A Bestial, a Tarian, and a Kollom are in a Desert...

Author's Note: this is another excerpt from my book series, "Resolution". Here is a legend told by the Kin-Martoln.

This legend gives us two lessons, honorable reader.

Jask Tobbins, Red Company Commander of the Hard Corps, had been assigned with Rila Estenall, Green Company Lieutenant of the Stampeders, to investigate the reported movement of two forces believed to belong to Bestials and the forces under Supreme Sultan Dahst. While incursions happened between the two powers, neither came near Martoln-home for decades. Suspicion grew that the Bestials were the ones launching an assault under orders from their new queen, Lady Parine, as if she was testing out Dahst's militaristic capabilities. Jask, along with Western General Heljia Gunzer, disagreed under the impression that Lady Parine would not willingly waste the lives of the Bestials under her care.

As both drew closer to their destination, they saw the smoke of what appeared to be campfires coming over the dunes in the distance, the roar of the desert wind reaching them as they stepped off of the path that was made through the Fanged Ridgeline before spilling out to the forests lying tens of thousands of paces behind them; this mountain range was a dividing line between life and death. 

Up ahead, the roar got louder. Suspecting a storm, the two quickly set up their tent to wait out the ensuing fury. Night came, but the noise remained. Strangely, though, the air was calm and neither cloud nor grain was thrown around in the sky. Both took turns watching and sleeping, as is the way of soldiers. 

Day lived again, but the receding night allegedly killed the sound that both had heard yesterday. Riding upon the Stampeder's personal beach steed, the two Kin-Martoln climbed over the dunes that previously hid all but the smoke and noise. Daylight flooded the blue sky and carpeted the desert floor, illuminating a fourth sea before their eyes. They had found the reported forces, or what was left of them. There was no doubt that both had found each other and attacked with no intent of leaving any survivors. Jask dismounted and waded into this body of bodies with both smallarms in his hands acting as navigation arrows, while Rila rode slowly behind him with her longarm at the ready.

The wind came, but it was only enough to cause the open armor of Dahst's forces to echo the wails of the deceased while stirring many a fur of many a different mammalian Bestial. The new noise caused Jask's skin to erupt into gooseflesh, each hair of his standing stiffer than the weapons in his own hands; he was wishing for the earlier sound of battle out of familiarity. Looking back, he saw Rila's eyes and knew that she would have preferred the same. By the King of the All and Ever, a graveyard was a much preferable environment right now. Both shook their heads and continued; their duty was to be seen through, damn all the doubt!

A Felidian Bestial's fur stirred close by, but not from the wind.

Immediately, both smallarms and longarm trained upon the large Felidian Bestial, male and striped like a Tundra tiger. In turn, the Bestial leveled a large gastraphetes at Jask, growling while pressing upon the trigger. Such a bolt would split a Tarian's head in two, leaving Jask to hold position with his smallarms pointing at the Bestial's eyes and Rila aiming her longarm at the Bestial's throat. For a brief moment, there was nothing else but these three upon an area of twenty-four paces. No sound passed their ears aside from the wind, the rustling of sand, the groaning of something huge as it pushed off debris-

Their eyes followed their ears. Their minds registered the behemoth getting to its feet, standing five times as tall as the Felidian. Its damaged armor revealed the Half-Giant within, dying yet not able to die, and the hole in its plackart revealed why; the strange fire keeping this being mobile was not extinguished. This was a Kollom, an abomination of Dahst's design via the corruption of the inchan, breathing the strange fire into the bellies of captured Half-Giants before putting them in armor and manipulating them to be his units of battle. Unable to die so long as the strange fire burned inside of them, they could only fight as commanded and consume any burnable material to alleviate the excruciating pain.

Burnable material, in this place, would include the wood of the longarm, the smallarms, and the gastraphetes, as well as the clothes, the hair, and the fur. 

A pained roar shattered the established silence. Rila leveled her longarm at the creature, but Jask quickly ordered her to stay her weapon. While she held her round, the Felidian let his fly and hit the Kollom in its right eye. The large bolt would have liquified the living orb were it more alive as it was before the curse nearly dried it up. Still, the eye was rendered useless, but the Kollom ripped it out along with the bolt and swallowed it as the wood still provided sustenance. 

