The Tale of Draknirv

by Draknirv (Sortos)

Ch.3 "Ručni Nož i Dvopedalni Stav"

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And so it was that the mighty Draknirv, lord of Riva, had risen.

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I trotted out of the barracks, happy to have eaten something other than a leafy round vegetable, and Yealtev followed close-by. Etrosk was dragging his hooves behind us and somewhere within the fort, and a crow was dining on a loaf of stale bread.

We were instructed to meet Hornswurth and the other recruits back at the training field after breakfast for something he called "Hoof to Hoof Orientation". We had no idea what that meant at the time, and the guesses we had were... less than appropriate.

"So... this is it huh?" I said to my brothers in despair. "We are to just... train for war?"

Yealtev only shrugged and kept his blank stare ahead as we continued walking. It was a stare that insinuated incredibly deep thought processing.

It was easy to tell... we were all having trouble coping with the circumstances...

"It'd be better if I had some actual food in my gullet!"

...Some more than others...

...

Etrosk was a proportionally well built Colt, lean and muscular, his coat was a light tan, his mane was of a dark silver, his eyes a dark purple, and his horns were notably thicker and had an upward curve into a circle at the end.

He was also the kind of Colt who would complain alot. Don't get me wrong he was a good guy it's just... it got on our nerves pretty often.

"Who are we even training to fight anyhow?" He said.

"I don't know," I replied. "Do you Yeal?"

He shook his head as we came up to the gate.

The gate was of a log pillar design that swung on cast iron hinges and was able to be braced with a beam of steel, however, it was currently open to allow free passage.

...

As we approached the clearing, we noticed everyone was lined in a row and Hornswurth was just standing there waiting for us.

He was in a gruff state and appeared fervently annoyed with us for being the last to arrive.

"Okey'den now that everypony is here we can get started!" Said Hornswurth as we fell into line.

He stepped over to the training weapons and proceeded to pull out several devices that comprised of wooden blades and flax harness straps.

The obvious weapon possessed a dulled wooden blade that was roughened and obviously hand made, a rough leather sheath encasement at the base of the blade, and under that was a pair of thralled flax straps.

"Ručni nož' is what these are." Said Hornswurth. "These weapons were designed and mass-produced by the Muscovites last month, with the sole purpose of providing a better leverage for hoof to hoof combat. Luckily for us they were generous enough to share."

After a suitable introduction he began to hand out one nož per trainee.

"How do we put these on?" Said one of the other trainees as he attempted to fit his muzzle into the straps, only to stretch the flax producing an irritating scraping sound.

Hornswurth simply glared at the poor Colt before taking the weapon from him.

After a few moments of continued hateful staring Hornswurth stood up. He just stood up... on his back legs... like it wasn't even a problem for him. He towered over us in an incredibly intimidating way due to his notable size by comparison, which surprised the whole lot of us, considering he was just as tall as us on all fours and nearly three times as tall on his hind legs!

He proceeded to insert his forelimb into the strapping of the nož, tightened it with his teeth, and then walked up to the very Colt he took it from.
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"His strides were so different to us, at the time." Said Draknirv as he drifts into chastened memory. "They were almost reptilian in form, a bit like those frilly lizards whom run across the water." He takes a final sip of his drink and the bartender (formally designated as "Nevets") immediately came over, almost instinctively, and poured him another drink from a notably unlabeled glass bottle. "Simplistic,... majestic,... and efficient..." Draknirv said as he continued.
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What happened next was something I'll never forget seeing!

Hornswurth was standing in-front of the poor trainee when he broke their deadlock stare by circle-peddling his left hoof over his right and then right arcing his right hoof behind his "opponent's" left ankle and pulling it back, the resulting force causing the unfortunate demonstration target to fall down upon his chest. Hornswurth then proceeded to wheel his entire body around and pin the brunt edge of the blade against the back of the Colt's neck!

We all simply stood there in awe at what had just played out before us.

"Wa.... what in the name of Bohgdan was that!?" Said Etrosk in shock.

"Weyll it sher weren't no ballrum dancin!" Retorted Hornswurth snidely.

"Dvopedalni stav'... the bipedular stance..." He added under his breath.

"Now..." he stated proudly regaining his composure "Equip your Nož and lets get started!"

...

...

...

Clunk! The two wooden blades clashed forcing both the trainee and myself to stumble backwards in recoil. The way Hornswurth had us mimic his "bipedular stance" was so clumsy at first that the simple knock of training blades was nearly enough to cause me to stumble to the ground!

I managed to right myself after the impact and thrust a jab that scored into my foe's side, however, he seemed quite unphased by the blow and swung down on my head... hard!

I was knocked flat onto my rear, the crown of my head seething in blunt pain, but I quickly arced my left leg for a sweep and soon it was he who was upon the ground.

He was quick to get back up and I was quick to deliver three consecutive blows to the side of his head. He attempted to retaliate with a swing from the right side, but I lurched back and bent my arm up to riposte the strike and followed with a quick kick to his stomach.

And with that, my foe was upon the ground clutching his gut in pain.

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"You see that one there? With the green coat?" Said Hornswurth pointing at the dark green gazelle helping his fallen sparring partner to his feet.

"The one who learned how to use his hooves before the others?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"Yes... he has... potential."