War Of The Swimming Sands

[Blawharag 277]

Author's note: Hey everyone, this is the first of a four part series which will be devoted towards telling the tale of the Shurr'Dru. The Prologue to the series can be found here. This story features the Shurr'Dru Drae'hai. Drae'hai is the same Shurr'Dru who attacked the first Orcs to Ausulon and wiped them out. Now the Orcish military, known as the Krughai, must set out and hunt a creature no one has ever slain and only one has escaped to tell his tale. The Shurr'Dru are a cunning enemy, and not to be underestimated as the line between predator and prey becomes blurred. Here in the desert, every hunt is a war for survival, and when Shurr'Dru and Orc wage war, even the victorious will not escape unscathed.

Special thanks to Jutra (Opiedoodle) who graciously sifted through 19 Microsoft Word pages of material acting as a Grammar Nazi. Without her, this story would have been shameful.

[Blawharag 277]

A fire roared while the Orcs circled around it. Blawharag had no sooner finished recanting his tale when the muttering began amongst them. Surly the Shurr'Dru that Blawharag discovered in the desert was the same breed of beast that wiped out the last Orc civilization here, on this new continent. If the problem was not handled soon, it would be the end of them as well. As every one began voicing their opinions, fist fights broke out and angry roars drowned out the crackling of the fire. The Warlord sat and listened to them, growing more and more wearisome of their bickering. He turned and saw Blawharag staring listlessly into the fire, brooding over the loss of Gilgamesh no doubt.

"What do you think?" He asked in the old Blah, an Orcish tongue forgotten to most. The blah most spoke now was nothing more than a bastardized version with some Shara. At first Blawharag made no response, or sign that he had heard Mogroka, continuing his staring at the flames. After a moment though, he spoke,

"Given time, I could devise a way to track the beasts through Gilgamesh in his stomach. By then, however, he would have found us first. If we fight him here in these mountains, we will die. It will trap us here and come and go as it wishes until we are all as dead as our predecessors. We must go out and hunt them." Blawharag too spoke in the old Blah, the true Blah. It was clear he was depressed over the loss of Gilgamesh, but his words carried no less truth. The mountains that surrounded their new city were nearly impossible to scale, but the Shurr'Dru could just as easily swim through the earth and attack them from below. The damned beast could use their own gates as choke points and besiege their city without the slightest bit of trouble. Yet how were they supposed to hunt such a predator? The Shurr'Dru was a near perfect predator. It was all but impossible to detect, even when it was upon you. By the time you noticed the one shifting dune that was different from the rest; the beast was already poised to strike.

Mogroka shifted at the thought, trying to hammer out a plan. "The Krughai would be sufficient to slay the beast, but I can't send them out there blind. They will be slaughtered." Mogroka considered it carefully, trying to focus on the roar of the fire rather than the roar of the crowd around him. The fist fights were growing more and more furious and one or two had already turned into full fledged arena duels. His head thrummed with makings of a headache and then the idea hit him.

Blawharag must have been on the same track because he finally pulled his gaze away from the fire to look at the Warlord. They both grinned and Blawharag spoke first,

"Maybe we don't need to find him. Maybe he will find us."

"Set a trap, let him come to it. A large force of Krughai will be a tempting target and a tasty meal."

"He has maybe had herds of cattle and traveling merchants on his lands and remembers them as easy buffets, he will come to the Krughai expecting an easy meal..."

"...and earn a swift death."

The Warlord nodded, satisfied at the plan. Lurching to his feet he waited as Blawharag roared for silence. When the crowd had gone quiet, Mogroka spoke.

"Ned, Pok, Jarkarll! Come meet me at my hut, we have a plan to make happen."

~~~

Ned Lud marched at the head of the war party. He spared a moment to turn and look at the masses behind him. The greater portion of the Krughai had been mobilized for the hunt. The party had organized itself to resemble the formation a merchanting column might take. Wagons rolled in the center with groups of Orcs traveling closely around each. After that Orcs scattered around the column to the formation of what one might expect travelers and weary merchants to hold.

There was one crucial difference though: These were no merchants, and it was not goods and trade they escorted. This was a battalion of the finest Krughai, armed and armored, battle ready and hardened. Their wagons carried crates filled with TnT, an explosive substance they had only recently discovered. There were no disguises at play here, each Orc was as prepared as possible. They formed up like a merchant caravan to lure the beast, but the Shurr'Dru was nothing more than a beast and would not be able to tell the difference between merchant and armed warrior to save his own hide.

Mogroka and Blawharag had thought of the idea to travel in a merchant's formation, but Ned Lud was the one who thought to fill the wagons with TnT. After all, if the beast could piece together that a merchant caravan was a tasty treat, than it certainly would remember that the wagons could hold food and more. All he had to do was go for one; they would light the fuse and let him have it! BOOM! One danger to society dead and one big trophy to bring home. Behind him Jarkarll and Pok were barking orders to the other Orcs in the column, Jarkarll busy ensuring that the troops remained weary, Pok busy screaming at a clumsy Orc that dropped some TnT. As the Orc began struggling with the crate to lift it back into place, he slipped and dropped it again. Ned Lud would have laughed, if the crate hadn't gone off.

The resulting explosion shook the sands, the crate set off the wagon next to it causing them all to go off. Shrapnel and wood rocketed across the air and the orcs assigned to that wagon were lost. Ned Lud raced to the sight of the explosion and found Pok some 10 meters away, but alive. The orc's mouth moved, but Pok was at a loss for breath and no words were formed. Slowly Pok struggled to his feat as Ned approached.

"What the skah happened? How did he skah this up!?" Pok glared at Ned as he struggled to regain his breath. When finally he did, his shouted response was less than helpful,

"EH!? WHAT DID YOU SAY!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER ALL THIS RINGING!" Ned could have hit him, but Jarkarll interrupted his train of thought.

"What in the name of Krug are you two doing?"

"WHAT!?"

"Mushhed here let one of the Orcs drop some TnT."

"I can see that," Jarkarll looked at the crater left by the TnT "This is a bad start. Uzgoth, you should know there is a Sandstorm approaching from the east. We will be blind if we are caught in it." Ned looked to the east and saw that Jarkarll spoke truely. However, the storm was much too close and moving too fast to avoid now.

"Hey guys! I think I can hear again." Pok's voice was still loud, but he did appear to be shaking off the daze the explosion had left him in.

"Good, get the word spread, we need to bring the wagons to shelter." Ned looked around and saw a rock outcropping that should fit their needs. "There, get them tucked away in those rocks, that should keep them safe." Immediately Pok and Jarkarll set to work ordering the wagons moved. Ned Lud wondered if the Shurr'Dru even knew what a sandstorm was. One who lives beneath the earth rarely cares for what weather strikes the world above.

