Ricky Holland War of the Zumas Sweat dripped onto his blood stained armour. The cold air riffled through his spiky hair, but he didn't notice. The grip on his sword was tighter than usual, his breathing deeper, blood pumping fast in his veins. The roars of the on-going battle were all around him. Screams human and Zuma echoed in his head. His eyes focused on a battle a few meters to his left. His men were dieing, he didn't have time to rest. He dived into the frenzy.His sword sliced through steel and flesh alike. His hits were precise and devastating. Three Zumas now lay dead on the ground around him, his sword firmly placed in the chest of a fourth. But it was still standing. The Zuma's spear was raised above its head. It knew it was close to death, and saw the chance to bring it's killer with him.As the spear closed in on it's target, time froze for both fighters. The zuma was half the way to hell already, but the spear had momentum enough to cut through the fragile skull of a human. Inches before it hit, time resumed its normal speed. The Zuma was on the floor, the sword still in its chest. A cloud of smoke replaced the spear. The human grabbed the handle of his sword, placed his foot on the Zuma corpse and pulled the blade out. He turned around in time to see a wizard a few paces behind him, her hands still stretched out in front of her, still glowing red. He didn't recognize her, and doubted he would ever see her again. Yet there was something special about her, something different about her. But he didn't have time to think about it, as he had enough sense to resume a fighting stance. His sword flung round his body from front to back in a glorious arch, his arm fully stretched out, his head slightly titled upwards. His muscles tensed as they drove through the thick flesh of the Zuma's neck, and relaxed slightly as the sword came back to his side, his body now fully facing his opposer. In battle it was not enough to see the enemy, you had to feel his presence if you wanted to survive. Thankfully, Zuma's had particularly loud breathing, which made sneak attacks very hard for them. He turned back to where the wizard had been, but she was long gone. He looked around him, and noticed he had a lot more moving space than before. These Zumas weren't stupid, they knew now not to take him on in a one on one. He was idle for less than a second before he spotted his next task: 3 Zumas laying into one of his best swordsmen. -'RIC!' the swordsman called out to him, having seen his commander a few steps away. RIC knew his sword was too slow for this one. It would have taken about 2 seconds to reach the fight, and then add 1 to 2 seconds per zuma. Jake would be dead by then. He made his mind up in a tenth of a second.2 soul fireballs screamed through the air, both impacting with great force. 2 of the Zumas stood briefly, headless, before crashing onto the floor. Not having to parry 3 spears attacks any more; Jake took out the third Zuma with relative ease. Pulling his sword out the Zuma's carcass, he turned round to RIC, and let a small grin appear on his face. And then he was off. Jake leaped into a nearby battle, his sword moving so fluidly that it would take a great swordsman to block one of its blows. RIC smiled for the first time in five days. He turned around, expecting to find more of his comrades in need of his help. What he found was hammer being swung a meter away from his head.With such short warning he had no time to parry the blow properly, and his sword went flying into the air. The hammer smacked across his chest, knocking the air out of him. This Zuma was much stronger than the others, and was obviously much smarter as it had held its breath while it had closed in on RIC.With no weapon and out of balance RIC tried to leap backwards, but failed. He tripped over a dead soldier, and crashed into the ground. He urged his body to get up again, but he was in too much pain to move. The Zuma came over to him, and stood proudly over his motionless body. It raised its hammer, a wide smirk on its face, and brought it down with amazing force.A sudden rush of energy hit RIC. He recognized it immediately; it was the warm feeling of his body being healed by a Taoist spell. Being a Tao, he was surprised to have been healed by someone other
than him. Again he found himself not being able to think about it, as he rolled to his left with incredible speed and agility. The hammer shook the ground next to him, dirt and smoke exploded from the impact as if lightning had hit. But RIC was already on his feet, holding a great axe and running towards the Zuma that had nearly killed him. Still being healed by the unknown source, the energy that pumped through his veins was fifty times more powerful than adrenaline, and gave RIC the stamina and agility to swing the axe straight through the ...
