Hunting Shadows, bellum lacer story

[vedalslayer]

Original story in Bellum Lacer:
“Hunting the Shadows”

The lone humanoid figure stood in the wide city street. A single being amongst a dead city. Indeed, a dead planet.

The mon-kei called the planet ‘Emperors Freedom’. But there was no freedom here. No life. The ruined city was deserted.

Save for one other.

The second figure seemed to materialize from the shadows around 50 metres from the first. The fading sunlight of the evening caught his shape. Ornate dark green battle armour, armoured plates within a close fitting body suit. A claw like weapon made up one arm, a curved weapon mount jutting from it. The other held an ornate chain-sabre. The figures armoured helm was set in the style of an insects mandibles. Two curved blade like appendages thrust out from either side of his eye slits, whispers of blue smoke drifting from the twined weapon barrels. The eye slits were a dull red and Dreadlocks sprouted from the helms crest, gold and red,

in honour of his shrine.

The figure crouched low in a battle ready stance, arms spread. Silent as night. But the other figure knew he was there.

“Late as always” said the first figure, turning to regard his foe. His voice was mocking, speaking his native language with a biting, arrogant manor. The other figure could not be more different from his opponent.

He worn jet-black armour were his foe was Dark Green. Were his foes armour was a close fitting body suit, this ones armour was made of many interlocking armour plates all jagged and spiked, like a forest of thorns. His ornate needle like helm had a crest atop it, a single barrel of some weapon protruding over his head and down. Like a scorpions tail. A scorpions sting.

His weapons were different likewise. A long halberd, tipped at either end with twined razor-sharp arms-length blades. Between these blades jutted spiked barrels. Across his chest was holstered a cross-draw Splinter pistol, and a thread of small blades hung below his left arm, shaped like small-crab claws.

“How long will we continue this dance Karandras?” snarled Ahra. The Fallen Phoenix. The most Cursed one. Un forgiven Son. Father of the Scorpions.

“Will this one take a month as the last did?” He said next, simultaneously flicking his halberd over his head and spinning it one handed before pointing it toward Karandras.

“Are you sure you are rested enough after our last bout?”

Like lightening, Karandras moved, a dark green blur as he launched toward his hated former master. Splinter rounds spit forth from Ahra’s halberd, a cloud of death into which the Shadow Hunter ran.

They did nothing.

Chain Sabre, Scorpions Claw and his own ornate armour deflected each and every needle despite their horrendous velocity. He crossed the distance in a blink of an eye, untouched.

the same Chain Sabre met Halberd in a flurry of blows, sparks flying as the two weapons impacted with resounding booms of metal on metal. Ahra seemed to deflect the blows with almost arrogant ease whilst Karandras attacked with a professional fury. The first strikes lasted only seconds but the blows launched and received seemed to number in the hundreds. Both combatants backed off in a prefect dance-like manor, their first exchange concluded.

“Your getting slow” smirked Ahra, only now activating his twinned power blades, the halberd tips suddenly glowing a dark blue and hissing white mist as the energized blades came to life.

It was Karandras’s time to fire, skuriken discs spitting forth from his Scorpions Claw. But just like Fallen Phoenix’s attacks they made little impression. Ahra’s halberd was a spinning blur deflecting even such hyper-velocity projectiles. He came at Karandras, halberd stabbing and spinning as battle was joined again. Bursts of splinter and skuriken fire spat in all directions as both combatants deflected each others perfectly placed blows with micro-seconds of reaction time.

For the first time in a long time the dead city was alive with activity as the main street burst with flashes of energy discharge and blast of eldritch gunfire. Puffs of smoke erupted against buildings walls as deflected projectiles were spent.

Again, the second exchange took barely 30 seconds. Both warriors backed off. Karandras crouched low again, chain blade and Scorpions claw held out either side. Ahra’s halberd was held one handed, pointed backward, his other hand forward, palm first toward his opponent.

