Karioom

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After about an hour of racing through the forest, we reached the edge of a lake, with sand deep and gravely. I asked Thowra to stop, and he thankfully obliged. Mookari stopped next to us, and then walked off to drink in gulps the cool water of the lake. Thowra turned his head to look at me, thoughtfully, and carefully. I slid off him, landing in the pebbly sand, and allowing my legs to buckle underneath me. Thowra turned his gaze to look at me, and make sure I was alright. When I nodded, he whuffled my hair softly with his nose, then slid off with Mookari to drink.


I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to gain some grip of the emotions around me. Closing my eyes, I sighed again deep, and sorrowful. But closing my eyes was a huge mistake.

The battle cries resounded around me, screaming of the unlucky and victorious. The dark light of the shadow of the mountain was broken by the flashing of many swords and daggers. My knives seemed to have gained a life of their own, spinning and diving in my hands. Through the orc haze that seemed to spread over the horizon and beyond, I glimpsed the bright orange hair that signified that my brother was somewhere to the west disembowelling orcs. "Karioom!" I yell his name loudly, and I see him turn to look at me, grinning wildly. I see his mouth open, about to call something back, but he was cut off by a loud roar, ear piercing and violent. I fling my knives out and turn, slicing the orcs behind me in half. Some of my people also turn, but are not so lucky. There are several screams that signify the meeting of an orc sword.


The roar echoes through the wooded valley again. The noise of the battle fades away. Suddenly, the orcs scream and race for the trees, shrieking and brandishing their swords. Very soon even the slowest of them have disappeared into the woods and up the trees. Looking around shakily, I discover that to my horror there are few of the army that my brother and I led into battle left. Of the approximate 1500 wolves we led into battle, only 350 remain. We slowly migrated to a group, facing the top of the valley where the sound had come from. All was silent and ominous for a while, broken only by the panting and occasional growls from the wolves around my brother and I, us being the only one in human forms.


A breath of air fills the valley, whistling softly over the armour and swords of the fallen. As if on cue, the trees sway back and forward, creaking and groaning. The valley begins to fill with an overwhelming black shadow, circling us, and making any escape impossible. Gasping, I let my left knife slip into my scabbard, keeping a firm grip on my right slippery hilt. Closing my eyes, my left hand strayed up to my diamond necklace resting on my neck. Opening my eyes again, I found that even my fearless brother was concerned, a frown creasing his pale forehead. The trees near us burst into flame, flickering in the light. "Gran kha nan" My brother whispered hoarsely, his wide blue eyes transfixed on the fire. Of course, I thought, the flame demons of the westerness. They have come to claim us. From the forest emerges 4 horns, burning like torches. Attached are great flaming heads of an evil creature, with coal black eyes that seemed to purchase ones soul. Balrogs, they were called by men.


A great body followed this montorous head, with four strong and stout limbs all aflame. It emerged from the forest, setting more old and beautiful trees alight and screaming. Behind it, four smaller but no less grotesque Gran kha nan came after them. They opened their mouths and roared, and from their mouth burst flame, dark and red. "Kren weo qunen pohe! Waer mon!" My brother yelled and our troops formed the tight circle that we used with small numbers. ((Aim for the eyes! Centre formation))


They lunged forward at us, striking the ground, trying to scare us backwards in retreat into the mountains. We stayed were we were, my brother and I pulling our weapons out at the ready. "Khran!" ((charge!)) The word erupted from my mouth before I could stop it, tumbling out like a waterfall down a rocky cliff face. Gathering our legs underneath us, we screamed great battle cries that would be heard at the burning of dale, and be forever remembered in the tales that would be told. Snarling, my people threw themselves at the furnace of the Gran kha nan, pulling two down to the ground, no longer flaming, still and resolute. My brother and I, brandishing our knives, ran after them, flying at the first and biggest of the five. It waved a great paw, and we were thrown to the ground, panting and bruised. Automatically, we leapt back up, even more angry than before. My mind had gone numb, the way it always did in battle, and I did everything by intuition. My brother was up and fighting before me. Slashing wildly, I hacked at one of the horns, and chopped it off, before falling to the ground with a horrible burning and ripping sensation traveling up my arms. I watched, helpless, as my brother was thrown down too. The Gran kha nan towered over him, breathing great waves of heat onto Karioom's bare face. Panting, he brandished his swords in the beast's face, but his arms were rendered useless because of the Gran kha nan's huge foreleg pressing down on his chest. Then Karioom did something I had never see him do before.


He screamed.


He was in immense pain, and I could do nothing to help him. For the first time in his life, he was alone. And I hated it.


I struggled up onto my feet, and raising my hands up in the air with both knives, I staggered forward and slashed the beast's neck twice, using my last recourses of energy. It staggered, surprised at the sudden loss of a head, and slipped to fall onto its side, never to move again. My legs suddenly failed, and I collapsed on the ground next to Karioom. I slipped my shaking hands under his head and lifted it up. "Kari... Kari gesdt wua perlo Kari" I whispered, frowning. ((Kari...Kari stay with me Kari))


"Qen jue calom donane" He croaked back, smiling faintly, in the joking tone he always used ((Leave me in peace sister))


"No, no, dulchoe bache youe. Cornse va moun." ((No, no, help is coming. Save your energy))My voice was starting to crack.


"It is my time. Promise me..Promise me..." he croaked, his light blue eyes flickering towards the back of his head.


"Anything, brother. Anything"


"Do not...Do not..... Do not forget me..?"A slight frown creased his paling forehead.


"I will not, dear brother Kari. I promise. I will leave my love with you and our sisters. I will not love again." My voice was quaking, and tears had rushed to ball up in my throat.


"Keolm..."


"Yes brother?


"Keol....."


His final breathes were panting, shallow, rasping. His hand, that was clutching mine, loosened its grip, and fell to the ground. His back arched then fell. The shock hit me like a stab wound, and I clutched to Karioom's body, weeping.


They found me there, hours after the battle, while cleaning up the dead. I remember it so clearly. My sisters running up to me, only children, running out to hug me, then seeing what I was holding. The shock. The crying. The screaming of his name. I grew weak after the funeral, like a shadow of my former, loving self. The grief had swallowed me whole. I raised my sisters by myself, as my parents had died years earlier. Everything reminded me of him. We were twins, so we did everything together. And now everything by myself.

I shrieked, clawing, trying to pull myself back through the black wall of pain into reality. I felt a nudge on my shoulders, and I managed to swim through the dark to the blinding light of the sun. Staring into my face worryingly was Mookari, blinking slowly. I threw my hands on my face, panting heavily. "Karioom" I moaned, "No, not Karioom". Grabbing a handful of Mookari's mane I pulled myself up, and held on, stumbling, as he guided me down to the bank of the lake. Kneeling down, I splashed the frigid water on my face, pulling myself back together.

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Hey guys! Cried a little writing this! This (()) means that its what they meant when they were talking in their language. Please comment what you think about this chapter! Gets pretty intense after this!
Thanks for reading!!
-Author

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