I.
The harsh desert winds blew around Razgor’s head. The orruk stood atop his Sludgeraker, Grotgobbla. Together with his warclan, they were positioned atop a dune. The boltboyz lined the ridges whilst the gutrippaz were standing at the foot of the dunes. About a hundred metres ahead of them was a small group of hobgrotz, enthusiastically dancing around a couple of barrels. All 10 of them were drenched in a dark green substance. Even from so far away, Razgor could still smell the horrible odour coming off of the hobgrotz.
Suddenly the ground shook. At first it was a very slight tremor, barely noticeable to the untrained ear. But to Razgor it was clear as day. In a matter of seconds, the rumble grew stronger and a large scaled worm erupted from the ground underneath the hobgrots. All ten of them and the barrels were swallowed whole by the beast’s giant maw. Just as planned. Razgor smiled, he always loved it when a plan took place like it should.
The worm burrowed again and the warclan waited in silence. And they waited, and waited. Razgor had been counting the time. The bomb shouldeve gone of by now. Something was off. Zarakrag had messed up. Suddenly, the beast erupted from the ground right in front of him. The hole it dug caused the dune to collapse. Sand and orruks rolled down the hill, some falling into the dark pit around the beast. Grotgobbla started to get nervous. If not for its harsh and prolonged training, the mount would have ran off by now. But for the moment, it kept following its master’s commands. Razgor stared the worm in its face. At that very moment, when his red eyes locked with the monster’s black, beady eyes, he finally felt that feeling again. The feeling of the thrill of the hunt. It’d been a while since he’d felt it. Razgor opened his mouth and let out a furious Waaagh, but before Razgor realised what was happening, the beast spat a vile stream of purple goo out of its maw. The bile hit the orruk right in the face and he could feel the goo burning his mouth. The burning sensation travelled down his oesophagus and into his lungs. His breathing became heavy and painful. In a matter of seconds, his vision grew blurry and the orruk passed out.
When the orruk woke up, he gasped for air, his entire body hurting. He felt a burning agony with every breath he took. Yet, the orruk painfully stood up. Around him were signs of battle, countless dead orruks surrounding him. But neither the worm nor his warclan were there. They’d abandoned him. Razgor felt a sharp pain, not from his burnt lungs but from the feeling of being abandoned. He understood most of the warclan moved on. But what really hurt was that the few he considered real friends had also left him for dead, never even checking if he was still alive or taken the effort to bury his body. Ever since his time in Hysh, he had developed these emotions. They’d become part of who he was now but this was the first time he’d felt them this much.
Razgor limped towards a dead orruk close to him, picking up the spear that was laid beside him. As he got closer, the orruk noticed something. The gutrippa in front of him succumbed to his wounds. Stab wounds. Something was off. Using the spear as a crutch, Razgor started walking. Not in any particular direction or with a destination in mind. No such thing crossed his mind. He simply went his way.
II.
Days passed as the orruk marched. The burning sensation he felt with every breath had not passed. Quite the opposite, the feeling had slowly started becoming unbearable, likely worsened by the lack of water. For a day, Razgor’s hip flask had been empty and there had been no water anywhere nearby. Yet, Razgor kept marching. He’d been through worse when deserts were the only lands his warband roamed.
Another day passed. Finally, the dehydration and his injuries had started catching up to the orruk. His pace had somehow managed to become even slower and the pain inside his lungs had only gotten worse. At last the orruk collapsed in the sand. He laid flat on his back and stared at the blue sky. Perhaps his final day had come. The orruk closed his eyes and accepted that this was it. This is how he’d come to his end. Not some epic hunt or colossal fight. Dehydration and grievous wounds.
Suddenly, the sound of propellers rang through the sky. In a split second, his newfound acceptance of death vanished as he sprang up from his position in the sand. In the distance a golden vessel glistered in the sun. Razgor recognised it immediately as a Kharadron vessel. Normally, they always travel in groups, except this one did not. The orruk stood back up. His body screeched in agony, yet this did not stop him. Painfully, the orruk limped forward. With every step he took, a sharp pain shot through his body. Every breath he took was more painful than the last. Yet he crawled towards the vessel. As if blessed by Kragnos himself, the vessel grew ever closer. How long it took him to close the distance, Razgor doesn’t remember, but every agonising minute was worse than the last. His vision blurred again as the vessel lowered from the sky. As he collapsed, duardin clad in shining armour came down a ladder and surrounded him. He felt the sensation of being lifted up and blacked out again.
III.
Razgor is standing in a clearing in a swamp. From the bushes that surround him, eyes watch his every move. Slowly, beasts of all kinds and sizes approach him from inside the bushes. Most of them shouldn’t be in a swamp, yet here they are. Suddenly, a large cat-like creature lashes out at him. Razgor tries to dodge but it quickly becomes apparent his body is frozen in place. The cats’ claws carve deep into his body. A sharp pain shoots through his body.
Razgor shot awake. Bad dreams, he’d had them. As the orruk looked around the room, it became obvious he was in a dimly lit jailcel. The slight rumble of engines sounded all throughout the room. When breathing in, Razgor noticed the pain had lessened, yet it still hurt quite a bit to breathe. His throat felt raspy and painful. As the orruk stood up from the bed he had been sleeping on, he noticed someone had been watching him. From the shadows a duardin looked on, their face covered by an intricate helmet sporting a golden beard. The duardin stood up from their seat in the shadows. They walked up to the bars and removed their helmet. Long red hair rolled down from underneath the helmet. Piercing blue eyes looked the orruk in the eye:
“Whot’s an orruk like you doin’ out here on yer own?!” her voice had a certain smoothness to it. Razgor seemed surprised by the woman looking at him but quickly spoke up.
