by Warhammer
Another thought passed through his mind. The orcs could win here and their victory would be as bad as that of Chaos. For unless the ancient engines were shut down, the forces unleashed would tear apart Ulthuan and Albion and eventually perhaps the world.
‘What are we going to do?’ Felix said.
‘Guard me,’ said Teclis. ‘I must reach that altar.’
‘Typical of an elf,’ said Gotrek, his tone almost humorous. ‘The world is ending and all he is concerned about is his own safety.’
Still, when the elf moved, the Slayer followed, and Felix went with him.
They battled their way across the chamber, the human warriors forming a tight knot around the elf. They had no idea what he was going to do but they seemed determined to defend him in any case. All around them orc fought with beastman and Chaos warrior.
Felix could see that this worked to their advantage. Only rarely did their foes make anything like a concerted rush towards them. At those times the fighting became hot and deadly and men and women died. Felix ducked the sweep of a Chaos warrior’s blade, lashed out a counter-blow against the cold black metal armour. His sword almost dropped from fingers numbed by the force of impact. The ancient magical blade cut through the enchanted vambrace and bit into the Chaos warrior’s arm. Another stroke took him through the gorget and buried the blade deep in his throat.
Up ahead Gotrek and Teclis fought like daemons, chopping down anything that got in their path. Man or monster, beast or orc, nothing withstood them. The destruction they wrought was immense. They were almost halfway to their goal when it all went horribly wrong.
Teclis knew it was only a matter of time before the Chaos sorcerers spotted him. His spells had prevented them from being detected by wards as they had moved through the pyramid, but they would be visible to magesight now. One of the twins was busy, trying to control the immense flow of power through the master altar. The other appeared to be feeding him strength while at the same time guiding the forces of Chaos. Teclis could sense the summons going out to every part of the pyramid. He did not need to understand the language to know that it was urging them to return to this chamber by the swiftest route possible.
Once the spell was complete the black-clad albino opened his eyes and gazed around. Their eyes met. Teclis felt the spark of recognition pass between them. Each knew the other for what they were immediately – a master sorcerer. The Chaos mage smiled evilly and bellowed something in an ancient half-recognisable tongue. Teclis ducked the sweep of an orcish blade, frantically trying to make out what his foe had shouted through the din of battle. He felt certain it was not a spell. The next thing he chanted was though – a moment later an enormous arc of power smashed outwards towards him and the Slayer. Desperately Teclis prepared a counter-spell. Even as he did so a monstrous shadow passed over the elf.
Felix looked up. His gaze travelled up enormous columnar legs, along a mighty misshapen body and came to rest once more on that hideous gigantic face. Everyone around him stood as if paralysed. He did not blame them. The sheer ferocity of the giant’s howl was enough to unman most people. For a moment, all was silent. All around them, nothing seemed to move.
Felix was not sure whether this was really the case or if it was an illusion. Often in the past, in moments of crisis, things had seemed to freeze or move with extreme slowness. Perhaps this was one of them.
A moment later he was certain of it. The huge monster raised its club and brought it down in a sweeping arc, designed to reduce the elf to bloody sludge. Felix’s thoughts raced as he tried to work out what to do. Nothing came. He could not block the blow. He began to move forward, thinking perhaps that he could push the elf to one side, then he noticed that with painful slowness the Slayer appeared to be doing exactly that.
One of Gotrek’s ham-sized hands thrust the elf out of harm’s way, then the Slayer bounded aside himself. Such was the force of the Slayer’s blow that the elf was hurled from his feet and sent rolling away. Felix suspected that the dwarf had most likely enjoyed doing that. A heartbeat later there was a thunder-crack as the club connected with stone. The impact hurled chips of gravel everywhere. One caught Felix on the face, gashing a bloody weal across his cheek.
Undaunted by the enormous size of his foe, Gotrek bounded forward. His axe smashed into the giant’s ankle. Blood flowed from an enormous cut. The dwarf’s mad laughter rang out as he hacked once more. The runes on his axe glowed ever brighter as it bit into the giant’s Chaos-tainted flesh. Was it possible that he might succeed in bringing down even this titanic beast, Felix wondered?
