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Destiny Calling Part II
Topic Started: 4th September 2006 - 01:37 PM (366 Views)
SneakyRodent
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Claws of the Horned One founder member

The second part of the mini series...

Part I can be found here..

For futher background, read this..



Vexitt the Stormvermin stifled a yawn. The warmth of the tunnel he was stood in was uncomfortable, and he was bored senseless.

This was the duty that all Clan Virulus Stormvermin warriors dreaded. Babysitting. Instead of actually being out there fighting and earning a name for yourself, you were designated to stand guard outside this sealed prison cell, forbidden to enter it yourself and to bar entry to any who may pass unless it happened to be Grey Seer Skritchit himself. And he had not frequented this place for an age.

Vexitt shifted his weight to try and keep his circulation going. He stood one side of the thick wooden door that barred entry to the cell, and his uncommunicative companion, a young Stormvermin named Spirrik stood on the other. For his part, Spirrik was equally unhappy. He felt that the Stormvermin Claw Leader Piksil was waging a vendetta against him – Spirrik had lost count of the number of menial duties he had been assigned to recently. Undoubtedly it was because he was such a talented warrior that Piksil feared that he would shortly match and then excel his commander. Yes. That was surely the reason.

Both rats knew that their watch was not due to end for hours yet. They had relieved the previous guards only a short while ago, and already exhausted the main topic of conversation. This of course was the recall of all Clan Virulus to the Ulricsberg. Why exactly Grey Seer would order the abandonment of the undercity of Black Chasm was anybody’s guess, especially given the ongoing war with the Brass Keep faction. The Claws of the Horned One were fighting a desperate battle for survival but the Seer was keeping his Clan away from the conflict, drawing them into the depths of the Ulricsberg for the Horned One alone knew why. And why were all of Clan Virulus’s holdings in the Ulricsberg being dismantled and readied for moving? Where on earth did Skritchit think he was going to lead them?

Vexitt cursed the fates that had dumped him into this forgotten little corner of the Ulricsberg. Why, he thought, was this prisoner kept apart from all the others? He had been tempted to open the door just for a second, just to steal a quick peek at whoever was in there. But you could never tell when a Shadow creature was lurking, and if Grey Seer Skritchit discovered such an act his life would be instantly (and probably excruciatingly painfully) forfeit.

Unfortunately for Vexitt, the fates had not finished with him yet.

There was the slightest whisper of sound. Vexitt only registered it a fraction before he felt something warm brush against his throat, just above where his armoured breast plate finished. Puzzled, he turned to Spirrik to ask if he had heard the noise. But no words would come. As the other Stormvermin turned to him questioningly Vexitt raised a paw to his neck. It came away bright red. Vexitt’s life blood was spilling down his armour, and his grasping paw pulled free the razor sharp throwing star that had imbedded itself in his throat. The last thing he saw was a shadowy figure detach itself from the tunnel entrance before his life ended.

Spirrik felt his bowels turn to ice as he turned to see Vexitt crumple forward, his paw to his throat. Before the unfortunate guard had hit the floor a black clad rat was leaping out of the entrance to the tunnels beyond, effortlessly hurdling the body of the dead Stormvermin. Spirrik’s mind screamed one word as he fumbled uselessly for his sword.

Eshin!

The assassin was upon him in an instant. A poisoned dagger flashed once, twice and a third time. Within seconds Spirrik’s body twitched on the stone floor, his weapon still in its scabbard.

The assassin paused just for a moment to ensure he had not left any trace of himself at the scene. The job had been all too easy, but he was not going to treat even such a mediocre mission as this without complete professionalism. Satisfied, he disappeared back into the darkness.


*************


Warlock Engineer Tiktak came upon the grisly scene shortly afterwards. Even though he had been expecting something less than pleasant, the sight of the two dead Stormvermin troubled him mightily, and he shivered under his cloak. After all, this was purely down to him alone. But it was way too late to be having second thoughts now.

Hurriedly he tiptoed around the bodies and lifted a large brass key from its hook on the wall. Unlocking the cell door and pulling back two large iron bars that secured the door from the outside, Tiktak took a deep breath and pushed the wooden door. It swung silently inward.

Tiktak tensed, not knowing what to expect. But there was dead silence. No squealing, no sounds of movement…..nothing at all. Just pitch blackness. After a few moments the Warlock Engineer mustered what little courage he had left. Picking up a lantern from the wall he took a deep breath and stepped into the cell.

