[Nether]
Leman Russ made a choking sound. He couldn't take it anymore. He really couldn't take it anymore. He let gravity pull him down, and the wine glass in his hand slammed heavily onto the table.
"Lose! Lost! Lost!!!"
The half-human, half-wolf beings crowded around him cheered. They crowded around the wolf king, watching the foam of wine dripping from Rus's beard.
He didn't finish that drink!
Russ staggered to his feet, and the noisy hall shouted and cheered as he moved. The beings from the underworld looked at him, whistling and howling.
The Wolf King walked to the end of the banquet and stood in front of the black wolf holding the den. This was the king of the underworld. The black wolf stared at him with wise eyes and cut a line on the back of the Wolf King's bare hand. Now there were two scars on the back of Rus's hand.
"You've lost twice,"
Black Wolf said, "In the first contest, you lost to my adoptive mother, and in the second contest, you did not finish the glass of wine."
Leman Russ's nose exuded a hot smell of alcohol. Everything in the underworld seemed like a dream. He was going to gamble four games with the beings here. If he won, he would get what he wanted. If he lost, Russ would stay here forever.
The wolf king vaguely realized that the goal given to him by those monsters was not to win.
Your glass of wine is so vast and boundless.
Ruth burped.
[Even if the entire Space Wolves came, they wouldn't be able to finish your glass of wine - but no matter what, thank you for your hospitality! ]
The black wolf grinned and stared at Ruth.
"These words need no further explanation. This is your own test. Next..."
The black wolf turned his head and arched his nose.
"Go and raise that wolf's paw. If you can raise its paw one meter, you win."
The wolf king glanced at the black wolf, then turned his head and stared at the giant wolf that the black wolf said was sleeping. Russ shrugged, spat into his hands a few times, and walked towards the giant wolf.
The fire was burning, and the hot hall began to cool down at some point.
Summer is almost over.
The wolf king's dizzy brain thought that he needed to end the battle quickly.
He walked up to the giant wolf and put his hand under the wolf's paw - hard!
Leman Russ clearly heard a crisp sound from his lumbar vertebrae.
Allfather—this giant wolf's paw is heavier than two Titans combined!
Leman Russ made several more attempts, and unsurprisingly, he failed.
The Wolf King took a deep breath, and the cooled down hall began to make him clear-headed. He walked over helplessly and faced the black wolf.
There were not many netherworlds left in the previously noisy and crowded hall.
I lost.
The wolf king said simply and neatly. He held out his hand, and the black wolf scratched the third mark on his hand.
[Now, there is only one final test left—but I want to ask, what exactly are they? ]
The black wolf's eyes stared at him.
"Death, the sea, and the serpent."
[All right,]
Ruth muttered, "So I've been trying to drink the ocean dry."
"You should learn to respect them."
Black Wolf said casually, at some point, the cold wind from the human world blew into the underworld, and the biting cold wind slapped Leman Russ.
Logically speaking, the Netherworld would never be cold, and Fenris would not allow that.
"You're lucky,"
Black Wolf said, "You have one last chance before you learn to fear them."
"Now, the final test is - who am I?"
There was no trace of emotion in the cold winter eyes of the black wolf. The deep blue eyes of the clear and rational wolf reflected the dishevelled image of Leman Russ.
Russ smiled a huge smile, baring his fangs.
You are me,
[I am the king on earth, and you are the lord of the underworld. You are me, and you are—]
A series of strange notes came out of Leman Russ's mouth. They were not simply Fenrisian words, not the "Leman Russ" of Fenris.
But it is a true name that is far older than that.
As Leman Russ shouted, the floor began to collapse. He saw the black wolf stand up, its fur shed, turning into a neat uniform. He saw his face, but it was rigorous, smooth, without a frizzy beard. He looked like a real soldier—
That was another Leman Russ, Fenris's gift to his eldest son, a hint from another destiny.
The Wolf King blinked. He couldn't help falling. Maybe next he would talk to another him, another him who grew up on Terra, but -
But summer is over.
The winter roared and broke, and Russ fell, and rocks fell and buried him.
————
Crash, crash.
The sound of falling gravel was heard, and a hand stretched out from the stone pestle.
[Ahem!]
The wolf king struggled to free himself from the stone pestle. He stood up shakily with blood flowing from his forehead.
He looked around in confusion. It seemed that he had arrived at an alien building. The dim and depressing corridor was completely different from the style of the previous hall in the netherworld.
To more like - Eldar.
Is there such a place beneath Fenris
Ruth thought, he looked up and saw the big hole where he fell, he was afraid he would have to find another way back.
Russ shrugged his nose and tried to call out to the netherworld creature, but at this moment, his intuition told him that Fenris was not watching here.
Russ showed a look of disgust. The Eldar were trash that even Fenris didn't want to approach.
Magnus began to walk down the corridor and he heard the sound of some birds hopping on the stone ground.
He continued to move forward.
The Wolf King found the spear, the Spear of Dionysus, in another pile of rubble.
It lay quietly in the stone mortar, and Leman Russ picked it up in amazement. It seemed that this was what Fenris was going to hand over to him, but for some reason, the process was interrupted.
The wolf king held the spear and continued to move forward.
Finally, at the end of the corridor, he saw a door, a huge, domed door that plunged deep into darkness.
And down there, peacefully, calmly, sitting there, Horus Lupercal, stroking the little birds.
[Horus?!]
Rus uttered a cry of surprise, and Horus looked at him calmly and made a gesture of silence with his hand.
[Don't be surprised, my brother, I am dreaming and will be gone soon.]
Horus spoke calmly, tears of blood streaming from his eyes.
Rus was now in complete confusion. The Wolf King walked over cautiously and sat down next to Horus. The birds were playing around the Warmaster.
Russ licked his cracked lips cautiously. He smelled a strong smell of blood.
[Are you injured?]
Rus asked tentatively, and Horus looked at him, blood dripping from his eyes.
Horus smiled and shook his head.
[The angel did it, but I don't blame him. ]
His words made Leman Russ's hair stand on end.
No more, yay!
(End of this chapter)