Retribution of Angos
Chapter
Drasko sat staring across the valley, knowing what was to become of
it if the didn't succeed. And what if he didn't? He put the thought
straight out of his head. He must succeed. He had promised Blancor
he would succeed. If he didn't the world was lost and all good things
in Angos would be destroyed.
He drew his broadsword and saluted Blancor's memory, brandishing it
high in the air. 'I will succeed,' he told himself and returned his
sword to its sheath. He would prevent the atrocities in the future
by destroying it from its origin. Yet he needed to amass a band of
elites, warriors so great that the dragon lord, Maloth, would not
come to power. That at least was the hope. To save his time by
saving this one.
And so he left his perch above the valley and began the long
journey. He knew it would end in conflict yet it had to be done. He
travelled east.
High in the heavily forested mountains of Angos, Skullivar awoke in
his cave and rose, stretching and flexing his gargantuan muscles.
He leaned down and grasped his massive oak club, lifting it with the
ease that not even a grizzly bear could manage and that was the
biggest creature he had ever seen or known...or killed with his
bare hands, he loped out of the cave with his head bowed so as not to
hit the roof. Once out of the cave he stood up to his full height; a
colossal 10 feet, looking around for food in the form of a large
deer, mountain lion, or bear he spotted a deer "Tha strage" (that's
strange) he said with difficulty - it was unusual for deer to come
that close to the cave - he dismissed the thought and with only one
thought in mind "Hungwy" (hungry) he jogged, then ran full pelt at
the deer.
The deer heard a crashing noise as if something was coming towards
him a great speed, he lifted his elegant head and looked around;
there was a gigantic...thing coming straight at him with great
speed.
The deer started to run, but for all it was worth it couldn't outpace
the 10 foot giant coming after him, dodging trees, leaping over
bushes and through streams Skullivar slowly gained on the deer, and,
when at last the deer was tiring he was almost upon it, the deer
stopped because it could not run any further.
Skullivar raised his massive club above his head and brought it down
with such force that the deer's head 'exploded' and splattered all
over the ground and bushes for several meters and the ground shook.
The gigantic ogre picked up what remained of the deer and slung it
over his shoulder. After about half an hour and a mile or two behind
him, Skullivar reached the cave, not in the least tired or out of
breath, he lit a fire using some flint stones he found and bark
scrapings.
From half a mile away the belch could be heard, flocks of birds rose
from the trees and deer ran at full pelt for a short distance until
they realised that nothing shaped like a mountain holding a club was
chasing after them.
Skullivar belched, it was amplified by the cave, he threw the last of
the bones away onto the pile in the corner, full up with deer meat he
settled down to sleep again.
Drasko soared through the air with ease, his wings beating
effortlessly. He could see a forest ahead of him. This must have been the
Haradsta, he thought as he flew. He had studied the old maps in the
resistance especially for this quest. And so he flew onwards, hoping
to see for himself the forest that had been burnt and destroyed by
the dragon lord's armies.
He was over the top of the great trees now and even from above its
beauty took his breath away. In the future there was no real
forests anymore, only desolation. The calm of the sky was
therapeutic and a big change from the polluted air of the future
Angos. Yet this calm was destroyed by a sound so unlikely that it
had Drasko wondering what the hell it was. He could have sworn it
was a belch yet surely there was nothing that could make a sound
that loud.
Drasko was intrigued and he had to check it out. And so he plummeted
to the ground yet gained a perfect landing. He stayed in his dragon
form, as this was a good deal larger than his human one. As a dragon
he reached around eight feet. And so he padded along on all fours.
His heightened senses picked up sounds and smells that were
completely unfamiliar to him but most pungent was the reek of death
in the air. The smell made his dragon senses tingle with
anticipation ... a sensation he tried to keep under control as it
usually led to conflict for food. No, he thought. He must suppress
the urges he felt as a dragon if he wished to gather together his
warriors.
