My muse bit me so I wrote a little thing. Featuring some Snorri's missing former apprentices!
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Onki was tired, so very very tired. Too long had he chased his quarry from the burning hole of the Earth that was once known an Karak Irkul before it was twisted by malignancy into a place known as Zharr Nagrund before merciful Gazul wiped it out of existence forever. Too long had he had to watch the wake of destruction and hate that his enemy had left in her wake, of the bodies of good stout Dawi, or families and clans left with gaping holes in them, or magic fell and unnatural used on his people. This hunt had gone on for far far too long, but now, finally he and Guardians of Gazul with him had chased her down and cornered her. Nowhere else to flee to, nowhere to avoid them, finally she would fall, as the one who had corrupted her had, as had his Master, and his Master's False God.
"I reckon she's got maybe a half dozen with her, she doesn't have the supplies for more and thanks to the Runesmith we've been keeping her from getting too much distance with her Sorcery," The leader of the Guardians observed.
"Aye," Agreed Onki. The sorceress's last spell had been ripped apart by the rune of spellbreaking he cast at just the right moment, leaving her underlings without a shield to escape with, and because the Guardians had not been split up like she had hoped, they had steadily gained on her and the rest. The rest of the Guardians nodded, and then began to move. No more needed to be said. Everything that needed to be said had already been said before.
A helmetless Frundar clad in blackened spellsteel charged the group roaring some tawdry cry about his dead, now and forever, god. His axe held high as charged the group, only to be struck down as two crossbow bolts found his face even as several more bounced off the rest of his armor, failing to penetrate entirely despite several of the crossbows bearing runes. A clear distraction for four more of his kind, also covered in blackened spell steel but with the addition ornate helmets as well, moved into a position that locked the Guardians into the press of close combat, even as rocks fell behind them blocking off retreat. As the sound of metal of metal intensified Onki kept his wits about him. A moment's warning was all he had to keep her from sending them all to the Underearth, he had learned that the hard way in one of their previous confrontations that she had no loyalty left in her, and she would gladly sacrifice any number to escape her punishment.
His nose tickled, and he touched his amulet, the giant ball of fire flying the melee being rendered unto nothing mere moments before it could crash amongst them all. Sadly, this did nothing to stop her followers from trying to gut him, and he had to dodge a swift swipe of one's axe even as it was also engaging a guardian as well. But it did leave the overzealous Frundar out of position, allowing Onki to grab his arm and hold it fast. His ally following up the arm lock bringing down a ruinous two handed strike upon the offending limb left open to abuse. The spellwrought steel deformed horribly from the blow, but held even though the limb under it snapped audibly to the Frundar's anguished cry. Onki followed it up by tossing the monster into another of his fellows, the Guardians of Gazul wasting no time falling onto both of them attacking any gap or opening even as their fellows use weight and numbers to push the other two back.
Good. Thought the Runesmith as he stalked forward seeking the leader of the Frundar. Turning a corner, he found her. Konna, clad in some horrible amalgamation of blackened steel and some faintly glowing metal he can't identify easily. His elder sister apprentice to Snorri Klausson of Clan Winterhearth, turned from the blasphemous bullheaded statue she had knelt in front of and charged him, runestaff turned spear inscribed with blasphemous runes of hashut in one hand and an axe made much the same way in the other. "Die you meddling wretch!" she roared as a lightning bolt issued from the tip of her spear, only failing to kill him because of the amulet he bore, made in homage to his master's albeit nowhere near the quality. Onki bore through it anyways, charging so close that the spear point was away and past him, even as her axe screamed downwards onto his head, only to be diverted when his heavily gauntleted arm smashed into the flat of the axe, mashing it away as his other hand grabbed her staff, forcing her to stay close or lose her spellcasting focus. As Konna chose the former, Onki reeled her in closely and slamming his gauntlet into her armor heavily, the runes inscribed amplifying the force of the blow into one of great force. Not great enough to do more than only so slightly dent Konna's armor however, the sorceress, spat at him, a cloud of some foul brackish green vapor flying towards his face making him instinctively dodge out of the spell's path.
The follow up was immediate as lengthy haft of blackened wood that was now glowing a fell and deathly red came flying at him through the poisoned fog, failing to make a clean hit, but the tip grazing his cheek, going straight through the protection of his armor as if it was not even there. Konna chuckled as he fell back further, tapping his amulet to dispel the fog, even as the glow on her staff-spear continued to glow red, "And now without your armor, you are going to die Onki, abandoned by your damned Ancestors just like they abandoned poor Thorgrim!"
She wound up to threw her spear at him.
He grabbed from his side a last resort.
The crimson sear was let fly
His hand crossbow fired a bolt of Pure Gromril.
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Onki groaned in pain as he became aware he was pinned to the wall via a spear that nearly very nearly took his arm off at the shoulder, a crater emanating from the point of impact. But despite his state, his opponent was in a far worse state, for the bolt he has shot at her was no normal bolt. It bore the Master rune of Conduction, the Rune of Striking, and The Rune of Grudges. Konna, former runesmith, now cultist and sorceress of Hashut screamed as she was burned alive, the weight of his grudges pushing the master rune to make sure her end came. She screamed and screamed as her started to melt from the inside out, as her plaits caught alight, and as for all her sorcerous power and might she could not pull the caught fast bolt out of her now too tough armor.
Onki could only watched as the strictures of Thrungni were fulfilled and a former friend, bent by hate and sorrow finally was finally put to rest.