Being well past a month, I've taken it upon myself to add another chapter. Enjoy this action, it get's gruelling!
CHAPTER 14
Dieter was screaming in agony, as he leaned in the far corner of the small booth clutching the smoldering stump that was his hand. Hanz looked on, not knowing what to do for the lad. The explosion cauterized the wound instantly, so bleeding to death thankfully wasn’t going to be Dieter’s fate. Perhaps shock would be it however. Hanz had seen men of greater strength and character die from lesser wounds.
The noise outside the booth grew more chaotic: during Dieter’s attempt at martyrdom, the Grandmaster himself managed to push back the Great Unclean One to the other side of the crevasse and off of the Drawbridge. Those within the castle raised the drawbridge back up at the first opportunity, stranding Grandmaster Krieger and his knights with a Greater Daemon of Nurgle. Now, as Hanz looks away from the moaning Dieter, he sees the last of Krieger’s knights killed, his carcass tossed over the cliff’s edge, and Krieger, a far more impressive fighter than Hanz would’ve imagined the old man was, locked in single combat with the Great Unclean One. It was not going well. Now, the Greater Daemon of Nurgle had knocked the Grandmaster down, who was dangerously close to the edge of the crevasse, but still he held his blade up definitely.
The Great Unclean One was no longer burning the magical fire that had engulfed it when it was exposed to the booth but he could see that it had done far more damage to the Daemon than the knights had. However, exposed under the vile glow of Morrslieb, the Greater Daemon appeared to be revitalized, although he no longer possessed as many nurglings as he did in the beginning, Krieger was now down, and the Great Unclean One raised his rusted shard and was preparing to bring down his master stroke when the lights caught Hanz’ eye.
Streaming out of the woods, a horde of crazed maniacs with torches threw themselves at the Great Unclean One. Jumping on his back, beating it with a motley assortment of crude pain evoking instruments: chains, flaming torches, pitch forks, clubs with nails in them, and rocks. They tore into the Greater Daemon’s backside ripping out chunks of rotted maggot riddled hide while setting other parts on fire. The Great Unclean one whipped around laughing, swinging with it’s chains, and bashing many of the crazed horde of humans with a single swipe. Hanz hand heard of these crazed fanatics devoted to Sigmar, but he never had seen them in combat before. These men were utterly fearless, as the man next to him was cut in twain, the other screaming maniac jumped on the Great Unclean One’s arm and starting to bite into it. The Daemon flung the maniac off and he went toppling into the booth, landing on Dieter, who screamed in terror and in pain.
Hanz, realizing that the man was not on fire or had exploded, crouched down to get him off of Dieter, who, thankfully, had passed out. The man was hairy and covered in scars and ritual tattoos, most of which were holy symbols of Sigmar. He was frothing mad, and had the look of a killer in his eyes.
“Who are you? What’s your name?” Shouted Hanz above the din.
“Yuri! Sigmar’s vassal of punishment against the unrighteous! FOR SIGMAR!!!” He screamed as he pounced to his feet, stepping on Dieter’s crotch. Hanz grabbed his shoulder and yelled into his ear:
“Yuri, try to get your men to push the Daemon into the booth! It’s blessed by Sigmar and will destroy it!”
The mad man, paused for a second, and saw a nurgling, right on cue, jump off the creature’s back and through the booth’s window, where it was instantly vaporized.
“Blessed be! Sigmar aides us!” he leaped out the door, and looped his chain around the Greater Daemon’s neck and started pulling! He tossed the other end into the booth, which Hanz picked up and started pulling. Dieter too, conscious again after having his groin stepped on, also grabbed hold of the chain. The three men began pulling the chain trying to drag the creature into the booth.
“FOR SIGMAR! MEN! PUSH IT INTO THE BOOTH!!!” screamed Yuri.
The flagellants obliged without question and all heaved upon the Great Unclean One, who said as it laughed:
“Ah, the children now play a new game! If games you wish to play, you can join me in the Father’s garden and…ARGHH!!!”
Grandmaster Krieger took advantage of his opportunity and with all of his might swung with a mighty upward stroke that cleaved a viscous cut into the beast’s belly. A gush of viscid entrails, juices and foul stench broke forth from it’s decayed hide and spilled onto Krieger, who, exhausted, was overwhelmed and fell over into the slime and wretched. But this action was all that the flagellants required to distract the Greater Daemon, who lost balance and toppled, his horned head catching the booths doorway, and passed the threshold.
There was the brightest, most intense, blast of blinding light of this night so far. This was followed quickly by a blast of heat followed by a wall of silence.
When Hanz recovered, he had afterimages burned into his blurry eyes, and a ringing in his ears. He stumbled over, and found Dieter, unconscious again. Yuri was in the booth still as well, and was on his knees clutching his hands to this face, no doubt also blinded. Hanz pulled himself up, and looked out of the booth, which, amazingly was completely intact.
Outside the booth, scores of dead flagellants lay scattered about. Their bodies burned a bright blue flame, and everywhere the Greater Daemon had left it’s slime, was now a magical fire. Hanz looked around for the Grandmaster, but did not see him. Near the crevasse edge, where he had been, was his sword, laying in a pool of burning blue flame.
