Now that you've seen it, here's my entry. Enjoy!
Zii's ear hurt. It was the third piercing that he had received, but the other two hadn't done this. They had been painful at first, but the pain went away quickly. Now, though, his ear was swollen and his green skin was turning black around the hole where the new ring had been punched through it. Zii was certain that this was the punishment that Ma'fasa'lita'them'a'loc was inflicting on him. The other members of the Skaledron believed that he passed the trial. Zii wasn't convinced.
It begin when Zii had been called before the Skaledron. They informed him that, due to the death of one of their members, a new member had to be appointed. He had been nominated by nine of the surviving thirteen members to fill that vacancy. His bravery and leadership in battle with the other ork clans had earned him the respect and admiration of the members of the Skaledron. They believed that he had the wisdom and strength to stand in judgment of the other members of the Saand clan. He had only one thing left to do to join them: venture outside of the volcano and kill one of the ma'han.
Zii knew little of the ma'han. They did not live in the safety and warmth of the volcano. They lived outside where the ancient spells could not protect them. They were taller than orks and their skin was an ugly pale color. Their heads were covered with useless colored hair. It was said that they were ferocious fighters, and that only the strongest, bravest and smartest ork could best even a young ma'han in one-on-one combat. Zii was not afraid of the ma'han, but he welcomed the challenge.
For two days Zii prepared himself for his trial outside the volcano. He prayed to Ma'fasa'lita'them'a'loc to strengthen his enemy. There would be no honor in defeating an enemy that was not his equal or better. He ate only the ritual foods. These foods eliminated his hunger, but little did more. They provided almost no nourishment. When he went out of the volcano, he would go at his weakest. He would face an enemy at its strongest and he would return bravely. All of the members of the Skaledron would know his strength and he would join them.
The day that he left, the entire clan gathered at the center of the volcano to see his final preparations. As he stood before them, Saand'Ron, the clan leader, dressed him in the armor that he would wear for the trial. It was more than he expected. He had a wooden breastplate and shield. His feet were placed in thick boots. He chose as his weapon Grethnor, a long axe that he had taken into battle before. It had tasted ork blood many times. Now it would taste ma'han.
The first thing that Zii noticed when he stepped outside the volcano was the cold. Inside the volcano, there were magically contained lava flows in the floors, walls and ceilings. These provided light and constant heat. Outside it was dark and the air was colder than anything he had ever felt in his life. He was afraid that his joints would not move in this cold. All the better to weaken him as he faced the ma'han. He could smell the sulfur of the volcanoes and this, at least, was something familiar to him. During his entire life, there had been a stone ceiling over his head. Now, as he looked upwards, he saw nothing above him but the sky and stars. He felt small, insignificant and, for the first time in his life, very afraid.
As he looked into the sky, Zii saw a creature flying high above him. As it circled, he realized that it looked familiar. Centuries before, the ork mages had taken the creatures known as the nak, magically removed their wings and horn and made them very small. These new creatures were called cats and were commonly found among the ork clans.
The creature above him continued to circle, flying lower and lower. As it came closer, Zii realized that this was not a full grown nak. Instead, it was a young, immature to'nak. He could not imagine how large a full grown nak must be. As it continued to come closer, Zii saw something riding on the back of the to'nak. The creature on its back screamed and the to'nak turned directly towards him. It tucked its giant wings back and dove directly for him.
At that moment, Zii had his first good look at the creature riding the to'nak. It was a ma'han. It appeared that many of the stories were correct, but there were things about this creature that the stories never mentioned. The ma'han only had one head but it had two faces. On its head was a small face that was partially covered with dark hair. There was a larger face on its chest as well. This face had two huge blue eyes and a giant, bright red mouth. It was not the ma'han's strange appearance that held Zii's attention at this moment, though. In its hand it held a long spear that it pointed directly at Zii.
The to'nak with its hideous rider flew closer and Zii gripped Grethnor and assumed a battle stance. As the to'nak flew closer, the ma'han pulled the spear back, apparently intending to throw it. To Zii's surprise, the ma'han did not throw the spear. Instead, it jumped off of the to'nak towards Zii. Zii swung Grethnor - not towards the ma'han, but towards the spear. He felt the heavy blade of the ax bite through the wood of the simple spear. The spear's metal point rolled away from Zii and the ma'han. The newly-cut tip of the spear followed Grethnor's swing into the ground. The ma'han vaulted over the spear and toppled to the ground.
