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Chapta 15 | |
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Da Raiders From Da Shadows Chapta 15 |
Gorgoga Ironface had made a building available to Hazug and his warband for the night for only a couple of teeth. Two Heads as part of the deal to secure parts for the rhino and the services of the local painboy for his troops had negotiated the price. Given that this was a mining settlement there was an ample supply of spare limbs scavenged from orks killed in cave in and then stored. Now the ork that Drazzok had hacked an arm from was poking at the ring of staples that were holding his new one on until it healed properly. “Bah!” Thuggrim exclaimed as he passed the baby back to Sophie, “I’ll out stare one of ya git runts eventually. Ya see if I doesn’t.” “Thanks for holding him Thuggrim.” Sophie said, returning the baby to its basket, “I think he likes you.” Thuggrim frowned. “What’s that sound?” Sophie asked. “Wot sound?” Thuggrim asked. “Listen.” Sophie replied and she went to the nearby window and opened it, “Someone’s screaming.” “Just a grot.”
Thuggrim said, “Grot’s scream lots. Watch” and he kicked the sleeping
Ratish. “I did not!” Sophie protested, “And it doesn’t sound like that. It sounds more like when that eldar woman spoke. Before it was translated.” “Perhaps it ‘ungry.” Drazzok suggested. Though it was risky having the weirdboy sleep in the same building as the rest or the warband he had refused to stay outside and threatened to set fire to any wagon he was made to sleep in, “Dat git runt thing-“ “Baby.” Sophie corrected him before dodging the slap aimed at her from Drazzok. “Dat runt screams when its ‘ungry.” He finished. Hazug yawned. Then he rummaged through his belt pouches until he found the eldar translation device. “’Ere ya go.” He said, tossing the device to Sophie, “Go find out wot she wants. Take some stew with ya and feed ‘er if ya needs to.” “Is it safe?” Sophie asked. “Dare’s two of Two Heads lads out dare an’ all.” Hazug said, “Should be safe enough.” “If there’s two guards out there, then why haven’ they shut the eldar up?” Sophie asked. Hazug sat up
straight and stared at Drazzok who stared back. Then Hazug picked up his
rifle. “Wot?” both of
Two Heads replied. The warband burst from the building without any attempt at stealth. Instead they just charged through the settlement towards their vehicles. The noise this created did not go unnoticed by the local orks and when they saw the warband rushing past many of them grabbed what weapons they could and followed on behind. By the time the warband got to their parked vehicles almost an hundred orks were following Hazug. “Over ‘ere!” Hazug shouted when he spotted the bodies of the two Evil Suns that were supposed to be guarding the vehicles. “Ya killed ‘em! One of the other Evil Suns yelled at the first local he could grab hold of, “Tryin’ to nock our wagons was ya? Bunch of Death Skulls ya is!” The local ork responded by throwing a punch at the offending Evil Sun and knocked him to the ground. The rest of Two Heads mob immediately took aim into the crowd of locals who promptly pointed their own weapons back at them. “Stop!” Hazug yelled, “Wasn’t no greenskin did dis.” He finished. “’Ow d’ya know dat?” one of Two Heads asked. “Cause dey still ‘as all dare teeth.” Hazug replied, “Even grots know to pull ‘em out of a body.” “Den who?” the other one of Two Heads asked. “Wot about ya git?” a local suggested. “She was with us.” Drazzok answered. This satisfied the crowd, though they had little contact with humans in this place and did not regard them as truly civilised, the fact that a Snake Bite had just stuck up for one was good enough for them. “Give us some light over ‘ere.” Hazug said and Ratish came forwards with a torch, “Look at dis wound ‘ere.” Hazug went on, pointing at the hole in the back of one of the dead ork’s heads. The light from the torch revealed a dark green stain mixed in with the blood, “Drazzok, wot d’ya reckon?” The weirdboy crouched down and leant in close to the wound. He sniffed and then wiped his finger over the hole and sniffed it. “Poison.” He said as he wiped his finger clean on a nearby ork’s jacket, “Like wot da pansies is usin’.” All eyes then turned towards Mayleth, still standing immobile in the cage. Hazug advanced
on her. Sophie took the translator that Hazug offered and reached through the bars of the cage. Mayleth snapped at her, aiming to bite her fingers. As Sophie drew back Hazug roared and slammed a hand against the cage, startling Mayleth. “Ratish,” he said, “give us ya dagger.” “Yes master.” Ratish replied and he held out his tiny knife for Hazug. The ork took the blade and gripping it his too large hands he slowly pushed the blade between the bars of the cage in front of Mayleth’s face. The dark eldar drew her head back as far as the cage would allow as the tip of the knife came close to her eye. That was when Hazug stopped. “Try again Sophie.” He said, holding the knife in place. If Mayleth chose to react the same way again then it would cost her an eye. Sophie strapped the device around Mayleth’s neck and inserted the earpiece before standing back. “Dare we go. Was dat really so ‘ard?” Hazug asked as he withdrew to knife and threw it to the ground in front of Ratish, “now start talkin’. Wot ‘appened ‘ere?” “You’ll get nothing form me!” Mayleth snapped, “You’ll suffer for holding me. All of you.” “Now dat aint nice is it?” Hazug said. “Nah it aint.” One