Warp Token Update

2k words

***

She gripped her weeping dagger in her paw, trusting that her aim was true. Time seemed to slow as she reached the halfway point of her freefall, Skyseeker watching the statue bring its staff down, the pointed tip aimed at his chest. It was already in motion; she wasn’t going to make it.

Spitting out a curse, she held her paws out, leading with her dagger. She punctured the statue between its shoulders, her momentum slowing to a crawl as she impaled the half stone, half flesh up to the hilt. Gravity did the work for her, Skyseeker sliding down the statue’s flank like she was sliding down a tightrope, the statue freezing up as she carved a line down its torso.

Her momentum slowed to a halt by the time she’d travelled down to its waist, Skyseeker planting her feet on its hindquarters. She leveraged her blade free, what appeared to be sand spewing forth from the deep gash, the Skaven leaping free. Hitting the ground caused another shock of pain from her stomach, but that was nothing compared to the reward of her efforts.

The construct seemed confused as to the sudden damage she’d caused, its pensiveness allowing Roderick to scramble clear. It lowered to one knee, propping itself up on one of its swords, the impact forming a webbing crack in the ground.

Its skull tilted, but the statue did not collapse. Instead, its knee slid against the stones, its backward-shaped legs flexing as it made to recover. She had only seconds to act, but that was more than enough for her.

Flipping the blade into a reverse grip, she charged forward, grabbing the hem of its skirt, hoisting herself onto its back. The wound she’d slashed into its flank lay between her feet as she ran across the construct, its sheer size all the more obvious now that she was in contact with it. It felt like she was rushing across one of the rocky overhangs back in Skavenblight, but she soon made it to the thing’s shoulders, the skull turning to peer back at her in what may have been confusion if it possessed any facial features.

“How the tables turn!” she cried, driving the point of her dagger into its head. She didn’t have the momentum to match her prior attack, but bone was easier to pierce than stone, and her blade sank wonderfully deep into the back of its neck. She gave it a pointed twist, pulled her weapon back, then stabbed it in a different spot.

The construct craned its neck, lifting its skull to the skies in a silent wail. Its grip on its sword loosened, and its belly hit the ground in a booming crash, Skyseeker still standing tall on its shoulders. Its left arm reached up to claw at her, but she danced out of the way before it could grab her.

Clanking metal drew her eyes up, and she saw Roderick striding over, weapon back in his hand. He moved over to the statue’s front, raising his mighty blade over his shoulder. With a grunt, he smashed the statue across its muzzle, a visible crack forming down the bridge of its wide nose. The construct sagged, its head having trouble deciding which of them it should peer at.

Roderick raised his weapon again, Skyseeker following suit with her dagger. Again and again, they drove their weapons into the construct’s head, the stubborn creature refusing to die even as pieces of its skull were flung aside. Like warlords beating down troublesome clanrats, they hacked the construct apart, both of them seeing red.

The statue raised a trembling hand, groping for one of its discarded swords, but Roderick placed an armoured heel on its wrist. Uttering a warcry for Sigmar, he held his weapon by the blade, driving the point towards its eye socket. The plates of bone caved under the blow, the creature flailing against the ground.

At last, the statue’s movements began to slow, its giant limbs settling. If a creature that was formerly a statue could die, then that was what Skyseeker was witnessing, its massive body going limp beneath her feet.

“I told you to… to lure thing!” Skyseeker said, her breathing hitching with every word spoken. “Didn’t lure it far enough! Almost didn’t make that leap...”

“And I told you, this was too easy,” Roderick replied, and then he fell to his knees, his sword clanging as he dropped it. She rushed to his side, her concern overruling her annoyance.

“Rick-rod!” she breathed. “You are bleeding! Remove stupid armour! Quick-Hurry!”

She helped him undo the clasps securing his cuirass, Skyseeker holding it by the neck and prying it off. A pungent wave of blood hit her in the face, along with a sight that made her grimace. The inlining of the armour was coated red, two slashes across his chest drawing her gaze. Once his tunic was removed, exposing his bare skin, she saw there was also a nasty bruise on his flank, swelling into a lump, and when he pried off his stifling helmet, there was a tickle of blood leaking from his nose.

“Rick-rod…” she said again, softer this time. He looked a mess, her heart racing when he moved an arm, but a lance of pain forced him to stay still.

“Fetch me a roll of bandages, would you?” he asked, nodding to his pack. “I think my shoulder is broken….”

She scurried to his flank, flipping open the leather flap and diving a paw inside. Rations, bullets, a waterskin… where were they? She was aware of every second wasted as she rummaged for the bandages, but eventually she found them, moving back to this front with them in hand.

She took one end and began to wound them around his torso, Roderick yelping in pain as she worked. He was hurt all over, no matter where she touched him she was causing him tremendous pain, but she had to stem the bleeding.

“Are you alright, lass?” he asked her. “That… thing… hit you pretty hard back there.”

“Hurts to breathe, but don’t worry about Skaven,” she replied, walking another circle around him to make sure the bandages stayed tight.

“Probably a broken rib,” he continued. “Anything else?”

“I said don’t worry!” she snarled. “Skaven heal very quick-fast, not issue. Man-things do that too… right? You will be good-fine?”

