
A WARHAMMER NOVEL
BOOK THREE OF THE DAEMON GATES TRILOGY
HOUR OF THE DAEMON
AARON ROSENBERG
THIS IS A DARK age. a bloody age. an age of daemons and of sorcery. It is an age of battle and death, and of the world s ending. Amidst all of the fire, flame and fury it is a time, too, of mighty heroes, of bold deeds and great courage.
AT THE HEART of the Old World sprawls the Empire, the largest and most powerful of the human realms. Known for its engineers, sorcerers, traders and soldiers, it is a land of great mountains, mighty rivers, dark forests and vast cities. And from his throne in Altdorf reigns the Emperor Karl-Franz, sacred descendant of the founder of these lands, Sigmar, and wielder of his magical warhammer.
BUT THESE ARE far from civilised times. Across the length and breadth of the Old World, from the knightly palaces of Bretonnia to ice-bound Kislev in the far north,
come rumblings of war. In the towering World's Edge Mountains, the ore tribes are gathering for another assault. Bandits and renegades harry the wild southern lands of the Border Princes. There are rumours of rat-things, the skaven. emerging from the sewers and swamps across the land. And from the northern wildernesses there is the ever-present threat of Chaos, of daemons and bcastmen corrupted by the foul powers of the Dark Gods.
As the time of battle draws ever nearer, the Empire needs heroes like never before.
'How GOES IT, Ernst?'
The sailor spat over the side and glanced up. 'All's quiet, cap'n.'
'Good, good.' The barge captain moved away again, heading back towards his small cabin to the rear of the ship, while Ernst went back to staring out over the water. It was a quiet night, but that didn't mean it was safe. The Sol River was hardly Black Fire Pass - it wound its way past Nuln and on, but still there were mutants, skaven, beastmen, and of course bandits. The worst they encountered was the occasional lowlife in a skiff, armed with a crossbow and delusions, and demanding a toll before allowing them past. The river was wide enough to simply ignore any posturing from the shore, but whenever the threat was waterborne, Helmuth deliberately steered towards it instead. He felt that letting such creatures sail the river, and make their demands, without repercussion set a bad precedent, whereas destroying them and their boats left a clear
message to other would-be obstacles. They were no warship, but the Battered Eye was a good solid barge, and outside of port no one told her where to go.
Ernst reached down for the wineskin at his side, and frowned when it proved lighter than he'd hoped; not a drop left, damn. He wouldn't be able to refill it now, not while on watch. He wasn't supposed to drink at his post anyway, but the captain didn't mind, as long as it was just the one wineskin and he was still able to answer coherently. Now the rest of his shift would be long, dry and deadly dull.
He was so busy lamenting his lack of drink that he didn't hear the faint slosh of water against the barge's side, or if he did, he thought it was merely the current. Nor did Ernst notice the soft scratching sound against the hull, a sound like an animal's claws might make, but louder and slower, and almost cautious somehow. He was shaking his wineskin over his mouth, hoping for a few tiny drops to help assuage his thirst, and failed to see the shadows that rose from the water and slipped over the rails.
Movement close by caught his eye, and Ernst turned, a question half-formed on his lips, but it was too late. The blow caught him full on the neck, shredding his throat, and only a faint gurgle escaped his lips as his lifeblood bubbled out. His body toppled to one side, over the rail and into the water, making a splash louder than any of the sounds he had missed, and the helmsman started at the sudden noise. Then a shadowy figure was upon him, and his torn body struck the deck a second later.
Other sailors were emerging, hearing the sounds, some holding clubs, hooks and knives, but they were still befuddled with sleep and the night was dark, thin clouds hiding Morrslieb and the stars. The men saw only shadows, shadows that tore into them like wild beasts, with hisses and snarls. Throats were carved open, heads were smashed in, limbs were torn from torsos, ribs were laid bare and organs
ripped loose, all within seconds. Men were choking on blood and bile, and clutching desperately at their wounds, trying to keep their lives from spilling out, even as they fought off additional attacks. Blood washed across the deck, and panicking sailors slipped in their blood and that of their fallen comrades, sliding and scrambling for purchase. Their attackers had no such difficulty, clattering across the wooden planks with ease. Within minutes, the screams, shouts and curses had stopped, leaving only the sounds of breathing, snuffling and chewing.
Then a new figure appeared from the water, a man dressed in dark robes, climbing carefully over the railing and approaching the victorious attackers. They noticed him, but did not react. They were too busy enjoying the first spoils of their victory.
'Enough!' the man snapped something in a guttural tongue, pulling one of the shadowy figures away from the body it was gnawing on. A quick cuff to the head and the creature rose, growling, and disappeared into the hold. Several of the others followed, urged on by the man's blows and snarls. After a few minutes the first creature returned, a long wrapped bundle beneath one arm. More bundles followed, and then several small casks and heavy crates. The bundles were lowered onto a small raft floating alongside the barge and stacked across its tar-coated planks.
The man watched all this silently, impatiently, and finally he nodded. He clambered back onto the raft and gestured for the others to grab the casks and crates, saying something short and sharp in that strange language. Shouldering their burdens and casting one last, longing glance towards the fresh meat they were leaving behind, the creatures stepped back over the railings and dropped into the water. The casks and crates floated before them as they swam silently away alongside the raft, the night and the river swallowing any hint of their presence.
The Battered Eye was silent. Bodies lay everywhere, flesh torn as if by wild beasts. The largest pile of them was by the door leading down into the crew quarters, where sailors had been killed before they could even set foot on the main deck. The bodies lay in a jumble of limbs and torsos, blood and darkness making it difficult to see where one corpse ended and another began.
Then a hand moved. It twitched, and then twitched again. It twisted, its fingers feeling around it, recoiling as they felt the shredded torso above them, then pushing against the body's upper arm, trying desperately to break free.
'GREAT,' DIETRICH 'DIETZ' Froebel said, reining in. 'A festival.'
He glanced around. They had just passed through Altdorfs North Gate, still dusty and tired from their long journey, and rode into a scene from someone's nightmare. Skulls and strange, leering masks hung from walls and windows, and across distant bridges, as did ominous cloaked figures, death symbols, and even distorted animals. Streamers hung everywhere, creating a low ceiling to the wide street, hiding the late afternoon sunlight, and giving the city a closed-in feel. The large crowd didn't help, filling the Empire capital's broad avenues with a throng of bodies, and adding to the midsummer heat. From the look of things, the streets would be packed right down to where the River Reik cut through the city, and possibly across it. Many of the revellers wore hoods and masks, and Dietz saw a number of beasts and birds, and even fish, cavorting with the rest, masked in bestial visages.
'Of course,' his companion, Alaric von Jungfreud, said, slapping his horse's reins lightly against his leg. 'It must be Geheimnistag today. We've lost all sense of time.' He rubbed absently at his right eye, which had been bothering him since they'd left the Border Princes, the irritation no doubt increased by the mild cold he had apparently acquired. Specks of dust and minor illnesses were the least of their troubles, though.
Dietz had hoped, when they'd arrived in Middenheim two weeks ago, that they'd be staying put for a while. The trek to the Border Princes had been long and harrowing; they'd survived exploring an ancient tomb, fighting off the liche king within it, battling evil cultists, miraculously fending off a daemon, and manoeuvring their way through a four-way war. That was more than most men had to handle in a lifetime, and it had only been a month. He was tired, and he knew his friend and employer was as well. Alaric's normal good looks were wan, his face pale, his eyes glazed (especially the right one, which looked bloodshot), and Dietz had noticed a faint tremor in his friend's hands from time to time. Who could blame him? Most men never had to learn that daemons were real. They had faced two, or the same one two times, and the second time it had known Alaric's name and had taunted him. That was enough to drive even the sturdiest warrior stark raving mad. The fact that Alaric only looked exhausted and distracted was a mark of the strength hidden beneath his handsome features and elegant attire.
They both needed rest, and Middenheim was the place for it. Dietz's father, sister and brother were there, which meant they had a place to stay, and with any luck there wouldn't be any more statues or cults, or maps, or anything else to draw them back onto the road, at least for a little while. Dietz had been looking forward to a soft bed, a decent mug of ale, and a home-cooked meal.
Only Alaric had insisted on collecting the mask first.
That damnable mask! Dietz wished he'd never taken it from that temple in Ind. If he hadn't, maybe none of this would have happened. They never would have seen those statues in Rolf s shop, they never would have fought the cultists beneath the city, they never would have been given that map, and they never would have wound up in the Border Princes fighting for their lives against a daemon. They could have led much quieter, saner lives if he'd only passed the mask by and brought back a vase or a bracelet instead.
Of course, without their intervention, the Chaos cultists would have succeeded in their foul rituals. They had intended to summon a daemon, and they had almost managed it. Even with his and Alaric's interference, the daemon had begun to emerge before they could destroy the last statue and shut down the gate. If they hadn't intervened, what would have happened? A daemon would have been loosed on Middenheim, and then on the Empire? That could have been utter disaster. As for the Border Princes, the Chaos priest Strykssen would have found someone else to invade the tomb if they hadn't appeared. He had been after the tainted gauntlet from the start, and he would have got it, given himself to the daemon, and started a war. He would have used it as cover to break into the town of Vitrolle, to take possession of the warpstone that the cultists had placed in the sceptre of their patron daemon - just as he had almost done, before they'd stopped him. The daemon could have been free to walk the earth in its true form. It would have raged across the Border Princes, slaughtering everything in its path, before turning and making its way over the mountains and into the Empire.
Yes, their horrible adventures had been necessary. Twice now they had stopped the dark designs of Chaos. Wasn't that enough? Hadn't they earned some peace and quiet as a result?
Alaric agreed. 'I just want to sit somewhere quiet, by a nice warm fire, sipping a glass of wine,' he assured Dietz as they'd ridden down the stone streets of Middenheim towards Hralifs shop. 'I'm not even sure I want to look at the mask for a while, not until recent events have faded into memory.' He frowned. 'But I'd feel better knowing it was back in my possession, and it's not fair to make Hralif hold onto it now that we're back, anyway.'
Dietz couldn't argue with that, so he scratched his tree-fox, Glouste, behind the ears and said nothing. Hralif was practically his brother-in-law, after all - perhaps he was by now, although Dietz hoped that he and Dagmar had waited for his return.
That mask was certainly nothing but trouble. Hralif would be better off rid of it.
They tethered their horses outside Hralifs carpentry shop, pushed open the door... and froze in shock.
'Morr's blood,' Dietz whispered. 'What happened here?'
The shop was a disaster. Hralif had always been a tidy man, not like his father - everything had its place, and his tools were always lined up neatly on his workbench or hanging from their hooks on the wall behind it. Shelves along the side walls held finished pieces, and larger works were lined up on either side, with a nice broad space to walk between them.
At least, that was how it had always looked before, including right before they'd left for the Border Princes. Now the shop was almost unrecognisable. The shelves had all been pulled down, their contents smashed and shattered, and the desks, chairs and wardrobes had been overturned, and in several cases smashed or split. Hralifs workbench had been tossed into the corner, only its sturdy construction keeping it intact, and his tools were scattered or missing. Dietz took all of that in at once, his hands automatically going to the hand axe and the dagger by his side, and beside him Alaric had drawn his sword as well.
Glouste chattered her concern and alarm, taking up her preferred place around Dietz's neck, her stout tail beating rhythmically on one shoulder, and her alert little face peering at everything, whiskers twitching, on the other.
'Look there,' Alaric whispered, 'blood.' Dietz nodded, noticing the dark drops as well. He just hoped it wasn't Hralifs.
A sound from the far corner caught their attention, and Dietz led the way, picking a path through the destruction. There, behind and below the tilted workbench, he saw a pair of legs, and they were moving.
'Hralif?'
A groan answered his call, but Dietz had already stepped to one side far enough to peer around the workbench and see his old friend slumped in the corner. He quickly sheathed his weapons and dragged the bench clear so he could reach the carpenter.
'What happened?' he demanded, dropping to a crouch beside Hralif. He could see blood staining Hralifs shirt along the right side, almost certainly from a stab wound, and he had several bruises, and other slashes and cuts. Blood ran down his face from a nasty gash to his right temple. A heavy chisel lay nearby, and the blood along its narrow head showed that Hralif had used it to defend himself.
'Thieves,' Hralif gasped, glancing up at Dietz, and at Alaric behind him. 'They... burst in here... and tore the place apart. I tried... to stop them, but I... couldn't. They struck me... in the head... before they left.'
'One of you against several of them?' Alaric asked, sheathing his sword. 'Of course you couldn't stop them. You were lucky to survive. If that last blow hadn't put you down they'd probably have killed you, to avoid any chance of you coming after them.' He frowned. 'But who would want to rob you?'
Hralif started to shake his head, but stopped and pressed a hand to his temple. 'I don't... know.' He tried to push
himself up off the ground and winced. Dietz caught him under the arms and helped him stand, Glouste quickly nestling into his jacket to allow him easier shoulder movement. 'Thanks. They took... the money... but didn't... touch the... locked back room.' He frowned, clearly remembering. 'It was as if... they couldn't be bothered.' Then he glanced over at Alaric again, and something in that look sent a chill of premonition down Dietz's spine. 'They took... something else... too,' he admitted, and Dietz knew what was coming next. 'The mask.'
That got an immediate reaction. 'The mask? It's gone?' Alaric had moved towards the door as if he could still see the thieves somehow. 'Where? Why did they take it? Who were they? Did they say anything?'
Hralif shook his head. 'They never said... a word,' he answered. 'They were... rough-looking, unshaved and... unwashed... ragged clothes. One had a... jagged scar... across his nose and... right cheek. Another had a... thick gold earring shaped like... a bent nail.'
Dietz and Alaric exchanged a glance. They'd met others that had fit that general description: thieves and cultists.
Of course cultists would want the mask. It had the same runes on it they'd found on the gauntlet, and on the map: marks of Chaos.
'We need to go after them,' Alaric all but shouted, racing towards the door. 'They might still be nearby!'
But Dietz shook his head. 'How long ago did this happen?' he asked Hralif, already suspecting the answer.
'I don't know,' his friend admitted. 'I think I... blacked out.' He frowned towards the door, and the small window set in it, which showed that the sun had already set. 'It was before noon, though.'
'That was hours ago,' Dietz pointed out to Alaric, 'assuming it was even today. Hralif has lost some blood, and taken at least one blow to the head - he might have been out for a day or more.'
Alaric started to argue, but then nodded, his shoulders slumping. 'You're right,' he agreed. They're long gone by now.'
Perhaps it's just as well, Dietz thought, though he didn't say so. That mask had already caused enough trouble. It had been in Rolfs possession when he had been arrested for heresy, a false accusation that had none the less cost him his life, and it had been the cause of this attack as well. They were probably better off rid of it.
That would have been the end of it, too. If Alaric hadn't noticed the blood.
'What's that?' Alaric asked as they exited the shop a few minutes later, supporting Hralif on either side. Dietz looked, but didn't see anything. 'There,' his friend insisted, pointing again. 'Right there. You don't see it? It looks like... it looks like blood; like someone was wounded, dragged against the wall and left a smear.'
Hralif hadn't seen it, but, then again, it was all he could do to stay on his feet.
'Leave it,' Dietz said. 'We can look later, when it's light out.'
Grudgingly, Alaric agreed, and together they took Hralif home. Dietz sent for a chirurgeon, and for Dagmar, and both arrived quickly. After that he allowed Alaric to drag him back to the shop, knowing Hralif was in good hands.
Dietz stared and stared, but he still couldn't see the mark Alaric had indicated.
'Maybe you're imagining it,' he'd suggested, but his friend refused to believe that.
'I can see it,' Alaric insisted. 'I don't know why you can't, but it's definitely there.' He walked a few paces, staring closely at the wall, and then scanned the ground as well. There,' he said, pointing. 'There's another one, more like blood dripping from a wound. Come on.' He set off at a fast pace, and Dietz matched him; even if the marks weren't real, Middenheim had plenty of areas where it
wasn't safe to wander alone. That's how he'd met Alaric in the first place, happening across the younger man just in time to save him from some thugs down by the docks, and he wasn't about to let his friend and employer wander into the same sort of trouble.
They followed the trail that only Alaric could see, and it led them into the warehouse district, and right to a stables.
'I remember them,' the stablehand said when Alaric described the men, and proffered a silver coin to jog the lad's memory. 'They was here late yesterday. Seemed rough, but their coin was good. Wanted a wagon to Altdorf.' He shrugged. "We had several going that way, so I sold 'em passage on one. Left an hour or so later.'
'Got them!' Alaric exclaimed as they left the stables. 'We know where they're going, and travelling by wagon will slow them down. If we leave now we can easily overtake them.' He was ready to ride off right then, but Dietz stopped him.
'We're not going anywhere,' he said, 'not.until we know Hralifs all right.'
Alaric tried to argue, but Dietz refused to listen. Hralif was their friend, and Dagmar's intended. He hadn't seen a ring on either of them, so they weren't married yet, just as he'd thought, and it was his and Alaric's fault Hralif had been wounded at all.
'We can catch up to them just as easily tomorrow,' Dietz assured Alaric. 'As soon as we know he'll recover we can set out. Besides,' he added, directing their steps back towards Hralifs home, 'I could use a good night's sleep, and I'm sure you can as well, especially if we're to take to the road again.' That persuaded Alaric, and he did not protest again.
It was two days before the chirurgeon pronounced Hralif on the mend, and Alaric all but leapt into his saddle the minute the healer had gone. Dietz had hoped to stay longer, but he couldn't argue. The longer they waited the
more of a lead the thieves had, and he had promised Alaric they would go after the men.
They did not catch up to the wagon on the road, which meant it must have reached Altdorf ahead of them. Dietz would have worried about their turning off somewhere along the way, but Alaric had spotted additional blood drops and even blood smears along the way. Dietz hadn't seen a single one of the marks himself, and he still wondered if his friend might not simply be imagining them, but there was no way to tell if a particular wagon had left the road at any point along the way, so it had made sense to stay on the road all the way to Altdorf and hope the cultists really were going all the way to the capital.
So Alaric and Dietz forced themselves and their horses on. And here they were, finally, arriving during Geheimnistag.
'How are we going to find anyone in all this?' Dietz asked, gesturing at the crowd before them. Several clusters were marching down the street, waving banners and flags, and holding up strange carvings and figures. Many of the people off to the sides cheered and waved, though others were too busy with their own activities to notice the small parade moving past. Geheimnistag was the Day of Mystery, and many people celebrated by dressing in strange costumes, burning effigies and dancing in the streets. It was mayhem. Dietz hadn't seen the festival in Altdorf before, and it looked to be even more of a madhouse than in Middenheim, where he usually celebrated the day by planting himself in a tavern and not leaving until after the revelries had died away.
'I don't know,' Alaric admitted, glancing around. Off to one side, they saw a man and a woman dressed in the distinctive garb of the Strigany - loose flowing skirts on the woman, loose shirts, open embroidered vests and heavy gold-hoop earrings on both - selling small trinkets of some sort. Dietz resisted the urge to look more closely. Not
all Strigany were rogues - the ones they had met had been nice enough - but they worshipped strange gods and daemons, and had strange ideas about flesh and propriety. He had a feeling whatever those objects were he wouldn't want to examine them up close.
'Let's look around,' Alaric said at last, also turning away from the Strigany and their wares. We know they came this way. Perhaps we'll find some trace of them.' He didn't sound very certain of that, but they had come this far. It would be a shame to travel all the way to Altdorf and leave empty-handed, especially since Dietz knew neither of them liked the city much. He'd never been comfortable here: too much bad blood between Middenheim and Altdorf. Alaric disliked it for a different reason. He was a noble and had been raised on politics, but he hated such things with a passion, and avoided them like the plague. That usually meant avoiding Altdorf, the centre of the Empire and its political heart. At least, with the celebrations going on, they were unlikely to encounter any nobles.
'I wish Lankdorf were here,' Alaric muttered. 'He could track them for us.'
Dietz nodded, but there was nothing to be said. They had waited outside Vitrolle for the bounty hunter, after the three of them had gotten separated escaping the town and the four-way war for its control, but Lankdorf hadn't emerged. After two days outwitting bands of warriors from the various border princes, not to mention vengeful surviving cultists and random wild animals, Alaric and Dietz had been forced to accept the fact that their friend simply wasn't coming. Whether he had been killed during the fighting or had simply fled via a different route, they had no idea, and they had no way of finding him. Dietz hoped he was still alive. Even though they had first met by becoming Lankdorf s captives, he had come to respect and even like the quiet, competent bounty hunter, and his skills would definitely have come in handy now.
'We'll just have to look for ourselves,' he said finally, making sure Glouste was secure inside his jacket before nudging his horse forward. It balked at the wild sights and sounds before it, and at the mass of people filling the street, but Dietz patted it on the neck and guided it slowly, steadily through the throng, which parted around them and then swallowed them up again.
ALARIC RUBBED AT his eye.
'Leave it alone' Dietz warned without even turning around. 'You'll make it worse.'
'It burns' Alaric complained, hating the whine he heard in his voice, but unable to control it. His eye had been aching and throbbing since the battle in Vitrolle, and it had grown steadily more painful and more distracting. He suspected he'd gotten soot in it, or a speck of gunpowder, or even a tiny metal shaving; the air had been filled with all manner of things during that battle and it would have been easy to catch something in passing. He'd meant to see a physician about it once they were back in Middenheim, but hadn't had the chance; they'd gone straight to Hralifs shop and after that he'd been too concerned about the missing mask to worry about something as minor as his health. How had cultists found out the carpenter had been holding the relic for him? And where were they taking it?
He glanced around and shuddered, hoping Altdorf wasn't the cultists' final stop. He hated the city, he always had. It epitomised everything he disliked in a city, with its heavy, glowering walls, its ostentation, its layout that seemed deliberately designed to confuse, its total concern for its own appearance and welfare at any cost, and its utter disregard for everyone else around it. Altdorf was only interested in Altdorf, and the city as a whole was perfectly willing to sacrifice every other place and person in the Empire - and beyond - for its own success and survival. It was the perfect home for the Empire's rulers.
Alaric had never liked it here, and the fact that some of his brothers loved it only cemented his own opinion of the place. Picking his way through its crowded streets, searching for something so powerful and deadly many would kill to possess it, he knew what would happen if any of those nobles learned of the mask's existence. He only prayed that they had not been the cause of the theft, because if a noble had already set his sights on gaining the mask there was little that would stand in his way.
Right now, the city seemed worse than ever. Alaric had always considered Geheimnistag a time of ill omen. Most sensible people locked themselves away for the day, safe inside their homes, and made offerings to whichever god they favoured that the day might pass them by in relative peace. Back in school he had known students who had considered the Day of Mystery a time of revelry. It was a day when all behaviour was excused as a reaction to the spirits, and so you could do anything and get away with it. Others had felt the same, and he had seen people cavorting and carousing, and generally behaving like savages and lechers, acting in ways they would not dare at any other time, secure in the knowledge that no one would blame them for their actions on that one day.
In Middenheim, the attitude had been even more widespread, and Alaric had seen groups of people celebrating
all around the city during Geheimnistag, without a care for the consequences tomorrow.
Here in Altdorf such behaviour was apparently the norm. It looked as if the entire city had turned out for the celebration. Everywhere he turned he saw masks, costumes, banners and sculptures. The street was insane with people and motion, and colour and shape, and he could barely focus his eyes or think straight amid the mad, pounding tumult.
Over there, for instance, a man cavorted beside a pair of women, his head masked by a pig's visage. An appropriate image, surely, for he was leering openly at both his scantily clad companions, but the pig's features seemed almost real, albeit distorted.
The snout was massive, the eyes flaring to a ruby brilliance, and the ears were swivelling to catch the women's laughing replies. The creature's wide mouth opened, revealing the sharp teeth of a predator, and drool spilled out past the fangs, dripping to the pavement below and sizzling where droplets struck the paving stones. The pig-man reached for one of the women with a clawed hand, the sticky pink of new flesh beneath an open wound.
Alaric looked away, gasping for breath and blinking rapidly to clear his vision. What had that been about? Was he simply tired and anxious? He was feeling lightheaded - was he growing ill? Had that man's costume really been that elaborate, that... convincing? Its flesh had seemed real, even from here.
'You all right?' Dietz asked, reaching out to steady him, and Alaric nodded.
'Fine, fine,' he replied. 'Let's keep moving.'
Which way?'
Alaric glanced around again, frowning. That was the question, after all. The cultists had come here, he was sure of it, but where had they gone once they'd entered the city? They had probably reached Altdorf well before the
Geheimnistag festivities had begun this morning, which meant the crowd would have obliterated any traces of them. Except...
A splash of colour caught his eye, and his gaze narrowed. 'There,' he said, pointing towards a smear of brilliantly crimson blood decorating one of the city's wrought-iron lampposts. They went that way.'
Dietz glanced in that direction. 'How can you tell?' the older man's long face showed concern, though his voice was as level as ever.
'That splotch of blood, there on the lamppost,' Alaric answered, pointing it out again. 'Don't you see it?'
His friend shook his head. 'I can't see anything through this crowd.' He frowned. 'Are you sure? Sure it's from them?'
'Yes.' And he was, though he wasn't entirely sure why. 'It's exactly the same shade as the marks I saw in Middenheim,' he explained, which was true enough, but that wasn't all of it. There was just something about the mark, something in the way it had caught his eye, in its shape, in its placement; he couldn't put it into words, but he knew it had come for the cultists.
Dietz studied him for a second, then shrugged. 'Only clue we've got,' he admitted tersely. 'Might as well.'
He pulled back on his horse, and Alaric kicked his forward in response, taking the lead. He led them slowly into the throng of revellers, glancing this way and that, trying to see any more marks that might appear.
He wasn't sure why Dietz couldn't see them. Back in Middenheim he'd simply thought his friend was distracted by worry - he and Hralif had been friends in their youth, and now Hralif was engaged to Dagmar, who Dietz doted upon - but on the road, Dietz had still missed every sign, while they had stood out to Alaric as if limned in fire. Here, amid this insanity, how could he see them at all?
But see them he did. A second smear appeared against a tethering pole, leading Alaric to detour off the main street and onto a smaller side road. A third mark caught his eye from a striped awning, and part of him wondered how the cultists had reached that high, and what sort of wound would continue to bleed, and in such quantities, after so much time? Shouldn't the cultist have bled out long since at this rate? Another part of him simply rejoiced to know they were still on the right track.
It was the only part of Alaric that rejoiced at all. The rest of him was either too exhausted to care, too concerned to be pleased, or too worried to be happy. The last emotion was gaining more and more dominance with every foot they travelled into the city. Everyone seemed to be celebrating Geheimnistag, and all with a fervour that Alaric had never seen before. The costumes were more elaborate, the masks more realistic, and the imagery more disturbing than any he had encountered in previous years. It was less a celebration than a true unleashing of the city's darkest impulses, and it seemed to be spreading.
They passed a building whose door was closed tightly against the mayhem, but blood spilled out beneath the heavy barrier, seeping across the cobblestones and spreading in a slow, sticky pool across the street. Alaric watched with horror as it approached his horse's hooves. The coppery smell assaulted his senses, and his horse whickered with concern, its eyes rolling, but it did not react as the blood lapped against its hooves, and when it raised each hoof Alaric saw they bore only dirt and mud.
In another spot, they passed a narrow alleyway, and Alaric made the mistake of glancing down it. There were figures there, though he hesitated to call them people. For an instant, their limbs seemed oddly jointed and too long, more like insects' than men's. Their heads swivelled strangely on long necks, and their hands seemed narrow and pointed, like blades of flesh. The strange scene faded,
though the cluster of people remained. There was a woman with them, and her screams echoed along the walls, as did the smack of flesh against flesh, but there was laughter as well, and his throbbing head could not tell if those peals came from her or from the men with her. Alaric glanced back at Dietz, who shook his head, although his jaw was tight.
'Not our concern,' the older man warned, though from the look he directed back towards the alley, Alaric suspected he would happily intercede.
Dietz was right. They were after the cultists, and the mask. Whatever was going on in the alley, even if it were as horrible as it seemed to him, it was as nothing compared to the horrors the mask could unleash in the wrong hands. They had to retrieve it. That had to come first. Alaric steeled himself and rode on, until he could no longer hear the screams or the accompanying shouts and cheers.
A man darted out in front of his horse a moment later, forcing Alaric to rein in sharply to avoid trampling him.
He shouted something incoherent up at them as Dietz pulled up alongside. He was a short, fat man with an unkempt beard and a thick head of hair sticking out everywhere. His clothes looked slept in, as did his grimy skin, and he held a thick jug in one hand. 'Drink?' The man proffered the jug, and Alaric saw it uncoil slowly," its scales rustling as they slid past each other; it was no earthenware vessel, but a large, buff-coloured snake, its tiny eyes a glittering black, its fangs the same midnight shade.
'N-no, thank you,' Alaric managed to stutter, kicking his horse back into motion, and leaving the man behind them, still holding the writhing serpent high. Alaric heard a hiss as he pulled away, and realised with a start that it had come from the man. Glancing back, he saw strange slit pupils reflecting the nearby lamplight, and a thin forked tongue emerge to lick dry, narrow lips. Then they were gone, and it was just a heavy little man holding a wine jug.
'Something wrong?' Dietz asked, and Alaric shook his head. Had Dietz seen that as well? No, he would not be asking so blithely if he had. Should he say something? Would Dietz believe him?
They had been through many strange experiences together before this. They had fought daemons together, for Ulric's sake! And if he really was seeing such things, surely Dietz had a right to know?
'I-I'm seeing things,' Alaric answered finally, letting his horse slow to a steady walk as they continued down the street. At least it was quieter here than it had been closer to the city gates, with fewer revellers and thus less frequent revolting images.
'It is Geheimnistag,' Dietz pointed out. He glanced around, the distaste evident in his expression. 'Lots of strange sights here, and unpleasant ones.'
'I know, but it's more than that,' Alaric argued. 'That man back there, with the jug - what did you see?'
Dietz shrugged. 'A drunkard,' he answered succinctly.
'And the jug?'
'Just a jug.'
'I saw a snake,' Alaric explained, though he found himself doubting his own memories. 'And the man looked serpentine as well.' Had he really seen that? It all seemed blurred, unclear. 'At least, I think that's what I saw,' he admitted.
'You're exhausted,' Dietz reminded him, 'and your head hurts. It's hard to see anything clearly in the middle of all this.'
That was certainly true. The day was heading towards dusk, the shadows lengthening, and that distorted images and even sounds. The buildings produced strange echoes, and all the costumes and masks - was he just imagining things? Letting his mind play tricks on him, taldng those disguises and adding more fanciful touches from his own fears?
'Perhaps you're right,' he said, relieved that there was a rational explanation. 'It would be simple enough to mistake one thing for another in all this smoke, and the imagery certainly makes one think of the macabre.' Yes, he thought, that made sense. 'I'm already tired, so I'd be even more susceptible to seeing images that were not truly there.'
Dietz nodded. Clearly he was not seeing anything out of the ordinary, but then Dietz never did. The man was a rock of common sense and practicality, which was one of the things Alaric valued about him. No matter what was going on around them, Dietz always saw clearly.
'We should stop for the night,' Dietz suggested.
'No.' That was one thing Alaric was certain about. 'We're too far behind them as it is. We need to close the distance, not increase it, else we've no chance of catching those men and regaining the mask.' Dietz's resigned nod showed that he'd expected that response, and that he didn't think they'd find much at this hour and in this crowd, but he didn't argue, simply nudging his horse to a faster pace. Alaric matched him.
For several minutes, Alaric was able to focus entirely upon following the strange trail only he could see. He ignored the people and other sights, sounds and smells as best he could, letting them slide past him, trusting his horse to pick its way through the crowd without his full attention. But slowly the festival crept back in upon him, stealing into his attention and distracting him from the search. Everywhere he turned, Alaric saw horrors, though only for the blink of an eye: people as animals, as beasts, as monsters; people bearing appalling wounds, or inflicting them upon themselves and each other; people committing acts he could not have imagined anyone would ever perform, even when drugged, intoxicated and caught up in mass hysteria. Each time, the strange image was gone before he could focus on it, leaving only a confused after-image in his mind.
Alaric shook his head and rubbed at his eyes, but that didn't help. The depraved images continued. People changed as they swam in and out of focus, their outlines and features distorting, growing monstrous. Odd scents assaulted him, all overlaid with the coppery tang of fresh blood. Actions that seemed benign at first proved too terrible to contemplate. A man and a woman were dancing beneath a lamppost, their hands at each other's sides, but as he passed closer, Alaric saw that the woman was holding a long, thin blade in both hands, and the man was skewered upon it. His writhings were of pain, and his hands were desperately pushing against the woman, trying to loosen her hold upon the weapon that she had rammed through his torso, while she laughed and twisted the skewer to watch him shriek and squirm. They both glanced up at Alaric as he passed, and the man's eyes were wide with pleading, while the woman licked her lips and grinned to reveal sharp, bloodstained teeth. Then they were merely dancing again, but the other image remained burned into Alaric's brain, even after he had passed by and the crowd had swallowed them up.
'Need to stop?' Dietz asked, watching him intently.
^Alaric shook his head, the movement making his temples throb. 'No,' he replied hoarsely, wondering idly when he had last had a drink, and then trying not to retch at the thought of the different fluids he had seen imbibed this night. 'Let's keep going. The sooner we find their trail again the sooner we can recover the mask and leave this city behind.'
'Fine by me.' He knew Dietz would be happy to see the back of Altdorf, though perhaps not so much as he would. Hopefully, once Geheimnistag ended and once they were back beyond the city walls these strange images would fade away. Otherwise Alaric was afraid he would go stark raving mad.
DIETZ GLANCED OVER at Alaric again, hoping his employer wouldn't notice. He was worried. Alaric had been tense and pale since they'd left Middenheim, and in the past hour his appearance had grown even worse. And all that talk about seeing things? It could be drugs, certainly, incense or herbs in the smoke that seemed to fill Altdorf today. It could be fatigue. Or it could be illness. Alaric's voice was starting to sound scratchy, and once or twice Dietz had noticed his hand trembling. Had the long ride from Middenheim taken its toll on the young adventurer-scholar? Dietz vowed to keep a close eye on Alaric, even more so than usual.
Fortunately, the crowds meant they had to ride close together, their legs brushing each other. He really did not want to lose Alaric in this mayhem, especially not with them heading towards twilight and with Alaric under the weather. Dietz told himself that if they didn't find a clear sign of the cultists by dusk he would insist they find shelter
for the night, mask or no mask, and the sign would have to be something he could see as well.
He was still thinking this when they rounded a corner, and stopped. Ahead of them, the street ran into another approaching from the west and widened into an irregular plaza that expanded to the east until it ran up against some massive building along the side. In front of them was a small cluster of buildings, and they were the first he'd seen unadorned since entering this city. They had no unusual decorations. Dietz did see one mark, and it explained a great deal about the plaza's apparent exemption from the craziness that filled the rest of Altdorf. The mark was prominently displayed in blazing white upon a jet-black banner, hanging from the stout stone building in the middle of the cluster, and it was the twin-tailed comet of the witch hunters. Many of the zealots stood before the building, and a massive bonfire raged a stone's throw away, between them and the plaza's western edge. A group of men and women were being held near the fire, many of them still masked, and all of them bound and under guard.
Of course, Dietz thought, the Day of Mystery was a time when many people cast aside civilised behaviour in favour of drunken revels, debauchery and violence. The witch hunters frowned upon any excesses, and were notoriously straight-laced. A night like this could provide more victims - sinners - than even the witch hunters could handle. Though judging from that fire and the prisoners, it looked like they were trying their best to keep pace.
Alaric had noticed the banner as well, and Dietz saw the relief evident on his friend's face. 'Witch hunters,' Alaric said. 'At least we won't have to worry about revelry here.'
'Might be a good place to stop and think what to do next,' Dietz suggested, and Alaric nodded. Together they nudged their horses into the plaza, coming to a halt as the
nearest witch hunter approached and motioned for them to stop.
'What do you want here?' The man demanded, glaring at them both. 'Commit your foul celebrations somewhere else, or face the consequences of such sinful behaviour.'
The man accosting them was short and stout, his features hidden by the broad-brimmed black hat of a witch hunter. His hands rested on the pistol and sword at his belt, but he had not drawn them, yet.
'Our apologies, sir,' Alaric replied smoothly, sounding like his old self. 'We are not revellers, but merely travellers from Middenheim. We were overwhelmed by the activities taking place throughout the city, and thought to take refuge here for a moment, where we would not be subject to such depravities.'
The man grunted, but couldn't find fault with Alaric's statement. 'You cannot stay here,' he said finally. 'We must be ever vigilant, and cannot be distracted from our duty.'
'Of course not, good sir,' Alaric answered. 'Nor would we inconvenience you in such a way. We merely ask a moment or two to catch our breaths, and then we will be off.'
The witch hunter started to reply, but was cut off as a second figure approached from the group near the building. This man was taller than the first, with broad shoulders that made him seem taller still, and as he glanced up, Dietz recognised the angular features beneath his broad-brimmed hat.
'Master von Jungfreud. Master Froebel,' the second witch hunter announced, his face splitting into a grim smile. 'I thought I heard your voice. What brings you here, and on such a night?'
'Herr Kleiber,' Alaric replied warmly, dismounting to grasp the witch hunter's hand. Dietz did the same. Oswald Kleiber had travelled with them on their journey to find and destroy a set of Chaos tainted statues, and despite his zeal and religious fervour, the witch hunter had proved to
be a good companion and a staunch ally. 'A welcome encounter indeed. What brings you to Altdorf?'
'Our affairs are none of your-' the first witch hunter snapped, but Kleiber cut him off with a wave.
'Yes yes, Wilcreitz,' Kleiber said, not bothering to glance at the shorter man. Thank you. Perhaps you had best see to the prisoners?' The other witch hunter retreated towards the bonfire, although not without a glare at Dietz and Alaric. 'Do not mind him,' Kleiber assured them. 'Wilcreitz is a good man, a true servant of the Empire. He perhaps takes his orders too much to heart, that is all.'
Dietz glanced at Alaric. Kleiber had also been a stickler for details and rules when they'd first met, although their adventures had forced him to appreciate the ability to improvise when necessary.
'So why are you here?' Dietz asked, accepting the wineskin that Kleiber offered them, taking a quick gulp, and then handing it to Alaric.
We are tracking a stolen shipment,' the witch hunter replied, his expression turning grave. 'And not just any goods, either: blackpowder weapons, both the rifles and the shot, and the powder necessary for their use.'
Alaric whistled. 'A valuable shipment indeed.'
Dietz nodded, thinking the same. He'd had experience of such weapons before, and knew how much such a cargo would be worth.
'Indeed,' Kleiber agreed, 'but it would be a matter for the local authorities, normally. This theft, however, earned the attention of my superiors, who have tasked me to investigate.'
That was unusual. The witch hunters were normally only involved with matters of religion, or with anything involving Chaos.
