Chapter 21. The Calm Before the Storm
Several
things happened simultaneously.
The
sun set in the west. (Not bad).
In
the east, Morrslieb rose, bigger and closer than ever before.
The
tidal forces of the Chaos Moon irretrievably disrupted the laminar flow of the
Winds of Magic in the Great Vortex over Ulthuan. The Vortex collapsed into chaotic
eddies. The energies that were
previously collected and channelled through the Geomantic Web began to
accumulate in the atmosphere. (Bad).
The
magical wards at the polar gates, which had for so long barred the essence of
Chaos from spilling into the material realm, evaporated. When the resistance disappeared, the Chaotic
beings pressed against the wards tumbled over each other and into material
existence like a billion evil slap stick comedians (Is there any other
kind?). (Bad).
During
this lunar cycle the Chaos Moon's orbit would decay catastrophically. It would eventually plunge into the earth in
a cataclysmic release of energies which would destroy all life on the globe and
tear a vast and permanent rent in the veil between the material universe and
that of Chaos. (Very Bad).
The
Great Slann Lord, Taistelaikch'ken's eyes opened. (Long overdue).
He
opened his mouth and croaked inaudibly.
Rodekhil shrugged and looked enquiringly at Caneghem who had trotted up
beside him. The slann coughed and cleared
his throat.
"The
Enemy come. Prepare."
Caneghem
bowed quickly and sprinted back toward the temple.
"Which
enemy? We've got a few to choose from..."
asked the puzzled Rodekhil.
"Daemons!"
Caneghem, called over his shoulder, without pausing.
"What? Where?"
"Everywhere! But we shall make our stand here!"
Rodekhil
followed. As he passed his general he said, "Me and the lads will 'andle
this." Welhung didn't even hear him
over the loud moaning of his wife.
*****
Just
as there is a calm before a storm, the winds of magic lulled. Magical pressure began to build. Caneghem could feel that a worldwide storm of
magic would break, possibly within the next few hours. When that happened, daemons, who were confined
to the polar areas by the relative slowness of their earthbound forms, would be
able to ride the wild clouds and take physical form anywhere.
They
would be attracted to places of magical power like ants to a picnic. Caneghem knew that they would feel the
tendrils of geomantic energy which connected Taisteslaikch'ken to his brethren,
half a world away in Lustria. The
question was not if they would come here, but how soon.
His
head throbbed with the rapidly rising magical pressure. Unnatural clouds were piling up almost everywhere. The exception was the Great Maw. Above that aggregation of earth-power the sky
was clear. As the first stars of dusk
began to glint coldly, they witnessed an unusual war council through their
window in the clouds.
*****
Caneghem,
Rychek and Rodekhil planned the defence.
"We
could barricade ourselves in the chamber with the dinner gong." Rychek suggested.
"Only
as a last resort." Caneghem had not
fought daemons himself, but he had studied their kinds, tactics and
abilities. "We have no long ranged
weaponry to keep them back, and we would be packed in like sardines. If they have Flamers of Tzeentch, we will be
toast."
"Sorry. That was a half baked idea." agreed
Rychek.
Caneghem
surveyed the open area in front of the temple.
"This
concourse is as flat as a pancake. If
the daemons gather here in numbers, we will be in a pickle. There is enough room at the bottom for them
to assemble ranked units or cavalry. If
they can get the charge, they will make mincemeat of us."
"Charging
downhill is bread and butter for the ogres." Rychek observed. "Any unprepared formations at the bottom
of the ramp will be serving themselves up on a platter."
"Don't
you think the ogres would be biting off more than they can chew? They will have a lot on their plate."
Rychek
shook his head, "Even if they don't
cut the mustard, Bessie and that rhinox, Rudolph, can charge into the flanks
and save their bacon."
"We've
been forgetting Chotec's Engine. Any
daemons we can fry will be icing on the cake."
"What
about our flanks? Our goose would be
cooked if they got behind our lines."
"There
is a marsh to the south, and a jumble of Sky Titan ruins to the north. They can't get heavy troops through on either
flank."
"Even
light units or flyers could potentially make us the meat in the sandwich. We don't want to put all our eggs in one
basket." Rychek chewed over the
situation. "The ogres and the
monsters wouldn't be worth beans in the marsh or the broken terrain to the
north. It's just not their cup of
tea. But, it will be a piece of cake for
Mahtis and I to upset the apple cart if the daemons cook something up."
