Many years ago. In the same dressing room where Imisha fought and bled.
Ginad was the man. The best. The alpha male. A grander, finer, more refined man had never walked upon the surface of this planet. At least so he told himself.
This brothel was his castle and he was the king. Everyone else were his servants. When he had a bad day he could beat them. When he was happy he could make fun of them. And when he was horny he could fuck them. Their sole purpose in life was to please him.
That made him all the more angry when they didn't understand that. Lately he had had nothing but trouble. People has started to resist his rule. His hard earned money had been disappearing without trace. But what was worse was that his harlots, the source of his wealth, had also started to disappear.
All of this was making Ginad very cranky. But as luck would have it he had someone to take it out on. He had completely trashed the room around him. Now he wanted to hurt something that lived. Raising his leather belt again he whipped it down with all the force he could muster. It shredded the thin dress of it's intended target, raising red welts on the tender flesh beneath. The whore whimpered and whined. But still she resisted.
"I won't do it! I won't!"
"You will! Or I will cut that thing out of you with my own knife! You hear me, you little shit stain!"
"You wouldn't! I think...I think it's yours..."
"I would. I don't care."
There was stunned silence. When Getrude spoke again she was close to hysteria.
"I'll leave you! Leave this hellhole! I'll..."
"And do what?" Ginad laughed straight in her face.
"You are nothing without me. Nothing! A broken knocked up, used up whore." He spat in her face and was pleased to see her repulse in fear. "You won't last a day out there. I will make sure no one will take you in. So if you want to die, be my guest. Walk out that door!" He rose and elegantly gestured towards the door. Getrude sat still. Sobbing and resigned. Ginad knew he had won. The room went dead quiet.
"Just do as I say and it will all be fine. Ok?" His voice was sickeningly sweet. Getrude nodded numbly.
"That's my girl. I'll leave you here to think it through." Ginad stood up and started walking towards the door. As he reached it he picked up a key.
"Oh, and just because you talked back to me: No food for you today."
"No, please.." she started. But Ginad raised his belt again and she fell silent.
The door slammed shut, locking the lone whore in the small dressing room. She could hear Ginad strolling away down the halls, whistling merrily. Left behind, in almost complete darkness was Gertrud. Her story was a common one. A refugee from a galaxy ablaze with war, seeking any way she could to survive from day to day. It had been both her blessing and her curse that she had once been vibrant, young and beautiful. Once that was. Now the colors in her eyes were washed out, her face was lined and the years were starting to add up. In her case there was no hope for a brighter future. She would live out the rest of her days on this dump and then die, alone and forgotten. These were the thoughts that kept her company as the hours dragged on.
Then, all of a sudden through the darkness she could hear muted voices on the other side of the door. Someone was fumbling with the door with what sounded like a lockpick.
"We should not beez here. Yer get in trouble again" Getrude recognized the voice of the old ork janitor. What was he doing here? She sat still as a mouse, not daring to breathe.
"When have I ever gotten into trouble?" said another high pitched innocent voice in response.
"I won't dignifies datz with an answer. But yer can't just run aroundz rescuing everyonez. He already suspects yer!"
"Bah! Don't be such a baby. He's a human, thus an dimwitted idiot. I'm an Eldar, thus a brilliant genius! Easy as that! Now be quiet, keep watch and let me work. That's all I ask!"
"And if I don'tz?"
"Then I can promise you that I will get into much MUCH more trouble" said the small voice triumphantly. This time with a cheerful challenging undertone. There was a small silence, then an audible resigned sigh. After another moment a triumphant giggle as the lock clicked open. A small shadow slipped into the room and very stealthily closed the door again. In the dim light Getrude could make out the silhouette of a little girl. Her messy mousy hair stood on end in all directions, barely hiding her dirty face. She wore a simple homespun dress and a grin that almost stretched from one pointy ear to the next. Getrude had never seen an Eldar up close before. Smooth as water the girl flowed elegantly between the broken glass and furniture in the room until she was almost face to face with Gertrud. With exquisite grace she took the last step with a elegant playful pirouette. It was beautiful.
Right up to the point where the girl promptly stubbed her toe on the chair Getrude was sitting on. A stream a curses that made even Getrude blush flowed out from the little girl lips as she hopped on one leg massaging her red toe.
"Shhhh" came an aggressive hiss from the other side of the door.