Behind the giant, he noticed the Chaos mage launch another spell. Felix knew it boded nothing good. He glanced at Teclis to see if the elf mage was doing anything but he was still flipping himself to his feet. A second later a sphere of glowing red left the mage’s hand and, rotating as it came, flickered towards the Slayer, leaving a glowing blood-red contrail in its wake.
Gotrek did not hesitate. His axe flashed upwards to intercept it, and this proved to be his undoing. The moment the sphere touched the axe, it disintegrated in an enormous flash of light. A second later the Slayer reeled backwards, moving awkwardly, obviously blinded. The Chaos mage bellowed something again, in some obscure language.
The giant gave an idiot giggle, bent down and grabbed Gotrek in one enormous hand. Felix momentarily expected to see the fist close and reduce the dwarf to a bloody mess and now he was too far away to do anything to help the Slayer.
Teclis pulled himself to his feet. His ribs were sore from the blow the Slayer had landed when pushing him out of the giant’s way. He did not know whether to be grateful or enraged. It felt as if some of his ribs were broken. Not only that, his pride was hurt. He would not have believed it possible for anyone to landed a blow on him unawares, and yet the Slayer had. It said much for the dwarf’s prowess. The thoughts flickered through his mind as he pulled himself clear of the struggle between dwarf and giant. He felt fairly sure that this time even Gotrek Gurnisson had bitten off more than he could chew. Regrettably, Teclis was in no position to help him. He had another, even larger problem – how to overcome the Chaos sorcerers and close the Paths of the Old Ones before the tide of Chaos overran this temple, and undermined the whole geo-mystical pattern of the Old Ones’ work, sinking Ulthuan and ravaging the lands of men.
At the moment, the roaring giant cut them off from his sight. He bounded off to the right, chopping down a beastman who came too close, parrying a blow from a goblin spear as it rose to impale him. Murdo was at his back, his spear flashing. The elf had no time to be grateful.
‘You must stop them!’ the old man bellowed. Teclis did not reply to this redundant statement. He was too busy concentrating on how to do it. Seeing himself ignored, the old man muttered a prayer. Runes burned along the length of his spear and he cast it directly at the black-robed mage. It flew with incredible speed, like a thunderbolt, so swift that even Teclis’s sight could barely follow it. He was surprised when it was only partially deflected by the mage’s protective spells, slashing his side like a sword-blow. Even more impressively, the spear swerved in flight and began to return to the old man’s hand. It seemed that the magic of men was still capable of surprising him.
The Chaos sorcerer was not best pleased. He gestured, and a polychromatic sphere of light flickered around his hand. He gestured again and a geyser of the raw stuff of Chaos appeared – hurtling towards Murdo. The Truthsayer sprang to one side. The stuff hit two of the men behind him and they fell apart as if hosed down with acid.
A bellow of pain somewhere to the left and behind them told Teclis that against all odds Gotrek Gurnisson appeared to be alive and keeping the giant occupied. Knowing that the dwarf could not last much longer Teclis decided he’d better make his move while the monster was still distracted.
Gathering all his strength, he prepared to act.
Somehow, sinews bulging, Gotrek resisted that enormous force. His axe arm was outside the giant’s grip and still flailed aw
ay, drawing blood with every swipe. The giant raised him to the level of its mouth. Felix watched, horrified, knowing what was coming next. The creature’s mouth was so huge it could take the Slayer in one bite.
At the last second, just before his struggling form was stuffed into the thing’s mouth, Gotrek shook his head and appeared to regain his sight. His situation was awful. Even if he freed himself, he could do nothing except fall to his death on the hard stone below. As if realising this, the dwarf bellowed defiance and chopped down with his axe, slicing through the giant’s fingers. The giant’s grip came free and Gotrek leapt forward, pushing himself off the giant’s palm with his feet, burying his blade right into the middle of the giant’s enormous forehead. Magrig let out a bellow of pain that almost burst Felix’s eardrums.
