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Thoughts continued to rush through Kuric’s mind as he raced towards the wargs. He clearly remembered leaving home and the lack of understanding by his clansmen. They couldn’t understand why a dwarf would leave such a rich mine for a life of adventure alone. He remembered the excitement and sense of purpose he felt as he descended the mountain to begin his new life. While he did make it back home occasionally, he never looked back, and yet at this moment he questioned his decision to leave wondering if he had been correct in his decision. Kuric felt saddened and depressed realizing that for all his lofty goals and ambitions he hadn’t made much of a difference in Middle-earth and no tales would be told of him.
Maybe, he wondered, just maybe if I save these townsmen from this fight, then I’ll be worthy of some small tale. With a heavy heart but a fixed resolve Kuric plunged into the clearing where the wargs held Toby. He immediately saw three enormous wargs surrounding their hobbit quarry that lay on the ground bloody and lifeless. All rationale thought left Kuric’s mind and the familiar sense of battle-lust took over. This is what Kuric lived for and this is what he would die for; the adrenaline rush of battle, the combat that allowed one to prove his prowess and ability. Kuric was a masterful warrior having seen much combat and been in more than one tavern brawl. Kuric never hesitated, he immediately lowered his head and rushed headlong into battle, all the aches and pains of age were washed away.
With his giant mace he made a wide sweeping blow at the seemingly unsuspecting wargs, so ferocious and sudden was his onslaught. Kuric knew what would happen when he made this stroke, it wasn’t designed to necessarily overly injure any opponent, but in large groups it was meant to get them off balance, leaving them exposed for the next assault. Kuric quickly spotted one that appeared slower and was probably injured. Realizing is best to thin the numbers quickly while he still had the element of surprise he moved in for the attack on the unfortunate warg that Gorin had previously injured. The warg saw the attack coming but couldn’t move out of the way in time. Kuric utilizing the forward momentum of his body to further propel this blast, took the mace in an overhead swinging down motion to the back of the warg. The warg instantly crumbled beneath the blow which broke it back and ribs. Feeling his enemy fall and hearing the breaking of so many bones brought Kuric a joy that made him begin to sing an ancient dwarvish battle song, he felt that it brought him greater strength. But now the other two were prepared, for so quick was Kuric to attack the weakest that he positioned himself directly between two wargs that now had him severely flanked.
Realizing his mistake he sought to buy himself a bit of time and yelled out “Come on ya mangy cur, a hobbit is one thing but can ya take on a dwarf?” The moment hesitation this caused the wargs gave Kuric the moment he needed. Based upon the position of his mace he felt it best to attack the warg on his right and he made a sudden move to the warg. He knew that the other would be on him immediately but he underestimated their speed and as he reached back to begin his swing his arm suddenly stopped and he felt a great pressure on his forearm where the other warg had grabbed his arm in its large maw. Kuric’s arm was protected by his mithril mail but the blunt pressure was painful. Cursing Kuric quickly, before the warg could fully react, Kuric brought his right fist and landed a damaging blow with his spiked glove at the base of the wargs neck causing him to let go of Kuric’s arm and yelp in pain.
Once the initial flurry was over the remaining two wargs were content to circle around Kuric, waiting for him to make the next move. Blood was dripping down the one who received the wound but it was not a fatal blow. Kuric who was often rash and impulsive wasn’t content to wait this out and play their game. He lunged towards the warg nearest to him making a feint that he was going for an all out attack on the injured warg. Knowing that the other would be in quick pursuit from behind he stopped surprisingly fast and reversed his direction and without looking made a sweeping blow of his mace. The warg tried to change direction but wasn’t fully prepared for this move from his prey. He got clipped on the hind quarter as he turned to flee. The impact caused the left hind leg to shatter. There was no time to relish his slight victory for no sooner had the blow been delivered than the third warg was on him. Normally a warg jumping on his back wouldn’t have thrown Kuric to the ground but the final warg was the most powerful of the three and he had caught Kuric off balance after swinging his mace. He was able to knock Kuric face down into the ground and savagely began probing with his mouth and claws over Kuric’s body for any unprotected flesh. It found that area in the inner part of the upper thigh and clamped down with great force shaking his head vigorously to cause further damage to the sensitive skin. This caused Kuric to fail in his attempt to get back up. The warg backed off knowing it had caused a significant injury to the lone dwarf and was content to wait for his plans to fully hatch.
Kuric struggled to his feet and looking down he could see the blood pooling below him. He recognized that it would only be a matter of time before he succumb to his wound if he weren’t treated, but there would be no time for that and he must make a final stand to protect those who are still out in the wilderness. Knowing that with the two there wouldn’t be a way to take out the largest warg Kuric began to make his way to the warg with the broken leg. Forgetting his pain and one last sacred honor to his people he let out his final battle cry with a growl “Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!” and rushed as fast as his leg would allow toward the injured warg. Grabbing his mace his both hands and lifting it above his head Kuric hoped to make a quick death stroke and then figure out what to do next. The mace came down causing a sickening thud and the warg crumpled beneath the force. Just as he turned to face the other warg Kuric was hit hard and unexpectedly from behind and was slammed to the ground hitting his head on a rock. All was growing black and the final thing Kuric remembered was the sounds of wargs, he wondered where the others had come from and he thought he faintly heard the sound of a dwarf calling his name before it all faded into blackness and he remembered no more.
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