The smell struck him first, an intense wave of sweat and scent. Tiktak’s whiskers twitched and his head turned to locate the source. He raised the lantern higher, allowing its light to spill onto the form huddled in the furthermost corner of the cell. Tiktak could also see that the few meagre possessions that the prisoner owned were smashed, scattered around the floor. His heart sank. Was he too late? Trembling, he approached the figure. His mouth dry in fright, he squeaked much higher than he would have liked.

‘Silverfur? It’s me-me…..Tiktak. Are you-you alright?’

The haggard face of the ex Clan Hissvin brood wench raised itself slowly to meet his gaze, eyes squinting against the light. ‘Tik……Tiktak? You-you….are here?’ The words came out slowly, as if uttering them was a great effort.

‘Oh Silverfur….’ choked Tiktak as he registered the ruined face and form of the breeder before him. ‘What-what have they done-done to you?’ He stepped forward, wanting nothing more than to hug her close. The smell of her pheromones this close was almost overpowering – despite everything, she was still a brood wench, and Tiktak a very lonely rat.

Her cackle stopped him short. It was the sound no sane rat could ever have made.

‘They-they?’ Silverfur giggled, her voice breaking. ‘They…have done nothing. Nobody has troubled me-me here for months. I-I am a problem best left-left buried it seems. Like-like the other….’ Her voice trailed off and she appeared to lapse into a catatonic state. Tiktak waited for a few moments. ‘The other?’ he ventured at last.

Silverfur suddenly let out a scream of such deafening proportions it knocked Tiktak back in fright. The lantern tumbled from his paw, miraculously failing to shatter as it dropped to the floor. ‘Stop-stop!’ he squealed in panic. If anyone came now they were likely both dead.

Still Silverfur screamed, her voice cracking as if she was enduring an agony beyond any that could be imagined. Tiktak had no choice. He leapt forward, paw clamping over the breeder’s mouth, mechanical arm holding her tightly to him. Her fangs clamped down, blood spurting from the Warlock Engineer’s fingers. Gritting his own teeth despite the agony, Tiktak forced his paw to remain where it was, muffling Silverfur’s desperate cries.

After what seemed an eternity, Silverfur stopped screaming. Tiktak kept his hand clasped about her snout for a while afterwards, just to be sure. He rocked the breeder gently as he despaired. This wench had touched Tiktak so very deeply. A survivor from the deeps of the Ulricsberg just like himself, from a time when the Doom Hemisphere had turned the mountain depths into a twisted and hellish place….after the second Ulricsberg expedition they had brought her out, her mind blasted by what she had seen and experienced in those damned places. Tiktak had felt a connection to her far more than mere reproductive instinct; she was a rat who could understand his own fears, having experienced them herself. He had lost his arm to the Ulricsberg: Silverfur seemed to have paid an even higher price.

He was suddenly aware that she was watching him intently. Slowly he removed his bloodied paw.

‘Ah Tiktak,’ she whispered, and tears welled up in her eyes. ‘I-I am sorry…..so-so sorry. The madness…..it…..it comes and-and goes…..the price for my foolishness, all that-that time ago…’. The tears began falling down her face, and Tiktak dabbed at them with the corner of his cloak. ‘Hush-hush,’ he whispered. ‘I-I am here-here to rescue you.’

Silverfur sobbed once, shaking her head. ‘You-you cannot.’ The words were like a dagger through Tiktak’s heart, but he let her continue.

‘It-it is not you destiny to do so,’ Silverfur went on. ‘I see-see in my dreams what-what your Seer Skritchit plans. He-he believes he-he is fulfilling the wishes of the Horned One, but the….other….is cunning…..it is that which is-is guiding the Seer, despite what-what he might think. You….the Seer…..your entire Clan…..you are all-all heading into a blackness beyond your-your understanding.’

‘Can you-you see the future?’ whispered Tiktak. He had long suspected that whatever it was that Silverfur had done in the Ulricsberg all that time ago, the ability to scry had been a side effect. Silverfur did not answer directly though she gave a humourless smile.

‘Future….past…..ha, the lines are soon-soon to become one-one. But months past I warned of the Seer sat-sat atop a mountain of bones….that vision is one that will come to pass. In fact….it already has.’

Tiktak blinked, trying to sift the meaning from the words. Did she mean the Seer’s Hunger? The process by which Skritchit drew the life force from other Skaven to enhance his own magic, leaving cold husks of rats behind? Certainly Skritchit still killed rats in this manner, but hardly enough to cause a ‘mountain of bones’……just what was Silverfur talking about?

‘I…..I do not-not understand.’ He offered eventually.

‘Nobody does-does’ wailed Silverfur, her voice rising causing Tiktak to panic once more. ‘But-but your fate will be set in stone when-when you next step alongside your Seer. I…..I care for you,’ she whispered, and Tiktak’s heart leapt.

