Once more the mists parted as the former Witch King of Naggaroth and the White -Bearded Ancestor King of the Dwarfs found themselves translocated to the dark, damp underways of a Dwarf hold. However, unlike Kraka Dorden barren unkempt corridors, these halls were eminently recognisable and well-preserved to both travelling heroes.

“Karaz-A-Karak… the Dwarf capital… why did you bring me here Snorri?” Malekith asked his ally.

“He didn’. He was summoned.” a voice bellowed as High King Belegar Ironhammer, his hand Thorek Ironbrow and his Everguard Hammerers approached, stepping down a long set of stairs.

“Belegar!” Grombrindal exclaimed as the two kings neared to embrace each other in a respectful hug, neither having seen the other in years.

“It’s good to see ya, Snorri. Him, not so much.” Belegar stated, indicating toward the Dark Elf through the latter part of his statement.

“I vouch for tha elf. Where I go, he goes.” Snorri replied.

“Is tha why ye ignored the fac’ me message specifically only invited ye and not ‘im? As if playing host to da Queen of Butterflies weren’ bad enough, now ye bring us this monster.” the High King muttered.

“Alarielle is here?” Malekith replied, seemingly betraying a sense of benevolent interest for a second before the High King soured his mood again by informing him the Everqueen had already set sail, having concluded her business here.

“Perhaps we shoul’ just stick to tha mission, eh?” Snorri interjected.

“Aye, I called ye here for thi’.” Belegar responded as his guards carried in a palanquin bearing aloft the mighty Dammaz Kron, the Great Book of Dwarfish Grudges, a tome containing every slight ever recorded against the Dwarfen people, etched in blood on page after page until the book neared full. “Our intelligence cites a sightin’ of tha Changeling up near Karak Angazbar. It says the Changeling has summoned some manner of Daemon Prince called tha Eater of Tomes to claim this book for its master’s library. We canni defend it, for tha daemon prince refuses to appear when I or Thorek are near an’ any figh’ upstairs could hurt civilians but he won’ expect ye, ye can protect it down ‘ere.” King Belegar explained to Grombrindal only to glance once again at Malekith and then ask for a moment of privacy with the White Dwarf. Belegar and Grombrindal turned and stepped into the far corner of this respective tunnel to talk while Thorek and the Everguard maintained a keen eye, both over Malekith and in case of sudden ambushers lying in wait in the tunnel’s shadows.

“Are ye sure ye need ‘im for this? I can set ya up with some of me finest ironbreakers… or rangers if they ain’ stealthy enough for ye.”

“Thank ya bu’ no, he stays with me.” Snorri responded.

“Oh, why must ya be like this? Why de ya have to pu’ everyone here in danger?”

“Malekith is me friend, me eldest friend in thi’ world. I trust him. That’s why.” Grombrindal responded, matter of factly.

“Bu’ why? Ye have lo’s of other friends… better friends at tha’? Why is the Elgi so important to ye?” Belegar replied bewildered.

“Because this lad is differen’.” Grombrindal sighed as he found a rock to sit on, laid his axe down and removed his helm. “In all me millenia I’ve spen’ wandering this world, Malekith was tha only man I ever met who was even slightly like me. He was me first friend way back when I was king, and he was but a princeling. He had his arrogance, sure, like all them elves seem te but I saw through it. So wise, so brave, so charismatic, Malekith always had the perfec’ words for any situation and tha fightin’ instincts te match.”

“So, what yer saying is ye want Malekith to be good, like he was then?” Belegar interjected.

“Is tha’ really so much te ask for? We had a pact, me an’ ‘im. Every Dawi Karak, every Asur Tor, we were going to visit ‘em all and together, we would craf’ a lastin’ peace between our peoples. Instead, he started burning ‘em the moment I was out of the picture. I’m not sure the wazzock ever saw anythin’.”

“And ye think tha’ by showing ‘im, he will change?” Belegar interjected.

“Aye. I came back from the dead for his treachery. If he canni’ be saved, wha’ was the point in me return?”

“Hoping ‘n’ praying for redemption, it’s no good strategy me friend.”

“I know. Bu’ I have seen ‘im. I know there is good still in ‘im.” Grombrindal recommitted.

“Maybe… bu’ I been here long enough te know ‘is kind. They may be goo’ when yer looking. But don’ trust he will stay that way we ye ain’. Look, I trust ya ‘n’ if ye trust ‘im today, I trust tha’ too.” Belegar suggested before continuing “Bu’ between us, havin’ ‘im here, tha’ scares me…. No. Knowing tha’ Vala is upstairs ‘n’ tha’ her safety as well as tha safety of everyone else could rely on ‘im. Tha’ terrifies me.”

Grombrindal frowned, knowing Belegar’s fears weren’t without foundation yet wishing to remain faithful to his friend to the bitter end when Belegar interjected for one final statement.

