The Journal of Kel Scarglazed.
My name is Kel. Kel Urrïthikod, or Kel Scarglazed in the human tongue. I have been an axedwarf scouting the lands surrounding Ivorypick since I was 26 years old. I am now 32. Before I began writing this journal, I was not used to combat. I thought being an axedwarf meant nothing but walking around in shining armor and being kind to the people. I thought the only combat I would ever see is the sparring me and my friends would do in the barracks with our dull wooden weapons. I thought being a soldier meant going on “patrols” with my friend and lover every so often. I was right-for a time. But times change. My times, for example, changed on the 14th of Granite, in the year 500. The day we disturbed the chasm.
I was nonchalantly chatting with my friends on the 14th of Granite. We were walking around a wooded plateau, about halfway up the short little mountain that we resided in. It was about 5 minutes from the great mountain hall itself, which was really just a smoothed out hole going straight down into the ground. I remember chatting about the wars the humans had with the elves over the issue of elvish corpse devouring. I always hated elves for their hypocrisy, but that is a matter I should address sometime else. Anyways, I suddenly heard screams coming from the great hall-the screams of children. It was probably just children playing, but I figured I should check it out anyways. When I got to the mountainhall, I went down the stairs, not thinking of looking down to see what was happening. The screams had stopped, and I thought it was because the children had stopped playing. I was wrong. There was Attesh Copperbodice, lying dead on the floor, brutally ripped apart by what appeared to be a giant ant which stood on it's feet. I was enraged by the sight of the dead child, and charged towards the antman. It jumped out of the way, but I was able to chop one of it's arms off. I blocked it's strikes at me with ease, using the skills I knew from my sparring. After a few blocks and misses, I struck in retaliation after one of it's hits, and chopped the beast's head off. Then two beasts came jumping down from the stairs. I had never seen such monstrosities in my life, and I later found out that they were called troglodytes. On my first blow, I managed to knock a beast against the wall with the force of my strike, which killed it, and I quickly dispatched the second troglodyte.
Then I heard more screaming and the sounds of combat. I looked up, and saw 4 batmen fly over the mountainhall. I rushed up the stairs, and threw a rock at one of the beasts to get it's attention. It hit it's head and left a nasty gash in the beast's furry head, which caused it to fall to the ground. The others landed and began charging towards me. With one strike, I was able to slash one of the batman's throat out. However, one got a hit on me. It was just a small wound on my arm, but it still hurt me. In my rage, I killed them all three, and sat down to attend to my wounds.
Then I heard even more screams and the sounds of combat. I looked to the west. Beasts were crawling out of a massive chasm in the mountain. I stood up, trying to ignore my pain, and rushed to help the dwarves, who were unarmed and in need of help. When I climbed over the slopes leading to the chasm, I saw horrible things. At least 20 dwarves and almost 2 pages of strange creatures from the chasm were fighting. Although the dwarves were better fighters, they were outnumbered, and need help. Only me and two other guards were available to help these dwarves. These things came out of nowhere, and where everywhere. All across the Horn of Tattooing, dwarves and beasts were fighting. Nobody expected them.
I charged down into the action, slaying monsters left and right. I had gone into a trance. I beheaded beasts every other second, or so it seemed at the time. At one point in the battle, an antman attacked my foot, causing me to fall down. I was able to kill it even though it was on top of me. I turned my eyes to the left, and saw something horrible. A ratman, who was named Braidknife according to other dwarves, was ripping apart numerous dwarves, among them my friend and lover, Urist Incestbuttocks. I ran over, cutting a path through the hoard of beasts. I charged towards Braidknife, and caught a glimpse of his surprise at the ferocity of my onslaught before cleaving him into mincemeat. I held Urist in my arms as she laid there dying. Her wounds were mortal- a pierced lung and a missing leg. She could barely breathe, and was slipping in and out of consciousness. Her last words to me were “When you wake up in the morning, consider travel.” I returned to the battle in tears.
15th Granite, 500.
I learnt a lot of things about that day as I pondered in the barracks the next day. I had killed 27 beasts, and in total 213 other creatures from the chasm were felled by the dwarves, which numbered around 110. 20 of those dwarves were killed, and 8 wounded. It was a sad day in Ivorypick. Nobody went to work, and this day was set aside to remember those who had fallen. I pondered about those last words of my lover for many an hour in my quarters. I knew what she wanted me to do. I was to travel the lands and cleanse the world of such evil beings, like the ones that had killed her. Or at least that's what I wanted to do.
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Topic: The adventures of Kel Scarglazed- My first story (Read 1260 times)