Thy Soul to Keep, Part 8

Capture the Sky Dock

The dank inner chamber of the mausoleum was suddenly lit by greenish light as the Skull flared bright, blood still oozing from its sockets.
'Quick, Soulchemist! Collect the blood and save the energy you siphoned from the soulstorm'.
Without a moment of hesitation, Kalyustar carefully collected the blood in one of his vials, murmuring words of power he was not aware of knowing. The red liquid pooled in the vial, turning to translucent black. Somehow, the wizard knew that was the essence of the long dead, an Elixir of Distilled Souls.
As the last drop fell in, Kalyustar waited for the now familiar wispers to give him more advice. And yet, no words reached his mind.
Puzzled, the wizard hung the vial to his belt and left the mausoleum.

Kalyustar found the Free Companies had regrouped and were staring at the Selachii floating above the Sky Dock.

The ship had been long overdue and now her opportunistic captain, rather than dealing with the Rotmoons running for the Dock, dropped the cargo and sped away in the wind.

Those were provisions and equipment that Lord Ironfundson had arranged to be brought as part of his plan to dislodge the Greenskinz and An'sec's minions from the Hurricane Bell. As an hulking leadbelcher stomped his way to the broken crates, Kalyustar wondered if he should leave the cargo to the Rotmoons.

Alerted by the noise, the Raidho Othalas emerged from Fallow's End House, appraising the situation.

For a moment, Kalyustar waited for the Skull to come to life and guide him. But there were no wispered words in the wind. He had to think fast. There was no point in risking the infantry, so they advanced slowly through the woods. At the same time, he sent the Cuirassier to secure one of the crashed crates, least the duardin tought he was betraying their allegiance.

The Raidho Othalas advanced, the whirring of their rigs and weapons drifting through the air.

The leadbelcher opened fire against the Cuirassiers. One rider was flung from his saddle and the others, hot-tempered as usual, charged through the cloud of black smoke, their guns blazing.

The Kharadron moved forward, only to find wortless debris. And then, they indiscriminately opened fired on both the Rotmoons and the Free Companies.

Led by Bortagno, a party of Rotmoons waded through the aether-shots and prepared to take the fight to the duardin. Around Kalyustar, Fancy Fencers and Marksmen alike were taken in the grip of an unnatural terror, as if faced with the sum of all their fears. Screaming, some withdrew into the forest.

Kapitán da Leeva led a charge to support the embattled leadbelcher.

The situation was spiralling out of control and now even Kalyustar could feel terror mounting inside him. He ordered everybody back, leaving whatever was worth of the cargo to the orruks.
Once at a safe distance, Kalyustar drew the Skull out of his robes. Long he stared at it, and yet, the Skull remained silent.