~~~

Drae'hai's eyes watched carefully. The Krugkubs had brought weapons. Weapons would not stop him. He had conquered the Krugkubs of the mountain place; he could conquer the Krugkubs of the wooden horses. He was almost ready to strike; he would hit the noisy ones first. The noisy ones spoke to little Krugkubs and kept them smart. But when they made noise no more, Krugkubs scattered before the great dreads of the sand. Drae'hai was just pulling his head back into the ground when suddenly the sand shook. A short roar echoed across the world, one of his brother's perhaps? But no, he felt no brother in the sands near by. He counted the Krugkubs and their wooden horses. One wooden horse was missing. He raised his head back above the sands and saw smoke and fire where wood and Krugkubs had been. Blackened sand covered the desert and the noisy ones were speaking again, this time to each other.

Drae'hai pondered this. Did the wooden horse do this? It must have, Drae'hai could feel tremors in the sand as Krugkubs slowly backed away from the other horses. The horses were dangerous, he must get them away from the Krugkubs before he hunted. Then, to the east, he saw the sands raging. Krugkubs could not see in angry sand. Drae'hai slipped between the earth, knowing how he would hunt his prey.

~~~

The storm reached them before they could get to the rocks, fortunately they had made it close enough that the silhouette of the rocks could still be seen amongst the sand which buffeted them. Jarkarl watched as the wagon haulers rushed ahead to the rocks, turning away he began stretching the main force out, forming up a defensive perimeter. There wasn't much point to it, in this storm they could see nothing, but it gave the Orcs something to do and kept their mind off the sand biting their skin.

Orcs were no stranger to sandstorms. Most had experienced their first as a child and had braved more than they could count. Life in the desert did not stop because the sand decided to stir, and if you stopped to let the storm pass, you were making your life that much harder, a mistake which could prove fatal in the desert sands. So instead Orcs wrapped cloth around their eyes and face and ignored the sand build up in their armor, waiting to clean it after the storm passed.

Jarkarll spat some sand from his mouth and pull the cloth tighter around his face. Blawharag had warned that a moving dune would be the only signal of a Shurr'Dru's approach, but in a sandstorm every dune shifted. In the blink of an eye a hill became a bump and entire boulders were lost to heaps of sand. A beast that swam through sand probably didn't care though. Jarkarll figured it had no need to see if it could navigate and find prey from beneath the earth. If it swam through sand than a storm like this was a cool ocean breeze to such a beast. The Shurr'Dru had the advantage in this storm, that much was certain. If the beast was going to attack them, now was the hour to do it.

Jarkarll was not disappointed.

The ground rose and lurched beneath Jarkarl's feet. In an instant Jarkarl was atop a hill and moments later was back down and the hill had moved on. The sudden motion had unsteadied Jarkarll, but he kept his footing. Other Orcs were not so lucky, as the living hill moved around to them in turn they teetered and lost balance, falling to their feet. Jarkarll traced the dune's movements and noted two problems: The dune was moving against the winds of the sandstorm and, perhaps more importantly, was moving to situate itself between the Orcs and their stashed wagons of TnT.

"Shurr'Dru!" Jarkarll shouted frantically, but it was too late. The ground erupted and a giant serpentine figure rose from the sands. A monster that could have been a 50 meters in diameter with great fin-like wings stretching from either side. In the haze of the sandstorm it was difficult to make out any details in the beast, yet even still Jarkarll was awestruck by the majesty of such an impossible sight.

The illusion of beauty was dispelled moments later when the Shurr'Dru opened a huge gaping jaw and released a mouthful of sand. The torrent crashed down on a nearby group of Orcs who were swallowed and lost to the attack. No sooner did Jarkarlll start shouting orders than did the Shurr'Dru rear its head and let out a ferocious roar. The world around them shook and the sound of the Shurr'Dru's rage drowned out the howling wind of the sandstorm, the pathetic cries of the Orcs and the sound of Jarkarll's own thoughts leaving nothing but panic in the hearts of all that heard it. When finally the deafening trumpet ceased every Orc was staggering from shell shock. The world was fuzzy, fuzzier still from the whipping sands of the storm. Jarkarll's ears were ringing from the sound and slowly his wits came back to him.

They returned not a moment too soon, giving Jarkarll just enough time to realize that the Shurr'Dru's tail was coming down on him. He flung himself out of the way just as the thick, muscular tail crashed into the sand. Where it landed a dune ripple grew forth. The sand below Jarkarll lurched and buried him neck deep in sand. Trapped, Jarkarll knew better than to struggle, it would only bury him deeper and tighter. The winds of the sandstorm were already blowing away Jarkarll's tomb and freeing him. The Shurr'Dru's head lowered itself to Jarkarll's level and the beast opening its maw to display several razor sharp teeth, each as big as an Orc, or rather larger still.

In the instant before the Shurr'Dru stuck, however, Pok launched himself from somewhere on the dune above the buried Jarkarll. With a barely audible shout of "Glozag Votar!" he landed on the serpent's head and buried an axe into it. The Shurr'Dru let out a shout of annoyance and threw Pok with one toss of its head. As Pok slammed into the sand, Jarkarll was finally freed from the sand trap and drew his bow, Ulfvindr. The bow was of magnificent craftsmanship and rivaled those used by the elves. Stringing an arrow, Jarkarll let one fly right for the Shurr'Dru's head. The wind of the storm proved stronger than expected though and brought it instead to the monsters body. The Shurr'Dru didn't even seem to notice the arrow, instead it thrashed its tail, sending it crashing through the sand and knocking Jarkarll across the sand. By now the rest of the Krughai had closed in on the Shurr'Dru, attacking from all sides. It was pointless though, the Shurr'Dru lashed out with teeth, claws and tail carving the Orcish host apart with deadly efficiency.

The Orcish weapons were having no effect on the predator. His skin was thick and did not so much as bleed. Jarkarll notched another arrow and was lining up his shot when Ned Lud shouted to him from somewhere.

"The explosives! We need the explosives!" He shouted. No sooner did he do so than did the Shurr'Dru turn on him. The beast attacked Ned Lud with all its fury, driving him to scramble, dive, dodge and roll in a desperate attempt to escape his foe. Jarkarl loosed his arrow, compensating for the wind, hoping to distract the Shurr'Dru. His arrow dug into the side of the monster's head, but the beast had eyes only for Ned.