'What happened?' Alaric asked.
The shipment was sent by barge,' Kleiber explained, accepting the wineskin back and taking a drink before
continuing. 'It came from Nuln, and was heading here, but it never arrived, nor did most of its crew. They were slaughtered by beastmen.'
'Beastmen?' Dietz frowned. 'On the river?' He'd never heard of such a thing.
'We were sceptical as well,' Kleiber admitted, 'but one crew member survived the attack, although he was badly wounded. He managed to ground the barge, where local villagers discovered it the next morning. They sent word back to Nuln, and a boat collected him and returned him there, where he was able to tell the authorities what had happened.' The witch hunter's frown deepened. The beastmen set upon them during the night. They climbed onboard, slaughtered the crew, took the cargo, and then disappeared.'
'That doesn't sound like beastmen,' Alaric commented. 'Normally they attack for food or to defend their territory. They wouldn't leave the bodies behind like that, and they wouldn't target a particular ship.'
'UnlessThey had help,' Dietz pointed out. All three of them remembered the beastmen they'd encountered in the Howling Hills, who had found one of the Chaos statues and were worshipping it. He and Alaric also knew that not all beastmen were stupid and savage; the beastmen they'd faced in Ind had been a different breed altogether.
'That is what I must discover,' Kleiber assured them. 'I have hired a band of mercenaries to accompany me, and Wilcreitz will assist me as well. We leave for Nuln in the morning, to question the wounded sailor. We will examine the barge, the Battered Eye, and search the river where he says they were attacked. If possible, I am to retrieve the weapons and punish those responsible for their theft.'
'Good luck,' Alaric said sincerely, 'but be careful. The thought of beastmen with blackpowder weapons is not something I like to consider.'
'Nor do I,' Kleiber agreed, 'but I shall indeed be wary. Fortunately I doubt the brutes are capable of operating
such weapons. Although that does not explain why the creatures would take the weapons, in such a case.' He nodded at them. 'Now, what do you in this foul city? And on such an inauspicious night?'
'A friend was attacked in Middenheim,' Alaric answered honestly. 'The thieves took something from him, and we have reason to believe they came this way. We're hoping to find them and retrieve it.'
'I see.' Kleiber rubbed his narrow chin absently. 'What did these men look like?'
'Rough,' Dietz replied, remembering Hralifs description. 'Ragged clothes, unkempt beards. At least four of them, one with a nasty scar across his nose and right cheek, one with a strange bent-nail earring. They had a wagon.'
The witch hunter shook his head. 'I have not seen any with such marks,' he admitted, 'though with so many here they could easily escape notice. Nor will you find them tonight, I fear, when everyone wanders the streets like madmen, indulging in all manner of filthy behaviour. I would suggest searching for them in the morning, when the city has returned to what passes for normality.'
'I think that might be our only option,' Alaric agreed, though he clearly was not happy about it. He was also obviously exhausted. 'We'll find some place to sleep and resume our search in the morning.'
Kleiber nodded. 'I would offer you shelter,' he said, 'but our guest quarters are currently at capacity. Even the mercenaries and the tracker I have hired are quartered elsewhere. They are at the Golden Hare, a decent enough place just along the river, between the two bridges.'
'It's all right,' Alaric assured him. 'We understand. Thank you for the thought, however, and for the recommendation.' Such consideration was rare in a witch hunter.
Kleiber bowed and clasped their hands in turn. 'I wish you good hunting, my friends,' he told them, 'and may we
meet again at a happier moment, when both our missions have met with success. May Sigmar watch over you.'
'And you as well,' Alaric agreed, and Dietz echoed the sentiment. They mounted and rode across the plaza, with Kleiber watching them go.
Then the street began again, and the plaza vanished into shadow behind them. Night had fallen and Geheimnistag had given way to Geheimnisnacht, the Night of Mystery, which was even worse in its excesses, as people felt more comfortable acting out their wildest notions under darkness than they had in broad daylight.
A wave of people washed over them as they passed beyond the witch hunters' protection, and Alaric visibly wilted beneath the onslaught of sights, sounds, and smells. Dietz worried that his friend was having more strange visions, until he realised that Alaric's eyes were barely open at all. The noblemanhad slumped forward in his saddle, only half-conscious, and was staying on his horse as much by reflex as by conscious effort.
'Alaric!' Dietz nudged his horse close again and reached out to grasp the younger man by the shoulder. He managed to grab him just before Alaric, jostled by a trio of giggling older women, began to slide off his horse. 'Wake up!'
Alaric glanced around blearily, saw Dietz, and nodded. 'Sorry. I must have dozed off.' But his words were slurred, and Dietz could feel the heat rising from him even through his jacket. A quick check of his forehead confirmed it: Alaric was burning with a fever.
'We need to find shelter for the night,' Dietz declared. He spotted an inn on the next street and urged his horse forward, keeping a firm grip on Alaric, and dragging him and his mount along in his wake. They pushed and shoved their way through the crowd, many of whom responded belligerently, but Dietz had no time to argue with drunkards and fools. He ignored all of them beyond a quick
glare and a hand on his axe, which was enough to silence each one long enough for them to disappear back into the throng.
Upon reaching the inn, however, Dietz discovered bad news. 'We're full up,' the innkeeper shouted up at him when he answered the door. 'Sorry. Try somewhere else.' Then he slammed the door shut, and refused to respond to Dietz's continued banging.
The next inn was the same, and the next... and the next. Dietz tried the inn that Kleiber had recommended, but it was no better. The city was packed with visitors as well as locals, and all the inns were full. Many refused to answer their doors, and those who did greeted Dietz with weapons drawn and an absolute refusal to allow them in, not for any sum of money.
Alaric was looking worse by the minute. He was almost unconscious, and Dietz had to pause long enough to tie the younger man to his horse, because he could no longer prop him up and navigate effectively.
Finally, Dietz reined in against a building, with Alaric between him and the wall, and paused to think. He had tried almost a dozen inns, and all gave him the same answer. There was no reason to think the others in the city would be any different, but he had to get Alaric off the streets and find him some medical attention. Where could they go?
They were too far into the city to turn around. It would take hours to reach the city gates with the crowds this thick, and he wasn't sure Alaric would survive that long without some form of rest and medical treatment. They were also too far from the warehouse district and the docks; if he remembered Altdorf s layout correctly, those were two places where he might have found shelter for them, even if it meant breaking into a warehouse for the night, but that was out.
So what was left?
Dietz glanced around, looking beyond the revellers and studying the city. The houses were getting bigger and nicer as they moved farther into the city. The palace would be at its centre, and beyond that the houses of...
He stopped and glanced over at Alaric. It might work. It might be their only hope, but Alaric might never forgive him.
Dietz considered that: his friend's anger, or his friend's death? 'I can live with anger,' he said softly. Then he kicked his horse into motion again, keeping close to the buildings, with Alaric's horse right beside him.
It took him the better part of an hour to find someone willing to direct him honestly, and another hour to reach the right street. Then Dietz was explaining the situation to a household guard, who studied the pair of travellers closely before nodding and sending a servant to fetch someone in charge. Two minutes later they were being shown inside, their horses led away by a stablehand. A few minutes after that, Alaric was being placed in a comfortable bed, a physician already being summoned to treat him. Dietz was offered a room as well, but said he could not sleep until he had heard from the physician. At least, so he had thought, but he sat down to wait by Alaric, and quickly fell asleep, exhausted by the day's events. He barely remembered a pair of men lifting him bodily and carrying him to a bed of his own.
ALARIC STRETCHED, YAWNED, and stretched again. He tugged sleepily at the heavy coverlet, burrowing deeper into its warmth, and dozed again for a second, but the sun was streaming in from the window nearby and falling full upon his face; some fool had left the bed curtains open. He reached up absently and caught the nearest curtain in his hand, tugging on the heavy fabric to pull it shut again... and started awake.
Bed curtains? Coverlets? He vaguely remembered the night before, and agreeing with Dietz that they needed some place to stay. Clearly, Dietz had accomplished that task without his help, but when had they ever stayed in an inn with such luxuries? Never, that was when. So where was he?
Blinking against the strong sunlight, Alaric peered around him. He was indeed in a comfortable bed, complete with coverlet, curtains and heavy wooden posts. Thick pillows were piled up behind him, and he was fairly
certain the lump near his feet was a bedstone. Luxury indeed! Past the bed, he saw a finely appointed room, with a handsome carpet, an elegant writing desk, nicely carved armchairs, and a large, ornate wardrobe. The walls were papered with a striped pattern, interspersed with a shield bearing a coat of arms, and Alaric turned and yanked the curtains away from the head of the bed, staring in shock at the paper and the heraldry revealed on it: a pair of silver swords, crossed on a black field.
It was the von Jungfreud family crest.
He was home.
That was impossible! They were nowhere near Ubersreik, unless he had been unconscious for weeks. He did feel weak, but surely he would have awakened at some point during such a journey. This was definitely one of his family's homes, however. Then he remembered. Of course! The house in Altdorf. Each of the elector counts had a mansion in the Empire's capital, for themselves and their representatives whenever they needed to attend court. Many of the other major nobles did as well, and the von Jungfreuds were no exception. This must be that house. Alaric had seen it once, years before, but didn't remember every room. The wallpaper, however, was impossible to mistake. He had fallen back into his family's clutches. He glanced around wildly, hoping to find his clothes nearby, but they were nowhere in evidence. They were probably in the wardrobe. At least he hoped so. Perhaps he could dress, find Dietz, and be away before-
'Awake at last, I see.' The gruff voice came from the door that was still swinging open, and Alaric froze in the act of tossing the coverlet aside and leaping out of bed. He sank back onto the thick mattress instead, sitting up straight and smoothing the coverlet with one hand as he watched the speaker approach. Tall, blue-eyed, with dark blond hair and handsome if heavy features, it was like looking in a
distorted mirror. Enough people had certainly told them that over the years.
'Heinrich,' Alaric said, pleased that he'd kept his voice calm and even passably friendly.
'Alaric. Feeling better?' His older brother stopped near the bed, spinning the desk chair around and sinking down onto it with his thick arms folded across the back, facing Alaric.
'Much, thank you.' He did, too. Alaric was starting to remember how ill he'd felt the night before, weak and feverish, and confused. He remembered seeing things, strange, horrible things, and he remembered starting at everything. He remembered being tied^to^his horse, although that had seemed like a bad dream, all fuzzy around the edges. Now his head was clear, however, and he felt well-rested and fit, if weak. 'I take it you took us in?' He wanted to ask about Dietz, but didn't want to give his brother the upper hand any more than necessary.
'Of course.' Heinrich's frown indicated that it had hardly been his choice, simply his duty. The von Jungfreuds had always known their duty, all except Alaric. 'When your servant appeared at our gate and announced that you were deathly ill, we brought you both inside and sent for the physician. You had a high fever and were delirious. He prescribed a herbal concoction, which we have been feeding to you daily, along with some broth.'
'Daily?' Alaric glanced at the window. 'How long have I been ill?'
'Three days.'
'Three days!' Now Alaric did jump out of the bed, stumbling, but managing to cross the room and wrench open the doors of the wardrobe. His clothes were indeed hanging within, clean and mended, and he began tugging them on. 'Thank you, Heinrich, for your help, but I must be going. Will you send my man up, please?' He assumed Dietz was all right, otherwise Heinrich would have said something.
'What is the rush?' His brother had not moved from the chair, which was a good sign.
'I am pursuing some men,' Alaric explained carefully, pulling his trousers up and then reaching for his shirt. 'We were already several days behind them, and now it may be too late to catch them at all.'
'Why are you chasing them?' Heinrich's tone was mild, but Alaric wasn't fooled. He knew his brother too well, even after all these years.
'They robbed a friend,' he answered in what he hoped was a casual tone. 'We promised to go after them and retrieve what they had taken.'
'All the way from Middenheim?'
Alaric cursed silently; Dietz must have told his family that.
'It must be quite valuable, whatever they took, for you to go to such lengths,' his brother said.
'Sentimental value only,' Alaric answered, 'but we did promise to go after it.' He shrugged, buckling his vest in place. 'If they are too far ahead of us, we'll simply have to return and admit defeat, but I want to make sure first.'
Heinrich rose from the chair, moving it carefully back to its place by the desk. That was a bad sign. It meant he was angry, and had to control himself carefully lest he hurl the furniture across the room. Alaric vividly remembered breakages from their youth.
'What are you really doing, Alaric?' his brother demanded. 'Where have you been the past year? You dropped out of school and all but disappeared. Father has been worried sick!'
'I doubt it,' Alaric answered dryly. 'Unless he thought I might be embarrassing him again. Now if you'd said Mother was worried, I'd have believed you.' A horrible thought struck him. 'Is she all right?'
'She is fine,' Heinrich replied, 'and yes, she was worried as well. We all were. You had a promising career ahead of you as a scholar, Alaric.'
Alaric could almost hear the thought behind the statement: promising but useless. 'Why did you throw it away?'
'I didn't throw anything away' Alaric snapped, tired of hearing the same old complaints from yet another family member. 'I was never cut out for it.'
'Just like you weren't cut out for the military life?' He could hear the sneer on Heinrich's face.
'That's right.' It wasn't worth arguing. It never had been. The von Jungfreuds were a military family. Every one of them was involved in defending the Empire from its many enemies; everyone but him.
'I never did understand why Father let you get away with that,' Heinrich admitted, moving back into Alaric's line of vision. 'None of the rest of us had a choice. None of us were given the option.'
'Would you have taken it?' Alaric pulled his sword and his boots from the wardrobe and turned to face his brother. They glared at each other for a second, and then Heinrich laughed.
'No,' he admitted.
'Of course not, you're a born soldier,' Alaric agreed. It was true. Heinrich of all of them had taken most easily to the family occupation. He was big and strong, and good with a blade, and he readily followed orders. He was not so good at giving them, but that was not a soldier's role. He could carry out instructions and had thrived on the military training they had all received as children. 'I was born to be... something else.'
Heinrich shook his head. What does that mean, Alaric?' He sounded and looked sincere. 'What is that? You are a von Jungfreud, you were born to fight. Father needs you on the line with the rest of us!' His mouth twisted into a sneer again as he glanced at Alaric's battered clothing. 'Not wandering as some... vagabond, some layabout, some wastrel traveller.'
'I am fighting,' Alaric shouted back. Heinrich had always been able to goad him into rage, and they had
fought often as children and as young men. 'I have battled things you cannot imagine, things that would have left you a gibbering fool. Not all battles are fought with armies and soldiers.' He raised the sheathed sword in his hand. 'This was a gift from Todbringer himself, for services rendered unto all Middenheim.' He took a step forward, and a part of him was pleased to see his brother shrink back slightly, uncertain how to deal with his sudden and unexpected rage. 'I have been places and seen things none of you could handle. And I have fought Chaos - and won - time and again. You have no idea what I have been through - none!'
'Perhaps not,' Heinrich admitted more quietly, his own anger spent. 'It has been some time. Stay here a while, Alaric. Tell me what you have been doing since you left. You say you have been fighting, and I believe you, for you were never a liar or a coward. You say I have no idea, correct that.'
Alaric was surprised by the honest curiosity and interest he saw in his brother's eyes. For a second he was tempted. Then he laughed bitterly Why, so you can report it all to Father?'
'He has a right to know,' Heinrich answered. You are his son, and a member of his family... and you are a soldier in this war, whether you like it or not.'
'How is he?' Alaric asked, changing the subject.
'The same: still fighting, still giving orders, and still holding the line.'
'And grandfather?' Their grandfather was the Graf von Jungfreud, the leader of the clan and the master of the fortress at Black Rock. Alaric remembered him as a towering man of massive build, iron-grey hair, and features chiselled from stone, every inch the military leader. Their father was his oldest son and heir, but the Graf had shown no sign of slowing down when Alaric had last seen him. That had been years ago, however.
'He does not charge into battle as often,' Heinrich answered, with something suspiciously like sorrow in his voice. 'He lets Father command the attacks most of the time, but his voice is still strong and his eyes are still sharp, and his mind is as solid as ever.'
Solid; yes, that was a good word for it, Alaric thought as he pulled on his boots and buckled on his sword belt. Grandfather was not a stupid man, but he was not smart either. He had always been too set in his ways, too unwilling to consider change, too quick to dismiss even the idea of breaking with tradition, just like their father.
'And the others?'
'Gunter has his own command now.' Heinrich's voice held a hint of envy. Gunter was their eldest brother, and their father's heir. If he was not as good a soldier as Heinrich, he was a better leader, the type of man that men followed without question. 'Morgan has taken charge of the hunters, and Deverick has his own forge. Randal serves on the border, as does Heintz.' Alaric nodded. All their brothers still alive and well, then. That was more than he'd expected, given the constant warfare along that side of Reikland.
'And you are here?' he asked, picking up his jacket from where it lay across one of the armchairs. 'Since when did you become a diplomat?'
Heinrich snorted, as Alaric had expected, and he hoped his brother's disgust at the thought was enough to keep him from noticing that Alaric was now fully dressed and ready to depart. 'Father likes to have one of us here at all times,' he answered, 'to keep us visible to the elector counts and the Emperor. Deverick cannot be expected to leave his forge, nor Morgan his hunts, but he rotates Gunter, Randal, Heintz and I each month.' His face split into a broad grin. 'Just my luck that I am here when the prodigal son returns.'
'Mine as well,' Alaric answered, knowing there was some truth to that. He and Gunter had never gotten along well,
the oldest and the youngest, the one most honour-bound and the one least willing to follow tradition. If Gunter had been here, he would have helped Alaric recover and then sent him back to their father, in chains if necessary. He had no problem with Deverick, but no great rapport with him either, nor any with Randal. He had always gotten on well with Morgan, since they were the two most independent of the brothers, but it had been him, Heinrich and Heintz, the three youngest, who had played together as boys. Thus it was Heinrich and Heintz he would have had the best chance to slip away from, because they were the two he could most closely predict.
'Father will be happy to see you,' Heinrich said, as if reading Alaric's thoughts. He had been pacing while they talked, and somehow he was in front of the door, those heavy arms folded across his broad chest. 'So will Mother.'
'A family visit will have to wait,' Alaric replied smoothly, although his heart was hammering in his chest. 'I really do need to get after those men.'
'Because of some sentimental item they stole from a friend?' Heinrich shook his head. "You'll have to do better than that, Alaric. What is it you're really after?'
For a second, Alaric considered telling him about the daemons, the statues, the gauntlet, the mask, and the cultists: all of it. But he couldn't. It wasn't even a question of Heinrich believing him. He was actually fairly certain he could convince his brother. They knew each other well enough for Heinrich to recognise that he was telling the truth. However, that might be even worse than being thought a liar, because Heinrich was utterly loyal to their father. He would report every detail back to him as soon as possible. If their father knew what Alaric was doing, the sort of foes he had faced, and the dangers the mask represented, he would do one of two things:
Either he would send a small army to retrieve the mask, stomping about openly, destroying any chance of catching
the thieves, who would use the confusion to slip away for good.
Or he would order Alaric, along with his own men, to find the mask, and bring it to him at Black Rock, because he would think it could be used as a weapon.
Alaric had never agreed with his father on much, and he had hated the man many times over the years, but he was still his father, and Alaric still loved him. No one, not even someone Alaric truly hated, deserved whatever the mask could do to them. If it was anything like the gauntlet, it would damn the wearer's soul forever. Alaric could not allow that to happen to any member of his family, not even his father.
'I can't tell you,' he answered finally, meeting his brother's gaze. 'Please don't ask me to. Just believe me when I tell you it is important, not just to me but to all of us.'
Heinrich studied him for a moment, and then he nodded. 'You have grown up, Alaric,' he said, grudging respect in his tone. 'You are no longer the little boy who refused to follow orders just because they were orders.'
'I still hate orders,' Alaric said with a grin, and Heinrich laughed.
Then he stepped aside.
'I will tell the servants to prepare your horses. I believe your man is down in the kitchen, or near it.' Heinrich held out his hand. 'Good luck, Alaric.'
Alaric took it and clasped it firmly. 'Thank you.' He hesitated. 'Tell Father and Mother... I am well. I am all right, and I have found my calling.'
'I will,' Heinrich assured him. He smiled. 'Now go. The trail will grow cold otherwise.'
Alaric nodded, not sure what else to say, and stepped past his brother, and out into the hall. The room was on the third floor, it turned out, and he found Dietz sitting in a room down on the first floor, chatting with one of the
servants while chewing a sausage he had skewered on his knife. Glouste was curled up in his lap, chittering happily and stealing bits of sausage with her quick, clever paws.
'We're leaving,' Alaric informed him as he strode into the room.
'You're better, then?' Dietz asked, standing and finishing the sausage, before sheathing the knife and joining him. He didn't look surprised or concerned about Alaric's sudden appearance or statement. Glouste chirped a warm hello as she shifted to her usual spot around Dietz's shoulders.
'I'm well enough,' Alaric replied, although he felt a little lightheaded from taking the stairs so rapidly. 'I should eat something, though.' He could tell his friend wanted to ask what had happened, but shook his head. They'd have time to talk later. For now, he just wanted to get out before Heinrich changed his mind.
Dietz must have sensed his haste, and did not ask anything else. Instead the older man led him into the kitchen, where he apparently knew all the staff by name, and Glouste was clearly a favourite. The kitchen staff quickly set Alaric up with a plate of food and a mug of ale, and he had finished all but a few bites when a servant came to say that their horses were ready. Dietz knew the way to the stables, and Alaric followed him, after accepting some food and a wineskin that the staff pressed upon him.
The horses seemed well-rested and had clearly been well looked after. That was no surprise, though; a good soldier knew the value of caring for his steed. Their clothes and other gear had already been packed into the saddlebags, along with fresh supplies. Alaric thanked the stableboy and handed him a coin. Then he pulled himself carefully into his saddle, wary of over-exertion before they'd even left. He felt fine, however. A few minutes later they were riding down the street and away from the von Jungfreud house. Alaric refused to look back.
'Did you speak to your brother?' Dietz asked, watching him closely.
'I did.' Alaric glanced over at him. 'I take it you did as well.'
His friend shrugged. 'He wanted to know what had happened to you. I told him. Seemed a decent fellow.'
Alaric thought about that one. 'He is,' he admitted after a second. 'He really is.' Then he shook off thoughts of family. 'We've lost several days,' he pointed out. 'Those cultists will be long gone by now.'
'It couldn't be helped,' Dietz replied. 'You were very ill.'
'I appreciate you finding me help,' Alaric answered. He saw the older man relax, and understood. 'Taking me there was the right thing to do,' he assured his friend.
Dietz nodded, clearly content to let the matter drop. 'Where to now?' he asked.
'I don't know,' Alaric admitted. He thought back to that night, and to the marks he had seen. The city was far quieter, now that Geheimnisnacht had passed, and, although a few remnants of the celebration remained, most of the decorations had been cleared away. That might work to their advantage, since the bloody marks would stand out more against Altdorf s usual decor, provided the marks had not been removed in the process. 'I remember where I last saw the trail,' he answered after a moment. 'We'll have to find that area again and then work our way forward from there. I just hope the marks haven't faded away.' He didn't say it out loud, but he also hoped the smears hadn't been a product of his fever-addled brain. If that was the case, he might never find them again, and regardless of their origin they had seemed the only clue as to the thieves' whereabouts.
They rode quietly for a while, letting the more conventional sounds of a large city fill the silence. Alaric was still regaining his bearings after being ill and asleep for so long, and he was also trying to make sense of the conversation
he'd had with Heinrich. Since when had his big, bullying brother turned into such a reasonable man? Had the rest of the family changed as well? Had their father? Alaric wondered if he should go to Ubersreik after this and find out. It had been a long time, and it would be good to see his mother again.
He was so caught up in this thought that he almost missed the flash of red off to one side. Glancing around, Alaric didn't see it again at first, but then it flickered into view once more, off on the right side, and he looked more carefully. A pair of stone columns flanked the end of the street, each one bearing the statue of some long-dead and long-forgotten hero, and on the right-hand pillar was a familiar smudge.
'There.' Alaric moved his horse closer, which was a simple matter, since the streets were no longer packed with revellers. 'They went this way.'
Dietz stared at the column where Alaric was pointing, but finally shook his head. 'I don't see anything,' he admitted warily.
'I don't know why I can see it and you can't,' Alaric said, rubbing at his eye, 'but it is there, and that means we can still track them.'
Dietz nodded, and they set off again, following the marks, which still resembled blood, but had the sheen of oil to them, and had not faded in the least. Alaric tried not to think about the possible reasons for that. The trail led them back through the city and down to the south docks, across water-warped planks and wave-worn stones, right to the end of one of the longer piers.
'What now?' Dietz asked, glancing around. 'You think they took a boat?'
Alaric looked out over the River Reik, squinting against the sunlight reflected from the water. He could see well past the city's harbour, the water shining like silver, except in patches where the sunlight was swallowed up by small pools of crimson and black.
'There, do you see that?' he asked Dietz. 'Those puddles on the river?' But Dietz shook his head. 'They're like the smears, only floating on the water,' Alaric explained. They definitely took to the river.' And thanks to the city's layout they knew which one. Altdorf had been built where the Talabec crashed into and was absorbed by the mighty Reik, and the city had three separate docks: to the east, for travel back up the Talabec; to the north, for travel up the Reik; and to the south, for travel down the Reik. From here the only direction a boat could take was south and east, towards Nuln.
Dietz sighed, and Alaric felt a momentary twinge of guilt. The older man hated water travel. 'Guess we'll need a boat, then,' was all he said.
They found a river barge that was heading down to Nuln, departing in a few hours, and booked passage on it. 'I'll keep an eye out for the puddles,' Alaric assured his friend. 'If they leave the river, or turn off down a stream, we'll get out and follow them. Otherwise we'll take this barge all the way to Nuln and see if we can pick up the trail again there.'
Dietz nodded. This trip's getting longer and longer,' he pointed out.
'I know,' Alaric agreed. 'I'd hoped we'd be heading back to Middenheim by now, but if there's a chance of getting that mask back, we have to take it.' He looked at his companion. 'Look on the bright side - we'll be out of Altdorf by evening.'
Dietz grunted. 'About bloody time.'
'BE READY,' LASALNEAN Silverleaf whispered. He had an arrow nocked, as did all his warriors, and they crouched in the forest not far from their target, their brown and green clothing and grey cloaks fading into the protective foliage. He had waited for the day to pass, knowing their colouring and sight would be used to greater advantage when dusk sent shadows across the world. The light was mostly gone already, only a few small traces of the day remaining, and the sky overhead was deepening to the cool dark blue of night. The moon was hidden behind clouds, and beyond the trees he could see only darkness, which was just what he wanted.
The trees rustled around him, as his brethren shifted in preparation. Or perhaps it was merely the forest indicating its impatience. It was old, nearly as old as Athel Loren, and could outwait any elf, but at times it was capricious and demanding, and unwilling to delay its gratification. What's more, the sight before them was most likely as irritating to the forest as it was to Lasalnean and his kinband.
'Now,' Lasalnean shouted, leaping up and charging out from the trees. The ruins stood before them, not two hundred feet away, their backs to the mountains that loomed up just beyond, to brush the sky with snow-capped peaks. The ground flew by as he raced to cross the distance before their foes spotted him.
No such luck, however. The clouds shifted even as he rose from the forest's edge, allowing the moon to cast its soft glow down upon the ground, and Lasalnean knew that his long silvery hair would catch the light. He heard a bellow from somewhere up ahead, joined an instant later by other shouts and cries. He and his kin had clearly been spotted. A crude spear hurtled towards Lasalnean a second later, missing his shoulder by less than a handspan, the force of its travel imbedding it in the ground behind him. More spears followed, along with chunks of rock. Lasalnean grimaced as one stone fell just short of him, and his eyes caught the rainbow sheen of the rock and the delicate, scrolling patterns carved along one smooth, polished side. The beasts were using the very ruins around them as a weapon.
'Die, foul creatures!' he shouted, his cloak billowing behind him as he ran, his warbraids bouncing against his neck and shoulders. 'For Athel Loren! For the Asrai!' His sharp eyes picked out a glimmer that might have been an eye from up ahead behind the stones, and he fired an arrow at it, swiftly drawing and nocking a second one. He kept his longbow high as he ran, so that its carved length and corded bowstring would not tangle his legs. A movement caught his attention as one of the creatures stepped from behind the rocks to launch a spear. Lasalnean's arrow took the beast in the throat before it could release its weapon, the spear falling from its hands as it pitched backward.
Beside him, Nelyann was singing her battle cry, an eerie combination of melody and rage, her voice mimicking the sounds of fierce winds and heavy rains. Although he had
heard her sing many times, it still sent chills up his spine, but he also knew that it unnerved their foes even more, and so he did not object. She wore no armour, as befitted a Wardancer, but twin blades gleamed in her hands, and she spun and leapt as she ran, sliding past spears and other missiles as if they were moving in slow motion. Although he did not fully understand her devotion to the trickster god, Lasalnean had always admired her grace, and her skill in battle left him in awe. He was glad to have her beside him, as always.
Ersomir and Ellsamar ran on his other side, along with Riellyan, each with their bows strung, and he could hear the zip of the arrows as they leapt towards the waiting foes. Lasalnean felt the same surge of pride he always did when he led his warriors into battle. They were a good, tight unit, his kinband, every one of them proven in combat time and again. He'd trust any one of them with his life and gladly, and he knew they trusted him.
This time, however, he feared their trust was misplaced. A spear slammed into Riellyan, piercing her clean through the torso, the force of the blow knocking her back and pinning her to the ground. Lasalnean did not pause, nor did the others. They had heard her last breath rattle from her chest as she fell, and had seen her eyes glaze over before she went limp. There was nothing they could do for her, save collect her body and accord it the proper rites, providing they survived this battle.
Lasalnean knew that it was a matter of position. He and his warriors were the stronger fighters by far, and he would stand them against far larger numbers and not fear the outcome, but the creatures held the ruins, and that gave them a clear advantage. If this battle was taking place in the forest proper, it would barely be a contest. Not only would they have more ease of movement than the beasts could ever hope to possess, and the ability to move silently between the trees, but the forest would also rise up to aid
them and to devour the interlopers. The creatures would never have been able to enter the ruins, much less spread their foul touch through it, if it stood within the forest.
Unfortunately, the buildings stood on the very edge of the forest, where the trees trailed off and the mountains began. It had been a different time then, and the settlements's builders had felt that such a location would be favourable, both to them and to those with whom they had begun trading goods and knowledge.
Changes had been made since then, however, by the creatures that now dared to occupy it. The trees had once marched gracefully up to and even into the ruins, the forest's way of embracing the fallen city as its own. It had been too great a distance for the forest to cover completely, but still there had been a grove, and over time the trees would have grown stronger, their branches interlinking, until the forest was able to assert itself fully and absorb the ruins.
Those trees had been cut down, their brutally hacked-apart stumps still dotting the landscape, their trunks and branches shattered and tossed every which way, until the space between forest and ruins was strewn with wood chips and splinters, bark slivers and leaves. The forest had recoiled from such violence, leaving the ruins to the intruders, and allowing the space between them to grow barren. The grass had shrivelled and died, the vines had retreated, and all that remained were the tree remnants and what rocks had been uncovered as their roots had burrowed through the earth.
There was no shelter. The beasts held the high ground and had cover as well as superior numbers. The kinband's only hope had lain in speed and surprise, and they had already lost the latter.
More spears rained down upon them, and though Lasalnean and his fighters all fired back it was difficult to tell if they had actually accounted for any deaths. Certainly, the
onslaught did not lessen. Ersomir fell. A block of stone the size of his head collided with and shattered his skull, leaving a pulpy mass of bone, blood, and brains to ooze from beneath his caved-in helmet. Ellsamar fell next, with one spear through the leg and a second through the arm, neither of them fatal blows, but enough to pin him down and leave him unable to dodge the heavy rock that smashed into his chest a second later.
Lasalnean gritted his teeth and fired another arrow, catching one of the beasts through the throat. He was reaching back to draw another, when he heard a strange whizzing, growing louder and louder, and saw something heading towards him in a blur of grey and brown. He twisted to the side, trying to avoid it, but he lacked Nelyann's speed. Then pain blossomed in his chest, and the breath was knocked from his lungs as he stumbled and fell backward, all his forward momentum removed by the heavy impact. He glanced down and stared at the heavy spear haft protruding from his side, blood already seeping from the wound to soak his tunic and drip down towards his belt and breeches.
'No!' Nelyann broke off mid-song and grabbed him, somehow sheathing her swords in time to keep him from falling to the ground. 'How bad?' she demanded, her eyes flashing in the dim light.
'Bad enough,' Lasalnean managed to gasp. 'I cannot fight like this.' He pushed at her arm, although his own had no more strength. He felt cold, even though he had broken out into a sweat. 'Leave me here and go on. Take the others and reclaim the ruins.'
Nelyann shook her head. 'Not without you to lead us,' she replied, ignoring his feeble attempt to order her away. 'Besides, we have lost enough this night.' She commanded the other elves to halt, and they stepped back to group around her. Then she lifted Lasalnean's arm over her shoulder, her arm around his back to provide additional
support, and, turning, broke into a run once again, forcing him to run with her. She ran back towards the safety of the forest, each pounding step sending fresh jolts of pain through Lasalnean as the spear shifted within him. His head swam and his vision grew dim, each breath a labour to produce, his legs leaden but somehow maintaining the rhythm Nelyann had set for him. The forest welcomed them, rustling its branches to distract their foes. The rest of the warriors covered them, retreating as they fired arrow after arrow to keep their foes busy, until they were once more deep within the forest's embrace.
'I failed,' Lasalnean whispered as Nelyann helped him lower himself to the ground behind a fallen tree trunk and began the slow, agonising task of cutting the spear haft off before drawing it from the wound. 'We have lost.'
'Don't talk that way,' Nelyann all but hissed at him, her face scrunched in anger. 'This isn't over yet, and neither are you. I will see to your wound, and then we will fall back and regroup deeper within the forest. Now we have encountered their defences firsthand. Next time we will know what we face, and can prepare better to overcome them. We will reclaim the ruins.'
'I hope so,' Lasalnean agreed, trying not to cry out as she began rocking the spearhead back and forth within his side, loosening the blade so she could yank it free. 'They befoul that place, and the forest, with their continued presence.'
'We will find a way,' Nelyann assured him. 'The beastmen will know our wrath. They will regret the day they defiled the sacred place.'
Lasalnean nodded, but he was barely conscious, which was just as well, since Nelyann chose that moment to give the remaining haft a sharp, hard tug, pulling the spear tip free of his body with a single smooth motion. The pain made him gasp, but he was only barely aware of it. His last thought as he drifted off into unconsciousness was that
they had not even managed to engage the beastmen up close. All they had seen of the hated creatures were distant glimpses as the beastmen readied weapons to drive them back. Lasalnean decided hazily that he would have to rectify that. Next time, he would face the beastmen in person, close enough for his daggers to pierce the creatures' flesh, and they would not be able to hide behind the sacred walls and hurl stones at them.
Any other plans Lasalnean might have made faded away as he drifted off into a fitful sleep, with Nelyann watching over him.
'GREETINGS, SIR. SIGMAR be with you.'
'And with you,' Kleiber replied. He nodded perfunctorily, touching the brim of his hat in salute. 'See to the men,' he told Wilcreitz as he stepped onto the Nuln dock beside the harbourmaster. 'I will be at the headquarters. Find me there when you are finished.'
He strode away, allowing no time for debate, and barely suppressing the smile that threatened to spring to his lips as he heard Wilcreitz's strangled gasp of a reply. The shorter man was foul-tempered enough already, and being treated like a servant would only increase his ire, but Kleiber couldn't help it. His associate's constant sniping and complaints had grated on him the whole way from Altdorf, as had his exaggerated displays of piety. Didn't the man realise that following Sigmar was less about show than about true belief? But perhaps he did not. Wilcrietz had spent most of his years training, studying and praying. This was his first mission in the real world, and no doubt
it had shaken his faith in himself if not in their order and in Sigmar. That was natural. It would wear off soon enough... he hoped.
Taking one of the many bridges that linked the various portions of Nuln, Kleiber walked quickly, but without hurry, towards the local headquarters. He had been here several times before and knew his way, but still he found the city fascinating. Such a contradiction! The waters of the Reik and the Aver shone in the sunlight, broad expanses of rippling silver and gold, and many of the buildings here, including the Royal College of Engineering, were tall and slender, their graceful walls rising up to sleek roofs of polished slate that sparkled throughout the city's broad expanse. Squat, ugly buildings like the Gunnery School stood elsewhere, heavily shaped from rough planks or crude stone blocks, and palls of smoke hung over portions of Nuln, a by-product of the forges that made it so famous and so wealthy. Smoke and sunlight, grace and ungainli-ness, clean water and dirty stone. It was a strange place, and though he enjoyed looking at it, Kleiber had never felt completely comfortable here.
Fortunately, he did not plan on staying long. Cannon fire marked the hour, a dull report that echoed across the city as Kleiber walked. He could see the local witch hunter headquarters ahead of him, and increased his pace as he crossed the broad courtyard and jogged up the wide, shallow steps. Guards stood to either side of the massive double doors, and they nodded at him as he approached, making the sign of their order, which he returned without slowing down.
Entering the headquarters, Kleiber paused to let his eyes adjust to the sudden dimness. He was in a wide, low-ceilinged room, a fairly typical hall of their order. Tables and chairs were scattered about, many of them with other witch hunters seated, eating, writing, reading or sharpening blades. By the time he could see clearly again, Kleiber
found someone before him, a middle-aged man slender as a rod with an air of quiet importance.
'Sigmar be with you,' the man said, bowing, and Kleiber tipped his head in reply. 'I am Herkov, Witch Hunter Captain of Nuln.'
'Oswald Kleiber, witch hunter, late of Middenheim,' Kleiber answered, drawing the folded packet from inside his jacket. 'The details of my current assignment.'
Herkov nodded and took the packet, breaking the seal at once and stepping closer to a wall torch to read the contents. After a moment, he nodded and returned to Kleiber's side. 'I was warned you would be coming, of course,' the witch hunter captain said. He waved towards the back of the long room and a second man joined them. He was younger and larger than Herkov, but had the same quiet air about him, and a face that seemed to rarely smile, though his eyes twinkled with some private amusement.
'Ingwald will accompany you,' Herkov explained. 'He has handled the inquiries thus far. Anything you need, you have but to ask him.'
Kleiber nodded to the other witch hunter, who bowed in return. 'Oswald Kleiber, at your service.'
'Hans Ingwald, at yours, sir,' Ingwald replied.
'I will leave you to it, then,' Herkov said, nodding to both of them. 'Good luck, Herr Kleiber. Sigmar be with you.'
'You are investigating the stolen shipment of arms and black powder,' Ingwald stated as they exited the headquarters, squinting as they emerged into the bright daylight again.
'Yes,' Kleiber agreed, although it had not been a question. 'I would like to see the sailor who survived first.'
