The beast was large, at least the size of two small huts sitting next to each other. Its horned head reared up, it's deep roar filling the snowy valley. Within moments it was charging again. Axe still brandished, Makoto rolled to side for what felt like the millionth time. She had sliced at the beast for what was beginning to feel like hours, and yet it showed no sign of tiring. Thankfully, neither did she.
The local Eorzeans, she believed they were from Ishgard though she could barely keep up with the different designations of the locals nor did she care to very much, had referred to the creature as a 'Behemoth'. She considered it a fair moniker, given the beast's size, if highly uncreative. Behemoth invoked no true sense of the thing, outside of its size relative to the average person.
Apparently behemoths were not uncommon in the Coerthan mountains. Which meant that adventurers were in constant demand, for behemoths did so love to go where they pleased, and that so often happened to be settlements full of delicious looking people. Thus a fairly regular culling was in order. Makoto had staked her claim on this fiend and after would could barely be called a hunt, for behemoths are not exactly hard to see nor track, their battle began.
This was not her first hunt. Makoto Okeya was a dotharl of the Steppe, and her people were well acquainted with fighting for their food. Many of them lived for the thrill of it, for those times when battling another tribe was not an option. She had never found it very fulfilling. Beasts, she had quickly learned, are quite predictable. Even though some are formidable, and many others simply refuse to die, they work off of simple instinct and behavior.
The behemoth was no exception, its behaviors were very simple. When she was at range, it charged her. When she was close, it became a storm of teeth and claw, one swipe of which was at risk of cleaving her in half. And rarely it called down an elemental bolt. She wasn't quite sure how it managed to do that as of yet. But it was very impressive.
With a few yalms between them, she readied herself for the beast to charge again. The canyon their duel resided in was narrow, which had required her to time her rolls carefully. It lowered itself, and she did the same, waiting for her window of opportunity to present itself. To her surprise, the beast did not charge. Instead it slammed the full of itself against the side of the canyon, sending a quake across the entire formation. She felt the ground under her feet tremble, and wondered if it was at risk of crumbling away. Above her flakes of snow were scrambling downward, as well as a few pebbles. Her gaze drifted upward in time to see the cascade of boulders making their way down.
Eyes growing wide, she scrambled, trying to judge their impact point to avoid being crushed. Just as one rock slammed into the ground her right and she readied herself to dodge the next, she found another projectile slamming into her. Her mind scrambled to make sense of anything as she was flung across the canyon, making contact with the ground just in time for the behemoth to strike again. Her heart began to race, her hands shaking as it continued to rage at her, snapping and clawing as she recovered and fled.
Makoto Okeya was a dotharl warrior. This was a simple truth. The descriptors themselves were also rather simple. Dotharl, those of the xaela who did not fear but embraced death. A warrior, one who channeled their rage into their axe and cleaved their foes in twain with the resultant swing. At the moment she felt like neither. There was no anger in her as she turned in time to bury her axe into the behemoth's shoulder, sending it reeling. Only a desperate panic filled her as she unleashed a fury of terrified blows against the creature.
Even after the beast was felled she felt that fear. Could still see it tearing hell down the canyon as it raced towards her. Perhaps that was meant to be her death. Should she have turned and faced it there? Let out a bellowing battle cry and leapt to what surely would have been her end? She did not know. Slumping against the side of the canyon, she could only ponder. For now, she felt rather tired, and even the freezing stone was not too uninviting.
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