Hanging from his axe like a climber using a pick to hold onto the face of a mountain, Gotrek reached over and stuck his hand into the giant’s plate-sized eye. Felix winced as he reached under the lid and tugged the remaining eyeball free of the socket. The giant spasmed and tried to swat at the dwarf. Gotrek tugged his axe free and let himself drop, still clutching at the ball of jelly that had once been an eye. Felix thought he would drop to his doom, but was surprised to see a cable of veinous substance come loose behind the eye. It occurred to him that the Slayer was swinging from what remained of the giant’s optic nerve. The giant’s blow slapped into its own head with enormous force. It had dropped its club now as it howled and raged in its agony. It stopped and shook its head as if that would somehow get rid of the pain. Of course, it only increased it.
Gotrek swung backwards and forwards like the pendulum on a clock, dropping ever lower as the giant bent double. Blood and brain fluid were starting to leak through the enormous wound on the giant’s forehead. At the lowest point of his orbit, Gotrek reached up and slashed the nerve with his axe, falling the last dozen feet to the ground and rebounding to his feet. He was an awful sight, covered in gore, blood leaking from the corners of his own mouth, but still he refused to slow down. He lashed out with his axe once again, catching the giant behind the ankle, cutting a tendon the size of a ship’s cable. The giant teetered on its feet, unable to see or control one of its legs. Slowly, like a huge tree falling in the forest, it began to topple. Felix was already moving, throwing himself clear of the monster as it collapsed. Many of the orcs and goblins were not so lucky. They fell crushed beneath its huge weight, never to rise again.
Still, the giant was not finished. With an awful vitality it rolled and flailed at anything around it. Perhaps it could still hear movements, perhaps it was merely lashing out at random. Felix did not wait around to conclude his investigation at close range. He backed away swiftly. Gotrek did not. Moving with startling speed considering his wounds, he raced in closer, under the arm of the flailing giant.
Felix paused in his flight to watch what happened next. The Slayer struck twice. One blow opened the giant’s windpipe, the other its jugular vein. A torrent of red flowed forth, billowing upwards like a geyser. At the same time a hideous gurgling rasping sounded, as the giant tried to fill its lungs, while air wheezed out through the incision the Slayer had left. Had that been deliberate, Felix wondered, an act of malicious cruelty, or had the Slayer merely missed his first stroke? He doubted he would ever find out.
Even as the Slayer jogged clear, the giant lashed out frantically, desperate to avenge itself on its tormentor. One of its massive arms caught the Slayer a glancing blow and sent him hurtling across the room as if launched by a giant catapult. The last Felix saw of his semiconscious form was as it descended into a horde of screaming goblins who let up a horrible shriek of triumph, and turned to tear their prey to pieces.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Teclis invoked the spell of levitation and marched upwards into the air, determined to put himself above the melee. At the same time he invoked multiple overlapping shields, reinforcing those created by his charms and amulets. A brilliant golden sphere surrounded him. The din of battle decreased as the warding spells blocked it out. Even so, the giant’s screech of pain was almost deafening, as was the thunderous crash at it fell to the ground. What was going on, he wondered, unwilling to take his eyes off the Chaos mages? Surely the Slayer could not have killed the giant? It was a feat that beggared belief.
Naturally a golden glowing figure hovering over the battle chamber attracted the attention of other foes. In a sense he had made himself a very attractive target. Spears and rocks rose to greet him and angled away, repelled by the power of his wards.
A smile twisted the face of the black-robed Chaos mage. Teclis noted that the wound along his flank was already sealing itself, as powerful regenerative magic went to work. He had expected something similar. This pair would have all manner of devious protections. Now was the time to start testing them.
Teclis gestured and invoked the name of Lileath. Power sang in his veins as he forged a spell of awesome power. Spheres of destructive energy danced on his fingertips and left comet contrails in the air as he directed them towards his foe. The Chaos mage raised his staff in a barring gesture and a barrier of pure power shimmered into being in the air between them. The golden spheres hit it and exploded, sending shock waves rippling outwards from the point of impact. The force of the blast sent men, mutants and orcs to their knees. It caused the outer layer of his wards to flare into incandescent brightness as it neutralised them.