He decided to follow the smell of death and see where it led. He
followed the scent as if it was a trail of rope leading to the death.
It grew ever stronger as he travelled and finally found rest in the
mouth of a cave. Whatever it was that had been killed had resided or
been brought to here. The cave mouth was large enough to walk through
so he did, although he had to fold his wings down flat against his
back lest they scrape across the roof of the cave. And their before
him, sleeping soundly with snore that was more like the roar of a
Delgoth, was the biggest living that Drasko had seen so far.
'What the hell is that?' he whispered to himself.
Skullivar was awakened by the noise of some... thing entering his
cave... HIS cave! No one goes into HIS cave uninvited!
To be more precise he was awakened by the noise of
scraping...claws scraping along the floor of his cave.
Upon opening his eyes all he saw was yet another animal starting a
line to be slaughtered, without fear he lurched to his feet, grabbing
and lifting his club on the way up, one thing that was annoying to
him was that he couldn't rise up to his full height as the cave was
only around 9 feet tall, whereas this...thing could and with
about a foot of headroom. Of course, Skullivar didn't think like
this, he thought more like "Food" or "Break".
In the little room there was in the cave Skullivar lurched into a
run, head bowed, club being held to the side for maximum swing in the
small cave, at full speed he hit the monster with his head bowed and
he brought his club round to hit the monster.
Drasko saw the huge form hurtling towards him and in an instant the
bulk smashed into him. It knocked him back, but unknown to Skullivar
he had knocked him out of the range of his next assault. The giant
club swung and hit the side of the cave, jarring Skullivar's arm.
He let out a cacophonous roar as Drasko backed out to the forest.
When he was there he leapt into the air and hovered, his great wings
beating steadily. Skullivar charged outside expecting to find the
dragon on the ground. He stared around dumbfounded until Drasko
landed almost directly in front of him and rose onto his hind legs.
Skullivar, having finally found a target, aimed a blow with all his
might towards this dragon. Yet the club was caught in Drasko's
clawed hands while his tail swept its self around Skullivar's legs
and pulled him over. In a split second Drasko had risen into the air
again and came crashing down with all his might onto the felled
beast. Skullivar gave a roar of pain and Drasko scrambled off of
him. He rose once more, only to have his tail caught in the
seemingly unbreakable grip of a massive hand and before Drasko could
react he was being spun around in the air two handed by Skullivar.
Skullivar finally let go, sending Drasko hurtling toward the trees.
This display of brute strength sparked something in Drasko's mind
and he wondered if he could turn this creature to his cause. That
thought was cut short as Drasko struck a set of large oaks.
Drasko was getting angry now. The dragon side of him started to show
and he fought for control for that rage was the beginning of the
road to defeat.
The two beasts charged at each other once more yet Drasko was faster
and
just before contact would have been made, he leapt into the air
and let the wind catch his wings.
As Skullivar hurtled underneath him he spun in the air and plummeted
towards Skullivar. The momentum of Skullivar's charge and the power
of which Drasko struck him worked as a combined force and Skullivar
flew forward. He cannoned into a tree head first, splintering the
tree and leaving him dazed for a second.
Yet this was not enough to tire the beast and he rose from the
broken stump of the tree and stood his ground once more. Yet he did
not charge, as Drasko had expected. Instead he walked slowly towards
him, wobbling slightly but still sure footed enough to carry on the
fight, sheer fury and at the same time a maniacal sense of fun,
almost as if this was like a game to Skullivar, showed in his eyes.
Drasko watched in almost disbelief, was this.... thing giving up?
Only time would tell.
Skullivar walked slowly towards his opponent, at last a worthy
opponent. Even the mighty grizzly bears couldn't match his
prodigious strength; Skullivar was beginning to enjoy this.
With his head finally cleared, Skullivar broke into a run, he could
see his opponent getting ready for another hammer-blow, at the last
second Skullivar dove under the monster; rolling and coming back up
now with club in hand. Skullivar lifted himself to his full height
and hefted his club one handed above his head; this was it, do or
die!