“Me’z warclan az abandoned me.” His voice raspy and talking hurt. The duardin looked surprised, tilting her head slightly.
“Whot ya mean, they abandoned ya?”. Razgor coughed and prepared for another painful sentence: “Dey thought me’z woz ded, so dey left me.”
“I mean, yer walking around, so I doubt ya’re dead. What happened to your arm. She nudged her head towards Razgor’s left arm.
“It’z living ironbark, da stuv de Sylvaneth are made ov. I’z lost it in battle.”
Her focus shifted towards his arm, inspecting it. “How did ya manage to make it work, what kinda mechanic do ya use to make it move?”
Razgor seemed surprised by the question. With his raspy voice he answered: “I’z dun’ kno, it just doez.”
“It just does? That’s weird, we’ll have ta study that more.”
Razgor got agitated: “I’z not staying.” With those words, he grabbed ahold of the metal bars with his sylvaneth arm. Suddenly he felt a burning sensation.
“It’s anti magic steel, guess that explains why yer arm works.” She looked up at the orruk, her bright blue eyes piercing his gaze. “I’m sorry, but yer gonna stay here for now lad. Can’t have ya snitch our position.” She turns around and paces around, seemingly thinking.
Razgor spoke up: “You’z flying around, I’z an orruk on me’z own. Wot can I do to ya, who would I’z snitchz too?”
The duardin turned her head towards the orruk once again, although it appeared as if she was still deep within her own thoughts. “Well, we’ve got some enemies on our tail who could take ya.”
Razgor shrugged: “I’z like ta see em try.”
The duardin laughed. “I managed to take ya and I’m just a merchant, these guys are way more dangerous. Yer lucky I kept ya alive.”
She pointed at his chest. “If it weren’t for me medic, ya would be dead for now. He did ‘is best to fix you, but it was his first time working on an orruk and any dwarf with that much damage to their lungs would be dead. It’s a miracle that yer alive.”
Razgor looked down, just now noticing the bandages that wrapped around his chest.
“Thankz…” the orruk mumbled. Even Razgor seemed surprised by his words.
The duardin had a genuine face of surprise on her face. “I thought orruks were brutes, no emotions, no remorse. But here ya are, saying thanks. Seems like my gut feeling was right, maybe I won’t regret picking you up.” a grin appeared on her face.
“Get some more rest, I’ll bring ya some food later.” With those words, she turned around and started walking out.
With quite some effort, Razgor spoke up again.
“Da name’z Razgor Beastbreaka, da redhanded, Greatest killaboss of…”. For some reason, Razgor had not realised he no longer was the leader of the Realmhuntaz. There was no warclan he led. A tear rolled down his cheek as the reality kicked in that he was still alone.
The duardin’s hand appeared through the bars. “Don’t leave me ‘anging, Razgor. My name’s Veya, good to meet ya.” She looked up at him with a smile on her face. Razgor accepted her handshake, carefully making sure he didn’t crush her hand.
IV.
With his prosthetic, he scratched another mark into the wall. Day 8. That’s how long he’d been on the ship. From the small portcullis inside the cell, all he could see was more endless dunes. That’s all he’d seen from the window all this time. Based on where the realm of light rose and presuming they were still in Ghur, Razgor was pretty certain they were still heading towards the east. For a moment, he wondered if the duardin had a destination in mind, or if just like him, they were just heading in a direction without purpose. The sound of the door opening quickly pulled him out of his thoughts. Footsteps approached the cell. From around the corner Veya appeared. To his surprise, she was not wearing her armour, her long red curls wildly swinging as she stepped through the hall. Instead of the usual kharadron armour, she was wearing a simple white shirt with a brown leather vest on top of it. She carried a large metal tray filled with all kinds of food. She smiled at the orruk as she shoved it underneath the door.
“How are ye doin big guy!”
Razgor looked down at the metal tray and picked out the bread. He hadn’t enjoyed his meals so far, except for the bread. For some reason, he enjoyed the fluffiness of it. Veya continued talking to him: “I got good news for ya! Yer coming outside with me today!”
Razgor frowned as he chewed on the bread. So far, he had spent his days locked up, Veya’s visits being the only entertainment he’d had.
“Wotz da catch in dat deal?”
Veya laughs, as if defeated.
“Yer a clever one, I’ll give ya that. Yer gonna be my bodyguard. I’ve got business to attend too and I might run into a bit of trouble. That’s where ya come in. Big scary orruk like ya are should be able to keep me safe.”
Razgor’s breaths were still incredibly painful as he spoke up, his voice was still raspy.
“Ya sure I’z won kill ya da moment ya’z open dat door?”
Veya’s face turned into a frown. “Why do ya gotta be so somber. Help me out here, prove to me yer not a danger and then we can work from there.”
Razgor stood up from the bed, stretching his prosthetic.
V.
As the duo disembarked the ship, Razgor inspected his surroundings. The ship had parked at the top of a steep cliff. In front of them, a wooden contraption stood with a couple of aelves guarding it. Veya walked up to them and bowed before him. The two soldiers never returned the gesture and spoke up. “Veya, it’s been a while since you’ve brought your commerce here. After all the trouble you caused you dare come back and then spit in our faces by bringing a greenskin? Why would we let you into the city?”
Veya had a sheepish grin on her face: “Those troubles have been resolved lads, no worries.” From the pouch on her belt, she took a seemingly heavy bag and presented it to the duo. “As a repayment for the damages we’ve caused, Captain.”
The captain took the bag as if he was a grot presented with a scrap of prime meat. He peeked into the bag and turned his attention back to the duardin. “This will do the damage, but we need insurance in case you cause trouble again. We’ll take command of the ship until you return.”