'Of course.' Ingwald indicated a direction and began walking, trusting Kleiber to keep up with him. 'His name is Klaus Boehm and he is still very weak. The beastmen left him for dead, buried beneath several of his fellows, and he was bleeding heavily and barely conscious by the time he was brought back here. I will take you to his shack.'
'The boat is here as well?'
'Oh yes,' Ingwald answered. "We sent a crew to retrieve it. We removed the bodies, of course, and gave them to their families for burial, but otherwise it has not been boarded since it was docked.'
Kleiber nodded. 'Good.' They walked in silence for a while.
KLAUS BOEHM WAS a large, stocky man with a shock of red hair and thick features. He lay in his bed, heavy bandages around his middle, one leg, and his head, and even in the shuttered room Kleiber could see his pallor. This was not a well man.
'I would know what occurred,' Kleiber told him, standing beside the bed and looking down at the sailor. The man was shaking, and Kleiber knew that it was not because of any sudden chill. His office had this effect on people, and at times he welcomed it. It could loosen tongues, and he hoped that would be the case here, though he kept his tone calm and non-threatening. This man was not the enemy, nor had he done anything wrong.
'Of course, Herr Kleiber,' Klaus answered quickly. 'We were sailing to Altdorf, our holds filled with blackpowder weapons, shot and powder. It was night time, only a few days out from the docks, and all was quiet. Most of us were asleep. Ernst was on watch.' He gulped, no doubt remembering his friend's fate. 'I don't know how they came on board, only that we woke hearing a commotion. I think it was a splash, like something falling overboard. Pieter was the first up the ladder, and they killed him afore he could even set foot on the deck. Herwin suffered the same fate, and I was right behind them. One slashed me across the belly and another along the leg, then they struck me in the head as I fell. I thought I was dead.' He blinked and looked away. 'When I woke they were gone. I had fallen back and Otfried, who had been coming up the ladder behind me,
had fallen across me, and Lucius across him. I was buried in them.' Kleiber heard the sob in the man's voice. To find yourself trapped beneath your friends' corpses would make any man weep.
'I managed to shove them aside and crawl clear,' Klaus continued. 'I tore my shirt apart and wrapped it around my middle. I knew I could not sail the boat by myself, so I ran it aground instead. I think I passed out then. Some villagers found me the next morning, bandaged my wound, and then helped me send word back here.'
'You did well,' Kleiber assured him. 'Sigmar truly blessed you and guided you.' He frowned as he considered what the sailor had told him. 'You were only a few days out, you say?' The man nodded, and Kleiber glanced back at Ingwald, who was standing near the door, behind him. 'You sent a crew to retrieve the barge. Was there anything distinctive about the location? Any way to find it again?'
To his surprise, Klaus nodded. 'Oh yes, Herr Kleiber,' he said. 'I can tell you exactly where it was. Between here and Maselhof there is a large tree, a river elm, which hangs out far over the east bank. It is a massive thing, as thick around as a wagon, and its branches brush the water at their tips. It was right there. The villagers told me I all but ran the barge into it when I struck the shore.'
Kleiber almost clapped the sailor on the shoulder before he remembered the man's injuries. 'Excellent, Herr Boehm,' he announced. 'Your memory is truly a gift from Sigmar, and I thank you for it. You must purify yourself as soon as you are able, for your spirit has been tainted by contact with these foul creatures, but once you are rid of their stench Sigmar will smile upon your loyalty.' He bowed and turned, motioning Ingwald to accompany him out.
We will need a boat,' he told the other witch hunter after they'd exited the sailor's small shack. 'It is too late to venture
forth today, if we want enough light to see whatever may be seen, but we will go at first light tomorrow.'
Ingwald nodded and hurried towards the docks, saying he would take care of it. Kleiber turned his steps back towards the local headquarters. He would need his rest if he wanted to be sharp on the morrow.
'THERE,' ONE OF Kleiber's men called out from the boat's starboard rail, gesturing towards a heavy tree with thick, drooping branches. 'That one.' Ingwald had found them a fast, sturdy boat and they had set out from Nuln a few days earlier, the men rowing hard to cover the distance quickly. Now they had reached the stretch where Ingwald said the barge had been found, and they were moving more slowly and searching for the tree that Klaus had described.
They poled the boat carefully where he indicated, and Kleiber saw it. Several branches were missing their bark and one had been splintered close to the tree trunk. A deep furrow had been cut into the bank right beside the tree's gnarled roots. Something large and heavy had struck the tree and then been driven deep into the shore, something like a barge.
'Now we know where the boat was after it was attacked,' Kleiber said, mostly to himself. 'We must somehow determine its previous location from this information.'
'How in the name of Sigmar are we to do that?' Wilcreitz demanded. 'All we know is that the barge was here, assuming it made that mark and not some other boat. How does that help us?' The first morning in Nuln had not found the short witch hunter in a better mood, and the days of rowing upriver to reach this location hadn't helped.
'It would have kept to the centre of the river,' the boatman Ingwald had found offered. 'It's safer and quicker.'
'Yes, the centre,' Kleiber agreed, 'and the attack did not last long. From what that sailor said, and what I know
of beastmen, they could have dispatched everyone in seconds. Nor does the Battered Eye have sails. Like many river barges, it relies on the current and oars for its propulsion, and the river was quiet that night, with all but a few sailors asleep below. So the barge had not travelled far before Klaus ran it aground.' He glanced behind them on the river, estimating speeds in his head. 'There. It was there.'
'Fine, it was there,' Wilcreitz said sharply. 'What does that matter?'
'It matters because beastmen do not like water,' Kleiber replied, his tone sharpening as his irritation with his subordinate increased. 'They would have stayed in the river as briefly as possible, which means they swam directly to the barge from one bank or the other.' He glanced at the spot he had selected, and then across to the bank they were already beside. 'We will start on this side and search a short stretch near that mark. If we find nothing we will examine the other side.' He gestured, and the men began rowing again.
As soon as they were near the place he thought most likely, Kleiber had the men bring the boat right up against the bank and told the tracker to look for signs of beastmen. The man nodded and leapt to shore without a word. They had hired him in Altdorf, and he had impressed both Kleiber and Wilcreitz with his quiet, competent air. He examined the bank carefully, his hands brushing the dirt and grass lightly, his face mere inches from the ground. Kleiber and the others waited, watching, but after half an hour or more the tracker shook his head.
'They weren't here,' he said. 'A few tracks, but strictly human and nothing recent.'
Kleiber nodded. 'Then we will try the other side.' The tracker climbed back onto the boat and they rowed directly across, where he repeated the process. This time he found more favourable results.
'I have them,' the tracker announced after only a few minutes. Kleiber jumped from the boat at once, bridging the distance easily, and two quick strides brought him to where the tracker was on his knees. 'Right here,' the tracker said, indicating a trampled path through the grass and dirt. 'Beastmen, and not just a few of them; I'd say twenty, perhaps twenty-five, plus a man.'
That made Kleiber frown. 'A man?'
The tracker nodded. These are boot marks,' he pointed out, indicating an impression with his forefinger, 'definitely human, and probably male. He's travelling with the beastmen, at the head of the pack. You can only see the marks in a few places, where the beastmen's hooves did not obscure them afterwards.' The tracker rose, idly dusting off his legs, and paced, studying the terrain and edging closer to the water. Finally he nodded. They disappear right here, at the edge of the bank, and then reappear there, a few feet away.' The tracker stepped over to the second spot he had indicated, and Kleiber joined him. 'You can see that the boots and hooves were wet when they returned, because the ground has been moistened around the prints and nowhere else.'
Kleiber rubbed his chin, thinking. The inclusion of boot prints troubled him. 'Could the man be a prisoner?' he asked the tracker.
'Could be,' the other man agreed. 'His stride seems normal, not constrained, which means his legs aren't shackled close together. Not how I'd keep a prisoner, but then I'm not a beastman.'
'Can you tell anything else?' Kleiber asked.
'They were weighed down when they returned,' the tracker answered. Their prints are much heavier.'
'So they are carrying the weapons,' Wilcreitz pointed out, having joined them on the bank, 'but what would beastmen want with blackpowder weapons?' He sneered. 'Those creatures can't even light a fire!' He was wrong about that,
but Kleiber did not bother to correct him. If they found their quarry, Wilcreitz might learn just how canny and capable beastmen could be.
The question of the weapons was valid, however. 'It may be this man with them,' Kleiber pointed out. 'We do not know. If we find them, perhaps we will ask them. In the meantime,' he turned back to the tracker, 'can you follow their trail?'
The man nodded. They haven't bothered to hide.' He stood and walked slowly, carefully forward, then peered at the ground again. They're heading south and west,' he explained, 'and judging by these prints, that's the way they came.'
'So they are retracing their steps, the hunters carrying back the spoils,' Kleiber mused. 'Good. We will follow them on foot, so that we many not lose the trail.' He turned to Wilcreitz. 'Get the men off the boat and ready to travel.' Fortunately Ingwald had found a large enough craft to accommodate all of Kleiber's mercenaries, and he had instructed them to bring all their gear, for just such a circumstance. He glanced at Ingwald, who had remained in the boat beside the boatman. 'Your help was greatly appreciated,' Kleiber told the other witch hunter. 'May Sigmar guide you and grant you happiness and success.'
Ingwald bowed. 'It has been a pleasure, Herr Kleiber. May Sigmar guide you as well. Good luck pursuing these savage creatures.'
That made Kleiber laugh. 'We do not need luck,' he assured Ingwald as the rest of the men began to leap ashore, carrying their gear and the other supplies. 'We have Sigmar's blessing, and Herr Lankdorf to guide us.'
Lankdorf nodded. 'I've got their trail,' he assured Kleiber. 'Wherever they go, we'll be right behind them.'
'Good.' Kleiber adjusted his cloak and made sure his pistol and sword were at his side. 'Then let us be off. Soon these creatures will know the folly of crossing the Empire,
and they will learn the wrath of the witch hunters against their tainted breed.'
'So THIS is Nuln?' Dietz looked around as the boat docked, studying the contrast of airy towers and squat grubby warehouses. 'Hm.'
'I know,' Alaric said, leaning against the rail beside him. 'I've never much cared for it either; too big and too regimented for my tastes.' He frowned. 'Plus any city that survives by producing weaponry... I don't know, it just seems to cast a pall over the place, at least in my mind.'
Dietz nodded. Parts of the city they'd glimpsed from the distance had been impressive, as was the fact that Nuln was built over not one but two rivers that flowed right through it. But it was hard to ignore the massive stone buildings that loomed along the banks, or the thick smoke the city's many forges sent swirling up into the sky. It was a sunny day, but Nuln laboured under a constant gloom. A deep boom split the air, followed by another and another, and Dietz tensed until he remembered Alaric telling him that they used cannon fire to mark the time of
day. It was a clear reminder of the city's proudest achievements.
'Still/ Alaric added, banging one hand on the railing, 'we're not here to sightsee, eh? Let's just locate the villains and reclaim the mask, and we can be off towards home again.' He had been in better spirits since they'd left Altdorf, although whether that was because he had finally conquered whatever illness had stricken him, or as a result of the conversation with his brother, Dietz didn't know. He'd decided not to ask. Alaric was open about most things, but he was extremely close-mouthed about his family, and Dietz wasn't about to pry. He was just glad to see his employer cheerful, and hoped his optimism would be rewarded. This chase had gone on long enough. He wanted to be back home in Middenheim.
A man was waiting on the dock as their boat was tied up, carrying several papers. He and the captain greeted each other and spoke for a moment. Then the captain pointed towards Dietz and Alaric. The man immediately approached them, offering them a hand to disembark.
He was neither old nor young, heavy nor slender, tall nor short. His hair was a dull brown, his features soft and his face bland, as were his clothes. Only his eyes, blue-grey, were sharp, and took in every detail of their appearances.
'Welcome to Nuln, gentlemen/ the man said, offering them his hand. 'I work for the harbourmaster, overseeing this particular dock.'
'We do not need any assistance, thank you/ Alaric said casually, his noble upbringing rising to the fore again.
'I will need your names and your purpose here/ the man explained, not at all fazed by Alaric's attitude, 'for our records.'
'Alaric von Jungfreud/ Alaric replied with a hint of impatience, 'and Dietrich Froebel. We are here on business, private business.'
'Understood.' The dockworker nodded slightly, simultaneously scribbling on a paper with a quill he pulled from
his pocket. 'The countess simply likes to know who visits our fair city and why. Will you be staying long?'
'Only a day or two, I suspect,' Alaric said, walking past the man. 'Dietz, bring our things, would you? Good day to you, sir.' And with that he was striding down the dock and into the city proper. Dietz suspected his friend was already looking for new traces of those same strange blood marks he had been following; the marks that Dietz had never been able to see.
'Sorry,' he told the dockworker, making sure Glouste was secure inside his jacket, and reaching down to gather their things. 'He can be testy at times.'
'No one likes to be questioned about their activities,' the dockworker replied with a shrug. He turned back towards the captain, and Dietz headed off after Alaric, slightly embarrassed by his friend's behaviour.
ALARIC HAD STOPPED a short distance from the docks, and was still standing there, glancing around, when Dietz caught up with him.
That was rude,' his friend said, surprising Alaric from his thoughts.
'Was it? I'm sorry. I just wanted to get off that dock and find the trail again as soon as possible.'
The older man nodded, accepting his apology, and Alaric forgot the matter immediately. Both of them studied their surroundings.
This was only one of Nuln's docks, but it was the busiest because of the traffic from Altdorf. Warehouses lined the wide streets, and men were loading cargo onto wagons and unloading other wares onto pallets, or counting bales and barrels, or haggling with one another over prices. The warehouses were uniformly large, solid, and drab, built from stone and wood weathered by the spray from the river. Horses clattered past, some pulling carts and wagons, and others carrying riders, and boys raced past on errands,
or simply enjoying the challenge of weaving between so many obstacles. It was a crowded, dirty, noisy place, filled with activity.
Alaric was enjoying it immensely.
Anything?' Dietz asked softly, reminding him why they were standing there. Alaric quickly collected his thoughts, and scrutinised everything more closely.
At first he saw nothing. Then a strange shadow crept across the scene, distorting the world and casting a dull red sheen upon everything. The warehouses seemed to crowd in, their walls and roofs shifting to take on strange angles, their doors and windows contorting to resemble strange squared eyes and gaping mouths. The cobblestones began to resemble scales, as if they were walking up the back of some enormous beast, and the lamps hanging here and there became small burning creatures with narrow, pinched faces and nasty grins.
Nor were the people unaffected by this sudden change. Boys transformed into imps, their eyes alight with mischief, their mouths revealing needle-sharp teeth, their hands becoming elongated claws whose barbed tips dripped with fresh blood. Merchants grew ratlike, their features extending, and their eyes growing small and shifty, their fine coats turning into thin, oily fur. The labourers grew more oafish, their features slackening and growing coarse, thick hair sprouting from every patch of skin, their eyes glazing red.
It was a scene from a nightmare, and Alaric started as it washed over him. Only he and Dietz seemed unchanged, and his friend was still glancing around without apparent concern.
I am imagining this, Alaric thought; the after-effects of that fever, and of obsessing over the mask and those bloody marks for so many days already. My mind is playing tricks upon me, that is all.
But somehow he could not quite believe that. What he was seeing was too real. He could hear the whickers and
grunts from the labourers, the hissing and chittering of the merchants, the cackles of the boys, the hiss and pop of the flames. He could feel an oily residue upon his skin from the air, and the hard sharp edges of the stones beneath his feet. The air that filled his lungs was smoky and oily, and tinged with the coppery smell of blood and the too-sweet smell of decay.
This was real. Dietz couldn't see it, but it was real, and he was in it.
He told himself firmly that it didn't matter. He was looking for something, for that mask, and for the cultists who had taken it. He was looking for those smears. The rest was not his concern. He needed to focus.
He studied the horrible scene before him, searching for any sign of the marks that had led them to the city. At first, it was impossible to make out any fine detail amid the general mayhem, but his eyes gradually grew accustomed to the nightmare, and he began to pick out specifics: a torn shirt there, a claw here, a jagged tooth over there, a rotting corpse back behind those bales... he forced himself to look at everything, watching for any hint of the cultists or their path.
At last he found one.
There! The edge of one building bore a handprint, lower than most men would rest their palms, and the mark was a brilliant red, almost a light against the grey and black of the building. Somehow, Alaric knew it was linked to the blood smears he had seen before.
'Over there,' he told Dietz softly, and together they approached the spot.
'Looks like blood,' his friend commented after they had reached the warehouse in question, and Alaric glanced over at him, surprised.
'You can see it?' His heart gave a lurch. Perhaps he was not mad after all!
Dietz nodded. 'Someone had blood on their hands and leaned here for support.' He ran a forefinger across the
print and then rubbed the finger and his thumb together. 'Not fresh/ he said with a frown. 'At least a day old, maybe more.'
'There's another/ Alaric said, pointing between that warehouse and the one next to it. The second mark was along the side wall of the other building, and they moved quickly towards it. A third mark led them farther down the narrow alleyway, and Alaric was glad to be away from the bestial crowd he had seen moments before. He wanted to ask Dietz whether he had noticed them, but decided against it. The fact that his friend could see the prints was enough for now.
They walked a bit farther, and the marks continued, each one more distinct than the one before. It was a clear trail, almost too clear, and Alaric loosened the blade by his side. Dietz had clearly had the same concerns, and already had a long knife in one hand. Glouste was peeking up from his jacket collar, head swivelling this way and that, chittering to show she shared her master's concern, and Alaric tried to ignore the way her noises were similar to those of the rat-merchants he had glimpsed.
Finally they reached an old warehouse, smaller than the others and not in good repair. Its door hung off one hinge, and cobwebs covered what had been a window. Clearly this place had not seen use in some time. Yet the last handprint was on the doorframe, the fingers towards them, as if the bloody-handed person they had been tracking had emerged from this very building.
'I hate it when things are obvious/ Alaric muttered, drawing his sword, 'but here we go.' He stepped inside and quickly moved to one side so that Dietz could follow him, squeezing his eyes shut for an instant so they could adjust to the dim interior.
When he opened them he wished he hadn't, and then he hoped he was imagining things, but the strangled gasp beside him showed him that this was real.
The light from the half-open door and the cobwebbed empty window frame showed that they were alone, or at least they were the only living people here.
The warehouse was even smaller than it had appeared from the outside, or it had been partitioned into rooms. Alaric could see the far walls easily enough, even in the half-dark. The paint was peeling, the boards were warping, and the ground was covered with debris.
At least, that had been his first impression, but even before the image had finished registering he realised his mistake. It was not clutter and trash that glistened so wetly upon the warehouse floor, in chunks and strips, and shreds and tendrils.
It was flesh, or what was left of it.
The floor was alive, writhing and shifting, and chittering and chewing sounds filled the room. The rats and other vermin had found the bodies first and were so intent upon their feast that they had not even noticed Alaric and Dietz's entrance.
'Morr's blood,' Dietz whispered. 'Are these... were these the cultists?'
'I don't know,' Alaric admitted. 'It looks like five or six bodies, so the numbers are right. We'll need to see them more closely, what's left of them, and to search for the mask.'
Dietz nodded and sheathed his knife, then ducked back out of the building. He returned a few minutes later, carrying a lit torch and a large open flask of something.
'Get out, you filth!' he shouted, waving the torch low to the ground. The rats backed away, squealing with terror and rage, and huddled in the corners scraping their claws angrily across the floor. Dietz ignored the threat. Once he was sure all the vermin had abandoned the bodies, he began pouring the flask's contents in a wide circle around the room, making sure the path came within a few feet of the open door. Alaric could smell the heavy oil as his
friend brushed past him, and once the circle was complete, Dietz touched the torch to it, and a ring of fire sprang up, casting its harsh, ruddy light and dancing shadows around the room. The rats fled screaming, knowing they could not cross the flames to reach either their food or the humans who had robbed them of it.
'Nicely done,' Alaric congratulated his friend as he stepped carefully over the ring. Dietz had been careful, too; the oil was thick enough not to spread, so the rest of the building and the adjoining warehouses were not at risk. Alaric fought back a wave of nausea as he approached the bodies. In the new light, they could clearly see bones and organs, and in several places what remained of heads, limbs, and faces.
'Torn apart,' Dietz all but whispered, shaking his head, 'and recently. No blades did this.'
Alaric nodded. They had seen enough death to know the difference between an axe blow and a sword thrust, and this was neither. Dietz was right, these men had been torn apart as if by animals, but by something far larger than rats.
'Not enough left to identify,' Dietz commented, but this time Alaric shook his head. He had just seen something, a gleam amid the blood, bone and flesh, and he reached out to lift it gingerly from the strewn remains.
'Here,' he said, holding his find aloft at arm's length. It looked like a simple nail bent into a crude oval, except that it gleamed gold beneath the blood. The ear it had pierced was still attached, at least part of it was.
'It was the cultists, then.'
'Yes,' Alaric agreed. He glanced around, tossing the earring and ear aside and selecting a half-stripped and much-gnawed arm to stir the bones and viscera. 'No sign of the mask, though.' Dropping the arm back with the rest, he rose to his feet and carefully backed away. 'Whatever did this to them must have taken it.'
'Beastmen?' Dietz asked.
'They're capable of terrible savagery/ Alaric said, remembering the men who had died fighting the creatures beside them in the Howling Hills.
'Kleiber was investigating beastmen in Nuln/ Dietz reminded him.
'Yes he was.' Alaric frowned. 'I wonder if he is still here? The two might be connected.' Then he shook his head. 'The boat he said was robbed, that must have been a week or more ago, and this happened today or yesterday, I'd judge, recently enough for no one to have noticed the stench. Still, two packs of beastmen sneaking into or around one city; that is odd.'
'Mutants, perhaps?' Dietz scratched at his jaw. 'Like the ones beneath Middenheim?'
They both glanced at the bodies again, thinking about the Chaos-mutated creatures living, and hunting, in the tunnels under that city.
They might be strong enough, and certainly savage enough/ Alaric agreed. 'I don't know if Nuln has them, but then no one knew about the ones below Middenheim.' He frowned and rubbed at his eye. 'Regardless of who did this, the mask is gone. We need to find it. If someone wants to go around killing Chaos cultists, well, I've no quarrel with that.'
They walked around the room, paying as much attention to the walls as to the grisly mess in the centre. 'Over here/ Dietz said after a minute. He was near the far corner, beside a large grating set in the floor; the shadows and filth had concealed it before. 'It leads down into the sewers.' He kicked it and it rattled. 'And it's loose.'
Alaric shuddered. He hated enclosed spaces. That's how they got in and out unseen/ he agreed reluctantly.
'We'll need to follow/ Dietz pointed out, lifting the grate and setting it carefully back against the wall.
'Wait/ Alaric said quickly. He was thinking frantically, looking around the room for any excuse not to crawl into
the darkness. His eyes touched upon the door through which they'd entered.
'That handprint just outside the door/ he said, glancing back at Dietz. 'That was not made by a beastman.' He frowned as he followed through with the thought. 'That means at least one other person has been here since this carnage, and whoever he is, he probably took the mask.'
Dietz considered that and finally nodded. 'Then we follow the handprints.' He let the grating drop back down with a loud clang that echoed through the room.
'As far as they will take us/ Alaric agreed, trying to hide his relief. They carefully picked their way over to the door.
'Wait a minute/ Dietz said once they'd reached the exit. He was still holding the flask, and he turned and waved it back and forth across the remains, covering them with the last of the oil. The flames spread, leaping from the circle to the bodies. 'Better than feeding the rats/ he explained as he tossed the empty flask back inside and followed Alaric out.
'Fair enough. I hope you were careful, though, we wouldn't want to set the whole city on fire.'
They retraced their steps back to the wider avenue, which Alaric was relieved to see looked normal once again. He had worried that the prints would vanish there, wiped clean by the sort of casual contact that occurs in such a bustling workplace, but Dietz's sharp eyes spotted another print on the far side of the street. They crossed quickly, skirting carts, wagons and men, and resumed their quest, seeking the next mark to guide them.
The handprints became smaller and rougher as they went, as the last traces of the cultists' blood wiped away, but Alaric was seeing the strange smears again. They overlaid the prints, creating the clear outline of a human hand rimmed in red that faded to black at the edges and rippled slightly as if it too were on fire. By the time they were
halfway across the city, the real blood had vanished, and they were relying entirely upon the strange new marks that only Alaric could see.
The new wavering handprints continued, and Alaric and Dietz followed them, walking across bridges and past homes and shops, and even towers. Finally, they reached the city's south edge, and here the last handprint marred the thick stone post at the edge of the bridge that crested the River Reik, leading off into Wissenland.
That's the last of them,' Alaric said, glancing along the bridge's stone railing. 'I don't see any more.'
'What about on the other side?' Dietz asked. Once again, Alaric was grateful for his friend's patience and trust. He must look mad, raving about glowing handprints that only appeared to him, but Dietz followed him without complaint or question. Such loyalty was all too rare, Alaric thought as he walked across the broad bridge. He hoped he was worth such trust.
As if in answer to his question, he saw a new mark just beyond the bridge's far end. It was not a handprint but a blotch, and not on the post but upon the ground. It resembled the smears he had followed to Nuln, crimson and black mixed together with an oily sheen, but the shape was different, less rounded and more triangular, widening as it stretched away from him, then narrowing again, with a deep cleft down the middle, like a large, heavy hoof print.
'Here,' he called, and Dietz strode towards him. 'It's a hoof print,' he announced, amused at how excited he sounded, sad that he should become so gleeful at the sight of another phantom print that would doubtless lead them on yet another long and gruelling journey.
'A horse perhaps?' was all Dietz asked, squatting down near where Alaric had pointed, but the older man was shaking his head even before Alaric responded. 'Beastman,' he answered softly, tracing the blotch with one finger. 'I don't have Lankdorfs skill, or Adelrich's, but I can still
make out the marks, and this is a cloven hoof print.' He glanced up at Alaric. 'This is where you see it?'
Alaric nodded.
'That's good,' Dietz said, standing up and brushing his hand against his leg to clean away the dirt. 'I was beginning to think you'd gone mad.'
'So was I, truth be told,' Alaric replied. They both nodded, agreeing without words that no more need be said on the subject, but Alaric felt an immense burden leave him. He was not imagining them! He still did not know why he could see the marks and Dietz could not, but there was no denying the strange signs were leading them after the mask. 'The handprints led here, and now these. Both a man and the beastmen were in that warehouse,' he pointed out. 'They must be working together. The beastmen couldn't be seen in the city so they used the sewers, and whoever this man is, he walked out in the open and rejoined them once the cultists were dead.' And, he added silently, once he had the mask.
'We'll need supplies,' Dietz pointed out, glancing back towards Nuln, and then turning to study the dirt road ahead of them. 'I doubt they'll stay on the road for long.'
'We can buy what we need and be off,' Alaric assured him, 'although we may wish to check with the local witch hunters first. If Kleiber is still here we may be able to work together.'
Dietz nodded, but he was still studying the road, and beyond it, his gaze slowly rising to take in the mountains beyond. Nuln was near the northwest tip of Wissenland, and the Grey Mountains ran along the province's northern edge, due west of them.
'The road leads south, following the river,' Alaric pointed out.
'I know,' Dietz said, grimacing, 'but the way my luck runs, they'll veer west and head towards the peaks.' The
older man disliked heights, which Alaric thought funny, Middenheim was carved atop a wide plateau, after all.
'I'm sure it won't come to that,' Alaric answered. Personally he did not mind mountains; it was caves and other depths that made him nervous. 'Regardless, we had best be getting our supplies while it's still light out.' Dietz nodded, and together they turned and headed back into the city. For the first time since they'd left Middenheim, Alaric was not worried about urgency. The marks were clearly there for him to follow. They would still be there on the morrow. Something wanted him to go after the mask, and, at least for now, he intended to oblige.
THE BEASTLORD SNARLED, shaking its massive, shaggy head so his spittle flew, and grabbed the nearest beastman by the shoulders. A single heave and the offending creature flew through the air, tossed aside like so much rubbish to collide heavily with a stone slab twenty feet away. The other beastmen shrank back against the ruins, heads bowed to show respect and obedience. Their fellow had dared to hesitate when given an order. It was lucky it had not been torn apart for its insolence.
Bloodgore snarled again, glaring at the others, challenging them to oppose him. None did, and he straightened with a snort, smashing a heavy fist into the nearest wall. The solid stone splintered, and the beastmen scattered, leaving Bloodgore to his rage.
Bloodgore watched the others flee his wrath, feeling a brief glow of satisfaction. At least those who had once been his herd still feared him, and why shouldn't they? He flexed his muscles, massive cords bulging in his arms and
chest beneath his shaggy hair and thick, scaled brown skin. He was still powerful, still strong enough to slaughter those elves when they tried to reclaim the ruins, still powerful enough to destroy any of the other beastmen, even two or three of them at once if they dared stand against him. He had been challenged many times during his leadership, and had never lost: never, until him.
Turning, Bloodgore glared at a figure walking along a partially destroyed balcony deeper within the ruins. His small red eyes could only make out the figure's outline, but Bloodgore knew what he would see were he closer. He knew every feature of the hated creature who had stolen his rightful place as ruler of this beastherd. He had memorised every crag, every scratch, every scar, every barb, blade, hook, and chain of his foe's hated face and form.
Yet there was nothing he could do. The stranger had appeared and challenged him for leadership, and Bloodgore was forced to accept. To do otherwise was to show weakness, to admit fear at accepting the contest, and that would spell the end of his reign just as surely. Strength was all his people understood.
So he accepted, though the stranger was not even one of them; touched by the gods, yes, this massive figure in red and black, and brass, but not a beastman.
The stranger won.
No, not merely won, he had defeated Bloodgore as easily as if he were a mere child, a defenceless stripling. Bloodgore charged, his massive head lowered so the great curving horns sprouting from his temples targeted the challenger's chest, his strong, goat-like legs propelling him forward at a terrible speed, a fearsome bellow erupting from his lips as he rapidly closed the distance. He would spit the stranger on his horns and then pull himself erect, lifting the pinned, gored challenger into the air and tossing him to the side so the rest of the herd could feast upon his mangled carcass.
That was what Bloodgore had planned, but it had not happened.
Instead, the stranger brought his massive axe down upon Bloodgore's head just as he came within range. The twinned bloodstained blades turned so they struck flat rather than edgewise, but the colossal impact brought the great beastlord to a crashing halt, and drove his head down so fast and so hard that his chin slammed into the ground. A loud groan rose from the assembled herd as they watched their leader's charge stopped cold.
Bloodgore clambered back up, his great clawed hands digging into the ground for purchase, even as his cloven hooves scrabbled to get beneath him and lift his bulk off the dirt. The stranger stepped back, waiting calmly. That only enraged Bloodgore further. He leapt forward, his head still ringing from the first blow, tasting blood where his lip had split from the fall, and his enormous hands shot forward to grab the challenger by the thick collar around his armoured neck and rip him to pieces.
But they never touched him.
Instead, the stranger turned, batting the hands aside with his axe as easily as a man might swat away a troublesome insect. Then he reached in, grabbing Bloodgore around the neck with one mailed hand, and smashed their foreheads together, the challenger's helmeted one against Bloodgore's scaled one. The collision produced a loud report and both stepped back, staggered by the impact, but Bloodgore had stumbled and fallen, unable to rise again. The challenger calmly turned and raised his axe high over his head, moving in a circle so that the herd could clearly see how undamaged he was.
At first the herd was too stunned to respond. This stranger, this human, had defeated their great leader? But they could not deny what they had seen, and leadership went to the strongest. After a moment, they began to cheer, braying and bellowing, and roaring their approval.
Then the stranger, the new ruler of the herd, glanced back to Bloodgore, who still lay stretched out upon the ground, gasping for breath, blood dripping down his face from the gash across his forehead where the helm's lip had sliced his flesh open.
He walked away, showing his scorn by leaving his back open. Bloodgore clambered back to his feet, and killed the first beastman presumptuous enough to attack, showing he was still more than capable of killing anyone else who approached him. The rest of the herd backed away, giving him space, and Bloodgore knew their fear of him was still strong. Only their fear of the stranger was stronger. He had proven himself, and now controlled the herd - and Bloodgore with them.
The stranger made Bloodgore his second, issuing orders, and then leaving the beastlord to see them carried out. Bloodgore did so, because by surviving he had accepted the consequences. He must live and serve, and obey. The only way to break that hated cycle was to challenge for leadership, seeking to reclaim his former rule or die in the process, and he had already been defeated once. Bloodgore knew his new master could beat him again, and easily. He found that he feared that defeat, and the death that would surely accompany it. He was not afraid to die, but he was terrified of throwing his life away in so foolish a manner.
So, he lived on, and hated every minute of it. If only there were some way to gain the upper hand, or even equal footing, he would challenge his master in a second, but Bloodgore had yet to see such a chance. So, he waited, and watched, and vented his wrath on the herd that had once been his.
'HE WILL KILL you one day.'
Deathmaul turned, unsurprised, as a figure melted out of the balcony shadows not far from his position. The newcomer was tall and thin, with long robes worn
loose over dark clothes of sturdy make. Even in the dim light, he could see the runes woven into the robe's hems, and the similar marks on the heavy rings, wristlets and amulets adorning the man. Varlek never missed an opportunity to acquire a new item decorated with the signs of his master.
Deathmaul grunted, glancing again towards the ruins' front edge, where Bloodgore had been glaring up at him just seconds before. 'He will need to muster his courage first, and if he does I will be ready.'
'I've no doubt you can defeat him,' Varlek said smoothly, stepping closer and laying one long-fingered hand upon a shattered statue, the gems of his rings winking in the twilight. 'The Blood God has chosen his champion well, but if he dies who will convey your orders to the herd?'
'I still have you,' Deathmaul pointed out, laughing at the angry pride he saw flash across his companion's face. 'Do not fear, Varlek,' he assured the other man after a second's pause, 'I know you are more than just an errand boy.'
'I do not serve you at all,' Varlek replied haughtily, his narrow features still tight with irritation. 'I answer to our master directly. I am only here because our goals coincide. If that changes, I am gone. Never forget that.'
Deathmaul felt his temper rising at his companion's tone, and stretched to his full height so he could glower down at the sorcerer. 'And never forget that if you cross me, I will carve your spine from your body and use its shards to pick my teeth,' he growled. One hand gripped and tightened on a broken column nearby, splintering it further, while the other grasped the haft of his axe where it rested against his side. 'You are a useful ally, Varlek, but you are not indispensable. Do not try my patience!'
They glared at one another for a moment, Varlek's slate grey eyes against Deathmaul's jet black ones, seeking dominance. At last Varlek looked away, admitting defeat. As they had both known he would.
'What do you think of the new weapons?' Varlek asked after a moment, waving one hand towards the courtyard behind and below them, where members of the herd stood in a row facing broken statuary. They both turned to study the scene, watching silently for a time.
'I do not like them,' Deathmaul stated finally. 'They are loud and sloppy. These creatures can barely hold the things properly, much less use them effectively.'
'They give us range and power,' Varlek pointed out, 'and are devastating against a massed foe. Every arrow fired into a crowd will claim a target.'
'Arrows do not explode on the bow,' Deathmaul growled, 'nor does their theft draw attention.'
What if it does?' The sorcerer replied with a nasty smile, revealing small, sharp teeth that had been filed to points. 'No one would think to look for them here.'
That much was true, Deathmaul conceded with a grudging nod. They were too far away for anyone who was curious about what had happened to realise the attackers and their plunder might be here. Not that he feared pursuit, but he did not want his plans disturbed until all was ready.
'I still do not like them,' Deathmaul repeated, watching without wincing as the top of a distant pillar exploded into dust and tiny fragments, 'but they may prove useful.'
They will,' Varlek assured him. 'They will. With these weapons we can mount an attack against any city in the Empire, knowing we can destroy all opposition even before it can reach us.'
'Perhaps,' said Deathmaul, continuing to watch for a second, before turning away, 'but I will not rely upon such factors. I will trust in my own strength and the gifts our masters have given me.' He strode off, towards the balcony's far end, and disappeared into the building, heading back towards his own quarters. There was still much to do.
Varlek watched him go, the Chaos sorcerer's thoughts hidden once again behind his calm, focused features. He glanced back down one last time and then shouted a few additional instructions and departed, leaving the beastmen below to continue their blackpowder practice unobserved.
'THIS IS WHY I hate villagers,' Alaric was complaining, gnawing on a piece of hard bread as they walked. "'Beware the fog, particularly near the bones". What sort of a statement is that?' He squinted up at the leaden sky and glowered at the valley they were slogging through, which looked much the same as the ones they had been traversing for the past two weeks. 'Of course you should beware a fog. You could break your neck stumbling around when you can't see. And any place that has bones, particularly fresh human ones, is worth steering clear of. Couldn't they have said something more useful, like "Don't take the left fork it leads into swampland," or "There are beastmen in the caves to the west so steer clear"? Instead it's just a bunch of vague mutterings from people who've never even learned to read.'
'Hm.' Dietz was chewing his way through a hard cheese, rind and all, and swallowed before replying further, Vague, maybe, but still wise.'
His friend spared him a weary 'oh, please' look, but Dietz shook his head. '"Don't go beneath the city, monsters lurk there",' he reminded Alaric. 'Or what about "The Strigany worship daemons" or "The dead walk the mountains"?'
'Yes yes,' Alaric said irritably, tossing the bread heel aside. Glouste scampered after it and returned to Dietz's shoulder a moment later, chittering excitedly about her new acquisition, which she began nipping at greedily. 'I take your point. Not all mutterings are useless, and even vague warnings should be heeded.' He slipped back into lecture mode for a second. 'In fact, many superstitions have their roots in actual past events. People were forced to adopt strange activities to combat certain menaces, and passed those habits down to their children, who passed them along in turn, until the menaces were long gone and their very existence forgotten, but people still turned widder-shins and stepped carefully over thresholds and never brushed dirt out of the door, even though they had no idea why.' He frowned, recalling his irritation. 'But that's not the case here,' he insisted. 'This is just foolishness. These people are vague for no reason other than they're not smart enough to add more detail to their crude fears.'
'I think you're just annoyed because they wouldn't sell us better food,' Dietz commented, finishing the piece of cheese, and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
'Well, what of it?' Alaric replied sharply. 'They clearly had other food there, but all they would part with was that rock-hard bread and the equally rock-like cheese. Is that any way to treat a pair of noble adventurers? And the prices. They're insane! They might as well have held us at sword point and taken our coin, at least then I'd feel justified in the loss.'
Dietz nodded. Yes, the villagers had been stingy in selling them food, and the prices had been steep, but they had obviously seen how desperate the two men were for fresh
food. There was little game in these hills, and the supplies they'd bought in Nuln had run out days ago. So, the villagers had sold them only what they didn't want themselves, and had overcharged them for the privilege.