“Look, jus’ promise me one thin’, aye? Promise me the Elgi won’ get us all killed….”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

That evening as darkness fell and the people of the Everpeak slept soundly in their beds, the duo of Malekith and Grombrindal stayed down in the vaults watching over the Dammaz Kron from afar while simultaneously keeping themselves well hidden behind a set of rocks. As darkness fell upon the outside world above and the people of the Everpeak found their beds, the vault began to stir as a portal opened.

A faceless daemon of Tzeentch with three arms and nine eyes spanning its antenna-like ears materialised into the mortal world, peering round to check the area was clear as its body fazed in and out of this plain of reality like static electricity until finally, the daemon concluded its path was safe and it began to slither across the surface of the underway toward the exposed Dammaz Kron. It wondered why the book had been left out on its own but then again, the Changer of Ways never cared for the logic of Dwarfs in the first place. As the daemon approached the Great Book of Grudges, it proceeded to recite a poem in hushed whispers.

“Once there reigned a Grand Master of Ninety-Nine,
He tutored Ninety-Nine courses of the divine,
Whereby the talents of his Ninety-Nine students’ began to shine,
But there was a secret lurking in that Grand Master’s heart,
For his mind has been bewitched by the dark.

His novels and writing took on a new source of jurisprudence,
And this was imparted onto his students,
Twisting their brains away from evidence,
And towards a life as dissidents.

In time the Grand Master’s view of his Fatherland grew rather tense,
Thus he did with all pleasantries dispense,
He invaded his homeland and burnt their gates with incense,
Before stealing a dragon in an endeavour most intense.

Upon the dragon he freed,
He set forth his new creed,
The Grand Master took his Ninety-Nine students to the Northern Realm,
Where he promptly sacrificed them all to Ninety-Nine bespoke hells.

With his power ascendant and his supremacy known,
The Grand Master did make a further Ninety-Nine initiates his own.
The acolytes bowed and prayed before him, taking in his words that spread discord and fear,
Such that in time, his voice was all they could hear.

And though the Master of Ninety-Nine would one day be impaled upon a Bretonnian lance,
His Acolytes still spread his words if given the chance,
So beware ye who stand in the way of the Grand Master’s warpath,
For as the Eater of Tomes, all men will know his wrath.”

As the daemon concluded its tale and shambled on toward the Dammaz Kron, a sword in one hand while both others glowed in incandescent magical fire of blue and pink, the time had come for the former Witch King and the White Dwarf to put an end to this aberration once and for all.
….
(Prelude to Angry, Laugh & Love React)

Malekith and Grombrindal emerged from their hiding places behind the rocks and charged towards the daemon, their respective sword and axe raised high but the daemon instantly sensed their presence and moved to counter, twisting its waist round on the spot before its feet could follow and blasting a cone of coruscating pink flame out of one of its hands that struck Grombrindal suddenly. With a twist of its other hand, a portal opened behind the daemonic prince summoning forth a group of flamers that flew over Malekith’s head to keep Grombrindal at bay.

As the daemons spewed their flames forth, Malekith countered in kind with his own magic, summoning a bladewind that he hurled towards the daemonic leader as he continued to charge forward. The maelstrom of swords materialised and sought out their prey, hacking and slashing their way through the air only to be rendered void when the daemon used a chilling spell to freeze them in place.

Still the Dark Elf pressed on and finally made his way into combat, swiping overheard with his Destroyer sword which clanged against the daemon’s own sword, causing a crack on impact. Realising it was outmatched in terms of magical artefacts, the Eater of Tomes fell back on its magic as it bellowed forth a gale of blue fire out of its mouth that began mutating and shifting the moment it made contact with Malekith’s meteoric iron armour. The Dark Elf fell to his knees for a moment, wracked by ensorcelled pain and losing grip over the Destroyer as the daemon wrapped its talon around the head of his crown.

“You’re weak, blood of Aenarion. Your Iron Circlet is depleted, your spirit unsure of itself.” the Eater of Tomes boasted. “Surrender to me now and I will make your death swift.”
….
◘ Angry React: “I will never give up, never give in.” Malekith retorted defiantly.

“Then enjoy your second death. You won’t come back from this one.” the Daemon proclaimed as it cast a glean magic spell, reaching deep into the Druchii’s mind to steal his Dhar knowledge before turning a Soul Stealer spell on the former Witch King of Naggaroth.

Malekith groaned and shook, drained by his own magic as the taloned fingers of the hand wrapped around his helm began to glow a bright magenta. The groans became screams and the shaking turned to torment as the Eater of Tomes’ shifting pink fire broke through the Druchii’s spellshield before burning a hole through the helm’s armour underneath. Once more Malekith was set alight, once more he felt the burning shame of failure, once more his death came for him.

