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 Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:15 pm
They didn't really have words for it. They didn't know the words, not even Frode. All he could think of was "something in the dirt". The wyverns backed away from the bulge underneath the earth, the wyrmlings under the protection of the older wyverns as the older ones spanned their wings defensively.
But none of them were exactly prepared for a dracolich twice their size.
Well, perhaps it was more of a "wyvernlich", as it was only slightly larger than Tiamat. But the fact stood that a large, rotting draconic beast had reared its ugly head, and was now exhuming an awful fume for a breath as its loosely attached head swiveled left and right, knocking dirt away from its rotten scales.
The wyverns stared, uncertain of how to register this.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:23 pm
"Well," Haar said, "This is new. Oh ASHERA that stinks!" He and Tiamat covered their noses.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:53 pm
The undead dragon slammed its hands against the earth, seeming driven by some purpose without a real apparent cause for its rise or animation. Stretching its jaws in a sort of yawn, the wyvernlich turned its head left and right, testing its surroundings through whatever senses it still retained. Sight was out of the question; its eyes had decayed long ago.
The wyvernlich pulled itself forward, its hind legs barely beginning to function. It seemed to know there was some life just ahead. Drawn to this source of life, the wyvernlich began to approach the Arheins population as well as Haar and Tiamat.
Still, the living wyverns did not know how to react. The wyrmlings remained shielded beneath their older brethren's wings while the guardians remained stationary. The wyvernlich continued its slow yet threatening approach.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:56 pm
Tiamat stepped foreward a bit as Haar kept a good hold of the axe.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:22 pm
With the realm ripped asunder by Loki's influence upon Sentria and the devastation that had occurred deep in Learania, an inconvenient flux had developed in Arheins. The convergence (along with, perhaps, some other mysterious force in the flooded town) had called to the corpse beneath the surface, had brought it forth.
That corpse now stood before Haar and Tiamat, head high. Its empty eye sockets appeared to explore the arrangement before it. The wyvernlich seemed to be seeking something, trying to distinguish something. But it couldn't find what it sought.
Anguished, the wyvernlich threw its head back and roared. These...living creatures didn't belong here. These were strangers, foreigners! The wyvernlich barreled forward and exploded with a roar, the echoes of its final emotions ringing through its decayed body, giving it life with the chaos that ripped through the land.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:31 pm
"Why can't the revived things EVER be nice?" Haar asked himself. Tiamat got on his hind legs and Haar started hacking away at the wyvernlich.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:49 pm
The first few blows were true. Haar's axe landed heavily against the undead creature's trunk, opening gashes and causing whatever moisture was trapped to ooze out. The wyvernlich did not appear to feel pain, however, and was only impeded by the force of the axe slamming against it.
It appeared that the wyvernlich had either registered a pattern, however, or it had gotten lucky. As Haar was making another swing, the wyvernlich veered out of harm's way and snapped its jaws down on his arm. Haar was then ripped right off of Tiamat's back and the wyvernlich threw him a fair distance across the field.
Without a moment to waste, the wyvernlich rammed its head into Tiamat.
Meanwhile, the other wyverns looked on, still too clueless to figure out what they were supposed to do.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:02 pm
Haar hit the ground hard with a thud. The armor made it a little harder of a hit. He stripped off some of his armor before charging at the undead creature and giving it a stab in the back with his axe.
Tiamat got up and growled a bit. Once he saw what Haar was doing, he dug his claws in the wyverlich's body and held his guard.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:09 pm
The wyvernlich, unaware of the sensation of pain, continued its attempt to drive Tiamat to the ground. It seemed to know that Haar was at its back, though it did not know there was an axe in its skin. The creature thrashed its tail about in an effort to knock Haar aside while it lunged at Tiamat, snapping and biting with teeth that weren't entirely strong but not entirely dull either. Its claws scratched and its body struggled.
The wyvernlich began to lurch to the side. Bending the situation to complicate its foes' performance, the creature moved to shove Haar and Tiamat down with its movement.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:16 pm
"Well this could be better." Haar said as he got up. He saw that Tiamat was hurt. He grabbed a tomahawk from his bag. "Stay down Tiamat." He readied the weapon, aimed at the head, and threw the tomahawk at the wyvernlich.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:23 pm
The creature was shifting its weight around, trying to get a better view of its foes when the tomahawk was released. Hardly a second passed. The steel connected with flesh and bone, a sickening sound that reverberated across the field.
The wyrmlings squeaked or cried out at such an unnerving sight. The guardians tensed their wings, alarmed by Haar's technique. After all, the wyvernlich resembled their own kind, and if Haar could do that to the creature, then he could do that to them.
The wyvernlich's jaw had been shattered. It seemed bewildered, unable to determine that it was missing something, casting its head left and right as it stomped and stormed angrily. It stomped a few more times before charging at the two. The wyvernlich flapped its wings, but it could not fly with rotten membrane and the decayed framework.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:26 pm
Haar's tomahawk came back to him. "Now lets try something a little better." He took aim and threw it again. This time he was hoping to take the head off.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:40 pm
Haar's prowess was a fearsome thing, to be sure. The tomahawk neatly connected with the wyvernlich's neck at some angle, and the strength that reinforced its assault cleaved through rotten flesh and bone.
The weapon failed to carve its way through, leaving the gash incomplete, but muscles and such had been severed. Now the wyvernlich's head hung from the wound, connected by some strip of flesh and whatever bone had not been broken through. Its energy seemed to be draining through at a rapid rate now. The carcass continued to charge at Haar and Tiamat, but at the same time it seemed to be having a sort of seizure, its body caught up in broken and inconstant impulses and reflexes as its arms twitched one way and wings jerked the other.
The wyverns of Arheins were unnerved. Guardians and young wyverns backed away from the scene, crying or baying in distress. Frode held the incense burner close to his chest as his emerald eyes regarded the scene with fear.
At last, poor Jingles the wyvernlich collapsed. Its corpse had run into Tiamat, where it stopped for good.
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:55 am
Tiamat shoved the corpse off of him as Haar's tomahawk came back. He caught it and put it back in his bag. He noticed that the wyverns were scared at what they saw. It was what he did. Haar felt a little guilt. He always felt a little guilty when he had to kill a dragon and he's killed a good amount of them.
Haar took the axe that was in the corpse out and put it back in the bag. He then took off what armor he still had on him. He then took some of the cloth that was loosely hanging from his belt and started to wrap Tiamat's wounds as best he could. He didn't bring any vulenaries or elixers with him. Once he was done, Haar walked to the wyverns, stopped once he was a few feet between, and sat down.
"Look," He said, "I'm sure that wasn't a good sight to see. I feel guilty that you had to see that. I also feel guilty that I had to kill a wyvern. I love them. To me killing dragons and wyverns would be like killing Tiamat."
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:12 am
When Haar approached, some of the wyverns had backed away. A few were unmoved since Haar wasn't carrying an axe with him any more although they all still emanated unease. Hatchlings and guardians alike were silent, the beorc stranger fixed in their eyes.
Frode shuffled forward to hear Haar speak. The others had only some slight understanding of speech and no knowledge of how it was used, while Frode himself was taught to a degree, so he could at least derive some context to assume the meaning of a statement.
'Guilty'. He knew the word 'guilty'. He also knew 'love'. Frode somewhat understood word for word, although he was having difficulty piecing together what the entire concept was.
Still, Frode nodded. He had at least determined that Haar was being apologetic by his tone. The others watched, trying to decide for themselves whether or not to resume trusting this stranger.
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