Bellicose
Bellicose...
Pietas, the immortal king, is a fighter, born and bred. In a word, bellicose. His class is bellator-techne, meaning he is a warrior first, and then a scientist.
He's also somewhat snarky and condescending and his fighting skills, like his mouth, tend to get him in trouble...
His first position was within a group called Soomus Bellum, which means "We are war". You can see their symbol on his armor in the banner for this post.
The best way to describe Pietas as a fighter is to let you "see" him in action. Bellicose also means assertive, aggressive, pugnacious, militant, scrappy and in-your-face. The scene below from The Origin of Pietas: Bringer of Chaos, shows him at his fighting best. Come to think of it, bellicose could use a picture of Pietas next to it in the dictionary.
The scene below begins with him trapped in a room with multiple cryogenic pods (life pods) and no air whatsoever. He can hold his breath ten times longer than a human, and they have sent in unarmed fighters because the humans know he will commandeer their weapons in a heartbeat. Pietas is on his side at the back of the room. The "ghosts" are members of Ghost Corps, special ops soldiers who have been resurrected using the blood of Pietas's people.
Listen while you read
On YouTube, the music video Queen's Breach by Critical Mass is listed as "epic action aggressive driving rock powerful". One listen and you'll agree. If that song isn't the bellicose Pietas in action as a fighter, I don't know what is. Read the excerpt below while you listen, and you'll see him in action. I listened to it repeatedly while I choreographed and wrote the fight of his immortal life.
Queen's Breach - The Critical Mass
Song: Queen's Breach
Artist: The Critical Mass
Album: Out of the Ashes: The Critical Mass Collection
Copyright: 2014 Josh Mobley
Bellicose
Remaining on his side, Pietas let them get all the way inside the room.
Crowded as the space was between his pod and the wall, two ghosts crept into it. Six spots of light showed on the other side. Eight ghosts then. That would be a much better fight. One nudged him with a foot.
Suppressing a smile, he continued to play dead.
Ghost One bent down, turned him onto his back.
Pietas let his body flop.
The guy came in closer, checked for a pulse.
He opened his eyes.
The ghost's alarm fed Pietas energy.
He yanked him down, hard, while jamming the heel of his hand up. The ghost's head snapped back, and Pietas felt his bones crack. He shoved him aside and went after Ghost Two.
Pietas gripped his leg and tripped him. He jammed an elbow down onto the man's neck. Bones broke. The ghost's stab of dying fear spiked the energy from the first, and Pietas mixed it with his gift of chaos. He flung the vortex of emotions outward, broadcasting confusion and terror.
He activated his ability called zip. The pseudo speed meant he could move at a regular pace, but humans perceived him as a blur. They could not focus on him long enough to get close. To him, everyone moved in slow motion.
He flipped onto his feet, braced both hands on his pod, and kicked Three and Four square in the chest.
He pushed off the pod, and the momentum carried him straight into the arms of Five and Six. They stumbled backward, tumbling Seven and Eight onto the floor.
Pietas rolled, grabbing Seven. One quick twist of the neck, and another down. Five to go.
Six and Eight flipped themselves to their feet. Three and Four struggled to rise.
Pietas took a running leap and crushed Three's neck. Four raised his hands to shield his face. A swift kick to the head--gone.
Pietas dropped, rolled, came up behind Eight. Broke his neck.
The burning need for air hurt, but there were two to go.
He turned, and a fist caught him in the mouth. Thrown off balance, he danced sideways. Pietas touched his lip, and frowned at the spot of blood. He met the gaze of Ghost Six, who'd punched him.
No human had ever hit him before. Pietas gave a nod.
Five and Six rushed him.
Turning into Five's momentum, Pietas hurled him into the wall, jamming the ghost's head down onto his spine.
He whirled back to find Six standing beside the pod holding Pietas's mother, working the code on a control panel. The ghost held up a warning hand, and poised his other over a bar with flashing red letters: Immolate.
He could kill the ghost without killing his mother. Pietas darted toward him.
Pick up the first story in the Bringer of Chaos series, Lights Out, free by joining a reader group!
https://kayelleallen.com/reader-groups
Origin of Pietas
Forged in Fire
Lights Out
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Today is Pietas’s birthday – well, it will be, 600 years from today. Happy almost birthday, Pi!
Great fight scene.
Thank you! 🙂
High stakes indeed in this fight!
Eight against one — they didn’t last long. :O
Exciting scene! I like his zip ability.
I would totally love to have that kind of zip!
Exciting scene. You must have loved writing this character. Happy almost Birthday to Pietas.
I certainly did. And thank you. I’ll pass on the greetings. 🙂
Well written fight scene: the writing is spare, not overly descriptive, allowing the reader to fill in the action.
I wanted it to read fast, decisive, and show both the power of Pietas and his disregard for human life. He has a lot of growing to do in this series. To do that, I had to pair him up with a human partner. The unnamed ghost he refers to as “Six” is a critical character in the series. Oops… that tells you Pietas doesn’t kill him in this scene, doesn’t it?
Excellent fight scene giving us a good sense of who and what Pietas is capable of. Thanks for sharing.
Tena, thank you 🙂 He’s a formidable enemy. These scene plays out in Lights Out — but from the viewpoint of ghost Six. It’s a freebie to members of my reader groups.