[IC] Dogs of War: Old World Mercenaries

[POOHEAD189]

Cyrdic blinked, looking both taken aback and frustrated too. Though mostly hurt she felt like he thought she was a dainty thing. He simply looked at her for a moment, and then shook his head. The Knights must have really annoyed her for her to lash out at him. That would be the last time he would try to get close to her for a bit. "Camilla, I-...you have the vial." he whispered to her with emphasis. "They're looking for us, and more likely you than me." He said.

He blinked, still bedazzled that she could switch between impressions as easily as he switched sword hands. He ran his hands through his hair, and sat down next to her on the bed. He placed his chin on her head when she leaned against him, and he chuckled. And then he considered her words, and nodded as she spoke. This explanation of Gilderoy was something he'd foreseen. "Templars are unhinged," Cyrdic said. "They're not bad men, mostly. But they're so ingrained in their way of life they can't think outside of it. I should know. Soldiers can get that way too. I was so into campaigning and fighting Chaos I never thought of anything passed it."

He pushed her away a bit, but only so he could look in her face. "You're tough as hell," he said. "Do you really think after all we've been through, I'd think you're weak?" he asked earnestly. He paused for a moment, and then stood up. He'd head back to his room. "I forgive you, I know this place is weird." He let his words sink in. "And we've been through too much the past few months."

"I'm sorry I offended you. Just...I don't like you having to play this game for them. I don't like the way they treat me either. We'll be gone soon, I think. Let's just focus on surviving and getting that vial back."

---

"And when will it be done?" Gilderoy asked Garmmenn again, chewing on his mustache in annoyance. He paced back and forth in the back archway, this part of the Castle surrounded by the strongest stone. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. This was supposed to be a small, covert operation in a heavily defended fort. Not the farce it has been so far.

"As the ancient texts of Abhorash say, tomorrow's setting sun shall bring the specimens into the correct celestial alignment, and we can perform the ritual."

"In another day that damned Dragon could find this castle," Gilderoy growled, stomping his foot. He breathed in deeply to calm himself. "I would say move further into the Drakwald, but there is an uncomfortable amount of heathens and Beastmen about. It's just our luck."
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla felt a little foolish. Of course Cydric didn't think of her as some sort of porcelain woman. Sighing she took his hand in her own.

"I'm sorry Cydric, Its just... well I sort of am an object in a sense," she idly twisted one of her dark ringlets around her finger, uncomfortable but committed now.

"That is how people saw me, an ornament just there to look beautiful. That's what they sometimes call... people like me in Tilea, an 'ornament of the court'," she explained, there were after all many euphemisms for whore that passed in polite society. It really shouldn't bother her that an air headed knight was treating her in a similar manner, though from a completely different perspective.

As Cydric moved away she smiled sadly. She very much wanted to ask him to stay but she had already ruined the moment with her earlier performance. Plus, although she didn't know exactly what Gilderoy would do when he came to check on her and found her in bed with Cydric, she was willing to bet it wouldn't be good.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gildenhoof gazed lustily at the castle from his vantage point high on the ridge. Although it was several miles away his vision was far better an any mortals and he could pick out men walking the parapet and smaller details beside. The woman was there, in a room in one of the towers, he had caught a glimpse of her briefly through the window. There was something about her that tugged at him commanded him to claim her for Slannesh. He wondered if she would walk the Six Fold Path herself. Perhaps he would set her feet on that road, if she survived. Two other warriors from his small warband crouched in the trees behind him, watching his back as he began to draw oddly alluring looping signals into the dirt. The working would take half the night, but if it succeeded, this wretched quest would be over and Gildenhoof would have proven himself a valuable lie tenant and a dangerous adversary.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Cyrdic gripped her hand in his, callused fingers entwined within her coppery hand. He smiled to her, reassuringly. "From what I've seen you do, you're as much of a warrior as I am. Plus I don't think I'd have had quite as much fun of a time as I'd have with an ornmanet." he said, and kissed her forehead. "Get some rest. We're both just tired."

Cyrdic helped her into bed, and then stepped away. He poked his head into the hall to make sure no one knew he was in her room, and then slipped out.

Once there, he leaned against the wall outside her door and simply rested there for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Not for the first time did he think that maybe he should go back to Ostland, or hire himself out to a free company regiment. Not because he wished to be away from Camilla or this life, but perhaps it would be the right thing to do. He'd seen men better than he die so much. Why should he be so fortunate as to-

Fortunate? He's had bad luck after bad luck. That and good luck. Treasures, love, danger, hours of bone breaking tiredness. Ulric, he didn't know. He really couldn't see himself not using his sword, and ordering the men out on the trail earlier was as natural to him as a fish swimming.

