Author's Notes: Hi everyone still don't own anything but what I make up. Warning disturbing images and implications in this chapter you are warned.
Karl left Marx's room and managed to slip back to his own inn. As he stripped off his bloody clothing he thought about his options. He did not like being forced into Marx's service but he did not see that he had a choice; besides Marx's offer was appealing, he rather liked the idea of hunting evil creatures in the shadows. Use a monster to kill a monster; to paraphrase an old saying. Still; he did rather resent the way he was being forced to into helping; as if he would not have volunteered on his own.
Though he had not been there long he decided he would not remain in the city. The money Marx had given him was enough to keep him for some time and he found he wanted to travel. However; he wasn't sure where he wanted to go. He finally decided to just be random. Every other time he had been on a journey he had had a destination and a plan. This time he would just start walking and see where the road took him. If nothing else he would find out if Marx was as good at finding people as he claimed.
He spent the next day gathering supplies for the journey. He could hunt now in his wolven form but he did not want to depend on it just yet. He also, remembering his first journey, invested in a sturdy pair of boots.
He departed at dawn the next day. He just picked a gate and walked out. For the first couple of days things were uneventful. The rising of the full moon left him exhausted as he fought to keep the wolf in check but he managed. On the fourth day there was a little excitement when three men tried to rob him. It ended with him being several coins richer and the Empire being three bandits poorer.
After that he decided he was bored of walking on the road and struck off into the woods. At first this slowed him down. Finally he stripped, placed all of his possessions in his bag and attempted to change into his wolf form. It took him longer than he had anticipated; it seemed to be more difficult in daytime, but he kept at it and he finally managed it. After that he made the change almost every day; he next began to hunt in that form. He found that he could bring down and then gorge himself on a deer and that would keep him full for a day or two, allowing him to stretch his normal rations.
Ten days after leaving the city he caught the scent of humans. From the concentration of it he guessed it was either a small village or a large camp. Another smell he detected worried him, the smell of smoke, to smell smoke around humans was of course not unusual; however, the smell was too overwhelming to be normal. In his wolf form he crept to the top of a small hill and looked past the trees to the clearing beyond.
He saw a small village surrounded by a wooden stockade. Or at least it had been; the gate had been ripped down and several holes in the wall were visible. Most of the buildings were smoke blackened ruins, though a few were still smoldering. Bodies littered the ground and not all of them were human. Scattered among the human remains were corpses that almost denied description. They seemed to be some grotesque mockery of humanity. If his form could be described as a hybrid of man and wolf these seemed a hybrid of man and goat. Some were about the size of men with cloven hooves and only small nubs for horns. Others were noticeably larger with great curling ram's horns.
Karl scanned the village but could detect no movement and all the human scents were old now that he studied them more closely. He decided to shift into his human form and search the village more closely; perhaps someone had survived and was hiding, doubtful but he had to be sure. He went from house to house but found no one living, just more dead, human and otherwise. The villagers had fought bravely but had lost. Karl paused near the temple of Sigmar near the center of town, to discouraged to look for survivors he was now convinced did not exist, when he heard a groan. Turning he saw an old man lying on the ground. He was dressed in the robes of a priest and his war hammer lay on the ground next to him. Karl had seen him earlier but had thought the man dead, judging from the bloody gash on his forehead and the two spears in his belly.
Karl knelt by the man and tried to pour some water down the man's throat, but the man could not swallow and Karl gave up rather than risk choking the man. The priest open bleary blood shot eyes and looked about before focusing on Karl. "Who… who… are you?" Asked the priest; his voice barely a whisper and each word coming with great difficulty.
"My name is Karl, a traveler from Altdorf. Are there any more survivors?" As he spoke he cast about for something to press to the man's wounds; for obvious reasons he had felt no need to procure bandages before setting off.
The priest must have seen what he was trying to do because he weakly shook his head. "No…too…too late for me. Everyone else… gone…dead…hopefully." See Karl's surprised look he said, "When attack came...told children to run…hide…no good…Beastmen found them…took them away…eastward…Sigmar forgive me…I have failed…you!" With this last agonized wail he fell back and his eyes went blank, he was dead.
Karl stared at the dead man for a moment. Then he rose, picked up the hammer, and walked away. In his mind he saw the children of his village running from him into the building which was to become their pyre. He had failed them, but he would not fail these children. The priest had obviously thought there was no hope of saving the children and he was right; alone one man stood no chance at all, but he was not a man. Look out beasts; you've attracted the attention of another monster. He thought grimly; inside him the wolf growled in agreement, together they would teach these goats not to challenge the wolf for supremacy of the forest.
