Chris Wright - Age of Sigmar - Omnibus

Ulgavost came to his side from the left flank. ‘Brother, we should retreat while we can, get back to the gate.’ He paused a moment. ‘Were I runefather, that is what I would do.’

‘Aye, well, you’re not runefather, are you,’ said Ulgathern-Grimnir.

‘Fine,’ said Ulgavost coldly. ‘We don’t have enough left to weather another assault like that.’

‘I’m sorry, brother,’ said Ulgathern-Grimnir. ‘We’re better off here, that is all. They’ve a steep climb, and nowhere to organise. It’s the best position.’

‘That’s your decision, I suppose,’ said Ulgavost, and some of the tension left him.

Drumbeats came from the depths of the stairs, the heavy tread of armoured feet behind them.

‘Looks like they’re not done with us yet,’ said Ulgavost. ‘I’ll get back to the left.’

‘Good luck, brother,’ said Ulgathern-Grimnir.

‘You too, runefather,’ said Ulgavost.

The reavers had gone. The Slaaneshi elite came in their stead. Huge armoured figures trod the stair, their helmets blank and armour a riot of gaudy, metallic colours. As they came within a hundred steps, they locked tall shields together, and began to chant.

‘Qualar Vo! Qualar Vo! Qualar Vo!’

‘Let them have it!’ shouted Ulgathern-Grimnir.

Magma pelted down onto the warriors, booming from shields and dripping onto the steps. The warriors came on unaffected, resetting their shields after every strike. They were the champions of Slaanesh, the lost and the damned, and they would not die easily.

They broke into a run at the last few steps and crashed into the duardin with such might the Fyreslayers were forced back. The advantage the duardin possessed was quickly gone, then reversed, for the Chaos warriors were so tall they struck down at the shorter warriors once they were on level ground.

Ulgathern-Grimnir swung his axe, cutting a purple-armoured warrior in two. To an untrained eye the grandaxe might have seemed unwieldy, too massive to be of much use, but the runes in Ulgathern-Grimnir’s body gave him great strength, and he moved the weapon as easily as if it were a willow switch. He stove in breastplates with the heavy knob on the end of the haft, cut heads from shoulders with the broad key-head, and caught sword and axe blades in its slots and broke them into pieces with hard twists. None could stand against the young runefather, and the fire in his eyes was terrible to behold.

In spite of Ulgathern-Grimnir’s best efforts, the Fyreslayers were pushed backwards, past the throne dais, towards the doorway where the vulnerable members of their lodge waited for Drokki to open the gate. Grokkenkir’s warriors barred the entrance, but there were too few of them to hold the Chaos warriors back for long should Ulgathern-Grimnir fall.

‘Come on, Drokki! Get that gate open,’ said Ulgathern-Grimnir through gritted teeth.

The Chaos warriors chanted louder.

‘Qualar Vo! Qualar Vo! Qualar Vo!’

‘I am here, my children!’ hissed a feminine voice. Quiet, as intimate as a lover’s whisper, it nevertheless cut through the tumult of battle.

A daemon of Chaos stepped into the hall from the stairway. As tall as a gargant, its head was that of a cow, supporting a broad spread of blood-red horns. It had powder-blue skin, four arms, and carried three swords and a long black leather whip. Its hoofed feet were encased in shining boots tipped with steel. The chainmail harness it wore was immodest. Useless as protection, it accentuated the features of the daemon’s mixed gender. Ulgathern found himself entranced by its sinuous movements. A heavy smell of unwashed bodies and cloying perfume filled the hall. A dark passion rose in Ulgathern-Grimnir in response, distasteful and intoxicating. He fought it down, but even as he brought it under control he knew that everything that brought him pleasure in future would be tainted by this experience.

‘I am Qualar Vo, the Unredeemed.’ It pointed a long, painted fingernail at Ulgathern-Grimnir. ‘Little duardin, so stubborn, so strong-willed, so boring. Let your passions flow, and join with me. Such things I will show you.’

The Chaos warriors backed away as the daemon strode forward, hips swaying provocatively. The smell of it intensified, causing some of the Fyreslayers to moan, others to retch. A headache pounded in Ulgathern-Grimnir’s head. The creature stood over him, its loincloth flapping inches from his face, and the stink of it made him dizzy.

‘So fierce! You should enjoy the finer things in life more. Pleasure is a generous master.’

‘Pleasure in depravity, in carving the flesh from your own body because your sensations have become so dulled? No, thank you,’ said Ulgathern-Grimnir, and he was horrified at how weak his voice sounded.

‘I know you yearn to embrace me, to feel my tender caresses.’ A long, prehensile tongue slipped from the daemon’s mouth. ‘You are young to be a runefather.’ The daemon surveyed Ulgathern-Grimnir’s small band of warriors. ‘Another doomed offshoot of your race, sent off to grub about in the dirt for fragments of your god. It’s simply tragic.’

‘You will not bend me to your will,’ said Ulgathern-Grimnir.

‘No? Your brother submitted himself quite willingly.’

‘You lie!’

‘Then who opened the realmgate into the Ulgahold, if it were not Mangulnar? Even now your kinsfolk die thanks to his treachery.’

Something snapped in Ulgathern-Grimnir. The fires of his heart were damped down by the thing’s musk no more, but flared up, burning the fog from his mind. He swung his axe at the daemon, but it laughed condescendingly and moved lightly out of reach.

‘How predictable. You little ones have always been so very dull, whichever world you burrow through.’

Qualar Vo raised an arm, and the Chaos warriors came surging back. From the stairs poured a horde of twisted tribesmen, flooding around the circle of duardin, a portion of them running for the door and Grokkenkir’s berzerkers holding it.

‘I loathe dullness,’ said Qualar Vo. ‘My aim is to remove its stain from the world. Dance the bloody dance. Let slip your passions, my children!’

The Chaos warriors attacked, and Ulgathern-Grimnir found himself in the fight of his life. The daemon musk slowed his warriors, but invigorated the enemy. Ulgathern-Grimnir held his breath as he swung his latchkey grandaxe, swatting away the warriors. He was fixed on the daemon, but always it moved away from him, directing its endless swarm of decadent worshippers to attack Ulgathern-Grimnir in its stead. He hewed and hewed until his runes burned so hot they singed his flesh. Even with this magic, however, he tired, and his axe became heavier. He did not relent, ploughing on toward the daemon, but it was hopeless. His warriors fell, but the Chaos ranks did not diminish no matter how many he hacked down, and the daemon would not come within reach.

Nightmare creatures crowded him, their weapons and writhing appendages reaching out to attack.

Ulgathern-Grimnir’s runes fizzled, the magic starting to fade.

‘Ah! Grimnir cannot help you now!’ said the daemon, and it presented its weapons and advanced on him. ‘It is time we danced.’

‘Only now that I am reduced to my mortal strength do you come at me? You are a coward!’

‘What need of honour have I? None. Another tedious mortal conceit. I would enjoy killing you as much whether you were a hero or an old woman.’

Qualar Vo leapt at Ulgathern-Grimnir. It brought two of its three swords down hard. The runefather lifted his axe over his head. It was cripplingly heavy without Grimnir’s magic to sustain him. The swords slammed into the metal haft, driving him to his knees.

‘Pathetic,’ said the daemon. It raised its sword to strike again. ‘Now you die.’