When the horse-drawn cart lurched to a full stop, I felt the excitement throughout my body. My mouth salivated, my heart raced, my breath quickened, and my mind raced.
We all piled out of the cart when it came to a stop. All eighteen of us gathered on the right side, formed in a loose formation allowing plentiful space between each of us. The captain had explained that this is the best way to deal with large creatures. Bunching up usually makes it more difficult, he said.
Standing there, clad in full armor, feeling the rumble beneath our feet as the overly large creatures raced toward us at full speed. From this distance, I was finally able to fully discern what these mastodons looked like.
Honestly, at first, I thought they were woolly mammoths. Although I didn’t know much about those prehistoric creatures from my old world, I do remember the art made of them. These mastodons look smaller than mammoths, yet stockier. Almost as if the beast was a crossbreed of mammoths and hippos.
Their long tusks curved upward; their bodies covered in thin, stringy brown fur. A long, thin tail swung wildly behind their rampaging charge. The trunk centered upon their lower faces bellowed with triumphant thundering booms as they spotted us in their way.
My body tensed up once I truly made out their sizes, since they were still incredibly large when compared to us minuscule humans. ’How the hell does the captain expect us to take these things out?’ I couldn’t help but complain as I saw the creatures close in.
At the very least, it seems we only had seven of these creatures charging directly at our cart, which we had to deal with. Considering the herd numbered in the thousands, it was a small saving grace.
"Ready yourselves!" Captain Ogman yelled out as he stood at the forefront of our formation, while I stood at the leftmost edge.
I heard similar commands from the nearby Knight captains of the other units, who guarded their own carts just as we did ours. The ground quaked and vibrated, testing our balance as the beasts were upon us, bearing down with reckless aggression!
Multiple mastodons reared their heads to the side as they approached, readying their tusks for a deadly swing. I had one coming toward me, its white ivory tusks ready to sweep me into the air for daring to be in its way.
When it got close, the beast swung its head; the tusks swinging toward me with incredible speed. Knowing it would be foolish to take it on directly, I jumped up, cocking back my right arm. The mastodon’s tusks swept forth underneath me, and its head right in front. I thrust my fist forward with all my strength, impacting the beast squarely upon the head.
The beast reared back, standing up on its two hind legs as it bellowed out in a scream of pain! I could clearly make out a large, fist-sized indentation on its head. As I started to fall down, I angled my descent to land on one of its rising tusks.
I bent my knees, and when I felt my feet land on the ivory, I sprang upward, using the tusk to jump over the beast’s head. I twisted in midair to face the creature’s back, my claws straightened out.
Then my falling body closed in on the beast, around its lower neck. I thrust out both my hands, the clawed metal fingers piercing the mastodon’s fur and skin, drawing dark red blood as I slid down its back, eliciting even more painful screams.
As my descent down its back got close to the ground, I pushed off the beast, my bloody claws leaving the creature’s body. What I did not account for when I had gotten behind the mastodon, and it started to fall forward back onto all four feet, its tail swung quickly, catching the side of my body.
When the tail impacted the side of my armor, I felt the force vibrate throughout, rattling my body, and send me tumbling to the right. Luckily, the tail was not strong enough to break through the armor, yet I knew this would definitely leave a nasty bruise.
I got up a little unsteadily as I groaned out in slight pain. Looking over toward the beast as it landed back on all fours, though it stumbled, clearly affected by the pain and blood-loss. Its trunk sounded out a loud and long resonant call, as if trying to call for help. Sadly for the mastodon, the rest of the herd was busy in its own right.
Then, having used up its last bit of struggling energy, the creature toppled over on its side, letting out a small whimper of defeat. Since I was not one to let a creature die slowly and painfully, I walked up close to its head to end its misery. I held no hate for the beast after all; we were just enemies on opposite sides.
Seeing the creature stare at me weakly, its eyes following my every movement as best as it could. I shook my head with a bit of sadness, internally apologizing that it had to die in such a way. Then, I thrust my clawed hand forward, aiming directly at the indentation my fist made on its head, knowing the skull there would be weakened.
My entire hand pierced into the mastodon’s head, up to my wrist, and that is when I saw the light leave the beast’s eyes, finally dying. I let out an inaudible sigh as I looked at its lifeless body, and that is when I realized, although I enjoyed fighting, I could not find any enjoyment in ending this creature’s life. I didn’t feel remorse either, since it had to be done because of the circumstances, yet I could find no satisfaction in the experience.
I looked around to find that the rest of my unit had also dealt with the handful of beasts that had come toward us. One mastodon lay dead with a sword in its head, and a long open gash across its left side. Another had both tusks and front legs severed by a large axe, the man standing on the beast’s corpse, the axe lodged between the mastodon’s eyes.
The rest had similar deaths. When I looked toward the other units, I saw similar scenes, until I noticed one Knight get slung into the air by a mastodon, his body twirling dozens of feet into the air until he came crashing down into the ground hard, slinging up dirt and debris.
The man was still surprisingly alive, yet would most likely be inoperative for a few days. I guess the captain was right, for Knights the mastodons aren’t a tremendous threat if you are careful.
With that, it seemed to be over as the rest of the herd continued their stamped past us to the other side, running off into the distance. Whatever reason had them charging along to begin with was enough that they didn’t seem to care for their dead comrades.