Mad Cow - Metryx
T'kairido. It was the coming of age ceremony every Luatian Guardsman had to endure to prove himself not only worthy as a man, but brave and skilled enough to be respected as one of the country's great warriors. Tradition held that that on the pupil's seventeenth naming year, that he and his nest fellows would travel to the island mountains to capture a great beast to bring home and sacrifice to the great dragon gods on Stone Peak.
Ryko looked back to their catch, a buck minotaur of strong build and flat, wide horns that curved down the back of his head. The beast rustled in its sleep, a stiff, yet soft, growl noting his drug-induced sleep. They had caught the minotaur unprepared during a ritual sacrifice to its own gods, where it had a young nubile girl tied against a stone slab where she was to be flayed open by the beast's wickedly curved knife. Huge basins were set up nearby, churning a fiery tempest inside as the wind caught the flames along the cliff side. The beast stood naked, towering over the helpless wench with his golden knife gleaming in the fire lit night. Ryko and his brothers Nito and Fedo used their blowguns to bury poison-tipped darts into the back of the creature's neck. The poison would keep it groggy and asleep until their return travel was complete.
They pulled the cow beast on a wooden trailer bed pulled by oxen. Nito walked beside the cart to guide the animals along the narrow mountain route, and to see that their trophy didn't ease its way into consciousness again. Leading the way, Ryko and Fedo pushed the abused, sacrificial woman between them. They had tied a rope around her wrists to keep her from running away. She was obviously of the Northerner communities from along the base of the mountains that had colonized a few centuries before. The Luatian did much to not accommodate these unwelcome visitors to their land, so to find the pale-skinned rag maid in their position was surely a prize from the gods for their brave capture.
Fedo stuck the long pole end of his glaive between the girl's feet, tripping her. She fell face and chest first into the rocks, scraping her cheek and tearing at her thin white dress even more. "Haha, brother, this round-eye will make such a poor offering to the great Brildgaltar dragon god," the younger brother said robustly, "she is much too clumsy!"
Ryko, who was toting the great gold weapon of the minotaur on his back, stepped beside the fallen form of the pretty maid that struggled to her knees on the path. He reached down and gripped her thigh and pushed her shoulders back down onto the rocks. "Indeed! She would make a much better slave to meet our needs than be a pitiful nibble to the great god!" The girl, who was likely no older than any of the young men present, cried out in shame at his touch and tried to kick away. Ryko kicked her onto her back. She writhed in pain, fumbling prayers in her native tongue in-between sobs.
Now Nito joined in at the talk of breaking in their little prize. Wrapping the reins around his forearm, he pulled the oxen to a stop. As the youngest, he was quick to stake his claim in for something more than used leftovers as usual. "You two! They were my darts that we used, don't be thinking on leaving me with a loosed doll after you've had your fill! I have equal share!" he acclaimed with animated thrusts of his fist into the air.
"Scraps is all you'll get baby nestling!" Ryko rebuked, showing Nito a fingered gesture to further antagonize him. "As the oldest, I get first taste in all our pillage!"
"I saw her first, Ryko, and we followed my lead through the mountains to reach the beast's lair!" Fedo screeched with a clenched fist to his older brother.
Ryko grabbed Fedo by the collar of his leather shirt and threw him against the rocky wall of the mountain. He smacked his brother across the face with the back of his hand and aimed his forefinger between Fedo's eyes. "How dare you question my right of passage!" he screamed, then added with scissor motions of his fingers, "I ought to gild you right here like a horse for that! In the future you'll show proper respect to the new Shogun Right!"
"They'll never give you Right to Shogun lead, brother! You dream!" Nito called from behind. In the midst of the arguing, not one noticed the frequently more pronounced rumbles coming from the groggy beast fastened to the cart.
The minotaur tried to shift its weight on the wooden slab, but found itself secured tied down. It blinked away the last of the drug's effects and drew a deafening yawn. Nito just about leapt five feet, but found himself caught by the reins wrapped around his arm. He jerked the oxen, prompting them to snort and trot forward, dangerously close to the edge. Ryko and Fedo both yelled frantic instructions to inject more darts into the beastly monster, but Nito was frantically trying to detach himself from the cart, and clawed at the knot in the reins.
