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The sound of the word “hubb” causes a chemical reaction in rainbows. Koalas are ancient guardians of time portals. There is an island made entirely of obsolete calendars. Every lump in the mash is the embryo of an alternate universe.

Chapter 5 of the travel through the Old World of Warhammer of few vampire knights seeking fighting supremacy and immortality.

Estimated reading time: about 18 min

Fire & Blood – Chapter 5

The two intruders froze when the first growling came to them. Wandering in the nauseating puddles, they made themselves as discreet as possible. All the senses on alert, they quickly spotted the position of the other one. Yet they did not perceive a heartbeat nor the annoying sound of suction accompanying each one of their steps. Manesh’ k in front, they camped on their position, ready to draw their weapons at the slightest threat. How was a W’Soran child going to welcome them ?

They remained stunned when they saw it at an angle. Its gaze was clearer and more sparkling than their own, but without pupils. Thanks to these claws that it planted in the rock, it moved to the ceiling like a spider. Without taking the time to look for them, it made a grimace, showing its sharp fangs. Head down, the mood dripping from its mouth flowed over its muzzle and forehead. A tongue of frightening length whipped the air beneath its skull like an insidious tentacle. Despite the near darkness, both could see its stretched cranial limp and dark horns wrapped around its temples. Knotty muscles rolled under its dark red scales. But what alerted them the most were the surprising tattoos it wore, spreading over its entire body.

The aberration fell to the ground and dropped smoothly on its feet. Nodding its head at every step, it advanced towards them, continuing to grumble. It came to a halt a few steps away. The air itself twisted as sparks flashed out of nowhere and lit up the tunnel. Two shining swords materialized in its clawed fists. As if animated by a life of their own, they pulsed with an orange glow.

Scleras shuddering with excitement. Manesh’ k himself stood before his creation !

The vampire did not bother to respond, absorbed by the ghostly scene that was happening before his eyes. Wrapped in a thick suit, he had his eyes wide open and his face lit by the white smoke, saying silent words. The creature dropped to the ground and materialized both swords. It had invoked its weapons! Even in his most positive estimates he did not dare to hope for that ! He saw without hearing the other two talking to each other, before one of them left the fog scene.

Watching in silence, Morisburg and Castille also watched the creature’s behaviour. It had reacted violently by noticing the naked necromancer, a sign that the will of its first creator was flowing through its veins. However, Scleras control had been perfect !

The concerned woman bowed, then withdrew and disappeared into one of the corridors, her bare feet not producing a noise. Scleras and Morisburg concentrated on the two antagonists who threw themselves at each other.

The creature struck both blades simultaneously in a V-shape that would have killed anyone at once. But Manesh’ k was not just anyone and of inhumane vivacity, he deflected the first blade and slid it over his own before parrying the second. The orange-coloured weapons placed at the tip and guard of the vampire’s weapon, the monster pressed his advantage with a herculean force. The undead man placed his free hand at the other end of the sword to support the pressure exerted. The jaw clapped an inch from his face, but he had already moved. With a complete rotation, he slid the blades on his own in a flood of sparks, before removing it and cutting the left shoulder of the creature whose weapons whipped the void. It made up for it with one step forward and swung, firmly inserting its claw in the clay. Suddenly, Manesh’ k kicked it from the heel behind its exposed knee and tripped it, before whipping the air with his blade. The monster’s head jumped out of its shoulders like a cork.

Turning his back on the defeated creature, he continued his way, regretting already having wasted his friend’s time. He examined his precious blade, still burning where those of the creature had crossed it. Any weapon of lesser quality would have been broken. He was pleased to have once accepted this gift from his enemies and lowered it, when he noticed a movement in the dull reflection of the blade. In-extremis he swung and parried the reddening sword, retreating one step backwards, and parried once more the second one. With a blazing gaze, the resurrected creature ruthlessly pushed its advantage, making him retreat with lateral blows as fast as they were powerful. The vampire could no longer regain the advantage, still shocked to have come so close to disaster. The evil weapons were not stopped at all when they stroked the walls or the mud, leaving blackened and smoky furrows. Manesh’k hissed of anger while parrying the two swords suddenly sprouting on his left. Suddenly the weight disappeared and the claw struck him hard on the other side of his exposed belly and slammed him violently against the viscous wall.