Dietz was relieved that his friend's temper had returned. He knew Alaric well enough to know that the nobleman became mild and meek when he was seriously ill or badly wounded. This sudden vehemence about the villagers meant that Alaric must be fully recovered from his illness, and Dietz was more than happy to let his friend continue to rant if it meant he was in good health once more.
'Still see the marks?' he asked after Alaric had wound down a bit.
'Yes,' the younger man replied. He waved ahead of them. 'They're still there, clear as day. We're still going in the right direction.'
Dietz nodded. They were walking south, following the river, in fact, keeping its broad expanse just within view most of the time. That was fine by him. Better south than west, where the mountains beckoned ominously, and the river meant the chance for fish, which he had caught more than once since they'd started their trek. True, he was tired of the fare, and Alaric hated fish even at the best of times, but it was enough to keep them alive when between villages. Besides, tonight he could make stew with the small spicy sausages he had talked one woman into selling. It would make a welcome change.
They continued on, both lost in their thoughts for a while. Finally, Alaric broke the silence, as Dietz had known he would. His friend could not bear the quiet for long.
'What worries me,' Alaric began, 'is why they took the mask.'
Dietz shrugged. 'It's attractive,' he answered. 'That might be reason enough.' It was, too, from what he remembered of it. A single slab of some unfamiliar stone that gleamed gold and brown with strange bands like the markings of a
cat, it had been carved into a striking face that combined the feline and the human, bringing the ferocity and hunger of the one to the intelligence and deliberate cruelty of the other. It represented the eight-armed tiger-god of Ind, and it had captured his attention at once when he'd spotted it in the inner sanctum of the beastman temple in that foreign land.
That was why he'd taken it.
It had been Alaric's fault, of course. He was the one who had dragged them both to that distant shore, seeking treasure and knowledge unknown to any in the Empire. It was Alaric who had sent him into the temple to scout it out and to bring back 'something small enough to carry, valuable enough to be worth our time and distinctive enough so that it could not have come from anywhere else.' The mask had fit those instructions nicely, and he had pried it loose from the rest of the enormous statue. He had also managed to survive the angry beastmen who had come after him, enraged at his sacrilege. Not ordinary beastmen, either, they had all been catlike and far more intelligent, more graceful, and more organised than the normal variety. .. and far more dangerous. He had made it out of there alive, and with the mask, though he'd often regretted that since.
Alaric was shaking his head.
'It is striking, certainly,' he agreed, 'but I doubt that would be enough to sway a beastman into taking it, and what about the cultists? They were slaughtered, but not eaten, which does not match the beastmen's usual approach to battle. It's as if the cultists were slain for the mask, and then discarded because only the mask was important.' He frowned.
'You're thinking of the statues,' Dietz guessed.
They were Chaos tainted,' Alaric replied, 'and one of them was being worshipped by the beastmen. Clearly they have an affinity for such items. The mask has similar markings; I
could see them finding it, realising its connection to the forces they serve, and carrying it off for veneration.'
'So now you know why they took it,' Dietz said. They recognised it as a Chaos artefact.' The fact made him shiver. It seemed as if, lately, they encountered such relics at every turn.
'Yes, but how did they know to look for it?' Alaric asked. 'How did they find the cultists back in Nuln? And why are they taking it so far from the city? Either they were from Nuln, like the mutants in Middenheim, in which case they've gone a long way from home; or they came to Nuln, in which case they must have come a long way, and was it for the mask or for something else?'
Dietz shrugged. 'No idea,' he admitted, 'but once we catch up to them we can find out.'
Yes,' his friend agreed. 'I just like knowing the answers beforehand. It makes it less likely that we're walking into a trap, or at least into a situation we don't understand and are not prepared to handle.'
'We'll handle it,' Dietz answered, reaching up to scratch Glouste, who had finished her bread and was burbling happily 'We always do, and how could it be a trap when no one could possibly have expected us to find this trail, much less follow it?'
Alaric nodded, but did not reply, and Dietz shivered as he thought about that last part. How could anyone have known they would find this trail? But then, how could anyone have suspected they would follow a map fragment to a lost tomb deep in the Border Princes? But they had, and apparently their actions had been anticipated, even guided, by the daemon; the daemon they had encountered twice; the one that had known Alaric by name. Could this be another situation like that? Was that daemon still influencing them somehow, still guiding them towards some purpose of its own? The thought was terrifying, and Dietz shook it away. They had vanquished the daemon back in
Vitrolle, destroying the body it had claimed. Surely it was gone from this plane for good? And surely their latest quest was only due to Alaric's obsession with antiquities, and his justified concern about the mask falling into the wrong hands? They were travelling for their own reasons and no one else's.
Dietz wanted desperately to believe that.
A WEEK LATER they were still walking.
'Don't these beastmen have a camp somewhere?' Alaric muttered as they stomped down a small hill, pushing their way through a thick clump of tangled brush that snagged at their clothes, their packs, and their hair. 'Or are they simply planning to walk forever?'
He was irritable. He was tired, cold, damp, and hungry. The weather had alternated between overcast gloom and glaring sun, with most nights miserably dank and cold. They'd fought off wild animals and scared off a few bandits, although they'd been fortunate not to encounter anyone worse thus far. His head was aching again, his eyes burning, and the sunlight was like thin slivers of white-hot metal jabbing through his eyes and into his brain. Every glance burned, every blink provided short-lived but blessed relief. He wanted to lie down, to close his eyes and not open them again until the sun vanished below the horizon or the pain ceased, whichever came first.
On top of that, he had noticed a blur to his vision along the right edge, as if the scenery there were wavering somehow, shifting ever so slightly when he was not looking directly at it. He was worried that the strange visions might be starting again. He had been free of them since leaving Nuln, except for the glowing tracks, and had started to hope the bloody, crazed images were a thing of the past. Now he was not so sure.
Alaric tried hiding his discomfort from Dietz, but as usual the older man saw right through him. 'Head
hurting?' he asked, and Alaric nodded slowly, afraid that more rapid movement would unleash a fresh wave of agony. We should camp,' he continued, and Alaric nodded again. The heavily forested hill had bottomed out into a wide, flat valley, the trees thinning until the basin had only some bushes, a few small groves, and sparse, greying grass. A wide, shallow gouge ran across the valley, meandering here and there, darker grass poking up within it, and Alaric guessed that it had once been a river. He and Dietz exchanged a glance. Both men knew without speaking that this would not be a good place to stop for the night.
'We'll camp on those hills just beyond,' Alaric decided, gritting his teeth. He would not let this discomfort conquer him. He began walking again, determined to reach the far side, and Dietz fell into step beside him.
As they walked, a shadow fell across them. At first, Alaric thought some massive bird or colossal bat must have flown overhead, its wings blocking out the sun, but when he glanced up, he saw that the entire sky had become hazy, the sun only a burning white disc behind a gauzy curtain. The light did not hurt as much, now that it was diffuse, and he was able to see their surroundings more clearly, which was ironic since tendrils of grey mist were beginning to blanket the land.
'Beware the fog,' he said softly, watching as the mist spread rapidly, creating a vast plain of pale grey. His foot caught on something unseen beneath the mist, and he stumbled, remembering the second half of the villagers' warning, even as his hands brushed the ground, and something curved and solid and smooth that jutted up from beneath the dirt and grass. Even without being able to see it, Alaric's agile fingers could tell that what they were feeling was a bone. A human one, or at least humanoid, if the rusty metal bracelet still wrapped around it were any indication.
'Particularly near the bones,' he recited. His words echoed and vanished, were bounced around through the
fog and then swallowed whole. 'Well, perhaps not so stupid after all,' he admitted, straightening up.
'We have to camp,' Dietz said. He let his pack fall to the ground, and Alaric nodded and dropped his own, sinking to the damp ground beside it. Dietz was right; they could kill themselves trying to cross this place in the fog. Better to sit tight and move on once the fog had passed.
After a few moments, Alaric roused himself again.
'I'll gather 'some firewood,' he told Dietz, clambering back to his feet. 'We'll need it on a night like this.'
His friend nodded slowly. 'Be careful,' he warned. 'Don't go far.'
'I won't,' Alaric assured him.
He walked away slowly, cautiously, feeling his way along the ground, peering through the fog in search of trees or old branches. His feet kept bumping against things hidden in the fog. Some of them felt like lumps of smooth stone, while others rang hollow like old metal. The ground was littered with them, or at least it had been long ago. Enough time had passed for the dirt to have piled up around and over the shapes, grass growing atop many of them, as the earth sought to reclaim what organic matter remained.
'It must have been a great battle,' Alaric whispered, stopping to free his foot from something he suspected had been an axe or a hammer at one point. He straightened again, only to discover that he was surrounded on all sides by the soft fog. He was alone.
'Dietz?' His call carried oddly.
'Alaric?' came the reply an instant later. 'Where are you?'
'Here,' Alaric answered, knowing even as he said it that such a statement was worse than useless.
'I'll come find you.'
'No.' Dietz had not dealt with fog and mist often, but Alaric had, his homeland was often covered in such shrouds, and he had been taught their dangers at an early age. 'You will lose all sense of direction the minute you
step away from our packs,' he warned, 'and sound is strange within this fog, it will mislead you.'
'What should I do, then?' Dietz's voice seemed to come from all around him.
'Stay where you are,' Alaric instructed. 'I'll find you, or I'll just sit and wait for the fog to pass. Don't worry.'
He heard no reply, but assumed that Dietz was following his directions. His friend was far too sensible not to. Alaric shrugged and started walking again. He knew that it probably wasn't the best idea, but he still hoped he could retrace his steps and stumble back upon Dietz somehow. At least his head did not hurt anymore.
No, that was not quite true; it still ached, but with a dull throbbing, rather than the sharp stabbing pain of before. His eyes still burned with the same sensation he got when he had been staring during bright daylight for too long. The fog was all around him, and its softness would have seemed comforting if not for the cloying moisture it added to every breath, and the sticky closeness of it upon his flesh. It was like being swaddled in an enormous blanket soaked in water, and Alaric could feel it clinging to his limbs as he struggled to push through it and reach the safely of the hills beyond.
Then two figures charged him out of the fog: a pair of warriors astride massive armoured chargers. Their armour, heavy plate ornately inscribed, the shoulder pieces shaped like lion heads and the gauntlets like massive paws, matched descriptions and even drawings that Alaric had seen in old tapestries. Yet here these men were, galloping across the plain, their great swords in their mailed hands, their heavy shields strapped to their forearms, bellowing as they surged forward.
Startled, Alaric threw himself to the ground, gasping as the impact slammed the breath from his lungs. He curled up into a ball, arms raised over his head, tensing for the weapons to fall... and glanced up when they didn't.
The men had galloped on past without stopping. Puzzled, Alaric got to his feet, wincing at the new bruises he had acquired. If he wasn't their target, who-
Dietz!
Alaric leapt after them. He wasn't sure if he could catch them, much less do anything against such powerful figures, but he wouldn't let them attack Dietz without at least trying to intervene.
'Dietz,' he shouted as he ran. 'Dietz, look out!'
Suddenly Alaric felt a sharp pain in his right eye, and stopped short, rubbing at it fiercely. He had shut both eyes automatically and opened them again, only to gape at the sight before him, for the fog was melting away, revealing the plain he had been walking through a moment before, only not as he had ever seen it.
The grass was thicker than it had been earlier, and greener. It looked smoother as well, lacking the strange bumps and protrusions he had felt along his path. At the same time, much of the grass was flattened by the weight of the creatures moving across it, and there were a great many creatures.
Alaric stumbled back to avoid being trampled by more warriors, armed and armoured like the first pair he had seen. They ignored him, however, and swept across the field, weapons raised, shouting as they rode in to confront their foes.
And the foes: the sight of them made Alaric stagger and drop to one knee, one hand going to his sword, although he knew it would not be enough to fend off the approaching onslaught. A wave of creatures swept towards him, loping and bounding, and shambling and crawling across the broad valley. He saw creatures he recognised, beastmen with their shaggy coats, goat-like legs and heavy horned heads, and ratmen with their scuttling gait and long whiplike tails. But there were other creatures in the horde, things he had only heard about, things he had successfully
managed never to imagine, now before him in the twisted, mutated, diseased flesh: enormous beasts with twinned heads, glowing eyes, and writhing tentacles instead of hair: giants, three times the size of a man, with crude features that seemed only half-formed, and rough limbs and hands as large as their heads: centaurs, their lower halves four-legged and hoofed, the upper halves humanoid, but covered in scales or ridges or thick fur. It was an army, an army of Chaos.
The figure that led them from atop a monstrous, mutated Chaos steed was truly terrifying, for he was clearly human, clearly unmutated. That meant he marched at the head of this army of his own free will. He had willingly given himself to Chaos, and it had made him its champion.
He was tall and broad, this man, and powerfully built, and his movements were those of a warrior, heavy yet lithe. His armour was thick, red plates warring with bronze and black for dominance, and every possible surface was covered with barbs and hooks, or decorated with runes and tiny screaming skulls. Chains hung everywhere, barbs at their ends, and even the links seemed sharp. His helm was high-crested and bore at its top a plume of some dark, coarse fur that seemed almost to writhe of its own accord. In his hands, he held a massive battle-axe, its twin blades stained a permanent crimson that seemed to shimmer, like the stains and smears Alaric had seen so many times since Hralifs shop in Middenheim.
Alaric knew what he was looking at, at least roughly. Men had been fighting Chaos ever since the Great War, when the forces of Chaos rose up and swept across the Empire, and indeed all the nations of the world. Men had united to battle them, as had the elves and the dwarfs, and eventually they were victorious, although at a steep price. He was somehow witnessing one such battle, the one that had taken place upon this plain, and had left the bones and other remnants he had stumbled across earlier.
Yet the warriors and their twisted opponents were not ghosts, nor figments of the fog. They had substance and colour, as if they were real, as real as anything. Alaric could hear the men groaning, the beasts growling and snarling, and the horses whinnying. He could smell the bitter tang of fresh blood, the sour scent of sweat, and the over-ripe smell of decayed flesh. He was not just watching the battle, he was experiencing it, and he crouched down, doing his best to avoid notice. He was not sure he could be seen or touched by these long-dead fighters, but he did not want to take that chance.
So, he stayed low and watched, as Chaos beast collided with human warrior, as the men fought against abominations. One warrior in particular caught Alaric's attention, a sturdy fellow of average height, but broad of build, with a thick red beard and heavy brows over piercing blue eyes. The man wore armour chased in silver, and it gleamed like moonlight, casting a cool white light upon the battlefield. The heavy plates had been carved into patterns, and although most of them were abstract swirls and loops, Alaric recognised the symbol of Sigmar's hammer woven into each piece. The same powerful sigil was emblazoned upon the man's shield and etched into every side of his massive war hammer.
Alaric knew at once who, or at least what, the man was. He was a member of the Order of the Silver Hammer, one of Sigmar's holy warriors, part priest and part fighter. The man moved easily, as if he were well used to his own armour's ponderous weight, and even as Alaric watched, he lashed out with his hammer, catching a frightening mutated dwarf in the head, and crushing his skull with one blow, before knocking the body into two others and sending them all to the ground. A glow seemed to surround the Sigmarite warrior, and several of the Chaos beasts charging him had to turn away, shielding their eyes and hesitating just long enough for the warrior to cut them down.
The two leaders, the Sigmarite and the Chaos Champion, were moving inexorably towards one another, circling as they closed the distance, dispatching lesser foes along the way. Just as a clean white glow surrounded the Sigmarite, so a strange, unwholesome feeling emanated from his rival, and the air around the dark figure seemed filled with soot and shadow, and the sound of a hundred voices screaming in terrible pain. Alaric shuddered. He had heard such cries and seen such distortions before. A daemon had laid his mark upon the Chaos champion.
Finally, after what seemed hours of bloody, savage battle, the two leaders confronted one another. Bodies lay all around them, and the carnage continued unabated, men hacking and slashing at beasts and creatures, which slashed and bit, and tore at them in return. There was blood everywhere, the ground was slick with it, the grass flattened and stained. Some small part of Alaric's mind noted that he had not been spattered, that somehow the gore filling the air had missed him entirely, which proved that he was not really on this battlefield. He took some small comfort from that, but the larger part of him was focused upon the epic confrontation unfolding before him.
'I know you, Deathmaul,' the Sigmarite shouted, his voice cutting through the mayhem. 'Your foul stench has stained this good land for far too long. That ends today, and your master's taint with it.'
'You boast too quickly, Reinhardt Talbek,' the man called Deathmaul snarled, idly swinging his heavy axe and shearing a man's head from his shoulders in the process. 'Yes, I know you as well, Sigmarite fool, cowering behind your weak little warrior-god. The Blood God laughs at your pathetic would-be deity. He was ancient when Sigmar was still a mewling babe, and will continue long after that fool and his weak exploits have faded from memory!'
'Sigmar may be young compared to your twisted daemon-god/ Talbek replied sharply beard bristling, and eyes almost sparking with rage, 'but his virtuous might will wipe away the filth of your dark master's touch.' He leapt forward, his hammer raised high and gripped tightly in both hands, its gleaming silver head catching the early morning light.
'For Khorne!' Deathmaul bellowed in reply, his axe sweeping forward as he too charged to close the distance. Everyone else on the battlefield seemed to fade into the background, and many paused in their combat to witness the clash of these two mighty titans, each backed by the power of a god.
Talbek's hammer struck first, crashing, not into the Chaos Champion, but into his steed, striking the beast's horned head with enough force to shatter a mountainside. The Chaos steed staggered back a step, blood streaming from its ruined brow, and toppled to the ground. Its master pulled himself free just before the creature's side struck the earth, leaping forward, and the blades of his axe moaned as they sliced the air, to slam down against the Sigmarite's upraised shield. Talbek sank to one knee from the force of the blow, but his shield was undented, and in an instant he was upright again, his hammer swinging up from his side to slam hard into his foe's midsection. Deathmaul retaliated by backing away a step and lashing out with his axe, which would have removed Talbek's head if he had not blocked the blow.
They traded blows back and forth, each one denting the other. Blood flowed freely, but neither fell nor even staggered for long, and the force of their impacts was enough to send those near them scurrying to safety. Alaric could feel the blows, shaking his body and ringing through his blood, and he winced each time a strike connected.
Then he noticed something that made him shiver. Deathmaul turned to grapple Talbek, removing one hand
from his axe to grab the Sigmarite's forearm just past the haft of his hammer, and as he did so the Chaos champion turned. The side of his helmet, where an earlier blow had nearly felled him, was no longer crumpled. It was dented, true, but no more than that, as if the blow had been less than it was. Alaric had seen the damage when it had first been inflicted and knew he had not imagined its extent.
Deathmaul was healing, and his armour was healing with him.
If Talbek noticed, he did not comment, being too busy freeing his hammer from his rival's grasp, but Alaric could see the signs. Talbek was still wounded, blood seeping from several minor gashes, his shield and breastplate dented, but Deathmaul was strong again, his body undamaged, and that gave him a clear advantage in the conflict.
Nor was the Chaos Champion slow to press the advantage. His next attack struck Talbek hard in the chest, driving the air from the Sigmarite's lungs, and as he doubled over, Deathmaul stepped in again. He caught the hammer arm once more, this time in an unbreakable grip, and wrenched back hard. Even from his safe vantage point Alaric could hear the snap as bones broke and ligaments tore, and he heard Talbek's cry of pain. The hammer dropped from his shattered grip, and Deathmaul loomed over him, gloating in his imminent victory.
But the Chaos champion had underestimated his foe, and Talbek was not yet defenceless. His embossed shield was battered, but intact, and as he rose to a crouch, Talbek swung it like a weapon, its gleaming edge arcing upward like a scythe. It took Deathmaul in the neck, where only chain protected the gap between breastplate and helmet, and the Sigmar-blessed shield sliced through that tainted metal as if it were paper. Blood gouted from the wound, and Deathmaul lurched away, hands flying to his ruined throat as a gasp spread through his army.
'May the touch of Sigmar destroy you!' Talbek gasped out, rising to his feet. He reached down with his good hand and grasped his hammer where it rested beside him, intending to finish the battle at last.
This time, however, it was he who had misjudged his opponent. Deathmaul's wound was grave, and surely fatal to any mortal, but the Chaos champion was no longer strictly mortal. Even as Talbek raised his weapon, Deathmaul staggered back towards him, his massive axe clutched in both hands, and swung. The blades described a bloody arc, seeming almost to cut the air, and with the hammer in that hand, Talbek could not raise his shield in time. The axe caught him full in the neck and sliced cleanly through, sending the Sigmarite's head flying as his body toppled, fountaining blood from its severed neck.
'Die for my master's pleasure,' Deathmaul gasped, his voice thick and guttural from the wound.
A great cheer rose from the Chaos army as they saw their leader victorious, and the beasts turned on their opponents with renewed enthusiasm. The men, for their part, were demoralised by Talbek's death, and the tide quickly turned against them. The battlefield was filled with the sounds of rending and chewing as the beasts began to devour their fallen foes.
Deathmaul watched the devastation, but did not participate. Instead, after a moment, he crouched and lifted Talbek's head by the hair, raising the fallen warrior's hammer in his other hand. Blood still spilled from his neck, but he ignored it.
The Chaos champion spat a dark name into the air, the strange sounds dripping from his tongue. 'Hear me, my master!' The Chaos champion growled out, unable to shout from his injury. 'Hear my cries and receive my worship. I offer you the head and lifeblood of an enemy, anointed of the accursed Sigmar, and his hammer that has been steeped in the aura of that usurper-god.' He held both
grisly trophies high, and Alaric's breath caught as he saw the air darken between them.
The darkness whirled, forming a vortex of shadow, and the shrieking and moaning in the air intensified, but with a strange echo, as if thousands of people were crying a great distance away. The vortex, too, had a sense of distance to it, and the air seemed somehow to recede, forming a shifting tunnel of flickering light and shadow. It was the colour of blood and ash, the consistency of oil and sludge, and they mixed together, mingling and writhing, and whirling as if alive.
Alaric struggled to swallow, his throat dry. He had seen such a phenomenom once before, when a daemon had tried to materialise beneath Middenheim.
The Chaos champion still held both his trophies aloft, but something was happening to them now. The head shrivelled, flesh and hair fading away, bone darkening and crumbling, until it sifted through the warrior's fingers like soot. The hammer, however, sagged, melting, wood burning away and gleaming metal turning black. It hung down over Deathmaul's hand, curling around it, and the metal changed, becoming dark iron and blood-tinged copper, incised with runes. It had become a thick, spiked collar.
'Thank you, master.' Deathmaul set it around his neck immediately, and at once stood straighten 'I wear it proudly.' He bowed low. His voice was stronger, almost back to its earlier power.
The darkness shifted, its attention wandering, and Alaric was suddenly certain that the creature behind that veil saw him somehow, although he was not truly there upon that field. A wet, rasping sound erupted across the plain, the same mocking laughter that Alaric had heard when the daemon had taunted him beneath the cultist city in the Border Princes. Then the vortex dwindled away, taking the darkness with it. The light fled as well, leaching all colour from the land, leaving only a moist grey blankness behind.
The fog.' Alaric thought, as the weight of what he had just seen bore down upon him. Then the grey faded to black and he collapsed upon the bone-strewn earth.
ALARIC? ALARIC!'
Dietz ran towards the huddled figure, stopping just short and dropping to his knees. He had been searching for his friend since first light, but the valley was wide and the strange shapes emerging from the ground made it difficult in the dim light to be sure what was a body and what merely a hummock or small mound. At last, he caught a flash of something bright against the dark grey, and moving closer that flicker had resolved into blond hair.
Alaric lay without moving, but Dietz was relieved to see his friend's chest rising and falling. He was still alive. When Alaric had not reached the hills last night he had feared the worst, but he had known that to venture back into the fog or wander the area at night after the fog had gone would do neither of them any good. More likely, he would have stepped in a hole somewhere and broken a limb, and then they would truly be at the land's mercy.
As it was, Dietz rolled Alaric over and got his arms underneath him. Then he heaved, struggling to his feet while lifting the nobleman. Sigmar's beard, he was heavy! Dietz managed to stagger a few feet before collapsing, landing on his knees again. That was not going to work. Instead, he set Alaric gently back on the ground and began casting about for anything he could burn.
By the time Alaric awoke, Dietz had a decent fire going beside him, and was sitting warming his hands and cooking a pot of thin soup. Glouste was curled up nearby, enjoying the heat.
'Ah, you're awake/ Dietz said when he saw his friend's eyes flutter open. Thank Ulric. I was starting to worry.'
'I...' Alaric began, sitting up. Then he sank back down, clutching his head. What?' He glanced around, wide-eyed,
and Dietz saw that his friend looked terrible: ashen skin, glazed and sunken eyes, slack lips, trembling jaw. He looked as if he had received a powerful fright.
'I got lost in the fog,' Dietz told him, ladling some soup onto a plate and offering it to his friend. Alaric glanced at the plate and reached for it, but his movements were so jerky he almost knocked it from Dietz's hand. 'Here.' Dietz spooned up some broth and fed his friend carefully.
'Thank you.' Alaric gasped after swallowing. Then he shivered. 'Where are we?' He shivered again, and Dietz saw that his hands were almost blue. 'Why is it so cold?'
You're in shock, Dietz thought, though he did not say so. What had happened to his friend deep within that fog? 'We're still in the valley,' he answered, 'but at least the fog's gone. It's a sunny day.'
They glanced up at the sky, and Alaric managed a weak smile as he felt the sun's rays across his face. 'Yes, sunny,' he agreed, closing his eyes. The light seemed to help, and after a minute of basking in its warmth, he was able to feed himself the rest of the soup.
'What happened to you?' Dietz asked finally, as he put out the fire and gathered the rest of their gear back up. Glouste sensed they were getting ready to go and uncurled, then scampered back up his arm and onto his shoulder, curling around his neck as usual.
'I...' Alaric started to answer, then shook his head, trembling a little again. 'I don't know, Dietz,' he said finally. 'I don't know.' He frowned, clearly concentrating, and then shook his head, and winced as if the movement hurt him. 'I think I... saw something last night, in the fog, but I don't know what. I can't remember. Something about a... about a battle,' he said, shuddering. 'I don't think it was good, though.'
'Best we move away from here,' Dietz suggested, rising to his feet. The younger man followed, swaying as if his limbs
were not strong enough to support him, but he kept his balance and nodded after a moment.
"Yes, we should leave,' he agreed quietly. He glanced around, still wild-eyed. 'The sooner the better.'
They walked silently, doing their best to avoid the bones and other remnants littering the area. Alaric staggered several times, and Dietz did his best to offer a hand, knowing his friend hated being so weak.
'I'll never mock villagers again,' Alaric muttered finally, as they slowly climbed the hill leading out of the valley. 'I only wish I'd heeded their warning.
Dietz nodded, but there was little else to say. Instead, he concentrated on guiding his friend up the hill, and worrying about where they would go next.
IT TOOK THEM five harrowing days to reach the next village, and Dietz worried the entire time. He'd rarely seen Alaric this weak. Although not feverish as he had been in Altdorf, the noble was dizzy enough for rapid movement to make him feel faint, and focusing his eyes on anything not stationary invited vertigo. He was able to walk unaided, at least, but needed help to climb the small hill they'd encountered, and had been all but useless at night. If they had encountered anything worse than a few wild dogs and a maddened boar they might not have survived. At least Dietz had been able to force some food into him each day, and Alaric's colour had improved, but he was still not his usual self. He was distracted, confused, and clearly upset. Whatever he'd seen that night in the fog had shaken him badly, even if he couldn't remember it.
The one thing Alaric wasn't confused about was the trail. He claimed that he was still able to see the strange marks, and they still followed the river south, but Dietz was sure
the gap between them and the trail's creators, and the mask, was steadily increasing. It should have taken them two days to get from the valley to here, not five. At this pace, it would be weeks before they got past Wissenburg and then Weningen, and their quarry would be long gone, assuming they hadn't turned off somewhere before that. Dietz pointed this out to Alaric as they sank gratefully onto a creaking old bench outside the small, weathered shack that served as the sad little village's town hall and tavern, clutching bowls of thick stew and mugs of watery ale.
'You're right,' Alaric agreed, taking a long draught of his ale between words. 'I wish I could move faster, but I don't seem to have it in me.' He smiled briefly, the first smile Dietz had seen since the fog. 'I feel less muddled, though. These past few days have been a blur, like my mind was wrapped in cotton, soft and warm, but smothering.'
'Whatever you saw made you retreat from it,' Dietz pointed out, eating his stew with enthusiasm. It was far better than the watery broth he'd managed to produce for the past week, and there was real meat in it, although he knew better than to ask what kind.
'Probably,' Alaric admitted. He frowned. 'I've felt this way before, although not as intensely or for as long, in Middenheim and again in Vitrolle.' He didn't clarify, but Dietz understood, and he felt a sudden chill. Those were the two times they'd faced the daemon. Was Alaric saying he'd faced more Chaos again, during the fog? And by himself? How had he survived?
'I don't know,' Alaric said, as if reading Dietz's mind. 'I still don't know what happened. I can remember tiny fragments, brief glimpses. There was a battle, the one that left those bones, I think, and I was watching it, but that's all I can see.' He shuddered. 'Perhaps that's for the best.'
'At least you're feeling better.'
'I am,' Alaric agreed, using the hunk of bread he'd been given to sop up the last of the stew. 'I think with a little rest
and more food I'll be all right, but I know I've cost us time.' He shook his head, and Dietz was pleased to see his friend no longer winced from the motion. 'If only there were some way to cover the distance more quickly.'
Dietz nodded. They had little money left, certainly not enough to buy horses or even mules, so riding was out. They might be able to find a ride to Wissenburg, the nearest big town south of here, if anyone from the village was driving a cart there today or tomorrow, but barring that he had no ideas.
'Gerta.' A man came limping up the worn dirt path from the river, a hessian sack slung over his shoulder, leaking water down his back and onto the ground behind him. 'Gerta, I've brought you something!'
Gerta, who ran the tavern, stepped out through the wide doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. The expression on her broad, lined face was tough to read, part amusement, Dietz thought, but part irritation as well. 'Ah, it's you, then,' she said as the stranger clomped up and stopped beside her. 'Well, and what've you brought me, then?'
'Eels,' the man proclaimed as if it were lost treasure, raising the bag high so she could see the contents. Dietz saw several wriggling forms within and nodded, noticing that Alaric had recovered enough to look alarmed and slightly green at the sight.
'I see that,' Gerta replied, taking the bag from him and turning it this way and that to inspect the catch. Two shillings,' she said finally, and waited until the man nodded before turning and stepping back inside. 'Sit over there,' she instructed as he started to follow her. 'You're still dripping.'
She had pointed to the bench on the other side of the door, and the man sank onto it obediently. Now, Dietz could tell that the stale briny smell he'd thought had been the eels was in fact wafting from the man's body. A minute
later, she returned with a bowl of stew and a flagon, which she thrust into his hands along with a handful of brass pennies, presumably the rest of his money. 'Anything else for you?' she asked Alaric and Dietz, her manner towards them considerably warmer. 'Another stew or ale or both?'
'Please,' Alaric replied, holding out his empty bowl and flagon. They were excellent, especially the stew.' Dietz nodded and handed over his empties as well, along with enough coin to pay for their second servings. That earned a smile from Gerta, who was not unpleasant looking, despite the smallpox scars covering her cheeks. She returned with their portions a moment later and nodded at them again before heading back inside.
For a moment, all three men ate and drank in silence, but Alaric really was feeling better again, and his curiosity had returned full force.
'You are a fisherman then, I take it?' he asked the stranger politely.
'Fisherman? Aye, when they're biting,' the man replied. He was older than Alaric, perhaps Dietz's age and perhaps older still. His skin was weathered and his hair bleached from the sun and the water, making it difficult to be sure. He had a wide face and mouth, a thick nose, and small eyes beneath heavy blond-brown brows that matched the thin beard tracing his jaw. His clothes were weather stained and water marked, the heavy britches and jacket clearly intended to protect against the damp, and his cap had a thick brim below a battered peak. Judging from the stench, they were the only clothes he owned, and got washed only when the waves splashed across their owner. 'When they're not I take to other means to keep afloat.'
You're a sailor, then?'
'I'm a captain,' the man answered proudly, straightening. 'Jonas Widmer, master of the Flying Trout, at your service.'
Alaric introduced himself and Dietz. 'Is your boat docked here?' he asked, and Dietz could see where his
friend was heading with this. Despite his hatred of water travel, he had to admit it made sense. Travelling the river would be far faster than walking alongside it, and they could easily make up the time they'd lost, and then some, if this Widmer really had a boat and was willing to take them downriver, and if they could handle the smell.
'Aye, right over there,' Widmer answered, clearly pleased by Alaric's interest. 'She's a beauty, too, glides through the water swift as a trout, moves before the wind as easily as a leaf.'
Dietz glanced down the path. The village was small and set close to the bank, and he could see the river from here. There was only the one pier, a rickety thing with planks that badly needed repair, and tied alongside it was... that?
Dietz rubbed his eyes and looked again, but there was still only one shape by the pier. That couldn't be the boat this man was speaking of, could it?
He glanced over at Alaric, whose surprise showed he had seen the same thing. 'Is it... is it the one tied up at the pier, there?' his friend asked carefully.
'Course it is,' Widmer answered, quaffing the last of his ale. "Where else would she be?'
Dietz turned and looked a third time, still trying to match this - thing - on the river with the man's glowing praise. He knew little enough about boats, certainly, but from his limited experience he'd be hard-pressed to call that shape a boat at all, much less a fast, fleet ship. It was broad and flat, and low like a barge, but its front end rose higher than the back. There was a sturdy tent across the back, or at least a canopy. It had two sides that met at the top and slanted downward, passing over the hull, as if a larger tent had been added to the boat and not cut down to fit the narrower deck. It appeared to be made from thick tarpaulin, with battered oilcloth layered on top. All in all, the thing looked more like a strange pointed shoe than a boat, except for the heavy sail mounted on the short, thick mast in the middle.
'Something, ain't she?' Widmer asked, seeing their gaze. 'Gerta! I'm parched, woman. Bring me another ale.'
Gerta stepped out and wordlessly thrust a full mug at him, snatching the other and the proffered coin from his grasp. She asked if Alaric or Dietz wanted anything else, and Dietz was fairly certain, the way her gaze lingered on him, that she meant more than mere food. Then she retreated inside again.
'Where are you headed?' Alaric asked casually after she had left. Dietz had to stop his mouth from falling open. His friend couldn't be serious. That thing looked like it could barely float, much less travel quickly. He'd sooner go back into the Border Princes than step foot on that so-called boat.
'Nowhere in particular,' Widmer answered, taking a long swig of ale and then belching. 'Got enough money for three days' food and drink with Gerta, and after that, who knows? Maybe down, maybe up, maybe more fishing, or I'll see if they need any cargo hauled from Wissenburg or Maselhof.' He eyed Alaric, and Dietz could see the mercenary gleam in the grizzled sailor's eye. 'Why, you needing passage somewhere?'
'We are indeed,' Alaric agreed. 'We're heading upriver, towards the mountains.'
'Hm.' Widmer finished his ale and idly dropped the empty mug on the ground at his feet, scratching himself as soon as his hand was free. 'Can't get all the way up, gets too narrow once you're past the foothills, and the currents go crazy up that way. Could take you as far as Dotternbach, though.'
'How far is that?' Alaric asked, making Dietz groan and Widmer grin.
'A week's travel by boat,' the captain answered. 'Two months by foot, mayhap more. Just past the first foothills.'
'That would be excellent,' Alaric said eagerly. 'We may not need to go that far, actually. We're sort of, following
something, and I don't know where we'll need to put ashore.'
'Hunters, eh?' Widmer said. Thought as much. Knew ye weren't no fishermen, nor merchants neither, not from your garb.' He shook his head as Alaric started to explain. 'No, I don't want to know what you're chasing, or who. None of my concern.' He grinned, showing the gaps between his remaining, yellowed teeth. 'Least, not so long as your coin is good.'
Dietz sighed. He could see there was going to be no talking Alaric out of this, but at least he could stop the noble from doing anything even more stupid. 'How much?' he asked, cutting Alaric off before he could name a figure. Dietz almost groaned. His friend was good at many things, but bargaining definitely wasn't one of them.
'Well now, let's think on that,' Widmer answered, tugging at the hairs on his chin. Dietz knew at once that he was facing a fellow haggler. "We'd be looking at a week's travel, mayhap more if the wind's against us. There's only the two of you?' Dietz nodded. 'And no mounts?' A shake of the head. That's food for three, then, for a week, plus other sundries, and the wear and tear on the Flying Trout. There's rocks up in the mountains, y'know, makes the river treacherous up that way, chance of tearing out her hull and the like, so that risk ups the price.' He smiled widely. 'Let's say ten gold crowns.'
'Ten crowns?' Dietz spat the words out and clenched his jaw, his glare warning Alaric to stay out of this. 'That's absurd. For that price we could have taken a ship all the way from Nuln! And brought a horse along!'
'Perhaps,' Widmer conceded, 'but you aren't in Nuln, eh? Harder to find ships here. Even if you trekked back up to Wissenburg you might not find anything heading that far, and the captains there'd rob ye blind 'cause they'd know you had no other choice.'
There's always another choice,' Dietz reminded him. 'We've walked this far, we can walk the rest of the way.' He
shook his head. 'For two gold I could buy a cart and a mule, and we could ride instead.' He didn't mention that, as far as he could tell, no one in the village had a cart they'd be willing to sell. The point was still valid. 'Three gold,' he countered, 'more than you'd make in two months normally, and enough to buy a month of food and drink from Gerta.'
'It's not the time, but the danger that's raising the price,' the boat captain reminded him. 'I've got me livelihood to think about. If anything happens to the Trout, I'm sunk, literally.' He leaned back against the tavern wall and considered. "You seem like decent folk, and I haven't had company aboard in a while. I could go as low as eight gold, I'd say.'
'Halve that and you've got a deal,' Dietz told him firmly. 'I could probably buy a boat for eight, never mind book passage on one.'
'But could you sail it?' Widmer asked shrewdly, and nodded at the blank expression he saw on Alaric's face. Thought as much. You're not sailors, either of you. I'd have lowered the price if you were, since you'd be lending a hand, but as it is you're nothing more than cargo, and cargo that requires feeding, at that.' He frowned. The fish aren't biting as much this late in the season,' he admitted, 'and there hasn't been as much work from the other towns as I'd like, so I'm inclined to go below me normal asking price rather than lose your business. Seven... no, six and a half gold will do.'
'You're mad if you think you're getting more than five from us,' Dietz answered. Then he thought of something else. 'Five, and we'll supply the food and drink.'
Widmer's eyes narrowed, as he was clearly calculating the value of the offer. 'Food and drink for two weeks,' he bargained, 'so I've got supplies to get me back.'
'Done.'
Widmer nodded and extended a weathered, heavily callused hand. 'Done!' They shook on it, and he shook
with Alaric as well. 'When'll you want to be leaving?' he asked.