He charged forward shouting at the top of his lungs, it was as if
the whole mountain was erupting with his voice, closer and closer he
got to the monster, the monster now charged too, roaring for all he
was worth, blowing great columns or fire into the air, and yet
Skullivar was still unafraid because the bloodlust had taken control
now.
Closer and closer the two fighters came until finally the dragon
lashed out with his arm, knocking Skullivar's legs out from under
him, while almost simultaneously Skullivar brought the club down
with all his might upon the monster and knocked him out cold.
When Skullivar's head hit the cold stone he too was knocked out, the
two were completely unconscious.
Skullivar was the first to awaken, he stood up and barely managed
to stifle the pain coming from his leg, he looked down to see three
long gashes in his leg, he probed them with his fingers; the pain
almost unbearable, luckily no bone was broken or anything too
serious had happened. He decided to grin and bear the pain, so he
limped over to the monster that was just coming round, he wouldn't
kill it, he liked this...thing, this.... worthy opponent. Now he
thought about it, the monster could have come round before him and
killed him, Skullivar owed the monster his life as the dragon owed
Skullivar his.
When Drasko awoke it was to a horrifying sight. Standing over him
was the beast he had just battle. He thought it was going to attack
once more and he braced himself for death. But the final blow never
came. Instead this beast just stood there watching. He could just
about remember going down but also remembered the beast going down
with him. Maybe he owed this beast his life. Maybe it felt the same
way. He tried to get up when he realised he had changed into human
form. He head hurt like hell and when he touched his brow he felt
blood. Never mind, he thought to himself, it would heal quickly. And
so he lay naked, the saddlebag he used to store his possessions when
in dragon form lay on top of him. He quickly retrieved his cloths
from the bag and dressed. It was his usual garb of a loose, white
cotton shirt and black trousers. He also put on his knee length
boots, standard resistance issue. The saddlebag had two attachments
on it and could be quickly converted to a travelling backpack. While
he strapped his broad sword and it's sheathe to his back he spoke
with caution to this thing
'so...what may I call you? And no offence meant but what in Sa's
good earth are you?'
Skullivar watched as the creature came round and slowly...changed,
it surprised Skullivar to see a beast transform miraculously into
what he remembered to be a hoo-mun (human). Skullivar stood
transfixed; almost hypnotised by what was happening before his very
eyes, he had always thought of things as.... well.... what they were
and nothing else, but seeing this actually scared him - to see his
only worthy adversary he had ever met suddenly transform into a
pathetic hoo-mun, he could crush it like a common wolf and yet he
still did not.
The hoo-mun rose with a shallow cut on his forehead, the blood was
beginning to congeal already and the hoo-mun gathered some equipment,
some looked like weapons to Skullivar although nothing that could do
any more damage than the claws of a brown bear.
The hoo-mun spoke some words Skullivar couldn't understand but he
dismissed them and said his name "Ah Skullivar" (I Skullivar) and
thumped his massive chest with one huge fist then stamped one huge
foot against the ground; several birds rose from the trees, he then
held out his club and said "Tuch it" (touch it), this was his
greeting, the weapons were always held out for the other to touch -
harmful end towards the other being.
'Tuch it', the beast had said. Its grasp of words was obviously
basic and his vocabulary small, if existant at all. Drasko
immdeiatly knew that this was a creature of little intelligence. It
had its club outstretched towards him and gestured that he should
do the same.
He was sure that this was some sort of friendship ritual or a salute
to the end of a battle. Either way he decided to comply. So he drew
his broadsword from it's sheathe on his back and touched the blade to
the club. He waited to see what this... what should he call it? He
decided to name it after a rare beast he had heard of living in this
time, an ogre. Yes that would do, an ogre.
Drasko had assumed its name was skullivar althought he didnt know if
the ogre understood him. So he awaited Skullivars next move, as he
was unfamiliar with this ritual. Was it to be a friendship forged in battle?
