The flames engulfed the straw shelter in seconds, but Poetschke’s yell echoed far louder than the fire’s hot crackle. Two ‘Grimeskins’ came running out of the hut. Poetschke casually tossed out a stick grenade, blowing both monsters to bits.
“RAAAAID!”
From the other side of town four giant orcish creatures came out of the great hall; the one where rape was underway. One of them muttered something incomprehensible and the other threw a hand-sized ax in Poetschke’s direction, but the human was already flat on the ground. The monsters separated to surround the burning hut. Poetschke started crawling backwards, not fast enough, but not daring to run and give his location away.
The Grimeskins got uncomfortably close to him when another crack rang out from the opposite treeline. One of the monsters dropped. Then another. It was Dietrich. In the confusion, Poetschke got up and dashed for the protection of the evergreens with two monsters following right behind. He’d succeeded in his assignment of drawing and distracting the monsters, now he only needed to stay alive.
The rattling of Master Sepp’s cannon ended the breathy screams nearby. That was Kasha’s signal. He and five other wolves came snarling from the darkness and descended upon the lone Grimeskin guarding the hall where the debauchery was taking place. Their spears cut into the monster before it could swing its blade in return, and it fell like a dead animal.
Master Sepp ran behind them with Valvela and Sabrae by his side. He smashed the glass of the window with his hand cannon, then fired a shot that ricocheted. Kasha and the others followed up and knelt outside the open doorway.
“Go! Go!” He ordered the five wolves into the Grimeskin’s hall.
The five of them filed past the door and disappeared while Sepp blasted his long hand cannon into the hall. Sepp looked angrily to Kasha, and motioned for him to follow behind the others.
Kasha breathed deeply and entered into the battle, hearing nothing but his beating heart despite the piercing fracas inside.
Things happened so quickly. Already one had fallen to a flying ax. Kasha looked to the other end of the room and saw one dead Grimeskin, but five others still alive, one of whom had those deadly hand axes.
“What are you all waiting for! Charge NOW!”
The Master’s angry voice erupted through the window, accompanied more shots that hit a Grimeskin but only knocked him back. The others looked at each other but got up and charged under cover of the Master’s machine cannon. Kasha found himself sprinting at one of the dazed monsters and, before he knew it, he lunged at the Grimeskin and gouged it in the throat. The Grimeskin fell in the melee and Kasha leaped to the aid of Talin, a wolf who was locked in battle with a much larger foe.
Kasha shoved his spear into the Grimeskin’s side. Talin did the same with his, but the Grimeskin swung his sword and beheaded Talin in one swift cut.
“Get them out!”
A voice shouted over the constant blasts. It was Kristiyan, the tall wolf who led the others into the great hall.
Who was ‘them?’ That’s when Kasha noticed seven young women, each lying flat on a mat, completely naked.
Two other Grimeskins remained kneeling behind a stone, held down by threat of the Master’s weapon.
“YOU! Cover for the women until they leave!” Kristiyan barked at Kasha.
The wolfesses slowly opened their eyes, rose up and then sprinted for the door. One of them recognized poor Talin.
“No! Talin! No, please no!”
She sobbed and covered her eyes in horror at the sight of her beheaded mate. Kristiyan grabbed her.
“He did what any of us would. Now come on!”
He growled, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
“No. Talin! Put me down! Talin!”
Kasha and the others followed Kristiyan out of the battle site and the Master was waiting for them, motioning for them to follow behind him into the forest. The Grimeskins, however many remained there, did not pursue this time.
After a few moments in the snowy forest they rendezvoused with Sabrae, Valvela and about a dozen other males from the village; people whom the two sisters helped escape.
“Where’s Fire Wielder?” Kristiyan asked.
“I don’t know.” Master Sepp replied.
“Valvela, take your tribespeople back to the cavern.”
Valvela did so. Kasha, Master Sepp, Kristiyan and two others set out to bring home the Fire Wielder.
Christening
“I figured you’d make it. You’re one of Peiper’s boys, after all.”
At 29, Werner Poetschke was hardly a boy, but he was definitely one of Peiper’s. Poetschke walked out from the trees, flamethrower still on his back and a strip of grenades on the front belt.
“I lost them, sir. The Grimeskins are back there somewhere.”
The wolves gathered around Poetschke in a half circle, and silence descended for a few seconds until Sepp’s voice broke in.
“Then let’s go home.”
Kristiyan, the tall, white wolf who led the others in the raid, came up to Poetschke first. “Flame wielder… How could a mere human escape the Raiders like that? It doesn’t make sense.”
Poetschke reached into his belt, pulled out a stick grenade and tossed it to Kristiyan, who caught it in his paws.
“Just like that,” the human chuckled.
“I don’t understand.”
Poetschke snatched it back.
“See this screw at the base?”
“Yes.”
“Undo that. A string with porcelain will fall out. Pull it, count to five and get a big boom-boom.”
Dietrich laughed and shook his head at Poetschke’s educational discussion. As for himself, he was growing to like these wolves: They were direct, to the point, and pretty good warriors, but more and more were looking to him for guidance and support against the ‘Raiders.’ Little did most of them know, Sepp wasn’t even from this world. Of the wolves he’d met, the ones that had the most experience against the Raiders were those from the Goldgrass Lands, which he learned stretched east of the forest out to Cottonwine Mountain.
“Kasha.” he called out to one of the conscripts he knew was from that land.
“Ah, me? Yes, Master Sepp.”
“These Raiders. How did they attack you on the planes?”
“Hmm. Well, the attacks started with huge, flaming rocks raining down from the skies. Usually a few moments later, clusters of Greenskins would ride in atop beastly wolf-taurs, and none of us, no matter how many, could resist the charging attack.”
“And then…?”
“From what I saw, the foot-warriors would swarm in after. Their axes would chop anything left. Some could crush us with just their hands. By then we were always frightened and scattered.”
“I see. That’s good. Thank you Kasha.”
“Ah, Master Sepp? May I also ask a question?”
“Yes?”
“Are you, I mean, you seem familiar with this attack? Because we are—”
“I am familiar with that. But I wanted to hear from you.”
That night the caverns crowded with the newcomers who were just rescued. Standing room was difficult, and sleep that night would be even stuffier. Still, Sepp Dietrich now had a platoon-sized force around him. He also got the distinct feeling that, for most of the wolves, tonight was the first taste of victory they’d had. The young ones were in a celebratory mood, but that would soon be fixed.
“Boys,” Sepp rose his voice and the chatter stopped.
“We must keep a low profile tonight. Fires may only be lit in the caves, one at a time. And while I sense the highs of victory in many of you, I tell you to remain cautious. I don’t know where the Raiders come from, but I know they are still in these lands, and tonight’s victory did not come without a cost. As the Alpha of my own pack once said, even a victorious army must count its dead.”