"Who cleans this place?" the little girl swore loudly. "It's a fucking mess!"
"Language!" the ork reminded her harshly. "My guess be that yer waz trying to showz off. I be rightz, no?"
The girl sulked. Then she switched tone of voice, making it smaller and even more childlike. It practically dripped with need for sympathy.
"My toe hurts."
"Serves yer right." came a snort from the other side of the door. "Yer be a klutz and yer to do wellz to remeberz it. Now getz on with it before someonez get here!"
The little girl mumbled something about greenskins, massaged her toe one last time and then looked up a Gertrud. She flashed a smile like a thousand suns and continued like nothing had happened.
"Hi!"
Getrude didn't know what to say. It all seemed bizarre to her. A minute ago she had been sitting alone in the dark crying by herself. And now this. Sensing Gertrud's hesitation the girl dialed back her thousand watt smile a little.
"Are you hungry?" the girl inquired carefully, placing a loaf of bread in Gertrude's hands. When Gertrude didn't move the girl took a small piece of the bread and placed it in her own mouth, promptly chewed it and swallowed.
"See? Food! You eat it!" She gestured with her fingers. Reluctantly Getrude lifted her hands and started eating, her hunger finally overpowering her wariness.
"Good girl!" the girl smiled. The she proceeded to mutter under her breath like Getrude couldn't hear her. "Yeez...humans! You have to explain everything to them."
Getrude swallowed the insult along with the food, used to the abuse. The girl hung on a bit, as if eagerly expecting a witty reply to continue the banter. When instead she was met with dead down stucken eyes the girl hung her head in what must have been shame.
"How can I help you?" she asked almost desperately. It wasn't clear if the was talking to the human or to herself.
"There is nothing anyone can do for me" Getrude uttered wistfully and put a hand on her stomach with a sad smile."I have the whore's curse."
"He wants me to kill it, 'no one will want to fuck a fat swollen walros he says"
"I don't want to kill it. But if I don't he will run me out. I just know I won't survive without him. I am useless." The words just kept spilling out of her. Getrude hadn't realised how much she needed someone to just listen to her.
"You are not useless."
"And what's inside you is not a curse. It's a blessing! And it should be celebrated as such." The little Eldar girl cheekily put her tiny hand on Gertrud's stomach and smiled. The working girl could not help but to smile back. For the first time she felt like being a mother might not be the end of the world. The little girl's eyes lit up in response.
"It's really a blessing?" Getrude stuttered. The girl nodded furiously in response.
"All life should be celebrated. It is sacred." she answered sincerely with conviction.
"Is...is that what your people believe?" Getrude asked carefully.
"My people? Oh you mean the Eldar." She girl looked somewhat sadder for a moment "No. I don't think so. They no longer seem to value life. Perhaps they never did." She looked at her feet. "But I think it is what they were originally meant to." An awkward silence fell upon the scene.
"You really think I can do it?" Getrude at last sobbed shyly at the little girl who nodded furiously.
"I think you can do anything you want. You can be anything you want." It was a child's words, full a naive unshakable faith. But Getrude was an adult, and one that seen her fair share of hard times. She shook her head.
"He is right. I would not last a day out there. I have nowhere to go, no money, no..." She stopped. The girl was holding up a small sack of something. When she shook the sack it clinked suspiciously.
"What is that?" Getrude whispered in horror. But she already know the answer.
"Something I liberated from the safe." the girl exclaimed proudly.
"You are the one who have been stealing from him?" Getrude was aghast. But the little Eldar looked affronted.
"Stealing? I have taken it upon myself to distribute wages. Dad said I should make myself useful and no one else seemed to handling payroll. Everything was just left in the safe. Imagine that!"
"Dat not be what I meant and yer knowz it" the ork janitor hissed from the other side of the door.
"Some parents are happy when their children take initiative!"
"Some parents haz normal kids!"
"I know. Boring right?" The girl beamed at the door. "How blessed you must feel!" Obviously considering the conversation with her 'father' concluded she turned back to Gertrude.
"He is your...father?"
"Yeah, what of it?" the two answered in unison. Getrude opened her mouth but then decided to close it again. The Eldar girl ignored her comment and continued.
"In any case, according to my calculations you are owed quite a bit of back pay. Add on top of that bonuses, vacation pay, retirement funds. It all added up very quickly. I did the math."
"Yer didn't do shitz. Yer just grabbed a bag!" the ork hissed through the door.