Veya seemed to swallow her pride and sheepishly nodded: “Sure, we’re not ‘ere for trouble, amirite Razgor?” Razgor barely moved, but agreed in silence. He didn’t know where they were and what kinds of enemies would be around. For now, he’d keep calm.
The guards opened the gates to the wooden structure and the duardin and orruk stepped onto the wooden platform. The guards closed the gate once again and rang a bell. Suddenly, the platform slowly started going down. As they went along, Razgor finally saw where the city was. The entire ravine was filled with countless houses and buildings. Even the walls were covered in them, untrustworthy bridges and walkways connecting the buildings. Countless people of all kinds filled the streets. From this distance, Razgor already noticed humans, aelves, duardin and sylvaneth but also gitz, ogors and even ghouls. The childlike wonder on his face must’ve been obvious, since Veya immediately commented on it:
“Welcome to The Beastways. It’s stunning isn’t it? I remember when I first came here, I was as surprised as you are now. Here, all races are welcome, as long as you keep it civil. We live and work together and exchange goods and services. Gods make no rules here. The council does. No racism, no discrimination, no religious zealoutry.”
Once at the bottom, the duo stepped off of the platform. Soon after, the platform quickly went back up to the surface. Veya continued explaining: “The elevators are the only ways in and out of town. The entrances to the ravines are blocked off by walls to keep raiders and monsters out. The city is guarded by the Volunteers. Captain Garalon, the aelf you met up top, leads them. So far, they’ve been successful at keeping the city safe and on the map. Tensions can sometimes rise and fights break out every now and then but that’s true for everywhere.”
Veya walked at a steady pace for a dwarf and seemed to be confident in where she was heading. Razgor followed her lead, still dazed by the sheer size of the city. He’d seen them before, his warband had even traded things before, but never had he seen a city this diverse and busy. The tight streets were filled with merchant stalls, selling all kinds of stuff. The terracotta houses enclosed the streets, making the streets rather small for how big the crowd was. Some houses were closed up, but others had bustling businesses inside. On most street corners tables and benches filled the streets. Waiters of all species ran around with large plates of beer and food. The aroma of cooked meats filled Razgor’s nose. His stomach rumbled, reminding him how hungry he was. His eyes followed the platters of food passing by. Veya poked his side: “Come on big fellow, we can eat after business.”
The duo continued their walk. At a large blue building, Veya stopped and entered through a small door, clearly not meant for an orruk like Razgor. On the inside, a bunch of duardin were looking at the countless glass cabinets, most of which were filled with all kinds of shiny rocks and other artifacts. Veya walked up to the counter and rang the bell. From the back, a duardin with a long, dark grey beard came. He was wearing expensive clothes, with a broach resembling a diamond on his left pocket. Upon seeing the duo, he let out a deep sigh.
“Veya… I hoped we wouldn’t meet again.” His voice was weak and raspy. Veya laughed the comment away: “You’re such a funny lad Khalum, you’re always glad to make a deal.”
The elderly dwarf answered: “Indeed, but not with you.”
Veya’s smile turned into an annoyed look: “Aw c’mon, I’ve got something really special here.” From the belt on her waist, she retrieved a pouch. From inside, she took out a bright red gem. When the sun hit it, a bright red beam of light shone from the top. The old dwarf’s expression quickly changed: “A Heart of Titanjaw!” He barely managed to contain the excitement in his voice.
Veya’s grin returned: “I knew you’d be interested. I managed to snatch this beauty fresh from the beast’s dead corpse.”
Khalum shot out in laughter: “You’re trying to tell me your measly crew of merchants managed to kill a Titanjaw? With your equipment. You guys wouldn’t be able to kill a sandtoad, let alone a Titanjaw.”
Veya grinned: “Never said we killed it, I just snatched the heart. We found it dead, surrounded by those ratmen freaks. We only snatched the stone and got out quickly. But how we got it doesn’t matter, you want to buy it right?”
Khalum’s face turned blank again: “Of course, but for a good price, not a lot of buyers for a stone this expensive.”
“Don’t lie to me like that, I know 3 other duardin and an orruk who would buy it. The only reason I’m here is because I know you’ll give me the best price for it. And because we’re mates, right?”
The dwarf started pacing around. “Alright, how much do you want? 500 Bones?”
Veya answered with a quiet voice, seemingly ashamed of what she was about to say: “I was thinking about… double that….”
The dwarf started laughing again: “If I could give you that, I’d only make a small profit.”
Veya swiftly answered: “C’mon Khalum! A duardin with contacts like you can sell it for 1500. I know you have the cash. Think of the reputation you’ll gain for selling a stone like that to some nobelity?”
The dwarf sighed and paced around. This kept going for a few minutes before he went out back. When he returned, he carried a large pouch.
“Nine hundred. Last offer.”
Veya could barely hide the happiness on her face: “Deal!” She put the stone in the bag and handed it to the dwarf, taking the bag filled with coins and handing it to the orruk: “Carry this for me will ya?” Razgor took the bag and tied it to his belt.
As the duo went outside, Veya made sure Khalum wasn’t watching her anymore and let out a scream of excitement. “Thank Grimnir! This is a fortune!” In her excitement, she hugged the orruk. “C’mon big lad, let’s feast!” She guided Razgor through the alleyways to a small pub, hidden in a small alleyway in between two large streets.
