[Mkguild] MK: Homecoming (3/3)

[C. Matthias]

>     Their defense was tiered, one layer upon 
> another.  Wolfram carved Long Scout symbols 
> into the trees on the edges of the clearing, 
> pressing his hand on the bark next to each to 
> leave a familiar scent should Drift have 
> forgotten the meaning of the symbols.  Misha 
> assembled the pieces of Drift's battlestaff, 
> Whirlwind, and wedged it into a cleft in one of 
> the rocks.  After the fight in the storm the 
> staff had been too damaged to repair but Misha 
> had brought it anyway.  Charles hung a Metamor 
> banner on it and Saroth asked a gentle breeze 
> to keep the rampant stallion insignia 
> visible.  Merai and Tychicus prepared more 
> forceful surprises in case the memory jog went 
> badly.  In the middle of it all, a pan sizzled

>
>     Finally, they needed to draw the Beast's 
> attention, to bring him to them on their 
> timetable rather than his own.  Once they had 
> finished their preparations, Wolfram had the 
> answer to that: a curving ram's horn plated 
> with brass on the inside.  Misha's brow 
> furrowed as he looked from it to its mirrored 
> twin on Wolfram's head.  "Is that, by any chance, your own horn?" he asked.
>
>     "The one Drift broke off, yes.  Pascal repaired it for me."
>
>     "And you didn't get it 'repaired' back onto your head?"
>
>     Wolfram shrugged.  "Waste not, want 
> not.  It'll grow back, and I get a story and a battle horn out of the bargain."

That's another awesome thing about being an 
anthro.  I love that Wolfram did that.  :-)


>     Faint crashes in the deep forest heralded 
> the approach of the Beast, growing louder with 
> alarming rapidity.  Charles flicked out his 
> Sondeshike and moved closer to Merai.  His ears 
> lowered and his whiskers backed.  "I hope this 
> plan works, Misha.  I only survived my last 
> fight against him because I had... help.  If he 
> does not remember, this will not end 
> well."  Turning his back to the clearing and 
> the fire, Charles watched their backs should 
> the approaching beast circle around to come at their flanks.

True on two levels.  Yajakali stopped one 
attack.  Another ensured Charles survived because 
for one moment Drift recognized him.

>    Treetops started vanishing on a 
> straight-line approach from the northeast, 
> clouds of leaves and limbs erupting into the 
> air as their trunks were shattered or smashed 
> down.  Misha tightened his grip on Whisper and 
> bit back the 'me, too' in his mind from 
> becoming anything more than a heartfelt 
> prayer.  "Here we go, people.  Stay focused and 
> work together.”  Everyone’s turned, save the 
> rat, toward the path of destruction rapidly 
> approaching.  Misha saw even Charles glance 
> back over his shoulder briefly.  The fox took a 
> breath and tightened his hands upon the haft of his axe.  “Saroth?  Now."

Yeah, the treetops vanishing is a great visual too.

>     With a gesture from the weather dragon a 
> breeze uncoiled itself from around the fire and 
> raced out to meet the onrushing beast.  It 
> carried a message, a very simple message, yet 
> one that stopped the Beast in his tracks; the 
> smell of cooking trail-biscuit.  Silence 
> settled on the forest like an uneasy fog.  Ten 
> of the longest seconds of Misha's life followed 
> before Merai broke in.  "He's moving again, 
> slowly this time.  I think he's 
> circling."  Elemacil lowered, its point 
> tracking on the Beast, and a moment later Merai 
> amended an affirmative, pivoting in place to maintain her facing.

I like how they are reaching out to him here.

>     The ram banged a pan against his 
> shield.  "Hey, Drift!" he yelled.  "Yes, you, 
> out in the forest!  Stop sneaking around and get in here!  Dinner's-"
>
>     A cavernous growl interrupted him.  In the 
> shadows of the forest, a pair of golden lights 
> appeared.  A red mouth opened into a snarl 
> beneath them, lined with darkly gleaming teeth 
> and a tongue stained black with lutin 
> blood.  The head of a monstrous wolf resolved 
> itself from the darkness, its glowing golden 
> eyes showing neither pupil nor white.  A 
> crimson paw the size of a draft horse's hoof 
> emerged into the light, followed by its 
> fellow.  With the arrogant hauteur of a 
> conquering king and the narrow-eyed suspicion 
> of a combat veteran, the War Wolf of Revonos 
> strode into the clearing.  This was a creature 
> that expected an attack at any moment, expected 
> to utterly destroy those who tried, and dripped 
> with the blood of his enemies to prove his capability.
>
>     Exchanging a glance between them, Saroth 
> and Tychicus began to applaud.  This had been 
> Charles' addition to the plan.  If Drift felt 
> like he was still in the arena it would be the 
> spectators who applauded, not the 
> combatants.  There was no contest of might to 
> be had from spectators.  It worked; the wolf 
> froze in confusion with one paw lifted 
> mid-stride.  The two dragons were the only ones 
> with hands free to clap but, unasked for, 
> Wolfram let out a whoop worthy of the Summer Festival.