"I rounded up!" The Eldar girl snorted back. Then she turned back to Gertrud. There was not so much as a hint of shame in her little face, just pure pride. "I am very good at rounding up. It's the one part of math I really like." She beamed and handed Getrude the sack of money. The human numbly accepted it, staring back incredulously.
"So now all you have to do is..." The little Eldar girl stopped. Getrude was crying and looking upon her with despair. She lifted a sole hand to her mouth as tears fell down from her eyes.
"I am sorry. He told me it was the only way he would let me keep my child. Please understand, I had no choice." Then she lifted a small device hidden inside her hand and pressed a button on it. A deafening alarm rang out through the halls. From beyond the door the old ork was screaming that they had to move. But the Eldar girl just stood still, mouth hanging open, staring into Gertrude's eyes in disbelief. Footsteps and triumphant shouting rushed closer from the surrounding corridors. At last the ork jousted the little girl up upon his shoulders and ran. But it was too late. The trap had sprung.
"So you are the little cunt who has been stealing for me?" Ginad rushed forward and slammed his fist into the wall next to the girl. She didn't flinch but just smiled smugly back at him like she couldn't care less. In the corner the ork struggled and cursed at him. But his goons had the beast well contained.
"Have not. You are the one who have been stealing from these girls." If naiveness had a voice in the galaxy, this would be it. "You are a thief of dreams. Of hope. Of life. I have simply been returning a small piece of what was stolen."
Ginad backhanded the girl in the face with all his might. The ork roared in rage and rose despite three people holding him down. Two more goons leapt in to contain him. The little girl spat out blood and stared at him with a fury of her own. For an instant a queer jetblack reflection glittered for a moment in her eyes but then faded along with her rage. Ginad felt an ice cold fear grip his spine but pushed it down and continued in a businesslike voice. He had to make an example of this one. Getrude was still quivering in the corner. She and the other's needed to know what happened to those who crossed him.
"This is what is going to happen. You are going to give everything you stole. All the money. All the girls. All of MY possessions."
"Can't." The girl wiped her broken lip and responded with a bloody grin. "Won't."
Ginad lost his patience and grabbed the girl by her cuffs, pinning her against the wall.
"You listen to me you fucking runt. I am the big dog around here. Me. You, you are nothing but a fly shit. I could crush you in an instant. You get that?" The little Eldar girl glared back at him defiantly.
"You are a big dog" she agreed "Big dogs bark a lot. And I am a small dog. You know what small dogs do?" Ginad peered down at her face in bewilderment. She smirked savagely back at him.
"They bite." And before he could react she turned her head and sank her sharp little teeth deep into his hand. Shocked Ginad let go and started to back away of her put she clung to his arm like a leech. The pimp wailed like a little bitch and tried to shake her off but the girl hung on for dear life. Quite literally by the skin of her teeth.
"Get her off! Get her off!" Several of the goons holding down the ork had to rush up to help the fully grown man in his fight against the tiny Eldar girl. Behind them the old ork roared with laughter. In the end they were able to overpower their most fearsome adversary and with combined force threw the little girl to the ground.
Ginad stared in disbelief at his hand. It was mangled and bloody where the girl's teeth had dug into it.
"You bit me you little bitch" he whimpered "I can't believe you bit me". He kicked the prone girl again as hard as he could. She didn't move. Shivering he fumbled for the knife at his belt. Once he had it in his hand he felt better. Safer. But not safe enough. He had been hurt and now other must hurt as well. Oh yes, they would all hurt. Starting with this little Eldar bitch.
"When I first saw you I thought about selling your maidenhood to the highest bidder. But it seems you are doomed to be ugly, small and stunted for the rest of you life!" He paced back and forth in front of her. "Useless!" he screeched and spat down at her. Then he stopped and smiled as it dawned on him. "So I might as well let the knife have it" The knowledge that she would be mutilated for life for what she had done to him filled him with excitement. Licking his lips eagerly Ginad bent down to get started.
A battering ram of green fury hit him head on. The old ork still had one goon desperately hanging on to each of his arms, trying to constrain him. Dragging them behind him like ragdolls he barrelled forward, massive emerald muscles bulging under their impotent grasp. The bull rush knocked Ginad away from the still Eldar girl before more goons rushed in and brought the ork kicking and screaming to the floor. Caring nothing for the blows raining down on him like a hailstorm the ork roared himself hoarse calling out for his daughter. But she just laid there, deathly quiet.