Squinting at the little humans flailing like ants, the minotaur shook his hairy head. He glanced over the other side of the cart, and saw the edge of the cliff very near. He ripped his left arm free and gripped the cart's cliffside wheel, crushing it in his fist. Tossing the crumbled splinters away, the minotaur sliced the ropes holding his other arm down as the cart toppled to the left. The beast grabbed the sides of the cart and threw his weight to the left, twisting the cart over the edge. The mules were quickly pulled over as well, drawing the reins sharply taut ripping Tiko's arm out of its socket with the force. The bloody stump flew through the air in a short arc before disappearing over the edge as well. Only the wails of the young Luitian claimed the would-be guardsmen's ears. Lumps in their throats, the two standing brothers watched as the minotaur lumbered up the slope and stepped over to this side of the edge. It shook it's fur in a full-body shake in an almost morning wake ritual.
Ryko backed away with wide, scared eyes. Fedo, enraged at his brother's mauling, took up his glaive in two hands and bellowed fiercely. "Protect me!" came Ryko's squeaky command as Fedo rushed forth.
The minotaur eyed him for a half-second, then broke into a heavy-footed, but terribly fast, run straight for the human with the pointy stick. With a wide maw, the creature let out an eardrum-shattering roar of fury mixed with annoyance as he kicked up dirt with his hooves. The moment of the two warriors racing to face each other was spectacular for the brief second it lasted. The minotaur closed the gap with two steps and was atop the measly guard. He rammed his powerful fist down upon the human's head, collapsing his spine and throwing him straight down into the path of his heavy and sharp hooves. The human seemed to roll head over heels as the minotaur very purposely stomped his hooves in crushing blows as he stampeded over the would-be assassin. The glaive was torn into splinters under the impact, which left much to be said of Fedo's skeleton right now.
Ryko threw his arms in front of his face to shield his sight from the unavoidable collision. His dying wail was high pitched as a child's and filled with tears as he cried his mother's name. The cow slammed through him and collided into the mountain wall, sending tremors up and down the cliff with a thunderous clap. The minotaur reared his head back and arced his back. Thrusting his fists into the air he gave a long roar of triumph. Then showing his broad chest, arms down at his sides, he gave another roar, this one of indignant frustration. Abruptly he threw himself forward again, slamming his ram-like horns and thick skull into the broken body of Ryko that was embedded into the stone. Again the beast reared his head, giving a short roar before he again smashed his head into the human. Twice more he roared and pounded the body, each time hitting harder and fiercer than before. Finally, with furious bellows, he reached into the hole he had pummeled and ripped out the mushy remains of the bloody welp. Flattened pieces of armor and mangled flesh spread across the path, following the arc in which the creature yanked Ryko free of the wall.
The golden knife, unscathed, clattered to the ground. The monster bent and lifted it proudly to his face and roared a roar to deafen all who could hear. Turning back to the gooey remains of the human in his other fist and let out a growl that rose into another infuriated thunder. With final release, the minotaur rammed Ryko back into the hole, shaking the rocks overhead, pulled him free, and rammed him even harder into the rock face. Pulling his meaty paw loose and shaking it free of any remaining goo, the cow creature took a step back with angry puffs of steamy breath from its nostrils. It glared into the tomb of the little creature that thought it could overcome him, and he stomped his hooves in even more frustration. Then, the incessant sound of whimpering caught his ears. He turned his neck to the right (with satisfactory popping of his stiff bones) to view the crying Niko crawling along the ground, pulling himself along by one arm. More steam spewed from the beast's nose as he stamped over to the fallen human.
"Whu... whu... Oh gods no!"
The minotaur silenced the annoying pest with a wet skwelch as he drove his golden knife through the human's head, leaving it embedded in the ground as a show of annoyance. Turning around, the sweaty beast hoofed over to the sobbing woman he had in his possession before, picked her scant body up with one meaty hand and tossed her headfirst over his shoulder. Then he started his trek back to his cave, stopping only to pull his knife free of the buggery human's head.