You're a fool. You'd regret going off without her everyday. He thought to himself, in which he chastised himself back again for being a fool to find himself in this position in the first place. The middle of the Drakwald, surrounded by Chaos warriors, Beastmen, a Dragon, and crazed Templars.

"...Fuck it," he said, pushing off the wall to head out to the front of the keep, out into the inner walls of the castle and along the battlements. It was truly night now, and only a few men were out on patrol. He didn't quite feel like sleeping yet, so the rugged young man planted himself onto the wall, sliding down a parapet until his rump hit stone, simply gazing out into the wilderness and hoping he could find a Beastmen's skull to crack soon. That always helped his head.
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla just managed to get out of her clothing and into a silken shift before she fell into the deep bone weary sleep of the utterly exhausted. Crazy templars or no it had been nearly a full day since she had enjoyed any sleep at all, and most of that time had been spent either frantically running or frantically fighting. Consequently she didn't notice the slender tendrils of pinkish miasma which drifted through the open window and into her chamber, like long strands of seaweed at the bottom of the sea of claws they waved, searching before settling on her, the slight exhalation of her nostrils drawing the mist into her body.

In her dream Camilla was back in the ancient city once more but instead of heading for the statue at the center of the city, she felt she had somewhere else to go. Somewhere pleasant she felt. A dinner with Cydric perhaps. Yes that must be it. But she couldn't turn up empty handed, that would be rude. Yes of course it would. Looking down at her hands she was somewhat surprised to discover a bottle of wine in her hands. An image flashed in her head and she saw herself laying naked on a stone bier. She wasn't dead though, she was ... she was being worshiped. Supplicant's knelt around her fingers stretched out to touch her perfect beauty. No that wasn't it she was back in the city. In the mysterious city and walking she knew not where. It wasn't a hurried walk, rather a slow sensual stroll she tossed her hair slight in the warm sunlight and laughed. She would be where she was going soon enough.

In the waking world Camilla's body rose from her bed and moved to the windowsill to collect the vial. She walked silently on her barefeet, passing the drowsing knight that the waking Camilla hadn't known had been there. Down unfamiliar corridors she walked with perfect surety, even in pitch darkness, her lips apart in an ecstatic smile as she slinked along. Soon enough, she would taste of the wine that was promised her.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

There was a slight breeze wafting along the night air. Something that had Cyrdic on edge, though he wasn't aware of what. Dimly, he realized it wasn't even his sixth sense as a soldier, the type of feeling that often saved a man's life on campaign. No, it was something else entirely. Something pulsating within the blade of his sword, and he gripped his weapons for surety as he thought to himself.

On instinct, he sniffed the air like a dog, his nostrils flaring. He had no idea why, but there was something inherently wrong with how the air felt. His sword stirred, and he picked himself up, moving like a pacing wolf on the hunt. He passed a few curious guardsmen, and made his way down the back part of the stairs.

Was there an enemy in the castle? He doubted it, but he'd be the fool he often thought he was if he ruled out chaos from being so unpredictable. The darkened corridors of the keep only heightened his wariness, and before long he found himself in a part of the castle that led to Camilla's room.

Before he could put two and two together, a curved figure sauntered toward him from out of the corner, and he saw it was Camilla, more bare than she should have been in a castle of men that fawned on her. And to his mounting horror, she had the vial in her hands, holding it out as if it was a gift.

"Camilla..." he said, but she just continued forward, a sensual look upon her face. In contrast, Cyrdic narrowed his eyes dangerously, and his sword howled. He briefly thought she was an apparition, but he doubted it. He wouldn't take the chance of striking her down, anyhow. "Camilla," he said a bit more loudly, and when she reached him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. Hard. "Hey, come on." he said. He wouldn't hurt her, but she'd thank him for the rough treatment later. "Snap out of it," he ordered.
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla dreamed and in her dream she was buffeted by the wind in short sharp gusts. A slight troubled frown came over her face. She would be late if this kept up much longer. With an effort of will she spoke.

"Lasciatemi passare dal vivo sciocco," she said with the sternness of a drunk declaring that she was sober but the wind paid no head to her command. How was she ever to make it to dinner at this rate.

In the waking world Camilla spoke in slurred unintelligible Tilean her face twitching as a sleepers face sometimes does when an insect prods it to wakefulness and she tried once more to step past Cydric. Movement sounded as guardsmen shifted in their positions, curious about strange voices in the night.

In Camilla's dream the wind dissolved into Cydric. He was handsome, his armor bright and his uniform neat, an unfamiliar uniform neatly tailored to his form. Something in the back of Camilla's mind objected to Cydric being so dressed but it was quickly smoothed over as though by gentle fingers. The dream Cydric's eyes burned hot with desire and suddenly she was pressed against him, her lips against his neck, her slender body tight against his. She kissed up the side of his neck and whispered.