He headed east in his wolf form; though even in his human one he could have followed the trail the creatures left behind. They obviously had no fear of any pursuit. Even so it was well after sundown before he caught up with them. There were about thirty or so. More a raiding party than a war band; they had failed to place any sentries and he was able to sneak in close. He was glad to see that the majority of them were of the smaller breed, there were only about ten of the larger ones. They were all gathered around a great fire roasting meat on spits and drinking alcohol they probably stole from the village tavern. Karl smiled to see that nearly half of them had already drunk themselves into unconsciousness.
His smile vanished and his gore rose when he looked closer at the cooking meat. They were human limbs and they were too small to be adults. He nearly retched and for a moment he feared he was too late, and then he saw movement on the other side of the clearing. There were a dozen humans, seven boys and five girls, tied to trees. They seemed to range in age from a girl of about sixteen to a boy who looked no older than five.
Just then the largest of the creatures rose and headed toward the bound humans. It stood at least seven feet tall and while it wore a shirt of rusted chain mail its thick muscles and tough looking hairy hide seemed to make it superfluous. Far more alarming were the large horns that looked quite capable of disemboweling someone. Most of all was the fact that it had four arms, each of which looked as muscular as his in his wolf form. It brayed out something in what appeared to be a language of some sort. Those still conscious sat up and locked eyes on him, all they while giving off a screeching sound that seemed to pass for laughter, as well as appearing to grunt encouragement to the large one.
It reached the prisoners and stood before the oldest girl. With one hand it grabbed her by the hair while with another it pulled a knife and cut the ropes binding her to the tree.
"Leave her alone you Sigmar-cursed monster!" The cry came from the captive closest to the girl. It was a boy about twelve years old; his voice sounded more cultured and educated than one would expect from a village child. His head was tonsured and he wore the robes of an initiate priest. He was more battered and bruised than the other children; he also, unlike the others, seemed unafraid of his captors and his eyes blazed with zealous hatred. Without releasing the girl the beast turned toward him and lashed out with one of his free hands, striking the boy on his already broken nose. His head snapped back and struck the tree he was bound to with a loud crack. The other children began to cry and the beasts braying laughter rose in volume.
The beast dragged the girl near the fire and lifted her off the ground by her hair. She whimpered and spewed for a stream that mingled prays and pleas. The creature used two hands to hold her arms out away from her body while with the fourth hand it began to tear away her dress. The more he tore the more the other beasts became excite, some standing up to stamp their hooves.
Karl could take no more. He still had no plan and no idea as to how he was going to deal with them all but he could not allow what was about to happen to happen. He burst from the trees and ran towards the beasts, yelling at the top of his lungs. At first they did not hear him over their own carousing and he was almost on them before those closest to him began to turn towards him. Two of the smaller creatures turned to face him and he swung the hammer at them. He had never trained with the war hammer, or any weapon for that matter, and so swung with more vigor than skill. That close, however, skill was not needed and both fell with crushed skulls.
His headlong rushed carried him through the group and by the time he stopped he found himself facing the four-armed brute who still help the girl. This was bad; there was this monster ahead of him and the whole raiding party behind him. Thinking fast he came up with a desperate plan. He remembered how the head orc had attacked him alone; maybe he could get the big one to do the same here. Drawing in a deep breath he yelled at the top of his lungs, "HEY, YOU OVERGROWN NANY GOAT! YOU AFRAID TO FACE ME ALONE!"
He wasn't sure if the beast understood him, but it clearly understood an insult and a challenge. Dropping the girl it waved the others back and brought out its weapons. In its two top hands it held two spears and in its two bottom hands it held two axes. Karl stood about twelve feet away from it but it was closing the gap fast. He doubted that even in his wolf form he could take it in a fair fight. So he would not fight fair. Crying out, "SIGMAR GUIDE MY HAND!" He threw the hammer straight at the onrushing beast. It could probably have knocked it away or jumped to the side but it was clearly stunned that anyone would do something so stupid that it failed to react in time. The hammer stuck it full in the chest with a sound like a thunderclap. Its weapons fell from its hands and it dropped to the ground. Remarkably; it was still breathing when Karl approached it. Two more blows to its head put an end to that.