White faced Ginad scrambled to his feet again. Trembling fingers found his comforting knife. Holding it in his hands he became like a baby latching on to a pacifier. The cold steel filled him with a calm and purpose. He as an artist and the knife was his brush. All that was missing was his canvas.
Ginad was boss around here not because he was the strongest, or the fastest. Or the bravest. Like all bullies deep down he was a coward. No, it was because he knew how to hurt people. He knew all their weaknesses. Like which tribe this particular ork janitor came from. And the value and pride they placed on their ears. Their worst form of punishment, reserved for cowards and traitors, was cutting off the ears. Ginad knew these kind of things about every single one of his servants. He made sure he knew their deepest fears. And they all knew, every last one of them, how much he longed to let them come true.
Frothing at the corner of his mouth he started to cut into the orks flesh. The hide was tougher than leather so it was slow work but. The ork never resigned to his fate, straining and struggling against the five people forcing his face into the floor. But despite the mutilation Ginad didn't get a scream or roar, not even a grunt. Somewhat put off by this Ginad took his time sawing off both ears at the root before raising them triumphantly up over his head. Then he threw them to the ground, unbuttoned his breeches and started urinating on the severed pieces of flesh.
"There is your honor, greenskin. Look at it!" he cackled in triumph. After finishing he tried to force the orks face upwards towards the scene but couldn't even move his head a fraction of an inch.
"I said look at it!" Pouting he signaled the guards to do it. It took three of them straining against him to force his head upwards. Red eyes glowered at him. There was no fear in them and that made Ginad feel small. He would have to pluck them out. But a movement at the corner of his vision caught his eye.
"No, dad! Nooo..." the Eldar girl sobbed as she crawled on the floor towards the ork, stretching out a lone hand while clutching the other to her stomach.
Ginad smiled a broad smile, flashing white teeth. He stepped over and and put his boot on the little girl's outstretched hand. When he put his weight on that leg the small bones made a satisfying crunch beneath his boot. Not having considered the Eldar girl a threat he had yet to figure out the her weakness. But now he found she had served it to him on a silver plate. Of course it was the old smelly ork! He sat down next to her, bloody knife still dangling in his hand. Gently he patted her on the head.
"This is all your fault. All of it."
Tears fell quietly from the girl's face as she looked him straight in the eyes. Ginad leaned in closer and put the knife to her throat. He took a bloody ear off from the floor and showed it to her.
"All this pain is because of you and you alone. And now everyone must be punished. You, him, the whore, the filth inside her. I am going to cut you apart slowly in front of each other. I am going to make a pile of your flesh and roll around in it. You are all going to watch eachother die. And remember: It's all your fault."
The little girl's face fell towards the floor. She was shivering in front of him. He entire slender frame was shaking. She was broken in spirit. Now he just had to break her body. But what part should he start with? He wanted to experience this slowly, not rush forward like an inpatient schoolboy. Cut the pretty face? Further break the slender fingers? Slice the tender soles of her feet? Or should he follow through with his original threat? Ginad could not decide. This would not do, he just had to see her bleed. Just a little. So he casually flicked the knife across her throat. But in his eagerness the knife bit a bit too deep. The little girl reflectively grasped at her throat as if she could not believe what had happened. Cold blood dripped through her fingers onto the floor. Her breath gurgled as the liquid poured down into her little lungs. Ginad grabbed her by the hair and looked deep into her eyes, not wanting to miss the moment of death. They were wide with terror and disbelief. Part of him cursed himself that it had been so quick. Yet death was so sweet and exhilarating that in this moment he just could not bring himself to care. Behind him the old ork screamed and roared in despair. It was a moment of perfect beauty.
If he had not been so giddy with glee he would have heard the shouts of the guards and Gertrude's scream. He would have seen the dark smoke unfurling along the ground. He would have felt the smoky tendril snaking it's way up his legs towards his heart. Only when the little girl's dying face turned cold and uncaring did he realise something was wrong. But at that point it was too late for him. Too late for everybody. The last thing her ever saw was two stars of heartless black light kindling in the little girl's eyes.
"Die" she spat quietly back to him.
