Kanis stood behind a thick sentinel pine, the acrid smell of smoke filling his nostrils as the black armored knights around him fired their rifles at phantom Vulk across from them through a haze of gray. Why did I come down here... right they were heading to do killing, so we must join them, but now there is no killing being done! He growled to himself as he tried to see through the smoke, it was hanging around the copse as if Trife had held back the winds simply to smoother the Knights in their own smoke. Each breath burned his lungs, his eyes stung and ran as they tried to clear themselves to the powder clinging to the air after each shot. There was a loud resonating rumble, that Kanis felt in his chest, opening his eyes he found that the nearest knight to him had fallen, the Pine he'd been using scorched black by lightning. He made his way over to the Knight and found a white burn mark in the center of his breastplate. Smiling, he lifted the rifle from the ground and then dug around in the knights pouches for the thunderstones. After finding them he set them on the ground and took a knee behind the tree, fumbling with the latch on the side of the rifle. With a click a side panel flipped open revealing a slot that would fit a thunderstone, reaching around he found one of the smooth slender gray stones lined with red and gently placed it into the slot. Closing the latch he leveled the Rifle through the smoke and tried to make out a target, scanning through the smoke and looking for a flash to denote a Skycaller. There was another, followed by the familiar rumbling in his chest, sighting down the barrel Kanis squeezed the trigger as he would a crossbow and heard a roar from near his head and felt the rifle kick thud against his shoulder as if he'd just been slammed with a mace. A billowing smoke followed out the rifle and clouded his vision further as he looked for any sign that he'd hit his mark. He gathered up another of the thunderstones and with new familiarity, opened the latch and placed the stone into the barrel, lining and getting ready to fire another shot if his target revealed himself again. He waited a fifty heart beats before another flash of light followed by a rumble showed he'd missed his mark. Before he could answer there was a chorus of cracks around him, it seemed the rest of the knights had been waiting for a similar target to present itself.
Before Kanis could find another target there was a raising of voices, a howling taken up in chorus across the field. It grew louder, and louder, he could see knights looking over their shoulder or to one another as it sounded like Vulk were among them in this very copse of pines. Kanis had seen this before, smiled, it was time for a bleeding. He slung the pouch of thunderstones over his unarmored shoulder, and unsheathed Blackgut from his side. The blade hummed in his palm, he wasn't a Swordsinger, but through centuries with Blackgut he had learned some things, it was anticipating a feeding. The howling cut off abruptly, and was replaced by a low rumbling that grew in volume, a growling that sounded to be coming from the maw of the Bloodfury itself. Shadows of hunched, snouted, dark haired Vulk sprinting through the smoke gave the knights new targets and the cracks of rifles brought on new snarles and howls. Kanis crouched as he started jogging towards the looming shapes, leveling his rifle and firing it with one arm at the nearest shadow hefting a spear. The kick unbalanced Kanis, but he recovered in time to swing the rifle like a club into the face of the next Vulk to break the shadow, its canines bared as the rifle splintered over its skull. The male crumpled with a whine, as Kanis spun and allowed Blackgut to slice through the gut of an approaching female, her yellow eyes wide with surprise. Her growl died in her throat as she slipped to the ground. Kanis moved smoothly, picking up her dropped spear and throwing it at a shadow running through the smoke towards a knight fumbling with his thunderstone pouch. The spear and shadow thudded into a passing tree. With a roar he barreled into the smoke and crashed bodily into a group of Vulk just making their way into copse. His broad skull smashed the center most Vulk's snout, a crunch preceding the dropping, free right hand caught a female by the throat and lifted her up while Blackgut in his right made quick work of the chest of the two Vulk on that side. Before those two fell he was throwing the female into another snarling Vulk, the two colliding with a tree and falling motionless. He spun a spear thrust, and brought himself up to another Vulk who brought his fangs down on his shoulder, Kanis grunted before bringing an elbow down on the yellow eyed beast and then slipping Blackgut into his stomach. The bite weakened and a final punch broke the male's skull and collapsed it in time for him to free himself to parry a thrust from his newest threat. A gray furred Vulk with one red eye, the other blind. A scar ran down his snout, which raised in a growl, the Vulk's haunches raised as he kept Kanis back with the reach of his spear. Before Kanis could dispatch the gray, he was reinforced with a group of six others, each lending their spear to his flank, teeth bared, eyes unblinking.
"Now it's a fight!" He barked a laugh while feinting forward then slicing the end off the spear that lunged where he'd be.