The Felidian notched in another bolt as Rila put a round into the monster's neck. Immediately, the Kollom turned to her and, noticing the wood of her longarm, charged at her. It would have likely swept her into pieces if it wasn't for Jask, jumping between the two and unleashing the fury of his smallarms. Several of his rounds ended up inside the Kollom's mouth; as it slowed down to spit out the hot pieces of metal, Jask yelled at Rila to go and retrieve reinforcements. Jila started to protest, but Jask managed to outroar the behemoth, ordering her to run. And run she did, turning her steed back to the mountains and speeding away!

His bolt now set, the Felidian pointed his gastraphetes at Jask, remembering the fierce conflicts throughout the history of Bestial and Kin-Martoln (also known as the Children of War). Such thoughts were fleeting as the abomination ahead took another quick swipe at the soldier, the latter's quick reflexes saving his life for the moment. A decision was made as quick as the Commander's movement and the Felidian focused on his new target; the bolt flew and drilled into the back of the Kollom's leg. At the same time, Jask holstered his smallarms and pulled out his saber and gut-knife. Dodging another monstrous swing, Jask charged forward and swiped both blades at the exposed knee of the wounded leg. The Kollom collapsed on the bad knee, a demonic scream drowning out the wind. It was not from the wounds, as a Kollom could take massive amounts of damage; it was the strange fire, licking around the open wound as it demanded fuel and was literally taking it out of the creature's hide.

Though there was much that could be used for fuel, Jask noticed that the Kollom shoved aside the dead bodies, the clothed forces and the dirty fur of the Bestials, lifting up pieces of what were once catapults and ballistae...

Of course! The Kollom couldn't absorb the material if it was dirty! Jask then remembered his reports about Dahst's walking weapons: sand can put out the strange fire.

And they were standing in a desert.

Jask ran over to the Felidian, notching another bolt into his weapon, and called out for an abrupt truce. The Bestial growled, not wanting to speak to his perceived enemy, but Jask sheathed both his blades in sincerity. While Felidians were regarded as the most ferocious of the Bestials, this one had no desire to attack a harmless foe. Given their predicament, he lowered his gastraphetes and listened. Jask stated that the Felidian needed to draw the Kollom over to his weapon; meanwhile, Jask would grab a helmet and use it to throw sand inside the opening of the Kollom's plackart. The Felidian hesitated, wondering why they don't use their water bags, but the Kollom was already back on its feet and had turned towards them. There was no more time!

Bolt after bolt struck the dying creature, each one either deflected by the armor or ripped out of the flesh it had entered and swallowed down to the sickening green flame below. Jask scurried to a fallen Ramadelite, an elite soldier of Dahst's armada, and grabbed the undamaged helmet. He scooped up the helmet's fill of the sand, rushing behind the Kollom as it lurched slowly yet detrimentally. Again, the Felidian fired and, again, the Kollom ate his round while ignoring the soldier moving between its legs.

Sand flew into the hole, and the lurch became a slip!

A bluish hue started to spread upon the pale skin of the Kollom. Its breathing, if one could call that harsh gasp "breathing", became erratic. The head shook, trying to regain focus, and Jask quickly shoveled more sand into the helmet and ran back to the Kollom. Again, he let the dirt fly and, again, it was a direct hit! The Kollom started hyperventilating, bracing with one arm while flailing the other at whatever was causing it to severely fluctuate between life and death. Another large bolt was launched and struck at the elbow of the bracing limb. The Kollom promptly slammed its other arm to the ground, pushing itself up to its feet, and started running at the Bestial.

The Commander had gripped upon its right knee, relying on the creature's need to feed as its ultimate distraction so that when it raised said right knee, he used it to launch himself at its belly. One full helmet provided the Kollom its last meal; it staggered and struggled to reach its quarry as if to reignite the flame, only to stop short and fall forward with a heavy crash. The former Half-Giant, unnamed, was now unfettered from both life and tyrant.

Jask got up, brushed himself off, and walked around the Kollom to make sure that it did not rise again. He stopped at the sight of the Felidian, a final bolt notched and ready. The Bestial shouldered his weapon and walked up to the Child of War. This time, there was no silence; the heavy breathing of the Commander stood out in contrast with the steady huffs of the Bestial as the wind ruffled both uniform and hair. At last, the Bestial held out his clawed hand and introduced himself; Tremon. Jask, taken aback, extended his own hand and clasped the claws with his own name given. Before the day was over, a gift of gratitude was exchanged between the honorable persons.

Enemies can still find common ground, especially if such could be used against a greater threat. That is the first lesson.

But what about the second lesson, you ask?

Well, the second lesson is that Felidians and Hard Corps will always play dirty.