Doom: End Times (Doom X Warhammer Fantasy)

Vengeance Never Rests

Hours later...

"No, stop! AaaaaaAAAAAAAGHH!" Another dwarf screamed as the Hell Baron flayed him alive. Teeth and bloody flesh exposed from whence lips were, before his neck snapped after. The baron barked at the others, calling the lesser demons to bring in another. Two imps dragged in a redhaired dwarf, dropping him to the ground. His limbs had been severed and amputated earlier, having proven to be unruly and resisting. The other dwarfs wrestled and squirmed against the hell knights' grips, helpless to save another brother from a mutilating fate. Traudin was no different, albeit his fate was worse. The black mass that coiled him against his will had proven to be immovable and tight. The longbeard's one eye was forced open, watching the painful process of beard flaying. Spurts of liquid poured into his eye to keep it from going dry, continuing his torment.

Their screams rang in his ear unbearably. He sank further deep into despair as another dwarf was skinned. The demons cackled like crows in a feast, indulging themselves in the torment of their fallen prey. It had been like this for hours now. Night had befallen now. More and more demons had sprung from the forest, dragging more surviving dwarfs in their claws.

"Please...stop..." Traudin pleaded in his mind. Tears had dried long ago, even as the clear liquid poured into his eye. As if instinctually, the demon noble halted the process. The baron clutched a beard, holding it over his head and admiring it with an uncanny smug. The demon had skinned and collected enough beards to decorate himself with as many twisted trophies to display as possible. A guttural growl escaped his heated breath, the others listening intently. Traudin had no clue as to what they were saying but the moment the demon turned his gaze towards him, he knew something terrible would befall him.

The baron barked again, a clawed hand pointed towards the Longbeard before he summoned a portal behind him. The baron was finished with his ritualistic killing, throwing the last beard on top of its collection pile beside him. The imps made haste and quickly tied and bundled the beards with dwarf intestines from their recent kills. The demon noble waited impatiently with the imps' hasty binding, grabbing one of them and biting its head off. The imps hurriedly looped the beards in response until the last had been collected. The imps moved aside, showing the leader of their handiwork. The baron growled but picked the beard bundle in his hands. The baron gave one final look at Traudin and smiled. A deep laugh bellowed from his throat before finally disappearing into the portal.

An imp howled and the others began to gather the dwarfs in one grouping. The demons circled the survivors, baring their claws, teeth, and eyes lighting with malice and hate for their victims. The dawi panicked, though some grew defiant to the end. Traudin, useless in his restraints, prayed to his ancestors to comfort the dead that awaited their halls. One Hell Knight raised his claw high up in the air, readied to claim his first.

An imp croaked, however, signalling the others to stop in their tracks. Traudin noted something had alerted them. Their heads raised in the air, catching the scent of something strange to them. A sound in the air came after. Almost like a whistle, but not a normal one. Almost as if chopping through...

A Hell knight's head was split apart by an axe upon landing. The demons looked at the dead knight with mass confusion and surprise. Out of the corner of Traudin's eye, a blur of white rushed towards the confusing demon cohorts.

"WAZZOCKS!" Cursed a revealed dwarf, punching an imp with such force to have it flying in the air. The body flew in the direction of another Hell knight, though batted aside with a swing from its hands. This merely distracted it before the dwarf landed a dropkick to its head. The power behind his kick twisted the demon's head in a full one-eighty-degree turn. The head struck a prowler as it landed, the creature crashing to the grass after. The dwarf landed on his two feet after. The Hell knight's body fell to the ground behind him, blood spurting from the stump and all over the grass. The demons encircled the dwarf, now on the defence and cautious of this new opponent. Traudin strained his eye a bit and focused on his rescuer. The light of Mannsleib revealed the figure more and the Longbeard felt breathless as he recognized a mythical figure made manifest. Standing upward with a look of absolute fury, a dwarf with abnormally large amounts of white hair and decorated beard clenched his fists so hard that even rock would crumble under his grip. Angry eyes looked around, looking directly at every beasts' eyes. The demons sense dread like no other being save for the Doom Slayer himself. Grimnir's Rage flashed behind the dwarf's cold blue eyes like flashes of lightning.