. If you didn’t know exactly where the pub was, you probably wouldn’t be able to find it. The inside was rather small, with only a few tables inside. On the sides, benches sat hidden in the shadows. There were a couple of folks inside, most of them had their faces covered with cowls. It was quite apparent this was a rather shady place. Razgor spoke up:
“Dun seem loik a plaze a duardin loik you’z be vizitin.” The thick smoke that hung around the place made his throat even more sore than usual. Veya laughed the comment away:
“What do ya think of me? I’m not some kind of nobility lad. Besides, this place has the best smoked scarab kebab around!” She sat down at a bench in the corner. She waved at the grot behind the bar. The grot, wearing a dirty leather apron came over. When he recognised Veya, he sighed and spoke up: “Veya, ‘ave ya come to pay ya….” Before the grot could even finish his sentence, Veya plopped down a bag of coins in front of his nose. “That’s for you, with a little interest.” As soon as the grot looked inside the bag, a grin larger than his face appeared. “Wow! You’z finally made ya money back. Whatever you want, it’z on da house today!” The grot waddled away with the bag, almost larger than his body. Veya turned to the orruk: “That barely made a dent in the money I made. Eat whatever ya want lad, we’ve got to celebrate!”
Razgor was uncomfortable on the small chair, constantly repositioning himself.
“Made dat much today?” Veya started chuckling. “You have no idea, big guy, this money is life changing. Nine hundred Bones is life changing. With this bag of coins, I can finally pay off everything!”
Razgor tilted his head. “Ya got dat much coinz ya need to pay?”
Veya’s face quickly changed, suddenly looking rather upset. “I made some mistakes in the past, and I’ve been trying to make up for that ever since.” For the first time, her voice didn’t sound cheerful, the sorrow being very apparent.
“I’z kno wot it’z like, makin’ mistakes.” The mood at the table had suddenly turned into a sombre one. The grot waddled towards the table, carrying a metal tray about twice as big as him. On the plate lay a large piece of carapace, filled with steaming hot meat. Veya’s mood quickly shifted back to happiness as the platter was placed on the table. “Let’s eat!” With her bare hands, she started pulling apart the fat meat, stuffing a large piece into her mouth. Razgor’s stomach rumbled and he quickly dug into the meat aswell. The meat was slightly chewy and quite fat, but the taste was beyond anything Razgor had ever eaten before. Soon, the grot started bringing ale to the table, and the duo quickly started downing the pints as if they were mugs of water.
“What happened to ya?” Veya’s voice was quiet but carried a real sense of sincerity.
“I’z dun wanna talk bout it.” Razgor was surprised by his own unwillingness to touch on the subject. Even thinking about it made his stomach turn.
“What if I go first?” Veya asked inquisitively. Razgor leaned back in his chair and seemingly agreed to the offer.
“I’m not from around here. I grew up in Chamon. A skyport called Bârak Monur. Quite small, but a lot of wealthy duardin live there. I wasn’t as fortunate. Never knew my real parents. They’d left me on the curb. That’s when me mother found me. She raised me as if I were her only child. She was a lowly tailor, making clothes for the rich folks. Barely made enough to feed the two of us, so I quickly resorted to scavenging. Digging through the bins after big parties, stealing from buffets I wasn’t invited to. One day, I came home and found me mom, unconscious on the ground. Turned out she had some kind of disease, very curable if you had the money. Sadly, we never did. A week later she died.” A tear rolls down Veya’s face, the mood having turned sombre again. “After that, I got into trouble. Became an unguided projectile. Started stealing bigger things, breaking the code, causing trouble. I started lending cash and stacking up debts left and right. Until a couple years ago, when I got out of jail, I returned to me old home. Underneath one of the cupboards, I found an old letter me mama wrote. Said she knew she didn’t have long left. She said she wanted a better life for me. Said she was proud of who I was and that I should never let life change me. Bawled my eyes out that night. The morning after, I got a job on a ship. Swabbing decks at first, but turns out I was quite good at trading and running a crew. After a few years, I saved up enough to buy me own crew. We set off for Ghur the very same evening. Heard there was lots of coin to be made from all the goods around here if you had the balls to take it. That’s how we got here. Still owe a lot of people a lot of money, but I’m working on it. These Bones here are my ticket out. I’ll finally be able to put my past behind me and move on.”
Razgor sighed. “Dun tell anyone I told ya diz. I’m from da swamps of Ghur. Small warclan called the Bugsnatchas.” Veya snickered at the name. “Most of ur dayz were spent eating bugz and killing random trespassers. But I wanted more. One day, I got da chance to make changez. A large horde of da ratmen invaded ou’a swamp. We’z were certain we’ze would die. Den, god appeared. Kragnos, da true god of destruction, was foightin a real big beast. Never noticed uz or da ratz. Most of uz got trampled, but I lived. I’d seen da loight. I took me spear and set up a plan ta kill da old bozz. Wif him gone, I’z became da boss. From there I took the few remaining orruks into da desert. We would hunt da great beasts that roamed dose lands n’ earn da favour of ou’a god.” Veya interrupted him.
“Yer telling me ya saw a god with yer own eyes?” the glister in her eyes betrayed her intrigue. She was leaning on the table, glued to Razgor’s lips.
“Every wurd I saidz tru. We lived in da desert fur a while, till we got inta a scrap wif sum of dem chaos boyz. During da battle, their wizard teleported us into a different realm. After we crumped em real gud, we couldn’t get back ‘ome. So, we’ze started hunting. Turned out we’ze landed on a small part on da edge of Hysh, called da Prime Dominion. Spent quite sum toime dere. Worked fur an aelf named Atressa. Special one dat. She hired me to fight a war fur ‘er. We’ze won dat one uf course. Crumped some vampire’z real gud. Afta da war, I worked az a hunta for her fur a while, but that became boring. So, I’z took da warclan ‘n left through the nearest warpgate.” Razgor seemed to think about his next words, dwelling on his old memories. “I’z dun miss da place, but I do miss me mates. Dey were good folkz, thought me’z alota fings.”
