filiusenox, Slain and Rashemd, your profiles are up on the first post.
21st Hematite 676 - MorningFor a short while Rakust continued laughing, then she lowered Lerdi's skull, turning to the forgotten beast Osman, speaking in a clear, confident voice,
"Hail Umbralspits, I am she who freed you from your prison. By the Third Mystery you must do my bidding." she held Lerdi's skull towards him and the pentagram draw on it in blood flashed briefly red. Osman tilted his head as though curious at this strange, small woman,
THE THIRD MYSTERY IS THE SON OF LIES
THE SECOND THE FOOL
THE FIRST THE EMPRESS WITHOUT AN EMPIRE
THE LAST IS THE CLEANSER
THE PAWNS ARE NOT IN PLACE
ARROGANCE
MUST
BE
PUNISHEDcame his voice, booming out into the cavern though he himself stood completely still. Rakust gave a gasp, almost dropping Lerdi's skull, but she stood her ground,
"What? But that doesn't mean anythi-"
WHO FORGOT US? Osman interrupted, a plaintive note to his voice.
WHO FORGOT ME?This seemed to shock Rakust, who threw Lerdi's skull to the ground, spinning round to flee, but Osman was faster, his coke mouth cracking open and a green gas expelling itself, cloaking the fleeing Dwarf. She gave a few coughs, covering her hand with her mouth, then ran on.
YOU WILL NOT FORGET ME Osman suddenly roared, turning to Meinhard, Johaan, Melagius, Gutusp, Volrath and Rovod. Rovod didn't wait, sending a bolt straight at the beast. However, the bolt bounced uselessly off the monster's coke skin. The Nothing began to advance, red eyes shining in the dark of the cavern.
"Hokay, hyu make big mistake now." Meinhard said. A Nothing slashed at him, but he blocked, countering by severing the offending tentacle with the bladed end of his spear. And with that first blood spilt the legion of Nothings swarmed forward.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rar took the bones of Ongas Anarusmo, the hadrosaurid beast that had threatened Nomekast months before, and began carving at one, crafting runes upon runes, all spelling something out.
They had been forced to move back. There were too many Nothing, and with Osman approaching them they had decided to double back to where they would be in a better position. Several Nothing already lay dead, felled by Melagius or Gutusp or Volrath's sword, or pincushioned by Rovod's bolts or Meinhard's spear, or else simply crushed through by Johann's hammer. However, still the Nothing came, with Osman behind them, almost as if surveying the battle like a general,
It seemed that for every one they killed, two more Nothing filled the gap. They had gradually been forced back towards the forges, trying their hardest not to be completely swarmed and surrounded by the beasts.
As she took a step back to dodge a swipe from a Nothing, Gutusp tripped over something. She looked at what she had fallen over, it was Rakust. She was dead. Her hands were locked round her throat, a terrible expression on her face, her skin a sickly blue, like she'd been suffocated. Whatever Osman had spat at her must have done that. The Goblin-raised Dwarf didn't have time to think much though, as the Nothing tried to swipe at here again, this time managing to hit her, though only bruising her right upper arm. She drove her sword through it in retaliation, swearing loudly in Goblin. The creature hissed, black blood spilling to the floor as it fell down, dissolving into the almost misty black sludge that the Nothing were. She didn't rest long, as three more arrived to attack her, and she leapt back into the fight like a demon. Raised in a society where the wages of life were death, she used all that the Goblin towers had taught her to fight the Nothing back.
Volrath was fighting valiantly, slicing Nothing after Nothing with his blacksteel sword, but he was getting exhausted, and with more and more Nothing coming, seemed to be being overpowered. One Nothing slashed at him with enough force to cause his finger not only to slice open, but to bend right back, the bone breaking. Anger overwhelmed him as he cleft one Nothing's body in half, fighting through the pain as he felt another of his fingers break from a strike. The Nothing seemed to be targeting his hand, no doubt trying to get him to drop his weapon. He allowed himself a grunt of pain as he swung too wide, letting one beasts swipe at his thumb, breaking it. His right hand was useless now, he took the sword with only his right, his mind red with rage, managing to cleave another Nothing's tentacles off. So berserk was he, that he failed to spot a Nothing sneaking up behind him, and a veritable shower of attacks hit him, knocking him down. With more than a dozen surrounding him, he fell under, falling unconscious under their blows. Just before he blacked out he remembered his teacher Garos' words,
'Just remember that your anger is a tool that you can use but it can never be allowed to overwhelm you.'Rovod stood his ground, firing bolt after bolt into the Nothing, turning them into pincushions before they finally bled out, dissolving into black muck. Soon however he found himself with no more ammunition, and so, yelling a Dwarven cry to the earth below, leapt into the fray, bludgeoning the creatures with his crossbow. One lucky Nothing swiped at his nose, managing to break it, just as the troll had months before. Rovod fought on though, this was a battle of life and death, hopefully his life and their deaths.