"Vieni, dobbiamo andare a cena." Though truthfully she was reluctant to have to leave.

The waking Camilla continued to nuzzle her head into Cydric, her lips fever hot as she continued to murmer in liquid Tilean. Her arms tried to enfold him but in doing so brushed the pommel of his sword. There was a sudden sound like lightning striking far off and with an unlovely squwak of surprise and pain Camilla was physically flung away from Cydric, smashing into the castle wall. Her head rocked back and struck the hard stones and she sunk into unconsciousness.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Back in the waking world, Cyrdic had finished shaking her and stood back to see if it had worked. He was concerned, but the wolfish sword, and his own hatred of Chaos had given him a grave look. He wouldn't harm Camilla, Ulric knows he wouldn't. But this was something he had to stop, and at the moment he knew Chaos energy seeped through his Tilean companion. He spoke her name again in a whisper, hoping she'd reply.

The last thing he expected was her sliding forward, closing the distance between them and speaking in Tilean. He'd always enjoyed her accent and native tongue, curious on how it was spoken. But whispered to him in such a way brought his heart speeding, and then her lips found his neck, her nose tickling his skin. Her body pressed to his, and he let out a breathe he didn't know he'd been holding. He let out a light moan of enjoyment, having had this fantasy once or twice.

"Not like this," he said, placing his strong arms on her shoulders reluctantly. He spoke just as much to himself as he did to her, snapping himself out of it. He'd push her away and tie her up, maybe. He'd-

She squawked like a bird, and was flung back as his sword howled. She hit the wall and slumped. He was dumbfounded for a moment. A very small part of him had to be the sarcastic ass and say '...or that could happen.' But most of his being was elsewhere with his thoughts, mostly for the safety of her.

"Camilla!"

He called as loud as he dared, running over to her limp form and checking to see if she was still breathing. Thankfully she was, and there was no blood on the back of her head either. The hairs on his neck still stood on end. "_{This woman is driving me up the wall!}" he breathed in frustration. But by Ulric, he felt like he loved her.

He groaned in annoyance, picking up the vial she had dropped, and scooped her up in his arms to carry her as if she was a babe. He was going to take her back to her room and guard her, regardless of her pride. He didn't think of her as helpless, but they needed to work together. With a sigh, he spun and stepped to walk back into her room, only to find himself face to face with an imperial guard holding a torch.

"........"

"....."

"Have you worked under ser Gilderoy long?" Cyrdic asked.

"I'm a conscript from Stirland. Just here to man the castle." the man said.

"Fought in the Storm campaign?"

"Aye, 4th regiment of Halberdiers."

"I was in the Ostland regulars." Cyrdic said, nodding. "Listen, these Templars don't need to know all that happens here. I'm simply helping her back to her room, but they'll jump to conclusions. Could you keep this between us?"

The man looked at Cyrdic, then to Camilla, then back at Cyrdic. "Silent as the grave, Sergeant."

Next Camilla woke, she'd find herself in her bed. Cyrdic would be asleep on the floor as he often had been the past few months, only this time his muscled form was against the door. She'd need to wake him to leave.

---

Gildenhoof let out a shrill cry, his desires unsated for the time being. Damn that soldier and his cursed blade. He had been so close to caressing the woman's smooth form. His tongue slithered out of his mouth, spikes suddenly protruding from it as he imagined the ecstacy. He would need to report to Velabrass the failure.

Unfortunate though it may be, he found himself moaning at the thought of killing imperial soldiers. He knew the time would come very soon, and he would ravage the woman before the soldier's eyes, and then have his way with the sergeant as well once she was finished with. Oh, yes...all in time.
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla awoke from her uncertain dreams to a shattering headache. Moonlight streamed in through the window and it stung her eyes as though it were bright sunlight. Hesitantly she lifted a hand to shield herself from the silvery light. There was a slight smell in her nostrils, something like sandal wood or that strange incense that the Arabyian's used and her mouth was very dry. The moon was beginning to set and it had to be only an hour or so from the first predawn brightening of the sky.

She spotted Cydric's form across the doorway and it took her a moment to realize that he hadn't been there when she went to sleep. Stumbling out of bed she searched for something to drink to moisten her mouth and found only a decanter of wine on the beside table. She pulled the cork from the green glass bottle and drank. It was sour and sharp but it was wet and she felt better immediately. She realized she was hungry too but there was no way to get through the door without waking Cydric. Instead she crept over to him and tried to open the pouch he kept that vile jerky in.

The sergeant started awake violently and Camilla recoiled slightly in embarrassment.