~~~

Ned Lud was growing fatigued, and fast. The Shurr'Dru was quick and agile for something so large. Sand exploded around him as the massive head struck down into the ground like lightning. Over and over again the head attacked while claws lashed down in terrible fury. Ned Lud flew himself to one side, rolled to another, leaped just in time to avoid another head strike only to be launched across the sand by a wing-fin slapping the desert surface. His mind raced, trying to think of a way to escape before his body gave in to fatigue. He could feel himself growing slower, here and there his dodging came fractions later and eventually one claw caught his back and tore a gash there. Ned Lud felt no pain though, adrenaline surged through his body as he made his desperate flight from the Shurr'Dru.

What set it off? Why is it focusing on me? Ned Lud's mind was a storm of possibilities, it could be anything or nothing. Suddenly it dawned on him: the beast knew. Somehow the Shurr'Dru was smart enough to understand that Ned Lud was shouting orders, and the serpent was looking to cut the head off the snake. I hate irony, Ned Lud thought bitterly to himself. He shouted for Pok,

"Pok! Pok! Give orders!" Pok looked at him questioningly.

"What kind of orders?"

"The kind that make Orcs do things stupid! Quickly!" The Shurr'Dru thrashed his tail and sent Ned Lud spiraling through the air. Sand rushed up to greet him and immediately Ned lost his air. Wearily he got to his feet, he could feel the Shurr'Dru looming behind him, ready to deliver the final blow, but then Pok started shouting.

"You Orcs! Get the TnT back over here! You all! Go move over there and jump around! Everyone do something!!" The Shurr'Dru turned to watch Pok shout orders, when the Orcs began reacting to his commands, the Shurr'Dru screamed in outrage, giving Ned just enough time to get out and move, running away from the Shurr'Dru with a renewed haste.

