Chapter 6 is here! This have been the longest chapter so far and it take a long time to complete. Thank you, CigarChomper and Sigma Castell, for your advises. And Cigar, the reason for my characters's friendliness will be explained in this chapter. Enjoy !
Glen was dumbstruck by the news. Although he was slightly afraid of Craftworld Eldar, his fear of the Dark Eldar was different. Those cultists he had faced earlier were nothing compared to the them: they were ruthless, brutal and without mercy. He remembered the reaction of his comrades when they saw the pict-captures of the Evolus Massacre; most of them couldn't stand looking at the bloody orgy the Dark Eldar displayed, one even vomited right on the floor. It was, however, surprising that these primitive people had survived several Dark Eldar raids without being totally killed, raped or captured. He would consider confronting those xeno pirates and protecting this town if he were an Astarte, but he weren't, and that was their problem, not his. The best thing he could do now was told the folks to run away while they still could.
Illiaria and the leader were still silent, and anxiety was building up in the air. Glen decided to break the ice: "I have never faced any Dark Eldar before," He paused to gain their attention "But I have heard some rumours about their combat skill. I personally think that some of which were exaggerated, but I will not risk my life finding out what is true."
"So what do you intent to do ?"
"Escaped. Although you and I can fight back, we will certainly be overwhelmed. And these farmers...they will be no better than practice target . So run away, find a major population center, and settle in. The Dark Eldar raiding parties are pretty small, especially for feral and feudal worlds like this one, so if you stay with a lot of people, you will less likely to be caught."
"No". Glen turned to face the troop leader "What ? Sorry, but mister...ah...um..."
"Thule. Call me Thule."
"Okay. Thule, do you really think you can stand a chance against those xenos, with you bows and spears ? They have guns, lots of guns that shoot poisonous glass. Maybe you don't know what guns are, so I will try to explain it as simple as possible. They are tube-like objects that can cut through a fully armoured man like a hot knife through butter from afar. And their effect on people with no armour like you...is terrifying to say the least. And when they have killed or wounded anyone resisting them, they will bring you to their lair, and soon you will turn into one of their slaves. After that...well you all know what will happen."
"Ha" Thule laughed "Slavery ? We used to be slaves, all people in this town. If we go to cities to hide, that means we are willingly to be slaves again. We escaped from the king's workforce and founded this town. If those...xenos want to come, let them come. This land is ours. Freedom is ours. We won't let them slip from our hand without a fight."
"Okaaaayyy." Glen sighted. The guy had chosen his own way. While he admitted that Thule was a brave man, Imperial cemeteries were full of brave men. Although they were honour, Glen'd rather live a flat but peaceful life than die a glorious death." Well...if you insist...there is nothing more I can do." He shrugged "Shall we go, Illiara ?"
"No." The Warlock's reaction astonished him. The Eldar were always reluctant to engaged in combat; they preferred to let other races do the dirty jobs of fighting "We cannot allow the Dark Eldar to terrorise this world anymore. Even if this people move out, they will not be safe. They can't hide, not with their number, and then my fallen brethren will bring them to the Dark City, where death is a luxury that most slave can't afford. Although they are not my people, I will stay and protect them. Their lives are precious. Every untainted and uncorrupted life in the universe is precious. That is the principle of Craftworld Caur-Anaris. I will fight back to ensure these people's safety, even if it results in my own demise.".
The Imperial, Glen Marko, were staring at her. The feeling displayed on his face was a mix of surprise and grief.
"You think I am stupid ?"
"No. I just think...you are really a good person. While Imperial doctrine taught us that your race is treacherous, you appear to be the exact opposite. And...you remind me of someone I used to know. Another Eldar. It was a long time ago...since I was still a kid...she..."
He abruptly stopped. A sad memory, it seemed. Illiara nearly felt pity for him. But she had to thank that Eldar. What she had done maybe the reason why Glen saved her. Good job.
