Nareena's eyes snapped open. And all before her was an endless, swirling landscape of twisting shapes and colors and sprites of bright flames and roaring faces. She blinked and rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up. Nah, she didn't recognize this place. And she definitely didn't remember taking anything funny before going to bed. Plus, she'd stopped with the psychedelics decades ago, before Syreen was even born. So, she definitely wasn't high as a kite when she slipped into bed a few hours ago. So, how the hell did she get here? "What the shit? Where am I?"
The ground at her feet kind of felt like dirt, but then it also kind of felt like flesh too. The sky was crimson, like blood, and flashed with silvery bolts of lightning every now and then – black clouds looming overhead. Hideous trees sprouted from the odd soil, branches like limbs and haunted faces upon the bark. What the hell was this place? Thunder roared from the sky and the flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the tall, black mountains in the distance. The air smelled faintly of something like cinnamon and brimstone, but also petrichor.
Nareena's eyes narrowed, but, first things first, she had to check herself.
Clothes? Gone. Fair enough. She'd been nude when she slept. Arms and legs? Still attached. Skin was otherwise fine. No wounds or blemishes. She didn't have any of her weapons with her, but that was to be expected. Tsk, the lack of any weapon made her feel more naked than the lack of clothes, honestly. She'd been in hundreds of life or death situations before and she was completely naked in more than a few of them, usually with Thragg by her side and usually because something attacked while she was sleeping naked.
Nareena glanced around her, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. The first rule of being a Scrapper? If you didn't have your weapon with you at all times, then you may as well commit suicide by running into a Dragon's mouth and roasting yourself to death. Shrugging, Nareena walked up to one of the nearby trees and tore off a branch, about six feet in length, which then began bleeding and screaming profusely – both the tree and the branch. Still, she didnt care too much. She found a rock of some sort, this one shimmering like the surface of a mirror, and used it to sharpen the edge of the branch she'd gotten, which only seemed to scream more and more as she shaved off parts of it to form a spear.
Fascinating. She couldn't even tell where the screaming was coming from as the branch itself had no mouths or faces, unlike the tree from which she'd torn it from. Still, all the noise was becoming annoying; broadcasting her location to the things that lived in this place was the last thing she wanted or needed. Luckily, nothing came for her or attacked her. In fact, she'd hadn't seen a single creature in this place – not even a single fly or worm. The ground, for all its fleshy texture, seemed entirely barren. Once the tip of her spear was pointy enough for her liking, Nareena set off into the unknown.
She had no idea what she was looking for, she realized quickly enough. Though, a few clues as to where she was and how she got here would be appreciated. That said, her basic Scrapper training kicked in quickly enough and Nareena knew to look for some high ground, from where she might survey the surroundings, figure out what was going on and stuff like that, if there were other people here and not just her, if this place was as dangerous as it was alien. She'd known of other worlds for a long time. High level Scrappers, like herself, were given access to a bunch of information that the Council deemed too dangerous for the common populace, stuff about the history of Mankind, for instance, and how her race used to be some sort of interstellar civilization. So, there were trillions of other worlds, many of them likely teeming with life; it was entirely possible that, somehow, she'd been transported into one such world.
The most likely culprit? Eh, probably Argall. Her son could throw together an interstellar portal if she gave him a bunch of sticks, some glue, and some tape. He created a spear for her, after all, one that spat out bolts of lightning and had a blade with its own power-field to cut through just about anything. Argall and Thragg frequently visited the Scrapyards to search for... whatever struck the boy's fancy, honestly. Nareena would not at all be shocked if Argall accidentally sent her here with one of his new toys. Then again, such a thing also seemed unlikely. Her son was a genius inventor, true, but he was also kind and considerate; not once had he tested any of his weapons and gadgets anywhere close to their home, specifically in the hopes of avoiding an accident that might endanger the lives of his parents... well, probably not Thragg, but it's not as though the boy was aware of his father's true nature.
That said, Argall was still the most likely culprit that she could think of.
Surely, she didn't just die in her sleep and this was, in fact, the afterlife? What a silly notion.
After several minutes of walking, Nareena came to a startling conclusion: the landscape itself was changing around her. Eight minutes and eight seconds ago, there wasn't a boulder behind her, but now there was. Where did it come from? She had no idea. It probably sprouted from the ground or something. The hills and forests had changed shape, too. Where there had once been screams from the trees, Nareena could now only hear the sound of bleating. In contrast, she preferred the screams; they were far more familiar as opposed to whatever the hell she was listening to now. Still, no creatures attacked her and it seemed like the distant mountains were something of an exception to the shifting landscape, hopefully.