Chapter
Drasko sat staring across the valley, knowing what was to become of
it if the didn't succeed. And what if he didn't? He put the thought
straight out of his head. He must succeed. He had promised Blancor
he would succeed. If he didn't the world was lost and all good things
in Angos would be destroyed.
He drew his broadsword and saluted Blancor's memory, brandishing it
high in the air. 'I will succeed,' he told himself and returned his
sword to its sheath. He would prevent the atrocities in the future
by destroying it from its origin. Yet he needed to amass a band of
elites, warriors so great that the dragon lord, Maloth, would not
come to power. That at least was the hope. To save his time by
saving this one.
And so he left his perch above the valley and began the long
journey. He knew it would end in conflict yet it had to be done. He
travelled east.
High in the heavily forested mountains of Angos, Skullivar awoke in
his cave and rose, stretching and flexing his gargantuan muscles.
He leaned down and grasped his massive oak club, lifting it with the
ease that not even a grizzly bear could manage and that was the
biggest creature he had ever seen or known...or killed with his
bare hands, he loped out of the cave with his head bowed so as not to
hit the roof. Once out of the cave he stood up to his full height; a
colossal 10 feet, looking around for food in the form of a large
deer, mountain lion, or bear he spotted a deer "Tha strage" (that's
strange) he said with difficulty - it was unusual for deer to come
that close to the cave - he dismissed the thought and with only one
thought in mind "Hungwy" (hungry) he jogged, then ran full pelt at
the deer.
The deer heard a crashing noise as if something was coming towards
him a great speed, he lifted his elegant head and looked around;
there was a gigantic...thing coming straight at him with great
speed.
The deer started to run, but for all it was worth it couldn't outpace
the 10 foot giant coming after him, dodging trees, leaping over
bushes and through streams Skullivar slowly gained on the deer, and,
when at last the deer was tiring he was almost upon it, the deer
stopped because it could not run any further.
Skullivar raised his massive club above his head and brought it down
with such force that the deer's head 'exploded' and splattered all
over the ground and bushes for several meters and the ground shook.
The gigantic ogre picked up what remained of the deer and slung it
over his shoulder. After about half an hour and a mile or two behind
him, Skullivar reached the cave, not in the least tired or out of
breath, he lit a fire using some flint stones he found and bark
scrapings.
From half a mile away the belch could be heard, flocks of birds rose
from the trees and deer ran at full pelt for a short distance until
they realised that nothing shaped like a mountain holding a club was
chasing after them.
Skullivar belched, it was amplified by the cave, he threw the last of
the bones away onto the pile in the corner, full up with deer meat he
settled down to sleep again.
Drasko soared through the air with ease, his wings beating
effortlessly. He could see a forest ahead of him. This must have been the
Haradsta, he thought as he flew. He had studied the old maps in the
resistance especially for this quest. And so he flew onwards, hoping
to see for himself the forest that had been burnt and destroyed by
the dragon lord's armies.
He was over the top of the great trees now and even from above its
beauty took his breath away. In the future there was no real
forests anymore, only desolation. The calm of the sky was
therapeutic and a big change from the polluted air of the future
Angos. Yet this calm was destroyed by a sound so unlikely that it
had Drasko wondering what the hell it was. He could have sworn it
was a belch yet surely there was nothing that could make a sound
that loud.
Drasko was intrigued and he had to check it out. And so he plummeted
to the ground yet gained a perfect landing. He stayed in his dragon
form, as this was a good deal larger than his human one. As a dragon
he reached around eight feet. And so he padded along on all fours.
His heightened senses picked up sounds and smells that were
completely unfamiliar to him but most pungent was the reek of death
in the air. The smell made his dragon senses tingle with
anticipation ... a sensation he tried to keep under control as it
usually led to conflict for food. No, he thought. He must suppress
the urges he felt as a dragon if he wished to gather together his
warriors.
He decided to follow the smell of death and see where it led. He
followed the scent as if it was a trail of rope leading to the death.
