It was a clash of the titans, his powerful steed ramming headfirst into what had to be the biggest bear he had ever seen on this entire rock. Both bear and horse were met at a standstill as one vied for dominance over the other. For a moment, it seemed like it was a tie between Samhain and the strange armor plated ursine, at least until a snap of gunfire ended the stalemate with a plume of flame from the shotgun barrel and a spray of red viscera.
”SSSSS!” What agony, what a satisfying sound of pain! The bear’s knee exploded open from behind, and the massive predator was forced to the ground while it struggled to keep its footing.
Samhain’s efforts did not go unnoticed, despite how she was preoccupied with their attacker. She had done an excellent job of stopping the animal where it stood, and was trying to rip out one of its glowing red eyes even as he had pulled the trigger.
”Yesss, good horssse!” He praised, ”Blind the sstupid creature!”
Rip out its eyes, devour them! Maybe even save one of them as a trophy- given how tattered its fur was becoming with every shot Mortis punched into the animal. What was a jar full of the eyes of his adversaries? He would be the only one to appraise it anyway while he was at home.
However with that final shot, the undead was left without any remaining rounds to fill his ever hungry weapon. The rest of his reserve ammunition was with the horse! So long as she was preoccupied with keeping the bear from attacking him, he would not be able to reach her for some spare slugs. but, that was the least of his concerns, as the mammoth bear spun around the face him, and then back to his horse.
Agony swam in its head, and a growing pressure irritated already agonized nerves. Not only was the beast enraged, but it was in pain beyond its understanding. He could sense the creature trying to figure how to defend against them both, but in the process of reading his opponent, he severely underestimated how fast the wounded animal could be. There was a sickening crunch as one of it paws lashed out at him in a blur, and Mortis was catapulted across the clearing like a bony ragdoll.
His host bounced upon the moist earth,once and again, before tumbling into the trunk of the massive oak he had climbed earlier. The undead’s body crumpled against the sturdy tree in a tangle of bony limbs and contorted joints, like his body had been twisted into a pretzle and then fed through a compactor. One arm was twisted over his back, the other had been completely dislocated and shoved down into his ribs. Sharp angles jutted out against the edges of his coat; the jagged angles of his ribs where they stabbed through his leathers and pushed against the thick woolen cloth. His skull, where it laid on the ground- and acted as a lovely seat for his pelvis that the landing had twisted around backwards- now was missing several teeth, and the delicate, triangular bone that sat over his nasal passage had been broken away completely to reveal the shattered inner curls of the sheep-skull’s nasal cavity. His vacant eye socket sported a fresh crack that jaggedly snaked up it and back over his cranium.
Yet, despite the undead’s mangled appearance, the single eye that was unnatural stuck within his eye socket rolled and focused balefully upon the bear, and an agitated hiss escaped his now crooked throat.
One of his contorted limbs flexed with a sickening pop, and the rest of the undead’s host erupted into a chorus of horrible pops, cracks, and snaps as his body unfolded from where it had been crumpled against the tree. His spine twisted and straightened with a dry crunch, his ribs were sucked back into their proper places in series of hollow pops. With a painful crackle Mortis rose to his feet, hunching and contorting like a monster out of a nightmare as his host literally pulled itself back together.
Bone dust and shredded, dry flesh fell from his host as he stepped forward with a groan. ”Damn thisss bear, damn it to hell...” He rasped under his breath as his jaw shifted itself back into alignment.
Damn this bear, and every other bear that would have the misfortune of coming across him and his horse once this was over. The ghoul felt around his belt for his shotgun, only to find it was not there, and neither was it in his hands. The shotgun, thrown from his grip during the rough landing, had ended up leaned against a tree, its stock fractured lengthwise down the middle.
That was not so bad, he thought, as he lurched over towards it. But as he knelt down to retrieve it, the rotten remains of his heart immediately sank. One of its barrels had been crumpled inward like a discarded soda can from where it had been slammed against the tree. His pride and joy, rendered useless from a single swipe of the bear’s armored paw.
”Sssss...” He dropped the gun back onto the ground, it no longer could be of use for this situation. He would either need to replace it later, or find someone to fabricate a new set of barrels for it.
Without it, the undead was left with his claws, and his psychic abilities to deal with the strange bear. His host crackled in protest once again as he rose to his feet, and turned towards the desperately swiping animal. Below it he could see the pool of blood steadily amassing from the wound upon its chest. The entry hole of his earlier shot pushed past the thick hide and most of its muscle. Mostly likely its ribs and heart laid under barely an inch of bleeding flesh.
It was a risk, but if he was just quick enough, perhaps he could end this fight with the majority of both his and his horse’s body intact.
He contacted his horse once more; Sssamhain, keep that thing occupied for me.
Turning on his heel, Mortis willed his battered form into a sprint towards the thrashing, crippled animal, the disembodied eye within his sockets glaring straight at the beast, and followed it as he dropped down onto his hip and slid between the bear’s legs. His claws shot up in a blur of rancid green flesh and tattered black cloth as he passed beneath the bear’s chest, and sank themselves deep into the fist-sized hole he had created earlier.
“My touch bringsss decay!” He fervently exclaimed.
The moment his claws touched the exposed muscles and bone, they began to wither and putrefy to a rancid black. Hide peeled away and dried like old paper, the decay’s hunger eating through hard muscles and bone, until it penetrated through to devour and shrivel the bear’s heart like a rotting fruit.
Mortis
DP: 65/0 -27
HP: 650/520 -130
AP: 120/62 -12
Power: None
Weapon: Touch of Mortis (decay): 1c/3d per use, 4ap per attack
Trinket: Assassin's Eye (accuracy enhancer): +1 coin to Mortis' attacks, 2ap per use
Cooldown: ---
Target: Redhelm Arzuros
Action: Rotting away the Redhelm Arzuros' chest
(100000/100000)
(100000/100000)
(100000/100000)
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