As much as I would love to say you can expect a new chapter next Tuesday, that just isn't the case. I'm going on vacation for about a week, and won't have access to the internet until August 16. I am sorry in advance for the delay, but I will post the next chapter once I can. As always, enjoy and reviews are welcome.
Chapter 18
Nessus's forelegs bent so he could touch the pool of blood at his hooves. The source of the crimson that contrasted Desolace's otherwise beige landscape laid a few strides away. When Nessus had released the elastic wire of his bow, and allowed the arrow to soar, he was careful to merely wound his opponent. The bolt had entered through the other centaur's liver.
"That hurts, doesn't it?" Nessus asked his fallen cousin, authentic sympathy in his voice. "That arrow is drenched in a special poison. Your death will come, but it is you who will decide how quickly."
The fallen centaur looked up at the archer. "Why does the Baneblood tribe contend so against us? Under the leadership of Magnus, we could rule these land all those who inhabit it," he remarked weakly.
"Magnus has broken our noble traditions, he has made pacts with dark forces."
"Magnus is a visionary," snapped the wounded centaur but a violent cough took hold of him and he could say no more.
"Your time is near," explained Nessus. "Please, with you dying breath redeem yourself in the eyes of our ancestors."
"It is not I who have shamed them," the wounded centaur spat, a wad of blood and saliva landing just before the archer's hooves.
"Then I shall show you no mercy," Nessus shrugged; rising, turning, and trotting away. He'd made three strides before his wounded cousin called out, pleaded for him to stop.
"You know where Magnus is," the dying centaur said. "But I tell you this. Any union the Baneblood clan hoped for with the Horde will be destroyed by morning. An elite group of my tribe will slay the ambassadors."
"Why do you speak of this?" Nessus asked suspiciously.
The wounded centaur managed a weak smile. "Because there is nothing you can do to stop it."
Nessus loaded his bow, pulled the elastic wire to his bare chest and took aim. The other centaur died laughing.
---
Eck spun his staff above his head with the grace reserved for those who are not limited by living limitations. He twisted the shaft around his body, before swinging it into a centaur's forelegs, breaking the appendage at the knee. The centaur roared in pain as its huge body fell into dust. Once more Eck spun his staff, before brining it down onto the centaur's neck, crushing the windpipe.
Behind the priest, another of the centaurs came, a broad axe lifted above his head. But before the cold steel could cut down the undead life, a burly grey tauren plowed into the centaur. Taff roared as he swung his maul into another centaur's chest, while he lifted his shield to parry a different assault. He spun, both mace and guard extended arms length as to strike the opponents that surrounded him.
Seeing the power in his attacks, Eck backed out of the center conflict and began to recite the words to a rejuvenating spell. Taff began to glow with holy light, the priest's magic rejuvenating his muscles, allowing him to continue.
Shaak too stayed on the outside of the fray; blindly summoning bursts of fire as to incinerate his foe. The creatures called out in a strange tongue, and a few abandoned the center of the battle to attack the blood elf and undead. Shaak threw himself before Eck, who was to focused on his spells to retaliate. The blood elf extended both hands forward and summoned the flames. The centaurs cried out as their bare skin began to blister, furred lower bodies caught fire and bones incinerated to ash.