Vermin Tide Quest


Chapter 22


As Tamano and Granberia were heading back to the Monster convoy, several banging sounds echoed throughout the forest just as they entered out in front of the army, when a Cerberus yelled out and pointed at the now darkening afternoon sky. As the two Heavenly Knights turned, they saw a red light shoot into the air, a trail of smoke being left behind as it popped, and descended slowly before fading out. When several more of these lights shot up, Tamano felt her heart stop. She realized this had to be some form of communication between the Imperial patrols. As a large smoke cloud also began to rise, someone yelled out in anger.

"That smoke cloud can only come from a forest fire! The Humans must have set the forest ablaze in an attempt to slow us down or split our forces in half!" a Monster yelled in rage. One of the others, an Imp spoke up, flaunting her oversized chest.

"Bah, no matter to us! Let's send some of our mages to-" suddenly a whistling sound was heard, and the closest of her companions turned to see a kunai stab into her head, causing the small demon to fall over with a thud. A war horn of some kind was then blown somewhere, as the convoy was suddenly rushed by a horde of screaming rat men they have only heard rumors and reports of in Sentoria. The Monsters furthest out from the wagons and closest to the ambush points, having somehow been taken off-guard despite their senses, were quickly dog piled on top off, and then torn apart alive and screaming in front of their sisters with rusty and dull blades, or bludgeoned with blunt sticks and stones. Granberia in particular had a moment of terror where she froze in shock at the memories of her legs getting destroyed by the Skaven Wizard, but recomposed herself just as a horde of the obvious cannon fodder charged screaming at her.

Drawing Aries while Tamano ran to the back to help coordinate the confused and overwhelmed Monsters behind her, Granberia sneered in anger as the sword lit alight in flames. She was going to enjoy this just a little too much. As something charged screaming at her, Granberia turned on her foot, spinning and cutting some kind of assassin in half in mid-air, and while turn back performed the Demon Decapitation technique on the front rank of Skaven that got in her range. Before the others had processed the attack, she ran in, and butchered the rest of the rats, cleaving through them by the dozens with each strike. After clearing out the front horde, she noticed she got a bit too far from the convoy, and turned back, when she felt something hit her in the back of the head.

What the... the Dragon thought as she looked down as she slowly turned to see some kind of steel ball that had cracked in two, and looked around to see one of the Skaven assassins, who looked down at the sling he held in his paw, then back at Granberia. When she glared at him, a trail of conspicuous liquid trailed down its legs, and it tried to run, only to be smashed into the rock it tried to hide behind when the far faster Knight of Fire rushed it and clothes-lined it in the neck, breaking the hideous beasts skull in the process. She then turned to the convoy, only to see a large number of the assassins rushing at her. However, unlike the clearly more experienced members, they weren't leaping from tree to tree, waiting for her to drop her guard. Concluding that these were either very cocky recruits to the Skaven assassination organization, or their bottom of the barrel rejects, she drew Aries. "I don't have time for this..." she muttered, before performing the Chaos Death Star technique, turning the entire horde into a red mist as her sword flashed and danced, carving them like tissue paper. When a loud roar was heard, she sighed, only to turn into a fist that punched her in the cheek by a fist made of metal, sending the Knight flying into the first wagon, which carried some of the food the Monsters brought with them in case the initial battle turned into a siege. Shrapnel flew out as a result of wooden crates and the wagon itself being destroyed, injuring mostly nearby Skaven who were surrounding it. Thankfully, the Centaurs who were pulling it and the others were now engaged in the fight, trampling and kicking the filthy beasts.

When she got out of the wreckage of fruit, meat, and vegetable products, she stared to see the Skaven punched her. Specifically one of the big, burly, and brutish ones, but at least double the size of its smaller kin. However, this Skaven was wearing armor and a backpack of some kind, and its arms were replaced with technological ones, along with a considerable amount of its' heavily armored body. On top of it via a small and unstable platform, a similarly armored Skaven laughed audibly, swinging a halberd with a green blade wildly one handled while holding onto the railing with the other, with white fur that grew in patches. Upon noticing green lighting starting to crackle around it and herself, Granberia looked up, and saw a bunch of storm clouds with the strange lighting gathering between them.