And a very clever addition too!  For the first 
time in all this I think Caracark is confused.

>     The beast's head snapped around, locking on 
> Wolfram like a lodestone to iron.  Golden eyes 
> bored into the ram for a long moment, then 
> opened suddenly wide.  Ears rose, pulling its 
> head upward out of an aggressive snarl.  Its 
> jaw sagged open and its lifted forepaw dropped 
> back to the ground, bracing as if the earth had 
> suddenly begun to shift like a swaying ship 
> deck underneath it.  Silence descended on the 
> clearing as the applause faltered.
>
>     "Drift?" Misha spoke quietly.  He hadn't 
> meant to, but the name slipped past his lips before he could stop it.
>
>     The effect was instant.  Ears flashing 
> straight backwards, the Beast flinched as if 
> from a blow, then froze as every muscle in his 
> body went iron-taut.  For a moment, nothing 
> moved in the clearing except the faint wafts of 
> frost that passed for the Beast's breath.  Then 
> slowly, as slowly as an iron statue being 
> dragged over barren rock, the wolf's head 
> turned from Wolfram.  Tychicus and Saroth 
> passed under its scrutiny with barely a 
> flicker.  Merai warranted a tightening of the 
> eyes, a strangled, agonized whimper.  Charles 
> evoked a snarl and a shiver of pelt as muscle fought muscle.  And then

>
>     Kill him.

And the Beast has found its target.

>     To the end of his days, Misha could never 
> say how he dodged that first strike.  All he 
> knew for certain was that one moment he had 
> been staring into the wolf's eyes from across 
> the clearing, and in the next heartbeat Whisper 
> rang in his hands as its flat smashed across 
> the leading edge of a red blur.  The axe rang 
> in his head, too, a cacophony of warning tones 
> that he had no time to process.  He had 
> sidestepped, but not enough: even with those 
> deadly jaws diverted, the huge war-wolf's 
> shoulder sent Misha spinning to the ground, 
> just barely missing a disemboweling sweep of a 
> massive paw already coated in the gore of 
> countless creatures. The fox tumbled a few feet 
> onto his back, the world swimming briefly out 
> of focus before a huge, black-toothed maw 
> loomed over him, teeth bared for the kill.

Whisper is your friend, Misha.  You do not know 
how many times you owe it your life.

>     Gloved hands jerked Misha to his 
> feet.  "On- on your feet, sir." Shock stumbled 
> Wolfram's words, but Misha paid him no 
> attention.  Drift had slalomed through the holy 
> wards and weakened patches of ground that Merai 
> and Tychicus had made as if he could see them.  How- ?

I'm hearing Sarah Conner tell Kyle Reese, "On 
your feet, soldier!"  I'm sure that wasn't 
intentional, but it's what sprang to mind.

>     The wolf wheeled around, paws splaying, and 
> Misha's eyes widened.  He'd seen dragons take 
> that stance before.  "Cover!" he yelled, and 
> tackled Wolfram to the ground as the Beast's 
> maw opened.  As the rest of the party 
> scattered, Tychicus mirrored the beast's 
> stance, robe dropping away as he grew.  His 
> chest ballooned with indrawn breath until the 
> moment the war wolf's stomach tensed, and then 
> dragon's fire and hell-born ice crashed 
> together between them like the fists of 
> giants.  With a thunderous, ground-shaking 
> roar, each nullified the other.  Fog exploded 
> from the collision of extremes, the roiling 
> cloud instantly whiting out visibility to a 
> bare handful of strides.  The evenly matched 
> contest lasted only a second before Tychicus' 
> fire blasted suddenly unopposed, coring a hole 
> through the cloud and lighting distant trees on fire.  The wolf had vanished.