Turning back to face the others Karl saw the other beasts were standing there in stunned silence, apparently not sure what to do next. He doubted it would last long. He turned to face the girl, who was clutching the remains of her dress to her chest. Taking his knife and club from his belt he handed them to her, "Free the others and run." He then turned back to face the beasts; they were beginning to shake off their surprise and begin to move, some rousing their drunk companions and getting them to their feet. One of the large ones began bellowing at the others; then one of the others came up to it and shoved it to the side. The first one turned and bellowed at the second and swung at it with an axe. The second blocked the blow with its shield and thrust at the first with a spear. The spear took the first in the chest but hardly seemed to affect it at all and it swung its axe in a downward blow. His rival caught the descending blade on its shield it jerked it to the side, leaving his opponent open, and thrust its head forward. It drove its horns into its rival's chest and jerked its head side to side. The other's bellow became a bleat as its organs were pulled from its chest; it fell to the ground and was still. The other threw its head into the air and roared in triumph, and then it turned toward Karl.
Karl cursed; he should have used the distraction to make a break for it, not stood there starring. Too late now; he would just have to hold them for as long as possible and hope some of the children at least made good their escape. He gripped the hammer with both hands a prepared to meet them.
A cry behind him made him turn. The children had not run as he had commanded; instead they were rushing at the Beastmen. Well, a few of them were one was the boy in the initiates' robes; he had Karl's club and was swinging with both hands. Next to him was a large boy who held a tree branch and was screaming in a mixture of anger and fear. Behind them the girl came screaming in rage with Karl's blade in her hand. Further back the other children were either sitting on the ground crying or throwing stones at their captors, brave but even if they hit all they would do was make the beasts angry.
Karl yelled at them all to run away but none of them listened to him. Cursing he ran towards the Beastmen. The fools were all going to get themselves killed at this rate if he didn't do something. He rushed at the new leader screaming at the top of his voice, attempting to distract them from the children. It rushed at him though it kept its shield up, no doubt as a precaution against a repeat of the move that brought down his predecessor. Karl swung down and the beast raised its shield and caught his hammer. It seemed that it was attempting to use the same tactic on Karl it had used against its rival. Karl had anticipated that and so was ready. It let go with his left hand and shot it toward the beast's throat. His claws extended, at the angle they were at the children could not see it, and tore the thing's throat out.
He grunted in pain as one of the smaller ones got behind him and jabbed him with a spear. He had been leaning forward so it did not go in deep, just grazed across the surface, but it was painful. Before he could turn to face it the initiate was there. "In Sigmar's name I smite thee!" He then put actions to words by swinging the club into its stomach. It doubled over and the boy struck it repeatedly on the head and neck, screaming out scripture the entire time.
Another cry caught Karl's attention. The large boy was down. He had killed two of the smaller Beastmen; but one of the larger ones had come up and knocked his improvised club aside and thrust a spear in his belly. The girl leaped screaming onto his killers back. She howled in fury as she thrust her knife at its face again and again; one of her blows got lucky and the blade sank into its eye and into its brain.
Karl's vision went red; he had come to save these people and now another was dead. The Beastmen would pay with their lives. He charged the larger ones, who had come together to rush the humans en masse, he howled in fury, letting more of the wolf out than was probably a good idea. They turned to face him and faltered they saw some of the wolf, enough to know it was no mere human they faced, he swung the hammer with of his might. It caved into the chest of one and stuck. Rather than try to free it he let it go and snatched up its axe. He pushed into the others and succeeded in separating one from the others and beheading it with a single blow. The others had had enough; the broke and fled into the woods. He started to pursue them then checked himself; they were scattering in several directions, he would never be able to catch them all. Besides, he had the children to consider. If he ran off some the beasts might return and he could not risk that. So he turned and headed back to where they sat staring at him.
Author's Notes: Well we have another chapter; please let me know what you thought. Do you think I went a little to close with the girl; let me say now that while I may get close I will never go into details about such events. For anyone who does not know priests of Sigmar use hammers as weapons because Sigmar did. As for his opponents they are called Beastmen or The First Children of Chaos. They are a mixture of beasts and man and often attack human settlements or worse. Mutations, such as the leaders extra arms are seen as gifts from their gods, and yes they determine leadership by killing rivals. Here is a brief description: Beastlords are the largest and most brutal. They command the beast herds.
Wargors are second in command to Beastlords.
Bray Shamans are the spiritual leaders and advisors to the herd leaders. They are also powerful spellcasters.
Bestigors are the most heavily armed and armoured Beastmen and rate as elite units.
Centigors have the upper body of a Beastman and the four-legged lower body of an oxen.
Gors and Ungors make up the majority of the infantry units or "Beastherds." The Ungors, however, due to their more human appearance (in comparison to other Beastmen) and smaller horns, are on the bottom of the herd hierarchy.One final note; I will be going to help the family renovate some property we own does not have internet so it may be a while till next up date but I will still be writing so it will be a multiple chapter update. Bye and may Jesus bless you all till then.