The seven Vulk moved to circle him while others of their kind ran past into the billowing smoke, the pointless spear was replaced by a handaxe with a spike on the back. The Gray snarled before running forward, Kanis braced himself but the Gray turned to wind and blew passed him, a claw materializing in the breeze and grazing his side as the warm air enveloped him. A Windwalker! Kanis turned to parry the spear thrust that materialized as he met it. The red eye glared, but Kanis had half a mind for the Windwalker, turning to chop the tip off another spear while catching a second in his free hand. A third caught his thigh as he spun towards the approaching axemen. Thigh burning he side stepped the chop and brought Blackgut into the throat of a spearmen who he'd danced close to. A Sharp pain on his shoulder as another Vulk tried to grip around the back of his neck. He was too tall, and his hide too thick, he reached around him exposing his stomach but managed to pull the Vulk loose and into the way of the oncoming thrust. That spear embedded in an ally he snapped it with an elbow while using Blackgut to parry another swing from the axe. The warm wind enveloped him again and claws scrapped across his sides, this time when the Gray Vulk materialized his spear thrust hit true sinking into the back of Kanis. Kanis Roared, spit flinging into the air as he brought Blackgut through the spearshaft and cleaving it, he then kicked a flanking Vulk into a thin tree behind, which broke from the force. The four remaining Vulk snarled at him, shadows moving through the smoke ignored the circle. One spear remained, the rest brought out similar hatchet like axes with the spike on the end for piercing plate. Kanis heart thumped, each pulse reverberating through him, the rhythm of battle pulsing through Kanis, this *was* the life! He laughed a bellowing challenge at the four, causing the yellow eyes to glance cautiously at one another. The Gray windwalker stared with his one red eye, moving in a circular movement behind Kanis, he motioned with his free hand and the three others rushed their query. Kanis saw them approach at a slow speed, the rhythm of battle allowing his instincts to control and for him to become a blur of murder. He batted aside the first swing with a open palm, kicking the knee in of the second Vulk, while bringing Blackgut through the throat of the third. The warm wind blew across his back, an phantom axe cutting deeply along his already bleeding side, but Kanis spun with the blow and threw his head forward into the air which caught against the materializing head of the Gray Vulk. There was a crack as the Vulk fell in spasms to the ground. Before the Gray landed he'd swept the legs out from the last standing Vulk mid spin and brought Blackgut to the beasts chest, then stomped on the head of the Vulk clawing away with the ruined knee. Hoofed foot squashing the Vulk's long skull with ease. He spun in the circle of his carnage and saw only smoke, trees loomed threateningly but held no weapons or hidden shadows. The rhythm subsided and he fell to his knees clutching at his back where the spearhead of the Grays spear remained. With a grunt of agony he pulled the barbed head out and tossed it to the ground. His side was slick with his own blood, the axe strike wasn't deep but would need to be sealed before he lost too much blood and was unable to continue.
With stumbling steps Kanis returned to the back of the band of Black Knights, their numbers fewer but they'd been reinforced by a column of spearmen. The women with the red flowing hair and disk of Betsol rising behind her armor broke from her conversation with the knight who seemed to be leading this army. At least he was the one who had ordered the Black Knights down to this copse of trees. As the women neared, Kanis fell to his knees, free hand slick with blood he still clutched Blackgut with is left hand. She eyed him questioningly, then shook her head.
"The heralds say you're a stubborn one, that you enjoy killing too much for your own spirit and won't simply return to Elysium when your wounds prohibit you from continuing." Her voice was lilting as if she'd spent too much time singing the songs that men loved to sing.
He snorted at her, why would he want to go back to those fields of peace when there was an enemy in need of killing! It was little use arguing with a priest of Betsol, even if they did look the sort to participating in the melee. He raised his arm on his more severely wounded side, best to present the wounds, she'd stop berating him and just starting working soon enough. It worked, she was soon set to work, calling to Betsol to heal his wounds while using bandages on his lesser ones. He flexed his right hand, the one he'd caught his brothers sword with and found the wound had healed on his own. That happened sometimes after duels against other Immortals, when those around you started chanting his name he'd feel stronger and feel his wounds close. He wished that he could call upon that more readily, he'd only have to leave a melee when Minos called him back to the eternal fields of Elysium. Unconsciously he laid down on the warm grass and looked up to the mirrored planes of the Gods ringed above him, the eternal fields somewhere to the east of the ring.
"These are claw marks? I didn't know the Vulk had resorted to using their hands as weapons." Her singsong voice drew him back to the realm of the mortals.
"It was a Windwalker, I wasn't aware the Vulk had such a strong belief in Trife."
"Lately, specifically among the tribes that make their own in the Storm Valleys, perhaps seeking to avoid his children."
Kanis grunted, it made sense to him, though trusting Trife to show when you needed was a frivolous affair. The priest of Betsol touched his side her hands felt like a sword hot off the forge, but he could feel the strength returning to his side and the burning in his thigh subside. She smiled to him after, and he simply grunted again before gathering Blackgut from the ground and standing. She was still looking at him when he rose to his full height, with suspicious eyes.
"Uhh... Thank you?" He said while using the cloth she'd used to mop up some of his blood to clean Blackgut. The blade hummed menacingly, as if it enjoyed being coated in the grime, but he cleaned it anyways, it would be no use to him it got stuck in his sheath the next time he needed it. Besides, it had drank well today and might again before it was done. After removing the last bit of gore he saw that the blade shown with an inner red lighting, sated indeed, it was growing greedy.
"You're not the Champion I would've expected you know, I wasn't even aware Minos cared about this crusade of ours." She asked while eyeing him, that questioning gaze growing bothersome.
"Yes, but who are we to question the Gods" He cracked a smile then trotted back off to the woods where he could hear the Black Knights starting up their at-will firing.
No comments:
Post a Comment