"Oh hell no." she muttered, as she jumped out just in time to dodge the attack, knocking over a bunch of the Skaven who had just started to gather around it again. Several bolts of the green lighting then smashed into the wagon, destroying both it and the Skaven around the, along with a Centaur that got to close as she passed by with an ax, ripped in half from where she was hit. Her companion screamed in terror at being covered in blood and viscera, the two apparently intending to help Granberia. "Go! I'll take care of this one!" the Dragon quickly yelled, and turned to see the large Rat Man had leaped at her, intending to smash her with his fists. Granberia blocked the impact with Aries, and the ground practically crater as she felt the sheer energy of the attack break the ground under her.

"YES-YES! KILL-SMASH IT RIKSLY! KILL-KILL FOR YOUR TREAT-REWARD FOR LEADER-MASTER WARPLOCK GRAY-MUZZLE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the Skaven on top laughed madly, not even referring to his kin he just murdered in cold blood. Granberia swallowed down the bile she felt towards it, then felt the weight of the beast putting on her sword lighten a bit. She looked to her left, and made a exclamation of surprise when a hand grabbed her by the cape she wore, and the creature lifted and spun the Dragon Knight by it. It then flung Granberia screaming down the line, where she was suddenly caught and wrapped up in a ball of fluff and fur. At first thinking it was Tamano, she turned to see it was Feria clinging onto her.

"I saw what happened." the Kitsune said, before the two suddenly struck the giant Skaven mutant, and bounced off it to land in front of a group of monsters that were falling back after seeing the beast and how large it was. Upon seeing that they had help now, They rallied behind Granberia and Feria. The Dragon Knight, her cheeks red with embarrassment, turned to the Monsters.

"None of you saw anything!" she yelled.

"WHAT-WHAT WAS THAT DARE-CHANCE STRIKE-HIT THE MIGHT-MIGHTY RAT ORGE RIKSLY!? YOU MUTANT-BREEDER-THINGS CAN NOT HOPE-PRAY TO STAND AGAINST THE SKAVEN MASTER-LEADER RACE! ALL HAIL-PRAISE THE HORNED RAT!" Gray Muzzle shrieked in anger! Glowing as he pulled a lever, causing a large cannon weapon to emerge from the 'Rat Orge' back and charge. As the Monsters were about to panic, the device back fired instead, causing the top-half of Riksly to explode in a shower of blood, gore, and mechanical parts that rained on both Skaven and Monster. Gray Muzzles' back pack and halberd then landed, scraped by the explosion, the arm of the Skaven... whatever still holding onto the weapon. The legs of the Rat Orge, pulsating more of the crimson offal, then fell forwards, crushing a number of the gibbering and terrified Skaven, and Granberia turned to the confused Monsters around her wondering what just happened.

"Don't just stand there! AFTER THEM!" Granberia screamed, as she rushed a Skaven group that was running away into the forest, as the battle turned to their favor. However, almost as soon as they began to rout the Skaven, a bright beam of light shot into the sky, and every Monster felt a presence that made them stop, including Tamano who in the back dressing the wounds of a Alruane that had her left arm pulled off. Tamano of course recognized it as being the presence of Morr, the Imperial God of the Dead. As she began to wonder what he was doing on Hellgondo, her eyes widen at realizing the light beam was being shot into the sky from the Monster Lord Castle.

"No..." she whispered, praying to the Dark Goddess in her heart that her fears were not true as she looked at it. However, she felt the souls of the dead, a brief moment of them being pulled into the Garden the Imperials spoke of when mentioning their God Morr, the collective power of a million souls being reaped by him. Individually, they wouldn't have been sensed, however, due to Erubetie no longer containing them all and thus freed from their prison in one glob of power, the spontaneous wave made it so that she was sure that even Monsters not in Hellgondo could feel them being collected by that unknown God, whose only interaction with her was a judgmental glance into her soul.

A flock of ravens suddenly appeared, flying over head of the convoy and cawing loudly as they flew to the castle as though they were called to it. This made many of the Monsters shiver, as they could observe a number of animals, mostly other bird species moving away from this phenomenon, as the flock of the dark birds instead flew around then into it, which then was cut off as a purple edged hole of some kind appeared in the sky, like a rip in the fabric of reality itself. It hurt just to look at it, and several of the more magically inclined Monsters cried out and ran, claiming that the hole was staring back at them. Others fell into kneeling on their knees, praying as an aura of some kind washed over them to Dark Goddess Alice, frighten by what they felt. As the souls disappeared, Morr then left, unseen and yet felt by the Monsters, making event Tamano felt a sense of dread at what will happened to her own soul if she died, as despite her immortality against aging, she was in the end mortal, and not even she was exempt from the eternal slumber of death that will come for all such creatures. As she realized what this meant, she rushed over to Granberia, who was trembling while holding onto her sword by Aries. She very clearly was disturbed by Morr, and it had clearly dawned on her just how close the God of the Dead had been to taking her to the afterlife upon being captured by Balthasar and his troops. As the Kitsune walked over to Granberia, the Dragon turned to her and noticed her arms were covered in blood and viscera. All around them, the other Monsters were starting to murmur in fear at the aura they felt just now, as this was not something they could place.

