Blood And Rocks

Chapta 18

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Blood And Rocks

Prologue

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“Mercy please!” Mortel exclaimed, bowing his head and raising his hands as he cowered before Hazug. Behind him two of his concubines held one another tightly and also kept their heads low.

Hazug paused for a moment as he tried to place the voice. He did not know this man’s name but he was certain that he had encountered him before.
”Mortel.” He said, remembering the name of the missing member of the Trader’s Association, “Thayne was wonderin’ where ya got to.” He then adding, sticking to gothic so that there would be no doubt that the man would understand him.

“Yes, yes that’s right.” Mortel replied as he got to his feet, quivering, “I’m Viktor Mortel and I’m a member of the Trader’s Association. These people kidnapped me. They said if I didn’t-“

Mortel’s protests were suddenly cut off as Hazug slammed the butt of his rifle into the man’s face.

“Ya was seen leavin’.” He said, “Now ya is gonna tell me wot ‘appened to da boss wot was in dis tent.” And he waved at the large tent behind him.

“Hazug wot’s ‘appenin’?” Gorgoga called out as he led the remains of his squad towards the Blood Axe.

“Ah, just da ork I needs.” Hazug said with a grin and he looked at Gorgoga’s power claw, “Can ya work dat klaw without da power?”
”I reckon so.” Gorgoga added, “But it aint gonna crush much.”

“It don’t need to.” Hazug said as he looked back at Mortel, “It just needs to apply a bit of pressure where it’s needed, dats all.”

Gorgoga smiled.
”I reckon I know wot ya means.” He said and he strode up to Mortel, “Grab dis git lads. One per arm.” And a pair of his troops rushed forwards to hold the human still.
”No please!” Mortel exclaimed as Gorgoga reached down from behind him and then wrapped his deactivated power claw around the man’s skull. Then as the ork slowly tightened his grip the man screamed out loud.

“Ahh, such agony.” Mayleth said with a sudden release of breath.
”Now where’d ya boss go?” Hazug asked in gothic.

“The woods!” Mortel yelled, “The woods Throne damn it.” And Hazug spun around to look past the large tent to the only part of the woods that the warband had not been able to cover. Cautiously he approached the tree line, holding his rifle at the ready just in case there were any rebels waiting to ambush him. He saw no signs of movement, but where there was a gap in the undergrowth Hazug saw that someone had passed through and broken some of the branches.
”’Ow many?” he asked, looking back at the terrified Mortel, “’Ow many lads does ya boss ‘ave?”

When Hazug finished the question Gorgoga tightened his grip ever so slightly, producing another scream of pain from Mortel.
”Ten I think.” He cried out.

“Don’t think. Be certain.” Hazug replied.

“Yes, its ten, I’m certain of it. Captain Yale, eight of his men and the old man who carves the stones.”

“Old man?” Hazug asked. Ork biology meant that as orks got older they tended to continue growing, getting bigger and stronger with every victory. But Hazug knew that beyond a certain point in humans the opposite was true and eventually they reached a point where they began to waste away becoming slow and frail. The amount of time this took was often many decades, far more than the lifespan of most orks who tended to die violent deaths before reaching an age in double figures with only a handful living to become nobs like Hazug.

“Yes the old man. They call him The Mason, that’s all I know I promise.”
”Gorgoga ya can let ‘im go now.” Hazug said, “But keep an eye on ‘im. Da boss’ll want to deal with ‘im when we gets back.”
”Why aint ay gonna watch ‘im?” Gorgoga asked and Hazug smiled.
”Cause I is takin’ Drazzok and Thuggrim’s mob and we is goin’ ‘untin’.” He replied.

 

Yale was forced to detail two of his men to assist The Mason. Had the old man not been so vital to what remained of the resistance he would have been abandoned, but as it was he was the most vital of them all and so the group could only flee as fast as The Mason could be helped through the woods. Another two men were needed to carry the case that The Mason’s most powerful works were kept in, three stones too important to leave behind. There had been four of them, but now one of them was being carried to where it could be put to use and at the thought of the destruction the stone could cause Yale smiled.