'As soon as possible.' Alaric answered. He was never comfortable with haggling, even when he wasn't the one doing it.
'Fine/ the captain agreed, rising to his feet. 'See to the food and ale, I'll make sure the Trout is fit and ready to depart.' He stuck his head in through the doorway of the inn. 'I'm off, Gerta.' he shouted. 'I've got to ferry these fine gents somewhere up the river.' Then he turned and started back down the path to the river.
'Are you mad?' Dietz hissed as soon as the man was out of hearing. That thing looks barely able to float and you want to take it up into the mountains?'
'Just shy of the mountains, actually.' Alaric answered easily, rising and dusting off his trousers and jacket, 'and it's less a question of want than need. I don't see any other boats around, do you?'
'No, but-' Dietz stopped as Gerta stepped outside again.
'He wasn't lying, then.' she said, seeing the looks on their faces. A brief twinge of regret washed over her own. 'Not that he lies much, that one: exaggerates, boasts, promises, but rarely lies'
'Is that... boat really river-worthy?' Dietz asked.
You wouldn't think so to look at it, but yes.' she answered. 'Not that I'd ever go on it, but I doubt you'll drown.'
Thank you.' Dietz smiled down at her. 'We may stop this way again, on our return.'
Gerta smiled back at him, and yes, she was definitely not unpleasant-looking. 'That'd be welcome.' she admitted. 'Now, did I hear Jonas say something about food for the trip?'
SHE SOLD THEM food and ale at what Dietz realised was a fair price, and he told himself privately that he would try
to make good on his promise to return later. It had been some time since he'd enjoyed the company of a woman, and he'd certainly met far uglier. But their quest came first, and before dusk they were stepping onto the Flying Trout, lugging casks of ale and baskets of bread, cured meat, and salted fish. That, plus the boat voyage, would take nearly the last of their money, but at least they would eat well along the way.
Up close, the boat didn't look any better. It was as weather-beaten as its captain, and almost as malodorous, with flaking paint and wooden rails worn smooth by the water and wind. It did seem sturdy enough, though, if ungainly, and Dietz's worst fears subsided. Besides, Widmer clearly had been sailing for some time, so it was unlikely the boat would sink the minute they pulled free of the bank.
'Good, good,' the grizzled boat captain said, taking the food and drink from them and stowing it in the ship's small hold. 'Heh, this is good stuff, Gerta must have liked you.' Dietz didn't answer, but the man's grin widened anyway. 'Wish she liked me half as well, I'd marry her!' Widmer chortled, then gestured them towards the strange roofed cabin. 'There's only the one cabin,' he explained, as if they couldn't see that, 'but there's room enough for all three of us within when it rains. On clear nights, I sleep out on deck. That's all the gear you've got?' They nodded. 'Then toss off the ropes and we'll be off.'
Alaric did as requested, moving once more with the easy grace he'd always shown, and Dietz knew this had been the right decision. Even if the boat moved no faster than they could have walked, it meant not exerting themselves along the way, and that would give Alaric time to recover fully.
Dietz had a feeling they would need to be at their best when they finally caught up with whoever had taken the mask, particularly if he was still with the beastmen.
Widmer spun the wheel, and the Flying Trout slid backward, away from the pier. For a second, the boat was caught by a powerful counter current that threatened to carry them back the way they had come. Then the captain spun the wheel again and tugged on the sail lines at the same time, belling the sail for just long enough to catch a burst of wind that tugged them forward and to the side. The little boat shuddered as it slipped across the water, then it landed in a new current and shot forward hard enough for Alaric to stumble, and for Dietz to clutch at the rail.
Yes, they would need their strength, provided they survived this damnable river voyage.
He clung to the rail and stared out at the bank, watching as the village quickly disappeared behind them. He had told Gerta he meant to come back. He hoped he got the chance.
'UP AND AT 'em, lads,' Widmer called out from his position near the front of the deck, one callused hand resting lightly on the wheel. 'The sun's climbing into the sky and there's work to be done.' Then he coughed, the same horrible hacking sound he produced throughout both day and night, and finally spat something over the side.
'I hate you,' Dietz muttered in reply, staggering to the railing and clutching it, half-hunched, as if his life depended upon it. 'I really, really hate you.'
It had been like this for the past two days, ever since they had left the town. Widmer had been gruff, but not unpleasant, and Dietz had been surly and just short of murderous.
Not that Alaric could entirely blame his friend. He knew how much Dietz hated water travel, and boats in particular, and this journey was proving even more... interesting than any of their previous excursions.
Widmer hadn't been lying when he'd said the Flying Trout skipped across the waves, but Alaric wasn't sure that was how a boat was supposed to travel. Didn't most ships cut through the water, or float atop it? He'd never heard of one that bounced across it. Yet here they were, and the Flying Trout certainly seemed to be skipping, its raised prow slamming hard into the water and then rising again, its stern doing the same. Spray accompanied the ship's constant motion, and Alaric resigned himself early on to being drenched for the duration. He also learned to compensate for the boat's rolling, jerking motion, and to keep his feet set well apart to balance on the worn wooden deck. Once he'd gotten used to it, he found the Flying Trout's mode of travel amusing.
Dietz disagreed.
This isn't a boat, it's some sort of captive leaping fish,' he snarled on the first night, after he'd emptied his stomach over the side, and the heaving had quieted enough for him to speak again. 'Or an enormous shingled frog. No boat would move like this.'
Alaric tried to defuse the situation. 'Perhaps it's the shape of the hull,' he pointed out, 'but we are moving, and faster than if we had walked.'
'I'll take walking over this madness any day,' Dietz spat out, wiping sweat and river spray from his forehead. 'He'll kill us all, or shake our bones right clear of our skin.'
'Nonsense,' Alaric told him. 'It's just a matter of getting used to it. In a day or two you'll barely even notice the motion.'
But here they were, two days later, and Dietz was still pale and sweating, his stomach still rebelling at the thought of food. Alaric suggested he sleep it off, but his friend complained that he couldn't sleep on a floor that was constantly shifting and rolling beneath him. Widmer's stench and raspy cough didn't help, especially when it rained and he crawled into the boat's tiny cabin with
them. Glouste, of course, seemed completely unfazed, and the little tree fox annoyed her master further by scampering about, exploring the boat's many nooks and corners, and generally having a grand old time.
Ah well. If things went well they would be off the boat soon enough. Widmer still held that he could not take the Flying Trout any farther than Dotternbach, so they would part company with the strange sailor there and walk the rest of the way, assuming, of course, that the mask went past Dotternbach.
Alaric glanced out over the water again, looking past the churning caused by the Flying Trout's presence. The river moved smoothly, the water sliding quickly past, and in the early light it seemed black as coal and silvery as moonlight, revealing no hint of what lay beneath.
But that was not all Alaric saw. He could see the river, and the banks to either side, but he saw other images as well. There was a patch of something on the water, a swirl of colour like an oil patch, dark, gritty and slimy to the touch. Beyond that he saw another, this one broken by a small shape at its centre: a rotting fish head, part of its torn spine still attached. More patches stretched beyond those, several of them marred by objects: dead and decaying fish and birds, their bellies ripped apart, their eyes little more than bloody stains upon their faces; torn planks from some other boat, deep blotches staining them, and blood dripping from their splintered edges; shreds of gore-drenched clothing, some of it too small for a man or even a woman, all of it too damaged for any hope that its former occupants had survived. Clearly the path continued.
Alaric rubbed his eyes. The images were horrible, and seemed to be lasting longer, as if the brief flashes back in Altdorf had merely been a peek into another world that he was now viewing almost as often as he saw the world around him. They didn't stop when he closed his eyes, either, which was part of why he hadn't been sleeping well
■P
since they'd set forth. At least he didn't have to exert himself, which was a good thing given that he still felt a bit weak. Whatever else he could say, sailing on the Flying Trout was easier than walking.
Unfortunately Dietz clearly didn't agree.
'Feeling any better?' Alaric asked as he carefully crossed the deck and reached the railing alongside his friend.
'No,' Dietz admitted, shaking his head. He looked exhausted, drained, and scared, 'and I won't, as long as we stay on this deathtrap.'
Alaric nodded, though he could feel a frown tugging at his lips. 'We'll leave the Flying Trout behind in a second if the mask and its thief leave the river, or when we reach Dotternbach. Until then,' he reminded Dietz, 'we need to make up lost ground. That means using the river, and Widmer was the best captain available, with the best boat.'
'He was the only captain,' Dietz managed to snarl, although it was a half-hearted effort, 'and this... thing was the only boat.'
That means it must be the best, doesn't it?' Alaric said, pleased with his logic. 'Or at least the best one available.'
ALARIC FOUND HIMSELF on the edge of a vast forest, facing the Grey Mountains. Just in front of him were piles of rocks, which he quickly realised must be ruins, for they were too organised, too even to be natural. The structures were clearly old, and just as clearly abandoned, judging by the moss that clung to them in places, and the ivy that had begun to creep over the outer stones. The forest vanished as Alaric's attention focused on the ruins, leaving only vague green smudges at the edge of his vision.
His natural curiosity awakened, Alaric stepped forward, moving quietly among the towering old buildings. He could see delicate carvings, flower and leaf traceries worn almost smooth with time, and he saw that there were flagstones beneath his feet, although they were partially
hidden beneath a layer of grime and dirt. The ruins were too large to be a single building, even a temple. This had been a village, perhaps even a city, but who had created it? And what had happened to them?
He felt as if he were being watched, several times, but every time he glanced around Alaric found that he was alone. His footsteps echoed strangely among the buildings, distorted, but definitely his, and nothing else moved. The ruins seemed utterly abandoned.
Alaric continued on, deeper and deeper, the stone city unfolding before him like a life-sized map, marvelling at each turn. Whoever had wrought this place had been true masters of stone, making his old friend Rolf seem like a bumbling fool, and Rolf had been counted an expert craftsman back in Middenheim. Something about the carvings, however, seemed strange. They felt wrong, or at least different, as if their creators had possessed a different perspective. Alaric saw what he thought might be writing in several places, but the marks were too worn away for him to be sure.
Eventually, the ruins shifted, the walls sliding away to present a wide central area, a vast courtyard. Buildings rose on every side, with crumbling balconies and walkways facing the centre, where a massive fountain had once stood. Much of the fountain had crumbled away over time, but its base still rose from the flagstones, a short column of jagged marble and granite, its top shorn away to form an irregular surface like a crude slanted table. Something sat atop that shape, gleaming softly in the dim light, and Alaric's pulse quickened.
A few quick strides, aided by the courtyard sliding beneath his feet, brought him closer to the truncated fountain, and he saw that he had guessed right. Even from across the courtyard, Alaric had thought that shape seemed familiar. It was the mask.
Alaric reached for it, unable to believe he had finally recovered the artefact, and in such a strange fashion, but as
his hand closed upon the thin smooth stone of the mask, another hand closed upon his wrist. This hand was massive, considerably larger than his, and covered in a heavy gauntlet festooned with barbs and spikes.
Startled, Alaric glanced up. A man stood across the fountain from him, a colossal figure covered head-to-toe in elaborate red, gold, and black armour. Every inch of him bore spikes and barbs, and hooks and flaring edges, and a pair of massive horns sprouted from the temples of his heavy helm. Deep within that helmet a pair of eyes watched Alaric, their dark gaze seeming to convey both hatred and triumph.
'Alaric von Jungfreud,' the figure rumbled, his mailed grip crushing Alaric's wrist. 'I have been waiting for you.' His voice was thick and raspy, his words strangely accented and heavy with malice.
Alaric tried desperately to pull away as the armoured man raised his other hand, revealing the massive double-bladed axe he held. Alaric tugged and pulled, kicked and shoved, but the man held his wrist in an iron grip and he could not pull free. He watched, transfixed, as the axe rose high above him, its blades giving off a dull glint, turning the colour of rust and old blood. Then the weapon fell, its sharp edge streaking towards Alaric's neck... and he awoke, gasping and throwing himself sideways to avoid the blow.
'Get off,' Dietz shoved him away, still asleep, and rolled right back over. In a second he was snoring again. Widmer did not stir at all.
A dream, Alaric thought, sitting up and trying to breathe slowly to calm his racing heart. It was just a dream. Yet his wrist still throbbed with pain, and his side hurt where he had fallen. Was it a dream? Or an omen? The armoured figure had seemed familiar, although he couldn't say why.
Puzzled, Alaric lay back down and shut his eyes. Bits of the dream clung to him still, and it was some time before he fell back into a fitful, troubled sleep.
'MAYBE YOU SHOULD stay away from ruins, just to be safe.'
Yes, very funny, thank you.' Alaric threw the dried apple in his hand, but Dietz caught it easily, tearing it in half and offering one of the pieces to Glouste. His appetite still hadn't returned, but the little tree fox was as ravenous as ever. They were leaning against the starboard rail, and Alaric had just recounted his strange dream.
'Could be something you heard somewhere/ Dietz pointed out, 'an old story your mind dredged up.'
'It could be/ Alaric admitted, staring out over the water and watching the bank slide past. 'I've certainly read enough grisly tales, old legends and horror stories to populate anyone's nightmares' He shook his head. 'It felt more... personal, though. When he said he'd been waiting for me, I believed him. He wasn't waiting for just anyone. He was waiting for me.'
Dietz shrugged, clearly unsure what else to say, and Alaric sighed. Why should his friend have an answer when he didn't? But the dream refused to fade away. It lingered still, the memory of it overlaying everything in much the way his strange visions did, leaving a tinge of terror and uncertainly upon every object.
Alaric's gaze moved back to the riverbank, watching as the thought of those visions drew them forth again. A reddish hue enveloped everything, and the plants along the shore shifted, shadows lengthening and deepening. Within that gloom, the trees seemed taller and thicker and more twisted, their leaf tips sharp like barbs and their fruits misshapen and dripping. He glanced towards the front of the boat and saw another of those horrible oily patches, and another beyond that. Their quarry had passed this way.
Then something else caught his eye, a glimpse of something dark within the trees. Alaric studied the spot, which was a little way ahead of them, but growing rapidly closer as the Flying Trout skipped across the water. There! He saw it again, only more clearly this time. Dark indeed, and oval, with sharp edges and bristling bits, and two gleaming spots set above and to either side of the centre: a face.
But not a human face, no. This was longer, more triangular, with heavy lips and jutting fangs, and a broad snout over a narrow chin. A tuft of hair hung down from the chin, but otherwise, the face was covered in short, fine hairs. It looked like a goat given intelligence and rage. Alaric had seen features like this before: a beastman.
He could pick out other similar shapes all around it. There were more of them. As he watched, he saw something else rise up beside the first face, something long and narrow and dull, something that sent a spike of cold into his heart.
It was a rifle barrel, and it was aiming at him.
'Get down!' Alaric shouted, diving to the deck. Dietz straightened, startled, then dropped onto his stomach. Widmar had been at the wheel as usual, and glanced up, but didn't move. 'Get down now!' Alaric warned him sharply. Something in his tone must have been convincing, because the captain crouched down, even though he kept his grip on the wheel.
Thwam! Something slammed into the mast not far past Alaric and Dietz, a heavy stone-headed spear, splintering the wood, but not enough to crack it. A second spear flew across the deck immediately after, and a third, these two whizzing past Widmer's ear and shattering an empty ale cask, respectively. Several more missiles followed, although they apparently hit nothing. Mixed in among them, however, was a loud report, followed closely by a tearing sound as something holed clean through the tarp and oilcloth forming the Flying Trout's cabin.
'Someone's attacking us!' Dietz said, his tone a mix of surprise and anger. 'Who is attacking us this time?'
'I don't know,' Alaric replied, glancing over towards the shore. 'I... saw the sunlight hit something, but couldn't make out anything else.' He didn't think now would be a good time to talk about his visions again.
"Well, I'm damn glad you did,' Widmer called out from his spot by the wheel. He had scuttled to its far side, putting the heavy wood between himself and their hidden assailants. 'Another few seconds and we'd have sailed right past 'em, still standing out in the open. They'd have cut us down like ducks.'
Alaric nodded, careful to keep his head low. Yes, for once his visions had come in handy. He knew that without them he never would have seen the beastmen in time.
Then he realised exactly what he'd seen.
'Beastmen!' he whispered excitedly to Dietz, ducking as another spear passed close to his head. 'Beastmen are firing at us!' He thought about the glare again. 'And I think... I think one of them had a rifle.'
'And this is a good thing?' Dietz asked sourly. The older man's eyes were shifting about, and Alaric knew his friend was looking for any weapon that could reach their hidden foes.
'Kleiber said something about beastmen, remember?' Alaric pointed out. 'Beastmen stealing rifles and shot?'
Dietz nodded. "This could be them,' he agreed. 'Can't be two packs of beastmen smart enough to steal, and use, blackpowder weapons.'
'Beastmen took the mask, or were with whoever did,' Alaric reminded him. 'These could be the same ones.'
'Not much we can do about it now,' Dietz pointed out. Alaric nodded glumly. His friend was right, of course. Beastmen or not, and after all these visions he couldn't be sure, someone was attacking them. Getting out of range as quickly as possible was the only sensible response. They
didn't have any distance weapons of their own, and even if they did they were too exposed on the Flying Trout to sit and trade shots with someone hidden in the trees. It was far better to get clear first, and then head for shore and loop back around.
The current was swift, and within a few minutes they had passed that stretch of the riverbank. Their assailants had continued to hurl spears and other missiles even after they had passed out of range, but few had actually connected. The ship had a few new holes, but nothing serious, and none of them had been injured, except by a few splinters.
'Should we have him put us ashore?' Dietz asked quietly, trying, but failing, to mask the hope behind his words.
'I-' Alaric looked back towards the source of the attacks, then glanced forward again, and froze. There, on the water, was a familiar patch of oily, grimy, filth, with something that looked suspiciously like a dead body floating within it, far too small to be an adult, its pale flesh standing out against the dark murky water. He saw another patch, well past the first, this one empty save for its own filth.
The trail still led along the river. Alaric shook his head. If that was true, what about the beastmen?
'No,' he said finally. 'No, let's stay on the river.'
Dietz was sitting up, his back against the railing. 'You sure?' he asked softly.
'The trail goes this way still/ Alaric replied just as quietly. He wasn't sure how good Widmer's hearing was, and didn't want to alarm the captain with what he knew probably sounded like drunken ravings. 'Those beastmen, or whoever they were, aren't our concern. We need to get that mask back. Everything else comes after.'
Dietz nodded and reached up to finger a spot on the railing where what might have been a second rifle shot had splintered the heavy wood. 'Makes sense/ he agreed. 'Good thing you spotted them, though.' There was a question
buried in that statement, but Alaric wasn't prepared to talk about it.
'Yes it was,' he agreed easily, sparing his friend a wide smile. The look that crossed Dietz's face was well worth the effort.
BLOODGORE GRABBED the rifle, its metal barrel still hot enough to burn his flesh, and wrenched it from its wielder's grip. He twisted it into a crude circle and flung the ruined weapon after the departing boat. Then he turned towards the beastman he had disarmed. Spittle flew from his mouth and he gnashed his teeth, hungry for blood.
The other beastmen shrank back from their former herd leader, all too familiar with the signs of his rage, but a slender figure interposed itself, its loose robes flapping around it as it stood calmly before the slavering beastlord.
'Enough,' Varlek said softly, raising one hand. Jewels glittered along his fingers, but it was the glittering in his grey eyes that quelled Bloodgore's rampage. Dark fires lurked there, dangerous powers held only by the Chaos sorcerer's will, and his gaze warned that he could release those magics with but a thought, and loose them upon Bloodgore or any one else that angered him. Even the beastlord was not crazed enough to risk such a fate.
The warning stopped him from punishing the rest of the herd, but it did little to staunch the beastlord's anger and shame. 'We failed,' Bloodgore snarled, his massive clawed hands clenching and unclenching, desperate to rend something. 'They escaped!'
'What of it?' Varlek asked softly, turning to look out along the river. The boat's stern was just visible in the distance. They were simply a convenient target, that is all.' He smiled, an unpleasant expression. 'Your beastmen performed admirably.'
'The boat was undamaged,' Bloodgore insisted, glaring at his herd as if he could flay them with his gaze.
'But we hit it' Varlek pointed out, 'and that was our goal.' He shrugged. 'Even a boat that size could not be sunk by mere rifle fire, unless we were exceedingly skilled, or blessed by our master. It was a moving target too far away for spears or even bows to do much damage, and moving rapidly.' He nodded. 'I counted at least two successful hits, and there may have been others, and that was from a single rifle.' His eyes gleamed. 'With more practice we will hit every time, and then we can destroy our enemies before they can even reach us.'
'None of them were even wounded' Bloodgore muttered, although his rage had been replaced by petulance. 'I saw no blood.'
'Nor did I' Varlek admitted, frowning. 'They reacted quickly to our attack, and were able to take cover. I thought we had taken them by surprise, but perhaps one of them saw something just beforehand' He shrugged again. 'No matter; we know we can hit such a target, and that was all I wished to test at this time.'
Bloodgore shook his massive horned head. He did not understand the idea of attacking something if not for food, for power, or for protection. What now?' he asked the sorcerer.
'Now we return to camp' Varlek replied. "We may find more targets along the way, which will provide good practice.'
Bloodgore turned and began barking orders at the other beastmen, as the sorcerer waited impatiently. He hated taking orders from this strange man with his long robes and gleaming jewellery. It was bad enough that he had lost control of the herd to the armoured one, but now it was as if he had two masters, and they often fought for control, with Bloodgore and his herd trapped between them. Then a thought occurred to him, one that split the beastlord's scaled face into a broad, nasty grin. Perhaps the two would finally come to blows, the Chaos champion and the Chaos
sorcerer. It did not matter which one survived. The victor would be weakened, and then Bloodgore would challenge him. That might be his only chance to finally defeat the armoured human or the strange sorcerer and regain control of the herd.
Bloodgore's grin widened, showing his long fangs, as he thought on that. Yes, he would watch the two leaders closely upon their return, perhaps even find a way to hasten their confrontation, and deepen their anger at one another. The more vicious their eventual battle, the weaker the victor would be. Then Bloodgore could step in, fresh and powerful, kill the survivor, and rule the herd once more.
He laughed, a hoarse snorting sound, and turned to make sure the other beastmen were ready to start the long trek back. It would take them several days to reach the ruins, even at their pace. That was good, it would give him time to think upon this plan.
'THIS IS DOTTERNBACH.' Widmer coughed and swung the wheel hard, and the Flying Trout did a strange sideways skip across the water, coming to rest against a long rough-hewn pier. He tossed a thick rope, the loop at the end passing neatly over the nearest raised piling, and then nodded towards the collection of rough shacks, huts, and small hovels clustered just beyond the pier. 'This is as far as I go.'
Dietz peered at the village suspiciously, but that didn't stop him from leaping onto the pier the second the boat stopped moving. His legs buckled slightly, trying to compensate for a roll and pitch that was no longer there, which surprised him, since he never would have expected to grow accustomed to being on the water. Accustomed and accepting were, of course, two very different things. He was delighted to be back on solid ground once more, or at least on a row of thick planks leading to solid ground.
'Not very big,' he said finally, scanning the village again. That was an understatement. Under other circumstances,
Dietz would have called the rude collection of buildings an extended hamlet, and moved on without a backward glance. Alaric nodded behind him, clambering onto the pier. They had little enough to carry, just a pack each, and had gathered those things up this morning when Widmer had announced they'd soon be reaching their stopping point.
'It's not,' the captain agreed, stepping onto the pier beside them. 'Not much up this far to make people want to settle here.'
'You're sure you can't take us any farther?' Alaric asked, and Dietz stared at him, wondering if his employer were addled again. Did he actually want to get back on that watery deathtrap? Fortunately, Widmer shook his head.
The river narrows just past here,' he explained. '1 could sail the Trout up another hour or so, but then I'd have no way to get her back without beaching her and turning her by brute force.' He grinned. 'And she's heavier than she looks.'
'Of course.' Alaric reached into his purse and extracted five gold coins. 'Five gold crowns, as promised, and our thanks.'
Widmer took the coins carefully, his expression showing he was not used to dealing with such sums, then extended a callused hand. 'You've been decent enough, lads,' he told them gruffly. 'If you ever need to sail this river again, I'll take you.'
That'll never happen,' Dietz assured him, but he shook the man's hand anyway. Widmer was a crazy old man, and Dietz, for one, couldn't wait to get away from the grizzled old river captain. Still, despite its strange appearance and bizarre locomotion, the Flying Trout had got them this far safely, even if he still felt as if he'd never slept properly or been able to keep food down for long. 'Good luck to you.'
'Where will you go now?' Alaric asked, clasping the captain's hand after Dietz had released it.
'Oh, back down towards Nuln' Widmer replied, scratching at his beard. 'Mayhap I'll stop off and see Gerta again on the way, for food and sleep.' He smirked at Dietz. Tell her ye survived, aye?'
Dietz nodded. 'Thanks.' Glouste popped her head out of his jacket, and chattered a farewell of her own to the grizzled captain, who nodded and scratched her head fondly. Leave it to Glouste to make friends wherever she went.
There was little else to be said, so they turned and headed into the village. Widmer didn't follow, and by the time Dietz glanced behind him, the Flying Trout was already bouncing over the water, dancing its madcap way back down the river.
'The trip could have been worse/ Alaric said as they stepped off the pier and onto real dirt for the first time in a week. 'A bit bracing, really.'
Dietz glared at him, knowing his friend was deliberately goading him. 'Oh yes, bracing/ he agreed finally, letting his tone convey that he would find being stabbed by a thousand poisonous insects and then torn apart by a team of horses and devoured by rabid bears to be equally pleasant.
The river journey appeared to have done Alaric some good, at least. His colour had returned, and his sense of humour.
But their journey was not finished yet. 'Where to now?' Dietz asked, eyeing a handful of villagers, most of the inhabitants, judging from the number of buildings, as they emerged to stare at them. The grubby men, women, and even children looked caught between surprise, curiosity, and fear. He guessed Dotternbach did not have many visitors.
Alaric was looking around as well, a faraway cast to his gaze, and Dietz knew his friend was searching for the strange signs that only he could see. Dietz still didn't know why they appeared to Alaric and not to him, although he wondered if their previous encounters had anything to do
with it. Alaric had been exposed to many hideous things over the course of their adventures. Had those events left him more susceptible to receiving portents? More aware of traces normally unnoticed? The cultists and the beastmen were all Chaos-tainted, and if Alaric was able to see or sense that taint it would explain how he was able to follow their trails. Dietz was half-glad he could not see such things, but he wished he could help Alaric shoulder the burden. Unfortunately, all he could do was provide support and not press him too much for explanations.
'Into the mountains,' Alaric replied after a moment, wincing at something. 'They didn't pass through here, but they were not far away, and the trail continues to go west.'
Dietz nodded. 'Couldn't have escaped notice here,' he pointed out, glaring at a man who was staring longingly at Alaric's fine rapier.
'No, they'd probably have killed everyone,' Alaric agreed, turning his gaze to Dotternbach at last. 'Instead they went around this village, which means they were more concerned about getting past unnoticed than about indulging any bloodlust or hunger.' He frowned. 'I'd have expected such caution from men, but not from beasts.'
'It might be men we're after,' Dietz suggested, stopping before the largest building, a square wooden structure that leaned to one side and had holes filled with tar. Heavy benches and a few low, crude tables were scattered before it. A stout man was standing in the open doorway as they approached and, at Dietz's nod, disappeared within, returning a moment later with two heavy clay mugs. Dietz accepted them, passing one to Alaric, and handed the man a brass penny. Apparently that was sufficient, because he disappeared back inside without a word. 'Could have taken it from the beastmen at some point,' he continued once they were alone again, settling onto the nearest bench. He took a wary sip from the mug, but while earthy the ale was thick and fresh, and surprisingly good.
'That's true,' Alaric replied, sitting across from him and tasting his own ale. "You saw those beastman tracks outside Nuln, but we've only been paralleling them since, not actually following in their footsteps. So the beastmen could have handed the mask off to men, either voluntarily or under duress.' He shook his head. "We've no way of knowing until we see fresh tracks.'
Dietz nodded, and took a healthy swallow of his ale. 'We'll need food,' he told Alaric, scooping Glouste out of the way when the over-curious tree fox emerged from his jacket to sniff at the mug. She chirped her annoyance at being deprived, but settled down, and began burbling happily when Dietz scratched her head.
'I doubt there's much to spare here,' Dietz continued, looking at the other buildings. Most of the villagers had grown bored with watching them, and had disappeared back indoors, or returned to whatever tasks they had been handling before the boat had arrived. 'We should buy whatever we can. No telling how long it'll be before we find another town.' He frowned. 'Best to get out of here before nightfall, though,' he decided. 'I don't like the way that man was eyeing your gear.'
Alaric nodded. 'Agreed.' He finished off his ale and set the mug back on the table with a heavy thunk. 'I'll go see what there is to be had, shall I?'
Dietz sighed and swallowed the last of his ale before rising to his feet. 'No, I'll go,' he answered. 'You'd wind up trading our last coin for a single mouldy turnip.' He thrust out a hand. Alaric wordlessly placed his coin purse in it, and Dietz extracted another penny, which he placed on the table. Glouste took the opportunity to skitter up his arm and onto her usual perch across his shoulders and around his neck.
'Have another ale and some food if they have it, and stay out of trouble,' Dietz instructed his employer. 'That means don't talk to anyone.'
Alaric grinned in reply. 'I think I can handle that.' As Dietz turned away he realised that his friend hadn't even pretended to get up. He'd known perfectly well that Dietz would never let him handle the bargaining.
'Damn,' Dietz muttered to Glouste. 'I've been had yet again.' His pet chittered as if agreeing with him.
DIETZ HAD BEEN right in thinking Dotternbach wouldn't have much to offer, but he'd managed. He'd bought what he could and traded for other things, swapping extra rope and flint for food, ignoring fresher fare for dried goods that would last them longer. True, they might not taste as good, but he was more concerned about survival than flavour. He had also learned of a hunting trail that led from the village into the foothills, right to the feet of the Grey Mountains, and of the creatures that sometimes stalked it, destroying traps, devouring prey, and even slaughtering the unwary. Alaric was where he'd left him, and soon they were walking through the village and beyond. They found the trail easily enough. Whatever hunters used it had made no effort at concealment, and Dietz was able to follow their footprints up to a worn dirt path that wound its way into the hills. Alaric confirmed that their quarry had also gone this way, after another of those distant looks and a faint shudder. Dietz decided that was good enough for him, especially when he saw a mark on the ground that was both familiar and clearly not human.
'Beastmen, all right,' he said after studying the prints. 'A few days old, maybe.'
'Anyone with them?' Alaric asked, staring at the ground as if hoping it would speak to him in any of the dozen languages he understood.
'I can't tell,' Dietz was forced to admit. 'Plenty of boot-prints, but they're all mixed in. Can't say if they're from before, after, or during.'
Alaric nodded. 'It doesn't matter, really,' he mentioned as they resumed their trek. The trail was wide enough for them to walk abreast easily. 'As long as we're following the mask, I don't care who has it.'
Until we reach them and try to take it back, Dietz thought grimly. Then I suspect it'll matter a great deal.
The trail took them through the hills and into the base of the mountains, changing from worn dirt to rough stone. At times it formed a channel carved or chipped through the peaks, at other times a mere ledge running over a crevice, but it continued clearly on, and so they followed it. Dietz didn't much care for mountains, never had except for Middenheim, which was different, but as in the Border Princes he found that walking a path between cliffs was far better than trying to scale them. They still had a few nervous moments, negotiating a narrow outcropping over a deep gap, or walking the channel as it wrapped around a peak for a time, leaving them exposed and glancing down at the ground far below. There were wild beasts as well, and once a pair of rangy, half-starved goblins, who thought the travellers might make suitable food. Alaric's rapier and Dietz's knives quickly dissuaded them. The rest of the trek was dangerous, but no worse than expected, and a week later the two men were looking down on a wide valley, between several low peaks, an impressive stretch of rolling grass, trees and distant rivers.
'It's beautiful,' Alaric whispered, as they gazed out across it.
'Less scrub and brush, that's certain,' Dietz agreed. 'Still, it's got some decent timber, looks like.' He gestured a short way ahead, where the mountains dropped away, and a vast forest rushed up to meet them. It looked every bit as tall and dense as the heaviest foliage he'd seen elsewhere in the Empire, and somehow Dietz knew it was even older.
"Where are we going?' he asked finally, when he realised his friend would remain staring out at the landscape unless prodded.
'Oh, right.' Alaric glanced around, then looked again, more slowly. After a moment he nodded. 'That way.' The direction he pointed was west, straight towards the forest.
'Of course.' Dietz shook his head. 'Fine. Lead the way.'
Alaric grimaced. 'I already told you, it's that way.' They both looked down at their feet, and at the steep incline just beyond them.
'Morr's Blood,' Dietz whispered. 'They went down that?' Alaric nodded. 'Well, we're not,' he said firmly, earning another, more emphatic nod in reply. He began casting about for a different way down, one that wouldn't guarantee they reached the bottom with broken necks.
After several minutes of searching, Dietz found another trail, or perhaps simply the continuation of the one that had led them through the mountains. It was narrower, and steeper, but soon enough it brought them out onto more level ground.
'We need to veer north again,' Alaric reminded him, as they sat on an exposed root as thick as a log and ate what remained of their food. 'Did you mark where they came down?'
Dietz nodded, gnawing on a hunk of stale bread. 'I can find it from the ground, if that's what you're asking.'
'Good.' Alaric visibly relaxed. 'We'll do that, then. Once we're standing there, I'm sure I can pick up their trail.'
Dietz nodded, reached for the waterskin at his feet, and froze. Something was touching his neck, something small and hard, and very shaip. Off to the side, he heard a muffled exclamation from Alaric, but there were no other sounds.
Slowly, carefully, Dietz raised his hands, palms out. Then he glanced up.
The object was an arrowhead. He couldn't see the tip, but he was looking up the shaft, past the powerful carved bow and the taut drawstring, right into a face of an elf.
Thought by most to be mere legend, known by some to be at least a part of history, this elf was very real, and he did not look happy.
'You are trespassing.' The words were halting, the voice musical, but clearly not used to forming such sounds.
Dietz looked around, careful not to move his head or otherwise antagonise the elf archer. A second elf stood a few feet away, his hair the colour of moonlight. This one wore armour, although it was like nothing Dietz had seen before. A long cloak the colour of a soft fog fluttered around him. This elf also carried a bow, although he was leaning upon it, and Dietz could see what looked like poultices and wrappings around his middle. Clearly, this elf was in charge, and just as clearly he had recently been on the losing end of a fight.
'We apologise,' Alaric said. Dietz could just make out his friend as a blur in his peripheral vision, but suspected he too had an arrow at his throat. 'We did not know. We mean no harm and no disrespect. Actually we-'
'You are trespassing,' the elf said again, his face stern. You have tainted these woods with your presence. Now you must atone, in blood.'
WELL, THIS DOESN'T look good, Alaric thought, but he tried again anyway. "We had no intention of trespassing,' he said, keeping his voice low and friendly. He spoke without moving, the arrow pressing into his neck hard enough to break the skin, and kept his hands up and out, and steady. The last thing he wanted was to anger the elves further.
Elves! His mind was still reeling at their presence. He had heard of them, of course, but few had ever seen them in person. Most of the tales were ancient stories, fables, and tall tales told to prevent peasant children from straying too far from home. He had often wondered if the elves existed at all, or were merely figments of imagination or perhaps some isolated tribe of hunters and woodsmen who had become distanced from the rest of the world.
Yet he could not deny what he was seeing, and feeling, right now. The elves surrounding him and Dietz were very real and definitely not human.
The other interesting thing Alaric noticed was that these elves were exactly as they seemed. The woods around them possessed a strange layer of shadowy images, not quite like the terrible apparitions he had been seeing of late, but as if there were more here than normally appeared. When he looked at the elves, even when he let his mind slip into the half-trance state that he had discovered brought forth the visions more clearly, he saw only them, without distortion. If he was seeing Chaos, overlaid upon the world, the elves were not touched by it in any way. They were wholly their own creatures, and beholden to none.
That was all the more reason to be careful and courteous. 'We did no harm,' he continued slowly. 'We only sat to rest a moment. We will be on our way and the woods will be as if we had never entered.'
The wounded elf, the one that had spoken before, shook his head, a sharp, quick motion. 'These woods are sacred,' he stated, the words emerging strangely from his mouth. Clearly he knew Reikspiel but did not often use it, Alaric thought. 'There is only one response to such a trespass. You must die, that your blood may feed the forest and appease its wrath.' He gestured. 'Now walk.'
Alaric started to protest, but thought better of it as the archer beside him prodded him with the arrow. Moving slowly, Alaric rose to his feet, Dietz doing the same beside him. The elves, Alaric thought there were ten of them, but they moved quickly and silently in the shadows, grouped around them, and led him and Dietz through the forest without another word.
How in Sigmar's name are we going to get out of this one, Alaric wondered? His hands were unbound and his rapier still hung at his side, but the elves never took their eyes off him, and he was sure they could fill him with arrows before he could even draw his blade. Once they reached wherever the elves were going, they planned to kill him and Dietz. Walking delayed that, but for how long?
There had to be something else he could do, some way to stall them or negotiate with them or, if necessary, trick them, but he couldn't think of anything.
It was difficult to tell time beneath the trees, but they walked for an hour or so, until the elves in front suddenly stopped. Alaric saw they stood between four large oaks, their heavy branches intersecting above to form a tight canopy. The ground around them bore only grass, some of it flattened in long swathes, and he realised that this must be where the elves had made their camp. That meant they'd reached their destination.
The elf Alaric had come to think of as their leader glanced to his left, towards an archer, but before he could gesture or issue a command, his eyes widened. He twisted to one side even as Alaric heard a faint whistling sound, and then a crossbow bolt was quivering where it had struck a tree trunk, more than half its length buried in the wood.
The elves all moved as one, swivelling in the direction of the shot and raising their weapons. Alaric took advantage of the moment to roll to one side, putting a little distance between him and the archer beside him. He rose in a crouch, drawing his rapier, and saw Dietz in a similar posture nearby, knives in hands.
The elf leader whispered something, though in no language Alaric knew. The other elves clearly understood, and they fanned out, loosing arrows into the woods. A volley of crossbow bolts shot from the shadows in response, but the elves were ready, and shifted to avoid the attack.
Alaric wondered who they were fighting, and edged back a few paces. One elf had said that the woods were sacred, so whoever was out there was also trespassing. That meant it wasn't more elves, but why interfere and call attention to their presence? Not that he was complaining.
His question was answered a moment later, when a voice called out from the woods, a voice that sounded strangely familiar.
'Release your prisoners' the voice called clearly, 'or face the wrath of Sigmar!'