‘Come-come with me,’ said Silverfur softly.

Tiktak closed his eyes tightly. How very much he wanted to. His feelings were like a rock inside his gut. For this breeder he had risked his life, everything. Nothing would make him happier than a life with her, far away from Skritchit, the Ulricsberg, the whole damned UnderEmpire. Which made his next decision indescribably difficult.

‘I-I cannot. If I attempt to escape with you I-I will be missed immediately. They will-will search. The Shadows will come-come. They will certainly catch-catch us both and kill-kill us. I cannot come with you,’ Tiktak’s voice broke. ‘For you to live, I must-must remain.’

Silverfur tensed, then relaxed, saying nothing. Tiktak felt his heart break. He had turned her down, and whether she accepted his reasoning or not, he knew she would never make the offer again.

Tiktak’s despair turned to anger. This was all Skritchit’s fault. And some day, Tiktak was going to be there to make the Seer pay. ‘Come-come on’, he whispered fiercely, tugging Silverfur to her feet. His paw throbbed painfully. ‘We have-have to get you out of here.’ The Engineer took of his cloak and wrapped it around the breeder. ‘Keep the cowl up. Inside the pockets I have put-put a little food and a waterskin. There is also a scratch-scratch map to the nearest exit that is now-now unguarded. You-you will be able to make it easily…’ without me he added in his mind.

His eyes swept around the debris of the cell. ‘Is there anything else you-you wish to take?’

Silverfur’s face looked at his own. She gave him a look of such sadness Tiktak almost changed his mind about going with her. ‘I only have-have one possession left,’ she whispered. Her paws reached around her neck, under the cloak and her tattered robe too. Slowly she withdrew a battered warpstone charm, attached to a thin chain around her neck.

‘Do-do you recall this? I-I lost it in the mountain, and you-you found it for me.’ She smiled at the memory, then held it out to the Warlock Engineer. ‘I-I would like-like you to have it now.’ She dropped in into Tiktak’s bloodied paw, and pressed his fingers closed around it.

‘We-we will not meet again Tiktak. Remember me. I-I will never forget you.’

She pressed herself close to him, whiskers to whiskers, and hugged him. Then without a further word or look behind her she stepped out of the cell, leaving Tiktak alone.

After a moment the Engineer stepped out of the cell too. Silverfur was gone. Tiktak looked down at the charm in his paw through eyes blurred with tears.
Grey Seer Skritchit
Lord of the Ulricsberg
Clan Virulus
Holder of 'Best Post' Award 2007 here
Took part in the glorious Lords of Decay Revolution of April 1st 2012

The complete works of SneakyRodent can be found here

.:WarWolt The Mad Engineer:.
 
Sneaky is Sneaky, why is the sky blue?
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We've got a psychic creeper, a tactical master, and a liar who talked himself out of an execution.

(Scrivener on the Scum And Villainy2 characters of me, DamnedPrince and himself)
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s'nkeep
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Ajax = warpstone juice

its nice to see silverfur again... i like the love story twist at the end :D
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Lord Lughtigern
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The Mad Ratter.

Nice!

It's refreshing to see the human side to the Skaven too, you know?

Keep up the good work!

*this "forced" me to read some of your other works - very good overall :D
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Links you should try out:
Denizens of the Deep - Rules for Underground Campaigns
Warhammer Skirmish - The Lazy Man's Mordheim
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s'nkeep
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Ajax = warpstone juice

ll, if you want to start from the beginning http://underempire.net/index.php?showtopic=6747


:D
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SneakyRodent
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Claws of the Horned One founder member

Thanks for the comments guys! It feels good to be back in the writing groove again.

~looks at the link~ My god, there's a lot of stuff there......and that was just the Ulricsberg stuff.....thanks for that S'nkeep.

@Lord Lughtigern - yep, even rats have feelings too ! :lol:
Grey Seer Skritchit
Lord of the Ulricsberg
Clan Virulus
Holder of 'Best Post' Award 2007 here
Took part in the glorious Lords of Decay Revolution of April 1st 2012

The complete works of SneakyRodent can be found here

.:WarWolt The Mad Engineer:.
 
Sneaky is Sneaky, why is the sky blue?
[/size]
Quote:
 
We've got a psychic creeper, a tactical master, and a liar who talked himself out of an execution.

(Scrivener on the Scum And Villainy2 characters of me, DamnedPrince and himself)
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Thraskittar
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Shatterskar
As always Sneaky, a work of art, don't forget to send in an entry for the BL competition. ;)
W/L/D - Army
13/10/5 - Skaven
0/0/0 - Tzeentch DL
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Bodacious
 
duh
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