Chapter 22. The Battle for the Ramp
When
the wards at the polar gates fell, the first wave of Chaotic beings to manifest
themselves slithered, galloped, hopped or flew from the polar gates like a
tsunami of dreadful intent. Given time
they would roll like a wave over the entire world.
After
them came Greater Daemons and Princes of Chaos who stopped and drew breath. They enjoyed the tangy scent of mortal life
in the air and did not want their harvest of this world to be cut short.
They
had felt and recognized the cold wills and magical strength that had sustained
the wards in the months since the Great Vortex had started to gutter. They had also felt the enormous volume of raw
energy that dripped like honey from the Geomantic Web. They reasoned that the Slann Mage Priests of
Lustria held the only power that was capable of banishing the hordes again.
The
Slann were their true enemy, the delicious power their true prize.
When
the storm broke, those with the power to do so gathered minions to their side
and winked out of material form and into the form of chaotic energy. They rode lightning from cloud to cloud,
crossing vast distances in minutes. Like
moths drawn to a flame, they each materialized with their forces within
striking distance of one of the hated slann.
The
False Moon War had begun.
*****
The
tales of heroism in the jungles and temple cities of Lustria are not recorded
here, but suffice it to say that the Daemons did not find the lizardmen
unprepared. Although the Slann mage
priests remained entranced and linked to the Geomantic Web, the feast of
magical energy surging through the clouds was easily channelled and deployed to
devastating effect by the skink priests.
Even the wettest acolyte discovered the full potential of his powers.
Temples
were ransacked of their scrolls of binding, and every kind of monster was
summoned from the wild to bolster the legions of Lustria. Once again, the expatriate vampire lord,
Count Renliss was compelled to throw his unholy army into the fray, no matter
that it was against his will.
On
the diametrically opposite side of the globe to Tlaxtlan, one lone slann might
hope to remain concealed, but the threads of geomantic web which connected him
to his brothers encircled the earth like four meridians.
"X"
literally marked the spot where he could be found.
*****
Between
the light of the Chaos Moon and the near continuous lightning, Caneghem could
make out pockets of movement among the boulders below the concourse. Shrill voices whooped with vile glee.
Caneghem
was perched beside the solar engine on Bessie's back, anchoring the left side
of the battle line. On the far right,
Rodekhil sat astride Rudolph, with four stout ogres ensconced in the spiky
battle wagon behind them. The other
sixteen ogres formed a cordon between the monsters, with Argsplat at their
head.
The
skink priest didn't bother to look for Rychek and Caneghem. They would be virtually invisible in their
swamp. He imagined that any daemons who
came that way would get a very Lustrian welcome.
Likewise,
Caneghem could not see Bob and Joe in their maze of ruins, although he
occasionally heard their arguing voices during brief lulls in the thunder. He shook his head. If they used half the animosity they showed
towards each other on their enemies, the right flank would be secure.
Argsplat
had his customary meat axe in his left hand.
He pointed with his hook.
"They're gathering. Charge
them yet?"
Caneghem
saw a collection of slimy green gibbering daemons clamber over each other to
ascend the broad ramp. "They're
nurglings. Not heavy enough to pose a
threat from a charge, but they have a poisonous bite. They can attack faster than your ogres can
swing their weapons. Get Rodekhil to
move halfway down the ramp and spread your troops from here to there at an
angle. Maximize your impact when you charge."
The
carpet of rotten creatures moved like a school of fish. Those on the right shied away from Rodekhil
and his rhinox and squeezed the other flank forward along the edge of the
concourse. By the time they had flowed
halfway up the ramp, their daemon formation had changed from a broadly
advancing wave to a narrow wedge. Rodekhil
had been slowly heading further down the ramp, pulling the ogre line with him
until they faced more across, than down the slope. The trap was ready to be sprung.
"Now!"
The
ogres charged into the nurgling flank.
The weight of their charge alone was enough to scatter practically the whole swarm off the
side of the causeway. They barely had
use for their weapons, as they kicked and stomped the stragglers, for only a
few minor bites and scratches in return.
"Return
to position!" The ironguts jogged back
to the top of the ramp, but Rodekhil could not reverse or pivot.
As
he turned his battle wagon through a broad arc its flank became exposed to the
foot of the ramp. A half dozen lithe
female daemons with scorpion like claws bounded out of the haze with shrill
cries. The agile Daemonettes of Slaanesh
were able to strike with their claws before the ogres were even able to swing
their weapons back. The daemons were
repelled, but not before they had caused deep wounds to the ogre crew and
Rudolph's steaming flank. The rhinox shied nervously but Rodekhil was able to
pull his head around by main force and goad him back up the ramp.
"Are
you okay?" asked Caneghem as Rodekhil drew level with Bessie.
