Age of Sigmar: Omnibus

‘I encourage you to do so, and with all due haste,’ Aetius said, making his way back the way he’d come. ‘The more of them we kill, the less chance they’ll regroup when they break.’ He dropped heavily to the ground.

‘How many?’ Solus said, peering down the alleyway towards the plaza.

‘Many. We will meet them head-on and punch through them. Tight formation, shields locked,’ Aetius said, meeting the gazes of his warriors. ‘We are not many, but Sigmar is with us. We will prevail.’ He looked at Felyndael. ‘We will stop only when we reach the steps of the basilica. We will make our stand there.’

‘I will meet you there,’ Felyndael said, without further elaboration. He stepped back, and vanished into the packed reeds that made up the wall of the alleyway.

‘Can we trust them?’ Solus said, staring at the wall.

‘I have faith,’ Aetius said, softly. ‘Whatever their reasons, we want the same thing — the bells silenced and the enemy routed. Let us draw some attention to ourselves. Shields up.’ At his signal, his Liberators started forwards, shields raised, hammers ready. They marched into the plaza, moving with steady precision. The rattle of their war-plate clashed with the tolling of the great bells, filling the air with discordance.

One by one, the gathered Rotbringers turned. Chieftains bellowed commands as blightkings began to shove their way through the mass of bodies towards the approaching enemy. Horns whined and iron-shod bones thumped festering drums as the Rotbringers reformed to face the Hallowed Knights. Aetius slammed his hammer against the face of his shield. ‘Who will hold the dark at bay?’ he roared. ‘Who strides forth, when all is lost?’

‘Only the faithful!’ the Hallowed Knights bellowed in reply. As they did so, Solus raised his hand, and his Judicators sent a volley of arrows streaking up over the heads of the Liberators. Aetius gestured, and the Liberators picked up the pace. The square broke and reformed, becoming a wedge with Aetius at the point. He bent forwards, shield lifted, and began to run. The first Rotbringer he struck fell beneath him, and was crushed by the unyielding tread of the Liberators. The wedge blossomed like a murderous flower as the battle-line expanded at Aetius’ bark of command.

Hammers and war-blades rose and fell. Ichor splashed the reeds as the silver-armoured warriors hacked and crushed their way through the forces of the enemy. Where once they might have displayed caution, the Steel Souls now gave full vent to the fury that pulsed bone-deep within each and every Stormcast Eternal. They had clashed again and again with the servants of Nurgle since their arrival in the Jade Kingdoms. They had seen first-hand the monstrous cruelty such filth inflicted on the innocent and defiant alike. And here and now, that vile debt had at last come due.

‘Push through them,’ Aetius shouted. A featureless helm, covered in blighted sigils, burst like an overripe fruit beneath his hammer. ‘Hold the line, but do not stop!’ A Rotbringer lunged for him, and squamous tendrils slithered about his throat. Without stopping, Aetius slammed his head against that of his attacker, shattering malformed bone and bursting one faceted eye. The mutant reeled, squealing, and Aetius shoved it aside with a blow from his shield. Arrows slammed down ahead of him, erupting into crackling streamers of lightning as they felled squalling Rotbringers.

Axes and swords thudded against his shield or bounced off his armour as he waded through them. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a flash of crooked bark. A Rotbringer staggered, clutching at his spilling intestines in confusion. Another slumped, his head neatly removed from a spurting neck. The sylvaneth danced with a deadly elegance, their branch-like limbs sliding through flesh or launching deceptively gentle blows that nonetheless broke bones or punctured armour and flesh with ease.

When they reached the steps, the Liberators turned, sweeping their shields out, driving the closest of their foes back so that Solus could lead his retinue through. As soon as the Judicators reached the top of the dais, they loosed volley after volley into the packed ranks of the Rotbringers. At Aetius’ command, his warriors reformed their battle-line on the steps. Shield rims crashed together, forming a wall of gleaming sigmarite between the stunned Rotbringers and the Basilica of Reeds.