It grew ever stronger as he travelled and finally found rest in the
mouth of a cave. Whatever it was that had been killed had resided or
been brought to here. The cave mouth was large enough to walk through
so he did, although he had to fold his wings down flat against his
back lest they scrape across the roof of the cave. And their before
him, sleeping soundly with snore that was more like the roar of a
Delgoth, was the biggest living that Drasko had seen so far.
'What the hell is that?' he whispered to himself.
Skullivar was awakened by the noise of some... thing entering his
cave... HIS cave! No one goes into HIS cave uninvited!
To be more precise he was awakened by the noise of
scraping...claws scraping along the floor of his cave.
Upon opening his eyes all he saw was yet another animal starting a
line to be slaughtered, without fear he lurched to his feet, grabbing
and lifting his club on the way up, one thing that was annoying to
him was that he couldn't rise up to his full height as the cave was
only around 9 feet tall, whereas this...thing could and with
about a foot of headroom. Of course, Skullivar didn't think like
this, he thought more like "Food" or "Break".
In the little room there was in the cave Skullivar lurched into a
run, head bowed, club being held to the side for maximum swing in the
small cave, at full speed he hit the monster with his head bowed and
he brought his club round to hit the monster.
Drasko saw the huge form hurtling towards him and in an instant the
bulk smashed into him. It knocked him back, but unknown to Skullivar
he had knocked him out of the range of his next assault. The giant
club swung and hit the side of the cave, jarring Skullivar's arm.
He let out a cacophonous roar as Drasko backed out to the forest.
When he was there he leapt into the air and hovered, his great wings
beating steadily. Skullivar charged outside expecting to find the
dragon on the ground. He stared around dumbfounded until Drasko
landed almost directly in front of him and rose onto his hind legs.
Skullivar, having finally found a target, aimed a blow with all his
might towards this dragon. Yet the club was caught in Drasko's
clawed hands while his tail swept its self around Skullivar's legs
and pulled him over. In a split second Drasko had risen into the air
again and came crashing down with all his might onto the felled
beast. Skullivar gave a roar of pain and Drasko scrambled off of
him. He rose once more, only to have his tail caught in the
seemingly unbreakable grip of a massive hand and before Drasko could
react he was being spun around in the air two handed by Skullivar.
Skullivar finally let go, sending Drasko hurtling toward the trees.
This display of brute strength sparked something in Drasko's mind
and he wondered if he could turn this creature to his cause. That
thought was cut short as Drasko struck a set of large oaks.
Drasko was getting angry now. The dragon side of him started to show
and he fought for control for that rage was the beginning of the
road to defeat.
The two beasts charged at each other once more yet Drasko was faster
and
just before contact would have been made, he leapt into the air
and let the wind catch his wings.
As Skullivar hurtled underneath him he spun in the air and plummeted
towards Skullivar. The momentum of Skullivar's charge and the power
of which Drasko struck him worked as a combined force and Skullivar
flew forward. He cannoned into a tree head first, splintering the
tree and leaving him dazed for a second.
Yet this was not enough to tire the beast and he rose from the
broken stump of the tree and stood his ground once more. Yet he did
not charge, as Drasko had expected. Instead he walked slowly towards
him, wobbling slightly but still sure footed enough to carry on the
fight, sheer fury and at the same time a maniacal sense of fun,
almost as if this was like a game to Skullivar, showed in his eyes.
Drasko watched in almost disbelief, was this.... thing giving up?
Only time would tell.
Skullivar walked slowly towards his opponent, at last a worthy
opponent. Even the mighty grizzly bears couldn't match his
prodigious strength; Skullivar was beginning to enjoy this.
With his head finally cleared, Skullivar broke into a run, he could
see his opponent getting ready for another hammer-blow, at the last
second Skullivar dove under the monster; rolling and coming back up
now with club in hand. Skullivar lifted himself to his full height
and hefted his club one handed above his head; this was it, do or
die!