"What
about the ruins to the north? It would
be a fine kettle of fish if the enemy slipped past."
"Bob
and Joe are full of beans. They'll give
any skulking daemons some food for thought."
Caneghem
summarized the rough plan.
"Okay. The ogres, monsters
and Chotec's engine batter and fry any frontal attackers. You and Mahtis go make the marsh mellow, and
the sauri give any other enemy flankers their just desserts. What if the any of our units crumble?"
"No
use crying over spilt milk. We all fall
back to the temple. If anyone wants to
break in there, we will give them the whole enchilada!" Rychek grinned savagely.
Caneghem
nodded slowly. They would not be able to
hold out indefinitely against the numberless hordes of chaos but, before the
end, they would ensure that the four Chaos Gods understood that this world
would not be bought cheaply. He turned
from Rychek to his other companion.
"Rodekhil? What do you think
of the plan?"
The
ogre jumped as his name was called.
"Whatever.... I mean.... I don't care. You can sort out the plan." He shook his head. "It's weird. For some reason I feel really 'ungry all of a
sudden."
*****
Rychek
and Mahtis explored the marshland they planned to defend. Tussocks of sedge grew between pools of murky
water. The pools were connected in
places by narrow leads. Footing for
land troops would be unreliable. The
final approach to the narrow stair leading to the temple gate was reasonably
firm, but it was surrounded by deep water.
They
made a lucky find of a large clump of black bamboo some hundreds of yards to
the south. With a borrowed falchion, the
pair harvested many armfuls of the long stems and ferried them back to the
temple.
Rychek
busied himself cutting the thinner stems into five foot lengths and sharpening
them to barbed points. When he had
fashioned a large bundle of the improvised javelins, he tested one out on a
rotten tree stump standing alone on an island of moss. The sharp stick flew true and stood quivering
with its point buried in the wood.
Rychek
sighed. Accuracy was fine, but the light
javelins would not reliably cause fatal wounds. He missed his pouch of jungle poisons, left
behind in his haste to pursue the ogres so many months ago.
This
was no Lustrian swamp. It didn't
naturally make an effort to kill or maim any visitors. Rychek and Mahtis laboured for another two hours
to make it feel more like home.
They
covered sucking pools of quicksand with thin mats of moss which looked like dry
land. Where paths dipped, they studded the ground with
sharpened bamboo stakes which hid beneath the shallow water. Where possible, they undermined the firmest
trails. Each of their engineering works
served to funnel attackers into a killing zone near the lonely tree stump on
its bare island.
*****
Rodekhil
and Argsplat gratefully accepted the remaining bamboo staves. The wagon which had carried Welhung and
Hellun received a battlefield makeover.
The finished product was a heavy, rhinox drawn chariot which bristled
with defensive spikes. Rudolph's harness
received the same treatment, to make his flanks less vulnerable. His thick skull received no such
protection. It had already proven itself
to be impervious to harm. There was room
atop the battle wagon for four ogres to hurl rocks or swing with their great
weapons.
Bessie
needed no enhancement of her natural armour.
Under Caneghem's direction, Bob and Joe unloaded the sacks and barrels
of supplies and stacked them carefully in the gong chamber.
"Why
did we bring all this stuff? Food is
okay, but why herbs and spices?"
Joe whined. "What does this
one say?"
It
was too dim to read in the gong chamber, so Bob held a flaming torch close to
the cask Joe was holding. "It says
'Black Pepper.' Or at least it does
now. Someone crossed out the letters 'O
W D E R', and then wrote 'E P P E R' in their place."
"Do
we really need six casks of it?"
"I
think I remember loading them. That Swedian
Chef fellow helped out by handing them up to me. Then he said something like 'Gersh gurndy morn-dee
burn-dee, burn-dee, boom-boom! Hurdy hur
hur hur!' "
Joe
put down the cask he was holding and prised off the lid. He scooped up a handful of the black granules
and sniffed them. "Its lost its
flavour anyway. Useless!"
He
tossed the handful at Bob who was still holding the torch.
