There was a clawing at the dilapidated door. Illo looked up in fear at the rotten slab of wood which stood as their jailor. Amnic was asleep before her, and his heavy breathing was comforting. She knew that she needed to be brave. Her little world had been torn asunder, and she had already shown so much bravery. Yet as wondrous as the little girl was, and as powerful her fate would be, in this moment she was just a little girl in a damp dark room. It was night time now, and the sun had ceased to shine through the roof. The air was anything but clean. Rotten stenches and a smoky haze filled the room and made it unpleasant to breath.
It was so cold in their cell. The floor was nothing more than shredded earth and stone, and lacking the presence of the sun it sapped the heat from their bodies. When Illo slept at night it was at Amnic's side. She had to be careful though. If she pressed too hard into him, he cried out in agony. She felt so bad when that happened, and it made her even more fearful. He was a grown up. Amnic was a friend with her dad, and that made him strong. If he could be hurt so badly… That was scary.
She missed her family and hoped they were okay. She couldn't remember where they were. She remembered before she was captured, and she remembered being dumped out of the Ork's bag and into this cage. But Illo had no recollection of how she ended up here. She knew something was not right. There was no way her father would have let her be taken by the monsters. But she was here, and she wondered what that meant about her father.
The scratching noise grew. A chill went down her spine. What could possibly be at her door she couldn't fathom, but she knew it couldn't be good. A faint glow from under the door shown into the room, probably the illumination from torches. She stared at the glow under the door, and a shadow moved across the light. Illo let out a squeak of fear and scrambled across the room to hide behind Amnic. Peaking over his sleeping form she looked to the source of her fear.
There was a soft rattle against the door as something tried to jostle it. Her heart grew cold with fear. It was the stuff of nightmares. She remembered all of the times she had sat in her room afraid of the dark. Her father would look under her bed, open her closet and boldly proclaim there was no such thing as monsters. She remembered how scared she would be as he approached the closet door. There was an evil beast within, and he was going to let it out! She would beg him not to open it. And he didn't even have his sword! How could he fight the ghoul within her closet? They were going to die. And yet… Each time he would cast the doors open, and be greeted by nothing more than empty space. Slowly Illo began to believe that he was correct. There was no such thing as monsters.
That was dreadfully wrong. She remembered hearing her parents talking about the greenskins. For a good long time they spoke in hushed tones about some creatures in the woods. Everyone in the Krill spoke of these new creatures. Yet they had hunters. Hunters killed the beasts of the woods. Thus the little girl concluded, there was no reason to fear whatever the greenskins were. Hunters killed forest beasts.
Now she sat captured. Her father was wrong. There were such things as monsters, and one was trying to come into her room. A second shadow appeared at the door. She froze as a guttural burst of noise rushed to her ears. A mixture of high-pitched and nasal vowels combined with harsh consonants, the noise was viscous and threatening. There was a pause before the second voice responded, equally as horrible. They seemed to be arguing about something.
Illo let out another fearful squeak at the thing outside began rattling the door. It was more forceful this time. Illo didn't even know what the monsters were, much less why they wanted into her jail. She needed Amnic to wake up. Illo placed her hand onto his shoulder and whispered into his ear.
"Amnic, please wake up", she whispered forcefully. There was no response from the sleeping man. Illo did not know what to do. She hoped the monsters would leave them be. The door was strong enough she supposed. She didn't want to wake Amnic. He was injured. Perhaps she could ignore the creatures at the door. That's what her father would have done. She needed to be brave. Stealing herself against her fear, Illo took a deep breath. She didn't need to be afraid. The monsters at the door would leave them alone. Still she found herself glancing to the door as the shadows moved back and forth. Glancing to the ground Illo picked up a rock the size of her fist.
Ignoring the problem was not making it leave. She tried humming a tune her mother taught her. For a few seconds she was taken out of the moment. A rattle of the wooden frame brought her back to her fears. Glancing over Amnic's sleeping form she gasped as a small set of ghastly fingers reached under the gap. Gnarled and grimy, the hand was almost demonic. In the dark it appeared black as the fingers reached and grabbed for something. Each wiry appendage was tipped with a wicked talon. The voices behind the door chattered into life. They were arguing again. The fingers dug into the soft and rotting wood and carved deep gouges in its surface.