"Sorry, sorry," she said holding her palms up to indicate there was no danger, "Just hungry, I had the strangest dreams." Cydric was still a little wide eyed and she hoped she wondered if he too had been dreaming unquiet dreams. Deftly she reached into his pouch and withdrew a stick of the jerky before popping it into her mouth and chewing with the determination of a hand gunner trying to reload his arquebus.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

His powerful legs pumping, Cyrdic barreled forward like a locomotive and shoved the siege ladder off the walls, toppleing a dozen Beastmen backwards to howl screaming into their allies down below, crushing another dozen. The sky was bright red, and comets seared through it like a slicing dagger, as if their very presence ripped reality around them. The horde that was assaulting Wolfenburg was immense. A sea of Chaos Spawn, miles and miles long.

With a snarl, Cyrdic twirled and caved in the skull of a Beastman. His weapon shifted in his hands. At times it was his broadsword, his Ulrican runic sword...he now wielded a hammer that he knew must have been Ghal Maraz. With a mighty stroke, he slammed the hammerhead into a Minotaur's chest, popping its ribcage open like a melon and sending it flying off the wall to die before it even hit the ground. Cyrdic turned again, and now wielded his broadsword, blocking the axe of a Khornate Berserker, kicking its legs out from under him and head butting the Chosen, splitting his face. He finished him with a stab to the chest, and shoved him off of his blade with his boot.

His next opponent was-

Cyrdic stopped, and lowered his sword. He saw Camilla, standing there, poised to stab at him. He cried out her name, but she wouldn't answer. Her eyes were glowing with an inner evil, and she grinned widely at him. He lifted his sword to defend himself, but couldn't strike her. He didn't know if he could.

She lunged forward with her rapier, and his reluctance made him too slow to effectively parry, her blade sinking into his chest. He fell to his knees, but there was no pain. Only sorrow. She knelt down beside him, and gripped the chain around his mother had given him...

Cyrdic started awake, having felt her hands on him. Like a cornered animal, he pressed his back to the solid wooden door and snarled like a Wolf, his bare chest rising and falling. It took him a moment to realize he was still within Camilla's dimly lit room, her face apologetic before she popped some of his beef jerky into her mouth. As she spoke, he placed a hand on his forehead to wipe away the sweat and lift up his matted hair. "You-...dreams?" he asked. He had too, he guessed, but he didn't feel comfortable speaking about it at the moment. "Do you not remember what happened earlier?" His voice was incredulous. He supposed that would be a good thing, right? "What was the dream?"

---

"Your failure was to be expected," The Tzeentch Champion replied, his hands behind his back as he stood before Gildenhoof and their followers of barbarians and beastmen. "The aura surrounding the man and the woman are troubling. But nothing I cannot handle." He put an emphasis on the word 'I' to show Gildenhoof how little he truly thought of the Slaneeshi Chosen. The lower champion glowered, but did not speak up.

"The Castle itself," a coarse voice said. Velabrass turned to see the Khornate Champion Kron gripping his massive two headed axe. "We attack it with our full force?"

"In a matter of hours, we will break the walls and slaughter them all. Yes," Velabrass said, and was accompanied by the moans and roars of the others. The Tzeentch Champion lifted his guantleted hand, indicating for the bray-slaves to run and grab the weapon that was still being infused with chaos energy. Moments later, the siege contraption was wheeled forth. The chaos cannon pulsated with energy. Veins along its warm metal gave it an organic quality, and indeed in a way it was alive. A screeching Daemon roiled within it, granting it unnatural power.
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla looked confused as she forced herself to swallow the masticated lump of salt beef. She sat on the ground next to Cydric on crossed legs.

"Earlier? I mean I remember speaking to you about the Templars and..." she blushed slightly, allowing it to happen.

"I remember being an idiot and berating you for treating me like a damsel in distress." It was clear from Cydric's eyes that he was referring to something else entirely. Camilla's frown deepened as her confusion became concern. The pain in the back of her head throbbed and she reached back to touch her scalp.

"Did something happen while I was asleep?" she asked. Clearly the castle hadn't fallen under attack and Cydric certainly would have woken her if anything more serious was afoot.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

He gave a small smile at her acquiesce of how she acted earlier. He didn't blame her though. These Templars had been very forthcoming with their opinions. Cyrdic had expected it, but Camilla simply wasn't used to Imperial Templars.

"I found you wandering the castle, trying to give away the vial," he told her honestly, not wanting to lie to her. She did have a right to know. He relaxed, one leg out and one leg bent, his arm resting on his bent knee. "My sword...spoke to me somehow. It has an abhorrence for Chaos, which is a fine thing to have, especially in a sword." He spoke matter-of-factly.