Naturally, he knows when his attacked is matched; 
no sense wasting energy when it won't work.

>     "Drift?  Are you-"

Misha, you really need to stop doing that.

>     A wedge of Longfugos force slashed through 
> the air a fraction of a second too late to 
> intercept the blast, but it drew the Beast's 
> attention.  "Merai!  Wolfram!" Charles yelled 
> as he ran into the assault path.  "Get Misha 
> out of that ice before he 
> suffocates!"  Spinning up his Sondeshike as a 
> shield, he turned his full focus on the beast 
> before him.  Filling his lungs as full as he 
> could make them, he shouted, "Drift Edward 
> Snow!  You know me!  You know who I am!  We met 
> in the Arena of Blood, where you saved my life!  Now help me save yours!"
>
>     The Beast snarled.  Was this tiny creature 
> a fool?  He faced Carcarak!  The Beast of 
> Revonos!  The foremost servant and chosen 
> champion of the Lord of the Sundered 
> Shield!  Not even the lowest, most witless of 
> imps would dare to bring a shield into his presence, and this... this...
>
>     Rat...

Recognition!  It was only a week ago after all!

>     "You don't need to fight anymore- we are 
> both free!  Our chains are broken!  Come back to us as family!  Come home!"
>
>     With a deafening roar, the Beast erupted 
> into sudden, brutal violence.  Thrashing about 
> like a hooked fish, he slammed his head against 
> nearby boulders hard enough to crack stone, bit 
> his own limbs until bone gleamed, and churned a 
> bloody circle into the earth around 
> him.  Tattered flesh and shattered bone healed 
> as quickly as Charles remembered, only to be 
> torn and broken anew in a mad paroxysm of 
> self-destructive fury, and Charles backed away 
> in shock in spite of himself.  His shielding spin faltered.

Not quite the reaction Charles hoped for, but a 
few moments fighting himself is good for Misha.

>      Had Charles' reactions been any slower, he 
> would not have caught the sudden shift from 
> thrashing to strike.  The flurry of force 
> punches he hurled into the Beast's path split 
> the wolf into three directions as it dodged, 
> but the ones that sprinted left and right 
> shattered into snow spray almost 
> immediately.  Only the one who had leaped 
> skyward landed whole, staggering and 
> panting.  Many of the hits had landed, but it 
> only seemed to make the beast, if possible, 
> even angrier.  Gathering his feet back under 
> him in a bound, the war wolf hurled himself, 
> jaws agape, at Charles.... and at the same time 
> held back, inhaling for another blizzard.
>
>     With only a fraction of a second to deduce 
> which threat was real, and the tattletale chain 
> obliterated in the earlier explosion, Charles 
> set himself for a Longfugos air slash to 
> counter the blizzard.  The farther wolf looked 
> solid and real, while the leaping one flickered 
> and shimmered as if not able to fully 
> solidify.  He guessed correctly: the pouncing 
> beast passed right through him with barely a 
> chill.  But then the far one, mid-breath, 
> flickered and faded and Charles had just enough 
> time to hear movement behind him before two 
> massive hindpaws slammed into his 
> shoulders.  Adamantite-coated claws knifed into 
> his back, lifting him from the ground and hurling him across the clearing.
>
>     Saroth, returning to the fray, swerved out 
> of a swooping side attack to pluck Charles from 
> midair, unconscious and bleeding.  He winged 
> away, getting the rat to safety, but the 
> Beast's open maw tracked on them, preparing to 
> blast the bronze weather dragon from the sky.

That's twice now I've let you beat my character up.  You owe me big time. ;-)

>     Merai lifted a hand in a warding gesture, a 
> glowing barrier sphere rising up around her, 
> but the shadow-wreathed servant of the Lord of 
> the Sundered Shield cleaved through it with 
> contemptuous ease.  Arriving in a blur of 
> speed, darkly gleaming claws carved apart the 
> light like swords, shadow and light tangling 
> and dissipating in smoky swirls and 
> eddies.  Frosted teeth bared to bite, but Merai 
> and Elemacil were waiting.  The holy sword 
> flashed, forcing the hellbeast to flinch away, 
> and Merai swung with all her strength, guided 
> by the sword's spirit toward a decapitating strike.

Nice to see something actually hurt him.