"What in the Dark Goddess' name was that?" a Tarantula muttered "It felt so... cold."

"What manner of being is this? It is not a Monster, yet it isn't an Angel, and it's too powerful to be a Human..." a Monster was murmuring as Tamano walked by. The Kitsune kept herself from joining in the whispers of fear and dread that were being passed around, though her mouth screwed up in thought.

"Tamano, what now?" Granberia asked, snapping the fox woman Monster to reality. She saw that the Dragon put her stoic face on, but experience and watching her college grow up was enough for Tamano to know this was a public front to keep the army from collapsing. "Should we continue moving on to the castle, or something else?" Granberia asked. Tamano could sense the looks the two Knights were getting, as several more banging sounds resounded. As they looked around, Tamano spoke up.

"We need to investigate the Skaven presence. Somehow, they managed to enter our domain without Balthasar being aware of them doing so. As they were only seen in Sentora, that means they got here by means other then the Garuda, the only method those that are not of Monster kind should be able to pass the mountains. I'll go and retrieve Alma Elma, as she is the only one who has any information about them. With that out of the way, take care of the wounded and the dead." she said, waving a hand to the Monsters around them in general. Thankfully, due to the hardy constitution of the Monster races, many of the initially overwhelmed Monsters that the Skaven attacked had lived, but as they were rounded up and taken back to camp, it was not without price.

The few actually confirmed dead Monsters were barely recognizable hunks of flesh, with a couple even being stripped to the bone of any meat on their bodies. This made a few monsters visibly shudder and cringe at the sight, and a number of after battle reports also claimed that the Skaven were found dragging away or consuming their dead as well, hence why they only recovered a few of the Rat-Men to study, such as the assassin that tried to kill Granberia with a sling. The Skaven were repulsive to the Monsters that collected them, especially due to their seeming lack of basic hygiene. A number of them were also in various states of some sort of infection with a disease as a result, but this dd not really frighten them overall, as the Monsters were practically immune to any and all diseases, especially the ones that affected Humans.

"Ha, this filthy animals must have lost their immunity to diseases and plagues. However, it it strange they're all males." A Roper said, lifting a Skaven corpse wrapped in green clothing that was frayed and looking like it hadn't been washed in years. She cringed after sniffing it, and tossed it aside. As the Monsters went to take care of their own dead however, a war horn was blown somewhere, and a wave of angry and shrill screams were heard. "What in the hell, a second wave already?! Where did they regroup?!" the Roper yelled out. In response a horde of Skaven ran around the corner, and this time, they were more lightly armed and armored, and driving the same barely clothed raiders that ambushed them ahead of them. Granberia recognized them as the Skaven that were just below the elite, and pulled up Aries to light it on fire.

"Gals, we might have to fall back if these creatures are doing what I think they are doing..." she said. "This is a distraction to surround us. Tamano, can you confirm?" she asked, turning to the Kitsune. After a moment, her eyes widen.

"They are doing just that, and more! We need to fall back now, I just sensed them preparing some sort of machine weapon unit!" she exclaimed. "They feel like what I imagine the Skaven Fire weapon you described would feel. We're too out in the open! I'm recalling Alma Elma, Granberia, can you hold them off and buy the convoy time to fall back to a better position?"

"Way ahead of you!" Granberia yelled, as she stomped back, then launched forwards like a scaly ball of fire as she charged into the horde of Skaven infantry.


