Ezra - Part 2

 

The Lord of Contagion waddled forward, the long hilt of his great axe clutched by both oversized rusted gauntlets. The left hand had three stubby fingers terminated into long broken claws while the right had six spindly long fingers wrapped tightly around the strips of bloody scabbed cured flesh. A single orb jutted out from the corroded helm blinking at the inky black night. Its tongue rasped against the grille. "Just another Space Marine…" it chortled as the bulking husk began to shamble forward. Wave after wave of fecal stench poured off the bone white plate. Instinctually Ezra squatted and stepped back into the blast zone carefully passing over the many dead. His injured arm snapped in place as he launched the heavy cleaver with a flick of the wrist. The rectangular blade spun as it closed in quickly crossing the short gap between the two combatants. Cutting into the exposed mounds of dead flesh seeping out from under the enemy’s helm the heavy blade cut deep through the rotten gristle locking in place. Black ooze dripped from the fresh rend spilling down upon the swollen vambrace.

 

Ezra felt raw bolts of electricity coursing through his body re-energizing his drive to fight. He ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth then spat. His free bionic hand clutched at the second chain sword mag locked to the back of his power pack. Dual wielding the two chain swords he charged straight at the Lord of Contagion. Striking with fiendish speed the traitor drove the head of his great axe descending upon the Templar’s head. Ezra countered crossing the chain swords high up to catch the poisoned blade. The mechanized teeth screamed as they fought in unison to block the strong blow. He then deftly spun away racking the back plate of the enemy chipping deep into thick interwoven plates of armor.

"You can’t win this fight." wheezed the Lord of Contagion.

Ezra - Part 1

 

Ezra

Ezra lifted himself from the crater. Deathguard swarmed just beyond the blast zone. The Templar lifted his chain sword with his good arm thumbing the activation rune. The sudden thrumming of the chain drive calmed his nerve. Putrid waves of stench rolled across the open ground as Ezra righted himself, blinking his left eye to clear the blood flowing down from an open gash across his forehead. Bolters began to fire, breaching the open ground. His brothers laid dead rank upon rank, some piled upon one another. He heard the buzz of blow flies descending upon the dead, the constant drone was sickening as he held back the bile.

Erupting from the dead Ezra launched himself into the center of the most immediate enemy. The chain sword sang as the whirling bits dug into the flace plate of a champion flowing though the deformed skull. Flicking his wrist the shorn helm flew apart then he drove the weapon into the bloated gut of the next closet driving the traitor to its knees. He could hear the tearing of rotted flesh and bone as he guided the chain sword through the corroded plate sundering the Deathguard in half. Geysers of puss filled boils erupted as he leapt aside.

The enemy moved slowly. He felt their sunken orbs all staring upon him as they encircled him rank upon rank. Again their bolters sang in unison as Ezra dodged first to the right then to left. Leaping up he brought his chain sword down in a wide arc eviscerating another traitor with a swift strike. Biting down on a stim capsule the Templar felt the engineered genome burn within his veins as his limp arm came back to life. Pins and needles stabbed into the muscle as he flexed the stiff arm. Dragging his awoken limb across the barren ground the stiff fingers clutched at the haft of a huge cleaver.

Briefly the pain was gone as he attacked with unbridled passion hacking the huge blade with new found strength. Limbs were shorn free and heads rolled. "Converge." came the command from the second champion, redirecting the force of the Poxmongers. Suddenly the lone Templar was amongst them giving himself to the fight. They grabbed at him to hold him down but the chain sword and cleaver struck for faster shredding swollen fingers. Ejecting a hidden stilleto from the hilt of the chain sword Ezra drove the tip deep into neck of a lumbering traitor severing the spinal cord. The head fell limp as the Deathguard was pushed aside.

The ground trembled as a Lord of Contagion erupted from the sick fold barreling down upon the lone Templar.