>     Wolfram charged into their midst, bulling 
> shield-first into the Beast's shoulder.  Teeth 
> snapped shut on air instead of priestess, and 
> white fire furrowed the wolf's cheek and ear 
> rather than spearing through his 
> brain.  Carcarak rolled with the tackle, 
> snarling over his stolen kill, and launched 
> Wolfram into the air with all four paws.  As 
> the swordless fighter land in a clanking 
> sprawl, the Beast turned away with a dismissive snort.
>
>     It was a mistake he would regret only 
> seconds later.  As Carcarak inhaled to freeze 
> Merai and Misha in one blow, Wolfram's hooved 
> foot slammed upward between the Beast's hind 
> legs.  The building icy blast choked off in an 
> anguished spray of frozen shards.  In instant 
> response, one hind foot lashed out, catching 
> the frantically backpedaling ram across the 
> shield like a thunderstroke.  With that much 
> power behind it, even a glancing blow smashed 
> Wolfram off his feet, nearly wrenching his 
> shoulder out of socket.  The Beast followed a 
> moment later, whirling and pouncing with a 
> murderous roar.  Metal-clad teeth cleaved into 
> the ram's upraised shield, crumpling it around 
> his arm like cheap tin foil.  His blazing eyes 
> promised to cleave that arm apart and then rip 
> out the stump, then do the same to the other 
> arm, then each of the legs, and then...  He 
> didn't get the time.  Wolfram gritted his teeth 
> against the pain, seized Carcarak's ear with 
> his left hand, and slammed his horned head 
> against the beast's brow.  It didn't do any 
> damage, but the forgotten familiarity of the 
> move bought the ram a moment's pause.  He put 
> it to best use.  "Payback for when you kicked 
> me there, Drift," Wolfram growled, his face 
> dripping with blood from the Beast's gory 
> fur.  "Back in training when we first met.  Remember?"

And this is why we love Wolfram. :-)

>     Then Misha broke free of his 
> fast-disintegrating ice prison.  He hefted 
> Whisper into a crossing block.  "Drift-"

Misha?  SERIOUSLY?

>     Drift whirled, death in his eyes, and 
> slammed his jaws shut on the black axe's 
> shaft.  The runic weapon struck back instantly, 
> ripping life energy from the beast like a 
> wolverine eviscerating a rabbit.  Carcarak, 
> desperate to stay alive, pulled every last drop 
> of daedra energy from the broken linking spell 
> embedded in the collar around his neck, 
> devouring every spell and enchantment ever 
> woven into it or through it.  The collar, 
> overstrained far beyond anything for which it 
> had ever been designed, flared white-hot for a 
> tenth of a second before detonating, hurling 
> Misha, Whisper, and the War Wolf in three separate directions.

This is why you need to carefully read the safety 
precautions for a Runic Weapon before touching it.

>     Silence fell, broken only by the TCHOKK of 
> Whisper burying itself two feet into a boulder as it landed.
>
>     Cradling his right arm carefully across his 
> stomach to avoid all of the sheared and 
> crumpled edges of the destroyed shield wrapped 
> around it, Wolfram struggled to his feet, 
> muttering something he'd probably have to 
> confess to Father Hough later.  His body ached 
> and his shoulder screamed at him with every 
> nudge or shift, but it still compared favorably 
> to getting thrown through a wall.  Merai 
> dropped the energy shield she had re-raised 
> around her, her arm nearly finished thawing, 
> and Misha levered himself upright, both looking 
> about as bruised as Wolfram felt.  "I'm getting 
> too old for this," the fox grumbled as he 
> pulled Whisper cleanly from the rock.  Saroth 
> landed in a whirl of wings, still carrying 
> Charles.  The rat wobbled drunkenly when the 
> dragon set him down, but gestured that he would 
> be okay.  His mail would need to be replaced, 
> as would the padded undershirt, but together 
> they had taken the brunt of the claw strike: 
> the rat Sondeckis had been too light for the 
> wolf's double back-kick.  Only Tychicus 
> remained insensate, and even his eyelids were beginning to flutter.
>
>     And in the middle of them all, his 
> blood-soaked fur charred and blackened where 
> the collar had been, the mighty Beast of 
> Revonos lay sprawled in limp-limbed oblivion.

And he made a satisfying whump when he hit the 
floor!  Excellent combat sequence and an 
excellent and enjoyable next chapter in Drift's tale!

May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias