Re: The Fatal Conflict (GBS2G7) (Round 3: The Infinite Playground!)
05-26-2012, 01:23 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
As he leapt across the still-confusing landscape, Kargrek did relish the sensation of unbridled freedom. For a time, at least. As he skidded across sand and tarmac and strange padded ground, he felt himself becoming frustrated. At first, it was just a mild, undirected annoyance, but as time went on it gre in intensity and purpose. His face set itself into a deeper scowl as he fumed about Zaire and his stupid game, his lip curled into a sneer as he considered the foolish cowardice of his so-called competitors, his heart sped as he railed against the injustice of his kidnap from Gorkella and inability to confront his tormentor. He even became angry with himself for apparently misjudging his direction.
By the time he caught sight of Bellona – he HAD picked the right way, after all, but it didn't make him any less angry – he was a barely-restrained man-shaped lump of fury. The gladiatrix was leaning on her spear, testing her ankle against the ground and surveying the bodies that surrounded her. There were quite a lot of them, and they were all... Small.
For a moment after he skidded to a stop, Kargrek simply goggled and took in the scene, uncomprehending. Even in his current state and with his general intellect, it didn't take him long to put two and two together.
"Bellona!" He roared. She hadn't even noticed his arrival until then, and she spun around to look at him. "You... You've killed these children! What kind of monster have you become?"
She snarled in return, waving at the bodies with her spear and spitting on the sand at her feet.
"Children? These beasts are no children. Look into their eyes, see their true nature. They adopt the guise of childishness to lull you, then they strike."
Kargrek looked, but saw only children with black eyes, not demons in childish form.
"You fool! In the last world we landed, the men were metal and their eyes glass. That didn't make them monsters! These pitiful creatures are just children, cursed with dark sight, cursed to live in a land unlike ours. You have murdered them!"
She raised her spear threateningly. "You've seen them dead. You weren't here when they lived. They attacked, they screamed, they threatened."
"If they were truly monsters," he rumbled, hefting his axe, "how did you dispatch them so bloodlessly? Where are the claw scars on your flesh, the bites at your neck?"
"If I am truly a monster," she hissed, "how have you not struck me down yet? Where is your fighting spirit, you cowardly half man?"
He roared again, this time a guttural word of command, and swung Strombald in Bellona's direction. A wave of fire sprayed off its edge, but she deftly raised her shield to block it.
"Speak of me again in that manner," he shouted, "and I will see that I do!"
There was a tense pause as neither saw anything to say and had to actively fight the urge to simply lunge at the other and spill their blood without provocation. Perhaps fortunately, perhaps tragically, another group of the underground-dwelling children was tentatively peeking above their holes, attracted by the noise. They'd gotten word from deeper in the tunnels that a sacrifice hunt was coming this way; it seemed obvious that one of these two was the target. If the children were to catch them, then they could play human sacrifice too!
Seemingly reaching the same conclusion at the same time, the children swarmed out of their dim hovels, intent on subduing the tantalizing bigtalls. Kargrek and Bellona both swung their heads around at the sound of their approach; their nature and experience had been struggling against the aggressive insanity that was pushing its way through their fairly unprotected minds, and it was a lot easier for them to internally rationalize attacking a swarm of demon-children than each other. They gleefully gave into the bloodlust, charging the largely-unarmed masses of children, weapons swinging.
Bellona was the first to reach one, and impaled its calf neatly before swinging the spear wide, toppling the boy she'd struck and tangling the kids that had been unfortunate enough to be near him. She quickly withdrew her polearm and set upon the fallen crowd, finishing them off mercilessly and enthusiastically.
Kargrek, unsurprisingly, was favoring much less finesse in his attacks, simply decapitating or dismembering or disembowling anyone who got close to his whirling blade, setting those who survived contact ablaze. A few makeshift spears grazed his torso, but he was too deep in the throes of externally stimulated battle frenzy to care much; he simply cut down those who got close enough to damage him, and when one spear managed to lodge itself firmly in his side, he simply ripped it out with his off hand with a bellow and hurled it into the still-approaching crowd.
