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lordkaho -> RE: (AEverse) My Lovable Zombie Apprentice! (12/6/2012 23:08:27)
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Chapter 1- Maw of the Beast
A massive wave of steel, about six feet in length and braced with several layers of complex machinery, clashed against the jagged bite of an obsidian battle axe. The impact of the two blows let loose a loud bang, sweeping away sheets of dirt and dust off the ground. The reptilian wielder of the axe muscled his way through its opponent, in an impressive display of raw strength, and sending him to back away a few good feet.
PICTURE
“Urghh…This one is...” The man grunted behind the great sword, as he struggled to maintain his stance and his grip on the leather bound hilt from slipping. One mistake could spell a hasty and violent death, a mistake he could not afford.
The reptilian monster, snorted visible steam from its nostrils and belched out a blood curdling roar, enough to sap a man’s will to fight. Fiercely brandishing its scaly head like a bull preparing to charge, it trudged forward, its weapon held high, and its fangs bared in full grisly view. It went rampaging towards the man, who stood still with his guard on, seemingly preparing to clash once more with the beast’s attack. With great force the axe blade fell upon him in a speedy, nightmarish jet-black blur, though, within several seconds of being cut in half, his feigned counter-stance had worked and dodged away as the black axe plunged into the grassy earth. The timing was so crucial that moving away too early would have caused the creature to read his next move and the outcome would have been different.
He rolled against the ground another several feet away before he could regain his balance. Lifting his Custom Mammoth-Crusher Blade, he dashed towards the lizard man as it struggled to pluck out its weapon. However, before the full swing was even attempted, he was quickly swatted away by the creature’s monstrous tail; something he forgot to intercept. A familiar shadow once again hung over his face, the dreaded obsidian battleaxe was now free from letting loose its full might upon him as he lay open on the ground.
“RRRAAAAGGGHHH” Roared the lizard man, as it brought the axe down towards its enemy. Gaining an advantage in speed and size, he rolled away just in time as the blade sent chunks of dirt flying up the ground.
An opening! The man thought to himself with a subtle smirk. With a prompt, abdominal twist, and a full turn, it was enough momentum to give his great sword the need speed to deliver its sheer weight to damage a large thickly scaled foe of this caliber. The blow however was still too slow to have slashed through the beast’s torso as it got parried by one muscular arm. Though, the damage was still done; great enough to rend the monster’s left arm unusable. Howling with pain and rage, it swept the axe clumsily at him which he easily parried. But once again, he had failed to exactly determine the strength behind the creature’s arms. With another horrifying belch, using only one hand, it completely destroyed his block with a mighty push, then hastily follows with a surprisingly quick diagonal attack from the side.
The man tried to parry once more, but the sheer power threw the sword from his grip and suddenly found him self unarmed and stumbling back towards the grass. The fight could have ended there and he would have been dead by then, but there was something he noticed about his opponent; a knack for roaring before every attack, as if it was giving its enemy a chance for retaliation. It was just then he fully understood the chivalry of this beast ever since the beginning of the fight, purposely giving away chances where it could have easily killed him.
But before he could seize this opportunity, there was one more detail he forgot to include into the equation.
Out of the bushes, screaming with faux courage, and a using a form that could hardly be called ‘battle-ready’, a young girl ran swinging her long sword in an awkward manner.
“Prunn! By the Lords! Get out of here!” Screamed back the man.
The lizard man took little notice and swung its tail at her. Prunn easily evaded it due to her small stature but the instance had made her lose footing and she stumbled down. The tail once more struck at her and size didn’t help her this time. She was hit hard to the chest, such that her iron breast plate suffered a sizable dent where she flew away but fortunately landed on a thick brush of vegetation, which cushioned her fall.
But this was enough to fuel the man’s anger, which the monster took with a hint of glee as its reptilian irises narrowed. It roared once more, this time taunting him to pick up his sword, to which he did. He fled towards its location but this time, but the beast wasn’t feeling too generous. It had decided that the battle ends now.
With each thundering step, it chased after him with considerable speed, gaining closer to him with every passing moment. He was still a few feet away from his weapon and the monster already had its axe at the ready, its shaft long enough to seize him at this distance. After a long, proud roar, it swept its axe at him, to which he narrowly dodged by diving towards the grass. His hands finally reach the hilt of the Mammoth-Crusher but his enemy was already about to land another attack. A miniscule difference in seconds would decide the fate of this battle.
SHHANK!!
Came a rusty, mechanical sound.
Smoke came off the sides and the tip of the now open great sword. The lower blade had been dislocated from the rest of the body, revealing a piston-powered gizmo concealed within its metal shell. The lizard man’s battle-axe was split in half at the shaft, possibly at the last moment where it tried to parry, and seated deeply across its left shoulder blade was a one foot diameter wide metal disc surrounded with long blades fitted around the rim. The great beast was now on its knees in humble silence, its eyes focused unto the warrior before it.