"And I found you that way. You were influenced by Chaos somehow, though the effects and hold over you is gone. I tried to snap you out of it, but instead you-" he sighed. "You whispered something in your native language into my ear and started kissing my neck."

He had to push the alluring accent and the image of her embracing him out of his head again as he continued. "And then you touched my sword. I think it expelled all of the magic, but it also flung you back. I picked you up and carried you here." He shrugged. "I wasn't about to leave you again."
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla's eyes widened with horror. She had been influenced by Chaos? An involuntary shudder of terror ran through her body making her tremble. Stories abounded about the slightest touch of chaos could bring and the had to ruthlessly suppress the urge to check herself to make sure she wasn't sprouting horns or wings or an extra limb. In stead she reached out slowly reached out a hand and with enormous hesitancy grasped the hilt of Cydric's wolf emblazoned sword.

The anticlimax was stunning and Camilla let out a deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding. From what she had seen of the sword if she truly were tainted the sword would have... what? Burned her hand? Blasted her to ruin? Something she was sure. Whatever had happend to her, it didn't seem to have marred her soul irretrievably.

"That," she said with tremendous understatement, "is a relief."

Pushing herself to her feet she went over to the window and gazed out over the darkened valley. Perhaps it had been a spell of some kind, but if that was the case did it mean that the chaos worshipers could reach out and touch her dreams whenever they wanted? She wished very much to be far away from this place, but if they had cast a spell on her, it might mean they were out there right now waiting. Another shiver ran through her.

"I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep," she told Cydric. Going over to the small table that served as her dresser she turned her back on Cydric and quickly slithered out of her silken shift and pulled on her normal travelling clothes, settling the comforting weight of her weapons belt around her hips.

"Lets get some food and think about how we are going to get out of here."

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Cyrdic was glad they both had at least gotten some rest. He donned his soldier's garb and followed Camilla, strapping his shield on his back and sheathing his sword on his hip. He knew they wouldn't exactly be serving breakfast at this hour, but he was certain they'd allow the sergeant and the Marchioness into their foodstuffs. It just took some convincing of the guards to let them through and into the stash.

In the dinnerhall, Cyrdic kicked the door open, his arms filled with food along with apples, ham, good talabheim jerky Cyrdic wanted Camilla to try, along with bread and cheese. He brought a jug of wine and water too. The soldier looked pretty comical carrying all of that and managing to balance it, and he set it all down on the table before Camilla. With that, he plopped his rump onto the chair next to her and began to serve himself.

"As much as I hate to say it, we should stay here awhile longer," he said. "I haven't gotten a good layout of the castle and I want to leave through a lesser door. Or, maybe we could wait until there's an attack by the Beastmen. But I'd hate to leave these soldiers without helping them."

He didn't exactly know what to do, so he stuffed his face instead. He spoke with his mouth full next. "But maybe that's the only way. I just trust stout castle walls rather than none when we're fighting Chaos. Either way we'll need to. They're after both of us."
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla bit into a green apple with a satisfying crunch. To her surprise it was sour but not in an unpleasant way. Taking a loaf of bread she tore it in half and began to eat ravenously. She made a note to stock up on provisions before they left. Several knights passed by heading off on some errand and she realised that dawn must be breaking and the watch was changing. Ducking back into the store room she retrieved a stone crock of cider and poured them each a mug before replacing the vessel.

"Do you think that the warriors outside will attack the castle?" she asked in a hushed voice. In her heart she had imagined that the enemy might judge the job to be hopeless and abandon them. Beastmen were fearsome in their own right but she doubted that they had anything like the disciple to conduct a siege.

"I saw a siege once, in Ramalfi," she said around a mouthful of bread, "They had engineers and cannons and they had been at it for months when I got there." She remembered the zig-zaging ditches the filthy laborers had been constructing. Saps? something like that. As she recalled he siege had eventually been broken by some other city state or another that decided that a weakened Ramalfi was preferable to a stronger Tratio.

"Are beastmen going to be able to ..." she trailed off as a sleep deprived Gilderoy entered the room, his face darkening when he saw Cydric with her.

"My Lady, whatever are you doing up at this hour?" the knight asked dissaprovingly. Camilla noticed that the cuffs of his tunic were stained with something and though she couldn't tell what it was it gave off a slightly acrid odor.

"I can have servants wake you when breakfast is served."

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

"Beastmen aren't coordinated, but they'll attack anything if they got enough numbers on their side. Chaos doesn't abide by logic. They're like greenskins in a way, only more depraved." Cyrdic said, stabbing a knife into some sausage and lifting the whole thing up to his mouth. His cheeks were filled with it when Gilderoy walked in. The Knight's disapproving comments made Cyrdic seem almost guilty of some crime he had no idea he committed. Perhaps this was a special sausage?

