The harder they fall

What sounded and felt like a tremendous earthquake disturbed the peace of the day, and Artorias watched with eager eyes while their plan began to unfold. Chunks of ice and snow tumbled down the cliffside by the falls, picking up more volume and momentum as it sped toward the mammoth herd. It was actually pretty amazing to watch while the cascade of white death rushed toward the mammoths, and just as he had expected, the dopey prey animals began to turn and run fro it—straight towards Bent Canyon.

Ulric led the charge, and Artorias was quick to follow behind their leader, eyeing up the fleeing mammoths to identify their best target. Ulric barked for his attention and the boy saw the one he wanted to hunt, a smaller runt of a mammoth, but still more than enough food for the pack. He nodded and wordlessly veered off to accompany Ulric, the two wolves darting between it at the others with snarls and spears to separate it. The closer they got to the mammoths, the more the earth seemed to tremble like he were running on a trampoline, so heavy were the beast's footfalls. He watched Ulric drive his spear into its legs and leg go, now snapping at the mammoth to steer it toward the canyon.

Artorias noticed the canyon a short distance up ahead, the crevasse only barely visible from along the horizon line. Perfect, the beast wouldn't know what hit it! All they had to do was keep moving it forward. Artorias slowed his gait a bit to pull up behind the mammoth, targeting its hind rear leg and twisting his head to slash the sharp metal end of the spear against the mammoth's calf. The mammoth bellowed in terror and began a full tilt sprint toward the canyon in a desperate gambit to get away from the pack of wolves. The other mammoths had run off now, all but abandoning the calf to its fate.

Steeling his gaze, Artorias followed Ulric's example and drove the spear deep into the mammoth's thigh with a ferocious growl. The spear lodged itself in the animal's flesh—except the mammoth didn't stop or slow when it was struck, instead rushing into a mad dash forward. Artorias was unable to let go of the spear in time and the next thing he knew, the young wolf was airborne. Ohshitohshitohshit...! Amber eyes went wide as he shouted out in surprise, his legs kicking and flailing wildly in the air. He only had one choice: to let go of the spear. Releasing his hold on the pole arm, Artorias went sailing through the air and came to a crash landing in amongst the snow, tumbling through the frigid powder a few times before coming to a stop with all four feet on the ground. His body ached, but he had no time to stop and assess the damages; he sprung back up and launched himself back into the hunt, trailing right behind the mammoth and the hunting party.


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"