This left just four of his men to watch for the orks, two leading the way while the final pair remained further behind and watching for pursuit.

“How much further?” The Mason asked, gasping for breath.

“We’re less than half way.” Yale replied, “Don’t worry though, there’s a vehicle waiting for us there so you can rest from then on. Even if the orks figure out where we’ve gone they can only follow us on foot. As soon as we reach the vehicle we’re home free.”

 

Hazug led his hunting party through the woods after the escaping humans. He kept one hand tight around Cuddles’ leash to ensure that the squig did not suddenly rush of ahead of him, however even without the trained animal’s keen sense of smell Hazug could have followed the trail left by the humans quite easily. Either they lacked the skill to hide their path or they were devoting so much effort to outrunning his group that they were not bothering to try and cover their trail.

Of course Hazug’s own group was not exactly stealthy in its movement either. Behind him Mayleth and Ratish were quite capable of sneaking about without making too much noise, but behind them came Thuggrim’s madboys and the small mob of orks was making enough noise for a mob four or five times their size. Of course they did not see it that way. One of them had suddenly got the idea that they should attempt to blend into the background if they were to sneak up on the fleeing rebels, a good idea at its heart. But rather than adopt camouflage and keep quiet their definition of blending in was to attempt to impersonate every sound they heard. Badly. Loudly and badly.

“Screech! Screech!”

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

“Crack! Crack!”

“Shuddup ya loonies!  Ouch! Shuddup ya loonies! Ouch!”

This last one had occurred when the noise had reached such a level that Drazzok had switched from merely complaining about it to striking any shouting madboy who came within reach of his staff. Unfortunately it had failed in its aim and the only reason Drazzok himself had quietened down was because Salia and Sophie who were walking alongside him had enough foresight to bring along some food to bribe the weirdboy with. In particular some extremely chewy food that was keeping him focused on something other than his madboy entourage.

There was a sudden sharp ‘Crack!’ and the head of one of the madboys suddenly jerked backwards before he fell, a hole shot right through it.

“Ambush!” Hazug yelled as he suddenly dropped into a crouching position and tried to determine where the shot had come from.
”Well it’s hardly surprising is it?” Sophie commented, her and Salia pressing themselves up against the thick trunk of a nearby tree, “The amount of noise they were making.”

“Never mind dat now.” Hazug replied, “Can anyone see where dey is?”

“I’ll ‘ave a look.” A madboy said and he stood up from where he had taken cover. Almost immediately there was a burst of automatic fire and the ork gave out a yell as he tumbled backwards, clutching at a bullet wound to his shoulder.

“Everyone stay down.” Hazug ordered and then there were more gunshots from the concealed rebels that passed overhead.

“Master, dey’s everywhere.” Ratish said, his keen hearing noticing that the gunfire was coming form more than one location.

“The small beast exaggerates my master.” Mayleth added, “Though there is definitely more than one of the mon keigh out there.”

“Yeah, I knows dat.” Hazug replied. Then he secured Cuddles’ leash to a nearby tree trunk, “Make sure dat ‘e don’t get loose.” Hazug told Salia and Sophie.

“Why? Where are you going?” Salia asked.

Hazug turned to face the direction some of the gunfire was coming from, an elevated position that offered a good view of the route the hunting party had taken.

“I is goin’ over dare to put a stop to dis shootin’.” He said, “I reckon dat dare’s another up by dem bushes with da bright red berries on ‘em.” He then told Mayleth, “Try and get around behind ‘em.” And after that he looked at Thuggrim, “Put dat good eye ya got in.” he said, “I reckon dat dare’s a third one an’ all. If ya spots ‘im just wait until I gives da signal and we’ll take ‘em all down together.”
”What about the rest of us?” Sophie then asked and Hazug grinned.

“Just stay ‘ere and shoot.” He answered, “I don’t needs ya to ‘it anythin’, just make sure dat whoever’s out dare reckons dat we all still waitin’ right ‘ere. Now is dare any questions?”

