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Emperor
Local Time: 19:20
Local Date: November 1, 2010
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: As cuddly as a cactus, as charming as an eel.
Posts: 8,196
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The Trappings of War: Volume XII and announcements
First, let me say a few things:
I am not sure about this next section, something is missing, and I don't know what yet. As my mother says, though, you must write the bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff (she is a professional writer). So, this will in all likelyhood be editted later once I figure out where and what I missed/did wrong. Any suggestions would also be welcome.
That brings me to the next point: Over at MZO, several people have asked if I could make this into an E-book, getting some help for graphics, a cover, and such. I am trying to guage an interest in such a thing, so please let me know if you like that idea/would want something like that.
The Trappings of War
An UnOrthOdOx View of the Glory of War
Off in the distance were the signs that a storm was coming up and fast. “So?” I questioned “We’ve both seen squalls out on this sea before, this is nothing new.”
“Aye, we’ve seen squalls before. I just find it odd on such an otherwise fine morning that is brewing out there, and it just happens to be shaping up right over your dragons on the very day you set out to attack them.” Aro replied.
It was true that the normal season of storms had long since passed. One thing living on this island had taught me, though, was that one could never truly expect the weather to cooperate when you needed it, and I was not about to give in to foolish thoughts and superstition.
A horn sounded off to our left, and I looked to see Master Zen signaling ahead frantically. I looked just in time to see the dragon rise it’s head straight out of the water and hang there displaying it’s belly mockingly in our direction before crashing back down into the depths.
It seemed to take forever for us to finally gain enough ground to get in position, but at long last the time had come. Master Zen was flanked far to our left, attempting to get ahead of the dragon; UberKrux was off to our right in an attempt to prevent it from heading out to sea. Both had their ballistae loaded and ready, and were awaiting the first volley to be fired from my ship. A quick check told me that the ropes were ready, firmly attached to the ship on mighty iron fastenings that were built right into the hull, and I patiently watched for the opportunity to present itself.
A spout of water shot out from behind our boat, and I thought for an instant that the damn thing had swam underneath us. So startled was I that I nearly missed the chance when the dragon we had targeted surfaced directly in front of our boat. “Sh*t!!! We’re in the middle of a whole swarm of them!” Aro cried out from behind me, but I did not have time to turn and take count of how many he had spotted as I carefully tooK aim and fired.
I watched with satisfaction as the spear disappeared just in front of the mighty fin that rose from the dragons back. That satisfaction was short lived, however, as an unearthly wailing shattered the sound of the waves only to be followed instantly by the crack of thunder as the sky’s opened up to unleash their fury. The boat lunged forward, unseating the men at the ores with its violence and throwing me over the side, gripping onto the drawstring of the ballista for all I was worth. Aro hauled me up, having tied himself to the mast, and handed me a rope of my own to secure myself to the ship. “Look, you damn fool, if your determined to anger the gods like this, at least be prepared for it! By the Hells, you’ve inspired some wrath today!”
The winds were now picking up, and the seas themselves were becoming as violent as the business I had begun this afternoon. Securing my own rope and heading back to the bow, I prepared the second ballista and looked over to see that both Master Zen and Uber had struck home blows of their own, there were now spears sticking out from either side of the beast and it had begun to thrash just below the surface in a vain attempt to rid itself of the spears. Each movement tossed our boat to and fro, and the men working the ores seemed to have little effect in stabilizing, or in ability to fight off the violence of the dragon pressing us ever forward out to sea.
The dragon rose again, spouting more water into the air, and I fired the second shot right behind the spout, watching it sink from sight. There was an instant of stillness followed by another massive lunge and the boat itself seemed to cry out in pain with a sound that could not have been anything good. Aro was behind me barking out orders to the men, and I peered over to see what had caused the second lunge. The rope of the first spear lay slack in the water, trailing off behind our boat now. It had broken free somehow and it was only fortune that my second shot had struck before we had lost our prey for good. Hauling in the first spear in an attempt to reload and fire again, I noticed that the sea was becoming ever more violent, but could also see that there appeared to be a cloud forming around the dragon. He was bleeding, and badly.
One look at the freed spear gave me a good indication as to why, too. The barbs that Hot Enamel had designed had done their job to perfection and the spear had torn a large chunk of flesh with them when it broke free. I set about trying to cut free the flesh from around the spearhead in order to reload and fire it back into the dragon when a horn blast caught my attention once more.
Uber’s ship was signaling, pointing back towards the island. Looking up, I could barely make out anything on the horizon myself. We were quickly being drug out to sea, a sure death if one became lost and without direction. I summoned Aro over. “Well? Should we have them latch on as well, see if we can’t haul this thing together?”
“You lost all brains inside that head of yours? This thing would throw all our ships together and drown us all for sure! You started this thing, now we will have to finish it. Send them back!” He shouted.
“You telling me to give up? Look, we are being sucked right out into the abyss out there! I am not about to give this thing the satisfaction of defeating me!”
“I didn’t suggest you let it go, did I? You want to piss off the gods, fine, let them blow and rain and try to sink this thing, it’s the finest boat I’ve ever seen. Why don’t we use their own wind against ‘em, eh?” Turning from me Aro began to bark out more orders “You there, prepare the sails we’re going to drag this thing whatever it takes!”
In moments the sails were unfurled and the ship began to shudder against the howling wind. An eerie creaking could be heard all along the ship as our movement came to a slow halt. For what could have been days for all I know we sat there as I witnessed the blackened sea make every attempt to sink our vessel, and watched as the dragon thrashed against the pain of our spears in it’s side. At some point I had managed to remove the flesh from the second spear, noting that it was much like attempting to cut through leather armor, and had once again secured the second line into the dragon. Eventually, though, the dragon began to lose his strength, and as he did so, it appeared the storm did as well. Soon we were making slow progress back towards land, and the seas were returning once again to calm.
We made several exchanges of crews with both Uber’s and Master Zen’s crews, with every man taking a turn at the ores in the effort to drag our beast back to shore. It took every man, woman, child, and horse on the ropes in order to haul it up onto the beach to a point where only the tip of the tail remained lying on the ocean’s shore. The sun had already set, and only a desperate few rays of light remained clinging to the sky when this was all done and I went down to take a closer look at our dragon. With a few torches, I approached the dragon while I had sent the rest of town to secure more light and tools so that we could carve our catch up and salt the meat before it spoiled in the heat of the following day.
As I approached, I was shocked to hear the sound of breathing, and once in full sight, I could see the dragon’s mighty chest raising and lowering in an effort to regain it’s strength. This was no ordinary fish that we had caught, that was perfectly clear. I hurried to the ship and signaled to those that remained to help me with the ballista. After securing it to a cart I wheeled it back to where the dragon lay. Taking careful aim, I fired the spear directly into what I surmised was the neck. A mighty wail let me know I had struck home, and the sudden rushing of blood ensured me that this would indeed be a killing blow. Bringing the torch up for a closer look, the light caught the dragon’s eye, and through that eye I was held, unable to move. Unable to look away, it seemed the dragon was peering directly into my soul, as if searching for some way to rip it from my very being, and I as well could almost see the dragon’s soul as well. So I was held spellbound until the last bit of life ebbed from the dragon, and a cloud came to replace the life that was within those eyes.
“You ok?” A hand grabbed my shoulder. Looking up, I could see Master Zen and a number of others all staring at me, wondering what had happened.
“I’m not sure.” Was all I could muster.
Last edited by UnOrthOdOx; May 13, 2003 at 10:25.
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Fantastic!