**POV SHIFT**


As Victor was getting a drink with Markus, the two examined the pub of the desert city they found themselves in with neutral looks, disguised as bounty hunters who were hunting themselves. As Markus simply politely refused another Mermaids' advances, Kerillian the Way Watcher moved about hidden somewhere in the pubs' rafters. When they found out from Lazarus that there were wanted posters with their names on them as well as drawings that were disturbingly accurate, Victor came up with the outfits as a psychological measure to hide away in plain sight. The Elf was naturally sneaky, and thus was able to come along, while Sienna and Bardin stayed behind due to the fact they were simply unable to hide at all no matter what. The Sigmarite Ulboro was also with them, the Warrior Priest in a generic brown monk tunic, the only possible giveaway would be if someone examined his head. Thankfully, it seemed that nobody seemed to care beyond a quizzical glance at the trio, who sat with naught but mugs of water they drank out of.

When they first entered the establishment, it was done so under the premise they were here for the bounty board. One of the Mermaids offered to give 'special services' as their way of payment for any meal they requested, but with Ulboro there to act as the speaker, payed in copper and silver coins given to them by Illias Kruez to pay for expenses. Sienna and Bardin went with a group of the human activists to find Franz and Olyesa and bring them back from Plansect Forest, but that was shut down when the same Druid from before appeared and dropped them off at the Illias Kruez base. As the three drank from their water, a mermaid shuffled over to them. Victor screwed his mouth tightly, and pretended to fall asleep so she wouldn't see his paranoid eye give them away. Ulboro turned and smiled politely.

("How do you do my lady?") he asked in the native tongue, smiling widely, though inwardly he was chanting to Sigmar for forgiveness of not purging the Monster right there on the spot. The Mermaid blushed at his addressing her, making him intensify his mental chanting with greater fervor, and could feel Victor staring at him with his one remaining eye with with judgmental scrutiny. Kruber simply stared into his cup, likely groaning inwardly at what was happening.

("Uh... wow, I... where did that fourth cup come from? Weren't there three of you?") she asked, as the party saw a fourth cup was set on the table upside down. They all suddenly downed what remain of their water, and left in a hurray, as that was the agreed upon signal that the Way Watcher had found something of interest. The Mermaid watched them leave, confused at the sudden reaction. "Huh... must have been some bounty hunter sign or something." she muttered to herself, not noticing the fourth hooded, tall and slender figure of an Elf that met them at the door of the pub.

As they walked into the open, Kerillian had her hair done so as to obscure her eyesight, and the party of four spoke with each other in whispered tones. "So mayflies, as it stands, I have overheard discussions about a place known as the Witch-Hunt Village. Apparently, it was a place considered paranoid even by those loyal to Illias' standards." Victor scoffed.

"They couldn't stop a lone Norscan of the Great Enemy from walking into their city with the mad man carrying a necklace of skulls and a bloody ax if he drunk off his arse and sick with the Black Plague." the Witch Hunter muttered lowly. As they walked by, Markus seemed to notice something. As the group trained their eyes on it, they noticed a pair of eyes in a metal can of some kind looking at them just ahead of them. Upon realizing the thing was caught, it popped out to reveal it was a Lamia, but it was with the head of a snake and the body of a woman, and posed in front of them in a horrendous fashion. As it shouted, a crowd of people stopped and stared.

("Stop right there scum! I know who-") the Mutant Horror of a Monster was immediately silenced by the intense glares of hate, fury, and contempt all four party members gave her, as they each subltely reached for various hidden weapons in their clothing, specifically showing daggers hidden under their sleeves. ("Uh, my mistake, nothing to see here people.") It then slinked back into the can it lived in, which started to rattle. As they continued on, the conversation was unimpeded.

"What did you hear about this 'Witch-Hunt Village' as this place was called?" Ulboro asked. The Wood-Elf glanced around her, making sure there were no eavesdroppers, then replied.

"Well, apparently there is a purge that has been going on, where the militia there has been taken people off of the streets and accusing them of Witch Craft. However, they are not actually looking for material evidence like Chaos grimores or the like, instead stabbing or cutting them with knives that do not cause them to bleed. What's more, the Lord of the village is rumored to have been a prostitutes' daughter, who was subjected to abuse from the people there. She is a women by the name of Meister Lily, who had became the Lord after the previous man and her family mysteriously died by being... drained by Monsters who never caught. To further add, allegedly, one of the villagers escaped, and has been appealing to anyone willing to listen for help in saving her sister and brother." As the others processed this information, Markus spoke up.

"Well, you know what they say. One plus one equals heresy is afoot." Victor wheezed loudly at the quip. This made his put up a straight face, as well as check his bandana when it made a nearby shop full of people look at him. "Shall we speak to Lazarus about it? This can be a starting point to get Illias Kruez to turn its reputation around." Markus asked, causing the others to go into deep thought about it. By the time they reached the stables, it was agreed upon to do just that...