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than him. Again he found himself not being able to think about it, as he rolled to his left with incredible speed and agility. The hammer shook the ground next to him, dirt and smoke exploded from the impact as if lightning had hit. But RIC was already on his feet, holding a great axe and running towards the Zuma that had nearly killed him. Still being healed by the unknown source, the energy that pumped through his veins was fifty times more powerful than adrenaline, and gave RIC the stamina and agility to swing the axe straight through the Zuma. His anger had made him neglect battle tactics, as he had not gone for the neck but straight through the Zuma's stomach instead. The axe was nearly twice RIC' weight; yet it still sliced through the monster like a knife through butter.And then the healing stopped. RIC dropped the axe, and ran over to the Tao that had been healing him. It was Wolf, one of the oldest Taos in his regiment, and a good friend to RIC. Low on mana and health, Wolf was obviously tired and panting heavily. It was his turn to be healed. But as much as RIC wanted to heal his friend back to full health, it would have taken too long, so he un-strapped two sun pots from his belt and handed them over to him. Wolf acknowledged with a slight nod, but RIC didn't see it as he was already searching the ground for a new weapon.A few seconds later and RIC was back in the fight, wielding two Kriss swords. Disgruntled at losing his Soul Blade, he had to make do with the blades of his fallen companions.The fight lasted another hour, and in the end the humans were victorious. But at a great cost. One of the lieutenants walked up to RIC, now standing on a ridge over-looking the battlefield.'We lost over a hundred of our men Sir...' ‘that's better than losing all of them.' RIC replied firmly.'Sir, I, um...''What, lieutenant?' RIC was always in a mood after a battle. He hated the stench of death. A small pause followed his sentence.'I'm sorry to report sir, Celestia is among the wounded.'RIC felt his blood freeze. A tear came to his eye, but he had his back to the lieutenant, so it was never seen. 'People die in wars lieutenant. Have the men salvage any dropped weapons and items, and take them back to Bichon. Let the jovial celebrate, and the wounded mourn.'Yes, sir.'The lieutenant walked away quickly. He knew deep down RIC must have been upset by the loss of his lover. But he wanted more than anything to get back to Bichon with the men, and drink until they forgot all about the horrors of the war.RIC gazed over the landscape, his eyes hovering over the hundreds of corpses and blood pools. The cold wind made his eyes water more than they were already. Some of his men were wading through the orgy of dismembered flesh, healing the wounded and scavenging for useful items. His mind tried to block out the thought of his lover dieing by the hands of a Zuma. They had not been together long, their relationship had never seemed very close to RIC. Then again he had never felt close with a girl before, he yet had to feel true love.Had the death been quick? Had she suffered? Did she give her life to save another? Could he have saved her if he had been fighting near her? As hard as it was for him, RIC eventually forced himself to forget about her. He could not afford to lose nights thinking about her, mourning her passing. He had to move one, like he always did. RIC grasped his sword with both hands and raised it high above his head. A solemn prayer for the dead was recited, at the end of which he holstered his weapon, and walked off grimly towards Bichon wall. On his way, he remembered the wizard he had seen in the battle. He wondered if she had just been an imagination of his, or an angel sent from God. No, she had been real. And she had saved his life. Was she a member of his regiment? If she was, he wondered why he had never seen her before. A new recruit maybe. Whoever she was, RIC wanted to meet her again.RIC sat down at the table. He hated these guild meetings, but knew they were necessary. The other 20 selected members were at the table with him, as was their leader Samuel. Sam was in his forties, old enough to be a leader yet young enough to still fight with his troops. And he had the scars to prove it. 'Gentlemen,' Sam started off the inevitable debate, 'I welcome you all here once again to the glorious Bichon palace. As you all know the war with the Zumas is not going as well as we expected...'RIC' mind started to wander already. He knew all this already, as did most of the people sitting next to him, and the hot air made him dizzy. The war was definitely not getting any better. The Zumas had raided several villages surrounding Bichon, and if RIC' regiment had failed; Serpent valley would have been the next target. Little could stand in their way; even the mighty Woomas had been slaughtered. No tears had been shed over the death of the Woomas, but it sent a shiver down every human's spine when the news was heard. It had taken all the armies in Mir to force the Woomas back into their temple, and now there was hardly a temple to speak of. No human has since set foot in the Woomyon woods.'...Which brings me to the battle fought yesterday. I'm very pleased to announce that the Wolf Pack regiment successfully fought off the Zuma advance, having suffered minor casualties...'At that point a few of the generals turned round to face RIC, and nodded their heads in acknowledgement. The Tao always welcomed a sign of respect.The meeting went on for a few more hours, and when it finally ended the guild council dispersed into Bichon Wall. RIC stepped out into the brisk evening air, a sigh of relief crossing his face. As he walked towards his favourite tavern, a group of men caught his attention. There were five of them, all in heavy battle gear, each brandishing very large and rare weapons. It was common for people to carry weapons around with them, even in the heavily protected city of Bichon, but these warriors were definitely no ordinary bystanders.As he passed them, the tallest of the warriors caught RIC staring at his Judgement mace.'Don't stare at what you can never have, Tao'. His voice was cold and deep.'I'd watch what you say, Warrior, or you might lose that precious mace of yours.' RIC realised he no longer had his Soul Blade by