He chugged down some cider, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and cleared his throat. "Sir Gilderoy," he said, drawing the Knight's attention. "The lady could not sleep, and I thought to accompany her here so we could discuss various things while we ate." The Knight went to speak, but Cyrdic pipped in with "it was at her insistence" which was all technically true. He often hated lying, even to a pompous Templar Commander like Gilderoy.

"I see," Gilderoy said, idly wiping his sleeves with a bit of cloth. There was something about his eyes that seemed off putting, and it wasn't just sleep deprivation. Cyrdic would not believe it was Chaos taint, and his sword was not howling in his mind, so that must not have been it. It took him a long moment to realize the man looked positively insane with that glint. Cyrdic had met a Dwarf slayer once on campaign, a berserker with a look not dissimilar to Gilderoy's right now. He huffed. "Sometimes women are a bit too headstrong."

"Sir Gilderoy, you look like you could use some rest."

"I've been manning the walls." He said, unconvincingly. "And seeing to personal affairs within the castle. Chaos does not sleep, why should I when the dark powers lurk?"

"A good policy, herr Commander. But all of the same, we cannot have you leading the men if you're not rested..."
@Penny

[Penny]

"I'll take that under consideration sergeant," Gilderoy responded, placing slightly more emphasis on the rank than was necessary. The knight was not dressed in his armor this morning but rather in a gold shirt with black sleeves and the emblem of a hammer over a rising sun on its breast. He had dark brown trousers and black riding boots of comfortable and utilitarian design. The overall effect was pleasing, although it reminded Camilla of an old painting she had seen once of the crusaders wading ashore onto the beaches or Araby.

"Since you are awake my lady and clearly dressed for it, perhaps you could join me for a morning ride?" he asked. Camilla sensed that not only was Cydric not invited but that attempting to invite him would rouse the knight to anger. Instead she squeezed to the Ostlander's thigh beneath the table, out of view of Gilderoy, and stood up, drinking down the rest of her cider.

"I would be honored Sir Gilderoy," she agreed.

Fifteen minutes later they were cantering down the valley. The improvement in Egling was remarkable and Camilla got the sense that whatever else the man was he truly loved horses. Camilla was not a natural horsewoman but it was considered one of the skills a noble and thus a nobles companion ought to possess and so she had received some instruction. It was much easier if she told her self she was falconing in Tilea rather than riding through possibly beastman infested woodlands and so she guided her dappled gray mare through the forest at an easy trot, its hooves kicking up leaf litter.

"I must confess, Si..." she began but Gilderoy raised his hand.

"Gilderoy, please My Lady," he corrected with a smile. She nodded in acknowlegement.

"And you may call me Camilla of course," she returned, earning herself a pleased smile from the knight.

"I was about to say that you seem to take alot of pleasure in riding." Gilderoy nodded sagely.

"Tis true," he responded, touching his heels to his horse, a roan colored stallion and urging it to leap over a log.

"Sigmar's work weighs heavily upon me but when I was a boy..." The night trailed off his eyes drawn away to the south. Camilla followed his gaze and saw a small trail of smoke rising from the southern end of the valley.

"Sigmar's blood," Gilderoy cursed and sawed at the reigns of his horse, jerking the big beast around violently.

"What..." Camilla began but Gilderoy was already responding.

"It's a watch fire, ride for your life, ride for the castle!" he snapped unsheathing his broadsword. Camilla needed no further encouragement and kicked her steed into a run, racing back down the valley. Ahead of them she could see brown bestial forms emerging from the trees as horns began to sound from the castle, sharp eyed watchmen having also spotted the signal fire's grim message. Giledroy's horse, stronger and wartrained, drew ahead of hers.

"Stay close!" he yelled and a moment later his horse smashed into the disorganized group of beastmen, sword arcing down to decapitate one of the beasts, the weight and violence of his charge tearing a hole in the loose line. Camilla drew her pistol from her belt and fired into one of the beastmen blocking the way sending it screaming to the ground and then she and Gilderoy were through and racing towards the castle, the portcullis already beginning to decend.

"Every man to the walls," Gilderoy roared as they thundered over the draw bridge.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Cyrdic was about to speak, before Camilla squeezed his thigh and he promptly zipped his lips. He supposed this truly wasn't the time to argue, and though he was much better rested than he had been in many days, he still felt too tired to argue any further. He let them both go, and decided to finish his meal in peace. He ate his fill, and drank plenty of water. As much as he enjoyed the cider, he was parched for water and must have drank a gallon.

After that, he outfitted himself and stuffed his treasures into his pockets, and then checked the sharpness of his sword. He still marveled at its keen edge, and then sheathed it again. He felt as if he and Camilla would need to leave soon, despite what he said earlier. Maybe it was the food that kept his mind rooted, but Chaos had its sights on the castle and he didn't feel right keeping the vial here.

