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bull's last stand - fellden one shot
Feb. 3rd, 2020 09:31 pmBull stands in the howling wind and snow, resolved and dangerous as he stares down the wendigo circling him. He broke off one of its antlers when it first attacked, distracting it from the people Bull had been escorting to safety.
He's bleeding from a heavy slash across his chest: long claws ripped into him, cutting through thick Qunari flesh and breaking the lines of vitaar. Bull adjusts his grip on the heavy maul in his hands, and when he loses sight of the creature, he depends on other senses to realize that it's streaking close to him. He swings at the last minute and the maul connects with the bony body, smashing it away from him. Claws swipe his arm and Bull growls in answer to the wendigo's piercing scream.
Amatus! a voice cries out in the darkness and Bull sets his jaw. It isn't real. He's been listening to the wendigo cries all night. Voices of those he loves, voices of those he knows to be long dead. Voices of people he will never see again. His tamassran, Gatt, his commander, Finel, Dorian. It can't be real. Dorian isn't here.
"Kadan," he whispers into the howling wind. His jaw tightens. He has no gods to pray to, no one to ask for intercession on his behalf. He only has the Qun. Bull doesn't know if he can kill this thing, but he knows that if he keeps it busy, it won't kill anyone else.
"Sataareth kadan hass-toh issala ebasit. Ataash varin kata. Maraas shokra - anaan esaam Qun."
Blood freezes on his skin, leaking sluggishly from the open wounds. Whatever injuries he's given the wendigo, they aren't slowing the hellish creature down enough. Bull grunts when something slams into him. He drops the maul to try to grapple with the wendigo and yells a curse as cutting teeth dig into his flesh. He yanks hard, trying to dislodge the creature. It answers with a jab and Bull can feel the long, knife-like talons sink in beneath his ribs. Desperate, Bull throws his weight down to crush the wendigo beneath him. He hears the sound of bones crunching but his victory is short-lived. The fiend shoves his considerable weight up and off and Bull struggles to get to his feet against the momentum.
"Maraas kata," he whispers into the dark as he tries to face it again. His weapon is lost in the snow, he's bleeding heavily. There is no walking away from this now.
His hand slides to the crystal hanging from his neck and he grips it tight. He can feel the heat of it beneath his palm as it activates.
"Dorian," he whispers, his voice weak and fading. "Kadan--"
The wendigo's claws shove deep into his abdomen. Bull realizes, fully, that he will die here, far from home, in service to-- what?
Blood begins to fill his mouth and he tries to control his breathing as his body resists the reality. He's going to die. He is dying. He stares resolutely at the eyeless creature directly in front of him. Bull lurches forward and smashes his brow against the wendigo's exposed skull. The claws sink deeper and he feels them puncture through his back.
"It'll be okay," he says to the crystal. "Dorian--"
Bull lets go of the crystal and makes a final attempt to break away from the wendigo. It rips its claws free and he lands heavily on his knees. A few hot tears escape his eye and Bull draws the long knife from his boot. As teeth bite into his neck, Bull slams the knife back through one of the wendigo's empty eye sockets and tries to rip its head off. He shoves his hand between its jaws and yanks down hard to dislocate and then rip off the bone.
He hears another inhuman shriek sound in the distance and he closes his eye.
[Fade to black]
He's bleeding from a heavy slash across his chest: long claws ripped into him, cutting through thick Qunari flesh and breaking the lines of vitaar. Bull adjusts his grip on the heavy maul in his hands, and when he loses sight of the creature, he depends on other senses to realize that it's streaking close to him. He swings at the last minute and the maul connects with the bony body, smashing it away from him. Claws swipe his arm and Bull growls in answer to the wendigo's piercing scream.
Amatus! a voice cries out in the darkness and Bull sets his jaw. It isn't real. He's been listening to the wendigo cries all night. Voices of those he loves, voices of those he knows to be long dead. Voices of people he will never see again. His tamassran, Gatt, his commander, Finel, Dorian. It can't be real. Dorian isn't here.
"Kadan," he whispers into the howling wind. His jaw tightens. He has no gods to pray to, no one to ask for intercession on his behalf. He only has the Qun. Bull doesn't know if he can kill this thing, but he knows that if he keeps it busy, it won't kill anyone else.
"Sataareth kadan hass-toh issala ebasit. Ataash varin kata. Maraas shokra - anaan esaam Qun."
Blood freezes on his skin, leaking sluggishly from the open wounds. Whatever injuries he's given the wendigo, they aren't slowing the hellish creature down enough. Bull grunts when something slams into him. He drops the maul to try to grapple with the wendigo and yells a curse as cutting teeth dig into his flesh. He yanks hard, trying to dislodge the creature. It answers with a jab and Bull can feel the long, knife-like talons sink in beneath his ribs. Desperate, Bull throws his weight down to crush the wendigo beneath him. He hears the sound of bones crunching but his victory is short-lived. The fiend shoves his considerable weight up and off and Bull struggles to get to his feet against the momentum.
"Maraas kata," he whispers into the dark as he tries to face it again. His weapon is lost in the snow, he's bleeding heavily. There is no walking away from this now.
His hand slides to the crystal hanging from his neck and he grips it tight. He can feel the heat of it beneath his palm as it activates.
"Dorian," he whispers, his voice weak and fading. "Kadan--"
The wendigo's claws shove deep into his abdomen. Bull realizes, fully, that he will die here, far from home, in service to-- what?
Blood begins to fill his mouth and he tries to control his breathing as his body resists the reality. He's going to die. He is dying. He stares resolutely at the eyeless creature directly in front of him. Bull lurches forward and smashes his brow against the wendigo's exposed skull. The claws sink deeper and he feels them puncture through his back.
"It'll be okay," he says to the crystal. "Dorian--"
Bull lets go of the crystal and makes a final attempt to break away from the wendigo. It rips its claws free and he lands heavily on his knees. A few hot tears escape his eye and Bull draws the long knife from his boot. As teeth bite into his neck, Bull slams the knife back through one of the wendigo's empty eye sockets and tries to rip its head off. He shoves his hand between its jaws and yanks down hard to dislocate and then rip off the bone.
He hears another inhuman shriek sound in the distance and he closes his eye.
[Fade to black]
