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SA|Chapter III|...The Fall — Description

IMAGE CONTAINS BROKEN BONES AND BLOOD

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War Forged | Otama | Valkyrie
CHAPTER III: BONUS IMAGE
A turning point for young Otama, her first mission ending in a crippling injury.

IMAGE CONTAINS BROKEN BONES AND BLOOD

Otama:
She had barely made it two paces away from the other mare before time seemed to stop. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as the hammer swung towards her, low, not aimed at her chest or side. With a sickening crunch and thump the hammer impacted just above her right knee. It had been unfortunate timing, she had just put all her weight on that front leg and it was now collapsing under her. The leg folded and broke under her weight as she fell, her forward momentum carrying her further and crushing the broken leg under her. Òtama’s mind went blank as the white hot pain seared through every nerve, her sword thudded into the ground as she lost her grip on it.

Her mouth opened in a silent scream, air not moving from her lungs as her chest hit the ground. She had managed to fold her left leg properly as she struggled to get her hind legs under her. Her heart thudded in her ears, drowning out all other sounds as time and time again her feet slid out from under her. Oh please Kaia, no… please… no. Her thoughts were a jumble of nonsense as she finally was able to get her three working legs under her. Her left fore-leg pushed her body up, and no matter how many commands she sent to the right, only shards of pain answered. Òtama didn’t want to look at the damage the ill-timed blow had caused, but she had to.

Horror filled the young mare’s heart as she caught sight of her leg. Blood gushed around the white shards of bone that tore the flesh above and below her knee. The joint itself was twisted and mangled, hanging at a terrible angle. Oh Kaia, please no. She tried to push herself fully to her feet only to fall as pain crippled her, thankfully she landed on her left side but the momentum had her broken leg swaying and tearing at more flesh. This time she did manage a scream of pain, though it was strained and barely audible over the fights occurring around her. Her mind reached out fumbling for the hilt of her sword. Her father’s training was the only thing that surfaced over the pain, get the sword, keep them back. She yanked the sword from the ground and swung it in a figure eight to keep anyone back as she struggled to get back to her feet once more.

Amber:
Whereas she had thought Otama had managed to positivally distract her target, the mare herself seemed to have other plans. Amber shouted as she saw them swung their hammer, but it was either drowned out by the noise around them or simply too late as the weapon hit it's mark. Amber internally winced, only able to imagine the pain as her fellow valkyrie's no doubt broke under the blunt force. She saw her tumble and struggle to get back upright. Rage clawed it's way into Amber's heart, even stronger than before. How dare they? How dare they hurt a fellow herdsmate like that? Her sister in arms. Fury powering her legs, she ran straight towards the mare that had attacked in the first place. With all strenght she could muster, she kicked not at the mare herself, but the hammer, hoping the unexpected attack would swing the weapon away and get otama in the safe. She was mindful of the mare herself who was swinging a sword. Amber would not want to get hit in her pain frenzy. "Otama!" she called, trying to get the mare's attention. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible. From the glance she had just spared, thenleg looking anything but good. Amber gritted her teeth. She much rather would keep fighting, but it would be bad to leave Otama on her own.

Aubrey:
It felt like time had stopped as her hammer met its target. She felt the crunch of bones underneath the weight of her weapon, and her ears flattened at the sickening sound of the mare's leg shattering. Aubrey felt sick. Her stomach churned as she broke away from her opponent. The mule fumbled on her broken leg, falling to the ground in pain and shock. Her peach-colored eyes studied the damage her hammer had caused to the poor, young mare. There was an unbelievable amount of damage, and as an amputee herself, Aubrey knew what fate she had dealt to the young Valkyrie.

Aubrey dropped her hammer to the ground, shaking her head slightly and causing her long, curly forelock to fall partly into her face. No, no, no! She hadn't wanted this to happen. She had only wanted to get the mare off of her. She had only wanted to survive! "I'm so sorry." She whispered, inaudible against the shouting and screaming going on around them. It was then that Aubrey's attention was taken away from the mule to another Valkyrie headed toward her, anger and vengeance painted on their features. By the time Aubrey noticed her though, it was too late. The other mare landed a hit to her hammer that she had tried to reach out for, preventing her from picking up the weapon to defend herself.

Aubrey heard the new Valkyrie call out her sister-in-arm's name: Otama. For some reason, that name stuck with Aubrey. She had changed Otama's life forever.

Snorting and shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Aubrey picked her hammer from the ground, keeping it close to her side. She eyed the two Valkyries carefully before retreating to another part of the meadow to scavenge through some of the herders' supplies to place into the bags around her shoulders. Despite this fight not going completely as planned, she wasn't about to go back to the clan without some bounty in her possession. The Bloody Flanks still needed food to survive another day even if Aubrey's mind would be plagued by the thoughts of that young mare from her first raid for quite some time to come.