Of course, that was when the horn sounded. Cyrdic's heart skipped a beat, and he rushed out into the courtyard and onto the battlements just in time to see Camilla and Gilderoy make it back across the draw bridge.

"Thank you, Sigmar, Ulric, and Taal," he breathed, running a hand through his hair.

His relief was short-lived however, and he didn't need the pulsing of his sword to tell him that. The trees in the sunlight looked like great archways that led into a dark nightmarish realm, and that vision had merit when ominous shapes soon appeared from within. Some were man sized, others head and shoulders taller, and many in between. Beastmen and Chaos Champions, along with barbarians so muscled they perhaps overmatched Cyrdic's bulk.

Men hustled to the battlements along the walls, ranged weapons loaded and strung. Swordmen, Axemen, and Halberdeirs gathered their arms in the square behind the outer walls. None of them had yet realized their Templar Commander had not joined them, but had ridden straight past. A few Templars were on the walls, but most of them look much less weathered than Gilderoy.
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla swung down off her horse intending to ask Gilderoy what she should do but the Knight was already gone, striding off into the keep at little short of a run. She followed him, surprised that he wasn't headed for the wall. Turning a corner she caught a glimpse of him as he pulled a heavy woodendoor closed behind him. Reaching it she pulled at the handle only to find it locked. Perplexed she looked around, it seemed to be a door to a small storage room but when she knocked tentatively on the door there was a hollowness to the return as though there were a much larger room, or perhaps a staircase behind it.

"Frauline, come away from there!" snapped a peevish voice and Camilla turned in time to see the scribe Gammenn striding towards her, his face like a thundercloud.

"I was just following Sir Gilderoy and he..." the scribe grabbed her elbow and began to try to pull her away. Camilla yanked her arm free with an angry snarl.

"How dare you..." she began but the scribe grabbed at her again. Camilla caught him across the face with an open handed slap that had the full power of her arm behind it, sending the lightly built man staggering back cursing. Gammenn drew his sword, a small ceremonial thing but enough to do the job and stepped towards her with murder in his eyes. The click of the hammer being drawn back on her pistol froze the irrate servant, if servant he was in his tracks, the cool ring of metal only an inch from his forehead. Camilla's voice was very calm.

"Get, the fuck, away from me. If you touch me again I swear I'll splatter your brains across the wall," she said, anger bubbling beneath her grim expression. The scribe didn't move forward but he sneered.

"You wouldn't dare, bitch," he swore. Camilla hit him in the face with the muzzle of the heavy weapon hard and the scribe reeled back in a scream. The heavy horse pistol was no joke and its metal barrel was a formidable weapon in itself.

"You whore! Ill kill..." she hit him again and once more splitting his eyebrow and sending the man scrambling away clutching his bleeding face. She lowered the unloaded pistol as she rounded the corner and began to laboriously reload the thing. What in the name of Ranald had that been about, what was behind the door that he was willing to go to such lengths to keep her from looking. Camilla was just finishing priming the pistol when the first booms sounded in the distance.

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Zavarek convulsed. From the demon engine's throat a ball of baleful fire and force exploded with enough noise to burst the eardrums of those beastmen within a few dozen yards of the thing. They fell screaming as fire and destruction split the morning. The Chaos warriors were unaffected, some even laughed at the chained demon as it was forced to serve its purpose. The great brass chains, each link quenched in the blood of a dwarf pulsed like arteries as the cannon shifted and realigned its mystical focus. Zavarek might be chained, but the sooner it battered down these walls, the sooner it could feast on the souls of those inside. Grumbling in anticipation, the demon prepared to belch forth another gout of destruction at the distant fortification.

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

"Fire!" one Knight screamed, just as another cried out for swordsmen to hustle up and stand before the walls to protect the ranged men from incoming fire. Cyrdic knew that this back and forth was not going to work, and as one Knight raised his sword to continue bellowing orders, he was suddenly lost in a maelstrom of demonic fire, a chunk of the castle's rock along with a dozen men were ripped off to die screaming.

There was a hush over the battlefield for a split second, bits of rock and debris falling ominously to the ground as men tried to collect themselves and not vomit over the side of the walls. Cyrdic gritted his teeth, hauling himself up, his sword raised above his head as a few men began to shoot scattered shots at the horde.

"Hold!" he cried, and a few more were shot, taking down only two Beastmen. "Hold!" he roared again, and all of the men stopped to look at him. He waited a moment for their attentions to be diverted to him, and he began bellowing orders. "Riflemen and Crossbowmen to the front! Longbows behind! Load and wait for my order to fire!"