Although stunned, he had the reflex to let himself fall to the ground, while the blades crossed where he had held his head a second earlier. He hastily rolled out of reach, putting himself back on guard. Grumbling and whipping the air with its reptilian tongue, the tattooed creature charged again. This time Manesh’ k no longer underestimated it. He parried the first weapon with his own blade and caught its other arm by the wrist, preventing it from cutting him in half. The sharp mouth plunged straight down towards his face, but only met the vampire’s armoured knee, slamming its jaw and cutting the filthy tentacle. It stepped back, stunned. The head that he had decapitated was well and truly fixed again. What was that sorcery ? Was it an illusion ? Yet his ribs claimed otherwise…

It was when he saw the creature shaking its head, splitting the air from it spiral horns, that he noticed the violet tongue growing back quickly by itself. Even the shoulder wound was gone. He tilted his head sideways. To defeat a creature not fearing physical wounds or its ancient blade would be problematic, especially if he himself were devoid of magical gifts !

Morisburg had a hiccup when they saw the result of their hard work pitifully collapsing, its head cut off. But animated by the most powerful sorceries, it straightened itself. The ungodly flesh came back in a matter of seconds and almost sliced him in half without its opponent noticing. Scleras shouted with frustration. They saw the monstrosity taking advantage, pushing the vampire into his last entrenches, striking him and missing to finish him. There was a new weapon pass before the undead retreated, perplexed. Scleras jubilated.

Morisburg could not but share this enthusiasm, delighting in the scene faithfully reproduced by the revenant.

The steel whistled above the head of the squatted creature. Immediately Manesh’ k struck the spongy floor with the boot, throwing mud at the creature’s face. Blinded, it screamed in anger and gesticulated before its face was split in half with a dark spray. Its scream cut, it leaned forward, its arms suddenly heavier. Manesh’ k rushed into the breach. He slit its flank and arm at elbow level, passing on the left, then made a quick rotation before spinning it. His blade came out right in the middle of its chest. Without collapsing, the aberration remained motionless to suffer his blows. He could not help but smile as he thought of the reproaches his father in death would have made for the way he had taken advantage. Nevertheless, and given the enemy’s capabilities, he did not consider this to be essential.

In doing so he pulled his weapon out in a scarlet sheaf. The monster fell to his knees. Scold of anger. It leaned on its arm unharmed, the stump resting over the sliced flesh. But the sliced flesh suddenly rippled and leapt to the wound with which it merged under the amazed eyes of the vampire. The black and scarlet demon stood upright, shouting with rage. It swung and charged the fighter again.

He came to a standstill frowning. The sounds that came to him and the troubles that he felt did not tell him anything good. Especially since he was now alone, having let Manesh’ k cross the iron with the other creature. Just thinking about it again, he got a shiver of disgust. Unaffected by the winds of magic, his friend could not understand how he felt so close to a warp offspring. He felt happy that he was not in the place of the other vampire. He could still hear the sound of the blades ringing, a sign that the fight was harder than expected. But he didn’t doubt the outcome of the fight. It was Manesh’ k. Like him, he was descended from the commander of Lahmia’s troops. He wouldn’t fail.

He perceives the heartbeat approaching well before seeing his owner in the dark underground. Accompanied by a whole army of skeletons moving mechanically, causing a concert of splashes and sucking noise, she presented herself to him.

He inspected her without answering, while the puppets stopped. He hadn’t made a noise and she was clearly not wearing an arcanic object. She had her eyelids closed. However, he felt it, and so did she. That’s how she saw his presence.

She straightened her head, breathing in with her full lungs as her skirt stretched over her chest.

Suddenly her smile froze, before fading away. Doubt was painted on her face.

He remained impassive in the face of the dozens of undead standing upright, rusty weapons or simply armed with their bare hands.

With a coordination too perfect, all the dead rushed upon him. He stood still, letting them come to him. Anyway, the conduit was so narrow that they could not take advantage of their number more than three to one. His boot smashed the ribcage of the midle one before he fired his shot, and his fist tore the skull off the righ one. He then bounced the dagger of the last one on his own blade, before leaping over the sword of the last skeleton, who continued his spin to the second row. When he fell down, he mowed the ankles of those too close to his taste, throwing them on the ground. With a cold efficiency he broke their articulations of arms and legs, before going back to the assault. He noticed that the heart of the necromancer plunged into the dark was accelerating noticeably as she did not move backwards, leaving more and more bone puppets between them. But would there be enough, he wondered with a fierce smile ?