There were many of the children, and they were all old enough – and subterranean enough – that Ymirhoggr's influence had pushed them even farther than it had Bellona and Kargrek. It also meant that despite their wiry frames and lack of combat training, they were strong and fast and above all numerous enough to pose a not-insignificant threat to even experienced adults. Unfortunately for them, the adults they faced weren't average, and they'd already been stripped of inhibition and caution by the beast at the center of the artificial planet. The pair did lose their share of blood and flesh, but for every ounce they lost, they made the swarm of gangly limbs and black eyes pay in scores.
Eventually, more simply stopped coming out of the ground, and those that still had enough sense or self to flee had done so. Not long after more stopped arriving, the last of those already there fell, lifeless.
Kargrek turned to Bellona, who looked back. Both were dripping in their own blood and others', both were rocking as their chests heaved, but they were both filled with the same perverse mixture of furious rage and exhilerated excitement.
"Do you hear that?"
Kargrek cocked his head, and after a moment, he heard it. There were voices, shuffling, movement. They were coming from the tunnels yet. There were more.
"There are more."
"We can't let something like them live. We've been shown we're the only ones who will kill monsters even if those monsters are menacing an obvious threat."
"No. We can't, and we are."
They both smiled and looked towards the largest tunnel nearby.
"I'm sorry I doubted you. These things are evil."
She shook her head. "That's all in the past. You couldn't have known. They trick you. I was tricked at first, too. I thought one of them talked to me, thought it felt pain."
"But they're just beasts."
"They're just beasts."
Kargrek took Bellona's spear hand, making it vanish inside the bulky square of meat he called his own hand. She gave him the tenderest smile she could manage under the circumstances, and he withdrew, a surprisingly soft expression suffusing his blocky features.
Limping slightly from their injuries, they both disappeared into the darkness. They couldn't have known that the human sacrifice party was specifically hunting them, but even if they had, it wouldn't have changed anything. Together, the two warriors descended into the earth to hunt evil children.
No, to hunt evil beasts.
As he leapt across the still-confusing landscape, Kargrek did relish the sensation of unbridled freedom. For a time, at least. As he skidded across sand and tarmac and strange padded ground, he felt himself becoming frustrated. At first, it was just a mild, undirected annoyance, but as time went on it gre in intensity and purpose. His face set itself into a deeper scowl as he fumed about Zaire and his stupid game, his lip curled into a sneer as he considered the foolish cowardice of his so-called competitors, his heart sped as he railed against the injustice of his kidnap from Gorkella and inability to confront his tormentor. He even became angry with himself for apparently misjudging his direction.
By the time he caught sight of Bellona – he HAD picked the right way, after all, but it didn't make him any less angry – he was a barely-restrained man-shaped lump of fury. The gladiatrix was leaning on her spear, testing her ankle against the ground and surveying the bodies that surrounded her. There were quite a lot of them, and they were all... Small.
For a moment after he skidded to a stop, Kargrek simply goggled and took in the scene, uncomprehending. Even in his current state and with his general intellect, it didn't take him long to put two and two together.
"Bellona!" He roared. She hadn't even noticed his arrival until then, and she spun around to look at him. "You... You've killed these children! What kind of monster have you become?"
She snarled in return, waving at the bodies with her spear and spitting on the sand at her feet.
"Children? These beasts are no children. Look into their eyes, see their true nature. They adopt the guise of childishness to lull you, then they strike."
Kargrek looked, but saw only children with black eyes, not demons in childish form.
"You fool! In the last world we landed, the men were metal and their eyes glass. That didn't make them monsters! These pitiful creatures are just children, cursed with dark sight, cursed to live in a land unlike ours. You have murdered them!"
She raised her spear threateningly. "You've seen them dead. You weren't here when they lived. They attacked, they screamed, they threatened."
"If they were truly monsters," he rumbled, hefting his axe, "how did you dispatch them so bloodlessly? Where are the claw scars on your flesh, the bites at your neck?"
