Descent

Marrathul of Mor’phann rarely heard anything on patrol. She spent her time gliding through the cold, black waters above the enclave, her Fangmora mount undulating with each measured beat of its tail. Only occasionally did the telltale bubbling of slowly falling debris come filtering to her ears. When it did, she and the five other sentinels made their way towards the source, swimming up to attach downhauls to the debris and guide it toward the Great Taker – that mighty current into which all dead and discarded things were cast. It was dull duty, yet it was important in preserving the enclave, and Marrathul enjoyed the endless solitude it afforded.

But on this patrol, Marrathul heard a sound. Faint at first, but growing louder – a churning sound from the far-distant heights of the ocean, punctuated by the sharp crack of bones breaking under immense pressure. Marrathul knew what this sound heralded – the remains of some vast, dead creature sinking straight towards her city. It was for dangers such as this that the patrols still existed, even after so many millennia of isolation.

With her heel, Marrathul caressed the flank of her mount, bringing the serpentine creature about before spurring it onward, into the inky abyss above. As she surged forward, she could hear her fellow sentinels stirring into action, still leagues distant, but racing towards the same destination. Then came the sonorous thud of the drum that was mounted on the back of the Leviadon, the giant shell-backed creature that would haul their quarry clear of the city.

As Marrathul ascended, the deep beats of the drum grew closer and closer, allowing her to hear clearly the echoes formed by the falling carcass. It was truly gigantic – longer than a score of Fangmora – and its enormous jaws bore teeth as tall as any Idoneth. Over its descent, the draconic beast had been stripped of every last scrap of flesh, picked clean by scavengers in the waters high above. Yet there was still enough weight in its skeleton to create a devastating impact if it were to fall upon the city’s chorrileum.

At last Marrathul reached the carcass, and without word she and the other sentinels moved to different points on the skeletal body, commanding their mounts into a slow, downward swim so as to descend alongside their quarry. Marrathul uncoiled the downhaul from her back, and with a practised flick sent the grapnel end gliding through the creature’s vast ribcage. A short tug on the line brought the grapnel angling back around one of the broad rib bones, and with a delicate wave Marrathul looped the line around the grapnel’s barbs. Her downhaul secured, she steered her beast towards the front of the dead creature’s jaws, where the Leviadon waited.

After Marrathul and the other sentinels handed their lines to the Leviadon’s crew, the drumming doubled in pace and the shelled creature lurched forward, each stroke of its mighty fins stirring up whipping eddies. Then came the strained sound of the lines growing taut, and the descending path of the carcass shifted, slowly at first, then faster and faster as it was towed forward by the war beast swimming ahead of it.

Marrathul and the other sentinels followed behind the carcass as it was dragged along. After a few leagues, she knew they were no longer above the enclave, and after a few more she began to feel water rushing past her as the pull of the Great Taker took hold. The Leviadon slowed its pace, allowing the downhauls to go slack, while the sentinels moved once more towards their skeletal captive and unfastened the grapnels. Marrathul peeled back and listened as the dead creature continued to glide through the water, carried forward by its momentum toward the inescapable current that lay ahead. The crew of the Leviadon steered their beast sharply upwards, giving the skeleton space to sail below it, off into the abyss.

But as the carcass passed underneath the Leviadon, Marrathul heard the grating sound of bone moving sharply across bone. Two points of light appeared in the unending darkness, dull at first, but growing rapidly in intensity. As their sickly amethyst glare spread, Marrathul’s mind saw that they were shining from the dead creature’s eye sockets, and in their light was a cold and malicious sentience. What in the depths, thought Marrathul as she looked upon the illuminated monstrosity.

With the fury of a hungry predator, the skeletal creature darted upwards with open maw, then clamped its massive jaws on the Leviadon above it. The war beast let out a dolorous bellow as tusk-like teeth tore through its shell and into its flesh. Marrathul reeled in horrified shock, instinctively reaching for the spear slung at her side. But before she could intervene, the animated carcass began to race away from her, the writhing Leviadon and its panicked crew still gripped by unrelenting jaws. They were in the hold of the Great Taker, the current to oblivion from which nothing returned.

Marrathul looked to her fellow sentinels. They were equally dumbfounded, watching helplessly as the skeletal creature receded from view. With a sickening snap the monstrosity bifurcated its captive Leviadon prey. At once the rushing waters of the Great Taker fell still, then the indomitable current reversed and began pouring back towards the stricken sentinels. The buffeting rush nearly knocked Marrathul from her mount, but she steadied herself and looked once more towards the undead nightmare. It was speeding straight towards her, borne on the torrent of the Great Taker, and from behind it she could see more sickly lights growing closer and closer. There were dozens of them – no, hundreds – each pair shining from the skull of a different morbid creature.

Marrathul spun her Fangmora around, her mind whirling. She had to warn the enclave that the dead were returning.

PRODUCED BY GAMES WORKSHOP IN NOTTINGHAM

Descent © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2018. Descent, Malign Portents, GW, Games Workshop, Warhammer, Stormcast Eternals, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world. All Rights Reserved.

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