Fate of Aorullu, A Warhammer 40K Fan Fiction

Post 23 - A New Part in the Equation

He had not rushed into the camp as the humans did and kept back behind the tree line, merging with the shadows. His eyes had not picked up any assailants on his approach so Greynar had thought better to remain hidden until he could pick up what and where the enemy was. In the split second he heard the crack of a gun, his sight followed its trajectory and located the origin, barely fast enough to see the black armored lithe form, gliding away from its location, without a sound, barely disturbing the vegetation around it. By the time the humans had made it to the source of the gun shot, the creature was already away. “Dark Eldar!” spat Greynar. Now that he had spotted it, it would be very difficult for the accursed Eldar to elude a captain of the Vlyka Fenryka, no matter how secretive it could move.

He did not know if there were others but guessed there could not be many more. The bloody Dark Eldar would not attack from shadows unless they were outnumbered. Not that it mattered too much. One or many, Greynar would kill them all.

The Dark Eldar were the vicious cousins of the already accursed Eldar. They reveled in the meaningless suffering and slaughter of other life forms, worshipping whatever dark gods they had. Greynar had seen many victims of Dark Eldar before, mutilated, flayed, re-grafted members to create parodies of living beings. If there was ever a xenos species that deserved total annihilation, that would be the Dark Eldar.

Letting his righteous fury fuel his reflexes, Greynar pulled out his bolter gun and fired one round a little off to the right of the elder where he was hiding and dashed into a run towards the creature. Eldar were fast with quick reflexes and light foot. The bolter fire was a distraction, to prompt the elder to move in opposite direction and he had dashed towards that side he hoped the Eldar would roll to avoid his bolt round.

.......

He was enjoying the massacre he was enacting on these hapless mon-keigh. So weak and so timid creatures these humans were. So predictable and so helpless.  So much that they were disgusting to him. How they came to conquer so much of the universe was beyond his understanding. With each pull of the trigger, he was watching one of them die, in much horror to the others. The fear and shock was palpable in the air and was sweet nectar to the dark elder. Oh yes, he had promised himself a small distraction from his orders, a bit of small time to enjoy himself and he was very much enjoying this now. Another shot and there went another puny human, showering those around her with bloody bits of her body. Internally jumping with joy, he slid silently away to another vantage point as he saw the male ones of the group lumbering towards his location with crude weapons in their hands.

Just as he was easing into his new hiding point, suddenly he heard the crack of a different gun and the zip of a bullet speeding towards him. Instinct and reflexes pumped him into action and he rolled towards the opposite direction a bare millisecond before a small detonation rang chimes in his ears. Still confused as to what happened a second ago, who had fired that bullet, he rolled up to his feet only to look at a grey giant running full speed at him. “What on bloody hells an Astartes doing here??!!” was the thought that cost him another full second. A space marine with full battle plate closing on somebody was an intimidating sight for anyone. The Eldar were a match for the speed and reflexes of these superhuman warriors and his more noble and honour-bound cousins from the craftworlds might have stood their ground and fought. And that way, they might have had a chance of coming out victorious even, but not the dark eldar. The murderous intent in the grey giant’s eyes and the impending doom was enough to turn him around and make a dash further into the forest, to escape with all his parts intact, yet.

That course of action proved to be his undoing. Eldar were really fast, much faster than other species. But not faster enough than the space marines. With that one moment’s hesitation and then turning around to run presented the space marine a wide open target, his back. Greynar threw his sword with the force of a rocket, piercing through the dark eldar, sailing forward to jam into a tree up ahead, pinning the evil creature onto the trunk. Greynar wanted answers, so he hadn’t used his bolter gun. But as he reached the eldar, to his disappointment it was already dead from the sword wound.

Greynar slowly walked to the tree and pulled back his sword, letting the dead eldar slide to the ground in a heap. This planet was turning out to be more of an enigma by the passing minute. Orks and Dark Eldar on this very planet at the same time. When xenos were involved, there never was a thing called coincidence. As the power field of his sword crackled and hissed itself dry from the foul blood of the eldar, Greynar heard the villagers approach.  They came wary of him, shuffled forward with hesitant slow steps. Old men, wiry from years of honest farm life, women with red eyes and shaking hands, youths with shocked faces. They all huddled closer, but stopped at a safe distance from Greynar and the dead Eldar, eyes filled with awe.

It was not until they heard Nrell’har talking to the giant armored men, did they recognize that Greynar was not a threat to them.

“I wonder if the Gods all united against us and chose this day to punish us for our sins! We are once more in your debt, Greynar. Once more, you saved us. If you keep this up, I’ll start believing in your Emperor, savior of the mankind.”

The villagers did not hear Nrell’har. They were now vultures descending on their prey. That the eldar was already dead did not matter to them. They had been slaughtered slowly, one by one by this evil creature, with no apparent enemy at sight. They could not fight back, they could not defend themselves. And finally, here it was, in front of them. It was vulgar work but Greynar let them be. They needed something to vent out their frustration, some way to get a grip on their fear of the unknown. He let the crowd swarm the dead eldar, tearing it to pieces, mauling it to a pulp with clubs and stones.

“You may be right, Chief. The only Gods I know are all evil and thirst for innocents’ blood. There is only the Emperor, who casts his eternal light on mankind.Come, introduce me to your village council.” Greynar said.

The councilors were waiting back in the camp yard. A group of elder men, trying to put on some sort of decorum after the horror they had witnessed. Most had wrinkly faces and parched skin. They were trying to maintain a calm demeanor but failing at it badly. Greynar did not need his super senses to smell their fear. It was emanating from them in waves. There was one among them, though, who had condemnation in his eyes, as if blaming Greynar for some crime. Having just saved their lives, Greynar could not really know what to make of that look.

 Before anybody could say anything, the one with the condemning look spoke, his eyes skipping Greynar and addressing the Chief:

“So Nrell’har, this is the giant your scout was telling us about, the creature which brought all these dangers to us.”

It was more of a statement than a question, more an accusation than a query.

“What are you talking about Renain?!” asked Nrell’har incredulously. “Have you not just seen what he’s done? Has Keirn not told you how he saved us before, as well?”

The Wolf Lord could not care less how this puny human regarded him. He just too two steps towards the councilor, causing him to raise his hand as if in defense and take two steps back hastily. Greynar was just about to say something but suddenly he felt his hackles rise as if electrified and he made a sudden sweep of the surroundings. He was suddenly so much more looking like a dangerous beast, with ferocious glint in his eyes and the council broke away from him backing several steps.