>>6309584<span class="mu-i">You have been training under Master for a few months now.
When you dash at the beast, blood is pumping in your veins, your heart gripping your throat. Each step on the grass echoes up to your spine. Your slender vintner arms have thickened with muscle. Your sinews are stronger, your reflexes much sharper.
And you have learned the sheer joy of slaying—you sharpen your blade at the heat of your anger.
May it be one day the skull you’ll be splitting with your axe will it be that of the Stilladìa.
Master told you everything about that wretch.
But now—for now it’s this whoreson of a misshapen hyena you must fight.
Its claw swings down below, you skip to the right.
It misses.
You skip again, it’s a feint, like Master taught you.
You raise your weapon, aiming for the thing’s groin. Lots of blood to spill, there.
To think you used to wonder which grapes were the most ripe, just a few years ago.
“Raaah!” You shriek, a shrill banner of your anger and skill, and you swing with all the might you can put behind the strike, right against the thing’s reeking thigh.
The axe bites onto its fur, it cleaves through its hide—
It stops an inch inside.
Starless Night, you think.
Just in time to try and pry the axe off the thing’s skin, but it’s too thick, you won’t—
You raise your other arm in a vain attempt to cover yourself. Its claw reaches for your arm and it pries you off your weapon, which sticks out of its flesh like an afterthought.
The part of you that can still think curses the Kiengir meat-mages that molded this thing out of black knowledge in forgotten dark years. It lifts you until your are level with its muzzle.
“Ah—” you gasp, regretting it when the hyena-thing’s stench fills your nose, burning. It opens its jaws, wide. It ekes out a laughter, that horrible haw-haw-haw you have heard through the nights while you and Master stalked its den.
Your right hand is free, though.
You reach for your belt.
Your hand coils around the hidden knife there.
And you plunge it deep into its throat.</span>
[cont.]
