Osrik is a character from Emu777's story Guardian. I have his personal permission to use Osrik, and have his approval on the interpretation of the character. The flashback in this chapter occurs shortly after Emu777's chapter 9, when Osrik leaves Benalia.
Chapter Eleven
Against the Odds
"So it was simply by coincidence that you were out of the clearing at this time?" Deneve looked at Yura suspiciously.
Yura stared at Deneve for a moment and leaned over to Osrik before whispering to him "Is she always this paranoid?"
Osrik just shrugged his shoulders. Helen chuckled and nodded her head.
Yura looked back at Deneve and smiled. "Well, yes, I would call it coincidence that I happened to leave just then. Especially when you're my age, when nature calls, one must answer. Now, where was I…"
The smell only got worse as Yura approached the clearing. Yura risked a further release of his power to speed his progress. He didn't realize that he had strayed so far from the campsite.
Yura dodged through the underbrush, coming up rapidly the source of the smell. He leapt high over a massive stump and burst into the clearing to find his worst fears confirmed. Osrik had been found by a Yoma.
The Yoma stood by the embers of the fire, fully transformed. It was small for a Yoma, not quite even reaching seven feet. The thin waist and long hair told Yura that it was a female, which were rarely seen outside of their mountainous nests.
It lunged at Osrik, swiping with claws like razor blades. Osrik ducked the claws of the left hand and delivered a low kick to the creature's foot.
Small though this Yoma was, it was still more than a match for a lone human. Osrik's boot glanced off of the leg as if it were steel. The Yoma reached its right claw back and slashed across at Osrik's lowered head.
Osrik jumped over the claw and kicked the Yoma in the teeth, more to propel himself backwards than to try and wound it.
Yura was astounded to watch Osrik dodge and weave around the claws with a speed rarely observed in humans.
His astonishment didn't last long as the Yoma's claws grazed Osrik's shoulder, loosing a small trickle of crimson blood. Yura snapped into action. He charged towards the battle. He swerved to the left, and grabbed his staff from where he had slept, then changed course and came at the Yoma.
Before Yura could engage, the Yoma had Osrik pinned. It had chased him down after he had kicked off of the Yoma's face. It had slammed its palm into Osrik's chest as he fumbled in his belt, and pressed Osrik into the ground.
Resting on a knee, and crushing Osrik into the earth, the Yoma raised its free claw. The fingers pressed together, claw tips aligning to act as a single deadly blade. It drew the hand back to its pointed ear, eyes burning brightly in anticipation of the kill.
Yura finally reached the battle. He was thankful that the Yoma was so focused on Osrik. It never saw him coming.
Yura rushed the Yoma from behind. He used the leg extended from behind the Yoma's knee as a step, jumped onto its back and from that point, leapt high into the air.
The Yoma finally noticed him. It turned, loosening its pressure on Osrik's chest. It turned just in time to watch as Yura raised his staff over his head, held by one end, and swung the staff straight downward.
The iron-hard staff struck the Yoma directly in the face. Purple blood sprayed out from the mouth as fangs loosened in the Yoma's mouth. Yura's feet landed on the monster's shoulders a moment later, and he quickly jumped off, landing smoothly.
He ran a few steps over to Osrik, who was gasping for the breath that the pressure on his chest had deprived him of. Fortunately, the Yoma had blocked Osrik's view of Yura's superhuman leap.
The Yoma reeled back in pain, spitting blood and a few fangs from its jaws. Its high voice was slurred by the blood in its mouth. "You bastard! Where'd you come from?"
Yura ignored the Yoma, grabbed Osrik's wrist and lifted him to his feet. "You alright, my friend?"
Osrik took a deep breath and said "I will be in a moment." Osrik straightened himself and reached into his belt. From an inside pocket of his jacket, he pulled out an elaborate hand scythe, with the blade extending over the top of the wooden handle, and curving up into a sharp point on top.
The wooden handle was attached to a chain in the bottom, which unravelled from within Osrik's belt as he pulled out his weapon.
Yura looked at the blade with interest. "Is that a Kusari Gama? I haven't seen one of those in ages, and never one that elaborate."
Osrik pulled out the weighted end from his belt. This part was large, and shaped like a half of a sphere. The chain connected to the flat end, and metal hooks extended back from four points near the chain.
Osrik took a firmer grip on the handle and swung the weighted end in a figure eight pattern. Yura asked him "How on earth did you get a hold of it? I wasn't even aware that they made those anymore."
Osrik looked at Yura from the side of his eye, still focusing the bulk of his attention on the Yoma. It's the only relic I have left of a life I chose to leave behind. It's not something I like to talk about." Osrik now turned all of his attention back to the Yoma. "Now stand back, my friend. If it looks like I can't kill it, run."
Yura chuckled quietly. "Who do you think you're talking to? I might not look it, but I am well versed in the art of battle." Yura twirled his staff viciously through the air, stopping with the staff held out in front of him in a battle stance. "Though I must admit, I don't make a habit of fighting Yoma."
Osrik cringed. He hoped that the old man wouldn't get hurt, but against a Yoma, he wasn't going to refuse help that was offered freely. "Alright then. Try and keep up."