*****
Caneghem
was polishing the lens of the solar engine when he was surprised by a loud bang,
a cloud of smoke and a wailing sound bursting out of the gong chamber.
After
Bob and Joe had been stamped out, they showed Rodekhil the remaining
casks. He grinned evilly. "Argsplat. Did you know about this?"
"No
boss. In fact I 'ad a good serving of
the tasteless stuff on my dinner last night."
"
'Mmmm. Best you don't take a torch with
you to the latrine."
*****
With
the unloading completed, Bob and Joe were sent to reconnoitre the ruins to the
north. The stubs of wall and piles of
fallen masonry created a labyrinth of false trails and dead ends. However, enough passages connected through to
make it a somewhat porous defence. If
the defenders were to wait for the enemy to come to them, they risked being
attacked from several angles at once.
Their best option was to stay mobile and patrol aggressively.
If
they could hit suddenly and decisively, they could ghost away back into the
maze and choose their next skirmish. The
enemy would be left off balance, not knowing from which direction the next
attack would come.
At
the third watch after sunset Morrslieb slid above the clouds ringing the Great
Maw. His baleful green light cast eerie
shadows. Caneghem and Rodekhil signalled
their fighters to return to the temple.
Last to return were Bob and Joe.
"It's
a funny thing," said Joe, "but
we found a whole lot of these in a cave back there." He held up a large glowing mushroom. It's cap was covered in square mirror-like
facets which caught and reflected points of light. "Is this the same kind of mushroom that
Rychek ate?"
Caneghem's
jaw dropped. "That's a
disco-cap! No one eats one of those and
survives."
"He
didn't eat a whole one. It was more of a
nibble."
Caneghem
shook his head, "Even in trace
amounts the toxin has..... unusual effects.
Did you notice any strange symptoms?"
Rychek
examined at his toes in embarrassment.
"Nothing worth telling a long story about...."
"It
is a lucky find anyway, thank the Old Ones.
Go get me some more."
Bob
and Joe returned soon after. Caneghem
got Mahtis to grind the deadly mushrooms into a powder. The skink priest needed some kind of paste as
a medium to stick the poison to the barbs of Rychek's javelins. He rummaged through his kitchen supplies and
came up with a large sack of root vegetables.
Perfect.
He
boiled them in a large pot of salted water until soft, then drained off the
liquid, which he retained for later use as a soup base. Then he added a generous knob of butter and a
splash of milk. He mashed the
ingredients together carefully to ensure a smooth creamy consistency, and then
added salt and black powder to taste.
Last of all he stirred in the powdered mushrooms.
It
was to become his most famous dish.
Lustrian Mashed Potatoes of Death.
The
mash was moulded into sausage shapes on the tip of each bamboo javelin. The deadly payload increased the weight of
the point, giving Rychek's projectiles greater range and accuracy. The poison, once delivered, would do the
rest.
With
the front and flanks as secure as they could be, Caneghem and Rodekhil
inspected the rear. Welhung had remained
where he was, comforting Hellun. His
lieutenant pressed the tyrant's mace into his hands. "Just in case."
Welhung
nodded in gratitude.
Caneghem
stood at the brink of the deck and bowed low.
His master hovered a few yards away staring at the Chaos Moon.
"My
Lord Taisteslaikch'ken, we have prepared
for a frontal assault on the temple, but we can spare none to guard you. I trust you will be able to defend
yourself."
The
slann turned his unearthly gaze on the priest.
"I commune with my Spawnkin, Tecciztec of Tlaxtlan, and with the
great convocation of my brother slann.
The moon can be defeated, but it will take all of our powers, and some
luck. We... I.... will be
vulnerable. I will summon you when you
are needed." He returned his
contemplation to the green orb which was halfway to its zenith.
Caneghem
was buffeted by a sudden gust of the winds of magic, and Taisteslaikch'ken's
palanquin wobbled and dipped. A lurid
bolt of purple lightning was quickly followed by a peal of thunder. The storm had broken.
From
horizon to horizon lightning flashed and thunder rolled. Caneghem could hear a new sound above the
din. It was a deep metallic clash, repeated
at intervals. He returned to the temple
to find Mahtis striking the dinner gong with the huge beater.
The
kroxigor lowered the huge beater.
"They are here," he declared.
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