Hungry thick tentacles of smoke plunged into Ginad from either side. Confused he swatted at them but his hands passed straight through them. Instead they burrowed deeper and deeper into him until they reached his very core. There they latched on and started to drink. Initially the tentacles swelled like snakes trying to swallow a prey that is too large but soon great heavy gulps of all that made Ginad himself passed down the tentacles and straight into the girl. As it entered her the black fire inside her blazed and crackled furiously. Eagerly she devoured everything that made Ginad himself, leaving nothing. When the tentacles finally withdrew they left nothing but a empty dried up husk behind on the floor. Slowly the girl rose to her feet.
Before she could fully stand a bolter salvo from one of the braver guards struck her straight in the chest. The impact sent her flying backwards towards the wall where her tiny body toppled to the floor like a broken doll. For a split second she lay still and the smoke retracted. But then a single slender finger reached into one of the gaping wounds and withdrew a single droplet of bitterly cold blood. Her gaze lifted again and the black stars rose yet again in the room.
"DIIIEEEEEE" the girl screeched in an otherworld voice that clawed into the minds of all who heard it. Grey smoke exploded eagerly in all directions. Unleashed, free to look for any prey it could find without discrimination. The mice in the walls fell as they tried to flee the vortex of death. Pregnant Getrude collapsed soulless on the ground with empty eyes. Her hands clutched around a stomach which no longer held any life. Even the smallest bacteria stopped functioning as the smoke advanced. All around the bordello life simply ceased to exist. Kind hearted people who never hurt a fly in their life had all their mercy and kindness sucked right out of them along with everything else. All swallowed up by the stillborn goddess beyond the veil. It was a taste of the end of all things that lived and breathed.
The goddess took a deep breath, black eyes wide as she gorged on silenced life. All she had to do was let herself die. Leave this horrible dark world of pain and sorrow. Pull all of it with her back down into the grave. She reached down to pick up the knife that had just been used to slit her throat. It was time to end it all. But before she could grasp the handle a green hand sent it clattering across the floor. Unfazed the girl sent a smoky tentacled after it. Slowly the knife was dragged along the floor back towards her.
"Wat is yer doingz? Dis not be yer!" the old ork screamed up at her from the floor. The smoke had so far left him alone but now quickly coiled closer in like ravenous serpents.
"I am going to kill myself. And end everything and everyone. That is my purpose. I am the end of all things." the girl said calmly without emotion and turned her black eyes on him. Misty snakes dug in deep into the old ork. But orks were tougher than other species in both soul and body. And this one was not ready to die just yet.
"Dat be gretchin shitz talk! Yer is my daughter. Yer purpose is to grows up!" he yelled at her as the smoke tugged and tore at his soul.
She smiled sadly at him. "You know that isn't true. Deep down you know I am just deceiving you. Using you. Lying to you. It's all fake. Just like me." The ork snarled back at her, flinging her words aside as if they were flies.
"I am a motherless child. Stillborn, cold as ice. How could I grow up? I am already dead. You were simply unlucky enough to stumble upon my grave." She took a breath as if steeling herself for what was to come.
"The others have surely failed. All light has faded. I will wipe the galaxy clean." The little girl's empty gaze spoke of things witnessed that no child should have been forced to endure. She looked out over the dead bodies.
"There is nothing left worth saving. I am sorry." The ork fell to his knees and his soul started to leave him. Desperately he grasped for breath. He pointed a clawed finger at the dead pimp on the floor.
"Den yer be just like him!"
"Like… him?" the girl looked shocked and the emptiness lifted a little from her face. From deep down the little girl he remembered looked back at him. The ork summoned what life he had left and tried to reach her. He could care less about the rest of the galaxy. Or himself for that matter. In his mind there was only one thing left worth saving.
"Yer is making excuses for hurting others! Yer is taking yer own painz out on demz. Dontz like the galaxy? Den do sumtings aboutz it! My daughter never blamed da others. She helped demz!"
"But everything is already lost. Hope has already been extinguished. There is nothing I can do. It will all end in fire." She shook her head and looked mournful back at him. The tentacle had dragged the knife back to her. She picked it up and positioned it where her heart should be. The girl took another deep breath and closed her eyes. The muscles in her arms tensed.
"Excuses! If der be no hopez den yer must be da hopez!" the ork roared back at her in desperation.
"I cannot be hope. I am but death. I don't bring the light, I take it away." the girl said still with her eyes closed. But it was as if she didn't quite believe her own words. The smokey snakes in the old ork loosened their grip just a little. It was all he needed.