He
glanced at his passengers, two of whom had gouts of blood pouring from ugly
wounds. Their armour had provided almost
no protection from the shear like claws.
"Nothing to worry about. Except
Rudolf is now faced the wrong way. 'E'll
'ave to come out of the 'arness so we can turn the wagon around."
"You
can't afford to get caught like that again.
Chock the wheels of the wagon and leave it here. Bessie can anchor the next charge while you
turn Rudolph. An check your troops. Any ogres wounded by the nurglings will have
been poisoned."
Rodekhil
surveyed his foot troops. A number
sported scratches and bite marks. None
looked unwell. "Been there, done
that. Nothing's got poison like Cathayan
style Lustrian snake stir-fry."
"Nurgle
and Slaanesh already." Caneghem
thought to himself. "Would
followers of the other two Chaos Gods show themselves as well?"
He
knew that the heavier minions of Nurgle were tough, but they were even slower
than ogres. Not a great threat. The speed and agility of the other breeds,
particularly Slaanesh would be a problem.
He would need to neutralize the daemonettes before they cut the ogres to
ribbons.
Nurglings
gathered again. The defenders set their
trap, this time with Bessie approaching the base of the ramp. The swarm behaved predictably and strung
itself out. Once again the ogres smashed the nurglings off the edge and fell
back. Caneghem turned Bessie across the
ramp.
He
lazily dismounted and stepped several paces down from his mount. He was aware of scores of leering eyes
measuring his intent. When he was
absolutely sure that he had the full attention of his foes, the unkillable
skinklord slowly and deliberately pulled the Pendant of Khaeleth over his head
and carefully placed it on the ground beside him.
He
was a tempting target. A horde of
daemonettes could restrain their thirst for blood no longer. They surged towards him.
For
months, his proximity to Taistelaikch'ken's geomantic node and the dark magic amulet
had blocked him from channelling the magical Wind of Azyr. Released from these constraints, and with a storm
of magic in progress, it took only the slightest effort of will to summon chain
lightning from the roiling clouds. The
daemons were incinerated as they charged.
It
was, however, beyond Caneghem to put the lightning back where it belonged. Bolts of purple fire started dancing
unpredictably around him. He had lost
control of the spell.
Just
as a calamitous detonation seemed inevitable, the skink priest seized the dark
magic pendant from the ground and held it skywards. He was briefly wreathed in lightning and then
by a fountain of black sparks.
Power
drain. Through a combination of luck and
skill, he managed to dissipate most of the spell's excess energy, leaving him
with a splitting headache and pervading amnesia.
When
he returned to his senses, he still had the pendant clutched in his hand. He was cradled in Rodekhil's arms.
"Impressive,"
observed the ogre. "Can you do that
again if we need you to?"
"Do
what again?"
*****
Rodekhil
described what had happened before Caneghem's rescue. "Bessie stood over you swinging 'er tail
as three monstrous beasts charged in.
They were the fastest things on legs I've ever seen. They looked like monster aardvarks. What do you say, Argsplat?"
Argsplat
was sucking the flesh out of a large blue claw which he had cracked open with
his hook. "They looked like
aadvarks. They taste like
shellfish." He wandered off in
search of a finger bowl with lemon water in it.
"Fiends
of Slaanesh? How did you defeat
them?"
"They
were fully occupied with Bessie's tail.
Rudolph..." he patted the
rhinox's neck, "got away from me as soon as I got 'im out of the
traces. 'E skewered them on his 'orns as
'e hit their flank. Me and Argsplat had
to run after him and collect you. Bessie
wasn't leaving without you, and Rudolph wasn't leaving without Bessie. If those two become any closer, it could get
very... educational.
"The
daemonettes you didn't zap moved off to the north with something bigger. Couldn't make out what it was. And the nurgle things are growing," he
nodded down the ramp.
Instead
of nurglings, there gathered a shambling mass of Plague Bearers clutching
filthy weapons.
"Their
lines are too deep for you to break them on a charge. Let them advance. I will give them Chotec's
greeting." Caneghem carefully
aligned the lens of the solar engine to focus at an angle across the ramp. "Hold still, Bessie."
When
the rotten smelling mob were almost within charge range Caneghem placed his
hand in the imprint on the back of the engine.
The hand print was oversized, and had too many fingers, but the result
was satisfactory nonetheless.
The
cube at the heart of the contraption flared and clear yellow light streaked
out. For the first time in their
miserable existence, the ranks of Plague Bearers were cleansed of
corruption. Soon afterwards they were
cleansed of flesh as well. The formation
was broken, and the ogres mopped up.
The
solar engine flickered and died.
"That's it. We don't have
any more tricks left."
"Just
muscle and iron."
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