Grim, sad at the carnage, but nonetheless determined, Johann smashed another Nothing with his warhammer. Though perhaps the weakest weapon against the soft enemy, the warhammer was good for keeping them under control as it could beat them back long enough for him to defeat another. However, it took a lot more effort to kill a Nothing, and so he soon found himself beset by them, swarmed as it were. With perhaps a dozen Nothing attacking him, he soon found himself faltering under their blows, until finally he fell unconscious, slumping down defenceless while the Nothing continued to attack.
Melagius stabbed yet another Nothing with his shortsword, ducking under a swiped tentacle. He sent his sword swinging towards the offending proboscis, but it was blocked. The Dwarf was besieged on all sides, his back to a mica wall, his front to a dozen Nothing. Nonetheless he was fighting on, Dwarves were, after all, not known for their surrendering qualities, and Melagius counted himself as one of the better soldiers of the fort. There was no way he'd
not go down fighting. Though cornered, he had managed to avoid being hurt, if the fighting continued, he'd soon tire and fall to, though.
Meinhard was lost in the fighting, and didn't take note of anything else. His shining blue eyes darted here and there, seeing opportunities to stab another Nothing with his spear, all while blocking another's swipe with his shield. The ex-mercenary was dimly aware of the others being slowly being beaten back, but he was more concerned with fighting towards Osman. The beast stood at the back of the horde, perhaps waiting for the Nothing to weaken them before he moved in and finished them off. If Meinhard could kill him, they might stand a better chance. If they managed to defeat the Nothing, it would be a catastrophe for them to then have to face Osman, weakened and exhausted. If Osman was dead however, they stood a better chance, only having to deal with the weaker Nothing. However despite his efforts he wasn't getting closer to the coke quadruped, too many Nothing kept moving in.
All seemed grim: Volrath and Johann were unconscious, Rovod was down to beating Nothing with his crossbow, Gutusp, Melagius and Meinhard were swarmed and unable to help the others. Then a flurry of bolts rained from the sky. Doc. Steve and Rar stood on the ledge, their crossbows firing into the Nothing. Soon the rest of the militia ran into the fray with a cry, Tarran immediately hacking a Nothing into two. Kadzar and his priests jumped in not long after, calling to Id and Os the Hardy Gleams to protect them. Fori and Derm each moved into the help the unconscious Volrath, battling their way through the horde with their swords. Xenos, Loral and Hammer of the Gods went to save Johann, cutting down swathes of Nothing with spear, sword and hammer. Delta and Muenster moved to relieve pressure on Melagius, while Bax, Spartan, Rion and the warrior-priest Zasit rushed to aid Meinhard against Osman.
The coke beast stood motionless as it stared down Meinhard, Bax, Spartan, Rion and Zasit. The five of them stood in a semi-circle around the beast, while the battle against the Nothing raged around them. They stood at the eye of the storm, facing down the general of this army. Osman was first to strike, spitting out a great glob of liquid that struck Rion full on. The Dwarf didn't say a word, wiping the stuff off and then charging, slamming his axe into Osman. Meinhard took this opportunity to drive his spear into the beast's side, where it got stuck. Osman tried to bat at the mutant Human, but was distracted by Zasit's spear in it's other side, followed by Spartan's pick. Bax slashed at the monster's face, but only managed in scratching its rough hide. Rion took his chance, and with sheer strength severed one of Osman's legs. The battle became one-sided, as the Dwarves, Goblin and Human began raining down blows and stabs at the beast. Finally, Zasit ended it with a stab at Osman's head, fracturing its skull. As it died, Osman writhed pathetically,
I DON'T WANT TO BE FORGOTTEN it pined loudly. Managing to push Spartan back with one writhing,
PLEASE DON'T FORGET MEAnd with that, it stopped dead. The battle was finished. The few Nothing that were left were swiftly killed. They had won.
Johan and Volrath had been badly hurt, Rovod had received a broken nose but was fine otherwise, the militiadwarf Kol had gotten several broken bones from the fight.
They were all swiftly taken to the hospital. Back in the settlement they were informed three new refugees had arrived; a Dwarf named Ukrzum, a strange but apparently-charming Elf named Ocade, and another Dwarf named Rashem. For a few moments it seemed like nothing worse than a few broken bones had come from this battle.
Then Rion coughed. And didn't stop.
He was quickly taken to the hospital, where Reg determined his condition. Osman had ensured he wouldn't be swiftly forgotten, his poison had gotten Rion. Soon he would die, just like Rakust.
He lay in the hospital bed, wheezing loudly as the poison worked on his lungs. His assembled fellow-militiadwarves stood round him, Johann lay unconscious in the bed besides him. No one spoke, the air itself seemed to be bearing on them.
"Damn it," Rion concluded inbetween coughing fits, "I always-" he wheezed loudly, his voice getting weaker, "I always knew I'd be one of the first-" he coughed then stopped as his lungs began to collapse, "
first to die..."He fell back in his bed, silent and unmoving, and said nothing more.
See the first post for Rion's kill list.
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Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 180261 times)