While on the way to the headquarters on horseback, a bright beam of light shot up around the north, which was to their left as they traveled east. It was a purple light, and as they were overcome by it for but a moment, their hearts stilled, as they realized it was the comforting presence of Morr. Unsure of whether it was a sign from the God, the Human members muttered a quick prayer to him despite knowing he was likely not going to care, while Kerillian just wondered what was going on over there, as she remembered that Hellgondo was further up north. Even so, she was at least slightly comforted that something familiar to her was around, even if that thing was a Human deity she didn't really bother with at all. Though she did wonder if it was an omen that predicted their deaths, or something else.

After about two hours later, the group came across a pyramid. Having heard of Nehekara and the large amounts of Undead that are typically found in such structures, they realized they got turned around and went west. However, a scorpion Monster appeared out of the ground suddenly, and said something as they stopped in shock. When she began to say something, the party of Human and Elf remembered they were not in the city, and thus free to engage, as Victor pulled out one of his pistols at her. When the Scorpions' eyes widen in shock and recognition, her mouth opened up to scream, but the bang from the Witch Hunters' pistol came first, and part of her head was blown off. Leaving the creatures' body there, the group moved on. After a quick break to resupply on water and some food, they continued on, this time heading north-east.

The journey went with silence, until they made it back to the headquarters of Illias Kruez, currently a temporary campsite as they moved to avoid detection. As the group took their mounts to a water trough, Lazarus came over to speak with Ulboro. Ulreik was at the entrance of a tent on a crate, smoking on a pipe similar to Victor Saltzpyres' own, though he was still in his uniform. While the two conversed, Victor sat down next to him on an empty barrel, and pulled out a knife and a wooden block.

"How was the trip?" Ulreik asked nonchalantly as his peer began to whittle. Victor simply grunted in response. "That badly huh?"

"It's not the trip I am angry with." Victor said. Ulreik frowned at the accusation. "We wouldn't have been in this mess if you had taken my warnings of the Skaven starting to move equipment and troops seriously. Ubersreik was exactly the reason we needed to have actual plans in place for Skaven incursions."

"Victor, you're in a land filled with Mutants and Chaos Spawn like abominations of the Slaaneshi variety, and you still insist on hunting the Skaven down at all costs?" Ulreik asked, and then sighed when the other Witch Hunter scowled. "Victor, this obsession was exactly why the of the Order kept refusing to turn down the Conspiracy of Silence. The Skaven-"

"Are what brought us to this hellscape disguised as a paradise to begin with, and last I checked, I didn't get any support from you and the others who also conceded that the Skaven were planning something. Yet despite that, you refuse to take the precautions that could very well have prevented this whole scenario to begin with." Saltzpyre interrupted, his disapproval of Ulreik clear as crystal glass. "And while this world isn't consumed in war and blood like ours is, I will acknowledge that the Monsters are a threat to our species that has to be addressed. Speaking of which, Kerillian found some information that is useful." Victor then repeated what had been shared with Ulreik, examining his work so far. Ulreik listened intently, then placed a hand under his chin.

"So it seems this Witch Hunt Village is starting to suffer a wasteful purge of its inhabitants, and you're considering investigating the Lord that rules over it. Hmph, well, at the very least this Lord needs to be reigned in and replaced, at worst they are an agent of the Monsters, or even Chaos, and must be purged at once." Ulreik concluded. Ulboro came by, and the two Witch Hunters looked at him.

"Lazarus has been at least somewhat aware of what has been going on at Witch Hunt Village, and he has agreed with me that we need to establish a permanent base of operations. Since Illias Kruez has a bad reputation however, he was hesitant about going there in fear of the villagers turning on him and his followers, but after I reminded him of why he founded the organization, he has agreed to take the Lord of Witch Hunt Village down from her seat of power. We will not be doing so today however. We will here wait for the rest of the day and tomorrow for the rest of Illias Kruez to get a chance to return, and one more to prepare to bring her to justice for her betrayal and inexcusable neglect of duty to her people." the Warrior Priest said. Ulreik scoffed at how short a time span it was, as he dragged from his pipe.

"Just how small is this world?" he muttered to himself, then sighing. "Well, at least we'll have something to do, like show those amateurs at this Witch Hunt village something about witch-hunting..."