The men looked between them selves, and one Knight dared question his order. But then all at once, they began to see the logic behind the formation and promptly ignored the Knight as they loaded and hustled into line, forming up even as the short shafted beast arrows thudded into the walls and over them, only hitting three men and killing one.

Once they were in line and loaded, another Daemon Cannon shot was sent arcing toward the wall. This time it hit stone directly, and crumbled a section of the wall. 5 men were lost, many falling out of the castle to lay broken on the fields, their fates given to the beastmen. But the majority of the wall still held.

"Aim!" Cyrdic ordered. His face was stone and his voice full of iron. Cyrdic had many faults, but giving a commanding presence on the battlefield was not one of them. There used to be jokes back in Ostland that he could order a Brettonian into being an effective soldier. He never had told Camilla that joke, not thinking she'd get Imperial humor.

"Fire!"

The thump of loosed Crossbows and crack of Rifles sounded, bolts and bullets punching through skulls and armor. Longbows were loosed, the long shafts raining down and piercing Beastmen flesh and bone. The Chaos spawn screamed and brayed with agony and fear as they died, and even some shields were sundered. But they had yet to truly scratch the numbers of the Chaos horde, and another belch of Chaos energy fired from the Cannon to hit the wall again. It wouldn't be able to hold for long.

"Halberdeirs and Swordsmen, in the Square!"
@Penny

[Penny]

Camilla staggered up the steps and out onto the battlements a few moments before one of the demonic gouts of fire struck. She was able to press herself back into the shelter of the doorway before the blast of heat and shower of masonry chips swept passed her. The castle was old, doubtless a fine fortification in its time but not meant to stand up to modern weapons. Camilla had some dim recollection of listening to a discussion on the merits of sloping walls against modern weaponry but it got technical fast and she couldn't follow it. It was very unlikely that even modern Tilean fortifications would have offered too much protection against the demonic hellfire however.

Judging the risk of incineration to be accceptably low, she peeked out onto the battlements. A few men were down, mostly cut by flying chunks of rock but for the most part they seemed to be holding up. As she watched she saw a swarm of beastmen rush forward at the wall into the hail of projectiles from the defenders. They were carrying pine trees, recently hewn from the ground and Camilla wondered what lunacy had possesed them until they thrust the makeshift siege ladders into the ground and pushed them against the walls. Beastmen began scrambling up the boughs like monkeys, crashing into the steel of the defenders.

Camilla spotted Cydric and keeping low darted across the battlements towards him, pausing only once to thrust her rapier into the back of a disoriented beastman. Reaching Cydric she took stock of the situation. The Imperials were driving back the improvised assault, swordsmen and halbiders hacking at the frantic enemy as they crested the wall. Swordsmen and halbiders but no knights. There was one knight now that she looked, the young man who had received Gilderoy's stony glare for cheering Cydric at dinner. He seemed to be shouting what she took to be more or less nonsense to the soldiers near him, they didn't appear to be listening but that obviously didn't stop the young man from trying.

"Cydric!" she shouted over a lull in the fighting and the Imperial turned to look at her. She pointed her rapier at the knight.

"Do you know where the other knights are? I just saw Gilderoy running into a cellar." Several horrific beastmen leapt atop the wall at once but a volley of handgun fire from one of the towers scythed them down like children's toys, topling their bleeding screaming bodies back over the parapet. She glanced down into the court yard perhaps expecting to see Gilderoy and the others forming up for a sally but the stable remained a mass of restive horses

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"You see, they are not so very many," grumbled Kron the Champion of Kron. Velabrass turned his many hued gaze on the great warrior. Like most Khornate warriors Kron was massive and his armor bedecked with skulls stylized and other wise. Most, but not all, Velabrass thought, remembering a Kurgan woman he had known once barely five feet tall and so full of battle fury that whole warbands had turned and fled from her. Kron's grip tightened and loosened on his axe, the whole thing was covered with razor sharp spikes, including the handled and it punched holes in Kron's hands as he fondled it. A dark liquid, not blood exactly ran from the rents in his gauntlets, appearing not to bother the beserker overmuch.

Velabrass sneered beneath his helmet. How like the skull lords maniacs to charge into battle to taste blood when time and worthless minions would do the job for them. Haste was foolish when the enemy had no where to go, and especially so when you were hasty for no better purpose than to indulge your own bloodlust.

"Not that I would lament your death Kron, but it would be wasteful. I did not win the Field of Azarth by my haste, nor best the Sorcerer Lords of the Seven Towers by charging in when time would bring me the victory. Let the beasts and the cannon batter a breech and then I will release you to your work, to our work." Velabrass savored the coming battle, unlike Kron he could wait, and victory would taste all the sweeter for its inevitability.

@POOHEAD189