PDARPG MISC: EF 2023 - blood-stricken - 561 words

4. Show your character hunting!

 

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It flicked its nail plates against the bone in its hand, one after the other.

 

But it wasn't a call - it was an act of waiting, of planning, of pondering. The dual spine on the creature's neck cracked as its head tilted to the side. A young brown bear moved slowly on the marshy plain, its muzzle firmly on the ground - foraging for berries, presumably. The animal sauntered approximately a stone's throw away, right in front of the being.

The gray entity rolled its two sets of upper shoulders, their crackling following the example that its neck set only a moment prior. The bear lifted its nose from the ground, and turned to the sound as it traveled to it. In its dark eyes glimmered only a tinge of curiosity, an underlying aura of alertness within. It wasn't afraid. Why should've it been?

 

A shame.

 

The ten-limbed creature's frame tensed as it inspected the lowly critter.

 

No gods or kings were welcome in its turf.

 

In quick succession, the monochrome taur played three notes with the instrument it held - each on different strings, carefully chosen. Repeating the same speedy rhythm, it straightened all three arms on its left side, snapping its fingers once in each of them during their unsynchronized motion. It made the bear flinch - and once it saw the monstrosities such behavior invoked, it ran for its very life.

 

But it wouldn't get far. They never did.

 

A pale kukuri raced past the gray, towering creature, beelining straight for the fleeing animal. With a determined sprint, it took little effort to reach her prey. Kasvoton slashed the side of the bear's neck open - this was her task. Her claws readied for it by imbuing them with a concoction prepared from the most poisonous plants and herbs around, it was fast and efficient. The poisons seeped into the animal's circulation as it ran.

 

Strike the flesh.

 

A second raptor raced past her master, her head covered by a large bovine skull, and her hide dark as the night. Luuton caught up to the white kukuri and the bruin, pinning it between her own, and the other dove's mass. The light-hided kukuri suddenly stopped, as so many times before - leaving her associate to finish the task she had been given. The raven kukuri threw herself at the bear's side, making it fall to the ground, its bones breaking under the kukuri's weight.

 

Strike the bone.

 

The third, and the last, beast bulldozed her way to the other kukuris, her humongous, carmine body crushing everything in her way. The prairie towered over the dark kukuri and the bruin, her red eyes scanning the suffering animal as the raven dove moved out of the way. Veretön lowered her heavy head and wrapped her jaws around the brown bear's neck - this was her task. Blood gushed from the animal's body as the kukuri's teeth tore it open, swiftly ending its suffering.

 

Strike the blood.

 

The gray taur tapped the red dove's flank gently. The gesture made all the kukuris move away from the animal's body. A sound that could be interpreted as a small smile escaped from the slender creature, as it approached the bruin. It ran one of its hands on its hide, its bloodied fur flattening against its coldening skin.

 

It was a memory among others.

 

How it wished it could forget.