"Amnic, please wake up!" She whispered again, this time more forcefully. Gently she shook his body, trying to wake him without hurting him. He was so heavy to her tiny frame. Looking up again she shrieked in terror as the beastly hand produced a knife and started hacking into the wood.
***111***
Deep in sleep, Amnic dreamed of terrible things. Images flashed through his mind and reality warped and shifted as only a dream can.
He was standing in the dry and dusty ground of the Krill. Feeling the hilt of his sword within his grasp he felt purpose. Around him debris and piles of metal formed a partial circle. Like an arena, the piles forced him into combat. He was ducking a blow. There was nothing before him mere seconds earlier, and now he had been in combat for hours. The Ork was massive, easily 12 feet tall and covered with rusted plates of metal. In each hand it held an Axe. The cutting edge of each was replaced with whirring teeth. Each swing of the mighty axes was preceded by a frightening rev of the blades motor. Amnic ducked again as the massive weapon slammed into the dusty earth. Spinning teeth threw dirt into the air.
Bolo stepped into the arena. Walking to the middle he simply stood motionless. As only a dream can, the fight with the Ork was placed on pause.
"Bolo, Move!" Amnic commanded. The man did not respond. Why wasn't he moving? There were Orks about. He would die just sitting out in the open. "Move you blasted fool!" he yelled again. Looking up Amnic saw the massive Ork charging for Bolo. He ran to intercept the monster. It was the most common of illusions in the dream world. Amnic felt as if he was running in water. He tried desperately to make it, to stop the beast from killing Bolo, but he simply couldn't get to him. He could not make his limbs work. He tried to scream out, to warn Bolo, but no noise come forth. The axe descended onto his form in full fury. Bolos torso was rendered across the dusty ground as sprays of gore stained the earth. Pure and unrelenting horror exploded into his core. Looking to his right Amnic saw the shack. A massive bull Ork rampaged through the building. He heard Lexoa scream in agony as his body was shredded. Trying to move, Amnic was stuck in the syrupy mist. He was helpless as he listened to another friend die.
Tears of acid ran down his cheeks as stung like a steam of angry torch ants. He looked up in time to see the massive axe sing right into his shoulder. Leaning against the axe as if he were trying to shove something with his shoulder, Amnic felt the blade rip into his arm. The pain was unreal as he watched the teeth shred into his shoulder. The Ork pressed as hard as he could, and gallons of gore and flesh exploded out from the flailing teeth. The axe made no headway, and continued to rip chunks form his body without doing damage. Amnic screamed and screamed as he shouldered into the ripping teeth. He blinked and looked up to see that it was no longer the Ork holding the axe. It was himself. He stepped back and saw Mila. She was walking towards the image of him. She dropped to her knees and offered her neck to his blade. Amnic tried to call out, but made no noise as he watched himself drag his sword across her angelic neck.
Amnic slammed awake. Pain ripped into his lower core as Illo smacked his shattered hip.
"Amnic wake up!" she screamed. His eyes snapped open. Looking across the room he heard a flurry of activity. He was slow in processing what he was seeing. Chattering screeching noises littered the room. In the darkness he saw a mass of arms clawing and digging away at the wooden door. There was a space the size of large stone and a myriad of frantic limbs and forms were trying to claw their way through. Flashes of light caught his eye as the shapes moved franticly in front of the hole. It sounded as if there was a host of creatures trying to force their way through the door.
His eye turned to Illo. She was terrified and she looked at him with pleading eyes. He had to protect her. But how could he. His body was ruined, any movement lower than his ribcage left him screaming in agony.
"Get behind me" he yelled as he pulled himself into sitting position. The resulting pain was atrocious, and he screamed in agony. If he was sitting, perhaps he could use his arms to fend them off? What were those things?
The frame creaked and groaned form the pressure of so many gretchin. The horde of beasts slammed against the rotted wood as they franticly clawed into the wood. These were feral and ghastly creatures. Unable to fit in with Ork society, these gretchin were the outcasts of the greenskin lot. Hiding amongst the rubble and chaotic creation of Okish society, these were the gretchin who failed to conform to their place in the hierarchy. Some fell in their role dude to mental handicaps or genetic mishaps, some were on the run after failing a boss, and others were just to bestial-minded to handle proper gretchin society. They survived by scavenging at night and sleeping at day. This lot in particular had not eaten in over a week, and the smell of 'umies had called them in like sharks to blood.
