Makartii, the ancient Vstonin, blinked his eyes rapidly. His head jerked from side to side as he struggled to locate the source of the attack that had almost knocked him off his feet so suddenly. He was undamaged but the assault had left a horrible piercing noise echoing violently in his head.
It had numbed his senses with pain but he had managed to block it out and had turned his attention to the filthy Orcnar beast that he had initially targeted for slaughter. The huge deformed creature returned his gaze and snarled at him in a sickening fashion, thick drool dribbled from its curled lips as it screamed its primal roar. Makartii could sense something in the vicinity that was somehow disrupting his ability to feed from the Maaj but he was certain that the thuggish creature before him was incapable of such trickery.
This nuisance disadvantaged Makartii but it would not matter, he thought. He would lay this foul creature to rest with brute strength and cunning alone.
He dismissed the distraction, squared off against the Orcnar abomination and prepared for combat. All around them, the battle raged on, but all they could see was each other. As a shadowy fog engulfed them, time itself seemed to momentarily slow to a halt.
Makartii stepped forward and raised his hefty stone blade upwards as he prepared to inflict the deathblow. He thought for a moment of his ancestors torment and remembered his vows of vengeance. He decided he would end this miserable creature’s worthless existence as swiftly as possible; he paused for a split second and aimed his blade before striking downwards.
He gripped the handle of his cleaver with both hands and swung downwards in a circular motion, certain that he could kill the beast with only a single well placed stroke. The Orcnar would not be defeated so easily though and before Makartii realised his mistake, he had been struck squarely in the chest by the creatures gigantic deformed bone fist. He released the grip of his blade instinctively and stumbled backwards.
His arrogance had cost him the initiative and he had underestimated the beast, in a flash it was atop him, snarling and snapping its jaws wildly. Makartii had been surprised by the creature’s sudden blow but he was confident he was still in control of the situation. There were no traces of fear in the blackened heart of the ancient Vaettirean warrior; those feelings had been purged from his soul long ago. Instead, he was surprisingly amused by the situation and somewhat pleased to have found an opponent that would present more of a challenge than the smaller, fleshy mutant Orcnar he had been slaughtering with ease throughout the day.
Makartii reached out and gripped the creature by its arms and lunged forwards, forcefully head butting the beast as he did so. The creature howled in agony as blood splattered outwards in all directions from the centre of its skull and excruciating pain coursed throughout its body. It clutched at its head and jumped on the spot as if the primitive act would somehow help relieve its pain.
Makartii seized the opportunity and swung a left hook towards the creatures head, followed by a right and as it reared back to shield the gaping wound on its head he unleashed a flurry of blows on the soft flesh of its massive under belly.
The creature doubled up in pain and Makartiis eyes widened as a premonition of the creatures death flashed before his eyes. He wasted no time in reacting to it and with incredible precision the indomitable Vaettir simultaneously lowered his elbow into the back of the creatures head and smashed his knee upwards into its face.
The combined force of the blows shattered the creature’s skull into tiny fragments of bone instantaneously and blood spurted from its neck and splattered onto the earth. Makartii had struck so quickly that the creature had been denied its death cry, its lifeless body slumped to the ground and the Vstonin stood over it victoriously. A mushy pulp of blood and flesh sat where its head had been moments before and it bared no resemblance whatsoever to anything Orcnar.
Makartii looked down upon his foe with a great sense of satisfaction and spitefully kicked the corpse in triumph.
He recovered his sword from the earth and scanned the horizon slowly in search of his next victim. In the distance, he spotted another gigantic Orcnar monstrosity causing havoc for the Varriers on the eastern flank. Once again, he turned to face his chosen enemy and then marched steadily towards its position, eager to kill as many of the filthy beasts as possible.