of Two Heads said, “D’ya reckon dat dares any jumpin’ squigs around ‘ere? We could ‘ang ‘er over a pit of ‘em and see if she changes ‘er mind.” “See?” Hazug said to Mayleth, “If ya don’t talk to me den me mates’ll ‘ave to try instead.” “I said you’ll get nothing!” Mayleth replied. “Wot’s goin’ on ‘er den!” a voice bellowed before Hazug could try asking Mayleth anything again and through the crowd Gorgoga Ironface pushed his way to the front and saw the two dead orks, “Wot’s up with ya lads?” he asked. “Dey is dead.” One of Two Heads replied before the other one said, “Looks like a pansy killed ‘em.” “Ya didn’t lock ‘er up very well den did ya?” Gorgoga said. “Wasn’t dis one.” Hazug replied, “She was still in ‘ere when we came along. So either we chased off whoever did kill da lads or dey left ‘er in dare deliberately. So which is it?” he asked Mayleth. The dark eldar wych remained silent. Hazug stared deep into her eyes and he noticed a sudden flicker as she glanced to one side. Hazug looked around quickly and saw the shape of another dark eldar dressed similarly to the one imprisoned beside him crouched on top of Two Heads’ battlewagon. “Up dare!” Hazug shouted and he raised his rifle. The crowd of orks spun around to look up at Lyanil, but before even Hazug could open fire she leapt from the vehicle’s roof. Hazug’s burst went wide, as did the rapidly aimed swings of swords and axes as Lyanil literally leapt from one ork’s head to another and danced across the crowd with her feet even once touching the ground. “Grab ‘er someone!” Gorgoga ordered as he activated his powerclaw. A pair of orks lifted one of their fellows up onto their shoulders as Lyanil approached them, but the succubus just lashed out with a blade and slit his throat. Dropping their dying comrade, the other two orks instead reached up to grab her themselves, but a swift kick and a gunshot sent both of them sprawling to the ground. Clearing the crowd, Lyanil vaulted over the rhino and onto the roof of a nearby single storey building before disappearing from sight. “Get dat pansy!” Gorgoga ordered, “Three teeth to da lad wot brings me ‘er ‘ead!” With such an inducement almost the entire crowd, including many of Two Heads own troops surged forwards and began to run through the darkened settlement, looking for the fleeing succubus. “’Ow many?” Hazug yelled at Mayleth and he hit the side of her cage again. “Release me.” Mayleth said, “Release me and I will help you kill her.” “So just one den.” Hazug said, smiling and Mayleth scowled as she realised that the ork had outwitted her easily. “Keep watchin’ everyone.” Hazug said to the few orks remaining near the vehicles and he braced his rifle in his shoulder. “Why aint we runnin’ after ‘er?” Mek Batrug asked. “Cause I know she’s comin’ back.” Hazug replied. “’Ow?” Drazzok
then asked. Lyanil found evading the orks to be no challenge. She simply stopped leaping from roof to roof and lay down on top of one of the crude buildings instead. Then she watched as the crowd surged all around her and moved on, convinced that she was further ahead. She used her vantage point to search the passing crowd for her target, a large ork wearing patterned clothing similar to that worn by primitive human warriors. She had seen it by Mayleth’s cage, but there had been too many others nearby for her to risk taking what it had stolen at that time. Now though the vast majority of the orks had spread out to search for her. Lyanil reasoned that the ork she sought had remained close to its prisoner and when the crowd had passed her by she got up slowly, leapt down form the roof and began to make her way back towards Mayleth in her cage. From the shadow of a nearby building Lyanil smiled as she saw the cluster of orks beside Mayleth included the one she was hunting. She also realised that they had no idea she was there. Lyanil kept low and crept closer, sticking to the darkness beyond the area illuminated by the crude burning torches carried by the greenskins. With her superior night vision Mayleth could see what Hazug could not, the unmistakable shape of the succubus that had abandoned her here moving into a position from which she could strike. Mayleth watched as Lyanil drew closer. All she had to do was wait for the succubus to dispatch the orks and release her. But of course she had already stated her intention of leaving Mayleth to the orks even if she recovered the webway portal from them “Lyanil the
beasts are near!” Mayleth cried out, staring straight at the succubus. Her
words translated by the device around her neck, the orks understood every
word she shouted and when Hazug looked towards Mayleth eh saw exactly
where she was looking. Joined by the other orks, the flashes of gunfire lit up the shadows that Lyanil had been relying on to conceal her. But she reacted quickly and before the first bullet from Hazug’s burst had cleared the barrel she was already clambering up onto the rooftop beside her. Once more she leapt from roof to roof, always keeping ahead of the orks’ gunfire as she looked for a way to get closer to Hazug. When she found herself back near to where the vehicles were parked she leapt onto the nearest one, the battlewagon and form there ran along it length and sprang into the air while the orks below were still trying to figure out where she had gone. She extended her blade, seeking to drive it through Hazug’s skull as she landed when suddenly something got in her way. |
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