<font size=2><p>This one is a bit earlier in Mal's career, so if you were hoping for something epic, gonna have to disappoint you
She rode around the hill slowly, seeking the source of the sounds of combat that had drawn her attention. Sidling through the trees, she came to their edge in time to see the beginning of the end to a skirmish between a band of greenskins and a patrol of dwarves.</p><p>A last flurry of blows ended with just over a dozen dwarves facing down the leader of the greenskins, a massive brute wielding two oversized axes</p><p>Bashing his axe into the side of his helmet repeatedly to clear his sight, the orc growled and spoke to the dwarves. "Oi, deres one o' me, and lots o' you's. Dat means nuttin, see, cuz I's gots da uppa hand. I's da biggest and da greenest o' dis lot, ya know, and dats wot matta's." Grinning, the orc let out a deafening Waaaaugghh and charged the dwarves. </p><p>The leader, an old whitehaired longbeard sergeant wielding a huge hammer, met his charge without flinching. The rest of his patrol found themselves rooted in place, unable to move from the spot. A harse rime of frost covered their legs, freezing them from mid-chest down.</p><p>
Finishing her spell, Malietha strode from the trees to within a dozen paces of the patrol. Smiling cruelly, she began a second incatation. With the last syllable of the spell on her lips, she gestured with her staff, and a large gateway opened beneath dwarven feet. As the dwarves began to scream in unholy agony, Malietha laughed out loud. </p><p>"It's actually quite a simple spell, you see, the Pit of Shades. It opens a portal to . . . well, no one actually knows where. But through exacting experimentation, we have determined that whatever is on the other side is utterly inimical to all life. Brief exposure can be healed, over time. Anything longer than, oh, say, thirty seconds is generally fatal." The last of the dwarves fell as she finished her little speech.
"A pity. I had planned on describing what the energies of the Pit actually did to them."</p><p>Turning back to the sergeant and the orc Nob, she found them both somehow unarmed, grappling on the ground. The huge orc was slamming his thick skull into the helmeted head of the dwarf, slowly warping it out of shape. As the dwarf lost consciousness from the repeated blows, the orc stood, reclaiming his giant axes. Lopping off the head of the dwarf, he laughed. "Oi, oi, stunty beards dis color impresses da boyz." Sighting the sorceress, he cocked his head to the side, puzzled, seeing her amidst the dead dwarves.</p><p>"Oi, you, runt! Is you a pointy-ear shaman? Cuz you's kinda runty, even fer a pointy ear, and you's gots no armor. Dem stunties is tough. Runt like you's couldnt a done fer 'em udderwise."</p><p>She smiled, sensing an opportunity. "Yes, I am. And I killed more than you did. Since I can kill more than you, that means you should follow me. I could use someone like you in my duties."</p><p>The greenskin threw his head back and laughed loudly, pounding his axes together in glee. "Now Dats funny! Skraga 'Eadstompa dont follow nobody, see? I's bigga, I's greena, and I's gots de choppas. You's just a sneaky, runty git wit a stick. Orcs follow da strongest! Runts like you follows me, ya hear? You do wot I --- gurrk" </p><p>The rest of his statement was choked off by her magics, shadows become tangible and sentient, wrapping themselves around his neck and face, smothering him. Without hesitating, he immediately threw one of his axes towards where she had been standing.</p><p>Not expecting the instant retaliation from the brute, she was slow to dodge, and the axe caught her in the leg, though not with the edge. The impact was enough to deaden all feeling in the limb and slow her down signicantly, however. Limping back, she prepared more spells as the other faded. </p><p>Shaking his head as the last of the shadows dissipated, Skraga picked up the longbeard's hammer and advanced on Malietha, rage plain on his face. "You'da been betta off not doin dat, runt. Cuz now I's gonna bash yer head in, an' I aint gonna stop til you's dead, ya hear?"</p><p>She sneered at the crude warrior, and spoke another spell, blasting him with chill magics designed to freeze a person from the inside out, killing them almost instantly. The spell hit, but did not kill the brute, and only slowed him down.