Fate of Aorullu, A Warhammer 40K Fan Fiction

Post 24 - Human Witch

“There is witchcraft at work here!” growled Greynar and started checking around the encampment with purposeful strides. Nobody could understand what he meant and with the exception of Nrell’har and Ryu, everybody was fixed in their place, watching the armor clad giant stalk around in their camp. Affected by Greynar’s mood, Nrell’har and Ryu had drawn their weapons and were running after him.

Rounding a parked cart they came upon a small tent. Whatever was inside that tent, it was setting Greynar’s teeth on edge and his hackles erect, with an inaudible hiss in the air. He pulled the tent off the ground in one motion that revealed a young, tawny complexioned girl with black hair. She was in a trance, her eyes rolled upward. Greynar recognized the telltale signs of sorcery immediately and grabbed the girl at her throat and lifted off the ground. She was yanked from her reverie by that brutal move and the look in her eyes was one of utter surprise and panic. Greynar hardly registered Ryu and Nrell’har shouting at him:

“Greynar! Drop her! She’s Keira, one of us! She’s done nothing wrong! Why are you strangling her? Stop!”

Seeing that their words were having no effect on the armored giant, Ryu did the unthinkable and attacked Greynar’s arm that was holding Keira. Not that it would hurt him, but Greynar was amused with the notion of Ryu attacking him. The boy had courage, he had to give credit to him. Ryu’s sword shattered on Greynar’s vambrace and Greynar relaxed his fingers on Keira’s throat, still holding her, though. Fixing Ryu in his place with a piercing gaze, he asked the girl:

“Tell me then, Keira-girl. What were you doing with those witch powers of yours? What foul things were you committing?”

Able to breathe once more as Greynar relaxed his vise-like grip, Keira drew in ragged breaths. After a few wheezy gulps of air, she finally noticed Ryu and the other villagers. Their presence and the fact that the armored giant was not immediately killing her, allowed Keira a measure of composure and she looked at Greynar.

“I have done nothing wrong or threatening to my people here. We were attacked by invisible assailants and I didn’t know what to do. I was only trying to communicate with my Mentor; I wanted to ask her help!”

That she could not succeed to talk with the Mentor, Keira held to herself. For several times she had tried to contact the Mentor now, and she could not feel her mind or presence, at all. It was as if the Mentor did not exist in the world anymore.

“Who is this ‘Mentor’?” asked Greynar. It was Nrell’har who answered:

“It’s an old witch who’s guided us for as long as we’ve known, Greynar. We call her the Elder Mentor. No harm has befallen our people from her.”

At least not until today, thought Nrell’har. What is this nonsense of ordering the whole village to an unknown destination?

“Keira is the Chosen of the Mentor and she is precious to us, Greynar. She is wise and helps our village in many ways besides bringing us news from the Mentor. So please drop here, great warrior, I beg you. She is no evil!”

Greynar stood unmoving, his arm extended, still holding Keira by the throat, Keira’s hands wrapped around his wrist.

“Greynar, please!” said Ryu.

With an almost imperceptible inclination of his head, Greynar lowered Keira to the ground and let her go. He had seen enough in his years to recognize sorcery and any use of it unsanctioned by the Emperor was blasphemy and had to be removed from the living immediately. That is, under normal conditions. But here was Greynar, in a completely off-the-charts planet of which he had no idea what he was supposed to do. But he intended to find answers and this human witch could lead the way to this other “Mentor” witch who could, maybe, provide those answers.

“So where is this Mentor of yours and what did she tell you?” asked Greynar.

Keira hesitated a moment before answering. She did not want his fellow villagers to hear the truth for fear of causing panic among them. But here was this murderous giant who would not hesitate to kill her in the blink of an eye, should he feel that she was not cooperating, so reluctantly conceded:

“I don’t know. She did not answer my calls. I can not even feel her presence anymore.”