The elves whispered to one another, no doubt debating their options, but another volley of crossbow bolts swept towards them, one actually clipping an archer's forearm. The attack apparently decided them. The leader spoke again, and the elves vanished. Alaric blinked, and they were gone. He was sure they hadn't actually vanished, but they had moved so quickly and quietly, and blended into the woods so easily, they might as well have.
He glanced over at Dietz, who was staring around, wild-eyed. When Alaric caught his gaze, the older man nodded. He could find no trace of them either.
'Ho, there' the voice called out. 'Have they fled, then?'
'They have' Alaric called back, his rapier held low and out of view. 'You have our thanks, friend. Without your timely intervention we would surely be dead.'
'Aye, so it seemed to me' the voice replied, 'and that I could not allow. For truly Sigmar's faithful are difficult enough to find, and he would be angered indeed were I to allow you to perish before your time.'
The leaves rustled, and then were pushed aside as several men stepped into view, crossbows at the ready. They had the hard-bitten look of mercenaries. Then another man strode past them, his narrow features offset by his broad shoulders, his tall pointed hat brushing a low-hanging branch as he approached, and Alaric sheathed his sword. No wonder the voice had sounded so familiar! 'Herr Kleiber.'
The witch hunter bowed.
'I would not have expected to see you here' said Alaric.
'Nor I you' Kleiber replied, nodding at Dietz. 'This is far indeed from Altdorf, where last I saw you.'
'Farther than we ever expected go, in all truth' Alaric agreed, 'but then this quest has proved more complicated than we ever could have expected.'
Kleiber started to say something else, but paused as a fourth man approached them, additional warriors behind him. He was shorter and broader than Kleiber, though dressed in similar attire, and Alaric recognised him as the other witch hunter they had seen in Altdorf, the one Kleiber had said would be accompanying him on his mission.
The foul creatures have vanished utterly,' the second witch hunter reported gruffly. 'Clearly they possess dark magicks to effect such an abrupt departure, and so we must needs be on our guard.'
'We will be wary indeed, Wilcreitz,' Kleiber agreed, nodding curtly, 'but I suspect their method for disappearing was less supernatural than skilful in nature.' He gestured towards Alaric and Dietz. 'You may remember Master von Jungfreud and Master Froebel from Altdorf?'
Wilcreitz studied them each in turn, his sharp little eyes giving them a quick once-over followed by a dismissive glance away, and then he nodded. 'You loitered outside our headquarters during Geheimnistag,' he muttered, 'no doubt as debauched as all the city's other sinners.'
'A pleasure to see you again, Herr Wilcreitz,' Alaric replied, bowing smoothly, and favouring the witch hunter with a cool smile, 'and at such an opportune moment.'
'Hm.' Wilcreitz's eyes narrowed. 'Why are you in the forest?' he demanded sharply. 'Surely no right-thinking citizen of the Empire would venture into such a wilderness without good reason. What is yours?'
'Some civility, Wilcreitz, if you please,' Kleiber snapped, his tone stopping the other witch hunter cold. 'I know these men well, and will vouch for them personally. They are true defenders of the realm and have done much good in Sigmar's name.'
'My apologies,' Wilcreitz said grudgingly. He bowed stiffly. 'If Herr Kleiber has such a high opinion of you, no doubt you are worthy of it.'
That is most kind of you,' Alaric answered, still maintaining the image of a polite nobleman. 'Herr Kleiber is too free with his praise, although I hope we have provided such service as we could offer.'
Wilcreitz glared at him, clearly hoping to find fault with his words, tone or expression. Unable to find any, he nodded again and turned away to speak with several of the mercenaries.
'Pay him no mind,' Kleiber instructed. 'He has a suspicious nature and distrusts any not of the order, but his intentions are good and his heart pure.'
Alaric wasn't too sure about the last one, but chose to simply nod and say nothing.
'You have not said why you are here,' Kleiber reminded them, clapping both Alaric and Dietz on the shoulders to show that his statement was a friendly request rather than an interrogation. 'When last we met you were pursuing thieves in the hope of reclaiming an item of some value.'
'We still are,' Dietz explained, nodding, 'although not the same thieves.'
'We found the men we were chasing in Nuln,' Alaric continued for him, 'dead, torn apart, actually, but the item was not with them, and we saw signs that someone else may have taken it. We have been following that trail ever since. It led us to Dotternbach, then into the mountains.
Kleiber stroked his long chin thoughtfully. 'Interesting. We too have been pursuing our quarry,' he told them, 'and their trail has led here as well. Perhaps these two pursuits are connected in some way.'
Alaric glanced at Dietz, who nodded. 'I think they may be indeed,' he agreed slowly. The men were Chaos cultists, and they were slaughtered by beastmen.'
The witch hunter's eyes narrowed. Truly?' he asked. 'Then we are almost certainly upon the same quest, and did not realise it.' He glanced around and lowered his voice. 'Have you caught sight of them?'
'No,' Dietz answered, 'but they may have shot at us once.'
'Someone attacked us from the bank while we sailed upriver to Dotternbach,' Alaric explained. 'I thought I caught a glimpse of a beastman among the trees, but I could not be sure.' He decided not to tell Kleiber about his strange visions; the witch hunter had proved a decent fellow for one of his order, but even his new-found tolerance might not be able to withstand the notion that Alaric was seeing coruupt images everywhere.
You did not pursue them?' Kleiber asked.
Dietz shook his head. 'We were on a boat at the time,' he pointed out, 'and they had spears, and at least one rifle. Besides, our trail still ran beside the river.'
The witch hunter nodded. 'Yes, I see.' He thought for a moment before nodding again. 'You were no doubt correct to continue on,' he said finally. 'Confronting them might have meant your death, and the failure of your quest.' He grinned, a tight smile. 'Besides, if you had died, you would not be here, and we would not have met again, to compare information and perhaps join forces.'
'I think joining forces may be a good idea,' Alaric agreed, 'especially since it does sound as if we are after the same beastmen.' He shook his head. 'I am still amazed to run into you out here, however. How did you happen across us?'
Kleiber's grin widened. 'We saw your tracks,' he admitted. 'We did not know they were yours, of course, but our tracker picked them out from the mass of other marks along the trail, and we followed them this way, curious what two humans were doing behind, and then diverging from, a pack of beastmen. It was a good thing we did, at that.'
'Definitely,' Dietz agreed. 'We owe your tracker our thanks.'
'You may tell him so yourself,' Kleiber said. 'He is right over there.' He gestured, and Alaric turned to follow the
motion. He saw Wilcreitz talking to two men, one of them a grizzled old warrior and the other dressed in worn travel leathers. The second man was short and stocky like Wilcreitz, with sandy hair going grey, and Dietz was already striding towards him by the time Alaric caught a clear glimpse of his face. Then he was following his friend, leaving a puzzled Kleiber behind.
'Lankdorf. You clever bastard!' Dietz's shout cut across the small clearing, and the tracker turned, surprise and then shock followed by pleasure flickering across his solid features. He turned and stepped forward, clasping Dietz's hand as the taller man reached him.
'Dietz, Alaric.' Merkel Lankdorf shook hands with both of them, and then laughed as Glouste stuck her head out of Dietz's jacket and burbled at him, 'and Glouste, as well. Don't bite me this time, eh? This is a surprise, an' not a bad one at that.'
'For us as well,' Alaric replied. 'How did you get here, of all places? And with these men, of all people?' He gestured behind him, but Kleiber's curiosity had brought him forward as well.
'I take it you know each other?' the witch hunter asked, his tone neutral, but his eyes alight with questions.
"We do indeed,' Alaric replied. 'Herr Lankdorf was our... guide in the Border Princes not long ago, and was instrumental in the success of our mission, a similar mission to the one upon which we met you,' he added.
Kleiber's eyes widened as he understood the reference.
'I would hear more of this mission,' the witch hunter announced, glancing at the three of them. 'It seems Sigmar has demanded much of you since our own experiences together.'
'Let's find some place to set up camp, a way from here,' Alaric suggested, 'and we'll be happy to tell you about it.'
'And to ask a few questions of our own,' Dietz added, poking Lankdorf with one finger, 'such as why you
disappeared and how you made it out alive, and found yourself in Herr Kleiber's employ.'
Lankdorf nodded. 'I'd hear what befell you once we parted' the bounty hunter-turned-tracker agreed, 'but I'll second the notion that these trees are not the best shelter for us. The elves left no tracks, which means they could be anywhere. Clearly they know this spot well, though, and I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing they might leap upon us at any moment.'
Kleiber nodded. 'Wilcreitz, we shall set up camp in that small clearing we noticed along the way' he called to his second, 'and, once we have eaten, we will hear each other's tales.'
'Dinner and entertainment' Dietz murmured to Alaric as they gathered their meagre gear and followed the others, Lankdorf beside them. 'I can't wait.'
Lankdorf grinned at them, more relaxed than he had been the last time Alaric had seen him, back in the Border Princes. 'At least the ale is good' he told them. 'For a man who abstains from most pleasures, Herr Kleiber has shown a strong appreciation for those few remaining, including food and drink.'
'It looks like our time together had a positive effect' Dietz said to Alaric.
Alaric smiled. 'I'll drink to that.'
'MYRMIDIA'S SPEAR,' LANKDORF whispered some time later. 'Trouble does seem to follow you, doesn't it?'
They had made camp under a rocky overhang that rose up within the forest, with several boulders shielding them from any archery, and several of the mercenaries standing guard. Kleiber had travelled well-stocked, and Dietz had taken advantage of the witch hunter's stores to prepare a decent meal for them all.
Once they had eaten, he and Alaric took turns relating what had happened to them since they'd last seen Lankdorf in Vitrolle, back in the Border Princes. Dietz noticed that Alaric had been deliberately vague about the trail they'd followed from Middenheim and he had followed suit. If Lankdorf alone had been their audience, they might have been less reticent. Kleiber was still a witch hunter, and any possibility of taint or corruption could set him off, and Wilcreitz was clearly as fanatical, if not more.
'The mask is another relic, then?' Kleiber asked them, stroking his chin, 'and you fear the beastmen have taken it as an object of worship?'
'Worship I can live with,' Alaric replied. 'I'm more concerned they might find a way to use it, just as the cultists used the statues we sought.' Kleiber nodded, and Dietz suppressed a shudder at the memory of that chamber beneath Middenheim, and the ceremony they had almost failed to interrupt.
'Convenient that you keep uncovering such items,' Wilcreitz commented, his broad face twisted into a sneer. 'It's almost as if you were seeking them out.' At the start of their recounting, they had found themselves having to explain why they had been in the Border Princes at all, and so they had given the two witch hunters an abbreviated account of their adventures in that land.
'It is more as if they are seeking us, actually,' Alaric replied calmly. 'Perhaps because they know we are a danger to them.' The short witch hunter harrumphed, but made no other reply.
'You may be correct,' Kleiber commented, staring absently into the flames. 'You are most certainly a danger to such tainted relics, the both of you. These artefacts may seek to neutralise you, so you can no longer interfere with their master's dark plans.'
'Wonderful,' Dietz muttered, tossing a twig into the fire and watching it pop and shrivel.
'Indeed, this may be part of Sigmar's divine plan,' Kleiber continued, his eyes alight with zeal. 'Perhaps he has chosen the two of you to carry out his great work, by assigning you the holy task to destroy all such tainted objects! Certainly your efforts during our time together must have been blessed by Sigmar, for you to have survived and even succeeded against such overwhelming odds.'
Dietz shook his head, trying to head off that line of thought. As a child, he'd hated it when his father had told
him to do something with no explanation and no reason. He hadn't grown to like it any more now. If Sigmar had a mission for them, he should tell them somehow, rather than letting then wander around blindly and happen across such items apparently at random.
Dietz glanced up and saw Lankdorf, sitting not far away, tossing a small rock back and forth between his hands. 'What happened to you?' he asked the former bounty hunter, desperate for a way to change the subject.
What do you mean?' Lankdorf asked, glancing over at Dietz, but not pausing in his game of catch.
'Last we saw you was in Vitrolle,' Alaric pointed out. 'We were trying to escape that battle and you suddenly got a strange look on your face and leapt down into the crowd. Then you were gone.'
'We waited two days,' Dietz added. 'Figured if you were alive you'd show up by then.' He studied Lankdorfs face. 'You never did.'
'I got... distracted.' The tracker stared at the fire, his face hard.
'That's hardly an explanation,' Alaric protested. 'Come now, we told you what befell us. It is your turn, Lankdorf.'
'I am curious as well,' Kleiber stated. 'I know what you have done since I hired you in Altdorf, but I know little of your life before that. Tell us, if you please.' The witch hunter's face was impossible to read, but his tone suggested this was more than merely a request.
The former bounty hunter glanced around the fire. The mercenaries were all on watch or asleep, or cleaning their gear. None of them seemed to want to spend any more lime with the witch hunters than necessary, which Dietz didn't find surprising. He'd encountered the Sigmarites often enough in the past to know that, while they could pay well, they were usually harsh taskmasters, and had an unpleasant tendency to find heresy even among their employees. When working for one, it was wise to do the
job, keep quiet, and stay out of the way as much as possible. Lankdorf would probably be doing the same, if it weren't for Dietz and Alaric's presence, and for the fact that Kleiber was clearly more relaxed around them. As a result, the bounty hunter-tumed-tracker found he was alone with only Dietz, Alaric, and the two witch hunters.
Finally he nodded. 'It's only fair.' He frowned. 'More than fair, actually. Truth be told, what I've done concerns you as well,' he said, looking at Alaric and Dietz, and then over at the witch hunters, his expression grim, 'and may involve us all.'
Alaric smiled. 'You set the stage well,' he told their friend. 'You have our complete attention.' Dietz nodded, as did Kleiber. Wilcreitz only glowered.
Lankdorf straightened up, his hands still as he apparently organised his thoughts. Then, watching the flames dance rather than looking at any of them, he began his tale.
'WE WERE IN Vitrolle,' he explained slowly, 'trying to get out alive. Then I saw someone I... recognised.'
'A cultist?' Dietz asked. He had expected his friend's terse nod, but not the fierce expression that flickered across his face, a mixture of grief, rage, and hatred.
'They slaughtered my parents,' Lankdorf answered shortly, his tone blank, his features anything but. 'It was... a long time ago.'
'Why would these cultists harm your family?' Alaric asked softly. 'Weren't they herbalists?' At first Dietz wasn't even sure Lankdorf had heard the question, but the tracker answered after a moment.
Yes,' Lankdorf said quietly, 'simple herbalists. They lived to help others, to heal wounds and ease pain. They were well-liked, well-respected, and well-known.' He shook his head. That's what got them killed. The Jade Sceptre cultists came to their shop one day. They wanted drugs, but not for their
health; they wanted ways to heighten sensation, to make even the smallest cut deliver true agony, ways to keep someone alive past all normal endurance, not without the pain, but in spite of it. My parents refused. They said it would be a bas-tardisation of everything they believed in.' Dietz saw his friend's hands tighten where they rested on his knees. 'So the cultists killed them. They raided their small shop, took everything they thought might be useful, and burned the rest.'
'You weren't there.' It wasn't really a question.
'No.' Lankdorf squeezed his eyes shut and set his jaw. 'I was in the army at the time, serving our elector count. I didn't find out what had happened until I finished my service and returned home. Our neighbours had already buried my parents, of course, along with a friend who had heard the argument, tried to intervene, and been killed for his trouble. The others told me about what had happened, and even described the cultists as best they could.' He gritted his teeth. 'I had been trained as a tracker, but weeks had passed and any trail they'd left was long gone.' He shook his head. 'I could have signed onto the army again, but I couldn't bring myself to stay even that close after what had happened. I left the Empire altogether, fleeing to the Border Princes to escape anything that might remind me of my old life, and of my family. I hired out as a tracker, and then as a bounty hunter.'
Then you captured us,' Alaric said.
'Yes. I also saw how dangerous that gauntlet was, and how it needed to be stopped.' Lankdorf shrugged and looked slightly embarrassed. 'I had only been thinking of myself, all those years. My parents would have been disappointed. Helping you seemed like the right thing to do, for many reasons.'
'It was,' Dietz assured him. 'We wouldn't have survived without you.'
Lankdorf nodded, acknowledging the truth of that, and Dietz thought he saw Kleiber and even Wilcreitz look at the former bounty hunter with more respect.
'Once I heard the Jade Sceptre was involved, I couldn't have turned away,' Lankdorf admitted, sounding almost guilty. 'After that it became a matter of revenge, along with everything else.'
'When you disappeared,' Alaric said suddenly, 'you looked as if you had just seen someone, and then you threw yourself into the battle.'
The tracker's expression hardened. 'My parents' friends had seen the cultists who paid them that fatal visit. They described them to me. All the cultists had the same mark, a deep furrow carved into their left cheek and somehow dyed or stained a brilliant green. It was distinctive enough for me to recognise the mark if I ever saw it, and I did, that day, after we escaped the temple. He was a tall man, broadly built, with a shock of white hair and a strong nose bent at the end, and a chin too wide and square for his face. The mark was prominent on his cheek. When 1 saw him I just... I snapped. I leapt on him like a wild animal and clubbed him down with my crossbow. Then I put a bolt through his mouth, pinning him to the ground, and left him there to be trampled by the warriors still fighting all around us.'
'Sigmar smiled upon you,' Kleiber assured him, his voice husky. 'He granted you a chance to avenge your parents' unjust murder.'
'Maybe so,' Lankdorf agreed, his eyes bright. 'His hand may have been guiding me, and to more than just revenge. After the cultist died, I thought I'd find you two again, and we'd all leave together,' he said, glancing over at Dietz and Alaric again, and then looking away quickly. 'Travelling with the pair of you made me homesick. It had been years since I'd left, and I thought I'd like to see the Empire again.' He paused, lost in his memories.
'You didn't find us, though,' Alaric prompted after a moment. 'Something stopped you?'
Yes' the tracker agreed, 'something.' His face tightened again. 'Or rather, someone.' He took a deep breath. 'I spotted another cultist, a little way away. He was hard not to notice: short, solidly built, and immensely hairy, with thick orange hair that bristled like a boar's, despite copious oil. The strangest things, though, were his hands. He was a brute in every aspect, more like an animal wearing clothes than a real man, but his hands... his hands were long, slender, and delicate, almost like a woman's, and utterly hairless, completely smooth.'
'And he had the same mark on his cheek,' Dietz offered, knowing he was right even before Lankdorf s nod.
'Yes. There was no mistaking it. He wasn't fighting, though. He was crouching by the temple, next to what had been the staircase we'd used, but had crumbled into a pile of rubble. He seemed to be talking. Then he reached for something, clasped it to him, rose to his feet, and started running, hunched over and clearly trying to avoid the battle. I took off after him.'
The others were all leaning forward, eager to hear what happened next, even Wilcreitz. Lankdorf seemed to realise that, and showed a certain leaning towards the theatrical as he also leaned in, letting the firelight play across his face as his voice dropped to a whisper. This was far and away the most Dietz had ever seen the former bounty hunter speak at once, but he could tell Lankdorf was just as caught up in the tale as the rest of them.
'I chased him, but he was too quick for me. A pair of Levrellian's men blocked my path, and by the time I had cut down the one and tripped the other, the cultist was almost out of sight. I ran, heedless of my own safety, ignoring everything but the need to catch up with him.' He paused. 'That is probably why Fatandira's mounted warrior was able to run me down.'
Someone gasped. Dietz thought it was Alaric, though he wasn't sure. None of them could tear their gaze from the tracker's face.
'I heard his horse at the last second,' Lankdorf continued, 'and managed to twist to one side. One hoof clipped me in the side, and another caught me in the temple, sending me sprawling. That probably saved my life. It knocked me out of the rider's reach, and before he could adjust his course several cultists crashed into him, tiying to swarm him and pull him from his steed. He fought them off and lost interest in me completely.' Lankdorf shrugged. 'It took me several minutes to catch my breath and get my head to stop spinning. Then I pulled myself back to my feet. I was near a hole in the wall, caused by the ballistae, no doubt, and pulled myself through it and back out of the town. Then I finally remembered what I had been doing before I was attacked, and I looked around, but the cultist was long gone.'
'And you couldn't track him?' That outburst came from Wilcreitz, surprisingly enough. 'You are a tracker, aren't you?'
Lankdorf shook his head, not at all insulted. 'I am,' he said proudly. 'My father taught me to read the tracks and trails of animals when we would gather herbs in the woods, and the army taught me to apply those skills to men as well as beasts, but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people there. The ground was a mess. No one could track through that. I did look, of course, but there was nothing.' He gave them a tight grin. 'So I backtracked. I returned to the rubble where I'd first spotted him, and found another cultist pinned half-beneath it.'
'That's who he was talking to?' Alaric asked.
'It was.' Lankdorf s smile turned nasty. 'I asked him a few questions, before ending his suffering. He was most forthcoming. He told me the other cultist was heading for a small town called Heinzkit, back here in the Empire.' He took a deep breath. 'So I followed him.'
Dietz desperately wanted to ask if Lankdorf had caught the man, and was sure the other listeners were equally
curious, but he waited, knowing that his friend would tell them in his own time.
'He had a decent head start,' Lankdorf explained quietly, 'and that kick to my side slowed me down some. I knew where he was going, though, and probably knew the Border Princes better than he did, so I figured I could shorten his lead. I thought he was simply going to some bolthole he knew, perhaps some hideout the cult had established, and I would take him when he went to ground.'
The tracker paused again, and Dietz stopped to consider the enormity of his friend's determination. To have chased the man from one country into the next! But then he thought about how he would feel if someone had murdered his parents, or his sister, and he knew he would have done the same. No distance would be far enough for the killer to run from him.
'I caught up with him in Heinzkit,' Lankdorf was saying, 'and there he stopped. I thought at first the town might be a cultist stronghold, so I scouted it before going in, but it seemed placid enough. The people there were farmers and labourers, and I could not figure out why this man thought he could take shelter there, unless it was simply because the town was so small and unassuming that no one else would ever bother to visit it.' He straightened. 'Except that someone else had.'
'There was another visitor?' Alaric asked. 'Besides you, you mean?'
'Yes, besides me,' Lankdorf replied. 'I had not even shown my face in town, but I saw a man walking, and something about him struck me as strange, so I stayed hidden and watched. He was tall, this man, and dressed oddly, in long robes over dark clothes. He wasn't fancy enough to be of the lade Sceptre, but I suspect he was also a follower of the Dark Powers.' Out of the corner of his eye, Dietz saw Kleiber's jaw tighten, and Wilcreitz's too.
What did he want, this stranger?' Kleiber asked softly.
The cultist' Lankdorf answered. 'Or rather, to meet with him. I watched from a small ledge that hung over the back of the town. The two men met, and the cultist I'd been following handed something to the stranger, who gave him a heavy pouch in return.' He grimaced and glanced at Alaric and Dietz. 'I was too far away to see much detail, but that package was the size of a baby. It was as long as a man's forearm, and perhaps as wide or wider. He'd wrapped it in cloth, but either he'd done a poor job or its shape was irregular, for there seemed to be odd bumps all along it.'
'You think he delivered a child to this man?' Wilcreitz sounded horrified, and outraged, and Dietz decided perhaps there was some hope for the short witch hunter after all.
The tracker shook his head. 'No, he had not had time to steal any children from the village' he replied, 'and they would have noticed immediately and fought back. We had been travelling for weeks, and he'd been carrying the wrapped package the entire way. If the stranger only wanted a small corpse he could have found one far more easily.'
'What was it, then?' Alaric asked, but Dietz already had an idea.
'The gauntlet.' The others turned to look at him, and he continued. 'It was in that cavern when we fled' he reminded Alaric. That place collapsed soon after, but a cultist could have reached it, and brought it out safely, or at least far enough to hand it to someone else nearby.'
Lankdorf was nodding. 'I suspected the same' he admitted. 'It was of a size with that accursed piece, and the cultist held it with reverence, from what I saw. The pouch was heavy, as well, so it must have had great value, at least to the robed stranger.'
Alaric glanced at Dietz, and Dietz met his friend's gaze, seeing the shock and horror, and concern on his face. They had thought the gauntlet destroyed, or at least buried
forever. It was incredibly dangerous and if it had entered the Empire, matters were grave indeed.
'The same relic you spoke of?' Kleiber asked, rising to his feet. 'An object like that cannot be allowed to remain on the loose. It must be found and destroyed at once.' Wilcreitz was right beside him.
Where is it now?' the shorter witch hunter demanded. 'What became of it, and of the man who purchased it?'
'I don't know,' Lankdorf answered, although he did not look happy with his reply. 'After they parted ways I... paid the cultist a visit. He was not expecting it, and I dispatched him easily. Then I searched for the other man's tracks and followed them.'
'Good man,' Wilcreitz said, clapping Lankdorf on the shoulder and then looking surprised at his own commendation.
'I tracked him to Altdorf,' the tracker continued, 'but there I lost him. There were simply too many people, too much movement, to keep one set of footprints in sight.' He sighed. 'I was debating what to do next, and whether there was any way to find him again or learn of his whereabouts, when I heard you were seeking a tracker.' He shrugged. 'Since I had no way of pursuing the man, and no other prospects, I applied.'
'And you have been invaluable,' Kleiber told him. 'Indeed, without your help we would never have come this far, or have discovered our friends here in time to rescue them.' He gestured at Alaric and Dietz. 'Surely Sigmar has guided you to us, and to them, and all of us together.' The witch hunter rubbed his hands together. 'He has brought us this news that we may be his instrument, and rid the world of this foul taint once and for all.'
Even Wilcreitz looked startled by this announcement. 'We have a mission already,' he reminded his superior carefully. 'We must deal with these beastmen and the blackpowder weapons they have stolen.'
'I have not forgotten,' Kleiber assured his subordinate. 'Our mission here takes precedence, certainly, but once this matter is settled, we must return and notify our superiors of the gauntlet's existence, and of the mask as well. Surely they will dispatch us to ensure that their threat is ended and their taint cleansed from this world.'
Alaric nodded. 'I know I would welcome your order's help,' he told Kleiber, turning towards Wilcreitz to make sure the second witch hunter realised he was included in the statement. 'It seems our missions already overlap, so perhaps we can aid you with the beastmen and discover the mask's whereabouts at the same time.'
'Then we can all seek out the gauntlet,' Lankdorf suggested. 'I would recognise that man if I saw him again, and perhaps other witch hunters know of him. Once I find him, I can track him, and we can take back the gauntlet by force and destroy it.' His face was flushed as he spoke, and Dietz knew their friend was also remembering the events from the cavern temple. They had seen the gauntlet's power, and had barely survived.
'We will,' Kleiber assured him. 'I will contact my superiors once we return to Altdorf, and we will put all available force towards discovering the fiend's whereabouts, and putting a stop to whatever foul plans he has devised for that cursed relic.'
'Not tonight,' Alaric suggested with a slight smile, rising to his feet. 'It is late, and I know I am tired. I can only assume the rest of you are as well.'
Wilcreitz nodded. 'Yes, we should rest,' he agreed. 'We must return to pursuing the beastmen in the morning, and it would be best not to confront them while we are fatigued.'
The others agreed, and began making their sleeping preparations. Dietz found he had Lankdorf on one side and Alaric on the other, which certainly seemed familiar.
'I feel as if I were back in the Border Princes' Lankdorf said as he stretched out on his bedroll, staring up at the sky, 'although the stars have shifted, of course.'
'I'm glad we found you' Dietz agreed, 'or you found us... or whatever.'
'As am I.' the tracker replied. 'Your witch hunter friend may be right; perhaps Sigmar did bring us all together for a reason.'
Dietz nodded, laying down and closing his eyes. I hope it was Sigmar, he thought as he started drifting off to sleep, and not someone else.
ALARIC WOKE EARLY enough the next morning, for him, but even so he soon discovered he was one of the last to rise. Dietz, Lankdorf, and several of the others were sitting around the fire and finishing off a quick breakfast when he tossed aside his blanket and rose, stretching.
'Still the late riser, eh?' Lankdorf noted, the half-smile on his face taking the sting out of his comment.
'I see no reason to rush toward the day, when it will still be waiting when I finally reach it,' Alaric countered, stepping over to the fire and accepting a cup of tea and a hard biscuit from Dietz. Lankdorf snorted and introduced him to the three mercenaries still beside him, Hans, Felix, and Jarl, who looked similar enough to be brothers. Not that the resemblance meant much - Alaric had noticed over the past two years that mercenaries tended to fall into a handful of types, like big and bulky or tall and narrow, and most had a uniformly dusty and worn look to them. The three nodded but didn't say anything, too busy consuming
their own food. They were up and moving toward their fellows - Alaric estimated Kleiber had perhaps thirty men in all - before they'd swallowed the last bites, leaving Alaric and his two friends behind without a word.
'Don't mind them,' Lankdorf said after the trio had left. 'They're not big on casual conversation, that's all.'
'Hardly a problem,' Alaric assured him. He remembered the trek he and Dietz had made in search of the Chaos tainted statues, the same quest that had introduced them to Kleiber. The elector count of Middenheim had sent a troop of men with them, professional soldiers, and they had treated him as if he were in command. It had been unsettling at first, but he'd grown used to it after a few weeks, and to being surrounded by quiet, competent fighters who didn't care to sit and talk.
'Time to strike camp,' Wilcreitz told them as he approached. Alaric saw at once that the stubby witch hunter was one of those men who managed to always look rumpled no matter what. His uniform was clean enough, but it still looked as if he'd slept in it, which perhaps he had. Kleiber, on the other hand, always looked tidy. He was walking a few steps behind his subordinate, and the difference was that of a careless man to one fastidious by nature.
Alaric had a brief flash, similar to the visions that had been plaguing him of late, but with one significant difference. The land around him was suddenly awash with strangeness: severed limbs and shattered skulls, and puddles of what might be blood or other bodily fluids adorning the ground; a strange film, coating the rocks and dirt, like filth solidified or grease left to cool; clouds roiling overhead, forming lurid images before breaking apart. The mercenaries Alaric saw scattered around the camp became larger and more brutish, revealing their inner lust for violence. Lankdorf had tendrils of mist curling around him, as did Dietz. Alaric suspected they were vestiges of
their previous encounters with Chaos, showing that they had been marked, not by choice, but by proximity.
Kleiber and Wilcreitz were different. They had no Chaos taint to them, quite the opposite. Whereas the elves had looked no different to Alaric's strange vision, the two witch hunters glowed, a pure white light limning their faces and figures. The light was bright, but not blinding, and Alaric found it strangely comforting, even though it made his head throb painfully. He also realised that Kleiber had been right about Wilcreitz; whatever personality flaws the junior witch hunter might have, his intentions were pure, and he did indeed carry Sigmar's blessing.
'Herr Lankdorf' Kleiber said, 'we must locate once more the tracks of our quarry. If you please.'
Lankdorf nodded, dashed the last of his tea into the fire, handed Dietz the mug, and walked away, scooping up his gear as he went.
They came down the cliff somehow'Kleiber explained to Alaric and Dietz. 'We were unable to follow that way.'
"We saw that as well/ Alaric agreed, 'but without their claws and talons, and whatever else, we had to find a different path.'
Kleiber nodded. 'Yes, of course. I forget that you were on the same trail and only just ahead of us. Herr Lankdorf assures me he can locate the place where they reached the ground, and can then follow their tracks from that point on.'
'I'm sure he can' Alaric said. 'He's an excellent tracker.'
They joined the rest of the group, walking beside Kleiber and Wilcreitz with the mercenaries behind them. Lankdorf was up ahead, just barely in sight as he retraced his steps to the cliffs base and began to make his way around it. After an hour or so, he slowed, walking a little farther before finally coming to a halt.
'Here' the tracker called out as Alaric joined Dietz and the two witch hunters by the cliff face. 'They came to
ground right here.' Even Alaric could see the marks on the ground and on the stone beside it. They went that way.' Alaric had worried that Lankdorf would be pointing west, back into the forest, but he was indicating the north, following along the mountain's edge.
'They must have a camp somewhere nearby,' Kleiber said softly, and the others nodded.
'We do not know how far away it may be,' Wilcreitz cautioned. 'If it is close, we could stumble upon it before we have readied ourselves for battle.'
Alaric saw Kleiber open his mouth, ready to reply, and knew the broad-shouldered witch hunter would say something about always being ready, and about needing nothing more than faith in Sigmar. Fortunately, Dietz saw the motion too.
'We should scout,' he suggested. 'Leave everyone else here, just in case.'
'I'll take Dietz and Jarl,' Lankdorf offered. 'We'll go on ahead and stay out of sight. That way we'll still have the element of surprise once we do attack.'
'With knowledge of their location and defences,' Wilcreitz added, 'we can strike more effectively.'
Kleiber nodded. 'Yes, these are good points,' he agreed finally. 'We must know our enemy before we can smite him.' He turned to Lankdorf. 'Go, you may take Dietz and Jarl with you, as you asked. Find the beastmen's lair. Get as close to them as you dare, but do not fight or draw their attention unless necessary.
Lankdorf nodded and tapped Dietz on the arm. 'Let's go.' Together, they walked back towards the mercenaries, and a moment later they were passing Alaric and the witch hunters by, the mercenary named Jarl right beside them. Alaric watched the trio vanish around a bend in the rock, and then turned back to Kleiber and Wilcreitz.
'What do we do now?' he asked. In reply, Kleiber held up a small book, while Wilcreitz pulled out a needle and
thread. Behind them, one of the mercenaries already had a deck of cards out, and several of the men were hunkering down and preparing to play. Others were sharpening blades, and a few were leaning against trees or rocks with their eyes closed, displaying a career soldier's ability to nap anywhere at any time.
'We set a guard, of course,' Wilcreitz answered, nodding towards several of the mercenaries, who immediately rose to their feet and began pacing the edges of the camp, weapons in hand. 'And we wait.'
'QUIETLY,' LANKDORF WARNED as the three of them crept forward. 'They could be close by.'
Dietz nodded, as did Jarl. Neither of them spoke.
They had been walking for perhaps an hour. The tracks led to an old, worn trail and continued along it, growing heavier and more numerous, showing that the beastmen clearly came this same way often. It was hard to say how many there were, but Dietz was sure it was at least a dozen, and there were only three of them, so stealth was critical.
They rounded another bend, and Dietz studied the cliffs before them. Back near the river, the mountains tapered off into foothills. Mere they simply rose from the ground fully formed, towering above the land that ran to meet them and the occasional small valley trapped between them.
'How well do you know beastmen?' Lankdorf asked softly, his eyes scanning the area ahead.
'I've run into several,' Dietz admitted, 'including two villages full of them.'
His friend nodded. 'Good, then you know what they look like. Watch for dwellings, or anything else out of place.'
Dietz looked around. The mountains swung away, creating a wide clearing between them and the forest beyond. The massive old trees created a wall of their own, looking every bit as solid and as sinister from this distance, and
between the two Dietz saw only open ground. Then he noticed something and looked again.
Most of the mountains they'd seen in this area were smooth and sharp-edged, with clean flat surfaces and tight angles. Yet across the clearing the rock wall seemed lumpier, rougher, as if pieces of it had been chipped away, or as if the cliff had simply been scored deeply, great furrows carved into it at various heights.
Then he realised that he was seeing protrusions, not depressions, shadows and not furrows, and the sight slipped into the proper focus.
'Morr's blood,' Dietz whispered, taking a step back so he could take it all in.
'What?' Jarl asked, a hand on the heavy sword at his side.
'Look,' was all Dietz could manage. He gestured towards the far wall, and saw both Lankdorf and Jarl stare at it, obviously confused.
Lankdorf had the sharper eyes, and after a few seconds, Dietz heard a sharp intake of breath from his friend as the short tracker no doubt saw what he had seen. A minute later, Jarl muttered something that sounded like a curse, apparently noticing the scene at last.
What Dietz had seen weren't shapes carved into the cliffs, but rather piled up against them, tall shapes, far too regular and level to be natural. It was a mass of stones, most likely hewn from the mountains behind it, which explained why he had not been able to see it at first. The stone was exactly the same shade and so it blended back into the cliffs. Now that he knew they were there he could see them clearly, and the more he studied them the more obvious it was that those stones could be nothing else but a building, or several buildings.
Dietz considered the stones carefully, trying to gauge size based upon his distance from them, and shook his head after a moment, awed. The slabs looked small, but they were still two hundred feet away if they were an inch, and
possibly a good deal more. That meant they had to be massive, and he had been underestimating both the size of the stones and the expanse of the structures. He was staring at a city, or at least a small town. The stones formed high walls and gracefully slanting roofs, with smudges across the front that might have been balconies once. He caught a glimpse of similar structures along the sides and towards the back. Tall, narrow windows pierced the stone in several places, although he could see that shutters the same colour as the walls covered some of them, and here and there along the ground, doors broke up the surfaces of the walls. The ground seemed to be a matching grey, and Dietz suspected it was paved.
'They must be in there,' Lankdorf whispered. 'The tracks lead straight to it.'
Dietz nodded, still studying the place.
'I didn't think beastmen were that intelligent,' the tracker continued. 'I thought they were barely smart enough to handle weapons, let alone chisels and hammers. Could they have made this place?'
Dietz was wondering the same thing. He had seen a fabulous temple carved by beastmen, but that had been in Ind, and the beastmen there were very different. All the beastmen he had encountered in the Empire were savages, barely more intelligent than animals, and lived in crude huts or rough camps. He thought about the carnage he and Alaric had seen back in Nuln, and shook his head.
'They didn't make this place,' he told his two companions, keeping his voice low. 'Most likely they found it and claimed it.'
'It looks old,' Jarl said, staring, and Dietz nodded. Yes, those stones looked as if they could have been carved centuries ago. He was curious what they looked like from a closer vantage, but all thoughts of investigating fled as he spotted movement among the buildings. He froze. So did Lankdorf, who had clearly seen the flicker as well, and they
both gestured at Jarl to stand still. The mercenary obeyed at once, and all three of them stayed motionless as they squinted across the distance, searching for movement.
There; Dietz saw it beyond one of the buildings and tried to pierce the shadows there. He was sure he had seen... yes, there it was again. Something was definitely moving among the stone structures. Then it shifted, came forward, and he saw it more clearly.
It was a beastman, and then another one, and then several more. There were at least six of them, walking towards the buildings' front, armed with spears, clubs and axes.
'They may be a patrol,' Lankdorf whispered. He gestured behind him, indicating that Jarl and Dietz should back away, and he followed, moving slowly and without a sound. Dietz kept his eyes on the buildings, and saw that his friend had been right. The beastmen were marching to the left, cutting in front of the buildings, and would probably turn and head the other way once they reached the far end. They were standing guard. Dietz had no doubt they would come running, weapons at the ready, if any of them spotted him or his two companions.
It seemed to take forever, but at last Dietz backed around a bend and the buildings vanished from view. Jarl was already there, leaning against the cliff and shaking his head, and a few seconds later Lankdorf also joined them.
'We need to get back and tell the others,' the tracker said. 'We were expecting a band of beastmen, possibly a small encampment, but that place is a bloody fortress. There's no telling how many they've got burrowed away in there, and we'd have to cross that clearing to reach them.'