</p><p>Belatedly, she remembered what her teachers had told her about orcs and magic. They had an annoying tendency to simply ignore spells, having them bounce off or be absorbed by the power of what they called 'The Waaugh'. Cursing, she continued to fall back, buying time. Using the same spell she had used on the dwarves, she bound him in place, intending to use the Pit of Shades on him as well. Halfway through her incantation, she felt the root spell break. Skraga rushed forward, intent on burying his choppa in her skull.</p><p>Standing her ground, she focused her energies on the weapons held in the greenskin's hands, weakening their structure from within using entropic magics. The axe and hammer both shattered in his hands, leaving him staring in confusion at the ground where the shards had fallen. "Ey, dat aint fair! Dat wuz my favorite choppa, you dirty git!</p><p>She smiled a bit, but even unarmed, he was more than strong enough to easily beat her to death if she wasnt careful. Drawing further on the dark winds of magic, she launched bolts of chill fire at him, one after the other. Many found their mark on him, but not all. Some faded as they approached him, others simply seemed not affect him at all.</p><p>Skraga never stopped moving forward, ignoring the pain of the bolts hitting him. He knew all he had to do was lay hands on her and then he could twist her head off, or bash her to death.</p><p>He had taken everything she had been able to cast, and was still standing. Surely his barbarian gods loved him, she thought. But while Khaine didnt love her, he still expected her to be victorious in His name, and be victorious she would. Rallying herself, she did the last thing Skraga expected. </p><p>
She reached out and grabbed
him. </p><p>As he pulled back to strike, she opened herself fully to the dark winds. Unstructured power rampaged through her, burning and tearing. She survived only because her body, accustomed to containing the raw power of magic before forming and releasing it in a normal fashion, had a gradually built a resistance. </p><p>Skraga, unmagicked, lacked this immunity. The backlash flowed through him, power slashing through nerves, seeking release that he was unable to provide. He fell in agony, incapable of forcing his muscles to respond. </p><p>In the minutes that it took the magic to dissipate, she leaned on her staff, watching the orc twitch and groan. When it became apparent he was going to survive, she kneeled on his chest, grabbed his huge tusks, and shook him awake.</p><p>Opening his eyes, he looked up at the pointy-ear shaman who had begun slapping him. "Oi, stop dat," he said. "My 'ead 'urts."</p><p>She smirked, then told him, "Listen up, brute. I'm not big or green. But as you can see, I beat you. I'm stronger, smarter, meaner and sneakier than you, and I have magic. If you go on by yourself, you'll be killed in some pointless little fight like this. Follow me, however, and I'll guarantee you all the stunty and human killing you can stand. Since I'm smart, we'll always win. My intelligence, your strength. What say you?"</p><p>Skraga growled, thinking that something, somewhere, had somehow gone terribly wrong. "Yous cheated, didntcha? Well, I's an orc wot can admit 'e was beaten, even if I's cheated outta da win. But someday, we's gonna 'ave anudda go at it, ya see? Cuz orcs never lose. We die, so's it don't count or we run, so we can come back, an' dat dont count neither, or we win, and dats what counts. So I's gonna follow ya fer now, runt, but yous betta watch yer back."</p><p>Smiling tiredly as she limped back to her mount, she had the distinct feeling this 'choppa Nob' was going be rather useful. When she returned to Skraga, still lying back recovering, he began to laugh. </p><p>"What's so funny?" she asked.</p><p>"Dat fing you's ridin' is bigga 'n' greena dan you is."</p><p>Sighing, she hoped he would prove to useful enough to make up for his appearance and humor.
</p><p>
And i know, no one in the guild other than skraga was in this one. Dont worry, i'll include others again soon. this was just a background bit, since me and skraga joined at the same time and we're real life buddies.
PS- I'd win in real life too, and for the exact same reasons. he's bigger and stronger, i'm smarter and meaner >
bitches. </p></font>
