Pride before the fall
((A quick short story I wrote up about my Worgen warrior trying to impress the pack alpha.))
The winds shifted over the mountains, allowing the hunter to slowly crawl up on her prey. Today would be the day that she proved herself to her alpha, the day she managed to catch the biggest predator this side of Stormpeak Mountain.
The blue/green proto-drake lay perched on the mountain, not even aware it was about to go from predator to prey. The hunter grinned as the howling winds covered the sound of her movements and winds kept her scent hidden. She crawled on all fours getting as close as she could dare. She had one shot to do it right, or she would quickly find herself as the prey.
The hunter bent knees and and joints, she waited for the creature to turns its head ever so slightly. It took time, but the hunter was patient. Where it not for the frost emanating from its maw the hunter would have thought the creature frozen in place. It eventually moved its head having found some prey.
The hunter struck, she pounced. Her warhammer clutched in both hands she raised it high to bring down in a crushing blow. Unfortunately, the moment she chose to struck the wind shifted and her scent was picked up by the drake. It twisted just as she moved.
The hammer stuck the proto-drake in the shoulder, shattering the bone, keeping the drake from using its left wing properly, but the hunter cursed. Her goal was to crush the head and kill it in one blow. The drake reared and roared at her before its tail swung around and knocked the hunter away from the drake.
The worgen hunter rolled over and over in the snow. She scrambled to her feet just as the drake beared down on her, its large maw trying to close down on her head. A growl escaped the hunters throat and used her hind paws to snap the jaws up and close, using the brief respite to roll under and away from the drake reaching for her warhammer.
A telltale intake of breath was all the warning she got, the hunter dove to the side as a blast of frost blew by her side, her shoulder plate frosting at the tip and the intense cold of the frost biting into her flesh. The hunter growled her responses and scooped up the mace, ready to take the protodrake on.
The pseudodragon bore down on the worgen, looking to finish off the former human. the hunter took to the drakes weakened side and brought her mace back. A pained whine escaped as the proto-drakes maw closed down on her left thigh, biting through her armor and digging into her flesh. In response the warhammer came down onto her target, but the blow was much to weak and the bite threw off her aim.
The blow struck the back of the drakes neck forcing its teeth painfully from the hunter’s thigh as she collapsed weakly. She forced herself to stand only to be bulled over by the proto-drake and forced on her back, the hammer falling from her grasp as she used her claws to force the beast's head away before its bite took her head off. She growled in frustration as she was forced to battle the beast with her bare hands. Her claws weakly struggled against the beast’s scales to get at the softer neck flesh underneath.
The beast clawed at her torso with its forepaws, raking at her armor as it tried to get at her belly. The hunter knew that her armor would not hold against the weaker forepaws for much longer. She struggled as she tried to find something that she could use to overwhelm the drake or make some sort of escape even. A bold, but most likely suicidal plan filled the hunter's mind. But at the moment it was her only hope.
With a whine of pain, the worgen forced her hands around the thick neck of the proto dragon. She did not fool herself into thinking that she could strangle it, but that wasn’t her hope. The beast began to flail and shake, trying to force the worgen off it.
The hunter waited for the right moment, then thrust out with both rear paws and forced the drake to roll onto its weak side. Pain stabbed through the worgen as her left leg, but she did her best to ignore it. And with luck she manage to roll the proto-drake on her side. Without hesitation she dove away from the drake and grasped the hammer once more in both hands.
The beast screamed in pained agony as it was forced on its broken wing. It rolled fully over and forced itself back on its feet. It roared a challenge at the hunter and the worgen return a howl in response. It charged out at her, this time though the worgen was ready. Using its stronger legs it launched itself up into the air and with all her strength she buried the hammer into the skull of the beast.
Almost out of spite, the dying beast let loose its frozen breath, sending the frost directly into the hunters weakened belly armor. The worgen lets out a pained howl as she fell back away from the beast. It collapsed dead at the writhing feet of the worgen.
The hunter cried out in pain and frustration as her armor was frozen and a few icicles punching into her sides. It was only the sturdiness of her armor that keep the ice from doing more than digging a small bit into flesh. She whimpered as she pulled the ice free of her body then removed her upper armor.
A simple look showed that she would need more than just a simple bandage to take care of the wounds. Luckily there was a traveling healer at home. The hunter dug into her pouch and pulled some bandages free from her pouch. She quickly cleaned and bound her wounds as best as she could and stood up. She glared at the proto-drake in anger, knowing that this beast nearly ended her life.
She replaced her armor and bound the wounds on her thigh. She grumbled and place the warhammer back onto her back. She hissed in pain as she grabbed the drake by the tail, and began dragging it up the mountain. Pride kept her on her feet as the battered hunter dragged her kill.
“Come on Caitrin… one foot in front of the other... you can do this…” came the raspy voice of the worgen hunter as she climbed the hills of Stormpeak back home. “Althea is going to be so angry with me….”