“Like emotions?” Veya interrupted.
“I’z guess so. I’z been different eva since. The bois ‘n me been roaming around da realmz for a while, killin’ beasts, till we’z got back inta Ghur. Dere, we setz up a trap fur an emerald Sandwurm, but something went wrong. I’z got wounded and me warband left me behind. Dat’s when ya picked me up.” The conversation had brought back painful memories and without realising, a couple had rolled down his face. Veya handed him another pint.
“Yer with me now, yer gonna be fine.” She had a genuine smile on her face. Razgor accepted the pint and quickly chugged it down. “Anova round grot!”
VI.
By the time the two left the pub, it was dark outside and few people were still out on the street. Both having had too much to drink, Veya was barely able to stand on her feet, using Razgor as a crutch. “Ye know.. I’m glad I picked ya up. At first I-I was a bit scep.. Sceptical, but yer a good lad.” She blurted out drunkenly.
“Where we’z going?” Razgor asked. The cold air had already started to clear his head and for the first time in a while, breathing didn’t hurt quite as much.
“We’re going to…. Tooooo… To a really good tavern. Friend a mine owns it. We can sleep there.” In the corner of his eye Razgor noticed a shadow moving behind them. Yet, when he turned around, there was nothing there. As they continued walking, the feeling of being watched only grew stronger, yet Razgor couldn’t spot anything. Perhaps the alcohol had gotten to his head more than he believed.
Suddenly, an arrow missed the orruks head by a few inches. Instinctively, Razgor pulled Veya off her feet and dragged her behind a cart still on the street. All around them, arrows flew, but for now they missed. From behind their cover, Razgor surveyed the streets. Five figures, their heads covered with dark hoods, swords drawn, jumped down from the rooftops. On top, 3 archers remained, their bows pulled back and ready to fire. As thoughts raced through his mind, the swordsmen closed in. They moved swiftly and silently. These weren’t normal crooks. Based on their height and the way they moved, Razgor guessed they were aelves. The feathers on the arrows were pitch black, but from the way they’d been fashioned, Razgor could tell they belonged to Daughters of Khaine. He had to do something now, or the swordsmen would close the distance. Veya was still dazed by the combination of the alcohol and the surprise of the attack. With all his might, Razgor pushed against the cart. The wooden wheels screeched as the cart in its entirety was pushed sideways. Two of the swordsmen were too surprised to dodge it, the full weight barreling down on them. The three of them left dashed forward, the wind blowing off their hoods, revealing female faces. All of the Khainites had dark purple hair and their skin was a sickly white. Before the closest one realised what was happening, Razgor had sprung up from his cover and intercepted her in her dash. With his prosthetic arm, he grabbed onto her torso, then swiftly slammed her into the pavement. As her body crushed into the stone bricks, bones could be heard cracking. The next one swiped her sword at him, but using the first Khainites body, Razgor blocked the attack. With the sword stuck in her friend’s back, Razgor grabbed her by her throat and squeezed. A sickening snap sounded and the aelf fell lifeless to the ground. Arrows rained down on him, two of them landing in the back of the Khainite Razgor was using as a shield, but the third one hit its mark. Razgor felt a sharp pain in his right leg as the arrow dug into his flesh, but that barely stopped the orruks rampage. He threw the lifeless body at the trio, hitting one of the archers full in the face. The last khainite with a sword attacked again, slashing deep into the orruks back. At this point Razgor had lost all control. With surprising speed, he turned around and slashed at the aelf with his prosthetic. Deep cuts appeared on her unprotected stomach, blood gushing out as she fell to the ground. More arrows flew into his back. Razgor grabbed the sword of the dead aelf, throwing it at one of the archers. The sword hit square on, carving right through, getting stuck on the hilt. As her lifeless body fell from the rooftop, the third archer took off running, clearly not ready to meet Nagash just yet. Razgor was covered in dark red blood, adrenaline rushing through his body. He hadn’t felt this much excitement in a long time. Then, he noticed Veya, unconscious on the ground, having been hit by an arrow in her chest. Blood flowed in a thick stream from the wound and immediately, all the rage in Razgor’s mind made place for panic. He picked her up, trying his best to stop the bleeding. Running through the streets, he shouted for help. It didn’t take long for guards to show. Without much effort, they restrained the distraught orruk and took him away as they attended to the duardin’s wounds.
VII.
Razgor was once again in a jail cell. Time flew by as the orruk paced around, deeply worried about his newfound friend. After who knows how many hours, the clanging of metal was heard in the hallways. Captain Garalon, the aelf he had met at the elevator, stepped up to the jail door. “You’re being let go orruk. Witnesses have testified that you were indeed the one being attacked. The council has decided to rule the case as self defence.” The disgust on the aelfs face was apparent as he was releasing the cuffs on the orruk. “Self defence or not, it was incredibly brutal. If you even think about killing again, I’ll have you sent away or worse, fed to the cats.” Razgor steadily ignored the comment, making his way past the captain as soon as his cuffs were undone. He stormed out, running up a flight of stairs. Once at the top, he noticed he was in a castle, at one of the walls to the canyon. Guards soon joined him, escorting him to the gate, where they swiftly shoved him outside. It was noon again, the streets bustling with life again. A familiar face pushed her way through the crowd, the usual smile still on her face. “Hey there big lad!” Razgor ran towards Veya, lifting her up in his embrace. It’d been a while since he’d felt like this. The dwarf seemed weirded out at first, but then leaned into the hug. She whispered in his ear: “Thanks for saving me.”