The White Dwarf enraged at the sight of his friend’s death, striking hither and thither with his axe as the flamers around him burst into puddles of warpflame on impact while the Eater of Tomes approached the Dammaz Kron to set it alight.

Snorri growled and belowed as he charged toward the daemon, running as fast as his legs could carry him but it was too late. The daemon set fire to the book and snapped a portal open back to its realm, escaping the Dwarf’s wrath unscathed.

Snorri had lost. Hundreds of generations of recorded grudges were lost and more importantly, his friend was gone. Grombrindal vowed that day that avenging Malekith’s death would be the first oath listed in the next iteration of the Great Book of Grudges.
….
◘ Love React: The daemon leered over the former Witch King, it’s talon firmly wrapped around Malekith’s crown in an effort to command dominance and rob him of his magical prowess when suddenly, Malekith’s right leg stretched out and proceeded to deliver a sharp kick to the daemon prince’s sickly left ankle. The daemon staggered and then tripped onto its back, leaving Malekith with the perfect opportunity to grab the daemon’s knife-wielding wrist, twist its grip in on itself and plunge that blade right through its right set of eyes after taking 4 of them out in an upward slash. The daemon howled in pain as Malekith stood back up and regained control over the Destroyer.

The flamers instinctively came to the defence of their master, breaking off from their skirmish with the Dwarf to take on the Dark Elf while Snorri followed behind. The two heroes stood back to back, swinging their sword and axe in all manner of directions as the flamers were killed one by one. Soon the minor daemons were destroyed but alas, they had still fulfilled their purpose for the Eater of Tomes had escaped back to its realm during their skirmish, swearing in that moment that it would wreak its vengeance on the duo one day.

After taking a moment to catch their breaths and acknowledge that the daemon prince would need time to heal before it could attempt another entry into the mortal world, the duo’s attention inevitably turned to what they had been guarding, the Dammaz Kron.

“For avengin’ tha loss of Karak Ungor and puttin’ ‘n end to tha reign of tha zanguzaz queen, Neferata, I declare a grudge struck!”
“For savin’ tha life of a High King from certain doom and liberatin’ Kraka Dorden from barbaric menace, a grudge is abolished!”
“For savin’ the worl’ from an enemy known only beyon’ tha stars, a grudge is repaid!”
“For routin’ tha Suneater from its lair and startin’ thi’ path towards redemption, a grudge is annulled.”

The pair went through the Dammaz Kron as Grombrindal continued to strike out grudge after grudge yet despite this fact, the book seemed to always remain full. “Righ’ I thin’ that’s the lot of them, there’s still so many to go though.” Snorri lamented through saddened lips.

“Well then, clearly we still have more adventures ahead of us. Where to now, old friend?” Malekith chirped up.

“Aye elflin’, on to the next quest!” Snorri enthused as his regretful expression turned to sheer excitement and the mists rolled in once more, ready to take them on their next adventure.
….
◘ Laugh React: The daemon prince asserted its dominance over the former witch king, encasing Malekith’s helm in its talons as it relished its victory over their depleted foe.

However, the Circlet of Iron was not Malekith’s only magical weapon as the daemon would soon discover when the elf turned on himself and blasted his own supreme spellshield, creating a shockwave that knocked the daemon prince just enough for the former Witch King to regain his footing and return to a standing position.

Malekith and the Eater of Tomes found themselves locked within an almighty magical duel as corruscating fire, shattering lightning and cold black strands danced back and forth between the two of them until finally, their magic intertwined, bound within a single beam of magic between the two casters with each wrestling for control over the direction of the attack. It became too much for either caster to control as the beam splintered off and both wizards felt their flesh beginning to transform until finally, the beam snapped and their spells rebounded, exploding upwards in a hail of destruction crossing all the colours of the rainbow as the tunnel’s ceiling cracked and tore open.

The Everpeak found itself under attack as the magic blasted upwards and the city’s own foundations crumbled and shook in its wake. Ordinarily one would assume this was an earthquake or perhaps the work of the tree ancient Durthu but all the glowing magic on display left no room for reinterpretation here. This was Malekith’s fault.

The rebound spell shot up through the city, causing all manner of mayhem as houses caught on fire, random Dwarfen civilians were imprisoned within the shadow realm and whole armouries were shocked by lightning. Dozens died in the ensuing chaos, property was damaged and King Belegar and his wife Vala only narrowly avoided death despite incurring injuries. Alas, Thorek Ironbrow wasn’t so lucky, for he had been up late working on a rune and the disturbance had broken his balance, resulting in him slipping and cracking his head open on his anvil.

The Hand of the High King was dead, the daemon prince slunk off back to its realm despite failing to destroy the Dammaz Kron and when all was said and done, Malekith would surely be blamed for what happened here today.
….
….
….
◘ Sad React: The daemon prince drew ever closer to the Dammaz Kron, prompting the White Dwarf to vault over his rocky hiding place and charge into a full-blown frenzy. However, this was not to be as the Destroyer’s blade was suddenly plunged through his abdomen from behind.