The metal grid flew through the air with a ringing of protest. Immediately the fighter jumped into the alley, rising up to the first floor of the buildings, and fell a few meters further down. And the creature took out what was left of the sewer mouth, falling down on all fours. It straightened up as its wounds from the vampire blade and the shredded grid closed fast. The impassive face, Manesh’ k once again warned.

They leapt on each other, their blades held in the cool air of the night. The tattooed creature jumped abruptly into the air, passing over the vampire’s whistling sword, and shot down its two weapons again in a mortal crossroads. But Manesh’ k had again dodged by moving aside, turning on himself to increase his momentum, struck the creature’s shoulder violently. It lifted off the ground and swirled for a few metres into the wall of a nearby building. The vampire remained impassive, holding back from grimacing, while a splash of dark blood had accompanied the shot. The studded leather boot was torn on the crest that the monster wore along the spine. It fell to the ground, raising its head straight away, eyes shining with anger. Nevertheless, it shuddered as it got up. Visibly taking hold of itself, it straightened up completely and grumbled with anger, its long purple tongue waving furiously in front of its face.

It grumbled once more, scratching the floor and tearing a pavement with its claw. But did not charge.

As he dashed, the monster turned back and leapt mightily towards the wall cracked by the impact, passing through a crash of stones and mortar. Manesh’ k rushed in, just to see its leap up a flight of stairs, pulverizing the railing and disappearing upstairs. He swore while jumping the steps four to four, a dreadful doubt pointed in his mind. He had recognized the creature despite the strange tattoo and the powers it had been given. He also knew what offering was needed to invoke it…

He rushed into a room just in time to see the monster tearing out a woman’s throat in a dressing gown with a jaw jerk, splashing the sheets and the man who shared the diaper. Mortified, Manesh’ k saw the monster proceed in the same way as his fellow beings were feeding, sucking life out of the body at an astounding speed. The man pushed a swell of terror, managing to get out of bed, the bloodthirsty demon ignoring him completely. The vampire moved aside without paying much attention to the human who did not even notice his pale complexion or scarlet eyes. The rotten bowels piled up as the creature made great efforts to shred the body, tearing it into bloody pieces. It looked exactly like what it was : a rabid beast, thirsty for blood and slaughter. It had taken less than ten seconds to drain the body of any fluid and make the appearance of the remains barely recognizable. If he had been human again, he would certainly have emptied his stomach at that nightmarish sight.

The young man’s face and nightgown were soaked in blood, which did not prevent Brother Brandit from holding him against him.

His gaze swept through the surrounding alleys at a frightening speed. He even scratched the religious.

The effect on the unfortunate was radical. He stopped struggling and stared at Brother Brandit. He trembled like a leaf, and his tears whipped white furrows in the dust stuck to his cheeks with blood.

He carried his two hands to his face, splashing a little more scarlet, bursting with tears. Brandit released him and John rushed to help him sit down, supporting him with a firm hand.

He stammered in the void for a moment before shutting up. Neither of them were blinking. One of the soldiers was about to speak, but Dave stopped him.

John and the priest could not help, exchanging a glance of incomprehension.

The soldier nodded and bent over, inviting the unfortunate to release the man with the hat. Suddenly a sharp scream broke through the night, making him scream again. With a flash of light the hammer went on again.

The creature jumped backwards. It jumped against a wall and threw itself on the balcony facing it. Itrolled and got up immediately, growling towards Manesh’ k. Taking advantage of this unexpected rest, the vampire let his shoulders relax. He had shaking wrists due to his heavy parry, and his armour was now covered with scratches.

He did not lift the spade while his companion was falling from a nearby roof. The creature climbed up the balustrade and clapped its jaws, making the newcomer startle.

Manesh’ k did not answer, thinking. The red and black demon didn’t seem to want to run away from them. It was just staring at them as it scolded, waiting for the next assault.

With a roar of anger, the demon leapt to Manesh’ k who parried the first sword while the second one broke the air in his back. Rotating in the opposite direction, the creature depicted a circular arch of its first sword at head height. The vampire had already squatted down. He leaned on his free hand to give a violent heelstroke into the tibia of its opponent, which produced a sinister crack. Carried away by its swing, the creature stumbled beside him, its leg having reaped a dubious angle. But the pain did not change its willingness to stab the undead, as it rolled on itself by extending its arm and the orange blade split a pavement of the alley in two. Swearily, Manesh’ k carried his hand to his calf. The metal was boiling where it had been cut and it hurt like hell. But he didn’t have the muscle cut off.