“Why is da sky blue?” one of the madboys asked.

“What does it mean if me nose bleeds when I picks it?” another then added and Hazug sighed.

“’E meant was dare any questions about wot ‘e just said ya runt brain!” Drazzok snapped and he struck the closest madboy even though he was not one of those who had just spoken.

“Wot did ‘e just say?” another then asked.

“’E said ya stays put and uses dat slugga wot’s got more brains dan ya ‘ave.” Drazzok replied.

Hazug and Mayleth split up, each heading towards one of the locations that they had identified as the source of the gunfire. They did not take direct routes however; instead each of them took a less noticeable path that allowed them to circle around behind their targets while their attention remained focused on the larger and far noisier part of the group. At the same time as this was happening Thuggrim searched the undergrowth for the third gunman that Hazug had warned him about and when his bionic eye picked up the brief muzzle flash of a rifle shot coming from behind some bushes located between the positions of the other two gunmen he realised that he had found him.

“Gotcha.” He said with a grin and he was about to fire when he remembered that Hazug had told him to wait for a signal and his grin turned to a frown as he realised that Hazug had not stated what the signal would be. Thuggrim then shrugged and decided that he would probably know the signal when Hazug gave it.

Hazug meanwhile had made his way around behind his target and had a good view of the man firing down at the rest of the group. Then he looked in the direction Mayleth had gone. Despite her red clothing the eldar woman had been able to conceal herself well and there was no sign of her. Hazug doubted that she would been seen by the rebels however and given her impressive ability to move over even the roughest terrain he guessed that she was already in position. This meant that the only unknown remaining was whether or not Thuggrim had been able to locate the third gunman. Turning his attention back to his own target Hazug could have simply opted to shoot the man in the back, but if he missed then he risked shooting down into his own side, so instead his hand went to his waist and he drew his blade. Then he lifted the weapon over his head and gave a shout as he began to rush forwards.

“Waaargh!”

Startled the man turned and found himself confronted by the charging ork nob. In desperation the man tried to swing his rifle around and shoot Hazug before he got within reach, but Hazug moved too quick and just as the rifle’s muzzle was starting to be aimed at him he kicked the weapon from the man’s grip. The man then dived aside just as Hazug swung his blade downwards and reached for his knife.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Hazug snapped, reaching down and grabbing hold of the man by his ankle and as he pulled the panicking rebel back towards him the human lashed out with his feet in a desperate attempt to get free. Hazug ignored this; the few blows landed on him struck only his arm where they were barely noticeable. Hazug then roared and thrust the point of his blade into the man’s chest whereupon the man went instantly limp. Hazug then squatted down and looked around, hoping for some clue as to ho the others were doing.

Thuggrim had acted the moment he heard Hazug’s war cry, firing a single shot into the undergrowth and being rewarded with the body of a human soldier tumbling out and rolling down the slope towards the orks. The body came to a halt only when it rolled into Fruggit and the madboy looked down at gave a shout.

“Dey is tryin’ to charge us!” he yelled, “Let’s get ‘im!” and the other madboys all promptly bounced on the corpse, battering it with whatever they had to hand or just their feet and fists if they forgot about their weaponry.

Mayleth meanwhile had not only crept close to the human that as her target, she scaled a nearby tree and using the sound of the man’s own gunfire for cover she had then leapt to the tree right beside him and taken up a position right over his head. When Hazug’s cry came she then simply dropped down from the tree to land right in front of him. The man gasped at Mayleth’s sudden appearance and he swung his rifle at her like a club. A crude attack with a crude weapon Mayleth thought to herself as she evaded it, then she jabbed a hand forwards to deliver a blow to the man’s wrist that caused him to drop his rifle. Then, before he could try and either draw his knife or retrieve his rifle she struck again. This time she delivered a blow to his throat that was strong enough to collapse his windpipe. Clutching at his ruined throat the man staggered back, choking. Mayleth grinned as she felt his fear, but knowing that Hazug would want the man dealt with quickly she lifted a foot of the ground and lashed out, her heel smashing into the man’s chest and there was the sound of braking bones as his ribcage collapsed.