He charged forward shouting at the top of his lungs, it was as if
the whole mountain was erupting with his voice, closer and closer he
got to the monster, the monster now charged too, roaring for all he
was worth, blowing great columns or fire into the air, and yet
Skullivar was still unafraid because the bloodlust had taken control
now.
Closer and closer the two fighters came until finally the dragon
lashed out with his arm, knocking Skullivar's legs out from under
him, while almost simultaneously Skullivar brought the club down
with all his might upon the monster and knocked him out cold.
When Skullivar's head hit the cold stone he too was knocked out, the
two were completely unconscious.
Skullivar was the first to awaken, he stood up and barely managed
to stifle the pain coming from his leg, he looked down to see three
long gashes in his leg, he probed them with his fingers; the pain
almost unbearable, luckily no bone was broken or anything too
serious had happened. He decided to grin and bear the pain, so he
limped over to the monster that was just coming round, he wouldn't
kill it, he liked this...thing, this.... worthy opponent. Now he
thought about it, the monster could have come round before him and
killed him, Skullivar owed the monster his life as the dragon owed
Skullivar his.
When Drasko awoke it was to a horrifying sight. Standing over him
was the beast he had just battle. He thought it was going to attack
once more and he braced himself for death. But the final blow never
came. Instead this beast just stood there watching. He could just
about remember going down but also remembered the beast going down
with him. Maybe he owed this beast his life. Maybe it felt the same
way. He tried to get up when he realised he had changed into human
form. He head hurt like hell and when he touched his brow he felt
blood. Never mind, he thought to himself, it would heal quickly. And
so he lay naked, the saddlebag he used to store his possessions when
in dragon form lay on top of him. He quickly retrieved his cloths
from the bag and dressed. It was his usual garb of a loose, white
cotton shirt and black trousers. He also put on his knee length
boots, standard resistance issue. The saddlebag had two attachments
on it and could be quickly converted to a travelling backpack. While
he strapped his broad sword and it's sheathe to his back he spoke
with caution to this thing
'so...what may I call you? And no offence meant but what in Sa's
good earth are you?'
Skullivar watched as the creature came round and slowly...changed,
it surprised Skullivar to see a beast transform miraculously into
what he remembered to be a hoo-mun (human). Skullivar stood
transfixed; almost hypnotised by what was happening before his very
eyes, he had always thought of things as.... well.... what they were
and nothing else, but seeing this actually scared him - to see his
only worthy adversary he had ever met suddenly transform into a
pathetic hoo-mun, he could crush it like a common wolf and yet he
still did not.
The hoo-mun rose with a shallow cut on his forehead, the blood was
beginning to congeal already and the hoo-mun gathered some equipment,
some looked like weapons to Skullivar although nothing that could do
any more damage than the claws of a brown bear.
The hoo-mun spoke some words Skullivar couldn't understand but he
dismissed them and said his name "Ah Skullivar" (I Skullivar) and
thumped his massive chest with one huge fist then stamped one huge
foot against the ground; several birds rose from the trees, he then
held out his club and said "Tuch it" (touch it), this was his
greeting, the weapons were always held out for the other to touch -
harmful end towards the other being.
'Tuch it', the beast had said. Its grasp of words was obviously
basic and his vocabulary small, if existant at all. Drasko
immdeiatly knew that this was a creature of little intelligence. It
had its club outstretched towards him and gestured that he should
do the same.
He was sure that this was some sort of friendship ritual or a salute
to the end of a battle. Either way he decided to comply. So he drew
his broadsword from it's sheathe on his back and touched the blade to
the club. He waited to see what this... what should he call it? He
decided to name it after a rare beast he had heard of living in this
time, an ogre. Yes that would do, an ogre.
Drasko had assumed its name was skullivar althought he didnt know if
the ogre understood him. So he awaited Skullivars next move, as he
was unfamiliar with this ritual. Was it to be a friendship forged in battle?