Yura laughed harder. "I will, as long as you don't slow me down."
The Yoma howled with fury. It had almost fully recovered from Yura's attack. The stars before its eyes had faded, the loose teeth had solidified and the lost ones were already starting to grow back.
At the same moment, Yura and Osrik, and the Yoma ran at each other. Fangs and blade shone in the night, metallic wood whistled through the air.
The Yoma raised its claws, one back to each ear and launched its hands forward on rubberized arms. Yura intercepted the lethal assault with his staff. The arm continued to lengthen, lifting Yura off the ground and hurtling him into a tree. His back hit the trunk with a bone-crushing impact.
Osrik ducked beneath the deadly talon and continued on to the Yoma. He couldn't worry about Yura right now, or they were both dead. The Yoma lashed out with its leg. The thrust aimed for Osrik's stomach would have killed him had it hit.
But Osrik was no stranger to battle. He saw the attack from the corner of his eye and reacted. He kicked off of the ground, hurtling himself out of range of the attack, and out of range of his intended strike. Luckily, the Kusari Gama is not restricted by proximity.
Osrik released the wooden handle and flicked his opposite wrist. With the speed and accuracy of a striking snake, the deadly scythe flew straight and true for the Yoma's eye.
With a twist of the head, the Yoma avoided blindness. The chained scythe sailed harmlessly past the monster's head, and the Yoma raised its retracted arm to take off Osrik's head.
The man smiled cruelly and flicked his wrist vertically. The motion sent a ripple through the Kusari Gama chain.
The blade whipped down. The chain hit the Yoma's right shoulder. The long chain wrapped around the Yoma's bicep, the scythe moved faster as the free length of chain shortened. As the final length of chain ended, the long point of the scythe penetrated the Yoma's flesh at the elbow joint.
A cry of pain was loosed from the Yoma's twisted lips. Osrik wrapped the chain around his wrist, pulling it taught to immobilize the penetrated arm. The Yoma looked at its arm, appearing to be almost uncomprehending of the injury.
It then looked up and smiled at Osrik. It reached up with its uninjured limb and grabbed the chain. Only then did Osrik realize his mistake. He wasn't used to fighting opponents as strong as a Yoma.
It yanked hard on the chain. Before Osrik could disentangle the chain from his wrist, he was hurtling through the air. Ignoring the pain, the Yoma raised its injured arm, driving the blade of the Kusari Gama deeper into the joint. The claws readied to impale the flying warrior, and launched as five lethal whips.
The arm jerked back, and the five extended claws flew all around Osrik's head, not a one grazing his flesh. Osrik managed to get a foot on the ground and changed his trajectory, sliding around the Yoma. The Yoma cried in pain as Osrik puzzled over the cause of his miraculous rescue.
"Sorry I took so long. You just seemed to be having so much fun, it seemed a shame to interrupt you." Osrik looked over and saw Yura holding a length of the Kusari Gama chain, twisted around his staff. With a yank, Yura stripped the blade from the Yoma's elbow and sent the chain unravelling from the arm.
The blade soared through the air, trailing violet blood, and landed right in Yura's hand. With a deft movement, Yura disentangled the chain from his staff and handed the weapon back to Osrik, who still held the weighted end. "I believe this belongs to you."
Osrik accepted his weapon back. "Nice timing. Do you think you're up to finishing this? It looks like you've had the wind knocked out of you."
"Do I really? I was just getting warmed up." Yura ran at the Yoma. The monster lashed out with its arm, extending once again, Yura just kept charging heedless of the lethal claws heading at him.
As he expected, the Kusari Gama weight caught the Yoma just behind the wrist, and the arm was yanked astray. Yura smiled. It was nice having someone to watch his back.
Yura put his legs out in front, feet sliding in the dirt until he was within inches of the Yoma's body. He got his feet under him and thrust straight up with his staff. Osrik heard bone crack as the gnarled wooden end hit the Yoma square in the jaw.
Back peddling, Yura tried to get out of range before the Yoma could counterattack. He was just a little to slow.
The Yoma caught him by the collar of his shirt, cutting short his escape. It lifted Yura high into the air, snarling and spitting in his face. Even as Yura watched, the Yoma's broke jaw straightened and healed. Yura had never seen a normal Yoma this fast at healing.
Looking down the Yoma's gullet, Yura had a moment of inspiration. He swung his feet forward and planted them on the Yoma's shoulders. He took his staff in a two-handed grip and stabbed it right down the Yoma's throat.
The smooth wooden shaft slid several feet down the Yoma's oesophagus, and lodged in the beast's stomach. Unable to breathe, the Yoma released its captive. Yura fell to the ground and made his way back to Osrik's side.
Acting on its first instinct, the Yoma bit down on the staff, trying to shatter it. The Yoma could not even scratch the wood for the metal that the wood had absorbed. All it did was chip a tooth.
The Yoma reached up and grabbed the staff, trying to pull it out. Osrik whipped his chain at it again, latching the weighted end onto the arm trying to dislodge the staff. He and Yura both grabbed the chain and yanked down, driving the staff deeper into the Yoma's innards. The monster gagged on the wood, coughing up purple blood.
