Child of War (Tales of Autcrem)

Chapter Seventeen, One last Lesson

Dodd ducked as Rooshra swung where his head was. He now hovered over Dodd, so Dodd sprang back up and cracked into Rooshra's head with his own head. It was a powerful bang. one would think head butting a helmet was foolish but one hadn't meant Do Rooshra stepped back but didn't recoil enough, he struck again with his weapons. Dodd blocked one with his ax and the other with his forearm. The blade didn't even cut through. Dodd had put most of his Besh into both his arms.

Dodd was starting to feel the pain from the arrows, and the minor scratches from the enemy swordsmen. Not much pain, just enough to be annoying, pain was always annoying. He laughed to himself as he remembered the little talk he and Hensei had about how annoying pain was.

"How about," Dodd grunted as he pushed back Rooshra's attacks leaving his body wide open, which he sent a powerful kick into it. It sank into his gut with enough force to send him sliding back a few feet. "We take a breather, Rooshra," Dodd said with a huff and a puff. His fur armor cut and bloodied. He looked at the blood that dripped from his wounds and stained his once clean armor. He began to snap the shafts of the arrows off. "I realized my strong defense wasn't the best idea for arrows. It would have been better to drop it, so they could have passed through instead of sinking a few inches."

He looked around at the carnage he had caused. The death and blood. Some he was long accustomed to, yet it had been years since he had caused it to such a degree. He looked at Rooshra, who glared through his helmet with eyes so full of rage that they beamed red, when you let the bloodlust and rage of Besh take control, it would do that.

"It's been a long time since we've fought Rooshra, I'm ready to see how far you've come."

"Far enough that you'll be dead at the end of it." He growled.

"Haha," Dodd laughed, "You know everyone screws up with their first kid, I think I really screwed up with you. You were the first orphanage of war that I took in, yet I screwed up because I raised you in war." Dodd looked at the ground with a scowl. "You need to raise children in peace, I get that now." He looked back up at Rooshra. "I'm sorry about that Rooshra, I really screwed up, I'm sorry."

"I didn't come for your apologizes, Dodd!" He shot forward both axes swung together.

"I'm still going to give them, Rooshra!" Dodd roared as he hammered his ax into his attack. They clashed like tigers, roared like bears, battled liked titans. Steel against steel in the music of battle. Every attack is enough to smash rocks, shatter steel, crack a mountain. Their attacks became wild. Rooshra showered Dodd with a frenzy of strikes. Dodd kept up with them like it was nothing much. Suddenly a cut appeared on Rooshra's arm and a spray of blood. Soon another and another. Rooshra had to move his head back as Dodd came for it, just barely sparking against the metal. Soon Rooshra was on the defensive as Dodd pushed him further and further. More cuts more blood, they became deeper; the blood became more abundant.

Rooshra let the rage fill him even more, he let the bloodlust control him even further. In a fit of rage, he left himself wide up, so Dodd claimed a long and deep cut across his chest. Rooshra ignored the pain and brought his weapons down in a savage strike. Dodd barely had time to block it as he was pulling back from his attack. They clashed with Dodd's weak block and cut vertically across his chest. It was deep and bloody. Rooshra was going to bring his weapons back up, but Dodd took his ax and caught Rooshra's against the ground. He then took his left hand and smashed into Rooshra's face and then swung his ax to score a deep cut across his chest with more blood then one would like. At this moment, Rooshra fought through the pain and brought both of his axes into Dodd's side. They cut deep into his flesh with plenty of blood to follow. Dodd grunt in pain, he really felt that. The pain burst through him like a hammer. He traded his ax into his left hand and locked the blades under his right arm, and grabbed one of Rooshra's arms to keep them there. He then swung his ax with an anger he had long forgotten. Rooshra could not get his weapons-free, so he let go of the one with his only free arm. As the ax came for his neck, he caught it by the handle; a little of the blade cut his hand. Dodd smiled and let go of his ax. He locked Rooshra's capture arm even tighter and hammered his other hand up under his arm with his palm.