Fantasy Warhammer: The Dragonliche

[Chai_T3a]

"I'm going, I'm going." Lorenz said, stretching out his arms as he started to walk forward. It seemed that today's journey to the farm wouldn't be a very pleasant one that was for sure. He sighed to himself. Staring into the horizon in front of him. He could see pretty far, as the gently undulating hills did not provide much cover. At the moment, the damn farm wasn't even in his sights.

A long walk was ahead of them, as much to Lorenz's dismay.

 

[Da Doofus]

The trek was calm and quiet, with only the clopping of Kendal’s horse filling the rural area with noise.
Khazu would occasionally glance at the horse from behind Lorenz with suspicion.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz wouldn't notice Khazu's seeming suspicion of the horse, considering the fact that he had been walking in front of the dwarf. Instead, he found himself looking up at the street, hoping that he'd finally be able to see that damn barn. He didn't think he'd be happy to want to be shovelling shit. But at least that gave him something to do. With a task at hand, the awkward tension the three were sharing at the moment would have at least been a bit more bearable.

"What happened to the eye, scarface." Lorenz asked, trying to start some kind of conversation. He knew it was insensitive, but honestly at this moment it wasn't his biggest concern if he was offending Kendal or not.

 

[Da Doofus]

“Got it cut.” Kendal replied bluntly. “Now forgive my bluntness, but I’m not much for chat at the moment.”

Khazu huffed.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz rolled his eyes, this guy really wasn’t fun to be around. “What, is it embarassing?” Lorenz teased in an attempt to get a rise out of the man. “Suit ya self. I’ll just make up summin then”

 

[Da Doofus]

“Praps a local merchant tossed a cheese knife at the wazzok.” Khazu chuckled in his throat.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz grunted in amusement at the sound of that. Oh how funny that would've been if it was actually the case. In fact, Lorenz would probably use that until Kendal chose to tell him the truth.

But for now he'd let the subject go. Last thing he needed was a pissed of escort, that would be pretty annoying in his opinion. So he continued to trek on, hoping to get to the barn as soon as possible so he could get his stupid ass job over with.

 

[Da Doofus]

As the farm drew closer and closer, the color of the morning sky became mixed with plumes of black smoke on the horizon.

Khazu stopped and sniffed the air, his large Dwarf nostrils flared as he did.
“Something’s wrong.” He said grimly.

Kendal’s horse stopped near him and whinnied. Then the equine trotted in place nervously.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz cocked an eyebrow in curiosity, to be completely honest, he hadn't been paying enough attention to his surroundings to really notice anything wrong. But now that Khazu had mentioned it, Lorenz looked directly ahead towards the direction of the farm. Expecting to see nothing but grassy hills, he instead found puffs of smoke billowing from the horizons. It couldn't mean much, could it.

"Just a bit'a fire, no biggie." Lorenz waved it off nonchalantly. "Probably the crops burning or something."

 

[Da Doofus]

Kendal clicked his tongue and his horse started trotting ahead of the two. His prior commitment to escort the two was no longer a priority it seemed.
Khazu looked at Lorenz, and then at the road they stood upon. Finally, he glanced back at the smoke in the distance.

“Krut.” He cursed in Khazilid and started following their former guide.

 

[Chai_T3a]

He didn't know what Krut meant, but the reactions out of both Khazu and Kendal was enough for Lorenz to realize that his original assumption wasn't right. Slightly alarmed, he followed the two towards the fire. Why was he running straight into danger? He himself wasn't really sure. Maybe it was because he had no clue how'd he'd get back to town alone.

"What's wrong." Lorenz inquired, as he caught up to Khazu.

 

[Da Doofus]

“Don’t smell right, that’s what’s wrong, umgi.” The Dwarf kept a quicker pace than before. He seemed intent to investigate.

 

[Chai_T3a]

That wasn’t concerning one bit. Lorenz kept up his pace next to the dwarf, looking forward to see if he could see anything worth mentioning. Lorenz was arrogant, but not dumb. If Khazu really did feel weary about this situation, then maybe he should too.

 

[Da Doofus]

Kendal’s steed was well out of sight by the time they matched one another’s pace. Once at the farm’s gate, the wooden plank door had been broken down and in the distance the house and windmill were smoldering in ash and smoke.

Kendal was standing before the Birkman house with a neutral posture. His horse was hitched to a nearby fence post and was still unnerved by its instincts.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz caught up with Kendal in a few minutes. Out of breathe, Lorenz stopped right outside the house, a few paces behind Kendal. The pillowing smoke from the burning house making it hard to breathe at moments. This wasn’t what he expected. The front gate, broken and unhinged signalled some kind of attack. And as much as he had a disdain for Mr. Birkman, even he wasn’t deserving of a fate like this.

“...shit.” Lorenz mumbled, bewildered. “Do ya think...Birkman might be inside?”

 

[Da Doofus]

Khazu grumbled at Lorenz’s optimism. “No.
“I doubt it.”

