Fiction/Virgil

Blocking the Path

By Patty

Feeling the vibrations of their pursuer through the earth and knowing she has no choice, Serenia, Chosen of Pasiap, stops in her flight and turns on the narrow path. Doul, her lieutenant, turns to question her, but she cuts him short with a gesture. "Go," she says," they must escape and I am the only one who can delay this thing." Gesturing up the path to the mortals her unit was sent to protect, she turns back to the path.

"Commander-"

"Go!" she exclaims, hefting her white jade hammer and beginning the motions of the Jade Mountain kata. Doul hesitates a moment, knowing his commander well die and wanting to die at her side, but knowing, she is right. Giving her a final bow of respect, he hurries off to lead the unit in retreat. Turning back to the narrow mountain path, Serenia feels the Essence of the Earth pour through her, reinforcing her bones and rooting her feet to the ground. As a crystaline white aura shimmers into life around her, her enemy rounds the bend in the path, snarling as it catches sight of its prey. Knowing that her time is upon her, Sernia settles inot her defensive stance and watches the beast approach.

Once, the thing may have been a bear, or perhaps one of the tribesmen that lived in these mountians. Now it is grown huge, towering twelve feet off of the ground. It's limbs are grossly distended, having an extra joint and giving it a long and lanky appeatanve. Its head is large and round, and its staring yellow eyes take half of its gaunt face. tHe other half seems to be all teeth, which are yellowed, sharp and dripping with the beast's drool. In its hand it carries the broken trunk of a tree, which seems to gargantuan for its thin frame to even hold but which the beast swings at its side with ease. The thing is covered from its clawed feet toits large head in matted, mottled gray-brown fur, and its limbs seem to twitch convulsively. Seeing Serenia waiting in the path, it lets out an ear-splitting scream and charges in a loping, many-jointed run.

The things first swing with the massive trunk is hard enough to break every bone in a large man's body, perhaps hard enough to crack the mountain's face, but Serenia'sweathers the blow without so much as a step back, the beast, clearly confused, swings another mighty blow at theDragon-Blooded warrior, and gets the same result. Enraged, the creature unleashes a flurrry of strikes, and Serenia meets the onslaught with attacks of her own. Sparing nothing to defend herself, she lashes the beast with her warhammer, fueling her blows with essence and with her righteous fury.

The combatants stand toe-to-toe, each giving and taking hits that would pulverize a man to a fine powder. Suddenly Serenia staggers, the ground beneath her cracking form the force of the blows. The beast, sensing victory, howls into the night and raises its weapon. Serenia sees her chance drops her weapon, and suicidally leaps onto the beast, trying to pull it to the path. The creature struggles, attempting to escape, but Serenia's arms are like iron and her grip is inescapable. Knowing it cannot escape her grasp, the beast wraps its long arms around the warrior. Expecting just this, Serenia accepts the beast's embrace and with a strong shove sends them both hurtling into space.

As the beast howls in terror and fury, Serenia smiles, knowing she has bought her men and the mortals they protect the time they need to escape.