My name is Railen Hoofstomp and hear my tale before we start the charge towards certain death.

You see us, Minotaur Warriors, in every battlefield there is. Sometimes we are all allies, sometimes we are under opposing factions and we would kill our bretheren without any qualms because what matters is gold.

To be a Minotaur warrior is one of the highest distinction in our tribe for we are the best mercenaries that money can buy and what we take by the iron price goes back and ensure a future for our pack.

I have been trained in the art of warfare as soon as I could walk and hold a spear in my hands.

Trained in the use of broadswords, claymores, warhammers, spears, pikes and our preferred weapon, a mighty axe to cleave the enemy from head to balls. Nothing is as satisfying as splitting an enemy into two.

Warfare is the only thing we know, live and die for. Whatever we face we will stand before them and bellow our warcries as we break their lines.

I take pride as being as the tip of wedge formation, quickly battering down and stomping on any fool who is impeding my way.

I have survived a hundred battles and yet I am not sure if I will survive this for I have gazed at the eyes of our enemies and knew fear in my warrior heart.

Yet I am stubborn and fear did not trump my warrior pride and so I stand with you my orc brother in this glorious battlefield which will be sung by skalds for a hundred years.

Both of our societies have a martial quality to it so I know that you understand what I am going through.

To retreat is a sign of weakness and it is my eternal shame that I did.

They came from the skies. We always looked ahead to see our enemies but these creatures came from above without warning.

Scales of green, blue, red and gold. Mighty wings that darkened the skies and a roar that shook the very earth itself.

They came spewing fire, acid, lighting, frost darkness and light. They set my village aflame, froze proud warriors in their tracks and lit up so many of my brothers.

We reformed and took out our mighty bows that could split a deer in half, took aim and see them bounce off their scales like it was a toy arrow.

Unfazed by this and by my desire to win glory I broke formation and manned one of our massive war ballistas, to skewer these monster and take them down.

I set my sights on one of the smaller ones with an even smaller two legged creature riding atop it, a blond mane flowing through the wind. It held such a puny spear but what was more deadly was the creature she rode.

I waited to line up that shot, steady as she dive down my squad, huddled behind some rocks. They were too terrified to move and so sacrificing their cowardly lives was just the right thing to do.

She did not get them all and was making a second pass. I have it lined up and bam! the bolt flew but the creature quickly turned but ripped through the membrane of one of its wings.

This just made the two legs more mad. As she uttered an unnatural sound from her throat. I dropped my axe as I saw more and more winged beasts descend from the sky.

Some of them had twice the wingspan of the others. Ancients and very powerful.

"What have I done!" I said to myself as they razed the village where I was trained in the art of warfare.

This was no war! This was a slaughter as the beasts rained down death from above.

Then I did something that I have never done before. I ran away from the battlefield.

I ran as fast and as far as I could. Past the hunting grounds, past the stomping and training environments, past the border towers to this land of eternal green.

Here I found refuge for me and the survivors that I managed to find amidst the fires. Here I was able to guide them to live among the other creatures here.

Yet battles have a way of being present wherever we are and I could see the telltale signs as the clouds darkened and have flashes of lightning that shoots off at regular intervals.

Signs that we should have noticed before but failed to.

So I stand here today, shoulder to should with you my orc brother to protect the grove from the incoming onslaught.

We will not let our new home turn to ashes like our village before. We will stand and fight till the last minotaur.

Hear our war cries dragons and know we are no longer afraid! We will tear you down and stomp on your limp, dead bodies and we will have vengeance for our slain.

Flavor Text

Hear the rumble of our hooves as we run through a minotaur charge.

We will see what is stronger, your shields or our might behind the charge.

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That is my entry to Steem Monsters Common Card Fantasy Story Contest! // Week 13

I hope you enjoyed it!