“Thaaat…felllt..greatt.” Whispered the lizard man in a hoarse, slithery voice
It looked up to his face and said,
“Bartzzz..Gunnham, Thhe Iron-Sside. Itt…Wass truly…an honor..to have fought…yyouu.” It then showed what appeared to be a smile.
“Perhapss…In some other..lifetime. We could..have been..blood-brothersss…”
With a quick stroke of his blade, Bartz dropped the giant lizard man dead unto the ground. He finally gave the beast its wish for a good death, after suffering a degenerative disease that had caused uncontrollable blood lust, something it tried to suppress the entire fight.
After spending a brief moment of silence for the fallen warrior, he felt a forceful tug from behind.
“Hmm?” He gestured as he turned around, only to be hit in the face with sprinkles of dirt and grass.
“Where were you?! I almost died there! You’re so mean, papa!”
“OH! Ahaha, sorry about that, Prunn. But even a veteran fighter as I am knows that in the heat of battle, sometimes you need to weigh your options. Every move you make shall decide whether the battle is lost or won.
Had I rushed in to check after you, without my weapon... I believe both of us wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Prunn shook her head, her eyes partially covered with brown strands of hair; as if also feeling guilty of her unwise and brash attempt to attack her father’s enemy. She realizes that her actions had potentially endangered both of them.
“Well..I uh.” She fiddled her fingers in embarrassment as she tried to voice out an apology.
“BWHAHAH!..” Bartz chuckled heartily as he petted Prunn on the head.
PICTURE
“I understand, Prunn. What you did was brave...Even if a bit clumsy in execution.”
“B-But I thought you were actually going to die back there! Things got crazy...and...And I got scared.”
“Haha...Worry not, Prunn. Even I make mistakes. But in the end, we have this old friend to thank.” Bartz raises his mighty great sword and the two glance at its sheer majesty.
“Zahnrad..” Prunn whispered its name. The sword that fell many foes thanks to its ingenious design and array of clever, well engineered weapons, all tucked inside its metallic casing. It was actually based off the Mammoth Crusher great sword said to be wielded by dragon men, and refurbished by a Dwarven blacksmith, stories has it that it was hammered into shape at the very base of Dwarfhold Mountain, which was then ultimately mechanized by a human. The exact date of its creation is a little bit sketchy at best, but Bartz has had the sword as a family heirloom, passed on from generation to generation.
“Someday, Prunn, it will be your turn to wield Zahnrad.”
Prunn’s eyes sparkled with those words. Bartz could see that there was promise of being a true warrior in her eyes. It was going to be a steep curve for development, but Prunn possesses the potential.
Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed from Prunn’s belly.
“I see all this fighting has made someone hungry. But before that...” Bartz gave one more look at his slain enemy.
“We need to bury our friend first. He truly was a strong foe, a foe of such power I had not faced in years..”
“And a foe that almost kicked your butt. Ne, Papa?” Prunn joked teasingly.
“Quiet Prunn, be lucky I spent some of my precious drink money on your armor over there or else that tail blow you got earlier would have broken...a good deal of bones.”
“Well, we wouldn’t have had any problem buying decent armor if you didn’t waste it on barrels of ale in the first place!”
Bartz laughed once more and began to dig, using his sword as a shovel.
“Come, let’s not tarry. We’ll bring the broken axe as proof. I’m sure the townspeople would be relieved by then...And hopefully, a hefty reward money lies in store for our hard work.”
“No, Pa. I get to keep our money this time. You big boys need to learn a little something like budgeting.”
"Bah. You only say that since you haven't discovered the wonders of alcohol yet."
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Glancing from a nearby tree top, sat a figure covered from head-to-toe with a billowing black cloak. The hood vaguely resembled a raven's yawning beak with two red splotches, somewhat indicating figurative eyes were painted on both sides. Long, fine black locks swayed out of it, revealing a woman with a deathly pale complexion. The upper half of her face was painted crimson stretching just barely to the tip of her nose, complimented by a pair of slender, sharp eyes that bore a certain air of elegance. In her hand as a cup of tea, still steaming, sending its fresh aromatic odor up her delicate nostrils.
She monitored the duo as Bartz dug up an impressive grave for the lizard man, while Prunn was collecting pebbles and rocks to form as a decent head stone.
She continued to sip at her cup, with a seemingly foreboding mask of omniscience hung up her face when suddenly, an unpleasant sound breached the silence.
"Curses."
Weight gain is truly the bane of all women and not even she was exempt from such plight. But not amount of regretting eating the caramel layered fruit cake from last night would change the situation...
...On which the branch she sat on finally snapped.
~***~
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