They've probably got rifles, too' Dietz reminded him. All three of them shuddered at the thought of beastmen using blackpowder weapons and holed up in a stone fort.
'Keep it quiet,' Lankdorf urged, although Dietz didn't need reminding, and he suspected Jarl didn't either. 'We don't want them catching wind of us and coming after
us before we can get back to camp.' They all turned and began stalking away, moving as carefully and quietly as possible. It was several minutes before Dietz stopped feeling like a beastman was sighting down a rifle at the back of his head.
ALARIC WAS WRITING in his journal when Dietz, Lankdorf, and the mercenary Jarl returned. They had been gone two hours or more, judging by the sun, but Alaric had lost track of time as he jotted down notes about this and that, and scribbled shorthand versions of their recent encounters. He capped his ink vial and tucked it and his quill away, as the three men approached.
'Did you find them?' he asked, rising to his feet. Kleiber and Wilcreitz had approached as well, and it was to them that Lankdorf gave his answer, but not before Alaric saw Dietz's answering nod, and the frown that meant the news would not be good.
'We've tracked the beastmen to their lair,' Lankdorf explained. The mercenaries were all listening as well, since what the tracker had to say would most likely effect their tasks in the near future. They are holed up in what looks like an old city or fortress, roughly an hour north of here and nestled up against the mountains.'
'A city?' Alaric stared at them. 'What sort of city? What did it look like? Did you find any markings to indicate age, or origin, or-'
'I'm sure the beastmen will be happy to give you a tour if you ask nicely,' Wilcreitz snapped, and Alaric stopped, remembering the reason they were here.
'Ah, right. Sorry, I just got carried away,' he apologised.
'It's made from stone,' Lankdorf answered, glancing over at him and then back at Kleiber, who frowned, but nodded for him to continue. 'Looks to be taken from the mountain.' He shrugged. 'I've no idea who built it or when, or why.'
Alaric looked to Dietz, but the older man shrugged. 'We didn't get too close,' he explained, 'but I doubt they made it. It's too finely crafted, and it looks old.'
'Old?' Alaric was already running through what he knew of the area's history in his head. 'Could be human,' he muttered to himself, 'or perhaps dwarf, though why it would be exposed and not dug in... Could they be elf ruins?'
'How many did you see?' Kleiber asked, cutting off Alaric's train of thought.
'Half a dozen or so,' Lankdorf replied. They were just a patrol, however. We've no idea how many more are in there.'
Kleiber nodded. 'A stone fortress or city, up against the mountains,' he repeated, 'with an armed guard and an untold number of beastmen hidden within, some with blackpowder weapons.' The witch hunter glanced around, and then smiled grimly. 'Sigmar has presented us a mighty challenge indeed,' he declared, 'but I say if we are steadfast in our faith we will prove equal to the task.'
'Faith isn't the problem,' Dietz muttered as he stepped over beside Alaric, speaking softly, so that only Alaric heard him. 'It's bullets and claws and good shelter that concern me, and how all three are on the wrong side.'
'What sort of place was it?' Alaric asked, still focusing on the idea of an ancient ruin. 'Describe it to me.'
The older man sighed, used to his requests, and closed his eyes. 'Tall buildings, with balconies and walkways,' he recounted after a moment. 'Sloping roofs. Narrow windows. Paved streets. It was close enough together so that it could all be one building, or it could be a city or town built compact.'
'You didn't see any writing?' Alaric pressed.
'Never got that close,' Dietz replied. 'They had guards,' he reminded Alaric.
'Well, there's nothing for it,' Alaric decided. 'You'll just have to show me.'
His friend gave him a familiar look, the one with the single raised eyebrow, the one that said he was both amused and puzzled. 'You do realise we're probably attacking it?' he asked.
Alaric nodded. 'Yes, of course,' he answered. 'I knew that.' He frowned. 'I just hope I have time to have a look round before Kleiber's men destroy the place.'
'You haven't seen the place yet,' Dietz commented. 'I'm more worried about staying alive long enough to take a leisurely look at the architecture.'
Alaric smiled and gestured towards Kleiber and Wilcreitz, who were speaking with Lankdorf and the mercenaries. 'Weren't you listening?' he asked his friend. 'Sigmar is on our side, how can we possibly lose?'
Dietz didn't bother dignifying that with a reply.
'WHAT OF THE humans?'
'Leave them. They are unimportant.'
'They have desecrated the forest. The woods must be cleansed of their foul touch.'
'Do not lecture me on what the woods demand, Cellomir,' Lasalnean snapped, turning and glaring at the other elf. 'I can feel Athel Loren's displeasure as keenly as you, and perhaps more so.' He took a breath to calm himself. 'We will deal with the humans soon enough, but they will keep. We must first clear the ruins of the filth that has occupied them and stained them for far too long.'
The others of the kinband murmured their agreement, and Cellomir nodded, his head bowed to acknowledge the correction. Lasalnean had already shifted his attention back to the ruins, and the stretch of open dirt between them and the forest, where he and his kin lay hidden and watching.
'We lost the element of surprise last time,' Lasalnean said softly, although whether to himself or to the other elves
was unclear. The beastmen spotted us, and thus we surrendered any advantage. That must not be the case this time.' He glanced at Ulmael. 'You know what to do?'
The other elf nodded. 'I do.'
'If it works, Athel Loren will laud you,' Nelyann assured him with a quick grin. She looked towards Lasalnean. 'It is a good plan,' she confirmed, 'and with it we shall slaughter the creatures and reclaim the sacred ruins, but you should not be part of the charge. Your wound-'
'Is healing,' Lasalnean interrupted her. 'I am fully capable, and I will not send others on such a task if I am not willing to go myself.'
'Willing, yes' Nelyann agreed, 'but able? I don't-'
'I am able,' Lasalnean replied, 'and that is that.' His tone made it clear that the discussion was over. 'Do it now,' he instructed Ulmael.
Ulmael nodded and started to build a fire from twigs and leaves. He carefully called forth a tiny wisp of smoke, followed by an almost invisible flicker, and then, suddenly, fire.
Lasalnean and the others watched as Ulmael added more tinder to the fledgling blaze. He had been careful to select green leaves and twigs, and the fire began smoking almost immediately, sending a thin trail of dark grey smoke aloft. He added more material, and the flame expanded, the smoke thickening and beginning to billow. Soon the fire covered a narrow strip as long as a tall elf, and the smoke formed a curtain flapping in the wind: a curtain that was blocking them from sight of the ruins, and was wafting closer to the stones and their foul inhabitants.
'Not yet,' Lasalnean said quietly, extending a hand to block Ridsitil as the latter moved to slip past the trees and into the clearing, 'another moment or two.'
They waited impatiently, clutching their weapons, as the smoke spread, casting a pall across the clearing and even back among its creators. Then the elves' sharp ears picked
up raised voices from the beastmen, and soon they heard footsteps, heavy, clumsy ones, drawing closer.
The beastmen had sent a scouting party out to investigate the smoke.
This was what the elves had been waiting for, and Lasalnean smiled, a cold quiet expression that brought shivers to those that saw it. He nodded, and his kinband took up their positions, each elf poised behind a tree or perched atop a low branch. When the beastmen stepped through the smoke curtain, they barely had time to realise that the smoke began just within the clearing and was deliberate rather than accidental. Then the elves were upon them.
Knowing the need for silence, Lasalnean bit back his customary battle cry as he rose to confront the first beastman. His long, silvery sword leapt forward, its blade angling down to glide past the creature's upraised club, and the tip pierced the beastman's throat, turning its emerging cry into a soft gurgle. Lasalnean continued the thrust, the blade emerging a second later from the back of the creature's neck, and then twisted and tugged sideways, slicing the beastman's neck open and freeing his blade. The next beastman stumbled upon its dead comrade, eyes widening at the sight, and Lasalnean's blade took it through the mouth before it could scream. Nelyann had already carved a third beastman open with her twin blades, and spun gracefully to behead another even as she blocked its axe with her second sword.
The smoke effectively cut them off from those within the ruins, preventing anyone from aiding those battling within the smoke or beyond it, and it took little time to dispatch the eight beastmen, who had not been expecting a full ambush by determined elf archers and warriors.
'They will be wondering what became of their comrades,' Nelyann reminded Lasalnean, kicking the nearest body
Lasalnean nodded. They will send a second wave to find out,' he replied. 'We will kill them as well, and each band
they foolishly let pass through our curtain. Once the creatures learn their mistake, once they no longer let scouting parties dare to enter the smoke, then we will use this smoke for cover and take the fight to them.'
The others in his kinband grinned at the thought, and Lasalnean bowed, acknowledging their support.
Then the elves settled in, alert for the sound of additional beastmen approaching their hiding places. Lasalnean suspected they would not have long to wait.
'CHARGE?' ALARIC ASKED, his blue eyes wide. That's your plan, your strategy? This is what a full night of contemplation has led you to decide? To charge?'
'From two directions at once,' Kleiber corrected. 'This will confuse the defenders, and they will be forced to split their attention, thus allowing one or even both groups to reach the ruins safely.'
'It still boils down to a charge, just a two-pronged one,' Alaric argued.
Sitting across the small fire from him, Kleiber shrugged. 'It has the virtue of simplicity,' he replied, perhaps a touch defensively.
'So does "run headfirst into a wall",' Dietz muttered, low enough for only Alaric to hear him. 'I still don't see many people trying it, and never more than once.'
Alaric laughed, but quickly smothered the reaction, which Dietz thought displayed unusual common sense for his employer. Kleiber was without a doubt the most open-minded witch hunter they had ever encountered, but Dietz knew that only went so far, and most people didn't like being laughed at.
They may have rifles,' Dietz reminded Kleiber.
The witch hunter nodded. 'Indeed, friend Dietz, they may have rifles.'
'So they'll shoot you down before you can get anywhere near them,' Dietz explained further.
'Only if we allow them time to spot us, convey that information, and take aim,' Kleiber corrected, 'and I have no intention of granting them such an opportunity.'
Alaric was still too amazed to even consider being tactful. 'So your strategy is actually "Charge from two sides, very fast"?'
'That is the essence of it, yes,' Kleiber admitted.
'It's not as bad as it sounds,' Lankdorf offered. He and Jarl were also sitting there. Wilcreitz was speaking with the rest of the mercenaries. 'We have to get across that clearing and to the ruins quickly. There isn't any cover or any way to approach from another direction.' He shrugged. 'So if we've got to charge, we should do it fast and take them by surprise.'
'You're all insane,' Alaric said, shaking his head. 'You've got a fort there, from what you described, well-placed and well built. You've got an untold number of foes holding it, physically powerful and utterly unrestrained. They have blackpowder rifles, which they know how to use, and they've got higher ground; and you want to charge the place at a dead run?'
'Do you have a better suggestion?' Wilcreitz asked, having walked over in time to hear Alaric's last statement. Dietz could tell that the short witch hunter was spoiling for a fight. He tried to catch Alaric's eye so he could warn him, but Alaric wasn't looking.
'Misdirection, first of all,' he answered calmly. 'Give them something else to watch, someplace else, and you're more likely to make it across the killing field alive.' He frowned. They're up against the mountains, you said?' Lankdorf nodded. 'Send a few men up there and drop rocks on them,' Alaric suggested. 'That will keep them busy.'
Dietz couldn't help grinning as both Wilcreitz and Jarl stared. Lankdorf and Kleiber looked surprised, but not as stunned. They'd both travelled with him and Alaric for
long enough to know that Alaric's dashing appearance and flighty scholarly demeanour hid a sharp mind and years of strategic training.
'Second, obfuscation,' Alaric continued, either oblivious to the looks or simply ignoring them. 'There's no cover from the rifles, so make your own. Smoke would be best, so light a fire and use the smoke to confuse their aim. Cut some tree limbs and wave them in front of you as you charge, anything to make it harder for them to shoot you.'
'A ballista would be excellent,' Alaric added, more to himself. 'That'd distract them, all right, but building it, getting all the tolerances right.
'Sigmar has blessed us indeed,' Kleiber announced, rising to his feet and stepping around the fire to clap a startled Alaric on the shoulder. 'He sent us to your rescue, and now you will come to ours. These suggestions will allow us to reach the ruins safely, and from there we can deal with the beastmen without hindrance.' He turned to Wilcreitz. 'Tell the men to gather branches and leaves along the way, for the fires, the greener the better, and send two men, whichever are best at climbing, to see about scaling the cliff above the ruins and sending a rockfall down upon them.'
Wilcreitz nodded and strode off at once.
'Not bad,' Dietz complimented Alaric. 'Not bad at all.'
His friend grinned back. 'Well, it's better than "Run forward really fast", anyway.'
AN HOUR LATER they were approaching the ruins.
'Not much farther,' Dietz whispered to Alaric. They were right behind Lankdorf and Kleiber, with Wilcreitz after them and the mercenaries ranged out behind him. 'Once we round this bend we should be able to see it.'
'Why are you whispering?' Alaric asked in a more normal tone of voice. 'If the beastmen have such superlative hearing that they can make out a conversation from this
distance, don't you think they'd have already heard the approach of two dozen men?'
Dietz chose to ignore that, in part because something had distracted him. 'Do you smell that?' he asked, lifting his head to sample the air.
'Smell what?'
'That.' Dietz sniffed again. Yes, there was definitely something there. It smelled like... 'Smoke!'
'Smoke?' Alaric squinted up at the sky, and Dietz did the same. After a few seconds, he picked out a haze just ahead of them and to the left, away from the mountainside.
'There!' Lankdorf and Kleiber had seen it as well, and without a word the four of them nodded and started forward again. They rounded the bend, and there was the clearing ahead of them and the ruins along its far side, just as Dietz had seen them yesterday.
The clearing was different, however. It was muddled and indistinct, because it was filled with dark smoke billowing from somewhere ahead of them and along the forest's edge.
'It seems someone else had the same idea,' Alaric said softly, peering into the haze. The question is, who?'
Dietz stared, trying to see through the smoke. After a minute, he noticed movement, and tried to track it. It was a dark shape, looking roughly human and human-sized, but moving like a shadow, fast and smooth and slippery. After a few seconds, and seeing a second shadow, and then a third and a fourth, he realised why the motion looked so familiar.
'Elves,' he told Alaric and the others. There are elves in the smoke.'
'Elves?' Alaric stared, not at the shadows, but at the ruins, which were still visible, if difficult to see in any detail. 'Why would they care about-' A breeze blew a few curls of smoke aside, granting him a clear glimpse of the ruins, and he stopped mid-sentence, staring as if he had been frozen. 'It can't be!'
'What?' Dietz asked. He had a feeling that whatever his employer had just seen or realised was important.
Those ruins are elven,' Alaric answered. They have to be.'
'Of course they do,' Dietz replied. Lankdorf and Kleiber were clearly confused. Meanwhile, they were beginning to hear other sounds in front of them: grunts, shrieks and shouts, and the thud of metal and stone striking flesh and leather. The elves and the beastmen had found one another, and the battle had begun.
'Why elven?' Lankdorf asked.
Alaric slipped automatically into lecture mode. 'Long, long ago, the elves were allied with the dwarfs. They wanted places where they could meet their allies, and so they built settlements around the edges of the mountains.' Alaric was still fixated on the ruins, barely remembering to blink. 'But then came the wars between the elves and the dwarfs, and many of these settlements were destroyed or abandoned. This must be the remains of one such place. Imagine how old it must be - thousands and thousands of years!'
Dietz recognised that look. He'd seen it all too often, and had cursed it every single time. 'It's held by beastmen with guns,' he said, but his friend was too caught up dreaming of exploration to hear him.
'Whatever its history, it's good for us,' Lankdorf pointed out. You said we needed a distraction and some cover.' He gestured towards the smoke, and the shadows within it. They could hear the sound of rifle fire as well, though it did not sound close. 'I'd say we've got both.'
'I agree,' Kleiber said, drawing his sword with one hand and his pistol with the other. This is a sign. It is time to attack.' He glanced back behind them, to the rest of their party. 'Wilcreitz, release the men. Everyone is to charge the ruins with all possible speed.' He paused. 'Select eight men,' he told his subordinate, 'and find the rifles. Reclaim them if possible, but destroy them if you must. Do it now!'
Wilcreitz nodded. 'Yes.' He rattled off eight names. 'You, come with me' he told the eight men. 'The rest of you, kill any beastman you see.' He nodded at Kleiber, who nodded back. 'Weapons at the ready. Charge!'
The mercenaries obeyed with a dull rumble of excitement. Drawing and raising their weapons, they broke into a run, charging into the smoke and on through it, heading straight for the ruins beyond.
'Oh, this can't be good' Dietz muttered, but he hefted his mace, the one he had brought back from the Border Princes, and drew a long knife with his other hand. Glouste, recognising the signs of impending battle, disappeared down the front of his jacket. 'Ready?' he asked Alaric.
'Hm? Oh, absolutely. I just hope we can stop them from damaging the buildings.' Alaric drew his rapier and leapt into the smoke, only then turning back to Dietz. 'You coming?'
Dietz didn't bother to answer. He simply gripped his mace and his knife more tightly, and followed his friend onto the hazy battlefield.
THEY WERE PERHAPS halfway across the clearing when the beastmen struck.
The throaty roar was the only warning Dietz had, before the creature emerged from the haze with its arm already raised to strike. Dietz barely managed to block the blow with his mace. He stabbed in with his knife, but the blade bounced off the beastman's thick hide, and Dietz skipped back a step, giving himself a little room.
The beastman leapt after him, both arms lashing out to tear Dietz's flesh, but Dietz was ready for the creature. He struck hard at one arm with his mace, feeling as much as hearing the bones shatter from the blow. He jabbed with his knife again, merely as a distraction, then struck the beastman a solid blow on the cheek with the mace. The
creature rocked back on its heels, bellowing in pain, and then shook it off and charged Dietz again. Its movements were more sluggish this time, and Dietz easily avoided its attack, striking it again, this time across the back of the neck as it lunged past. The beastman toppled to the ground and did not get back up, giving Dietz a chance to tighten his grip upon his weapons and glance around.
He wished he hadn't. More beastmen had emerged among the smoke, and they were battling both Kleiber's mercenaries and the elves. It was complete confusion, and that made it far too easy for people to make mistakes. Friends wound up slaughtering one another in situations like this, only to realise, as they died, what had happened to confuse them. Dietz didn't want that to happen to him, so he tried to surround himself with close friends, ones he knew he could trust no matter what happened.
His first and most trusted ally was always Alaric. Dietz turned to speak with the nobleman, and frowned.
'Alaric?'
He couldn't see the younger man anywhere. Dietz glanced around and spotted Lankdorf, not far away.
'Lankdorf,' he called, striding towards the tracker, and arriving in time to smash his mace into an unwary beastman's skull from behind. 'Have you seen Alaric?' Dietz asked over the crumpling foe.
'Alaric? Ho, not since we entered this mess,' Lankdorf replied. 'Why, you think he's in trouble?'
'I think he is trouble,' Dietz replied, 'but that's not why I'm worried. The last time he and I got parted by fog, he... well, let's just say it was not a good experience for him.' Another beastman lunged at him, but Dietz sidestepped the blow and brought his mace crashing down on the beastman's arm, crushing it. The beast howled in pain and rage, and Dietz leaned in and slit the thing's throat with the knife in his other hand. He stepped over the twitching body.
'He can't have gone far,' Lankdorf said, stabbing his sword through a beastman's eye, and then tugging it free so he could slash open the creature's chest. 'We're working our way towards the ruins, and that's most likely where he went. We'll find him in there somewhere.'
Dietz nodded, and ducked a vicious axe sweep from a short beastman with a massive chest and shoulders, kicking the creature away from him. Before he could close the distance again, the beastman reeled and fell, three long arrows in its back. Dietz glanced around, but couldn't even find the archer. He knew he needed to concentrate on the battle if he hoped to survive, but he was still worried about Alaric. He remembered when several of their party had been captured in the Howling Hills, and what had befallen the soldiers before they could form a rescue. The thought made him shudder.
Damn it, Alaric, he thought, facing off against two more beastmen who emerged from the smoke like bestial apparitions. You'd better not have done anything stupid.
'Ow,' ALARIC MUTTERED, blinking away the darkness that had swept in upon him. 'What in Sigmar's name happened to me?' His hands went to his head, seeking to massage away the sharp pain that throbbed behind his eyes, but were restrained somehow. He glanced down and saw thick ropes tied around them, inexpertly, but securely.
Ah yes, now he remembered.
He'd been with Dietz and the others as they stepped into the clearing. The smoke had quickly hidden them from view, and as there hadn't seemed any pressing danger, Alaric had been staring at the ruins. He was desperate to investigate them, but despite Dietz's claims, he knew better than to approach a beastman infested site without protection. Still, getting closer couldn't hurt, and perhaps he could make out what he was sure were friezes carved along the outer walls.
Alaric had been making his way cautiously towards the ruins when a section of the smoke haze before him turned suddenly darker as something stepped into his path. He barely had time to react, raising his rapier in defence, but the apparition knocked his weapon aside and then... and then everything went black.
'Not my best decision, perhaps,' Alaric admitted quietly to himself as he raised his head - carefully, so as not to exacerbate the pain - and looked around.
He was in a small stone chamber, and he quickly realised he must be inside the ruins. It was dim; tiny trickles of light seeping in from damage to the roof above, and he squinted to make out details. The walls bore faint patterns upon them, and here and there he saw flecks of paint. They must have been fully painted and decorated at one time, but little of that embellishment had survived the long centuries. The walls were made of solid, however, and the floor was still smoothly fitted flagstones, with a delicate leaf mosaic etched into and around them. There were no windows or doors, and Alaric puzzled over what sort of room this had been, and how it had been used. Whatever its original purpose, it made an admirable prison cell.
He was surprised to find himself a captive. He knew that beastmen tended to eat their fallen foes. He'd seen them do that to several of the soldiers from Middenheim, back in the Howling Hills, and he wasn't anxious to be on the menu. The fact that they'd taken him relatively unharmed, and tied him up and tossed him in here suggested they did not mean to tear him limb from limb and devour his raw flesh, for which he was eternally grateful.
What did they want, then?
Alaric paced, musing and trying to distract himself by studying the chamber's details. The rope around his wrists actually rose above him, apparently tied near the ceiling somehow, which allowed him free movement within the
room. His captors had taken his rapier, of course, but had left the rest of his gear intact, which meant he still had his notebook, if only he could reach it.
He heard a scraping sound. It came from above, and as Alaric glanced up, he saw the entire ceiling shift, and then slide to one side. Light streamed in, almost blinding him. Of course! This was not a room at all. It was a well or cistern of some sort, carved into the ground. No wonder there were no windows or doors. A large shape blocked much of the light, and Alaric felt a sharp tug on his wrists. Then they were hauled up over his head, and higher still, as the figure up above literally pulled him out of the well. The pain to arms and shoulders was immense, and when he was finally yanked over the lip of the well and dropped onto the floor beyond - in another small chamber apparently built over the well, this time with a single door in one wall - Alaric collapsed. Then he looked up at his captor.
The newcomer was a beastman, larger and more powerful than any Alaric had seen before. It had thick matted fur and heavily scaled skin, the legs of a goat, and heavy bull-like features, topped by a pair of massive horns that protruded from its temples. It growled at Alaric, the other end of the rope still wrapped around its large clawed hands, and what little hope he had left, rapidly faded. The creature had obviously been sent to collect him from his makeshift prison. That meant, whatever they were planning to do to him, they were going to do now.
Alaric thought furiously, even as the beastman jerked on the rope and gestured for him to get to his feet. He had to escape somehow, but how? He had no weapons, no money - not that beastmen cared about money - and no tools. He couldn't even negotiate, because he couldn't understand a thing they were saying. Beastmen spoke some sort of foul Chaos tongue.
Perhaps, he thought, there was a way he could understand them anyway.
He shut his left eye and concentrated on his right, and for the first time, Alaric actively tried to call up the horrible Chaos vision that had been plaguing him for months. He remembered all the visions, the terrible images, the faint reddish tint to everything. He willed the vision to return, and it did.
The creature before him changed. His hands, which reached towards Alaric, expanded into massive paws, thick curving talons emerging from each stubby finger. Coarse black hair, tightly matted, covered his entire body, which had grown in girth if not in height, but Alaric could see that the fur actually contained thousands of tiny barbs that caught at the creature's flesh whenever it moved, causing rivulets of blood to constantly gush all over his body. The beastman's nose expanded to fill much of its face, and its eyes were small, and glowed with malevolence. Its body was outlined in a deep red that flickered and oozed around it, as if blood had spurted forth and then clung to it like a halo. Alaric knew that was the Chaos taint that infused and surrounded the creature, but the knowledge did nothing to make the scene less terrifying.
Then he saw something else, a dark shape coiled within the massive beastman, a tendril of black and deepest red that writhed and twisted as he watched. It resembled a snake, though one formed from smoke and blood, and fire and darkness. In its elongated jaws, between its many fangs, it held a battered crown.
Alaric somehow knew what he was seeing. This was the beastman... no, the beastlord's hatred and rage. Its leadership had been stripped away, and that gnawed at it.
Before he could do anything, the massive beastman grabbed his bound wrists and yanked him forward,
pulling Alaric from the small room as fast as his stumbling feet could carry him. Alaric hurried to keep up. He was absolutely certain that if he fell, the creature would not stop or slow down, and he would be dragged to their final destination. Far better to keep his footing and hope he could find a way to escape whatever fate they had planned for him.
The room opened onto a wide paved path, although it seemed almost like an interior hall because of the buildings lining both sides and the balconies and walkways overhead. Other beastmen moved past here and there, and Alaric heard the clangs and thuds, and cries and shouts of heated battle nearby. The fighting continued, then. Good. That meant Dietz, Lankdorf and the others might still be alive.
As they walked, Alaric struggled to study the structures he was hauled past, his curiosity keeping his fear in check. The elves had evidently wrought well, and these buildings were surprisingly well preserved considering their age, although, as with the well, any paint had long since peeled away. They passed several gaping doorways, and he guessed that the original doors had been wood instead of stone, and had succumbed to nature centuries past.
He was not allowed time to linger. Instead, he was dragged down the path, to where it ended in a wide square. This was clearly the city centre, a vast open space surrounded by balconies and walkways, smoothly paved and focused around a large fountain. With a start, Alaric realised that he recognised this place. He had seen it once before, in his dreams, and every detail matched: the flagstones under his feet, the crumbling structures around the square's edge, the faint traces of flowers and leaves in the stonework, the truncated fountain base that functioned as a crude table, or altar, and the mammoth figure waiting for him beside that fountain.
He was exactly as he had appeared in Alaric's dream. Tall, broad, and massively built, the man was easily the largest human Alaric had ever seen, and that was before the armour. The red, gold, and black armour seemed less like a protective suit than like skin, the man wore it so easily, and when he shifted Alaric was sure he saw the plates on the man's arms and legs shift, but not in the way that well-handled metal might, more in the manner of flesh shifting on an arm or a leg when a person moves about. The hulking figure was intimidating, even terrifying, with its barbed, horned helm and the crest of strange black hair, plus the sheer carnage manifest in his armour. The colossal two-headed axe he never let leave his grip was equally frightening, with its bloodstained blades, long haft and Chaos runes.
As awful as the Chaos champion was in the real world, his appearance before Alaric's tainted eyes was even more severe, even more horrifying, even more mind-numbing and awe-inspiring.
Seen through that strange Chaos vision, the Chaos champion was clearly marked, not only as a servant of Chaos, but as an avatar of Chaos. He seemed to grow taller when seen that way, with his muscles stretching to match his newly increased frame. Darkness spilled forth from the man, like a campfire hidden from direct view, but still producing heat and light. Nor was the darkness still. It extended long tendrils all around, sweeping the open area with smoky trails of darkness. The tendrils seemed unable to do any damage; they merely left one feeling uneasy and unclean, but that might change at a moment's notice.
Alaric could not look away from the aura of the man before him, even though it was so awful he could barely breathe. He was a giant figure, seven feet if he was an inch, and looked almost as if he was carved from bronze
and iron, and blood streaked marble. Alaric shuddered as he took in the black flames that licked around the large man's body, and the blazing black light that poured from the heavy iron circlet around his neck. If blackness could shine, that circlet was the source of the light, and Alaric vaguely remembered something, something important, but it would not surface. Ah well, it would come to him in time, assuming he had time, of course.
The beastman dragged Alaric to the former fountain. As they drew closer, he saw a familiar multi-hued shape resting atop it: a curving oval, carved of some banded golden stone, and shaped into a face that mixed feline and human to create a singular visage of grace, cruelty, and power: the mask.
Despite his current circumstances, Alaric felt a tiny flicker of joy. He and Dietz had done it! They had found the mask.
Of course, finding it and retrieving it, or destroying it, were very different things.
His captor stopped him with a sudden jerk, only two feet from the makeshift table, and Alaric gaped up at the champion. He could still see the strange, darker, even more powerful image overlaid upon reality, and knew from bitter experience that the daemons and their pet sorcerers could actually manipulate the reality around them, altering it in small and sometimes not-so-small ways. Judging by the way the air churned around the champion, Alaric suspected he had that capability as well.
'Greetings, Alaric von Jungfreud,' the champion called out. 'We have been waiting for you.' His voice was deep and raspy, like worn metal dragged over sturdy stone.
Alaric stared up at the hulking figure. 'How did you... I mean, who are you?'
The Chaos champion laughed: a horrible rending noise that sounded as if his throat were tearing apart from the inside out. 'I am Deathmaul.'
"What do you want with me?' Alaric managed to ask, though he was gulping with fear.
'You have been touched by Chaos,' he said, 'and I will draw upon that influence for my own purposes, just as I will absorb the power of the mask, and of this!' With a flourish he picked something up from the ground beside the fountain and tossed it onto the broken stone beside the mask. It was long and heavy, and had spikes and barbs, just like the Chaos champion's armour, only these were of a finer make and different materials.
Alaric recognised it at once: the gauntlet.
'How did you get that?' Alaric demanded, resisting the urge to flee blindly. There was nowhere he could go. In his Chaos vision, the gauntlet was a spinning, writhing black vortex, sucking everything around into its gaping maw. The mask was smoother, with that rainbow sheen, but between it and the gauntlet, and the champion, the centre of the square was an immensely powerful collection of Chaos tainted items.
'We have been searching for it, and others like it, for some time,' Deathmaul told him, holding the gauntlet up so its spikes and barbs, and runes caught the light and shone blood-red. 'One of my people heard of a man trying to sell an artefact, and met with him. He was a priest of the Jade Sceptre cult, but even he did not realise what he was offering me.'
Alaric nodded. That matched what Lankdorf had seen. He had more questions, however. 'And the mask?' he asked, pointing to the item that had caused him so much grief ever since Dietz had found and retrieved it from that temple in Ind.
'My... associate is sensitive to the relics our dread and glorious masters have left upon this world,' Deathmaul
answered, gesturing behind Alaric. A tall, thin man stood there; long, rune marked robes fluttering around him over dark clothes, rings bedecking his fingers. Alaric knew at once that he was facing a Chaos sorcerer, and the thought made his skin crawl. The tall man smiled at Alaric, and it was not a pleasant expression.
'We covet such items, Varlek and I.' The helm shifted slightly, and Alaric knew his captor was smiling, the metal somehow reflecting the grisly expression within. 'He sensed the mask when he was near Nuln and pinpointed its location. A band of cultists claimed to have stolen it from a shop in Middenheim, and were carrying it to their temple, but he intercepted them.' The warrior shrugged. 'Our minions made short work of them, and when he departed the city, the mask was in his possession.'
The sorcerer, Varlek, no doubt, bowed, and Alaric nodded again. That fit with what he and Dietz had encountered along the way. So, the cultists who had stolen the mask had merely had the misfortune to encounter this man, or at least the associate he mentioned. That associate had recognised the power in the mask, and had taken it from them by force. Well, he hardly felt pity for the dead cultists; the fewer Chaos worshippers in the world the better.
One thing puzzled him, and Alaric concentrated on that, his curiosity temporarily holding back his fear. 'Why me?' he asked with surprising calm, even though he knew he might only be hastening the grisly death they no doubt had planned for him. 'You have the mask, you have the gauntlet, and you say you want to draw upon my influence, but I fail to see what other influence I might have.'
'Do you?' Deathmaul asked, leaning across the table. He dropped the gauntlet upon the table, alongside the mask. Then he reached out, moving surprisingly fast for a man of
such size, and grasped Alaric's chin. Alaric gasped, breaking out into a cold sweat, both from the champion's disquieting touch and from the lazy power he wielded. The barbs along Deathmaul's mailed fingers cut into Alaric's jaw as his head was forced up, making him meet the Chaos champion's gaze through the visor slits in his heavy helm. 'Do you fail to see?' Again the massive figure laughed. 'I doubt that. I think you see far more than you care to.' He released Alaric's chin.
Alaric took deep, gulping breaths, trying to bring the fear back under control, and concentrated on the champion's words instead of his actions. What did he mean?
Deep down, however, Alaric knew all too well what he meant, and his expression must have given that away, because behind him Varlek laughed, a short barking sound.
'You have been touched,' the sorcerer confirmed. 'Your senses have been opened to levels beyond the mortal realm. It is a great gift!'
'A gift?' Alaric sputtered, finally forced to acknowledge the source of those visions. He felt lightheaded and swayed on his feet. He would have fallen if the beastlord had not reached out to grab him, claws cutting into his arms. 'You call that a gift? I call it a curse!' He let the anger wash over him, clearing his thoughts, although the rage left his limbs weak. 'Those visions are horrible. I've barely kept my sanity.' Something else occurred to him then. 'You said I'd been touched. You meant that literally, didn't you?'
Deathmaul nodded. 'My master marked you as his, beneath Middenheim,' he confirmed, 'and infused you with the tiniest spark of his own daemonic essence. He has been with you since, guiding you along this path.'
Alaric reeled back, stunned, his breath catching in his throat.
No! A great racking sob welled up within him, tearing forth, despite clenched jaw and gritted teeth. Alaric felt matching tears spring to his eyes, his entire body shaking with emotion, rage and sheer terror. The daemon had infected him. He had been tainted with Chaos, just like the creatures, things and people he had seen along the way, just like the creatures standing around him. All those dreams, all those nightmares, all those strange sensations of being watched had all come from the daemon. The map in the Border Princes, no wonder Dietz hadn't seen the same markings he had. The daemon had put them in his head, to get him to the tomb and thus to the gauntlet. It had burrowed its way into his mind and his heart, manipulating his thoughts and emotions, controlling what he saw and felt and thought, its foul stench wound around him all the while.
It had made him its own, not with his permission, but by force, ravaging his soul and leaving it twisted and diseased. Alaric was Chaos-touched, and he knew only too well what happened to those who bore such a mark. They died, horribly mutated and twisted, their flesh altered by contact with such horrors it could no longer remain stable. He was doomed to madness, mutation, and destruction, and had been sliding down that path for months without realising it.
The daemon had given him the strange blood trail, and led him straight here.
'You have been chosen by the Blood God, and your sacrifice will bring me great honour,' the Chaos champion continued. 'With his blessing I will become a fit vessel for my master's power.' He reached out and stroked the mask and the gauntlet almost lovingly, while his other hand rose to the strange circlet that Alaric had noticed around his neck, a twisted piece of blackened iron and blood-red copper heavy with runes.
No doubt it was the source of that dark illumination Alaric had seen with his Chaos vision moments before. 'With these, and my armour and axe, I will be all but invincible,' Deathmaul said. 'I shall carve a path across the world, slaughtering thousands and laying waste to whole cities in my master's name! There will be such destruction as has not been seen for centuries! The very mountains will bear the scars of my passing, and the seas will weep blood from my conquests! Then he will come forth, and look upon this world, and reward me as the greatest of all his servants!'
Alaric shook his head, forcing himself not to think about the champion's recent revelation. Why did all cultists have the same grandiose schemes? Deathmaul was no different to Strykssen or even Kristoff.
That was fine, he and Dietz had defeated those two, although not without some help, and they could stop this one as well. He would deal with his own taint later, if there was a later.
'Enough talk.' Deathmaul strode around the table, gesturing, and the beastman who had dragged Alaric from his cell stepped forward, lifting Alaric and tossing him down atop the broken fountain. Then he wrapped the rest of the rope around its base to secure him there. 'Varlek, perform the ritual, now!'
The Chaos sorcerer nodded, a nasty smile playing across his narrow face, and raised both hands. Then he began chanting something in a language that Alaric recognised, as the very sound of it tore at his mind and twisted his guts. It was the same language that Bloodgore had been muttering in, only less broken. It was the foul tongue of Chaos.
"Varlek calls to our master,' Deathmaul announced. 'He will come, and then...' The Chaos champion raised his massive axe. 'Then you will die. As your lifeblood pours
from you, my master will see my loyalty and reward me by granting me his power!'
Deathmaul hefted his axe, drawing it back with all the power in his enormous arms, and Alaric knew that this was the end.
Then he had an idea. It was a desperate one, and might only make the situation worse, but he had nothing to lose.
'The gauntlet,' he called out, and Deathmaul paused. 'Do you have any idea how powerful that gauntlet is?' Alaric took a deep breath and channelled what strength he had left into his voice. 'That gauntlet nearly destroyed armies. It razed a temple!' Reaching deep inside, Alaric forced himself into the Chaos visions again, and called out in the same language as the sorcerer's chant, a chant that had paused while the tall man listened. 'That gauntlet has the power to destroy you.'
Deathmaul laughed. 'What of it?' he replied, sneering. 'Its power will soon add to my own.'
Alaric hadn't aimed his words at Deathmaul, or at his pet sorcerer. His statements had been directed at another, and that other was staring at the gauntlet, power-lust bright in its eyes. With his Chaos vision, Alaric could see the snake within Bloodgore uncurl and rise, head back and flaring, as it prepared to strike.
The beastlord bellowed as it lunged across Alaric's bound form, and seized the gauntlet.
'No!' the Chaos sorcerer shrieked from the side.
It was too late. With a fierce, echoing snarl the beastlord shoved the gauntlet onto his hand.
Alaric thought he could hear the tiny clicks as the barbs within the gauntlet pierced deep into his the beastlord's flesh, but perhaps he was only remembering that from the Border Princes. He watched, unable to turn away, as the creature arched back, a scream frozen in his throat, his gauntleted hand thrust up into the air. Blood dripped
down his arm, tiny rivulets from the many small wounds the relic had inflicted upon him. As Alaric stared, the blood flows slowed, and then stopped. They thickened like cooling porridge, hardening across his flesh and creating strange ridges that spread out until the beastlord's entire arm was coated in thick, ridged flesh the red-brown of dried blood.
Alaric heard the creature half hiss, as other changes spread across his body. His flesh rippled, and beneath it his bones seemed to shift and grow. Spikes sprouted from his upper arms and shoulders, shards of bone that pierced his flesh and grew until they stood out like spines. He seemed to grow even taller, and his heavy hooves became more massive, with great jutting spikes across their fronts almost like toes, or claws.
