[IC] Cho Sun-Jin vs. Kolskegg.

[DJAtomika]

Kolskegg had faltered at the salvo of bullets thrown by his Vector. That was a good sign. During the few moments he had between the salvo and him falling to the ground, Cho reloaded. The empty magazine clattered to the stone as he slapped another one into place and cocked the gun.

By that time the Viking had run off again, around him and into the air. He saw the man take flight from a nearby tower and raised his gun to receive him, but the seconds he wasted bringing the smaller weapon to bear were seconds that the huge man bore down on him from above.

He had barely enough time to squeeze his finger round the trigger. The Viking was in his face. His gun, barely pointed at him, instead its barrel was sighted at somewhere just below and next to his left leg. Cho hoped the recoil from the first shot would propel the gun upward to spray its deadly payload at his target.

Otherwise he might just die.

[Skallagrim]

Again the smaller fire wand blossomed and again the zipping bees hammered the large shield, ricocheting away in a myriad of directions. Perhaps even back towards the little wizard. Then a hammering blow struck the chain shirt at mid-thigh of Kolskegg then another exploded against the outer side of his left thigh as the bullet burned and tore some of his thigh muscle. The pain was immense, as if a hot iron had been applied to his leg, followed by the hammering impacts as other bullets hit the coat protecting his side from anything more than painful, deep bruises.

Then Kolskegg was there, landing before the smaller man, his large shield before his body covering a goodly portion of his body. Blood dripping from his left leg, the Viking thrust Alyward forward and slightly below the shield. Hopefully the wizard would not see the blade until it impacted with his body. The move, deadly and one well practiced was something that the Viking hoped would be the fell blow that ended this fight.

The thrust, short and pointed was aimed for the left side of the wizard, below his heart, square for the area below the topmost rib. The blade would be accelerated through years of practice and test of arms. This was a decidedly deadly move, one that had ended many fights in the past, and hopefully this one as well.

Yes, Kolskegg had killed the wizard Cho’s company. But that was to be expected, they were not the same caliber of sorcerous foe that this small man was. Thus far Kolskegg had been hit by his fire rod and fire staff. His shield dented and battered, even pierced by one of the wizards magics. But the wizard had not sustained a reciprocating blow. With Odin’s blessing his sword would strike true and kill the man. If not a wounding would do. At this range, the Viking was sure he had the advantage in weaponry. But of course time would tell.

[DJAtomika]

Shit.

The Viking was way too fast.

In the time it had taken for him to raise his gun and fire, the warrior had accelerated and even landed right in front of him. Way too close for comfort.

And that meant that he had less than a second to react to the sword that was hurtling straight for his chest.

His brain comprehended the absolute danger of the blade and made action, pushing his body too turn to the side to try and avoid most of the deadly strike.

Alas, too slow. The blade cleaved through his side as he turned, missing it's intended target but opening up a huge gash under his left arm that immediately began pouring with blood. He recoiled and back pedalled immediately, gasping in shock as his body fell into survival mode. His head went light, limbs went slack as he fell to a knee. His Vector clattered uselessly to the ground, empty. The sword had cut clean through his ballistic plating and rigging. Now he knew how his team had felt.

Fighting through the black fog that threatened to overcome him, he rose unsteadily to his feet, drawing his sniper rifle from his back. With shaking hands he took aim at the Viking's shield, dead center, and fired a shot. The sheer recoil made the rifle jolt out of his weak hands right after, and he fell to his knees, the blood loss making him weak.

He was going to die, even if he didn't want to.

[Skallagrim]

Alyward struck true enough for Kolskegg to know the blow was a decidedly grave one. And yet the sorcerer Cho removed his fire stick, racked a round and fired it point blank into the shield of the Viking. At this distance the round carried the full brunt of its kinetic force. The muzzle energy pounded the shield with 8,372 ft. lbs. Punching through the shield, the greatly reduced round slammed home into the left shoulder of Kolskegg, piercing the chainmail and ripping though the shoulder.

“Odin’s blood!” The Viking uttered as the shock swept through his body, his fingers losing sensation and the shield, suddenly heavy dropped from the loosened grip. Clattering on the hard, scrabbled ground, the shield rang with a hollow emptiness in the deathly silence. Alyward slipped from his hand as the Viking instinctively grabbed for his damaged shoulder. Drawing his hand away, the wetness was blood. Then he simply fell. After a long moment of lying where he fell, the shock wore off, leaving an intense burning sensation and throbbing in his left shoulder.

Turning his attention to the small wizard on the ground, the blood seeping from the grievous wound he had administered a moment before. Grunting the Viking reached into his bag, pulling some runes from it he cast them into the air, his voice rising as he cried out. When the burning runes landed, they burned rapidly, leaving small piles of ash.

With a hoot, Kolskegg struggled to his knees, and with a fierce scream he scooped the ashes into his good hand.

“Engi! Engi! Not today sorcerer Cho. You shall not venture to Valhalla before me.”

