Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Chapter 1.2 : The Emergence of the Chosen One

This is the last chapter in my possession. I would have to look for more if I want to post it. But I am not sure if this kind of story are hitting the right audience here. Hmm..

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Shote the Noble Tauren Hunter.

Shote woke up slowly feeling a hand on his shoulder roughly jostling him awake. He sighed and picked up his rifle and shook Haze, his raptor, awake. The sounds of battle which he'd so easily tuned out a few hours ago rushed back to him like thunder.

They'd been in a pitched battle for three days now, at the border between the Barrens and Muglore. It was a strategic choke-point, and had to be held at all costs. The fortifications had been set up overnight, but the Silithids had arrived by morning, a single massive organism shaking with citichinous armor and bristling with all manner of claws and teeth. The battle was well organized, with enchantments being set upon the enemy, identifying tasks that each company was to tackle. But quickly it appeared that the Higher-ups where having trouble with fatigue too.

"Wake up Shote!" his squad leader said, "We got to get back on the line!” Shote shuffled to his feet and climbed up to the short tower for a better vantage point. He slapped a fresh drum of Mithril Slugs into his rifle and yanking back on the charger. He took aim, making every shot count, and began firing into the massive body of insects.

As he continued waking up, he began to notice things. The battle wasn't going well. Every once in a while a small group of Silithids would scramble over the barricades and reserve teams had to come in and fill the gaps. But they're main problem became apparent. A huge Silithid, almost as big as a house, approached quickly from the rear of the enemy lines. Lesser insects cowered and scampered away, creating a large circle around the massive creature. Warriors of renown leapt over the barricades to deal with the creature, but where having trouble. Just then, Shote saw a new enchanted emblem glowing above the creature. His emblem. He was assigned to this task.

Quickly Shote leapt down off the small tower, rushing towards his target area. He dodged left suddenly, being missed by a massive wasp-like Silithid, but another was not so lucky, and the unfortunate warrior was grabbed by the shoulders and hoisted into the air. Shote raised his gun in his right hand, letting loose a few random shots into the crowd, as his right hand grouped for one of his last grenades. He primed it and tossed it into the crowd, hoping it would buy some time, just as the warrior next to him was tackled to the ground by a Silithid the size of a horse. Shote began counting.

5 . . . The young warrior was being mauled by numerous claws and the creature's large maw. Shote unhooked his Crescent Axe.

4 . . . Shote leveled his rifle in one hand and blasted the Silithid off the warrior. It tumbled to the side, its flank smoldering from the blow. Shote let the gun fall limp on its shoulder strap as he grabbed for his matching axe.

3 . . . Shote blocked its right handed main claw with one axe, and swiped horizontally with the second. But the insect leapt back with surprising agility.

2 . . . Someone was dragging the wounded Tauren away, good, one less distraction. Shote ducked left to avoid a series of slashes, but the Silithid warrior still scored a pair of shallow gashes on his right arm and leg. He swung both his axes left into the creature, hewing its carapace armor and slicing its head clean in two.

1 . . . Shote sprinted again towards the line of soldiers combating the huge Silithid. He ducked low to avoid a hail of poison barbs and nudged past a druid who was tending the wounded.

0 . . . The grenade detonated, sending out a ball of fire, shrapnel and concussive force. Shote dived onto the battlements, then stood and faced the threat he was supposed to be confronting.

The Silithid was huge, poised on four of its six limbs and using the front pair as massive lances to stab downward at its flows. It snarled, dripping saliva that was said to be poisons. It reminded Shote of a Dwarven siege tank, and Shote shivered. He was running low on everything, his current ammo-drum was half empty, but he had a spare, he had only a pair of grenades left. But what's this! He'd saved one Goblin Rocket for a dire situation, and now was the time to use it. But he only had one shot, he couldn’t afford to miss.

Shote leaped over the battlements and onto the ground scattered with bodies, friend and foe. The Tank immediately took notice, as if it noticed everything no matter how small. Shote leaped right to avoid a citichioneos spike that was driven into the ground where he'd just stood, but saw now that although the creature paid attention, that attention still had to split among the rest of the warriors around it. It slashed out with a scythe-like claw for a Shaman, nearly shearing his shield in half, and charged a plated warrior, knocking her of her feet.

"Attack Haze! Keep it distracted!" Haze leaped onto the creatures plated back, digging deep gouges into its hide, which he used as hand holds, then began raking with his hind legs, eventually digging through the thick plate and rending flesh. The Silithid slammed its four "feet" into the ground for stability, and began thrashing about in an attempt to throw Haze off. This was an opportunity that none where about to waste.

Shote slapped adhesive onto each of his remaining grenades and rushed to action. He sprinted to the nearest leg and set the timer, for how long he didn't have time to find out, and glued it to a crevice in the limb. He ran across and began attaching the last grenade to the creature’s other leg. Meanwhile the Shaman shot out lightning, that coursed through the insect's body, a warrior rolled under the creature's main body and began hacking and stabbing. Just then the insect stepped up, dislodging several warriors attempting to scale its bulk, along with Haze, and focused its attention once again on the soldiers. Haze was flung to the ground and lay panting for a few moments, Shote whistled for the raptor to retreat.

The Tank became bored, and decided it was a good time to turn the tide of the battle. It climbed over the barricades, scattering many a seasoned warrior. Just hen the grenades blew first one and then the other a few seconds later. The Silithid slumped to the ground, two of its limbs blown in half, but it quickly tried to stand again, just as the Goblin Rocket flew from Shote's tubular launcher and into its torso, blasting a huge crater into its side and spewing gore everywhere.

Shote sighed, and fell back as the Silithids quickly swarmed to fill the position the behemoth once occupied. He rested for a moment behind the battlements, drinking some water, then climbed onto the wall and once again joined the battle.

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