I gaze down at the ebony spear of horn thrust through my leg. Then, for a second its twin furnaces and my eyes meet. Sparks seem to fly in front of me, and I growl deep in my throat. I won't feel the pain. I. Will. Not. The yak gives a jolt which shakes my entire body, then jerks its horn out of my leg. Anger and dizziness making me wild, I lunge forward and sink my teeth into the matted flesh and stringy fur on the Yak's chest. The Yak screams, a high pitched sound which rents the air, then rises onto its rear legs. I hang there, attached to its chest, swinging wildly. Shocked. I didn't even know Yaks could rear up like that...But then again, this is no ordinary Yak. It falls back to earth with a bone-rattling jerk. It snorts again, and I feel the vibration of it running through my entire body. My teeth are clenched, unable to let go...despite the taste of death and disease filling my mouth, I hang on. Then I get hit. The world seems to shake, my arm to erupt into flaming pain. Screaming defiance, I unlatch my teeth and swing in the air with as much strength as I can muster, with my entire being as I fall towards the welcoming earth. My foot hits off the Yaks leg,the one that had just kicked me, and rebounds...Nothing is working. I almost despair. Almost. This is one task I will see to the end.
I now fight on two fronts. The pain in my leg and arm pounds in tempo with the stamping of the dread Yaks hoofs. I will not succumb! I lay again in the dirt of Necrothreat, and the blood is now not just that of the Yak's previous victims. My blood mixes with the mud of the earth, and a comforting mist cloaks my sight. It is so comforting...Slowly, my eyes drift closed....I feel numb...Something in me flexes. A...rage. That's it. Rage at all that has happened, at the fate of the fortress, at the inevitability of our demise. My eyes shoot open and I give a strangled yell. I won't give up! To the end..I will see it to the end! My body trembles, and the veil is lifted from my eyes. I see the steam rising from the death-defying corpse looming above me, I feel the mud squishing below me. I feel life! And I will not give it up to this...this..cow! I yell right at its face, and it rises above me. Slowly, oh so slowly, it raises a hoof. If animals could smile, it would be doing so now. And it would be a smile twisted into a hatred of all that is alive.
Thunk. I shudder, blood droplets spraying into the air like glittering rubies. I scream defiance. A tooth filled maw fills my vision and then ducks to the side, charcoal horns almost brushing my face on the way past. I lay, weak and unable to move. I defy it by continuing to live. I will not satisfy it by dying. Not yet, anyway....Flame. A tide of magma, a brand of fire in the dark. Pain. My arm...The pain...Unable to move from below my neck, I turn my head and stare in awe and horror. The demonic head of the Yak is worrying at my arm, razor sharp teeth slicing through flesh like blades through cheese. I don't feel it any more. That should worry me, but it doesn't. I knew what was coming...but still. Seeing my flesh torn apart is not easy. I try to move, to fight. I close my eyes, bring forth the rage, that warmth which lights me up from the inside. My finger twitches, then feeling returns to my unharmed arm in a rush of sensation. Gathering myself, I clench my fist. My lungs rise and fall, bloody spittle flying from my mouth. But I live, I defy. I breathe. With the last of my strength I throw a punch at its craggy head and beady eyes. It meets nothing but air, the power in it barely enough to make it halfway to the Yak. I groan, collapsing back into the torn apart earth.
I feel a tug, one which moves me through the ashes of this bleak land. What is that? I can no longer see the Yak-I fell with my face pointing away from it. Suddenly it looms in front of me, and clenched in its teeth is something pale and mangled...my arm, I realise. It doesn't surprise
me though. How can it? My mind feels like it is swimming in a sea of fog. My life is done. I know it. I sink into oblivion, and welcome it. I did what I could. I did!...Somewhere, I know that the Yak is still toying with me. I feel, as if from a distance, my body being tossed around, flying through the air. But I no longer feel. I have spent my rage. Armok can't touch me, for I have let go of my fear...Fain cannot harm me, for I have relinquished my anger. I am now truly free. Peripherally, I feel my head skid across the ground as the Yak loses interest, but I let go. Finally, I let go. Peace...that magical thing, I feel it now, at the last. My body stops moving, and the Yak stands guard over it as the last spark of light drains out of it. I have let go..............
Light. Bright. Shining. That is what I see. Darkness is forgotten. Fain, Armok...their names have never even been uttered in this place, this haven. The light dims from its bright intensity and I see....I see paradise. Beaches stretch into the distance, and for the first time in my existence I smell something other than ashes and death. The clean smell of salt covers everything. Smiling, I start to walk forward into my new home, my reward for my work, my sacrifice. Out of the haze in front of me rises idyllic islands and lush, forested hillsides. I can finally rest...
The ground trembles. A hand thrusts through the dry sand in front of me. Startled I jump back, hand going for the spear I no longer have. An arm follows. A shoulder. A head, covered in the enchanted sand of this place. All in a rush, highmax leaps from his hole in the ground. "Quick, Dwarfy. This land cannot hold the presence of one of the living long. Quick!" He holds out a hand, and I look at it. The sky above seems to flicker from its deep shade of blue, the islands in the distance seem blurred. His hand is an offer of life again. An offer of pain. Who knows if I can get back here. I prepare to tell highmax no, that I am finally happy. I take his hand. Necrothreat needs me, and I will return. I will live again!
Everything goes black.
Well, sorry about the delay...It's been a busy day. I've downloaded the save, starting my turn now (Sunday 20th October)
Edit: A new round of forumiting is called for. State any preferences and I'll get on it
Remaining named Forumites: NAV, possibly the longest in the fort and definitely the longest living named forumite, Apiks, me, highmax, elephant parade and Timeless Bob, he who has only ever known Necrothreat. At least the rest of us saw other forts, but Bob grew up in this godforsaken hole
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Topic: Necrothreat II - A Fort Cursed by the Gods! (Read 467922 times)