Razgor put her down again. “You’re alive.” he exclaimed, barely able to contain his excitement about this discovery. “Of course I am, I grew up on the streets, I’ve been through worse! Doctor said I was lucky, arrow hit a vein but missed any vital spots, hence why I was bleeding like a horse. Said I should go easy the next few days, but I’ll probably ignore his no alcohol advice.” she laughed as she made the comment. As the pair started walking, she explained the situation. “The Khainites you, uh… took out, they were assassins. Someone paid them to take us out. Luckily, they weren’t very good at their job. Or maybe you’re too good at yours.” she laughed like she usually did, but immediately winced, grabbing at the wound on her chest. “Still hurts when I laugh, annoying since I enjoy laughing so much.”
Razgor pondered for a moment and spoke up: “One of dem woz alive when I ran off with ya. Moight be able ta track dem down, beat da troof out of dem.”
“Of we go then, lad!” Veya excitedly exclaimed.
After a trek, the two of them managed to find the alleyway where they had gotten ambushed. Razgor looked around, trying to catch a smell of blood. The acid had burnt his mouth and lungs, but luckily his sense of smell was still intact. Suddenly, he caught the scent of dried blood. A few hours old atmost. Using the sharp claws of the prosthetic as a climbing hook, the orruk pulled himself onto the roof where the archers had been the night before. The bodies of the archers had been removed, but the blood stains were still there. Sadly, no blood trail was to be found. The last archer had probably managed to escape with no wounds. A dead end, it seemed. As Razgor walked around the roof, seeing if he could find any other clues, something caught his eye. A piece of purple cloth hung from a piece of metal. When he sniffed it, Razgor recognised the smell of an aelf. Likely the one that shot at him. Taking the piece of cloth, he jumped down from the roof.
“Found sum cloth, lemme see if I’z can track dis one.” Veya looked perplexed. “Ye can do that? Are ya some kind of bloodhound?”
Razgor scoffed: “Of courze not. My smell’z way betta den a mutt.”
The two of them walked through the streets, guided by the trail Razgor had found. In an alley, Razgor suddenly stopped. He pointed at a door.
“Trail goez insoid.” He prepared to kick the door down when Veya stopped him.
“Don’t need to cause a ruckus. Lemme take care of this.” From one of her many pockets, she pulled a small device with a pointed end, which she inserted into the lock of the door. She started turning the handle until a click was heard. The door creaked as she pushed it open. “After you” She said as she bowed. Razgor walked into the house. The inside was dark, with all the windows having been blacked out. In the middle of the room stood a large round table with 6 chairs around it. On the walls hung drawings of all kinds of races, often with a number underneath their face. In the corner stood a vault, locked with a large padlock. Veya wandered around the room, looking at the pictures on the walls.
“Must’eve been bounty targets. If they got paid this much, maybe I should become an assassin too.” Razgor walked up the stairs. Every step he took creaked more than the last. The upstairs was even darker than the downstairs. There was a hallway with a door on each side. Walking up to the door, Razgor swung it open. It was just as dark as the hallway, but when his eyes adjusted, Razgor could make the room out to be a bathroom. A large tub stood in the corner. This room looked a lot cleaner than the other ones. All kinds of soaps laid around on the table next to the bathtub. The smell of a scented candle filled his nose. When he looked at the candle, Razgor noticed smoke coming off of it. It was clear someone had been here recently. He turned around and walked up to the other door. He swung the door open and stepped in. This room was a sort of dormitory. Against the walls stood beds, a couple of them bunk beds. He counted 6. The assassins were a group of 6 it seemed. Suddenly, he heard something above him. Before the orruk could even look up, he felt a knife dig into his back as the aelf dropped onto him. He screamed in anger and pulled her from his back, throwing her at the wall. With a loud thud she flew into a wall. Razgor pulled the knife from his back, his thick red blood coating the blade. He walked up to the aelf, grabbing her by her neck and lifting her of the ground. Veya walked into the room, clearly alerted by the noise upstairs.
“Who’z paid ya ta kill uz?” Razgor weezed. In response, the aelf spat in his face. “Like I would tell filth like you.” Veya interfered before the orruk grew too angry.
“How about we solve this like mannered folks? How much did they pay you? I might be able to pay more than them.” the mention of money peaked the aelfs interest.
“If your friend here hadn’t murdered my sisters, we wouldeve been able to make a deal. But now, it’s either him or me that has to die.”
“Wot about ya tell uz who hired yas, and I’z let yas live?”
The aelf pondered for a moment, then spoke up.
“Fine, it was an elderly dwarf. He was well dressed and had a lot of money to spare. Gave us a hundred bones upfront to kill the orruk and take you back to him.”
Veya seemed shocked. “Khalum, that old fart thought he could scam us out of our money. Let her go lad, we’ve got a dwarf to beat down.”
Razgor seemed uncertain for a moment, but in the end, he lowered the aelf and let go of her neck. The duo turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the aelf behind, who was still gasping for air.
Khalum was arranging his display cases when Veya and Razgor walked in. He turned around to greet them, but seemed surprised when he recognised them.
“Surprised to see us, old man?” Veya sneered. “Thought you could just steal back the money you paid for that gem? I thought it was off you paid that much without even bargaining.”
The dwarf seemed terrified. “I’m sorry Veya, but I needed the money back. You don’t realise how much debts I have. I can sell the gem and with the money I paid you combined, I would be able to keep the store. I’d be able to feed my kids.”
When Veya heard his story, the anger on her face faded.
“I know what it’s like, but that doesn’t make it right. I paid off my debts fair and square, you gotta do the same. Killing isn’t the way to get there. I’ll let off the hook.” The elderly dwarf seemed relieved.
“But I want the gem back.” Immediately the terror had returned to his face.
“B-but, I paid for it!”
