LEGEND of BAKURA - Ch. 3 (open Beta)
1 ORC (v) 13 HUMANS
Chapter 3
ONE ORC v. THIRTEEN HUMANS
“Hey!” said Karn, the soldier. “Save some for the thirsty!”
The soldiers all laughed, and someone passed him the bottle.
“Where did we find this again?” Karn asked, before taking a hearty swig. He made a face like it hurt, but he was smiling.
“The monster had it,” Bram said. He was a grim fellow, always sulking, always sweating. Always sharpening his ax, which set everyone on edge…
He and Karn did not get along.
“I guess orcs know their liquor!” Karn said. He took another swig, then passed it on.
“Or stole it,” Bram grumbled. “Stole it’s more like.”
“He had quite a few things on him,” Karn said. He belched, and gripped the bone dagger tucked into his sash. “Like this! See this? Funny knife, no? I bet this was from his—” Karn burped with a closed mouth, blowing it out his nose. “From his who knows what! Hah! Hehehe. Yeah?”
Bram shook his head, and sharpened his ax.
“Why are you always sulking?” Karn needled. “Sulking, sulking, all the time. Never taking any action!”
Bram grimmaced. Karn had been the one to capture the monster. Bram had been opposed, but nobody listened to Bram.
“Let the whelp alone, Karn,” grumbled the commander. But even the commander was smirking; everyone liked Karn. And why shouldn’t they? He was the very picture of bravery. Into danger. Excellent fighter. Bram knew he’d be promoted, for subduing that horrible monstrosity.
Bram didn’t like it. Not one bit. He was afraid.
“That thing let you get it,” Bram muttered.
Karn’s cheer died in his mouth. “What was that?”
Bram just stood there, and stared down at the ground.
Karn got up, getting confrontational. “Did you say something, whelp?”
Bram shook his head. “No.”
“That’s what I thought. Those lizards aren’t smart enough to set traps! Don’t be thick. Haven’t you never met no orcs before, or what is it? Mm? ‘Let me get it.’ I should let you get it, you little—”
“Ahh!” cried a voice. “Ahhhmmm hullo? Hullo, anybody?”
All the soldiers turned to look in the direction of the voice. In the middle of the courtyard, a man in a loincloth and tunic was waving his arms and making all kinds of noises.
“Is that… Thadrig?” Bram asked.
“What’s he doing?” Karn said. “Oy! What are you doing?”
The commander stood, and began to walk toward Thadrig.
“Stay right there soldier, and that is an order!”
Thadrig kept on walking toward them, making sounds, and flailing.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Bram muttered. He gripped his ax, the feeling of a fight closing in on him. Making it harder for him to breathe. Making Bram’s heartbeat go faster.
“Oh shut up,” grumbled the commander.
“Where’s Pawdrig?” asked Bram.
Karn suddenly seemed annoyed, asking, “Who in Lich’s Hell let him out? Shouldn’t he be down in the—”
Then Karn turned. He looked at Bram and saw…
Bakura. Wings spread. Behind Bram.
“Look out! He’s—!”
Too late.
Bakura bared his teeth and claws, and pounced on the poor soldier. He clung to him. Bakura’s nails dug into various parts of the man’s face, before the 15 year old monster’s wings wrapped around his victim, occluding him from view.
Bram screamed and flailed, trying to get the thing off him. It did not come off him.
The soldiers all around, all 12 of them, stared in horror. Some fumbled for their weapons, but most were shocked stiff.
Bakura clung to Bram’s flesh like a squirrel on a branch in a hurricane. By the time the soldiers could reorient themselves, Bram was on the ground with his throat torn open.
Bakura opened his wings and dismounted, and Bram’s body fell. The monster held a club in one hand and Bram’s ax in the other.
One hand held an ax, the other a club…
As it should be.
One weapon in each hand was Bakura’s favorite way to fight.