Giving up the chase, the Shurr'Dru dove back into the sands, disappearing into just another shifting dune in the midst of a raging sandstorm. Ned Lud had sprinted for his life, but soon found that in the chaos of escaping his attacker, he had become separated from the main force. In the whipping sands he could not see the rock formation any longer. He was lost...

~~~

Pok stumbled through the desert, exhaustion having caught up to him, he tripped and fell face first into the sand. Rolling onto his back with a grunt and a groan visions danced before his eyes of the battle before.

The Orcs jumped to his commands, scurrying to collect the gun powder. Before they could make it to their storage site, however, the Shurr'Dru erupted from the sands, his tail slammed against the dunes sending waves crashing down on them. The fury of the sandstorm blinded them as the Shurr'Dru raged and smashed, sending lucky Orc's flying through the air and burying the rest in a sandy tomb. Pok charge but was turned away with the flick of a tail. In the heat of the storm he never saw the tail coming. By the time he struggled to his feat the sounds of the battle had been drowned out by the storm.

He wandered blind through the storm, when finally it cleared Pok realized he was thoroughly lost. Skah, am I all that is left? Pok mused to himself, I suppose I could finish the Shurr'Dru off myself, he must be weak from the battle, this will be easy. Pok had set off to find the Shurr'Dru but quickly found the desert fatigue catching up to him. It was a dangerous situation, Oases were few and far between in the desert, but not non-existent. Pok could have gone to any to restore his strength, but not without giving the Shurr'Dru the benefit of first strike. It could see us, even in the storm it knew where we were. Is he smart enough to watch the Oases though? It would be easy enough for him to do it, but will he do it?

Pok decided soon enough it wouldn't matter. An Orc knew how to survive, and you don't survive without food and water. The desert was unforgiving to the weak and a parched, starving warrior was a weak warrior. Pok dragged himself to his feet and forced himself to march. He would get his water and if the Shurr'Dru thought to jump him, then he would have meat to feast on instead of Oasis fruit.

~~~

Jarkarll hid from the hot sun beneath the rock formation. The gun powder was still here, mostly. Some had been scattered by the battle, barrels and crates dotting the sands for some distance, but enough remained that the Shurr'Dru could still be slain. The only question was how? After their last encounter the Orcish host had been scattered. Just more than half remained with Jarkarll, Ned Lud and Pok were lost or dead among the other remaining numbers. The Krughai had come in strength and the Shurr'Dru had dealt them a devastating blow with one fell swoop. A good hunter knew what had happened though. The predators had let themselves become prey. They assumed the Shurr'Dru was stupid, but it was a hardened force of nature and one hell of a hunter. It had tracked them through the sands, waiting until the odds were in it's favor. In the midst of the sandstorm, the Orc's fought blind where the Shurr'Dru suffered no ill consequences. They had let the Shurr'Dru come to them, rather going to the Shurr'Dru.

Jarkarll was a hunter too though, and he was not about to make the same mistake twice. The Shurr'Dru was powerful, but such a large creature must either remain dormant for long periods or else feed during active periods, and feed well. Certainly it must have had it's fill of Orc meat from their battle, but the sands were hot and all those that wandered it will seek water. The answer was the Oases. The Shurr'Dru would go there to drink and restore itself, readying to finish off the Krughai. It would be easy enough for them to bait the Shurr'Dru to one Oasis, the real question was how to slay the demon when they sprung the trap.

"We found the Oasis as ordered, it is the only one large enough in the area to quench that monster's thirst. What would you have us do?" Rannulf and Tor had been sent to scout, they were strong warriors and both had held their own against the Shurr'Dru, or about as close to holding your own as you can get with the beast.

"Good work, spread the word to get the gunpowder loaded up. We move now." Rannulf pounded his fist to his chest in salute and went off to preform the task, Tor held back. "What troubles you Uncle?"

"That Shurr'Dru is fast, strong and deadly. The Gunpowder might be able to kill the thing, but not if we can't get it to the monster."

Jarkarll nodded, admitting the younger Orc was right. "This is so, but we do not know when the Shurr'Dru will resurface to drink. We cannot miss this opportunity. The best we can do is get ourselves ready and trust those brothers that were scattered will find a way."

~~~

Ned Lud had found a way. He had mis-estimated the ferocity of the Shurr'Dru, but he would not make that mistake again. Having been separated from the others, Ned had sought out a band of nomadic goblins. Finding scattered Krughai who had also been separated from the main host, the make shift band had finally found the Nomadic Goblins at an Oasis.

After sharing with the Goblins his dilemma, they nomads argued amongst themselves for a time before coming to a solution for Ned's snake problem. "We have a design for a Desert Catapult. It's a good theory, but never tested. If you can cut down the trees here in the Oasis, we can build one for you." The Goblins seemed more interested about the opportunity to test their weapon design than in actually defeating the Shurr'Dru. Still, something was better than nothing, so the war party set to work hacking down trees around the Oasis and constructing the catapult based on the Goblin design, little green men shouting orders and barking insults at any Orc that came short of perfection in his work. Meanwhile Ned Lud traded words with the Goblin's leader, Mirgle.

"Your rocks are back east buddy, but that's not where you are headed." Ned gave Mirgle an incredulous look and the goblin grinned slyly back, "No way, you want to catch up with your friends right? Well they are getting together on a ridge overlooking one of the larger Oases. Here, look through this baby." Mirgle produced a cylinder with warped glass at either end. Ned Lud had seen these before, but not to this magnitude. This device was so large it required three metal legs below it to hold it up. The Cylinder body was actually composed of multiple segments which seemed to fit inside one another. Mirgle spent a moment lining up the device then bid Ned to look through it. Sure enough Ned received a vision of a far of ledge where Orc's were gathering upon a rocky cliff overlooking a larger oasis.

"The string of oases in this area are all formed by an underground river, at the foot of the cliff the river collects before it can continue on its way," Mirgle explained, "that's why that oasis is so much larger than the rest. Oasis Delta we call it."

Ned continued to study the vision, he realized that the Orcs had thought to bring the gunpowder. Excellent, Ned thought to himself, Jarkarll is behind this, his hunting instinct is good. He knew to take the high ground and set a trap for the prey. With the catapults we are building, we can eliminate the Shurr'Dru. As he took in the surroundings, he swiveled the device to examine Oasis Delta itself and noticed a lone Orc stumbling towards the water.