"Will you stay ?" Thule suddenly interrupted them "In case you want to remain here with us, I have some places for you two. They are not particularly luxurious, but pretty comfortable."
"Oh...um, thank you." Illiara answered, because Glen was still lost in his thought "For refugees like us,having a place to live is good enough. We don't require anything else."
"Good. But I still have a question" Thule stopped as if he had taken a breath "You come from the sky, you wield great power, but you aren't those demons. Then...what are you ? And this guy ?"
"What are we ?" Illiara smiled, the mischievous look again returned to her face "Our real name is very hard for human to say, so they have a word to describe people of our kin . They call us...angels."
The news of the arrival of angels quickly spread. Nearly all the people of the town hustled against each other in the small streets to catch a glimpse of their deliverers. That scene made Glen uncomfortable; he wasn't used to being looked at and praised by others. He whispered into the Warlock's ears: "Do you think we…no, you have done too much ?"
"No, of course ! This is fun !"
"I think we are cheating these people; we don't have anything that can be used to resist an invasion…"
"No,we have. Remember the place where we arrive ? There is plenty of weapon scattered around. They were used by the cultists and were sucked to this world along with us. But…you should stop thinking about that, there is no immediate danger around; you can start to worry when we are properly settled. Oh, and one more think…"
"What ?"
"Please take a bath. You are stink !"
Glen rolled his eyes. Despite how much Illiara differed from other Eldar, she still shared their arrogance. What a species.
The next morning Glen, along with Thule and several townsmen, set out to the plain he had arrived to scavenge for any salvageable armament; the mini tanks and lascannon were the first to be examined. The lascannon could still be used, and the tanks could be disassembled to make something useful. Despite his disgust when the rotting bodies of the crews were pulled out, he still felt lucky; those vehicles weren't possessed by daemons. Let the townsmen do the remaining works, he wandered to find if there was anything around...
"Grrrhh..."
A small groan drew his attention. It came from behind the tree line; although he didn't know who do that, Glen was sure that no human could be capable of making such a noise. He slowly advanced toward, hell carbine at the ready. He hid behind a tree, protruded his head out to see what was happening, and was shocked by the horrific sight before him.
Three red, vicious-looking hounds were feasting on the bodies of the deceased Cultists. They looked like those hunting hounds the traitor used, but smaller and had several thorns jutted out from their backs. Glen tried to withdraw, but stepped on a branch on the ground. The hounds looked up, and saw their new prey standing before them. They roared and charge at him with incredible speed. He tried not to panicked, and pulled the trigger. As fast as they were, they still could not outrun las bolts. Glen remembered his encounter with the Spawn; the hounds were faster and more numerous, but they didn't have armour. He sent a hail of shot toward the creatures, two were hit and instantly killed, but the third was able to dodge all the shot and now was leaping at him. Glen threw his carbine to the ground, and drew his combat knife for the first time. The serrated edge of his knife collided with the beast body; the hound didn't stand a chance. Another noise came from his back; Glen turned, prepared to deliver the strike, and then realized that he was pointing his weapon at Thule.
"Oh, easy guy !" Thule said, his eyes still on the tip of the weapon " We thought we heard something. What happen ?."
Glen dropped his knife and gasped "Just look at this mess and you get the view. Do you know what they are ?"
"Oh merciful Great Mother...these...these're the king's Death Beasts !" Thule's face was pale in horror "He sends them to pursue escaping slaves. They are the worst thing around here, really. How did you kill them ? No, no, it doesn't matter. These beasts hunt in pack. We must go, now, before the rest can find us !".
"Great. As if we didn't have enough trouble. But you are right." Glen pointed at the mutilated bodies of the cultists "Just grapped their equipments and get the hell out of here !"
After moving far from his arrival site did Glen regain his calm and began to count his loot. It was pretty good: one and a haft dozen lasguns, several laspistols, one lascannon with rechargeable power packs, two heavy stubbers with several ammunition caches and two vox caster. At least it worth being chased after by some bloodthirsty dogs. Illiara would laugh at his face if she knew how much he had been terrified when they rushed at him. Glen decided not to tell her about the incident, but realized that there was no point hiding. She could read mind, after all.