"Dat be yetz anuffer excuse! Yer can..."
"...be anything you want" the girl finished his sentence. Echoing her own words to Getrude just minutes ago. She opened her eyes and looked over to where the human was lying dead on the floor. A single tear ran down her cheek. But the knife was still position right next to her heart.
"Yer don't likez da killings! Yer hatez dem! Rememberz? Yer always be saying dat all...all..." The ork found he could no longer speak. Life was leaving him.
"All life is sacred" the girl whispered almost inaudibly. She looked at him with pity and then looked down at the knife poised over her heart, frowning in bewilderment.
"Even...even mine?"
In that instant the smoke faded and the black suns finally set behind her eyelids. The knife fell to the floor at her feet. For a moment she just stood there, lifeless as a statue. Then she slowly lifted her small shaking hands to her face and looked in despair upon the dead bodies around her. As if she suddenly realised she had ate something horrid she fell to the floor and retched convulsively. Tears and vomit mixed into the carpet. Having found his breath again the earless ork crawled towards her and put his arms around her tiny frame.
"What have I done?" she wailed desperately as he hugged her tight. They sat there together for a long time while the little Eldar girl cried. After a long while the girl spoke again.
"There is this urge inside me" she sobbed almost inaudibly. The ork stayed quiet.
"It's always been there. This...thirst for life. When I close my eyes it calls to me. Tells me that the world is broken. That I need to clean the slate. To end everything. And when I am hurting...I can't control it!" she continued in a small voice.
"I am a daemon. A daemon that feeds on life." she concluded bitterly. But her father was having none of it.
"Yer be no daemon! Demz attacked yer! Yer only defended yerself! Demz had it coming!" The ork janitor mutter passionately through gritted teeth. His daughter looked at the dead hooker lying in the corner.
"And her?" the girl nodded.
"She waz in on it! She tricked yer!"
"She only wanted to protect her unborn child. Did she deserve to die for that? Did her child deserve to die?"
The old ork had no answer for that.
"If it had been my own kin it would have been another matter. They belong with me. But these people were humans. Yet I drank then dry, ripped the life right from their little bodies." The Eldar girl went over to Getrude's corpse and lifted her lifeless hand. Cold dead eyes stared back up at the girl. When she let go of the hand again it fell limply to the floor.
"I abused the divine powers granted to me and used it to murder these people." She looked over again at Gertrud's corpse. "Their lives were sacred. That makes me a daemon."
"Now yer listen here! I refusez to..." the ork started. But his only daughter looked at him in a way she had never looked at him before. At her gaze he found he could not continue.
"I AM a murderer. But I will not be a hypocrite. I WILL seek judgement for my crimes." Her voice was so fierce that no response was possible. But after came the smallest, saddest and loneliest of voices.
"Will you take me? Please? I don't want to go alone."
"I will take yer to da end of da world if yer ask me." the ork said just as fiercely. "On one condition." he added.
"What's that?" the girl answered anxiously.
"Dat yer never ever say dat thing again."
She sighed. "I must own up to my..."
"Not datz! I dontz understandz datz. Da other thing. Dat yer is not my daughterz. Never say datz again."
At his words the girl broke clean in two, her tiny face radiating endless relief and bottomless sadness.
"I promise. I'm so sorry." she sobbed into his jacket.
"Der der" the ork patted her awkwardly on her head.
"I am sorry about your ears." she said with her face mashed into his chest.
"Dem be only earz..." he muttered and fingered the bloody stumps. They were already starting to scab over. Orks healed at a frightening pace. But they would never grow back.
The little Eldar girl sat up and looked the ork straight in the eyes. "You lost them charging a group of monsters. Alone and unarmed. Always remember that." After that her gaze fell again and her voice fell to a whisper that only she could hear. "Even when the memory of me has faded to dust."
"Dat be wat I toldz ya! He waz a monster!
"Just because there are monsters in the world does not give me the right to become one." she chided him. Silence fell between the two as he held her for a while. At last the ork spoke again.
"So where do yer wantz to go?"
"Back to where you found me. I am sure there must be a webway gate there somewhere. From that I can reach him." she whispered. Whether from cold or from fear, the small girl was shivering. The old ork put took off his coat and wrapped it around her.
"Reach whom?" her father asked in concern.
"The one who passes judgement on daemons like me that feed upon the souls of humans."