“So why are you here in the ‘bellum lacer’ sector? Still guarding long dead maiden worlds?”
As if such a statement were a signal, both warriors started to circle each other in the deserted street. A soft wind blow the dust of the first exchange around them in miniature whirlwinds.

“An ancient Aspect shrine to your glorious leader?”

Ahra spun his halberd before him in a daring dance of metal, willing the Shadow Hunter to attack. But the Scorpion lord would not be goaded.

“How is dear Teacher? Does he still curse his fallen son?”

Splinter rounds spat again, but the Scorpions Claw swatted them away like flies. His movements were impossibly fast, invisible yet effective. Still the Shadow Hunter did not attack.

“Do your people still play your mind games with the mon-kei?

Ahra leap, Halberd thrusting. A dozen strikes that would have impaled any normal man or killed a dozen. A dozen strikes that did not make their mark. Ahra sneered inside his helm. The Shadow Hunter was wise to these ploys.

“Your too quiet this time round.”

“Your doing enough talking for the both of us.” Replied the Shadow Hunter at last. He leap high, kicking off the road and into the air, shuriken catapult spitting death. Ahra leap likewise, hurling himself out of the deadly rain of razor-edged death. He was on his feet as the Shadow Hunter landed and ran at him. Ahra ran likewise, and kicked off a nearby wall, striking down with his halberd in a decapitating overhead. The blow was deflected and Karandras followed up, spinning and kicking in a roundhouse to catch Ahra as he landed. The Fallen Phoenix rolled with the blow into a crouch. This time the Scorpions Sting opened fire. Karandras answered with his own Scorpions Bite, the two discharges erupting into each other in a cloud of lethal energy.

With a sonic boom they over loaded, hurling each warrior back with bone-crunching force. Karandras skidded to a halt, kicking into a wall to steady himself and cracking the cement. Ahra trailed smoked as he skidded to a halt on the twisted road tarmac, fragments flying in all directions.

“Insolent worm!” Ahra bellowed. “Do not seek to lay me low with a simple kick!”. He launched into a run at Karandras again, halberd a blur of motion above his head.

“I taught you better than that!”

They met again in combat, exchanging thunderous and deadly blows. But neither could penetrate the others perfect defence.

Ahra let his halberd sail high into the air whilst drawing his pistol. He emptied an entire magazine into Karandras before catching the halberd on its downward flight and continuing the duel.

Karandras exchanged blows with both his weapons. 3 times his scorpions claw caught the halberd fast. 3 times Ahra somehow wretched the weapon free before the Shadow Hunter could hack his foe in half with his Chain Sabre.

Both of them used the bursts of their helm-mounted weapons to distract the other but to no effect. They had been duelling like this on and off for thousands of years. Neither would be fooled.

“I grow bored.” growled Ahra circling his enemy again after another exchange. In the brief fight both of their armour suits bore the signs of combat, chipped and scratched plates evidence of a close combat. “I only came here because I knew you’d follow.”

Karandras did not show it, but even he was surprised. Ahra did not hunt him, he hunted Ahra.

“I needed sport.” continued Ahra “Commorragh grows stale. By broad casting my intentions in this sector, I knew you’d come running.”

“Sadly” said Ahra next “it seems even you bore me. Ah well.”

Their was an almightily explosion, a black mass of energy backlash that punched Karandras off his feet. Only his ornate and powerful Aspect Warrior armour saved him. He rolled to his feet as the energy dissipated.

Ahra was gone, a crater in the middle of the street the only evidence of his departure.

No matter. As the war for Bellum Lacer expanded, there would be other chances. Neither one of them would rest till the other was dead and here, on the Eastern Fringe, was as good a place to continue a centuries long feud.

With that Karandras slipped into the nearest shadows, and disappeared likewise. There would be a next time.

the dead city, was silent once more

OOC: story just about 2 and a half A4 pages long. Enjoy.

[vedalslayer]

for consideration, i updated the text from 2 years back, spell checked, grammar checked and made it flow a bit better. let us know what you think. thanks