodlust is admirable, you must calm yourself, cage the animal in your soul, we need to escape this town now, and then we can put that blood energy to good use! Calm yourself!”
The dragons voice cut through the haze of my bloodlust, and I grasped onto it, and with an almost physical effort, began to pull myself back into a controllable state. While internally it felt like it took hours, in reality, it took mere seconds.
Finally, I lowered unclenched my hands, and opened my eyes. I was greeted with a bloody and gruesome sight. Bodies lay mangled in disfigured positions of death and the smell of coppery blood was thick in the air. It made my mouth water with eagerness, and I wrestled the urge to lick the blood off my armor. I also smelled the scent of smoke, and caught sight of the garrison’s headquarters, engulfed in flames, it seemed the mage was a fire specific mage.
It was then that I realized that I was standing apart from everyone, and I looked around, and caught sight of the group I was supposed to escape with. They were all looking at me, slack jawed, and the scent of fear was rising heavily off the group. Even Orizmad and
Oktai looked unnerved as they stared at me in horrified fascination. I was still covered in blood, as it seemed with Raskorian’s new way of absorbing blood was slower than it usually was. And that mixed with the flesh, brain matter, and other gore splattered all over my body must have made for quite the sight. I grinned under my mask, and quickly moved around the battlefield and collected my gear. The two blunt weapons and the naginata. The entire time the group silently watched me, as if observing a rabid dog.
After collecting all of my gear, I marched towards them. A number of the prisoners took steps back in fright as I came near, but I ignored them, instead looking bewilderedly at Orizmad, and yelled, “Why the fuck aren’t these people moving?! We need to get the fuck out of here! Every guard in a few square miles will be charging towards us, let alone the regulars at the keep!”
My voice seemed to snap the dwarf out of his shocked state, and he visibly shook himself, and hardened his face.
He turned, and yelled, “You heard him! On the double, move ya asses, and make for the north gate! Stay together, we will need to fight our way out!”
The whip like command of his voice quickly galvanized the entire group, and despite the looks of mistrust and fear shot my way, they all began to filter out of the gates. I had maybe thirty seconds until I was able to get out too, and I took the time to look for any piece of unbloodied cloth. Eventually I found that the one of the guards who had taken an arrow from Oktai had bled mostly from the arrow sticking out of his eye, leaving his training clothes for the most part clean. I ripped the shirt off the man and tore a large piece out which I hastily shoved into the tight hole in my armor near my ribcage from the arrow wound. The wound was still bleeding, and I needed to slow it down. So, with a hiss, I shoved the fabric into the wound as deep as I could, and hoped the pressure form the armor would help keep it stable. I did the same with my leg wound, finishing just in time.