Chapter 1: The Gate of Cinders
It was with a thunderous crash of steel and flesh that the Stormgut Ogors broke the Skavens wavering battleline. Rat-men were crushed by clubs thicker than trees and more where hacked apart by mighty curved blades, twice the height of a man. Broken corpses sailed through the air like a parody of leaves, caught in the vicous hurricane that raged above them to be devoured by amber filled clouds.
Ogors stomped, punched and hacked their way through the breaking horde, determined to reach the screeching Warlord that hid among a knot of elite Stormvermin who were shaking in fear.
The Children of the Horned Rat had grown cocky and had relied far to much upon the battery of Warp Lightning Cannons that Clan Skyre loaned and the narrow valley that lead to the Realmgate they had taken over from the Bloodbound, willingly off course.
The paid for that arrogance with their lives.
Great Ironblaster Cannons destroyed the infernal weapons with horrifying accuracy for such ancient weapons and had the Skaven formed panicked battlelines as Bull and Irongut Ogors surged forward at the growl of their Tyrant.
Golfag Maneater flattend a squealing clanrat with his maul, the creatures scrawny body vanishing under the weapons massive size and becoming a red stain upon the stone. With a snarl he brought his sword into a vicious swipe and decapitated a leaping stormvermin that swung at his exposed neck.
Golfag stamped the corpse into paste before spitting on the remains. The Skaven lines dissolved and the Ogor was given a chance to take in what was happening. He towerd over all, even his fellow Ogors both in height and gut. A great icon of the Maw was upon his back to warn all that the greatest of the Fangs of the Maelstrom had come.
His dark eyes narrowed at what he saw.
"There it is." He rumbled.
Behind the heaving Skaven lines stood a immense archway riddled with whelp scratch markings of the Horned Rat. The Realmgate, known as the Gate of Cinders, lead directly into the Realm of Aqshy and the lands overrun by the minions of Khorne. It was those lands where the Stormguts would find their prey but first they had to deal with this rabble first.
The Gate was silent and Golfag noticed the figure of a Skaven sorceror screeching and chittering at the gate, warpstone tipped staff waving wildly.
Magic was building and the Ogor guessed the vermin's plan instantly. The little cowards were trying to flee.
"No, they are calling their leader." A voice spoke softly yet howled like thunder. Golfag turned and saw his Ironguts part ranks and bow their heads as the Overtyrant passed them to stand at the Maneater's side.
Naruto Uzumaki, the Maelstrom, the Myth, kept his sky blue gaze upon the Realmgate. The Overtyrant of the Stormgut Horde was unlike any ogor for he did not have a large gut nor the knawing hunger that plauged their race. Many had challenged the supposed No-Gut, inteading to make him into a light snack, but ended up devoured instead.
Naruto was not a ogor to be crossed for the Maw snarled words into his dreams and many Butchers had bent the knee to him. Golfag caught the eye of Wazzik, the Stormgut head cook. While not as tall as either Golfag or Naruto, Wazzik was fat even by Butcher standereds. His rippling gut quivered in hunger beneath the fresh Duardin-skinned apron as he nodded in greeting, fat fingers gripping his cleaver tightly. Its blade was stained in fresh blood.
Golfag Maneater was glad he chose to serve the Chosen of the Maw as one of his Fangs for he glanced at the knuckle bones that decorated the tyrant's golden mane. Tugu's bloody bones were easy to spot. The ogor had offered meat to Gorkamorka instead of the Maw during the pre-battle feast.
He was a good main course.
Naruto pointed towards the Realmgate with his scimitar, a crude looking blade named Snarling Hunger, as the fabric between realms opened in a snarl of fire branded curtain of magic.
"Wazzik, be so kind as to clear a path. Golfag, your with me." Were the simple a curt orders. Ogors did not do elaborate plans. Simple and cunning were mostly preffered.
They left pointing at maps to the Aelfs and Humans.
Wazzik warbled in laughter as he began to chant in the ancient tounge, flabby hands lifting and waving to the cloud choked sky. Clouds rumbled in return and something primal turned a small glance towards this battlefield.
As Wazzik worked his magics, Naruto and Golfag lead the Stormguts towards the Skaven as something foul stepped through the gate, casully squishing the sorceror that summoned it.
Naruto snarled in glee as he took in the Verminlord's appearance. It was larger than even some Ogors and clad in thick crimson plates bearing the mark of it's god. Great horns curved upwards and were decorated in various trinkets of no value. In it's paws it held a spear tipped in sharpened warpsteel, oozing foul energy.
Tarnenarx, Whelp of Karmenarx. The Maw snarled into his champion's skull.
The Verminlord was well known in the lands of Ghur for it had haunted the Bone Ash Mountains for thousands of years before Naruto toppled its keep of junk into the Gnashing Sea.
