Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

The back felt incredibly warm, like laying into a tub of boiling water, whether it was the heat of the liquid, or the coldness of his body that gave this impression, who could know, certainly not this knight as he laid into a puddle of his own blood, sensing all that was sanguine within him growing emptier and emptier, the white cloak, a mark of prestige and strength, had turned crimson, the durable armour, forged upon these lands, and meant to protect them.

This armour had failed its owner, torn through by the filth-covered teeth of an undead hound, most of the knight's guts had been crushed and flung well away from his body, yet, he still lingered on alive for now, witness the absolute massacre that occurred all around, although the tall grass blocked most of his vision, it was not difficult to get an idea of what was happening, fellow knights stood no chance of outrunning this beast, and neither did they even consider it, as comrades were beset by its feral assault, they did not hesitate to step in.

One thrusted his spear forth, aiming for the side of the hound's chest, met with a flexible flesh, but surprisingly not so resistant, the weapon piercing right through, but only for the living to receive a nasty surprise, a foul stench instantly escaping the beast, within, although appearing well conserved on the outside, all its organs had completely turned into putrescent sludge, of which the odour could only only been described as beyond nauseating, forcing tears from even the knights as it caused unforgiving itches to both eyes and nasal pathways.

Rust forming upon the metal of the spear, erosion upon the wooden handle as the knight pulled his weapon back, wholly regretting his decision, another living approaching from the other side, having ditched the spear for her sword, understanding that poking holes into a corpse was of little effect, instead aiming to take the beast's head off its shoulders.

Raising her blade aloft, the hound having its head turned to the one that had pierced its hide, the strike should connect.

Lessons were not learned, the sound of air being split by a sword edge was as clear as a howl to the beast of Loimos, lowering its body, swinging at the knight's chest using its head, picking the knightess up and flinging her well away, maintaining its momentum, continuing its counter clockwise movement, smashing its tail across the nearest living's helm, the sick crunch accompanying that blow not that of iron failing.

"It's no use! We have to retreat!" one of them came to their senses, they might have stood a chance had their sneak attack worked, but they had not only lost the initiative, but had it stolen from them, though, no one could understand those words, their sense of hearing still inoperative from the powerful roar they had endured, the knight speaking did not let that fact stop him however.

Throwing his spear at the hound, right in time as the soldiers went in for a second volley, which was all over the place as even though they were not in the cone of the roar, they were clearly more debilitated by its effects than the knights, their sense of equilibrium was all messed up, and thus, their aim was poor.

The spear only brushing up against the beast's long fur as it dodged to the side, the knight using this opportunity to pick up a rock and throw it at the furthest of his fellows, although unconventional, this warrior did not need to turn around to understand the message, rising his hand, signalling retreat to all others.

The one slowly dying on the ground, with his guts decorating the tall grass around him, could only approve such a decision, facing this thing head-on was a suicide task, or at least one required a fair bit more knights that the amount present there at the moment, the hound was free to move around and pick off who it wanted dead one by one, with its bestial strength and superior agility, an open field such as this one was its playing ground.

Slowly forcing himself up, further allowing his insides to spill out, the undead was not going to just watch his brethren turn tails and run away, taking his sword out of its sheath, raising it weakly.

The order to retreat did not concern him as he was already as good as dead, in fact, the very movements that he was making had already hastened his eventual passing.

As his fellows followed the command and began moving back to the top of the hill, another flurry of arrows befalling the area, this one a bit more accurate than the previous, the hound ignored them and prepared to pounce right on the back of one of his comrades, only to halt in mid-air.

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'Well… I guess getting mauled and headbutted don't have the same consequences…' indeed, the knightess that had been flung away earlier was already back, the tall grass having probably softened the fall, a miserly compensation considering that it would already have been the softest of the damage inflicted anyways.

Grabbing the beast's fluffy tail with both hands, having shoved her feet right underneath some exposed roots, the clear noise of bones popping out of their joints came as the beast inevitably pulled harder than the living, still, by anchoring herself, she had managed to stop the hound in its action.

As it landed again, instead of taking care of the knightess, it began preparing another roar, still aiming to stop the runaways, and it was taking longer than before this time.

This one was going to be much more powerful, and this time, the soldiers would be right in the way of its sound blast.

"Stupid mutt…"

'You think hitting us once is enough?'

The dying knight threw his sword, blade spinning through the air, accurately slashing through the air, ending its course through the beast's throat, seemingly putting a stop to its roar, but only for a moment.

One could not possibly think that severing an undead's trachea would actually prevent it from doing anything.

However, even though that instant was not what had been expected, this small second was enough for the knight that had gotten struck across the helm to step in, grabbing the hounds snoot, forcing its head higher, making it shoot the roar completely away from its intended target.

Swinging its open maw at him, sending the living to the ground.

The pale canine was still intent on stopping the rest from escaping, but alas, they were already gone, vanished entirely.

Growling, it seemed like only three livings were left around…