Darak 1 - Smoke and Flame: Part 1

CHAPTER 10

"Come on Darak. Let it go. Bow to your queen. Your precious soldier is dead." Adina's soldiers began retreating as soon as Kiev had died. They witnessed Darak lying in the mud and the orc standing by him.

"Leave us be, soldiers! We have won!" The orc shouted, turning his back to the minotaur. Lives had been lost in Adina's battle, but everyone headed toward the castle happily. Including the queen, who knew Codd could take Darak. She knew the minotaur would end up beaten and dragged to her castle.

"Codd!" she called back as she was a few feet from the battlegrounds. "Bring him to me! In any shape you wish!" She hurried her horse along, leaving the mountains and minotaur behind.

Darak lay face first in the mud, his body covered in rainwater. Lifting his head, he spits out a glob of dirt.

The orc stood over his body, raised his hammer, and slammed the blunt metal end into Darak's shoulder. The minotaur howled in pain as the shoulder snapped with a loud crunch that echoed through the sky.

Darak's left arm was of no use. Even the slightest movement caused pain to course through his nerve endings.

With his right arm, Darak gripped Codd's throat and stood up slowly, drenched in rain, blood, and mud.

Codd tried to maneuver out of his grasp, but anger was on Darak's side this stormy afternoon.

Lightning illuminated the sky as Darak sent a kick to Codd's penis. He yelled and swung his hammer to the right, which the minotaur swiftly dodged.

"You have no ax minotaur. You flung it after I sent your ass careening towards the rocks. Perhaps it is unfair for me to have my hammer?" The orc chuckled and tossed his weapon to one side.

The minotaur took this opportunity to pop his shoulder back into place, which only stung momentarily.

With a swift movement, the orc removed his black armor-leaving himself in a white shirt and pants.

Snorting a bit, Darak removed his armor. Leaving himself completely exposed to the elements and to the tall orc before him.

Now the orc and minotaur stood in fighting stances.

Rain cascading down their bodies, the mud at their feet, was now thick and brown and caked by anything it touched.

Bodies of soldiers surrounded them, most were disemboweled and missing limbs. The air smelled of sweat and muck.

Two seven-foot-tall creatures ran at one another, holding their shoulders, growling, and spitting into each other's faces.

Darak tackled Codd to the ground, kneeling above him, and sent a series of punches to his leathery face. Codd grunted. Black, gooey, blood filled the orc's nostrils and the knuckles of the minotaur's hands.

Codd's back was now covered in mud. Rain stung his eyes. Using one large hand, he gave a mighty punch to Darak's chest. Causing him to cough. Breathing in and out stung his body. He wanted to collapse. He wanted to fall over and rub his wound, but he couldn't let Codd win.

Darak used two hands to squeeze the orc's throat.

He couldn't choke the orc out, so in a flash, he released his grasp, and with a guttural yell, he bent his head forward and rammed one of his horns into Codd's eye socket. With a deep, loud crunch of bone, the horn went through his eyeball and slammed into his brain.

The orc convulsed for a moment before succumbing to the brutal injury.

The rain began to stop. Darak lay in the mud, his breathing rapid, one of his white horns was covered in gore.

He knew Kiev was dead but was in no condition to pay his respects.

He was exhausted. His chest was in immense pain and his sore muscles were nothing compared to the pain of losing a loved one.