After a while, Nareena noticed one other peculiar thing about this place. The ground was bleeding. And she knew the odor of blood rather intimately, the metallic scent of it. She'd smelled it herself so many times now that it become something rather familiar. Blood oozed from the ground with every step she took, coating her feet. Nareena's eyes narrowed. Now... that was more than just a little odd. And it was human blood, too. "What the fuck?"
But, there was nothing more for it and Nareena moved on quickly enough, shaking her head as she trudged on. This was a very freaky planet and not in a good way.
An hour later, amidst the dark and whimpering woods, Nareena's ears perked up. There was something here, she knew, and it was following her. The footsteps told her that the creature was bipedal and it either had legs that were longer than average or it walked really slowly. And it definitely was a hoofed creature. However, the trees were clustered and dense and attempting to engage something in such an environment was a death sentence. So, she bolted forward, running as fast as her feet could carry her. One advantage to the bloody, fleshy ground was that it was soft. And, because of that, her feet wouldn't tire as quickly as opposed to harder terrain. Still, whatever creature was stalking her kept up, following her as she ran. Eventually, Nareena found some high ground in the form of a hill at the center of a dark clearing, flowing around it was a river of blood – actual blood, viscous and smelling of copper, its surface glimmering softly. The ground was slick and wet.
Nareena climbed to the top of the hill, which overlooked a good portion of the wailing woods around her.
If there truly was a hell, then this place was getting pretty close to it.
She held her spear close and tight. She wasn't the best in the use of polearms, but she knew how they worked – same as any other weapon: stick the enemy with the pointy end and hope for the best. Something tall and red came marching out of the trees. Nareena's eyes narrowed at the creature. Its body was of the same color as blood, its torso heavily muscled. It stood about eight feet tall, though it might've been taller if it wasn't hunching. Its head was... odd, its cranium elongated into a sharp point and two jagged horns sprouted from both sides of its skill, curving downwards. Its face was vaguely humanoid, but ugly and hellish, lacking a nose or lips. Its eyes blazed with an infernal fire. Its long legs ended in cloven hooves. Around its neck was a choker of some kind, made from something that looked like brass. And it carried a burning black sword, which it raised and pointed right at her, its eyes aflame. "Who dares intrude upon the Blood Garden of Khorne?"
"Who the hell is Khorne?!" Nareena shot back. Alright. That thing most definitely was not friendly. And it most definitely was going to try and kill her. So, the only way out of this was to fight. She couldn't outrun that creature forever and, if its words were anything to go by, it knew the shifting terrain far better than her. Good. Nareena hated running away from things. She'd slain and hunted the most terrifying beasts that roamed her world, including a Dragon of the Scrapyards, whose green flames reduced men and machine to ashes in mere moments. This... creature wasn't anything new – nothing she hadn't already killed before.
Or it might just kill her. But that didn't matter. Death came for everyone at some point. It was the same thing she always told Thragg. She loved him and their children dearly, but she wasn't about to let herself die of old age on a bed, rotting away till death crept upon her. No. She was going to die epic and historic against something that earned her death.
Nareena grinned. All she had for a weapon was a wooden spear. Tsk, a metal one would've been better to have, but that was neither here nor there. Didn't matter. She was going to give it all she had. "You looking for a fight?"
The entity began cackling and howling in laughter, its voice like the breaking and grinding of coarse boulders – or an avalanche of stone. Annoying. Grating. She didn't like listening to its laughter. So, Nareena hoisted up her spear and hurled it at the creature as hard as she could. The spear whistled and screamed as it surged across the open air, spinning as it did. The entity's blazing eyes narrowed and its laughter ceased immediately as it stepped aside, just barely avoiding the spear before it could pierce right through its chest. Instead, the projectile merely grazed its shoulder, scorching it black. The spear continued and skewered right through a screaming tree. Nareena smiled. Tsk, why couldn't he have behaved and just stood there? "Oops?"
Something began to burn and hiss at the back of her neck, but Nareena ignored it. Her enemy was fast; she could tell that much from the way the entity avoided her spear. It also probably knew how to use that wicked-looking sword in its grasp. Not good. With the benefit of hindsight, throwing her only weapon for a chance to end the battle as quickly as possible might not have been the smart choice.
She raised her fists and smiled. Eh, not much of a spear gal anyway.
The entity huffed before it hurled its sword right at her, the weapon traveling faster than most humans could blink. Nareena's eyes widened, every survival instinct in her body screaming as she stepped aside just in the nick of time. The sword grazed her right shoulder, cutting open her skin and a tiny bit of muscle, though it drew no blood as the wound was immediately cauterized. A dull ache was all she felt. Nareena grinned. "No weapons, then?"
The demonic-looking entity grinned right back at her. "No weapons."
"Good," She said, walking forward, fists raised. "Much better that way."
"I can see now why Khorne allowed you entry into his garden, mortal."
AN: Chapter 40 is out on (Pat)reon!