The Blood Moon
'It is time, Soulchemist!'The Shadeglass Skull's voice called to Kalyustar, intruding into a dream of brightly uniformed humans cheering a masked wizard.
'Lunaghast is about to rise, Soulchemist!'.
The cheering faces turned into grinning skulls and the bright uniforms into faded blacks and yellows as Kalyustar opened his eyes. A grimoire, skulls and candles were laying on the lid of a sarcophagus. A lodestone laced with gravesand had been driven through the roots of a dark-barked oak. Skeletons stood at the ready all around.
'Everything is ready. Your servants prepared everything for the ritual. The Twisted Oak's power is yours to take, Soulchemist...'.
Memories came back to Kalyustar's mind. The search fo the Twisted Oak and its power, key to vengeance against Sigmar's servants that betrayed him so long ago. The attack of Alarielle's followers, the spear of the Kurnoth Hunter piercing his shoulder as he approached the bloated trunk of the Twisted Oak. And what else... Grellem Vallkern's blade flaring above him?
'This is of no consequence, Soulchemist!' the Shadeglass Skull voice came in imperiously. 'What matters is the will of the Master... and your plans for the Twisted Oak's power'.
"You're right, old friend. Grellem Vallkern, take command and let none come close'. The Wight King nodded and the skeletons jerked into positions around the Twisted Oak.
As he opened the grimoire, the dream he had been awakened from flashed into Kalyustar's eyes. Has it been a dream? Or was it a memory? Could it have been a glimpse of a different future?
'This too, is of no consequence, Soulchemist! What matters is the will of the Master. Begin the ritual!'
'Yes, old friend. Power and vengeance will be mine'. A ghastly glare sipped out of Kalyustar's mask eyeslits as he intoned the first words of the spell that would have siphoned the power of the Cursed Oak.
Kalyustar's voice sounded loud as the reddish hue of rising Lunaghast started to tinge the night sky. Suddenly, the raucos warcries of the Rotmoons boomed out of the canopy as the orruk approached the ring of skeleton sentries around the Twisted Oak.
Blades rang as the frenzied orruks charged forth, rusty nails held in their chunky fists. The line of skeletons held true, not even the massive Kaptain DaLeeva breaking through.
Kalyustar kept his attention on the ritual, the necrotic energies held by the Twisted Oak starting to flow through the loadstone and into the skulls lined on the sarcophagus.
Grellem Vallkern and the Seneschals came forward, bolstering the skeletons' line and holding back the second wave of the Rotmoons.
More power flowed through the loadstone, enough that Kalyustar could divert his attention to raise back some skeletons to pin down DaLeeva.
The Cursed Company started to buckle under the unrelenting assault of the Rotmoons. Even though some more orruks were felled, Dragante managed to open a breach into the skeletons' line.
To Tambor's maddened drumming, DaLeeva and El Doctoro barged through the breach and reached the loadstone, hammering the rusty nails down with their bare fists.
The sorcerous backlash almost stunned Kalyustar, but the necromancer stepped back from the sarcophagus and redirected the wild magical energies against Awkwardo. The orruk withered in seconds.
Bortagno felled anther skeleton while Dragante barged Rhedgar aside and drove another nail into the loadstone.
Kalyustar rushed back toward the sarcophagus, desperately trying again to prevent the backlash to disrupt the ritual.
It was too late. The loadstone cracked and splintered, magical energies starting to flow back into the Twisted Oak's trunk and roots.
'Grab what you can, Soulchemist! Lunaghast is setting and the orruks had the best of you... again...'
"Do not mock me, friend! But you are right. Cursed Caompany, retreat!" As the Cursed Company filed away Kalyustar spied the orruks putting their axes to the Twisted Oak. Vengeance against the men that bretrayed him was still his goal, but now he had one more score to settle with DaLeeva and his brutes.
***
Saul's version of the story is here.