~~~

Drae'hai watched from afar. There were no angry sands coming this time, but the earth was loud with shaking. The Krugkubs had recovered some of their dangerous wooden horses and dragged them across the sands. Drae'hai had been too tired to intercept them. To fight when the sands were angry was one thing, the sands protected you from the hot sky-fire. When the sands were calm, however, fighting such a large force of Krugkubs would tire you quickly.

Drae'hai had gone instead to drink from the water beneath the sands while the Krugkubs moved to the water above the sands. Drae'hai thought they were going there to drink, but instead they went up onto the hard sand. Here the noise they made when they walked became louder and Drae'hai could not feel them. Could not see them. It is so easy to track prey on soft sand, the slightest sounds that echo through the sands can be felt by the Shurr'Dru, but on the hard sand noises were not muffled, they came to Drae'hai too loud. He could not see the Krugkubs any better now than he could using his eyes. What was worse, there were many Krugkubs upon the hard sand. They were so loud their noise made it hard to hear the noise in the soft sand around them.

Drae'hai could hear other Krugkubs, feel them moving across the sands. These ones sounded like they had more with them though, something which slid across the sand surface, moving without stepping. This was strange to Drae'hai, but he could not see what it was. The loudness of the Krugkubs on the cliff made it hard to hear these other Krugkubs and their new companions. The Shurr'Dru saw through the sands by feeling with their skin-hairs. In Drae'hai's fight with the Krugkubs, however, his skin had taken many cuts and many hairs must regrow. Between this and the loudness he could not see these Krugkubs clearly. He knew only that they were joining with the Krugkubs upon the hard sand.

It is fine, Drae'hai knew, Drae'hai will wait. The Krugkubs will have to come for water soon, then there will be soft sand that they walk on and will not be so noisy. Then Drae'hai can strike them.

~~~

Jarkarll watched as the last of Ned's weapons took up positions along the ridge. As impressive as it was that Ned's war party crossed the sands unmolested, the weapons he brought with him were more interesting by far. They were catapults, but not ones mounted on wheels. These slid across the sands on large sleds. The large area of the sleds beneath made it difficult to toe the weapon, so to supplement massive sails were constructed on either side of the throwing arm. Using the winds which blew commonly across the landscape the catapults were quickly shuttled across the dunes and up onto the rocky cliff where Jarkarll had set up his ambush site. A whistle escaped Jarkarll as Ned Lud and a wild looking goblin approached.

"Here I was thinking the desert had taken you. Welcome back Targoth."

"You recovered the Gunpowder, good. Have the men begin loading up the catapults and setting them up along the ridge. Then set up a party to go down and bait the beast to us."

"Bait? We have our bait. It's the water. The Shurr'Dru will have to come for a drink sometime. Why put good Orcs at risk?"

Ned looked to his new goblin friend who piped up with a voice thick with intrigue and curiousity, "There is a subterranean river that connects all of these oases. If this prey of yours can swim through the earth, than he can drink below it too."

Jarkarll swore, he hadn't expected this. Without the bait the trap was useless. Ned Lud offered him comfort though "The Shurr'Dru is smart, he thinks he is setting us up for a trap, waiting for us to go and take a drink. Pok has already begun setting up the bait, he must have seen you setting up the trap and has gone down to the water to try and lure out the Shurr'Dru. The beast isn't falling for it though, we will need to send more down and make it more convincing."

Jarkarll considered for a moment, "Ok, I know just who to send."

"One more thing, you are our best shot, you need to be on the catapults."

"They are still experimental," the goblin explained, "The sails fold down and lie the beams across the ground to provide stability for the shot. Still, it was designed to shoot on sand, and even then at a castle wall or some other broad, stationary target. We can make some adjustments to accommodate for firing on hard rock like this cliff, but you will still need some skahun excellent shots."

Jarkarll nodded his understanding, than gave Ned a look and shrugged towards the goblin. Ned laughed, "His name is Mirgle, and his little invention is going to win us the hunt."

~~~

Pok sank to his knees and took a long, deep drink of water, a cool, delicious treat to provide respite from the harsh, unforgiving desert. Sitting beneath a tree and enjoying the shade, Pok began to ponder how he would find his prey again. If I could find Jarkarl he would know how to find him. The thought that he had been knocked away from the main group frustrated Pok. He was a warrior, being defeated by a beast was unheard of for an Orc. As Pok brooded in silence, he suddenly heard a group approaching him.

Drawing his axe, Pok readied himself. Through the thick brush that surrounded the oasis lake, it was impossible to see what approached. Whatever it was, it sounded big. When the first Orc popped out of the growth, Pok nearly cleaved his head off. At last second Tor dropped to the ground and rolled away to disengage Pok. Rannulf grab Pok's shoulder from behind to ease him.

"Jarkarl sent us to help, he says one Orc is not enough to bait the Shurr'Dru, so he told us to make it more convincing."

Pok didn't have the slightest clue what Rannulf was talking about, but he resolved not to let Rannulf know that. "Just the two of you then? Well I suppose three Orcs is more than enough to finish off this monster."