his side, and the Kriss that was slung over his back hardly made him look like the greatest of heroes. He also knew that he should know better than to pick a fight with five very big warriors, but he had a lot of steam to let off.There was a short pause after his comment, after which RIC found himself surrounded by the warriors, weapons drawn. The dim evening light would come to RIC' advantage, but when his rivals were only a few meters away he saw why they had been so aggressive towards him. They all had gold crowns painted onto their black armour plates, proudly showing off their heritage to the Lion guild. The Lions had always been enemies to the Andromeda, the guild RIC had always been a part of.The first blow came, and there was no warning.The blade of the great axe swung through the air, slicing through the air that had previously been occupied by the Tao. Bewildered, the warriors looked around them, but all they found was the fast swinging axe of a skeleton.Up on the branch of a nearby tree, RIC watched the fight with great amusement. His skeleton had caught one of the warriors off guard, knocking his Purifier sword clean out of his hand. The next swing saw a second warrior being disarmed, and when they finally realised what was happening they all turned on the magical pile of bones. The warrior with the great axe swung his mighty blade round to slice through the skeleton, but an explosion close to his wrist made him drop his weapon and fall to the floor in pain. Another two explosions caused the disarmed warriors to collapse unconscious.RIC finally jumped down from his perch, and walked slowly towards the two remaining warriors. A judgement mace pulverized his skeleton, and at the same time he drew his sword. With his free hand he let three soul fireballs loose, only one hit a target. But one was enough. Another warrior fell to the ground, wounded and unconscious. The last standing warrior was the largest of the five, the one that had taunted RIC. Without his companions he didn't look so big, but he still raised his mace in a fighting stance.'Your going to pay for this, Tao.'With that he grimaced, and charged at RIC. RIC rolled left narrowly missing the mace, and brought his sword round to slice through the warrior's ankles. But the warrior jumped with great agility and with even greater strength he brought the mace over his head, swinging it down onto RIC' crouched body. Again RIC dodged the blow and the mace smashed into the ground, causing dirt and sand to explode into the air. The scene was all too familiar to RIC, the mace hitting the ground was almost exactly the same as the Zuma's hammer he had avoided only the day before. Flash backs from the war rushed through his head, the deaths of his comrades went before his eyes over and over again, and finally his mental image of Celestia, dieing by the hand of a Zuma. The mace came back at him, rising from the ground aimed straight at his head. This wasn't the best time to mourn. RIC instinctively dodged it, brought his sword round with him and cut into the warrior's arm. It was a clean cut; the mace and flesh fell clumsily to the floor. The warrior screamed in pain, his left arm clutching what remained of his right limb. He then looked up in horror at RIC, who was now standing with his Kriss sword by his side.RIC had always hated people like this Warrior; they were common bullies, nothing more. As much as he wanted to kill the man, as much was his right to do so, he could not bring himself to cause any more death.'I warned you, maces are hard to come by.'With that RIC walked over to the dropped Purifier and picked it up. It wasn't much, but it would go nicely with his Kriss. He holstered both weapons onto his back, and walked off towards the nearest tavern. Behind him were four heavily wounded warriors, a fifth running off into the night with a judgement mace in his only hand.*****Jake crashed through the table, cutting his arm on the broken ale mugs. Half drunk, he was no match for the warrior that was now standing over him. His opposer, Goldman, was familiar to him, an old friend of his infact, but at an early age they joined rival clans and their friendship had ended there.'Y'know, I never really liked you Jake' Goldman uttered in a cocky voice.'Maybe you should stop imitating me then, Goldy'.Everyone in the Tavern watching the brawl noticed for the first time that both fighters wore exactly the same items. Yet neither had drawn their weapons yet.Goldman picked Jake up by his collar, lifted him as high as he could and threw him into another table, almost crushing a wizard who was quietly enjoying his beer. The wizard had up to that point been unbiased towards the fight, but now his drink was spilt, and he had a reputation to uphold. Jake was crawling on the floor, trying to get up but unable to due his heavy intoxication. Goldman on the other hand knew what was coming, and brought his arms up to his face just in time to block the fireball hurled at him. He thanked the Gods that his Gold bracelets had saved him, and drew his Dragon Sword in anticipation of a big fight.The barkeep had already leapt over his bar, sword in hand, shouting at the wizard. Magic of any kind was banned from in-door areas in Bichon, especially fire magic. Jake was now on his feet, being healed frantically by Wolf. Wolf had let the fight between the old friends carry on without interference, knowing it was not his place to interfere. But now a wizard was involved and possibly everyone else in the tavern. Jake drew his Martial Sword, gave a thankful nod to Wolf, and then held a firm-fighting