Date: 36th of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: Shield
Status: Not starting, but finishing this fight
Weapons: Shield
Armor: Leather
Current Magical Effects
- Prae: Chained Runes of Speed & Strength on both arms (Active)
- Prae: Chained Runes of Speed & Strength on both legs (Active)
- Prae: Chained Runes of Sight & Sound on head (Active)
- Prae: Rune of Endurance on torso (Prepared)
First
Previous
All his practice with Balthazar paid off in this moment; the bolt flew true, and as Prae landed on the forest floor, it slammed into the chest of the bear, setting its patchy fur ablaze.
Neither creature seemed to care, the wolf lunging towards Prae even as his scythe swung towards it, the blade of it bursting into flame.
His scythe caught it right across the neck, igniting the fur there too, and still the creature barely seemed to notice, leaping towards him even with a gaping, flaming wound in its throat. No time to raise his shield, so Praetorum did the only thing he could think of, and slammed his tail against the ground.
There was the sickening crunch of bone as a pillar of stone shot up from the ground in front of Prae, catching the wolf in the ribs and sending it flying through the air. On the other side of the pillar, the bear roared, and Prae leaped backwards, trying to put some distance between him and it.
His scythe would be of no use here, he could see that already. Which meant he was going to have to fight like Balthazar, with fists and feet and defiance.
He was going to have to thank the man at a later date. Although Praetorum had something of an advantage on the more experienced martial artist. Running a hand over each leg, Praetorum drew runes on them, and triggered the ones on his arms, preparing to fight for his life.
The bear charged at him, the fur on its chest still smoldering, and Prae shifted into the stance Balthazar had shown him, feet wide apart, steady and rooted on the ground. A sweep of his arm tore a chunk of earth from the ground, and sent it hurtling towards the bear. With apparently no sense of self preservation, the creature did little to avoid the attack, and was knocked back as the compressed earth shattered against its face.
In the instant it did, Prae lunged towards it, encasing his fist and shield in spiked stone. With hone enhancing his body, he closed the distance between himself and the bear faster than it could recover, and his fist hammered down on the bears skull, powerfully enough that it should have shattered the bone.
To his surprise, it didn't. He did hear a crack, but it wasn't the killing blow he had expected.
Well. He wasn't sure that killing was the right word to use. After all, this close to his foe, it had become abundantly clear that the thing was already dead. There was no heat to the body, both flesh and bone seemed to have been stretched out over the skeleton, reminding Prae somewhat of the desiccated bodies he'd seen in the desert.
Prae didn't dwell on it, except to make note of the fact that his enemy was apparently both a defier and a necromancer. He threw another punch, this time aiming for the creatures mouth. Here, he seemed to have better luck, the weight of the rock combined with his hone enhanced punch enough to dislocate what passed for its jaw.
With a garbled noise, the undead thing swiped one massive paw at Praetorum, and he swept his shield arm up in a guard, a wave of earth coming up with it.
The bear's paw crashed through the earth before Prae had a chance to harden it, and slammed into the stone covered surface of Praetorum's tower shield, cracking the hard stone even as spikes of it pierced through its paw. With Taithir's blessing, though, his shield held firm.
The impact was jarring. But not so jarring that Prae couldn't see the opening it had provided. With one paw trapped over Prae's shield, the creature could not swipe at him again or risk unbalancing, which meant that Prae had another clear shot at its head.
With a yell, Praetorum raised his fist high, and brought it down with all the strength he could muster.
As his fist descended, Praetorum called even more stone to his fist to increase the power of his downward swing--a trick he'd picked up watching Raskalarn's adored priests fight--and shaped it into a spike under his fist to pierce into the top of its skull.
The sound of it was sickening. Prae had heard the crunch of bone, the cracking of skulls many times in his time as a legionnaire; he'd grown used to it, but he would never come to like it.
Praetorum took a moment to catch his breath as the bear slumped to the floor, and the stone around his fist and shield melted back into the dirt it had been made from.
No time to waste. He had to get back to the others.