“I… I think you’ll have to go get your relic without me,” he wheezed. “Everything hurts…”

“Shut up,” she muttered. “man-thing will heal,” she added, the notion directed towards herself as much as it was to him. “not come all this way just to leave Rick-rod behind, so just shut mouth...”

“Then help me remove these gauntlets,” he grumbled. “they’re ruined beyond use now.”

The metal was crumpled in places, bent out of shape thanks to the forceful blows of the statue. Although it had saved him from death, the injuries he’d sustained were immense, Roderick barely able to move his right arm.

“Dislocated,” he explained after she quizzed him. “I’m going to have to pop it back in.”

“Know how to do that?” she asked.

“I’ve done it to others in the past,” he replied, the uncertainty in his voice not doing wonders for her confidence.

Using his other arm, he reached over to the problem shoulder, his movements tentative. She wanted to help, but he knew more about man-thing anatomy than she did, and all she could do was stand back and wring her paws. He bit down on a leather belt from his gauntlet as he rasied his arm, applying pressure on his shoulder from behind. There was an audible snap as something inside him rolled into place, Roderick growling through bared teeth as pain rocked him.

When he was done, he was just able to brace his wounded arm against his chest, Roderick wincing as he spat out the belt. From the waist up all his armour was discarded, laying in a heap nearby. He was still in a state, but at least he wasn’t in risk of bleeding out.

“Should we go back to oasis?” she suggested. “Give Rick-rod time to rest?”

“No. The pyramid is right there, I can make it,” Roderick insisted. “Help me up.”

She was hard pressed to support him, Skyseeker ducking underneath his better arm once he was on his feet. He helped him don the tunic he wore beneath his plate, Roderick wincing as he raised his arms into the sleeves.

“You have my thanks, by the way,” Roderick murmured. “That plan of yours saved my skin. If you hadn’t thought of it…”

“I’m always scheming,” she replied with a toothy grin. “Don’t sell yourself short. Man-thing fought like a warlord,” she added, wanting to return the compliment. “Even marvellous Lord Gnawdwell would have trouble holding own against… whatever that thing was.”

“I hope it will stay dead,” Roderick grumbled, glancing at the fallen statue. “If dead is the right word.”

“Should have brought cannon and balls to make sure.”

Her comment got a laugh out of Roderick, the human leaning down to embrace her, Skyseeker wrapping her arms around his stomach, careful not to apply too much pressure.

“We’re so close,” he continued, releasing her, Skyseeker straightening her cloak as she returned to supporting him, keeping her tail coiled around his leg just in case he lost his balance. “Let’s keep moving, I wish to finally see this relic with my own eyes.”

She shared the sentiment, reminding herself that although the fight was over, her mission was not. After retrieving his sword, they skirted the fallen statue, Skyseeker sparing it one last glance before they pushed ahead. Roderick’s legs were spared the worst of his injuries, so walking him along wasn’t too much of a struggle.

They left the courtyard behind, delving into a crevasse that was a direct mirror of the one they’d descended before, the passage lined with more pedestals mounted with decorative urns and monuments. Their were more statues, but her racing heart calmed when she noted they weren’t the alive kind, their weather-beaten figures extruding from the walls themselves.

The crevasse sloped lower into the earth, the air taking on a chill as the sun lowered behind the pyramid’s peak. The passage terminated in a dark archway, built into the base of the pyramid’s sloped flank, held aloft by a pair of ornate pillars.

They paused before the arch, peering into the darkness within. It was pitch black inside, the narrow hallway leading into the heart of the pyramid.

“A moment,” Roderick said, reaching for his pack. He produced a lantern, flicking a little switch on the side, a yellow light flicking on inside the glass casing. Of course, he possessed no goggles or warp sight like she did, his kind couldn’t see well in the dark. “Let’s go.”

An eerie silence hung over them as they stepped inside, the walls narrowing until they could barely walk side by side. The lantern’s aura cut through the gloom, reflecting off walls that may not have seen light since the pyramid’s construction, each step of her feet and clank of his armour echoing three or four times around them.

Her sense of distance became distorted in the darkness, what mighthave been ten minutes of walking passing them by. She could no longer see the outside light when she turned to look back the way they’d come, her fur crawling as she considered if some hidden mechanism hadn’t tripped and sealed them inside.

Just when she was starting to think the passage would never end, it did. The wall opened up into a circular chamber, to vast for the light of the lantern to illuminate it all, but with the help of her goggles, she was able to get a better look of its scope. It was about twenty meters deep, the walls culminating into curves rather than sharp points, a bit like a giant dome of sandstone. In the centre of the room was a platform, ringed by a step that raised it slightly off the ground. Sitting on the platform was a rectangular foundation, the edges trimmed with golden rods, the face on the near side covered in runes.

There was something laying on top of it, and as they approached the step, the lantern’s light allowed them to see what. It was a stave, the haft made from what appeared to be a pole of solid gold, covered over in contrasting black wrappings. One end terminated into a small coin of stone, and carved into each face was a human skull.

“The relic,” Skyseeker breathed. “It’s… It’s right here-there…!”