Tor chuckled, "Maybe, but we brought thirty just in case." Out of the brush the war party emerged around Pok. The were all strong warriors, Pok recognized many as the Krughai's bravest and strongest. If anyone could give the Shurr'Dru tough bait, it was this bunch.

~~~

Looking through Mirgle's far-seer, Ned watched as Pok oversaw the Orcs defense preparations below. Now it was just a matter of time. Turning away from the Far-seer and looked about his own forces. Jarkarl was next to a Keg of Gunpowder, loading cloth with the stuff and attaching it to his arrows, complete with a fuse. It was an interesting idea Mirgle had thought up last minute. Jarkarll compained that the weight of the gunpowder offset the arrows. Most bows weren't capable of shooting the arrow accurately. Ulfvindr, Jarkarll's own bow, was made with excellent quality and even it had a limited range of accuracy with such heavy arrows. The catapults would be their greatest weapon against the Shurr'Dru to be sure.

As Ned Lud surveyed the Krughai a roar exploded from the Oasis below him. The Hunt at Oasis Delta had begun.

~~~

Drae'hai watched carefully, listening to the loud noises of the Krugkubs. Finally he heard a group break off the hard-sand and walk to the water above the sands. Now was his chance to strike. There were still Krugkubs on the ridge, and they must have more exploding wooden horses, but the horses were heavy and Krugkubs could not throw them far. If Drae'hai stayed away from the bottom of the cliff, the Krugkubs above would not be able to help the Krugkubs below. After that it would be simple to pick off the Krugkubs as they trickled down for water.

Drae'hai went to the water beneath the sands. Here he could approach the drinking Krugkubs without them seeing his shifting sand. As he crawled towards the prey, he salivated at the thought of another meal.

~~~

Pok was finally satisified with the defenses. They were well spread out, but still in positions where they could jump the Shurr'Dru when he arrived. They kept watch in all direction around the Oasis water, looking for the tell tale shifting dune. Pok never saw it.

The water behind him roared into the air and crashed down around them, the Shurr'Dru was airborn for a moment, like a whale that had just breached. Only instead of a whale this was a massive killing machine with it's eyes set on Pok. A gaping mouth, complete with rows of sharp teeth, was coming to close around Pok. At the last moment, Pok dived out of the way and was sent spiraling across the sands when the Shurr'Dru slammed into the earth behind him. The force of the impact was so great the world around Pok shook and heaved. Behind him the Shurr'Dru reared and let out a mighty roar, one which intimidated the bravest of Orcs and sent the very air shaking with fear. His head spinning, Pok struggled to his senses. Finally he span around to see the rest of the Orcs had already descended upon the Shurr'Dru hacking and slashing away at various points along its body. With a roar of bloodlust Pok hefted his axe and ran to join them.

~~~

Above the scene, Ned watched as the Shurr'Dru fell upon the Orcs. Through Mirgle's looking glass he could make out Rannulf and Tor each busying themselves at the wings while Pok kept the beast's head distracted. Even still Orcs were dying as the Shurr'Dru lashed its tail back and forth. Slamming it here and there, crushing Orcs beneath the weight alone.

"Jarkarl, they need support sooner than later." Jarkarll was still lining up his shot, spending more time aiming the catapult than he would his own bow. "Jarkarll! Hurry!" Still Jarkarll remained focused, still he was aiming. Ned watched as two more Orcs died, Rannulf was throw from the beast's back and a claw reached over and plucked Tor, throwing him into a nearby tree. "JARKARLL!"

The catapults roared to life in response, five kegs stuffed with gunpowder rained down upon the Shurr'Dru, lit fuses detonated the kegs meters above the serpent's head. As fire exploded around the Shurr'Dru and shrapnel tore through his hide. With the looking glass, Ned could finally see the monster bleeding through newly opened wounds, burns dotting its hide. For a moment, Ned Lud was relieved to see this thing could bleed. Relief was stolen, however, when the Shurr'Dru reared and unleashed a roar of fury. Diving back beneath the sands, the Shurr'Dru began moving along the base of the cliff.

"We've won! He retreats! Glozag Votar!" Behind Ned, Orcs all cheered in response, Ned was not fooled though.

"It isn't over yet fools!" Ned bellowed as Jarkarll lended his own voice,

"He can't swim through the rock that forms this cliff, he is going around to get to us." The cliff itself was solid rock for only some 300 meters before the gentle slope returned to desert sand. After the Shurr'Dru had made his way to that line, they would be pressed between him and the cliff edge. Still, this was the best place to fight him. Once he crawled onto the cliff, the Shurr'Dru would be unable to submerge. If he tried to retreat, he would have to spent quite some time turning around and crawling back off the cliff. The Orcs would leave him crippled by the time he made it back to the sands. Here on this cliff, there would be no retreats. Two sides will go into the fight, and one will emerge victorious.

"Get those catapults turned around! He will have reduced mobility on the rocks, making him an easy target!" Orcs scrambled to follow Ned's commands while Mirgle ran between them shouting for all the wicks to be cut shorter. Jarkarll retrieved his quiver of gunpowder-arrows and took up a position closer to the cliff edge. No sooner did they get the catapults turned around than did the Shurr'Dru arrive.