Zii lifted Grethnor and waited for the ma'han to continue their battle. After a minute, the ma'han began to move. It blinked its small eyes several times and then slowly stretched its arms and legs. At last it saw Zii standing only a few feet away. The ma'han became fully alert at once and it jumped to its feet. It looked around for a weapon. The ma'han reached down and picked up the spear shaft that had fallen from its hand. It faced Zii and assumed a defensive stance. At last, Zii's trial had begun. He hoped that this ma'han would prove to be a worthy foe.
The ma'han attacked first. Screaming, it swung the spear towards Zii's head. Zii easily ducked the swing, while he studied this creature. Where were its weaknesses? It wore no shoes, so its feet must be strong to withstand the rocks on the volcano sides. There was no armor on its head so, obviously, there was nothing inside that the creature needed to protect. The eyes on its chest were larger than the ones on its head, so they must be the ones that the ma'han used to actually see. Zii decided that the large face must be its weakest point.
As soon as the ma'han's spear cleared the air over his head, Zii stood up and Grethnor slashed at the large face on the ma'han's chest. The tip of the ax connected with the face and cut across both eyes. Blood began to run from the jagged cut. Quickly, Zii swung again in the other direction. Another red line appeared across the large face, slicing through the nose and mouth. Suddenly, the skin between the two cuts peeled away from the ma'han's chest. It was not an actual face at all, but a strange article of clothing. Zii had been wasting his efforts by attacking the ma'han in the wrong way. All he had managed to do was carve two shallow cuts in its chest. Cuts like those wouldn't stop a young to'ork.
The ma'han tried to swing the spear at Zii a second time. Would this creature never learn? Zii blocked the swing with Grethnor and spun the ax. The spear shaft flew out of the ma'han's hand and landed about ten feet away. Zii smiled and began to walk towards the ma'han. A look of fear crossed the ma'han's real face. It started to stumble backwards away from Zii. Zii raised Grethnor, getting it ready to swing at the ma'han's head. He never got a chance to swing. The ma'han turned its back to Zii and ran away.
Zii was surprised at this display of cowardice. Perhaps this was a defensive tactic designed to trick Zii into a trap. He wouldn't fall for it. He allowed the ma'han to run ahead, then he followed. He walked slowly, looking behind every boulder in his path. He held Grethnor at the ready, expecting a potentially lethal surprise from the ma'han at any moment.
At last, he found the ma'han behind a rock. There was no lethal trap. There wasn't even a worthy opponent. The ma'han was huddled on the ground covering its head with its hands. Rage began to build in Zii. He lifted Grethnor high above his head. This creature wasn't worth the time or effort that it would take to kill it. Slowly he began to lower the ax. Zii was angry at the ma'han for deceiving him with the deceptive face, and then not having the courage to face him. How could the ma'han dishonor him that way? No ork would run from a fight, even if it was obviously lost. Without thinking, Zii lifted Grethnor again and swung it towards the ma'han's head. The ma'han's head and hands fell away from its body. Zii hardly noticed. He was angry at his god. How could Ma'fasa'lita'them'a'loc send this pitiful creature? He swung Grethnor at the ma'han's body again. Did he not prepare enough? For a third time, he swung the large ax at the ma'han's broken, bleeding body. Were his prayers not earnest enough? He swung the ax again. Did Ma'fasa'lita'them'a'loc think so little of him that this useless creature was the only foe that he would be given? Again, the ax cut through the remains of the ma'han. Zii was angry with himself. He should have realized that this ma'han was not a worthy opponent when it ran from him. He should have left it to find the ma'han that Ma'fasa'lita'them'a'loc had actually prepared for his trial. He was not worthy to join the ranks of a Skaledron. Again and again, with each angry thought, he raised the ax and brought it down into the remains of the ma'han.
Eventually the rage subsided and Zii looked at what he had done. Where there had once been a recognizable body, there was now only a mess of blood, bone and muscle. There was no way to know what creature this had even been. As he looked around, he noticed the ma'han's head and hands lying a distance away from the rest of the body. He picked them up and put them in a small sack. They would serve as evidence of his bravery.
He told the clan of the bravery of the ma'han. He told them how it came against him riding a full-grown nak, armed with many weapons. He told them of their epic battle. It was a story that was fit for legends, and the clan believed every word of it. Saand'Ron dipped his finger in the blood that was dripping from the ma'han's severed head and hands and marked Zii as a new member of the Skaledron.
Zii's ear was pierced as a token of his new position. He was now eligible to stand in judgment over other members of the tribe. He knew that joining the Skaledron should be a great honor. Perhaps someday he might feel that way. Now, though, the newly-ordained Skal'Zii felt like a failure and a fraud. And his ear hurt.
1 comment:
I read it. I think I fell into the middle of a sto'ry.
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