“Ye, and ya still tried to steal it from me. I want it back as payment for my life, the harm you caused me and my companion.”
“F-fine.” The dwarf limped into the back room, returning with the gem, still shining brightly.
As he handed it to Veya, she pulled out a pouch from her pockets. “This is a hundred bones. Yer a clever businessdwarf, use it to earn back yer debts.”
With those words she turned around, leaving him perplexed.
Once outside, she turned back to Razgor.
“I’ve got something for ya too. It’s a respirator, friend of mine made it. It should help with the breathing troubles, eases the pain.” She handed the metal device to him. It was fashioned from some kind of brass he’d never seen before, but it looked similar to other Kharadron technology. When he put it on, he took a deep breath. To his surprise, the burning pain wasn’t there. Sure, it still stung, but this was better than he could remember. The orruk teared up as he realized the gift he had received.
“Thank ya.”
VIII.
The sun shone on Razgors face as the orruk stood up from the bed. The warmth it gave off was as enjoyable as always. As he slowly woke up, he added another tally to the list on the wall. A hundred eighty eight days. The list had gotten longer than he’d imagined. A lot of time had passed since he’d been left behind by the warclan. He’d spent the last few months doing manual labour around the Beastways. Even though he wasn’t the strongest orruk, he still easily outclassed most folks in sheer power and could easily lift loads that were impossible feats for others. To his surprise, the people had warmed up to him. The first few weeks had been rough, many folks were suspicious of him, some considered him nothing more than an animal. But thanks to Veyas sweet talking and proving his worth, he’d earned his respect. As he went down the stairs, he walked past Veya in the store. Per usual, she had been up early, dusting off all the gems in her storefront. Before he could walk out of the door, she stopped him.
“Ey! Where’d ya think yer going?!”
Razgor sighed as he turned around to face her.
“Well, come ‘ere!”
The orruk walked up to the counter and leaned forwards, the counter creaking under his weight.
Veya grabbed a stool and using the added height, she managed to reach the orruks cheek, where she planted a kiss.
“‘Have a good day honey!”
“Ya too, be nice to da customerz.”
Razgor hadn’t gotten used to this yet. Before arriving here, he had never thought about falling in love, but somehow this dwarf had done the impossible. Even thinking about it made him blush.
Recently, Razgor had been hired at the docks to help unload all the new traders that had started coming into the beastways. Due to the construction of a large dock at the top of the ravine, trade had increased by incredible amounts. The thing he dreaded about the job was the long haul all the way to the top of the ravine. At least the sights were worth seeing. Oddly, once he arrived at the top, there were no guards to be seen. Normally, there was a lot of talk going around as people waited for the next ship to arrive. But today, there was a deadly silence. As he wandered around the dock, he smelt something. Blood, and it was fresh. Something had happened. In an instant, Razgor had gone back into hunter mode. He had grabbed the closest thing he could consider a weapon, an anchor on a chain lying around. He carefully followed his nose, leading him to the exports building. As he got closer to the door, he immediately noticed the door was open, something that should never be. With the hook ready, he stormed into the room. The curtains had been closed covering the room in darkness. As his eyes adjusted, Razgor could make out countless dead bodies strewn about. When he inspected them, most of them had had their throat slit, but some had dozens of stabwounds, all in their back. Somebody had ambushed these men and silenced them. The sound of an explosion going off snapped him out of it and the orruk rushed outside. Staring down into the ravine, Plumes of green smoke rose up from down below. He couldn’t see much from up there, but the sound of a wall crumbling quickly made it clear there was a large problem. Before his very eyes, the eastern wall collapsed and countless skaven and their abominations poured into the city.
There was only one thing that raced through his mind as Razgor rushed through the streets. Veya.
He was nearly there, just a couple more streets. If he was lucky, the skaven hadn’t gotten that far into the city yet. But to his horror, when he turned the next corner, the streets were filled with skaven, overwhelming the underprepared Volunteers. The streets were littered with corpses, some of which Razgor recognized, yet it didn’t bother him. All that he cared about right now was getting home. Once done brutally murdering the poor soldiers, the ratmen turned their attention to Razgor. A total of seven rushed him, looking to halt his journey in its tracks. With a single swing of the hook, three of them exploded, covering the orruk in blood and a horrible stench. A fourth rat, he grabbed with his prosthetic and with a little effort, crushed the creature’s skull. The other three closed the distance tho, jumping at him, their dirty knives at the ready. He managed to block one of the hits, but felt the other four blades dig into his skin. Two in his good arm, two in lower back. Yet, he didn’t flinch, this was a waste of time keeping him from getting to Veya. In a violent rage, he grabbed onto the rat that had dug into his right arm, slinging the thing hard into the wall next to him, before using the body as a club to batter the one on his back. The final rat decided it would rather live and scuttered off. The poison coursed through his veins as he stood up again. Not even the feeling of every artery in his body being ablaze could stop him. Razgor started running again. Only a few more distractions appeared along the way, but they were dealt with with little effort. At last, the orruk arrived at the store he had been living in for the last few weeks. Part of the ceiling had collapsed and the door was busted down. As the orruk rushed inside, his worst nightmare came true. Veya was nowhere to be seen, with only her necklace left behind in a puddle of blood. Razgor fell to his knees, tears rolling down his cheeks in thick streams. His heart ached as if he had been stabbed right through it. He leaned back and let out a roar, a mix of anger and sorrow. His vision turned red as he grabbed his hook and went outside. What happened afterwards was a blur of violence in his memory. Once he returned to his senses, he was alone, covered in blood, not sure if it belonged to him or not. All around him, countless clanrats, rat ogors and other skaven monstrosities had piled up. Yet, even after all that violence, he felt empty inside. All he could think about was how he had failed to protect her.