The wooden planks creaked and groaned as the mass of bodies desperately ripped and carved at the door. Crude tools hack the wood; the wretched beasts struggled to break into the room. This was hopeless. When they broke in they would slaughter him and Illo. Panic began to poison his thoughts. He had zero chance. Illo was going to die. Her family was dead. He was her only chance of survival, and he was about to fail the memory of her father Bilko.
A ravenous head poked through the door. Its eyes were wide with frantic hunger. Its face was misshapen and when it made eye contact with Amnic it hissed violently and began to slam its shoulder into the door trying to wedge its way through the hole in the wall.
"Illo", Amnic yelled to the little girl. "Get behind me. Use the rock! Fight them Illo!" The noise grew from the berserk horde of wretched greenskins. There was a loud clanging noise as one of the metal rivets gave way. Crazed shadows danced across the floor as the monster's feet casts evil shadows. Amnic saw a light from behind him and turned to look at Illo. What he saw shocked him.
Her hand was glowing a brilliant golden hue. She walked around his shoulder and stood before his shattered form. She cast a light onto his body, and it filled him with warmth. Wide eyed he looked to her face. Her hair floated through the air as if she was in water. Lights danced from her hand and fell across his arms. He felt sudden contrast of cool air as they danced on his arms. Flickering golden beams began to write on his exposed skin. Words took shape on each arm in golden ink.
Redeem yourself.
He stared at the words in disbelief. He simply could not accept what he was seeing. He looked up to her face. She had a serene look in her eyes. This was clearly not the little girl, but something so much more powerful acting through her. A golden mist came forth from her mark. He felt an unnatural peace as it began to mend his broken bones. He sunk out of conscious thought as the word grew white with light around him. A single note played through the air as Amnic was healed.
The light suddenly extinguished and Illo seemed to wake up. She looked around confused until her vison landed on the swarming mass of Gretchin tearing through the door. Her eyes grew wide as she screamed in terror and ran to Amnic.
Feeling a sudden strength in his limbs, Amnic did not have time to marvel at the sudden change in his body. Bursting with energy, there was a need to move in his core. Were seconds ago he could not breathe without feeling the shredding pain, now he felt limber and explosive. His eyes snapped to the door as the rotten wood gave way with a shuddering rip. A mob of gretchin poured into the room, those in the front fell to the ground and were trampled by the ones pressing in from behind. Amnic snatched a large rock off the barren earth and rolled to his feet. He would not let them touch Illo.
The resulting fight was brutal. Amnic descended into the mass of frantic creatures like an avenging angel. Years of work as a scout grew to fruition as he danced through the small horde. He was like an acrobat, and he did not stop moving. He landed on the first gretchin, and felt the frail body begin to crumple under his weight. It was like landing on loose packed shale and his foot began to slip as his weight crushed the body beneath his tread. He shifted his weight to sail with the precarious footing. Feeling his body begin to fall to the right Amnic tucked his left knee down and across his frame. This caused his hips to pivot and brought the entirety of his body into a spin. His left arm carried the stone and as he pivoted the centrifugal force brought the weight of the stone down onto the next target.
It exploded.
He came to a stop on both legs in a crouch as the beasts turned their attention onto him. Frenzied with hunger they launched themselves at him. The two closest leapt through the air and attempted to latch onto his frame. The found the air empty as he blitzed away and smack into each other. Using his twirling momentum every motion was turned into an attack as Amnic beat the life from his opponents with wide arching blows. Necks snapped, thin carinal walls were crushed, and the frail stunted bodies were wrought asunder from the sheer force of his attacks. He was not magically enhanced; this was merely the result of strength and good old fashioned physics.
The survivors of his lethal dance took off running through the broken door. Coming to a halt he panted as he watched them flee in terror. Even their instinctual drive for food was not enough to motivate the half crazed beasts to stay and fight. Flight took over and soon Amnic and Illo were alone.
"What was that Illo?" he asked quietly. His breaths were long and hard.
"The old man says the emperor protects." Her response was simple and matter of fact. Amnic looked down at her with wonder in his eyes. Could it be true? He had just experienced a miracle. His doubt replaced with awed confusion, Amnic turned and led the little girl out of their ruptured door.