Krarn blinked sweat from his eyes. The wall behind him pulsed =
red - he could feel the corruption claw at his nerves, steal at his strength. =
But there was corruption everywhere, all around. It pressed upon his =
senses, shouted its hatred and spite into the heart of his soul. But the=
Bull =
was with him and he knew no fear.
His nose twitched. He could smell its putrescence. It hovered =
around the corner, waiting as he did for a mistake. He thought of what t= he
High Khan had said - "when you sense a trap - believe in the Bull - charg= e,
triumph or die." Krarn roared his fury and swept his axe around the corn= er
at waist height. The Broo that waited for him doubled over the heavy bla= de
as it bit deep, deep enough to sever the spine, deep enough to finish any=
=
ordinary creature. But this was a fiend of chaos and knew no ordinar=
y
laws. =
It spat a viscous flem into his face that hissed as it tore into his helm= =2E =
His =
eye burned with it. His skin seared and while the pain shot through his
brain,
it clawed at him with a triple hooked appendage of bone and sinew that
tore =
off a whole strip of his hauberk as if it were cloth. Krarn's axe was buried too =
deep to free so he pulled out his dagger and slammed it into the creature= 's
chest with all his bodyweight behind it. It screamed at him as its hearts-flesh =
tore asunder then collapsed suddenly.
Krarn stomped on its bony head with his bronze-shod boots till =
his vision lost the red tinge of fury and cleared to normal. He looked about for =
the rest of his companions. They lay around the chamber locked in a deat= h =
embrace with their chaos foe. All six were dead, only Krarn remained.
He ripped his axe out of the dead Broo and pushed on down the =
corridor - how much further to its heart? he thought. The chaos was =
overpowering even his acute senses but he thought he could smell a =
concentration ahead that reeked of wrongness, like a rent in normalcy. =
Suddenly the next room opened before him. It was wide and circul= ar
but it possessed an irregularity that shifted the eye, that tore at your perceptions =
till they were confused and distracted. Yet the centre of it all lay in
view. The spawning void of chaos that had brought Krarn to this hell wit=
h
all the other =
claimants for Khan status was about to feel the power of the Bull.
"Storm Bull!" Screamed Krarn as he leapt to the attack. What cam= e =
from the void to answer his challenge was not the entity of slime he
expected. Instead a small, robed figure appeared with a womans face, kin=
d
brown eyes =
and a sad smile. It was Krarns mother, long dead he knew but eerily =
reincarnated before his eyes. His attack faltered only for a moment but his =
resolve was total as his axe sheared the illusion of his mother in two. =
=
Krarn =
felt elation, the Bull was with him and his rage was utter. Yet the void=
was not defeated and sent an image of his childhood bully to stand before=
him - =
Herrast Bighand. With Herrast appeared a legion of his gang members and =
more faces that Krarn had long forgotten. Faces from his youth, faces fr=
om
his =
days as a beggar and thief. Faces of men who had shown him no mercy, who=
=
had beaten, robbed and assailed him until his hatred for them burned with= in
like an unquenchable flame. And he roared with pleasure as his axe cut them =
down - they stood unresisting before his anger which swelled with each
stroke. Their bodies had substance, they bled and screamed and Krarn fel=
t
his rage =
carry him to new excesses of strength and power. A savage amusement fill=
ed
him as he chopped and slaughtered. A part of him noted the change in the=
=
faces before him, faces that no longer belonged to those he hated but to many =
he had loved but he killed them anyway as the bloodlust within set him laughing maniacally at their deaths. =
Within the tidal wave of venom his soul was carried on a part of him =
knew that this was wrong - the Bull killed, yes, the Bull even killed tho=
se
he loved =
in his rage but it was never willing and it was ever remembered with remorse, =
not this sick joy he felt. It was wrong. He wasn't hearing the roar of the Bull, he =
was hearing the evil lust for blood of Urain, the ultimate foe, the greatest corruption =
of them all. =
He stepped back from the slaughter and watched the illusions fade=
as =
his equilibrium returned. A lesson had been learned. Rage brought power but =
also responsibility, something a Khan must know. =
The void before him shivered at its defeat, morphed into another =
shape and prepared to spew forth more vileness to destroy its would-be =
assailant. Then Krarn hurled a small piece of truestone into the void, just =
one tiny lake of rock but rock made of utter law. The void screamed an= d =
shattered with a blast that drove the warrior before it to his knees. I=
n
its place =
a geyser of blood shot upward, spraying with terrible force against the ceiling =
and casting a red rain all around the room.
Krarn lurched to his feet, drenched already, soaked in viscous =
crimson that swarmed with tiny worms that ate his armour and skin. He ra=
n.
=
The corridor opened up before him like a gaping maw that he leapt into as=
if =
offering himself as a morsel for a endless appetite. The torrent of bloo=
d
followed him in ever increasing waves and soon swept his feet out from
under him. It =
pushed him down the corridor like a twig in a mountain stream in springtime. =
For hectic moments he tumbled along, desperately holding on to ax= e =
and sanity and then he was airborne. His limbs were flung out and he cri=
ed
in =
shock as warm, Yelm-lit air brushed his battered face like a caress. Then=
he =
crashed into the ground with a rib breaking thump and all went black.
=
He regained consciousness with Jelman the Shaman standing over =
him, chanting and waving his totem stick. Behind the scrawny spirit-man stood =
a cluster of warriors. =
"He awakes" announced Jelman. "Waha blesses him with life!"
One of the warriors came over. Krarns eyes regained their focus.=
It was Rark Ironbear, his High Khan. The scarred warrior gave a rare smile. =
"You live Krarn. It is good."
"How did I get out?" Asked Krarn as he struggled to sit. The =
bandages around his chest restricted his movement.
"Ha! The ground outside the Block opened up like a wound and you=
=
shot out on a spout of chaos blood! The heartsblood of the slime you sle=
w.
We =
felt the chaos subside as it died and we knew that one of you had made it= =2E"
"The others?"
"You were the only survivor. Yet we mourn not for though a score=
of =
braves have died we have a new Khan!" He grabbed Krarns arm in approval and =
the warriors in the tent howled in approbation. The yell was joined by a=
multitude =
of voice outside the tent. =
Another Khan was with them and the chaos under the Block had take= n =
a terrible wound. Storm Bull was content...for now.
Martin Laurie
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