stance facing both wizard and Goldman. The wizard was now between the two warriors, the barkeep still shouting at him to leave his precious tavern. He knew he wasn't in the best of situations; he had been drinking alone and would have no help in a fight. His higher intellect told him to stand down and leave, but he could not bare the dishonor of leaving a fight. His hands were now raised high, and a rainbow of colours suddenly surrounded him. A shield had been evoked around his body, and without stopping to breathe he brought his hands to his chest. He was facing Goldman, who knew all too well what came next. Goldman dived behind the bar, hoping his agility and speed would be enough to escape the lightning. It wasn't.The electric surge hit his leg as he was still diving over the bar, knocking him back into the wine bottles displayed behind the counter. The wizard gave him up for dead, and turned around to face the other warrior. Thinking him too drunk to fight back, the wizard was shocked when he found Jake on his feet, Martial in hand, charging right at him. What surprised him even more was the fact that Jake's eyes were clearly focused on his neck.The martial drove through the shield like butter, but the wizard had the sense to lean backwards enough to dodge the blow. Feeling relief at avoiding the imminent death, the wizard's self confidence gave him the fatal mistake of underestimating Jake's agility. No sooner had the martial gone past his throat, it was swinging back up again and hit hard into the wizard's stomach. Lacking momentum it only logged itself into the armour, leaving the wizard with a small scratch.It was Jake's turn to be surprised, as the wizard obviously had much heavier armour than usual for a spell caster. However his experience taught him never to let surprise stop him in battle, as he brought his foot up to the wizard's chest and pushed him back, bringing his sword out of the armour and back to his side.The wizard stumbled backwards, Jake's kick being almost enough to ground him. But his shield gave him extra stability and he managed to stay upright. So far none of the spectators had interfered, but that would soon change. One of the Taos, who looked a lot older than the others, had drawn his Serpent Sword and looked menacingly at the wizard. Jake looked round and saw Wolf with his Serpent sword, and the amulet he held behind his back. He nodded in agreement to Wolf, who returned the motion.The wizard was now very worried, the warrior obviously knew the Tao, but he didn't have time to figure out what their plan was. Three Soul fireballs hit into his shield before he knew what was happening, they did nothing to his health but were enough to confuse him slightly. At the same time a big incantation appeared over Jake, raising his armour and magic defence greatly, and then a continuous stream of healing magic rose his spirit. Jake was now stronger than ever.The warrior charged fiercely at the wizard, who was frantically trying to hurl fireballs at him. The fire did nothing to Jake, as he brought his sword in an over-head swing to cut through the thin skull of his opposer. But instead it bounced off the shield harmlessly. Somehow it had got stronger, but how it had happened was not of importance to Jake. He swung madly at it, each hit made the shield lose energy, and Jake would never grow tired with the on going healing Wolf supported him with. The wizard tried to knock Jake back with a thunder bolt, then a fireball, then a Great fireball, but they hardly made him flinch.Finally Jake broke through the shield, and he brought his foot up once again to kick the wizard. When the sole of his boot was level with the wizard's chest Jake gave all the energy he had to the kick, sending the wizard flying back into the same bar Goldman had crashed into. But Goldman was not there. Goldman had been saved by one his own Tao friends moments before his death. He was now standing close by to where the wizard fell, Dragon Sword in hand. The wizard looked up to Goldman, with no energy left he knew his fight was over. Goldman looked down at his leg, still badly wounded and burnt; even the best Tao in Mir could not stop the pain nor heal the scar.He brought his dragon sword high into the air and looked down at the now feeble wizard. Was it his right to kill this man? He didn't even know his name. The pain surging from his leg made his mind up for him. The wizard closed his eyes and cursed. They were the last words he would ever utter.Bringing the sword back to his side, Goldman looked over at Jake. Jake was now fully battle-ready, martial by his side, full of life energy. Goldman looked again at his injured leg, then down at his bloodied Dragon sword. There had been enough death for one day.'We will meet again, Jake, and next time you won't be so lucky.''I'm counting on it, my old friend.'At that Goldman walked over to the door, followed by a few of his companions, including the Tao that had healed him. He walked without a limp that one might expect, showing off his inner strength, acting as if the injury meant nothing to him. Everyone else in the tavern watched as he left, bumping into a Tao at the door as he was walking in. The Tao had two swords on his back, and looked back at Goldman as he left with his men close behind. He then looked into the tavern for the first time. Everyone was on their feet, weapons drawn. Tables lay ruined on the floor, burn marks on the walls. In the middle of it all stood Jake, Martial in hand, and Wolf with his Serpent.Jake looked over at the Tao, a smirk on his face.'Great timing, RIC.'
