Lukas the Trickster by Josh Reynolds

Author:Josh Reynolds [Reynolds, Josh]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781785728693
Publisher: Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd
Published: 2018-01-31T15:38:13+00:00

Chapter Twelve

CROSS PURPOSES

641.M41

The great beasts ran across the ice. Growths of abnormal muscle stretched across twisted lupine frames, lending strength and an exceptional grace. They ploughed through the curtain of icy rain, leaping heavily over the splintering dunes of ice. In places the white expanse had been ruptured by tectonic pressures or falling meteors. The ice bucked and cracked beneath their massive paws, throwing up typhoons of freezing water. But they didn’t slow, and their howls split the air.

The dark eldar Raider coursed in their wake, following close behind the fleeing pack. The occasional shot from a splinter cannon served to keep the beasts from scattering into the storm. The vessel’s anti-gravity fields kept the worst of the weather off its passengers and crew, though the craft couldn’t avoid being buffeted by the high winds.

‘And they were once mon-keigh, you say?’ Malys asked, mildly interested in the loping beasts. ‘How intriguing. Some sort of failed attempt at fleshcrafting?’

‘Genetic, if Jhynkar is to be believed,’ Sliscus said, sipping from his goblet. They sat together at a table at the prow of the Raider. Slaves waited on them attentively, several holding a weather screen aloft. ‘What you see before you is the result of the primitive alchemy the mon-keigh insist on referring to as ‘science’. They take men and make them monsters.’

‘But not on purpose?’

‘No,’ Sliscus said with an air of incredulity. ‘Can you imagine?’

‘Quite well. You have seen what the humans are capable of when left to their own devices. Fiendishly clever little apes.’

‘Yes, some more than others.’ Sliscus had bargained with and butchered humans enough to know that they had a certain cunning. Not equal to his own, but easily exceeding that of many noble archons of his acquaintance. Still, cunning or not, they were nothing more than prey.

He looked out over the rail, watching the beasts flee before him. Two other Raiders kept pace with his own, their anti-gravity engines carrying them silently across the ice. Their crews shouted and cheered, eager to make the kill. Jhynkar was aboard one with his wracks, while Myrta commanded the other.

He smiled at the thought of the latter. Like Malys, she was a clever woman. Too clever, too sharp. She had been forced to kill a number of rivals since they had started the festivities. Occasionally, one of his captains took umbrage at being ordered about by one they took to be a mere servant.

Despite the deaths, the hunt was going well. The storm made for ideal cover and added a certain thrill to the aerial pursuits of the Reavers and hellions. Watching them smash into one another, or be blown into a looming crag, proved to be of modest entertainment.

The primitive humans who occupied many of the semi-stable landmasses made for good sport. Such brutes rarely had the wit to flee, and instead tried to fight. Such bravery often led to a bounty of fear, pain and despair. His guests attacked night by night, never for long, and only taking what plunder they could easily carry.

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