When he reached the town, he saw something weird. The Warlock were standing before the entrance, a worrying look on her face. This was unusual.
"Are you okay ?" she asked when Glen approached her.
"Yes, why do you ask ?"
"Don't lie to me. Just look at your face. I don't need to be a Farseer to know that you are hiding something. Want to share it with me ? If you don't, I have to take it from your head, and it won't be comfortable." She said with a smile which reminded Glen of the Venus Mantrap from Catachan: beautiful, but dangerous.
That sent a chill down his spine "Yes, I will tell. But please don't laugh at me okay ?".
"I promise."
The Imperial then told her about his fight with the Death Beasts. Illiara chuckled:"My vision is still accurate."
"What ?"
"After you had gone my runestones began to glow. They told me about what happened to you."
"Oh great. I always want to have a pocket oracle, but you should tell me sooner..."
"I could call you by telepathy, but I didn't. I knew that you could not be harm by those creatures; you are strong. You..."
Glen could not hear the next words. His cheek were burning. All people he knew, except for his parents, always called him weak, but this...alien...she just... Maybe she was mocking him. He looked at his feet, and walked away as fast as he could. Although he could not see her face, he knew she was smiling.
Warlock Illiara was trying to ignore the growl from her stomach. She hadn't eaten since she got here. Her room was in the second floor of a tavern, so all she needed to do was to go down the stair. Although the people of this world were friendly, she was still not comfortable with their presence. She tried to focus on something else, but her stomach continued to scream...
Knock knock knock.
Now what ? Illiara forcefully opened the door. She didn't want to meet anybody. But she was surprised to see Glen Marko, his hand holding a wooden platter with some food on it.
"Hi. You must be hungry ? You haven't eaten since..."
"Yes I know. But why do you bring the food to me ?"
"Because...um...that was hard to say..."
"Just...give me my meal."
"Oh...here it is. Although it cannot match Eldar's food, it's still pretty good. I hope you like it."
"Thank you."
She took the platter and turned away, but Glen still stood in the threshold, scratching his head.
"Come in or out ?"
"Oh sorry, out. Bon appetit !"
Illiara closed the door and looked at her meal. Nothing special. But then her attention shifted to the big, red apple in the corner of the platter. Illiara loved fruits, but as an Eldar, she must limit herself, and there wasn't many fruit on her Craftworld. The last time she tasted one was...at least several years ago. But how Glen knew about her liking ? Maybe he had seen her looking at the apple trees in the town centre. Pretty sensitive for a soldier.
You really knew how to impress a lady, boy.
Dracon Laatheeym looked at the slave cages in a self-satified way. The result of recent raids was pleasing: 3000 humans, all of them were in good physical condition. Soon there would be thousands of Grotesques joining his secret army. The Haemonculi were more than happy to cooperate with him, as long as he kept supplying them with fresh "specimens". They probably would not sell him down the river. But somehow the news about his betrayal had reached the ears of Asdrubael Vect himself, forcing him to speed up his plan. There was no evidence, just rumours; but in Commorragh, rumours could kill you. Dark Eldar was a treacherous race; the mightiest was neither the richest nor the strongest, but the most cunning. Vect knew too well about this; despite being borned as a lowly slave, he had carved a bloody way toward power, founded the Kabal of the Black Heart and became the ruler of Commorragh, all through deception. During his thousand-year reign, Vect had faced countless attempts on his life, carried out by his minions; none of them survived. To overthrow him was tantamount to suicide.
But no. He would not fail. Laatheeym had intended to become the most powerful figure in Commorragh since he joined the Kabal, since the death of his mother...
"My lord" the shipmaster's voice pulled him out of his thought "We have reached the last location in our excursion. What do you want me to do ?"
"Alert the troops and ready my transport" Laatheeym said, his face turned into a death mask "Prepare to make planetfall."