The Damned One

By Mark Gilmour

"AAAEEEEEIII!!!!!!!"

The air shuddered with the blood curdling scream of yet another Eldar, slain by the Khorne Bezerker champion’s cruel chain axe.

Karnax stood on a growing mountain of bodies, piled up with his mutilated, Eldar victims.

"ARE YOU ALL SUCH WEAK FIGHTERS?!!! COME HERE AND FACE ME YOU COWARDS!!!!!!!"

The champion screamed in a voice that was full of a barbaric fury, his blood lust not yet quenched despite the vast number of bodies lying beneath his feet. The bezerker’s chain axe was covered in pieces of gristle and gore, and had cut through the bodies of numerous Eldar warriors.

Karnax stepped down from the mound of bodies and strode across the battlefield. Karnax was pleased with the destruction all around him. The city was in ruins, and the bodies of Eldar and warriors of the Imperium alike were scattered across the ground in a grotesque mixture of limbs and entrails.

Karnax had no idea why the Eldar had turned up on this planet, nor did he care. To him, Eldar presence merely meant more enemies to slay for Khorne.

He could hear voices. Obviously Eldar, since he couldn’t understand a word they were saying. What they were didn’t matter. As long as they were enemy he would attack and slay them. Karnax approached the street where he could hear the voices. He stared through a hole in a building to catch a view of who was there. Definitely Eldar. He could identify them by their tight armour, pointed helmets and the weapons that they carried. They were walking very cautiously, guns at the ready, as if they were expecting someone to attack them. They would be easy targets, and Karnax felt dissapointed. He had already slaughtered many squads like this, and he craved for a real fight. Nonetheless, they would die and all that was left to decide was to pick the moment to charge. Now.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!!". Upon hearing the champion’s blood curdling war cry, the Eldar turned round and fired. Most of the shots glanced off his ornate armour, but one sank deep into his thigh. It seemed to have no effect on the crazed bezerker who leaped into the air and brought his chain axe down upon one of the guardian’s heads and let loose a flurry of shots from his plasma pistol into the midst of the others. The axe sank deep and the plasma burst through the stomachs of another two Eldar. The other two Eldar prepared to be sucked into their spirit stones, but they wouldn’t do so without a fight. They pulled out power swords and one succeeded in sinking it deep into Karnax’s shoulder. It merely fuelled his anger, and with two vicious, horizontal swipes from his chain axe sent the guardians’ entrails spilling onto the ground. It took Karnax a few moments to slow his breathing which had been sped up by his battle fury. It had been all too easy. Karnax laughed evilly. He grabbed one of his dead victims and pulled off the helmet. It was the face of a beautiful Eldar female. Not that beauty meant anything to a black hearted killing machine like Karnax. He pulled the guardians face to his mask and stared into her dead eyes.

"PUNY BEING!!" he shrieked "WHY CAN’T YOU FIGHT?!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!" He threw the body back down again in disgust. He was just about to spit on the body when something whizzed past his head. Karnax turned round and growled deeply. He walked in the direction that the gunfire had come from in such a way that it was if he was trying to sniff out his enemy.

"COME OUT! COME OUT AND PLAY LITTLE ELDAR! I WON’T HURT YOU……MUCH!!!!" Karnax violently kicked a piece of debris across the street. A figure emerged from behind a wrecked car. Karnax quickly tried to adjust his eyes as he couldn’t see the figure very well. It’s image seemed to disperse and it’s movements were quick and stealthy. Karnax could just make out that the figure was wearing a cloak and carrying a sword of some sort. Karnax, certainly not known for his patience, let out a bellowed roar of anger and lunged at his opponent. He violently swung around his chain axe, but his opponent seemed to dodge his blows through lightning fast movements. Karnax was filled with an uncontrollable rage and began hurling his axe around in a fit of fury that would seem impossible if personally witnessed. However, the attacks were clumsy compared to the sleek, rapid movements of his opponent. With one sleek blow from his power sword, the Eldar carved Karnax’s left arm off. Karnax then became aware of a sharp pain in his shoulder and was overcome with a feeling of nausea. The champion stared around, unable to believe what was happening. His assailant had disappeared. Karnax slumped back and was breathing heavily. He leaned against a wall and stared at his shoulder. There was a bloodied stump of bone where his arm should have been and this was confirmed by the fact that both his arm and plasma pistol were lying a couple of feet away from where he was sitting. Still, the prospect of death did not even begin to enter Karnax’s mind. He began to think that his actions today would be rewarded by Khorne and he would receive a replacement for his arm.

The figure appeared again, the same dispersed image. The anger and fury built up inside Karnax to such an extent that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. This time, he thought, he wouldn’t miss. He would nail the Eldar bastard and severe his head off.

Karnax pulled himself up and raised his remaining arm in the air, lofting his chain axe high. "DIE YOU ELDAR SCUM! FOR KHORNEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" At the very moment that Karnax brought down his axe, his opponent moved out of the way. With a single, graceful, spinning movement, the champion’s opponent cleaved off his head, ripping tendons and ligaments connecting head and neck. Karnax’s body slumped to the ground and his helmet went bobbing down the street before coming to a stop. No more Eldar would now die at the hands of Karnax’s bloodied chain axe. With that, the solitaire sulked off into the darkness, into a life of solitude and seclusion and ultimately, damnation.

RETURN TO ADVENTUROUS TALES

E-MAIL THE LOREMASTER