It had escaped that day due to it ripping open reality and unleashing a demon host of Bloodletters onto the Stormguts.
No trick or demon would save it's pelt now.
Tarnenarx chittered and gestured like a king, the noise causing the remaing Skaven to suddenly grow a spine.
Stormvermin formed a phalanx of rusty iron and had even began to chant. Tarmenarx stood behind them, clearly going to alow his minions to take the brunt of the charge. While the Stormvermin were distracted, the Verminlord accidently stepped on the Warlord that lead them. Such a shame hat it sacrificed itself to save mighty Tarmenarx.
In his arrogance however, the Verminlord did not sense the build up of magic before it was too late.
Wazzik gibbered and foam escaped between his gnashing teeth as he unleashed The Maw fed him a mighty spell.
The chanting of the skaven turned to shrieks of horror as the ground suddenly opened beneath them, reavling jagged teeth within a bottomless chasm. The centre of the phalanx suddenly vanished as they fell into the Maw's ever hungry gullet. The ground closed with a spray of gore as the spell ended, leaving a gaping hole in the skaven formation.
Naruto let out a thunderous roar and surged forwards, Golfag and the Stormguts following behind as they smashed into the gap. Skaven squealed as they died in droves, the illusion of courage shattered in a instant. Naruto was a whirlwind of jagged steel and wrath, the skaven being blended into bloody chunks as they tried to escape the Maelstrom among them.
Golfag bellowed orders and soon the Stormguts guts had torn a bloody road into the vermin, alowing Naruto to meet Tarmenarx in battle. The Verminlord raising it's spear to block the downward swipe as fear krept into it's eyes as it reconized the beast that leapt towards it.
It was over in a instant as the Snarling Hunger shivered the deamon's spear into splinters before a second blow sent it's horned head spinning into the hurricane above and vanishing into the clouds. The corpse teetered like a tree before disolving into a foul wisp of green smoke.
Naruto grunted in annoyance.
So much for the Vermin King of Junk Keep.
After the last of the Skaven had been slain, Naruto ordered his army to rest and eat as much as they could before passing through the gate.
"Your sure about this, boss?" Golfag spoke up as they stared at the curtain of magic, a flimsy thing that lead to another world. Naruto chuckled lightly.
"Having doubts, Maneater?"
"Nah, here till the end but some of the lads are uneasy about leaving Goldtooth alone."
Greasus Goldtooth had proclaimed himself Chosen of the Gods after Naruto had vanished after the Battle of Burning Skies, dragging many Ogors into worshipping Gorkamorka instead of the Maw.
Naruto had decimated Goldtooth's empire when he returned to Ghur for this heresy and now Greasus ruled over armies of grots instead of ogors.
"The Fist will keep that tub of lard in check. Besides something is happening in Aqshy and Valkia is at the heart of it all."
Golfag grunted for everyone has heard of Khorne's Bride. The fact she won the mutt's bloodsoaked heart was proof of her prowess in the art of murder. Naruto grumbled in thought before giving his orders.
"Get everyone up and prepare for a fight. Those Bloodbound will dog us every step of the way till we reach our prey's lair."
There was a rumble in the air causing every Ogor to look up in worry as the sky turned black. A storm was brewing and the Maw was rumbling in urgancy. Naruto did not notice as Golfag stomped away bellowing orders and kicking stuffed ogors to their feet. His gaze was fixed fixed fully onto the rumbling clouds. He could vagely hear Wazzik's chanting beyond the Maw's building rage.
Queen of Brass shall tumble and mumble as the Thunder strikes the whispering door.
Wazzik's words that were babbled weeks ago during one of the feasts had come to mind. Valkia must die and soon for something was coming and it awoke with a power he had almost forgotten.
So you are returning Coward of Azyr? Yet will you be friend or foe remains to be seen. Naruto shook away those thoughts and turned his mind to the coming war.
He had a Bride of a God to kill.
XXX
Codex of the Realms: The Maelstrom Maw
The Stormgut Horde is the largest army of Ogors to ever walk the Realms, easily matching the vast armies of the Fist of Gork's Ironjawz. Yet it was a mere fraction of the the Horde that marches against Valkia's forces but this fraction was the strongest and most elite force of Ogors ever seen.
The Maelstrom Maw is formed of ten thousand elite Ironguts and the most skilled Bulls to form Naruto Uzumaki's bodyguard. It was this formations ancestors that fought at the Battle of Burning Skies against the dreaded Varanguard.
While Naruto is the Overtyrant of the Stormgut Horde, he has four Generals known as Fangs to lead the seperate sections of the army. These sections are called Maws.
The Maelstrom Maw is commanded by Golfag Maneater, a legend among Ogors for being the only one to survive sparing with Naruto.
The Maelstrom Maw is joined by a detatchment from the Belching Maw, ten Ironblasters and a Butcher, to assist in taking down any stubborn keep in the way.