Osrik and Yura exchanged glances. Right now, the Yoma had its eyes fixed skyward. The staff lodged in its stomach, extending out from its mouth, prevented the Yoma from realigning its head. It might as well have been blind right then.
The pair of warriors released the chain in unison. The Yoma's arm was finally allowed to move upwards, wrenching the staff from its throat. As the staff cleared the Yoma's jaws, Yura and Osrik ran in.
The Yoma had to raise its arm very high to pull the staff free. Osrik took advantage of this to drive the point of his scythe deep into the soft tissue of the Yoma's underarm. When the blade was withdrawn, a whistle of air along with a torrent of blood from the wound told Osrik that he had punctured a lung.
A scream of pain and a welter of blood was loosed from the Yoma's lips. The Yoma dropped the staff in its pain, and Yura ducked around the Yoma's left side to pick up the blood soaked weapon.
Osrik danced back out of the Yoma's attack range. He released the wooden handle and swung the blade around in a dizzying circle. Now the blade that arched over the main scythe blade came into play.
Most Kusari Gama just had a flattened piece of metal on the top side of the blade, and the weapon could be deflected with proper timing. When combined with the circling of the chain, the sharpened upper edge made it impossible to penetrate the area of the blade without becoming victim to that edge.
Yura now had his staff in hand and was standing a distance behind the Yoma. "You're very skilled with that thing," he shouted to Osrik. "I must say, I'm impressed."
"Thank you. You're not bad yourself." As the two men complimented each other, the Yoma was trying to decide which of the two to kill first. It was having a great degree of difficulty with both of them, but the one with the blade appeared to be the most dangerous one.
The Yoma decided to brave Osrik's circle of death. It caught the blade in its palm, the main point of the scythe going straight through. Osrik flicked his wrist and pulled the blade free before the Yoma could grab the weapon and take it from him.
Yura saw that the Yoma was still leaking blood from its side and mouth, and even the superficial wound to its hand wasn't healing. He and Osrik were breathing pretty hard, but the Yoma had taken a lot of damage. It was wearing down, and the chances of winning were going up very quickly.
Of course, if it had ever really come down to it, Yura wouldn't have hesitated to release his power and wipe out the other Yoma, but Osrik was skilled enough that it really didn't seem necessary. Between the two of them backing each other up, the only injuries were some minor bruising and a small cut on Osrik's shoulder.
As the Yoma charged at Osrik, it snarled, blood foaming from its twisted lips. Osrik flung the weighted end of the chain at the Yoma's head. The chain sailed past the Yoma's head. As the monster readied its claws to kill Osrik, it wondered why he missed.
Yura grabbed the weight and flung it back, past the other side of the Yoma's head. The chain wrapped tight around the Yoma's neck. Yura grabbed the end on its return, planted his feet on the Yoma's back and pulled. Once more the Yoma found itself strangling.
The pressure on its shoulder blades also immobilized the Yoma's claws inches away from penetrating Osrik's heart. Seeing the Yoma so close to his face, struggling move its arms forward for the kill, Osrik took action.
He reversed his grip on the Kusari Gama, so the wooden shaft paralleled his arm, and main scythe blade pointed outward. With the sharp edge directed forward of there, Osrik took a short, sharp step towards the Yoma, and dug the scythe blade deep into its neck.
Yoma are tough creatures. Even weakened beyond the pint of healing even minor wounds, the Yoma would not be beheaded so easily. Try as he might, Osrik could hardly get the blade inching forward after the initial impact, and the Yoma was breaking through the pressure Yura had on its shoulders.
Yura thrust feet harder into the Yoma's back, and at the same moment flicked the chain loose. He pulled it tight a moment later, so the chain lay across the blade of the Kusari Gama, adding his strength to Osrik's.
With a final explosive effort, the two warriors pulled the blade deeper into the Yoma's neck. It hung for a moment as it slid between the vertebrae, but then it came free. Osrik followed the strike through, sweeping the blade in front of his body, flinging the blood off of the polished blade.
As Yoma's head rolled across the dirt, Yura rode the body into the ground. He released the chain and flung it over to Osrik. The two men walked wearily over to the edge of the clearing, and when they turned around to face their fallen foe, their legs collapsed under them.
Yura leaned back with his hands out behind him and started laughing hysterically. "Well, that was fun."
Osrik looked queerly at Yura, taking a moment between gasps for air to say "you are a very strange old man, you know that right?"
Yura stopped laughing and sighed deeply and smiled. "I get that a lot."
"Where were you anyway? I woke up and you were gone."
"I was dealing with a little personal business in the bushes. Did I miss something important?"
"Yes, you did. I woke up when I heard rustling in the bushes in the direction of town. A woman came out asking for a way back to the road. I turn my back to point the way, and she turned into a Yoma and tried to eat me."
Yura cringed. "Ooh, that was pretty important wasn't it?"
"Yes it was. She seemed like a nice young woman too. You just can't trust anyone these days. You never know who might be a Yoma."
Yura laughed gently, looking down at his feet. "Yes. You never quite know."