Black Dawn

Chapter 10

Blood rushed through his veins as the ground beneath shuddered. The monstrosity started lumbering towards Lucius at the base of the cliff, intent on killing the puny being who stood before him. Muttering a silent prayer to whichever angel looked over him, he swung his sword in arcs before him several times to boost his diminishing self confidence . A gladius such as the one he held would do amount to nothing more than pin pricks. But as he stared at the advancing hulk of muscle and gore, he realized that he would not have a choice.

Placing his shield ahead and resting his shoulder upon it while pulling back his sword hand to a position above the shield, he stared intently at the monster as it drew closer, every step shaking the ground underneath. As his eyes crossed over what seemed like meters of stitched meat and skin, he found that the only weakness of the monster would be its sluggish movements. Speed would be his only weapon against his opponent. Realizing that the shield would be but a hindrance, he let it drop, instead picking up a fallen gladius, one which had been flung by the sweeping blows of the beast.

He had never practiced with two gladii, the legion not using such flamboyant fighting methods, focusing instead on the tried and true method of sword and shield. Nonetheless, as he held the blades in his hand, he tried to formulate his stance and style, the two basics he had learnt from the first day sparring with the training master.

An ear splitting roar broke Lucius' concentration as the flesh heap before him launched the hammer at him. Still on slanted ground, he ducked and rolled away from the strike, hoping that the terrain would bring him further from the weapon. As he awkwardly slid down the slope, the hammer slammed beside him, throwing him into the air. Landing heavily on his back, he struggled to recover, the impact from such a blow had knocked him to the ground with such ease, and the hammer hadn't even contacted him. Holding both blades forward, he noticed that the monster was struggling to reel the weapon back in, its grotesque muscles leaking pus and stale blood as it did.

Realizing that this would probably his one and only chance, he rushed forward, pain and fatigue weighing down on every part of his body. Anger, frustration and pain flew through him, every emotion apparent to his weary mind as though they were physical objects. As Lucius struggled to cover the distance between him and the monster, the monster had finally managed to dislodge the hammer from where it had struck the ground and was in the process of pulling it back in. Now that it was free, Lucius estimated that he would only have a few seconds at best before the monster fully pulled back his weapon.

Running along side the chain of the weapon, a foolish idea filled his mind, and knowing that he would probably not reach his opponent before he reeled the weapon back in, he decided to gamble with his life. Leaping sideways, he struck his blades into the links of the chain, grasping it with what remaining strength he had. As the chain jerked and was pulled back towards the monster a moment later, he rode along with it. The monster itself was seemingly oblivious to Lucius actions, obliging him by pulling it faster with every second.

Now mere meters from the monster, the rotting smell and putrid waste thickened the very air as Lucius released his hold from the chains and swung onto the very monster. Stabbing his twin gladii into the thick viscous flesh, he put his entire weight into dragging the blades down, tearing wide the beast's stomach and chest. Dark red blood spew from the enormous cuts as Lucius tried desperately to free his blades from the monster's stomach. The two gladii blades anchored him to the beast a few meters in the air as blood and putrid pus and other bodily waste spilled out from the cuts Lucius had inflicted.

As one of the gladii finally gave way, the sudden jerking movement caused Lucius to slip, letting go of the other hilt entirely. As Lucius fell to the ground, the monster let loose a roar filled with pain and anguish. The very air before Lucius moved, the shock waves from the roar pushing him a few meters away form the monster. As he crashed into the ground, he felt bones cracking under the immense pressure of the fall. As he clutched his crushed right leg, he stared up at the monster, knowing that the blow which would come next would be the end of him.

As the flesh heap roared and swung the weapon from behind, Lucius heard a sharp twang as an arrow shot from somewhere in the darkness. Hardly visible in the darkness of the night, it flew straight towards the beast and smashed into its multi-eye. Monstrous as it was, the arrow landing in its eye caused the beast to bring its hands up to its face. Sluggish as it was, the speed at which it moved its limbs to cover its face caused the hammer which had already been in flight to drastically change its flight path. Jerking from the force, the hammer rushed towards the monster.

Even as its brain finally caught up with what was about to transpire, it was already too late. Lucius stared on with morbid fascination as the hammer swung inwards towards the monster, it's bulk and momentum carrying it back towards it with its sudden pull. Weighing several tons, the ball of iron, rock and gore smashed into the one wielding it. A sickening crunch of bone and the noise of flesh tearing filled the air as the beast was lifted off its feet with the force of it own weapon.

The hammer hand gouged a crater through the chest of the abominable creation, effectively pulping what little internal organs it had. As Lucius braced on his remaining gladius and pushed himself off the ground, the roars of the monster filled the air as pus and rotten blood slowly leaked out of the enormous hole in its chest. Unsteady on his feet, he stared at the darkness around, wondering where the arrow had come from. As he faced the moon silhouetted by the cliff, he notice a lithe figure standing erect at the top, a large bow with an arrow notched. Before he could even take in the sight before him, the arrow left the bow and flew towards him. As it pierced his breastplate on his right side, Lucius let loose a cry of pain before stumbling forward, the pain and his sustained injuries too much to bear. As the damp ground below him slowly faded from sight his mind went blank.