While the three gunmen were dying Sophie suddenly spotted movement from the undergrowth away from where any of the three had been and she was surprised to see a fourth armed human emerge as he turned to flee.

“Hazug!” she shouted, aiming her lasgun at the man at the same time, “Look, there’s another one!” and she fired. With her view obstructed by trees and attempting to hit a moving target Sophie’s shots missed the man, instead taking chunks out of a nearby tree. But the easily visible las fire did allow Hazug to get a good look at where she was aiming and he frowned.

“Release Cuddles!” he bellowed and Ratish plucked his dagger from his belt and used it to cut the knot holding the squig to the tree.

Catching the fleeing human’s scent straight away Cuddles ran after him while Hazug waved for the rest of the group to follow. Unlike Hazug and Mayleth’s approach to the men they had just killed this pursuit was not at stealthy as the mix of eldar, greenskins and humans gave chase. The fleeing human turned around briefly, just long enough to fire a burst from his rifle that he hoped would hit Cuddles and deprive the orks of the ability to track him so easily. But the burst went wide, instead triggering small showers of wood chips where the bullets struck the surrounding trees. Worse for the human his failed attempt to kill the squig left him holding an empty weapon and as he turned to run once more he fumbled amongst his equipment for a replacement. This meant that he was not properly concentrating on his surroundings and all of a sudden he tripped over and exposed tree root and he gave out a yell. He was not injured by the fall, being able to reach out with his hand to break his fall properly. But when he looked around to see how close his pursuers now were he saw only the gaping maw of Cuddles as the squig leapt at him. He screamed as Cuddles landed on top of him and bit down on his arm and he attempted in vain to beat off the squig. Unbothered by the blows struck against him Cuddles then moved higher and he plunged his teeth into the neck of the man, his screams suddenly being turned to a gurgling sounds as his throat filled with blood. When Hazug and the others caught up with him, Cuddles was devouring flesh from a corpse.

“Is that the last of them?” Salia asked as she looked about.

“Ya did miss dis one.” Drazzok added.
”Well given dat dare aint no one else shootin’ at us or runnin’ off I reckon we’s got ‘em all.” Hazug replied. Then he noticed something about the group standing around him, “’Ang on a mo.” He said as he realised that the madboy who had taken the hit to his shoulder was not amongst them, “We’s one short. Where’s Grurkun?”

They found Grurkun right back where he had been when he was shot and he saw still slumped on the ground clutching at his injured limb.

“Dem gits got me bad.” He explained, “I can’t get up.”

“Wotcha mean ya can’t get up ya lazy runt brain?” Drazzok demanded.
”Watch.” Grurkun replied and he began to stand up, reaching out an arm to steady himself as he got up. Since his good arm was clutching at the bullet wound in his shoulder this meant that he was attempting to support himself on the injured one and he promptly collapsed once more.

Hazug frowned.
”Pick ‘im up.” He said, looking at Salia and Sophie.

The pair slung their rifles and stepped up to Grurkun. Then each of them picked an arm and lifted the ork back to his feet.

“’E’s ‘ealed!” Thuggrim exclaimed, “Da gits just laid dare ‘ands on ‘im and ‘e got up and walked again.”
”It’s a miracle!” another added, “Gork’n’Mork be praised!”

“Its no such thing!” Drazzok snapped, “Look.” And he prodded Grurkun near to the bullet wound, prompting a brief yelp from the injured madboy, “Ya just needs top walk it off, dat’s all. Which is fortunate cause I reckon dat we aint done chasin’ gits just yet. Is we Hazug?” and he looked towards the Blood Axe.

“Nah, we aint.” Hazug replied, “Dese was just regular lads and we is after dare boss. Dis lot must ‘ave been left behind to try and slow us down.” Then Hazug smiled, “Which means dat we is getting’ close.”

 

 

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