"If I am truly a monster," she hissed, "how have you not struck me down yet? Where is your fighting spirit, you cowardly half man?"
He roared again, this time a guttural word of command, and swung Strombald in Bellona's direction. A wave of fire sprayed off its edge, but she deftly raised her shield to block it.
"Speak of me again in that manner," he shouted, "and I will see that I do!"
There was a tense pause as neither saw anything to say and had to actively fight the urge to simply lunge at the other and spill their blood without provocation. Perhaps fortunately, perhaps tragically, another group of the underground-dwelling children was tentatively peeking above their holes, attracted by the noise. They'd gotten word from deeper in the tunnels that a sacrifice hunt was coming this way; it seemed obvious that one of these two was the target. If the children were to catch them, then they could play human sacrifice too!
Seemingly reaching the same conclusion at the same time, the children swarmed out of their dim hovels, intent on subduing the tantalizing bigtalls. Kargrek and Bellona both swung their heads around at the sound of their approach; their nature and experience had been struggling against the aggressive insanity that was pushing its way through their fairly unprotected minds, and it was a lot easier for them to internally rationalize attacking a swarm of demon-children than each other. They gleefully gave into the bloodlust, charging the largely-unarmed masses of children, weapons swinging.
Bellona was the first to reach one, and impaled its calf neatly before swinging the spear wide, toppling the boy she'd struck and tangling the kids that had been unfortunate enough to be near him. She quickly withdrew her polearm and set upon the fallen crowd, finishing them off mercilessly and enthusiastically.
Kargrek, unsurprisingly, was favoring much less finesse in his attacks, simply decapitating or dismembering or disembowling anyone who got close to his whirling blade, setting those who survived contact ablaze. A few makeshift spears grazed his torso, but he was too deep in the throes of externally stimulated battle frenzy to care much; he simply cut down those who got close enough to damage him, and when one spear managed to lodge itself firmly in his side, he simply ripped it out with his off hand with a bellow and hurled it into the still-approaching crowd.
There were many of the children, and they were all old enough – and subterranean enough – that Ymirhoggr's influence had pushed them even farther than it had Bellona and Kargrek. It also meant that despite their wiry frames and lack of combat training, they were strong and fast and above all numerous enough to pose a not-insignificant threat to even experienced adults. Unfortunately for them, the adults they faced weren't average, and they'd already been stripped of inhibition and caution by the beast at the center of the artificial planet. The pair did lose their share of blood and flesh, but for every ounce they lost, they made the swarm of gangly limbs and black eyes pay in scores.
Eventually, more simply stopped coming out of the ground, and those that still had enough sense or self to flee had done so. Not long after more stopped arriving, the last of those already there fell, lifeless.
Kargrek turned to Bellona, who looked back. Both were dripping in their own blood and others', both were rocking as their chests heaved, but they were both filled with the same perverse mixture of furious rage and exhilerated excitement.
"Do you hear that?"
Kargrek cocked his head, and after a moment, he heard it. There were voices, shuffling, movement. They were coming from the tunnels yet. There were more.
"There are more."
"We can't let something like them live. We've been shown we're the only ones who will kill monsters even if those monsters are menacing an obvious threat."
"No. We can't, and we are."
They both smiled and looked towards the largest tunnel nearby.
"I'm sorry I doubted you. These things are evil."
She shook her head. "That's all in the past. You couldn't have known. They trick you. I was tricked at first, too. I thought one of them talked to me, thought it felt pain."
"But they're just beasts."
"They're just beasts."
Kargrek took Bellona's spear hand, making it vanish inside the bulky square of meat he called his own hand. She gave him the tenderest smile she could manage under the circumstances, and he withdrew, a surprisingly soft expression suffusing his blocky features.
Limping slightly from their injuries, they both disappeared into the darkness. They couldn't have known that the human sacrifice party was specifically hunting them, but even if they had, it wouldn't have changed anything. Together, the two warriors descended into the earth to hunt evil children.
No, to hunt evil beasts.