Grombrindal heaved and groaned before falling to the ground as Malekith stood over him, his longsword stained in his friend’s blood.

“Elflin’, why?” Grombrindal gasped.

“I’m sorry little one, but this isn’t the first time I chose the winning side over our friendship.” Malekith claimed before twisting his sword’s edge for good measure. As Grombrindal weakened and bled out, Malekith headed over to the Eater of Tomes who was in the process of setting the Great Book of Grudges alight.

“The arrogance of the Dwarfs to assume my ambitions are limited to a book of platitudes.” The daemon sneered as the tome caught aflame and the daemon turned to the Dark Elf, “Did you bring it?”

“I did.” Malekith proclaimed before dispelling a concealing shadow spell, revealing his armour had been shrouding and carrying the discarded helmet of Kol Badar, the warrior from across the stars, all this time. Inside the helmet was a fully-functional computer system and heads-up display containing more knowledge than any terrestrial mortal could ever dream of wielding. “Bring this to Drazhoath. Tell him I remain faithful, tell him it’s time to come out of hiding and tell him that with this information, no other Dwarf will ever stand in his way again.”

“You have done well, Druchii. Fateweaver will be pleased, rewards will surely follow.”

“O Grand Master, please let it be so. Let me ascend as you have, free of my burnt body, free of this iron prison into Daemonhood, into glory!” Malekith demanded.

“Not yet mortal, your form is still required for the stratagem. But fear not Son of Aenarion, Change is coming.” the Eater of Tomes concluded before leaving through a portal, taking the Chaos Space Marines’ helm with them.
….

◘ Wow React: The Daemon Prince approached the Dammaz Kron but the two heroes were ready for the fight, charging at him with all their might. The daemon attempted to cast a portal with its hand to summon in lesser daemons but Malekith was ahead of him and cast his own bladewind right into the portal’s breach, slicing up anything that sought to enter.

The daemon snarled in furious anger and outstretched its arms, blasting forth torrents of warpfire at the two which the Dark Elf once again countered, this time by producing a wall of ice before him and Snorri to shield them from attack. The change-formed magic did its work, turning the ice into oozing black tar but that did little to stop the two from going round and striking from afar. Malekith hurled a doombolt that struck the daemon’s breast while Grombrindal went for the its foot and jovially challenged his friend to a contest.

The daemon soon found itself overwhelmed on both sides and cursed itself for only bringing a knife as melee weapon. The daemon fought back, blasting magic in all manner of directions while it tried to use its spellstaff and knife to block enemy blows but inevitably, it couldn’t stand up to the skill of the two adventuring heroes. However, just because the daemon couldn’t win didn’t mean it had to lose. Instead, it decided to open a portal beneath its own feet, right beneath both its enemies!The daemon prince fell through the portal followed by Malekith and Grombrindal who both tumbled inside against their will. Malekith tried to resist the portal’s strength, using his own magic to try to nullify it before it could take them to their destination but Tzeentch’s magic proved too strong and all three went screaming into the void.The three crash-landed into their new destination, a field of ebony granite surrounded by arcing-beams of lightning. Malekith stayed low for a moment, struggling to gain control after the fall whereas Grombrindal immediately got up to put an end to the Eater of Tomes. The daemon prince saw the dwarf coming, blasting his chest with channel pink fire but the Dwarf merely powered through the pain, dashing forward until finally, the Rune Axe of Grimnir split the daemon’s skull open once and for all.“Well, tha’s don’. Wher’ are we elflin’?”Malekith gained his bearings and looked up at the sky, revealing great rifts of magic blasting across a splintered sky of pink and blue across jagged outcroppings of floating rock and glowing nebulous openings. “Oh no.””Elflin’?””We’re in the Realm of Chaos, the Sorcerer’s Realm to be precise.” Malekith uttered in sheer disbelief. Finding yourself in hell once would be bad enough, twice would be destiny. His armour obscured his expression from his friend but as Malekith’s breath grew heavy, Grombrindal realised they were in real trouble now. “You’re hurt!” Malekith yelled as he ran over to his friend, knelt down and looked over his Glimril Scale Armour which was breaking apart under the mutating influence of the daemon prince’s fire spell. “Dammit Snorri, this isn’t the kind of place where you want to be exposing your flesh!” Malekith snapped angrily while the Dwarf looked over his shoulder towards the sky.

“Funny sor’ of birds.”Malekith looked at him quizzically before looking to the sky. 

“Those aren’t birds…. those are Screamers!” Above were hundreds of screamers flying in formation. “Quick move before they see us!”“Too late, they alread’ ‘ave.”

“Then we’re doomed…”

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!