Crawling to the small man, Kolskegg packed the wound with the ash. After he was done, he removed his sword belt and wrapped it around the smaller man’s waist. With a grim smile upon his face, he shook Cho.

“Wake my friend. This is not the day you die. Today you shall be counted among the living, the great hall of Odin shall have to wait before you grace it.”

The rune ash, packed into the oozing wound would slowly coagulate the blood and begin scarring over the wound. The belt would begin to heal the small man. In a few hours he would be as good as new, abet with a nasty scar on his side.

Kolskegg laughed heartily and stared into the sky, above a Valkyrie hovered, uncertain on what to do.

“Go back; tell them in the great hall that Cho the sorcerer shall stay here in this realm. He is worthy of you Odin, but this is not his time. The runes foretold this moment.” Pointing towards the dark marks where the ash ground in to the rock where he scooped it. “Even you All-Father can see this is true.”

The Valkyrie turned and vanished in a flash of light. Slumping back he smiled, then blacked out.

[DJAtomika]

As Cho sunk to the ground, he saw the warrior ahead rush towards him, sword and shield both on the ground. Kolskegg broke some sort of magic stones which burst into ash shortly after. Consciousness slowly fading, he could barely hear the Viking speak as he packed the ashes into his side before he blacked out.

Then his last breath spiralled out into the sky and he died.

---

          _{he's not worthy
                                     his heart is} black
                        _{he desires} vengeance
                                             _{then we shall} provide
                           _{the flesh is} weak _and useless
                 _{wreathe in} shadow
       _{cloak in} darkness
                                       _{fill his heart with} vegeance
                            _{fill his} blood _{with it
                     a} man _{he is no more
            no}

_{now he is a} Reaper

---

Cho awoke with a start. He was in the middle of a forest, body laid across stones to what he could only assume were ruins. He strained to lift his head and caught sight of a fallen man across from him.

Where am I?

Gradually his senses returned to him; sight, sound, touch, smell, taste. All were numb, muted, as if he were behind some sort of screen that he had to fight through, like he were underwater. He fought the feeling as he struggled to sit up.

The man in front of him was passed out, face down in the dirt. A sword and shield lay on either side of him; the shield had two holes in it, like some projectile had punched straight through it.

Who is this?

He shook his head. His memories were faint, distant. Slowly they were returning.

My...my name is Cho Sun-Jin. I am 29 years old, born in Seoul. I am Korean special forces, and...I am in ParaCom.

Strength began to return to him, as did his feelings and senses. Faintly he remembered, just before he'd blacked out, the words of a warrior, spoken in desperation almost.
_{“Wake my friend. This is not the day you die. Today you shall be counted among the living, the great hall of Odin shall have to wait before you grace it.”}

Was this the same man? What was I doing here?

Memories recent but distant gradually returned to him. He remembered the mission. His team. How the man on the floor had slaughtered them all.

Anger rose from within. His fists clenched of their own accord. He grabbed a gun from the ground and held it to the fallen man's head.

Then, he remembered. Kolskegg was his name. He had been sent to hunt this Viking. The two had met and the two clashed strengths. It had cost him his team, but the warrior had saved him in the end.

He lowered his Vector. This man didn't deserve his vengeance.

Cho stepped backward a few and sat on a stone. He stared at his hands, which were ashen grey, devoid of most color.

He had died, back there. Kolskegg had saved him.

But what was different?

He remembered his GPS. The thing would still be on. The gadget was still attached to his wrist, and he lifted it to his face to judge himself. What he saw shocked him to the core.

His eyes, firstly, were black as night, all of it, and they leaked an oily black smoke that roiled and turned within his eye sockets and seeped gently from them. His whole face resembled a cadaver, gaunt cheeks and sunken lips, pale skin and stretched flesh. But he was alive.

Secondly, as he turned to introspection, he realised he felt powerful. Immensely so. Not like, after you've had a good night's sleep, no. This was...magic. An unexplainable power coursed through his veins and pumped into his very heart.

Speaking of which, his attention drew to the wound on his side. It had healed, as had his armour and shirt over it. Peculiar, but he attributed it to this new body of his.

He vowed to learn more of the changes later. Now, he needed to figure out how to save the fallen Viking.

He remembered that he had some scant, simple first aid supplies on his person, but as he fumbled for them his eyes fell on the mound of ashes on the ground. The same that had healed him.

He fell to his knees and scooped what remained into his hands. Then, he searched for a wound of a sort on the body of the Viking, and found it on his shoulder. The same place he had shot at. He packed the powdery ash into the wound and stood back.

"C'mon...work."

There was something missing here. As his hands fell, they brushed against soft leather. A bag. The Viking's belt. It was around his waist.

In a panic he took off the belt and returned it to its rightful place around the waist of the fallen man. He hoped whatever gods or powers that the Viking worshipped were still here.

"Whatever gods you prayed to, you dumbass, better pray to them more. It's not your time either."