Breaching from the sand, the winged serpent rocketed through the air with such force and speed that no Orc had time to react. He cleared the greater length of the cliff before crashing down right near the catapults. In a flash, catapults began shattering. A torrent of sand was ejected from the monster's maw, landing and smothering one catapult, wood splintering beneath the weight of the attack, a tail flailed wildly destroying two more while the head struck and closed jaws around a fourth, crushing it and letting the debris fall down upon Orcs below. One catapult remained, and Jarkarll was ready with his Ulvindr. An arrow made its mark and exploded on the Shurr'Dru, when the monster turned towards the direction of the attack the final catapult launched off its payload, catching the Shurr'Dru full on in the face with an explosion. A cloud of thick smoke obscured the beast's head, but for a moment all was silent and hope was felt across the Orcs. When the smoke cleared, that hope died.

The Shurr'Dru's face was charred, but its eyes spoke only of fury, not pain. Letting out an awful roar, the predator began tearing through the Orcish host with all his might and rage. No longer did it hold its head safely above them, now the his entire body was on the ground thrashing about. Tail lashed to and fro sending Orcs flying off the cliff, a wing came crashing down on the final catapult, annihilating it. The claw on the other wing made one vicious slash and slew three Orcs at least. Worst of all the head went back and forth, constantly strike out and shredding Orcs with large, sharp teeth.

Ned Lud could not sit and watch as his brothers-in-arms died. With a roar he charged straight for his foe's head. Axe in his right hand, and his father’s blade, Skullgar, in his left, Ned Lud's assault was a wondrous thing to behold. Favoring his left hand, Ned's raked Skullgar across the Shurr’Dru’s face first, slashing down the snout and following up with a savage up-cut from his axe. Again and again Ned brought his weapons to bear on the monster, narrowly avoiding gnashing teeth and getting slammed away once or twice by a headbutt. In his diamond armor though, Ned felt unstoppable. The concussion from the headbutts bothered Ned little and less, even from a serpent of such great size. For a time, Ned let himself believe that his prey could not touch him.

That is, until the monster buffeted him with a blast of wind from its wing. The buffet alone meant little, but it slowed his movement by a fraction as he brought his sword to bear against the Shurr'Dru. The slowed attack was enough for the Shurr'Dru's bite to close around Ned's forearm. The razor huge, heavy and sharp teeth cut through Ned's diamond armor like paper. In an instant his arm was torn to pieces and Skullgar was broken and obliterated by the teeth. Pain lanced up Ned's arm, so hot it blinded him. Years of training and Orcish instinct alone kept Ned awake and moved his remaining arm almost subconsciously. His right arm brought the axe crashing down on the Shurr'Dru, in the moment that the Shurr'Dru recoiled, Ned staggered backward, taking a look down to survey the damage. The monster had come just short of his elbow, but his entire forearm was lost. Blood ran from the wound like a river but Ned Lud felt nothing.

There was a Euphoria in Ned's mind, his thoughts raced around what he had lost. His good arm, his father's sword, all were stolen by his foe in an instant. Skullgar was given to him by Mogroka, his arm given to him by Krug. A thick fury began consuming Ned's mind. Somewhere, a voice in his mind reminded him of Blawharag. In the past, Blawharag had explained that those with Shamanic training were more susceptible to the immortal spirits of emotion than others. He explained to Ned that Rage could yield much strength, but would often lead people to do stupid things. Faintly Ned recalled Blawharag teaching him of the "Quiet Storm", using serenity to focus ones rage, keeping hold of it's power without sacrificing your wits. In a last ditch effort Ned tried to summon the spirit of Serenity, but it was too late. All he felt was rage. His vision went red, the world went fuzzy, all save for one thing. One foe remained clear as day and Ned's body seemed to act on it's own accord.

~~~

Jarkarl watched helplessly as the Shurr'Dru bit into Ned Lud's flesh. A sickening crunch of blood, bone, armor and blade ensued as Ned staggered back, taking measure of his missing arm. Years of battle and war had hardened Ned, and if anyone was to lose a limb this day Jarkarl would not have picked Ned to be it. Jarkarll stared, waiting for Ned's reaction, and it came in the form of raw, reckless rage.

Ned leapt at his foe, swinging his axe wildly. All the time letting out a terrible battle cry. Over and over again Ned drove his axe into the Shurr'Dru's skull, screaming one, unending cry of hate and fury. The Shurr'Dru was growing frustrated. Each time it went to attack Ned, Ned slammed his axe into his head defiantly with such fierce force that it force the Shurr'Dru to recoil. Even still, it was only a matter of time before the Shurr'Dru crushed Ned.

It still grows frustrated though, Jarkarll mused. He had seen this thing when it grew frustrated. Sooner or later, before he finished off Ned, the Shurr'Dru would rear its massive head and let out another awful roar.If I can just keep my wits through the roar, I can put an arrow in it's mouth. It was a long shot, the roar was so great it could quake the earth itself. The fear it inspired could cow even the greatest of Orcs, if only for a moment. Jarkarll had an advantage though, he knew Ned's life hanged in the balance, and the lives of Tor, Rannulf, Pok and all the Warnation for that matter. More importantly: Jarkarll knew it was coming.

When the Shurr'Dru finally raised it's head, Jarkarll already had his bow ready and aimed. Time slowed down and Jarkarll heard the beating of his own heart as loud as any war drum had right to be. He prepared himself, he ran himself through every prior roar, remembered exactly how each felt and built his resolve. Slowly the Shurr'Dru's mouth opened, inch by painful inch. Around him Orcs were only just now realizing what was coming, none had prepared themselves like Jarkarll had. Slowly each braced for the inevitable fear, but Jarkarll was already braced. Then it came, the scream of some dying god filled with spite for the world in his final moments. The sound washed over Jarkarll, sending chills up his spine and for a moment, the smallest hair of a second, Jarkarll thought himself lost to the fear. Somewhere, somehow his arms moved the bow and fired the arrow at the proper trajectory. As far as Jarkarll was concerned, Krug himself had guided that arrow. Nothing short of a miracle arced the shot down straight into the Shurr'Dru's gaping maw.

Time sped up, everything happened at once. Somewhere inside the Shurr'Dru a gunpowder arrow exploded. The pain and concussive force dazed the Shurr'Dru and every orc struck at his moment of weakness. Every inch of the serpent was covered with Orcs, slashing away at the wounds opened by the TnT Kegs earlier in the battle. At the monster's helm stood Ned Lud, bearing his axe deep into the Shurr'Dru's skull.

The monster swayed for a moment, then finally let out one final, great roar and came crashing to the earth, where it would breath nevermore.