IX.
After the siege of the beastways, Razgor had left the city, pursuing the skaven that had attacked the city. The blood had dried on his body, but it didn’t bother him, it hid his smell from his prey. Today was his chance. The ratmen had set up camp, tired from the long days in the sun and the lack of water. It was obvious to Razgor that these skaven weren’t used to life in the desert and he’d used that against them. Using plants to poison the few water supplies they came across, luring beasts to pick them off using the scent of certain grubs. Slowly but surely, he had whittled down their numbers and broken their morale. Suddenly, he realized he felt something he shouldn’t. In that very moment, he felt satisfaction in making them suffer. It overwhelmed him. In all these years, he had never been like the other Kruleboyz, he never took pleasure in murder and never drew it out or made people suffer on purpose. He was above that. Yet, here he was, smiling at the misery of these skaven. They don’t even deserve mercy, yet he felt conflicted about that. That’s when he remembered why he was doing this. He remembered Veya’s smile and the way she scratched her head when trying to remember something. Memories and feelings flooded his mind. This isn’t who he wanted to be, yet here he was. They took her from him and denied him that different life. So they deserved to die. Still, he couldn’t help but think of how Veya would’ve disapproved. The familiar sound of a horn snapped him out of his thoughts. As he stared on from his hiding place, he couldn’t believe his eyes. They were there, the Realmhuntaz. The gutrippaz closed in on the skaven as a rain of arrows rained down on them. The fleeing ratmen ran right into the trap, falling into a well hidden trench. Right there, leading the troops from the frontlines, was Big ‘Un. She wildly swung her clubs around, mowing down skaven as if they were wheat being harvested. The troggoths was covered in fur hides and wearing her distinct skull mask. That’s when Razgor noticed a Stormfiend taking aim at her. In a split second, Razgor stormed forward, his hook in hand and with a single swing of the chain, he whipped the tiny rat brain into a mush. As the stormfiend fell over, Razgor triumphantly stood atop the abomination and let out a Waaagh. Heads turned as the warclan realized who it was that had rejoined their ranks. Big ‘un stared into Razgors eyes and let out a roar. The moment however was ruined when bright green light filled the sky. The sound of a bell ringing deafened the attackers. In the sky, a large green portal opened and a skaven like Razgor had never seen crawled out. It had long curling horns and wore a skull to hide its face. It wielded a large scythe and carried an orb in its hand. As it prepared itself for combat, ghe air filled with a horrible stench. The appearance seemingly reinvigorated the skaven, who stopped fleeing, and turned back against their attackers. The tides of battle quickly turned as the monster hacked down the frontlines and the skaven started to overwhelm the orruk forces. It was only now that it became apparent to Razgor that the orruks weren’t in a good state. Many of them looked underfed and under equipped. Their clothes were more raggidy than usual and most spears didn’t even have a metal spearpoint anymore. The arrows the boltboyz shot were amateuristicly made and lacked any expert craftsmanship. Razgor shifted his focus back to the abomination. If he could take it down, the skaven would route. Razgor sidestepped the scythe as it plunged into the ground, grabbing onto it as it was pulled back up. Once above the monster’s head, the orruk let go, dropping down right on top of the beast’s head. There, he grabbed onto the end of one of it’s horns, using all the force he had. The thing snapped and with all the strength left in his body, Razgor plunged the horn into the monster’s skull. The light in it’s eyes faded as it collapsed. With a loud thump, the abomination hit the ground, burying skaven and orruks underneath it’s massive weight. Atop stood Razgor, roaring his Waaagh from the top of his lungs. The display of power sent the remaining skaven running and rallied what remained of the Realmhuntaz, who joined him in the waaagh of victory.
As the dust settled and orruks started to loot the bodies and collect their trophies, Razgor walked around. From on top of the dunes, killaboss Zarakrag strode down, on top of Razgor’s mount, Grotgoblaz. The beast was excited when it noticed it’s owner, but it’s enthusiasm was quickly silenced with a prod of its new rider. He spoke up
“Razgor! I thought ya’z were ded!”
Razgor wasn’t surprised this was who had replaced him. It was no secret Zarakrag had been wanting to take over for a while now.
“Zarakrag! Wot ‘appened to da boyz! Dey look like dey came outta da swampz!”
The smaller orruk seemed nervous, which was apparent as he spoke.
“Well, we’ze ‘ad sum ruff toimz. But wif you az me roight ‘and, we’ll be back in gud shape soon!”
The words made Razgor break out in a laugh
“Me’z?! Unda you! Loik it ain’t obvious you’z made the bombz not explode so ya’z could get rid of me. Ya were in charge of dat. Ya knew ya couldn’t win wen ‘unting or foighting, so ya tried da cunning way. Gud try.”
The other orruk seemed stressed out now, turning pale.
Razgor spoke up, his voice reverbing in the mask.
“Wot ’bout diz. If ya make diz easy, I’z’ll kill ya quick, cause dat wos a good idea.”
The killaboss finally snapped and signaled the others
“C’mon ladz! Take ‘im out!” The terror on his face became more apparent as he realized noone was interested in following his orders. Razgor walked closer, but before he could turn his mount around and run off, the beast threw him out of the saddle. Zarakrag landed in the sand on his back as Razgor walked closer.
The next day, Razgor climbed atop Grotgobla, ready to lead the warclan once again. On one of the spikes behind him sat Zarakrag’s head, a reminder for those wishing to cross him. Leading the pack, they started marching. Even though Razgor had miraculously reunited with his warclan, he felt no happiness. As the caravan marched, he fiddled with Veya’s amulet, wondering what could’ve been.