His opponent was both swift and skilled, that much was clear, but his speed was no match for an elf’s. Even as his foe began to shape an offensive spell, Teclis unleashed another attack. Wave after wave of destructive energy rippled out from him, a torrent of power that could have reduced a castle wall to so much slag.
A black aura sprang into being around the Chaos mage as his own talismans and wards sought to protect him. They blazed ever brighter as he strove to neutralise the ever-increasing amount of energy the elf mage brought to bear. More than that, they had bought Kelmain time enough to abort his offensive spell and begin to invoke protections of his own. Teclis gritted his teeth and threw ever greater amounts of power at him, confident that eventually he would be victorious.
At that point, he sensed a bolt of colossal energy scything towards him from the direction of the altar. It was too late for him to do anything but pray that his wards would hold. It seemed that the other Chaos mage had decided to abandon trying to control the portals and entered the fray.
Inside the central chamber Felix saw all was chaos and carnage. Towering, grotesque shadows danced everywhere as the mages fought like angry gods overhead. The gore spattered giant, blinded, throat cut, hamstrung, raised its hands and tried to staunch the flow of gore from its neck. All around goblins, orcs and beastmen filled with bloodlust pranced and shouted and stabbed, like daemons tormenting a fallen deity in some nether hell. Unable to endure the torments, the giant lashed out with its fists, crushing a few of its tormentors, sending the rest shrieking away. It ended up sprawling in a spreading pool of its own blood. A few of the beastmen, too berserk to retreat, were crushed as it thrashed about.
Briefly, Felix lost sight of the Slayer as he sought to avoid joining them. Out of the gloom emerged a few of the men of Albion and the last of the maiden-guard, led by Siobhain. Murdo was with them too, a strange glow surrounding his spear, and black corrupt-looking mist evaporating from its point as if he had stabbed some evil thing with acidic blood.
‘By the light, it does my heart good to see you yet live, Felix Jaeger,’ said the old man. ‘We shall make a last stand here worthy of the heroes of old. We must slay those foul wizards or die in the attempt.’
The others brandished their weapons and formed up around them. Felix was less interested in heroic last stands than he was in finding Gotrek. He knew that with the Slayer down, his chances of escape from this hellhole were exactly nil. And he was not at all sure that a last-ditch attempt to kill the wizards would do any good. With the sorcerers defeated, the forces they had unleashed here could raven out of c
ontrol. Still, that was what Teclis was here for, he supposed.
‘We must find the Slayer,’ he bellowed. Seeing the looks of the men of Albion, he added, ‘his axe can slay those spellcasters.’
At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the goblins. They seemed to be swarming over something. Not waiting to see if the others followed, Felix charged towards them. A dozen strides and he bowled over the first of the little greenskins and skewered another on his sword. Two swift strokes beheaded another pair. Noticing their new attacker, they turned to face him. Momentum carried Felix forward over another goblin. He lashed out with his boot and sent a greenskin flying like a kicked cat and stabbed another through the chest. Taking his sword in both hands he hewed like a woodcutter at those in front of him and found himself face to face with Gotrek.
The Slayer looked done in. He bled from a dozen small wounds, he leaned on the shaft of his axe for support, and the corpse of a goblin dangled from his fist, hanging there like a rabbit with a broken neck. Others lay trampled underfoot.
Gotrek gave him a dazed uncomprehending glance, which was hardly surprising considering the amount of punishment he had taken.
‘You,’ he said. ‘You have come to record my doom, then.’
‘Some doom,’ said Felix, hoping to snap the Slayer from his trance. ‘Overwhelmed by a horde of snotlings.’
‘These are not snotlings, manling. They are too big.’
Murdo arrived beside him.
‘You have healing magic – do something!’ Felix snapped.
Murdo nodded and gestured to the others. They formed a circle around him and the Slayer. The old man began to chant. Felix hoped the spell would work, for the way things were going, they desperately needed the Slayer’s axe.