Kendal sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Suppose that means I’m out of a job.” He turned to look at the two. “Unless you two are planning to seize your opportunity for freedom, you can help me look around.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz looked over at Khazu. Kendal was right. He could take this opportunity to run off, but he wasn’t that much of a jackass. There was no way he’d bail at a time like this, he’d feel too guilty afterwards.

“Ya think I’ll leave this place like this?” Lorenz asked. “Nah, I’ll help you search.”

 

[Da Doofus]

Kendal glanced at the young man. “Then you can be of some use, I suppose.” He pointed to the nearby barn, which was surprisingly intact.
“You can see if this was a raid. Bandits leave tracks if they stole the ponies.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

"Ya really know how to make people feel appreciated huh." Lorenz quipped, his comment directed at Kendal's first comment. What'd he mean sounding so hesitant? Lorenz thought he was plenty useful. Might as well prove it right now.

"I'll take a looksie and get back to you or summin," Lorenz said, hastily making his way to the barn. He really wanted to believe that this huge fire could have been caused by something stupid. Maybe Mr. Birkman forgot to tend to his fireplace or some shit? Yeah...he hoped that was the case.

As he entered the barn, the first thing Lorenz did was look down at the floor. What kind of damn trails was he looking for? He had no clue. But still, it wouldn't seem that challenging to find shit like that. Examining every aspect of the place, he hoped that his previous theory would be correct.

 

[Da Doofus]

The interior had been transformed from what would be a hay ridden place to store livestock into a grim scene of bloody horror. Blood stained the wooden walls and collected in the bundles of hat, staining them.
A straw hat was crumpled in the center, and still had a piece of torn scalp clinging to it.

Khazu was still near Kendal in the inspection of the house.
A rustle came from the stable near the back gate, and a twitching arm of a Halfling gripped the rail. A quiet groan came from its owner hidden behind the small wall.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz didn't like to admit it, but he was squeamish when it came to gore. It been something he tried to work on as a kid, and for the most part, he felt his tolerance had built up.

But this wasn't just a simple butchered animal. No, this was on a whole different level.

His surroundings were saturated with enough blood to assume a whole army could have been killed in here. It ran everywhere, and with every new patch of it he discovered, Lorenz found himself growing even more lightheaded. In fact, he would've bolted out of there if it wasn't for the arm he saw from the corner of his eye.

Watching as the unconcealed hand of what could only be a halfling attempted to grip the railing. Lorenz grew even more shocked then he was before. Fuck, could it be Mr. Birkman? Lorenz swallowed his fear, just for the moment and began nervously walking towards the back stable. "EH! There's someone here!" He shouted, hoping that having backup would at least take away some of his worries.

 

[Da Doofus]

Once he was around the wall to where the Halfling was, and was greeted to the gruesome sight.
Mr. Birkman lay before him in his last, blood choked breath with half of his formerly plump face ripped open. His waist was completely separate from his torso, and his intestines sprawled from his upper half. Further behind him, huddled in the corner, a hairy man with goat hornes was gnawing on what used to be one of the Halfling’s legs.

Birkman looked up at Lorenz.
“Run . . .” He choked before falling limp at his feet.

 

[Chai_T3a]

As he approached the halfling in the barn, Lorenz could only describe what he saw as his worst fears. There laid Mr. Birkman's mutilated corpse. His body destroyed in what could only be the most painful way possible. His cheeriness got on his nerves, but Mr. Birkman had never done anything to make Lorenz hate him. The way he was about to go....half his face torn off, his body ripped apart, nobody deserved to die like this.

That itself was a horrifying sight alone, Lorenz hadn't even accounted for the other thing inside that barn. Feasting on Mr. Birkman's legs, was a creature that he could only describe as a hell spawn. Half human, half animal, Lorenz had only heard tales of these creatures. They usually never ended really well either. Now, he had one right next to him.

Legs quivering, Lorenz started backing up. After hearing Birkman's last words. The beast would be coming for him next, there was no doubt of that. "Don't get any closer." Lorenz voice shook, he hated that his voice was failing him. His hands, drenched in sweat, did its best to form a fireball. But without focus, it came out as nothing but a flame above his hand. Still, he hoped it would at least intimidate the being a little. He was risking his secret, but frankly he didn't fucking care.

 

[Da Doofus]

The man-beast snorted and looked up from its meal with yellow eyes and a mouth caked in gore. It looked at Lorenz and growled, a guttural sound that mixed a groan of a cloven beast with the voice of a man. Its face bore disturbing resemblances to a human man as its yellow, blood-stained teeth snapped and the creature stood on cloven hooves.

“Ra’ku awramagu, maa.” It spoke in a voice like gravel. He grabbed a nearby weapon; an axe made from bone and wood.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Lorenz's panic grew ever stronger when the creature didn't seem fazed at all by his attempt to fight back. Backing up quicker, Lorenz pretty much gave up all hope as he released the weak culmination of flames at the beast. When he was focussed, his flame wasn't even the most practical for combat. Right now with how unconcentrated he was? It wasn't going to do shit.

"COME' N FUCKING HELP ME!" Lorenz shouted, voice panicked, before turning 180 and booking it out of the barn.