~~~

In the days that followed, the Krughai returned to Strigzgoi to report their success. Pok, Rannulf, Tor and the rest of the Orcs who served as bait were commended for their valor. Ned Lud continued to prove a daunting warrior even without his good hand. Jarkarl worked with Mirgle to redesign the desert-catapults so they would be fit for Shurr'Dru warfare. The desert-ballista was formed, firing Gunpowder bolts designed after the arrows Jarkarll used. The Battle at Oasis Delta would go on to be considered the one of the most important in the coming war against the Shurr'Dru. It set many standards for how to fight them as well as established the fact that they could be killed. The body of Drae'hai was hauled back to Strigzgoi, where its head was mounted as a sign of victory...

~~~

Blawharag eagerly cut open the Shurr'Dru's stomach, but knew what he would find. Nothing. Gilgamesh was not within. "Are you sure the beast swallowed it?" Mogroka asked, frowning.

"Of course, I felt it in his stomach as he swam away." The two grimaced at each other, but neither wanted to say what the other was thinking. Finally Mogroka spoke,

"There are more out there..."

"...and this war has only just begun."

[Blawharag 277]

Hope you enjoyed it, I look forward to putting out the next series. Comments, critiques and grammar nazis are always welcome.

[Ogedi 50]

Dies*

Not only the longest post on the forums, but the best story :)

[UltraRed 78]

Loved it. Although I think Ned's character is just called Lud, but I'm not sure. Great story anyway!

[Ned Lud 1260]

Ned Lud is my full name, just went by Lud due to the name cap. I donated ten bucks so now I rock the full name. Don't confuse it with the filthy aumen name Ned or Edward, as "Ned Lud" means "Chews Leather" in the dialect of my people. The name was given to me as an insult back when I was a mere war orphan raised by the clan grandmothers, but I bear it with pride. There's your little OOC nugget of knowledge for the day.

Awesome story. Makes me look like a badass. Give me a lesser role in the rest of the series, as I just lost a hand and gave a Shurr'dru an axe to the face. Looking forward to the series though. Love how you wrote from the mind of Drae'hai.

[Jarkarll 314]

Ned Lud is my full name, just went by Lud due to the name cap. I donated ten bucks so now I rock the full name. Don't confuse it with the filthy aumen name Ned or Edward, as "Ned Lud" means "Chews Leather" in the dialect of my people. The name was given to me as an insult back when I was a mere war orphan raised by the clan grandmothers, but I bear it with pride. There's your little OOC nugget of knowledge for the day.

Awesome story. Makes me look like a badass. Give me a lesser role in the rest of the series, as I just lost a hand and gave a Shurr'dru an axe to the face. Looking forward to the series though. Love how you wrote from the mind of Drae'hai.

IMO the three of us were BAMFers and we eached served an important role in the slaying of Drae'hai.

[Blawharag 277]

More than just Drae'hai. The Krughai basically lay the foundation for future methods regarding Shurr'Dru hunting. It basically gives us a tactic going forward for how to approach them, making them a less daunting target and boosting our own confidence of being able to defeat them.

Unfortunately we still don't truly grasp how intelligent these foes of ours are...

[Goldrim 1422]

This was amazing, the story kept me entertained for the entire ride. Aside from that, we're the Shurr'Dru based off large Wind Serpents?

[Blawharag 277]

Inspiration came primarily from Snake (sometimes called Winged Dragon) in Shadow of the Colossus actually. Though I had to basically build them from the ground up when writing the proposal for adding them to the lore. So while keeping the skeletal frame of a serpentine figure with wings (ultimately wings were traded for fins in that resembled wings) I built the Shurr'Dru based on what how I thought a monster like this would work on a biological level.

Basically it came from the rather common concept of a winged desert serpent and a whole lot of bullshit science.

[Jarkarll 314]

I'm still convinced that its a Cephadrome, or cephalos from Monster Hunter.

[Dretus 14]

Its like the desert monsters in overlord raising hell

[Kragnak 22]

My god... couldn't stop reading when I started,

[Danny 2232]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.