The beastlord's face also changed. The ridged skin covered that too, darkening him, and his features shifted, his jaw and brow becoming heavier. His lips bent down as heavy, barbed tusks shoved past them. The creature's red eyes held black swirls at their centres.
The transformed beastlord snarled at the Chaos champion, his face twisted in rage, his voice a deep rumble that sent shivers through Alaric. 'Now I regain leadership of my herd!'
'You have stolen that gauntlet and its power from me,' Deathmaul bellowed in reply. 'For that you will suffer a thousand deaths, and this will be the first.'
The massive Chaos champion leapt forward, his axe spinning in a great arc. Bloodgore caught it just below the twin blades, his gauntleted fingers clamping down around the handle and pulling the weapon from the surprised Deathmaul's grasp.
'It is you who shall die,' the beastlord shouted, tossing the weapon aside and slamming his other hand into his foe's helm.
Still bound to the altar, all Alaric could do was watch helplessly as the two titans collided, each one burning with the power of Chaos, each one determined to destroy the other. All he could do was watch, and hope they did not crush him between them.
'ONWARD, MEN! SIGMAR will guide us to victory!'
Wilcreitz brandished his sword and pistol, and led the eight mercenaries he'd chosen across the last few feet to the ruins. An elf jumped out of the smoke, long slender blade already in motion, and Wilcreitz shot the creature in the head, kicking its corpse to one side and continuing on. He felt no remorse; elves were almost as unnatural as beastmen, and just as dangerous to right-thinking men.
They were not his main concern, however. Kleiber and the remaining mercenaries would handle the rest of the battle. His task was to locate and retrieve the stolen blackpowder weapons.
'How will we find them in all this?' Jarl asked. The burly mercenary carried a large axe and swung it from side to side as they ran, sweeping beastmen aside like blades of grass. 'Do we have an idea where the monsters might have hidden them?'
'None/ Wilcreitz admitted, skewering a beastman who leapt at him, jaws wide to bite and claws poised to tear. He used the butt of his pistol to shove the dead creature back off his blade, paused to reload, and continued on, 'But Sigmar will grant us a sign.'
He studied the wide path or road they were on. Stone buildings, or what was left of them, lined both sides; many had no roof, and their walls were crumbling, but here and there a structure seemed to be intact.
They will keep the weapons in one of those,' the short witch hunter announced, indicating the first whole building along their path. They are too valuable to leave exposed to the elements. Search each undamaged building we find.' He shot another beastman, found himself up against an elf and a beastman locked together, and stabbed them both, his blade piercing both chests with a single powerful thrust.
His mercenaries nodded and spread out, checking the buildings. Pieter died when he stuck his head in the second intact doorway, shrieking and pulling back to reveal that his face and forehead were gone. A beastman followed him out onto the path, its monstrous jaws dripping with fresh blood, bits of Pieter's flesh still clinging to its long sharp teeth. Wilcreitz stepped up, placed his pistol against the creature's left eye and pulled the trigger. The blast sent the beastman reeling backward, and it slammed into the wall behind it, and then slid down to lay in a crumpled heap with the others in the street.
A second mercenary, Ralf, died a moment later, an arrow in his throat. It had come from an elf bow, and the same elf also shot the beastman next to Rolf, before disappearing around a corner without a word.
'Sir.' Heimlich was tugging at a door several buildings away. 'This one's locked!'
Ah, excellent, Wilcreitz thought. The only thing these sorry creatures might possess worth locking up would be the blackpowder weapons.
'Move aside' he told Heimlich, raising his loaded pistol. He set the muzzle tip into the spot where the door and the doorframe met, right about where he would put a bar or a lock upon a door. Then he pulled the trigger.
The report was almost deafening. It echoed all along the strange street, reverberating from all the old stone buildings. Wilcreitz pushed on the door and it swung open easily. Peering in, he saw barrels, casks, chests, and several long bundles wrapped in heavy blankets.
'Sigmar be praised/ he said, stepping into the building quickly. 'We have found them.' He pulled one of the rifles from the bundle and tossed it to Heimlich. Another went to Jarl, and then one to Otto, and so on, followed by powder and ammunition, until all of them were armed with blackpowder weapons as well as their own weapons of choice.
'What shall we do now?' one of the mercenaries asked then. "We have the weapons, should we bring them back to camp?'
Wilcreitz was still looking around inside the small building, and especially towards the boxes and crates. 'We cannot carry those from here, but we cannot leave them to the beastmen, either.' He glanced up at Jarl and the others, and grinned. 'I believe Sigmar has shown me the way.' He stepped back into the building, leaving his men to defend it and him, but emerged a minute later. 'There, I am ready' was all the explanation he gave. 'Now let us find our fellows and see how they fare.' He raised his new rifle to his cheek and shot down a beastman leaping across rooftops to reach them. 'I believe' Wilcreitz told the others, 'that we will be able to lend a hand.'
DIETZ AND LANKDORF had fought their way into the ruins, and were battling their way through the hordes of beastmen gathered there. Kleiber and his men were beside and around them, and the shattered stone buildings resounded
with the clash of metal on metal, the thud of wood and stone on metal and bone, and the meaty thunk and wet hiss of weapons striking home.
There was still no sign of Alaric.
'He's got to be here somewhere,' Dietz muttered. He took a blow on one arm from a sturdy club, the impact numbing him from shoulder to wrist, and dropped his mace. He still had the knife in the other hand, though, so he stabbed that into his opponent's eye, and then reached down and reclaimed his mace, in time to straighten and pluck the knife free as the dead beastman toppled.
'He'll turn up,' Lankdorf assured him, firing a crossbow bolt into a beastman a short distance away, and then clubbing another with the weapon butt. 'Keep going!'
Dietz nodded. There was no point in turning around, or in splitting off to search the rest of the buildings for Alaric. If he wasn't in the battle, he would be safe until it was over, safer than they were, anyway. Right now, he needed all his concentration just to stay alive.
They rounded a corner, and saw a vast central courtyard beyond the next building. Several figures milled about near the centre, including two that seemed locked in bat-de. Behind and between them, tied across some sort of broken table or sculpture, was a man with fair hair and once-fine clothes.
'Alaric!' Dietz knew his friend couldn't hear him, but that didn't stop him from shouting. At least it got Lankdorfs attention, and the bounty hunter followed his gaze.
'We know where he is, at least,' Lankdorf pointed out. 'We just have to get over there and cut him loose.'
That proved easier said than done, however. A tall, dark man stood near Alaric and the two combatants, and as Dietz reached the edge of the square the man gestured towards them. His mouth moved and Dietz felt a chill, even though he couldn't hear the words. The air before
him seemed to thicken somehow, shimmering like oil on water, and Dietz found he could not go any farther. It was like trying to walk through stagnant water.
'Dark magic,' Lankdorf spat, also stuck. Then the tracker turned his head. 'Herr Kleiber,' he called, 'they have fouled the very air!'
The witch hunter was beside them in a second. He frowned and put a hand forward, testing the disturbance. 'Indeed they have, Herr Lankdorf' Kleiber replied gravely, 'but such taint will not stand in our way.' Holding his sword before him, Kleiber uttered a short prayer. 'Oh holy Sigmar, let your divine light shine through my blade and part this evil, that we might rid this land of its foul creators!'
It was hard to tell in the bright daylight, but Dietz thought the witch hunter's blade did indeed begin to glow, albeit faintly. There was no mistaking the effect, however. Kleiber swung his sword before him in a crisp downward arc, and the shimmering air parted like a curtain. He charged through, and Dietz and Lankdorf were right behind him.
As they closed the distance, Dietz got a better look at the two figures battling near Alaric, and almost skidded to a halt. One was a massive warrior, with armour that looked as if it was carved from night and shaped from blood, and torn from a vein of gold. Every inch of the heavy plate was sharp or hooked, or both. The other was a beastman, the largest Dietz had ever seen, with huge curling horns from his forehead, matted fur everywhere, and bone spikes protruding from his shoulders, chest, back, and arms. The creature also wore a rune-carved object covering one hand, a relic that Dietz knew he would never forget: the gauntlet from the liche king's tomb.
'Is that-?' Lankdorf started to ask, staring at the creature's arm.
'Yes.'
'Myrmidia's spear,' the bounty hunter whispered in reply. This just gets worse and worse.'
Dietz nodded, then shook himself. 'Come on.'
The two figures had stepped away from Alaric, the beastman smashing his gauntleted hand into the warrior's armoured chest and denting the heavy plate, the warrior responding by slamming his own fist into the creature's throat and tearing at it with the spikes along his armour. Dietz took the opportunity to skirt them and kneel beside Alaric, who seemed dazed, but happy to see them.
'It was the only way,' Alaric was muttering as Dietz cut the ropes and helped him slip down from what he now realised was a shattered fountain. 'Sigmar forgive me, it was the only way.'
'I'm sure he will,' Dietz said sharply, 'but only if we get out of here alive.'
'Yes.' Lankdorf handed Alaric a crossbow he must have liberated from one of the beastmen, and Alaric accepted it absently. There was nothing distracted about the way he loaded a bolt and shot down a beastman loping towards them, however.
The rest of the beastmen had entered the square, and the battle raged all around them. 'What happened to the elves?' Alaric asked, shooting another foe, but only catching it in the shoulder. His rapier was missing, and Dietz assumed the beastmen had taken it at some point.
'No idea,' Lankdorf replied, shooting a charging beastman in the face, and then smashing another with the crossbow's heavy wooden stock. 'Don't much care, either.'
'You'd better care,' Alaric replied sharply, firing his crossbow at a beastman some way away, and taking the ugly brute in the head. There were others closer in, and Dietz wasn't sure why his friend had targeted that one, until Alaric ducked another's rush, sprinted over to the dead beastman, and lifted something from the body. 'Got it!' he shouted as he returned. He had his rapier in his hand.
Dietz shook his head, using his mace to block another beastman's attack and cave in its skull on the return stroke. This is as bad as Vitrolle' he muttered.
'Not quite,' Alaric corrected, skewering a beastman through the eye, and then swiftly pulling back so he could block another of the creatures from gutting him with a long jagged blade. 'There we had four different armies, and none of them particularly liked us;' he reminded him. 'Here it's just beastmen versus humans, nice and neat, unless the elves show, in which case it could get ugly. That's why you should care.'
Dietz considered that. 'Fair enough,' he agreed after a second, 'but I-' He forgot what he had been about to say, however, as a large figure suddenly reared up behind them, its shadow enveloping all three of them in sudden darkness. 'Move!'
The massive armoured figure and the towering beastman were grappling, neither able to overwhelm the other, and in their fury they trampled across the courtyard right by where Dietz, Alaric and Lankdorf were standing. The three of them darted to the side, narrowly avoiding being stepped on, but the two titans barely noticed.
'I shall carve your flesh from your bones, and offer up your soul to the Blood God, who will drink it as if it were fine wine!' the armoured figure growled. His adversary did not dignify the threat with any reply beyond a savage snarl.
'Who is that, and how do we stop him?' Dietz asked Alaric as they stepped further away from the two combatants, but apparently the armoured figure heard him.
'I am Deathmaul, the chosen champion of the Blood God and his servant,' the warrior snarled, head swivelling to glare at Dietz through the slits in his horned helm. He drew himself up to his full height and glowered down at them. 'I have dedicated slaughters to his name since the Great War, and I will continue to do so long after your
rotted corpses have fallen to dust, and your souls have become but a memory in my master's belly!'
Dietz heard Alaric gasp, but was too busy staying beyond both figures' reach to see what had troubled his friend. 'It's you,' he heard Alaric say slowly. 'I saw you!'
'Yes, and I shall be the last sight you see,' Deathmaul snarled, scowling at them, before returning his attention to the beastman still pounding on him. 'You disrupted the ritual, but I shall tear out your eyes and swallow them whole, along with your still-beating heart. Perhaps my master will smile upon such a sacrifice.'
Ritual? Sacrifice? Dietz didn't have time to figure out what the Chaos champion was talking about. A pack of beastmen neared them, and he grabbed Alaric by the arm and tugged him out of the way just in time. His friend had stood frozen, still staring at Deathmaul, and the first beastman's axe just missed cleaving him in two. Dietz slammed his mace into the beastman's head, sending the creature to the ground with a loud crack, then hurled his knife at another and took it in the throat. Glouste, disturbed by all the commotion, stuck her head out of his jacket, took one look at the massive armoured figure before them, and disappeared back inside, whimpering. Dietz could hardly blame her.
Just as Dietz was drawing his second knife and wondering how he and his two friends could handle this many beastmen at once, he heard several whistling shrieks, and watched as three long feathered shafts shot past, each taking a beastman in the throat. Alaric skewered another, and Lankdorf shot a fifth, giving Dietz a second to breathe and retrieve his first knife. He also glanced back over his shoulder, and saw that he had guessed right; he hadn't thought any of the mercenaries were carrying longbows.
The elves had arrived. He wasn't sure where they had come from, exactly, but he spotted several perched on broken columns and rooftops, releasing arrows into the melee
and unerringly striking beastmen dead every time. Other elves were in the courtyard, wielding long leaf-bladed swords that glimmered silver in the sunlight, carving their way through the beastmen and through any humans that got in their way.
Dietz definitely considered the elves' arrival a good thing, however. There were far more beastmen than Kleiber had mercenaries, and the creatures far surpassed them in strength and ferocity.
Judging by the sudden loud report nearby and the way a mercenary jerked back, his hand a smoking ruin, the creatures had apparently just remembered that they had blackpowder weapons.
Looking around, Dietz saw that several beastmen stood along one of the crumbling balconies overlooking this courtyard. Each of them held a blackpowder rifle, and sighted their weapons down upon the men fighting below.
'Take out the rifles!' Dietz shouted, though he wasn't sure anyone could hear him over the general tumult. He snatched up a fallen crossbow, fitted a bolt to it, and fired it, narrowly missing one of the beastmen on the balcony, but drawing its attention.
Someone had been listening, however, or at least had reached the same conclusion as him. The beastman in question suddenly reeled backward, an arrow protruding from its left eye. The rifle went off, firing up towards the sky, and the dying beastman toppled into the creature next to it before crumpling onto the balcony floor.
More arrows followed. Then Dietz heard another rifle shot, but it hadn't come from the balcony, and one of the beastmen toppled, its head shattered by a well-placed bullet. Looking around, Dietz saw Wilcreitz at one side of the courtyard, the eight mercenaries who'd accompanied him right beside him. They all had rifles.
'Yes!' Dietz shouted as the bestial rifle squad was cut down. One or two of them got off shots, but the rest fell
before they could bring their rifles to bear. Then Wilcreitz and his men turned their weapons towards the courtyard and began picking off beastmen. Suddenly, it looked like they might actually survive this battle.
'We need to stop him!' Alaric shouted, grabbing at Dietz's arm and leaning in close so he could be heard over the sounds of combat. 'Come on!'
'Who?' Dietz shouted back, snagging Lankdorf as Alaric half-dragged him towards what looked like a ruined fountain near the courtyard's centre. 'The beastmen on the balcony?'
'Deathmaul,' Alaric replied, not slowing down. "We have to keep him away from the mask!'
'The mask is here?' Dietz asked, trying to process everything his friend had said. 'Where?' He followed Alaric back over to the fountain. Resting there was something Dietz wished he had never seen before, and fervently hoped he would never have to see again, despite their recent pursuit of it: the mask from Ind. He reminded himself that over there, on the arm of that monstrosity battling the Chaos champion, was the gauntlet: both of them finely crafted, both of them disquieting to look upon, and both of them dedicated to Chaos and its gods. It was too much. 'What in Ulric's name do we do now?' he demanded.
'I don't know,' Alaric admitted quietly, resting a hand on the fountain to steady himself. 'I saw him, Dietz, in the vision in that valley. That's who I saw: Deathmaul, and an entire Chaos army, maybe even during the Great War Against Chaos. He was battling a Sigmarite named Talbek.' He shook his head. 'Deathmaul won, obviously.'
'We have Sigmarites,' Lankdorf pointed out quickly, 'the witch hunters.'
Alaric shook his head. 'Not like Talbek,' he explained. 'He was blessed, a true champion of Sigmar. He hurt Deathmaul, just not enough.'
Then the nobleman's eyes widened. 'His throat!' he whispered. Talbek struck Deathmaul in the throat with his shield, damn near took his head off! That's why his voice is so gruff, the wound never healed.'
'So, what, we need to hit him in the throat again?' Dietz asked. He turned around and saw Deathmaul and the beastman still struggling together. As he watched, the beastman bashed Deathmaul with his forehead, the great horns gashing his armour and denting his helm. The Chaos champion was hurled from his feet, crushing a mercenary and two beastmen as he fell. When he stood, he was laughing, and in his hands he held the massive twin-bladed axe that appeared to be coated in blood.
'Now you will perish!' Deathmaul shouted, striding unhurriedly across the courtyard. 'And I will rip that gauntlet from your dead flesh!' A pair of mercenaries got in his way, and the massive Chaos champion split one in half with a blow from his axe, then swept it sideways and cut the other's torso from his midsection. Blood sprayed from both men, and the Chaos champion continued on without even glancing at his most recent victims.
'I think so, yes,' Alaric agreed. That collar, though, the one around his neck, I think... I think the daemon gave it to him after the battle, to protect him. We need to remove that first.'
Dietz groaned. 'How? Any suggestions?'
Alaric nodded. 'Yes,' he said, 'but we have to get closer.'
Dietz and Lankdorf both stared at him as if he were insane - and, judging by the noble's expression and the strange light in his eyes, maybe he was. 'Closer? To that?'
'I know,' Alaric agreed, 'but I need to make sure he can hear me.'
'You want Deathmaul to hear you?'
'Not Deathmaul, Bloodgore.' Alaric pointed at the beastman, who was goring an elf and shoving his gauntleted fist through a mercenary's chest at the same time.
Dietz sighed. He had no idea what Alaric was talking about, but he did trust his employer. 'All right,' he said, blocking an approaching beastman's blow and shooting a crossbow bolt into the creature's forehead. 'Let's go.'
They fought their way across the courtyard, as did both Deathmaul and Bloodgore. Dietz felt like the two titans were two mighty rivers rushing towards one another, and he and Alaric, and Lankdorf were a small stream being sucked into the whirlpool. Nor was it easy to get there. The courtyard was utter madness. Elves, humans and beastmen were all battling each other, lashing out with little concern for who they hit, and rains of arrows and hails of rifle fire added to the mayhem and bloodshed. Dietz caught another glimpse of the sorcerer, just in time to see him wave his hands and the mercenary before him literally rip in half as if torn apart by some colossal invisible force.
They were, however, making headway, and were less than ten paces from both Bloodgore and Deathmaul, who were only a few paces from each other.
'Right,' Dietz heard Alaric say beside him. Then his friend stiffened, his face turning bright red and his eyes rolling back. What was going on? Dietz caught Alaric as the noble began spasming, his head lolling, but then Alaric's mouth opened and he shouted something. Dietz had no idea what the words were, but he felt as if he could almost see them, like stains upon the air, and their very utterance made him shiver and sweat, and feel horribly unclean.
Bloodgore also heard them, however, and the beastman turned to look over at Alaric. Then it nodded, and threw itself across the remaining distance, its entire bulk hurled like a missile at the startled Deathmaul.
Bloodgore's gauntleted fist smashed into the Chaos champion's neck, its spikes slicing deep into the heavy collar, the impact sending cracks spiralling through the dark metal and etched stone alike.
Dietz heard what sounded like a moan, which rose quickly to a shrill shriek. The air turned thick and fetid, swirling darkly overhead, battering him and choking him. Then he was tossed aside by some sort of explosion, as the wind, the shrieking and the smell all swept in and then burst outward.
Shaking his head, Dietz sat up, and stared. Bloodgore lay nearby, the beastman's body twitching from pain and blood loss. His arm was gone from the elbow down, the gauntlet nothing but flakes of rust and a pile of ash just beyond his truncated limb. The circlet was gone without a trace.
'You gain nothing, but your death,' Deathmaul choked out. The Chaos champion had been knocked to the ground, but staggered back to his feet. The circlet was gone without a trace, and black blood poured from a gaping wound at his neck, but still Deathmaul managed to haul himself up and raise his axe. Bloodgore tried to rise, but couldn't. His blood-flecked lips pulled back in a silent snarl as the champion's weapon struck, cleaving head from shoulders. Then the massive figure shuddered and lay still.
'What does it take to kill him?' Lankdorf gasped beside Dietz. The bounty hunter had several cuts and scrapes from being hurled off his feet, and swayed slightly, staring at the victorious Deathmaul.
'Someone of equal power,' Alaric said softly from behind them, 'someone like me.'
The strange tone as much as the words made Dietz turn, dreading what he might see. He and Lankdorf had not been the only ones affected by the explosion. He saw other bodies nearby, beastman, human and elf alike, all tossed aside by the force of the two relics' destruction. The ruined fountain had been caught up in the event as well, its already shattered base blasted to rubble by the impact, and several chunks of stone had landed near them, as had the mask.
It was this treasure that Alaric held. Then, in one swift move, Alaric brought his hands up. The mask of the tiger-god of Ind, slid onto his face as if they were two halves of a whole, finally brought together.
'No!' Dietz shouted hoarsely, trying to get to his feet, but it was already too late. Alaric was standing bolt upright. The mask gleamed in the dim light, seeming to glow from within, and it looked as though Alaric's eyes caught fire, turning red-gold and almost catlike.
"Yes,' Alaric said, his voice rough. He rose smoothly to his feet. 'Yes, this body will do nicely. I said you would be mine, Alaric von Jungfreud, and it is so. Soon,' Alaric announced, his voice harsh and grating, 'soon this world will as well.'
'BY ULRIC'S, NO!' Dietz howled, rising to his feet and hurling himself at Alaric. His friend extended one hand and caught Dietz in the chest, stopping him cold. It felt to Dietz as if he had slammed into a solid stone wall, yet Alaric did not even seem to be exerting himself. Glouste exploded out of the jacket, hissing with rage, but upon seeing Alaric she froze. She sniffed once, twice, trying to figure out why her friend was battling her master. Then she gave up and ducked back to safety, making confused sounds.
'Your gods have no power over me, Dietrich Froebel.' It was Alaric speaking, yet the strangely resonant voice was not his and the words were not either, nor was the cold gleam in his glowing eyes. 'Soon he too will bow before me, as I devour his soul along with those of his flock.' Alaric's arm twitched, no more than when one bats away a fly, but Dietz was tossed several yards, and landed heavily halfway across the courtyard.
'Get out of him!' he demanded, heaving himself upright again. 'Leave him alone!'
Alaric - or the creature in Alaric - merely laughed, a chilling sound like bones grating together.
If he intended to say more he was prevented, however, because Deathmaul attacked him.
'First the gauntlet, and now you steal the mask from me!' the Chaos champion raged.
He swung his blood-drenched axe, the muscles in his thick arms bunching and releasing with the powerful blow.
Alaric caught the axe mid-swing, stopping it one-handed as if it were merely a child's toy. Then he plucked the heavy weapon from Deathmaul's numb fingers.
'You cannot harm me,' Alaric said contemptuously, whirling the axe lightly between them. 'For all your prowess, your arrogance has become... tiring.'
Alaric turned as if to walk away, and then spun back, the axe flashing in a crimson arc, slicing across Deathmaul's already ravaged neck, armour and all.
'No!' the Chaos champion gasped. He clamped one mailed hand over the wound, but blood welled up between his fingers. 'I will not die like this! I am the Deathmaul, chosen of my master! I will triumph!'
'You have been cast aside,' Alaric corrected, his tone sharp enough to etch glass. With his free hand, he reached up and peeled Deathmaul's fingers from his throat. 'Now you die, alone and broken.' With one mighty blow, he smote the Chaos champion on his helm with his axe, smashing his head from his body. Deathmaul's head toppled to the ground, a fountain of blood following it from the neck before the massive body collapsed.
'Such a waste,' Alaric said, resting the axe easily over one shoulder.
'Master!' The tall man Dietz had seen earlier strode forward, men and elves alike dying with a flick of his hands
in a torrent of dark magic. Dietz could see the stranger was as tall as him, but thinner, almost gaunt, with long features and the bright eyes of a fanatic. He was wearing long loose robes marked with strange symbols, and jewels glittered at his ears, throat, arms and fingers. 'It is I, Varlek, your most faithful servant!'
Alaric glanced at the sorcerer, then turned away. 'I know your heart, Varlek,' he said softly, each word a sharp knife stabbing the tall man in the chest. 'I know your true ambitions. You will never supplant me. I have you to thank for this fine mask, and this body, and thus I shall be lenient. Depart now, or face my wrath.'
Varlek looked startled at first, then terrified, then resigned, and then hopeful. He did not bother to argue his own innocence. Instead, he raised both arms, uttered something, twisted sideways... and disappeared, leaving only a flickering after-image behind.
Dietz looked around, wondering what to do next. The battle still raged around them, though in smaller clusters. There were fewer beastmen, but fewer elves and humans as well. It was still unclear which side would win. Meanwhile, Alaric was stalking about the courtyard. He seemed taller, more powerful, although Dietz could not tell if the noble had truly grown, or if it was an illusion created by the aura of power radiating from him.
As he watched, an elf leapt in front of Alaric, sword drawn. Alaric caught the blade as it swung, ripping it from his attacker, and the sword arm with it. Then he clubbed the elf with his own arm before finally, almost negligently cutting it in half with the axe.
'By Sigmar!' Kleiber said, stepping up beside Dietz and making the sign of his order before him. 'How can we stop such a creature?'
'We can't,' Dietz admitted. 'That mask makes him stronger and faster than any of us, probably than all of us put together.'
Kleiber looked at him, and nodded. 'So we remove the mask,' he said finally.
Dietz stared at him. If only it were that simple! But maybe... he actually began to think about it. Yes, maybe they could.
'All right,' Dietz agreed. "We get that mask off him, and it weakens the daemon's hold on him, maybe frees him altogether. The question is, how can we get close enough to do that?'
'I can get close.' The speaker was an elf, and she stepped in front of them, her footsteps silent even on the rubble-strewn courtyard. She was tall and lovely, as were the others, but her beauty had a wild aspect. She wore only a brief tunic, no armour, and much of her bare flesh was covered in swirling tattoos.
'Who-?' Dietz started to ask, but the elf woman cut him off.
'We have little time,' she said sharply. 'I am Nelyann Swiftwing. I will help you, for this beast must not be allowed loose upon the land.' She paused, and Dietz nodded. 'I will distract the creature,' she assured them. 'He will not be able to touch me, but I shall touch him many times.' She raised a pair of matched swords.
'Fine,' Dietz said. 'Play decoy. Lure him out. Then we have him.'
Nelyann nodded, and then she was sprinting towards Alaric, a strange song bursting from her lips. Alaric heard her and turned to meet her, his axe rising to strike. She ducked, in perfect time to a dip in her song, and the deadly blow missed. Dietz blinked. Nelyann danced around the daemon-possessed scholar, her blades flickering in and out, too fast to be seen clearly, and somehow her weaving and twisting allowed her to sidestep Alaric's powerful, but clumsy attacks. Her swords danced as she did, moving to the same pounding beat pouring from her lips. Alaric was unable to block them. Cuts appeared by the handful on
his body, although he made no noise, nor gave any indication that he felt the pain.
Dietz shook his head. 'Come on!' he urged Kleiber, running towards Alaric. He still did not understand why an elf, who had so recently threatened their lives, was now trying to save it, but this was not the time to ponder such things. If Alaric hit her, even once, she would most likely die. That meant they had to take advantage of her help as quickly as possible.
Dietz veered off to the side as he approached, gesturing to Kleiber to do the same, but from the opposite side. Sensing their plan, Nelyann stayed in front of Alaric, holding his attention. They converged behind Alaric. The question was, now what?
Dietz looked over at Kleiber, and the witch hunter shrugged. Then he threw himself at Alaric's back.
'Sigmar grant me strength!' Kleiber called out. He wrapped his arms around Alaric's neck and his legs around Alaric's waist, and began tugging and twisting, and shoving at the mask.
Dietz shrugged. He didn't exactly have any better ideas, so as Nelyann twisted to one side, he stepped up and reached for the mask's right edge. His callused fingers clamped onto the thin stone of the mask, and he began to tug with all his might.
You wish to rob me of my treasure?' Alaric asked, rage throbbing in his voice. You will die for such blasphemy!' He swept the axe in a massive arc all around him. Dietz leapt backward, just avoiding the weapon's glittering blood-red edge. Kleiber simply hung on, shifting his grip to Alaric's neck in order to retain his perch and prevent Alaric from reaching him. Nelyann leapt up instead of away, the axe skimming through the air just below her feet, and arcing back just before she began falling to earth again.
'Grab it!' Kleiber hissed at Dietz, his hands rising from Alaric's throat to tug at the mask.
Dietz ran back up and grasped the mask with both hands, trying to pull it free.
The mask fought him. It clung to Alaric's face as if it had been nailed down, but Dietz refused to let go, except when Alaric tried to attack him, and then he simply returned and tried again. Glouste emerged again, saw what he was doing, and lent her own help. The agile tree fox leapt from his jacket onto Alaric's head, anchored herself by clinging to his scalp, and planted her sharp hind claws along the edge where the mask met Alaric's forehead. Then she started digging furiously. Nelyann did her best to keep Alaric busy by attacking him constantly and daring him to attack her, and Kleiber hampered Alaric's movements and helped Dietz work at prying up the mask's edges.
It seemed like hours, but might have been only minutes. Dietz had several burning cuts where he had not been quite fast enough to avoid Alaric's blows completely. Kleiber's grip had slackened and he was starting to slip off Alaric's back. If he fell, the noble would simply turn and chop him in half. Fortunately, Nelyann showed no signs of slowing down, and Dietz felt like he was making progress. He could now get the tips of his fingers under the mask's outer edges, wedging his flesh between the accursed stone and the flesh of his friend.
Then Nelyann apparently misjudged. She skipped in, her blades leaping forward in time with her song, and Alaric growled and hacked at her. The female elf spun lightly back and away, but in the instant that she turned, Alaric flipped the axe over suddenly, so its head was near his right hand instead of his left. That meant that Nelyann twirled right into the heavy blade, her momentum slamming the crimson edge deep into her chest and halfway through her torso. Her song faltered and died as blood bubbled up between her lips.
Alaric snarled, and tugged the blade free. He reversed his grip a second time, and chopped off her head. The elf
woman fell, her body toppling one way and her head another, her two blades clattering to the ground.
'Morr's blood!' Dietz knew it was now or never. Without her as a distraction, Alaric would turn on him next, and he lacked the dead elfs grace or training. What he did have, however, was pure stubbornness, and strong hands and arms from years of manual labour. He latched onto the mask again, shoving his fingertips as far under it as he could get them, gouging Alaric's flesh in the process. Then he pulled with all his might.
'You will perish!' Alaric warned him, laughing as he raised the axe and let the elf s blood soak into its surface. 'You will all die, and your death cries will feed me, just as your souls will slake my thirst!'
'Never, foul creature!' Kleiber replied from his perch. The witch hunter drew his blackpowder pistol, and levelled it, not at Alaric's eye, but at his temple, right where flesh met stone. 'Sigmar protects us, just as he protects our friend whose body you have usurped. Release him!' And he fired.
The bullet struck with enough force to send Alaric reeling, and Dietz planted his feet, and yanked at the same time as his friend staggered back. With a terrible wet tearing sound the mask ripped free. Glouste followed, leaping from Alaric back onto Dietz's shoulder, where she chittered proudly about her contribution.
'No!' Alaric reached for the mask, his face a bloody ruin, even as Kleiber's hold weakened and he dropped to the ground behind the noble. 'Return my mask!'
Dietz held the thing up so he could look at it. It was still as lovely and as terrifying as when he had first seen it in that temple, even though its inner surface was now coated with blood, gore and flesh. He could almost feel the power radiating from it, and a dull force pushed at his mind, trying to sway him into wearing the mask. Dietz set his mind against it, and poured all of his rage and fear into resisting. 'No,' he replied.
'Give it to me!' Alaric shrieked, hefting his axe. 'Now!'
Dietz backed away, out of swinging range.
Then he saw something change. Behind the blood, he saw the strange light fade from his friend's eyes.
'Dietz?' The voice was different, smoother, less powerful, and filled with pain and confusion. The axe dropped from his hands, and he staggered.
'Alaric?'
'Sigmar be praised,' Kleiber announced, making the sign of his order. 'The daemon has fled your body.'
Dietz saw the frown on his friend's lips. 'No,' Alaric admitted hoarsely, his voice raw, but recognisably his own. 'It's still inside me, still gripping me. Weaker, though. Taking my - its - face helped.'
'What can we do to get it out of you completely?' Dietz asked.
Alaric started to shake his head. 'I don't-' Then he stopped, a gleam in his eyes. It was a gleam that Dietz knew all too well, and had often cursed. 'Destroy its face!'
Dietz looked down at the mask in his hand. 'Are you sure?'
His friend giggled. 'It's calling to me, Dietz. It wants to get back inside my head.' His hands flew to his head, tugging at the hair at his temples. 'Its whispers are drowning out all my thoughts.'
Worried by the way his friend sounded, Dietz tossed the mask onto the paving stones. Glouste, startled by the motion, returned to her usual place in his jacket.
'Grind it beneath your feet!' Alaric urged, his voice a pain-filled whisper. 'Stamp it into the earth. Shatter it with your heel.'
Dietz cursed. Clearly, Alaric wasn't going to be much more help, but he thought he could manage on his own. Seeing Deathmaul's axe, he ran to the massive bloodstained weapon, gripped its heavy handle with both hands, and heaved.
The axe did not move an inch.
'Morr's blood!' Dietz glanced around. Most of their friends were still battling the remaining beastmen, and Kleiber was doing something in front of Alaric, most likely blessing him to hold the daemon's influence at bay. Dietz wasn't sure that would help, but he didn't want to risk disrupting it. Lankdorf was nearby, however, and Dietz shouted at the tracker. 'Lankdorf! I need your help!'
The former bounty hunter dispatched his latest foe and came running. He saw at once what Dietz was doing, nodded, and joined him on the weapon. Together, they managed to lift it off the ground, but only just.
'Kleiber,' Dietz yelled, 'help us!'
The witch hunter turned, about to argue, and then saw what they were attempting. He immediately stepped up beside them and gripped the axe just above the handle, gasping as he felt the Chaos taint imbued in the weapon.
Left on his own, Alaric crumpled to the ground, and began crawling towards the mask.
'All together!' Dietz shouted. He, Lankdorf, and Kleiber all strained, and raised the axe to head height. Dietz stretched, feeling muscles protest and even tear, and just managed to hook his boot tip into the mask's left eyehole. He tugged it towards them, eliciting a whine of protest from Alaric, and nudged it until it was right beneath the axe.
'Now!' he yelled. They brought the axe down, although it was more a matter of dropping the heavy weapon than of actually striking anything with it.
Whatever the cause, the double-bladed axe slammed down on the mask, smashing the thin stone face into the hard granite beneath.
Dietz heard a definite crunch, followed by a shuddering wail. For the second time, he was swept off his feet by an explosion of air and sound, and smell.
A voice shrieked in rage, the sound echoing and building, and shaking the very stones with its rage. 'I will not be
denied!' But with each word it was weaker, the echoes longer, as if it were farther away, and then it faded completely, leaving only a faint ringing in the ears.
When he picked himself back up, Dietz saw that the mask was shattered into a thousand tiny slivers. The axe had fared better. Much of its haft remained intact, but the twin blades had crumbled away like rotted wood, their particles already scattered across the courtyard.
Unfortunately, the haft had been propelled backward by the impact, and was jutting from Lankdorfs chest. The bounty hunter dropped to the ground, his face white, clutching at the broken wooden haft as a dark stain spread across his chest and belly.
'Lankdorf!' Dietz dropped to his friend's side. 'Lankdorf, can you hear me?'
The former bounty hunter glanced at him and half-smiled. 'Don't... worry,' he managed to whisper through the blood that was welling out of his mouth. 'I'll... leave a... trail for you... to follow.' Then his eyes glazed over and his last breath rattled in his throat.
'I know you will,' Dietz assured his friend, reaching out to close the tracker's eyes. 'May Morr treat you with the respect you deserve, Merkel Lankdorf.'
He stood, shakily, and glanced around. He saw Alaric just beyond them, unmoving.
'Alaric!' Dietz leapt over the remains of the artefact, and knelt by the noble. Kleiber, who had also been knocked down, roused himself and moved to Alaric's other side.
Alaric was a mess. His face had been torn to shreds when the mask had come loose, and Kleiber's bullet had burned his temple, although it had not pierced his daemon protected skin. The wardancer had inflicted a score of cuts upon his arms, legs, and torso, and he bore several new burns and cuts from the recent explosion. Despite all that, his eyes flickered open, and he smiled at Dietz.
'It worked' Alaric whispered through torn lips. 'It's just me in here.'
'Good' Dietz said. 'I wish we'd never seen that bloody mask!'
Alaric coughed. What, and miss all this adventure?' he asked. Then he passed out.
Dietz glanced at Kleiber, who nodded. The daemon has fled' the witch hunter assured him. 'It could not withstand the destruction of the items that bound it to this plane.' He glanced down at Alaric again. 'He is weakened, but our friend will live.'
Dietz nodded, and looked around. 'Provided we survive the battle.'
Someone ran out of one of the buildings along the courtyard. It was Wilcreitz. 'Get back!' the short witch hunter shouted, running towards them. 'Take cover!'
Dietz responded without thinking, dropping back to his knees and twisting so that his back shielded Alaric, and just in time, too. He had just squeezed his eyes shut when he felt a powerful blast of hot air across his cheek and all along his back, and heard a massive explosion. This one sounded different to the others he'd already endured, and Dietz glanced back. This explosion was more mundane. Flames were rising from the building that Wilcreitz had just exited, and as he watched, the roof collapsed, sending chunks of stone and clouds of dust flying. One chunk struck Dietz a heavy blow to one leg, sending pain shooting up along the limb and all through his side. Smaller fragments tore at his face, leaving streaks of fire there, but he counted himself lucky that he hadn't fared worse.
'What was that?' Kleiber demanded, rising to his feet and dusting his hat off against his leg.
'The blackpowder' Wilcreitz answered, walking towards them. 'They had it all stashed in that building. There was too much to carry back, and the beastmen were getting more aggressive about fighting past us to
get to it again. I could not risk them seizing rifles again, so I set fire to it.'
Kleiber considered this for a second, and then nodded. 'A wise choice,' he complimented his assistant, who looked pleased. 'Now we may depart, knowing that no other will misuse those weapons.'
'We should make sure the last of the beastmen are dead,' Wilcreitz pointed out, but Kleiber shook his head.
'Look around.' Dietz did too, scanning the courtyard again, and he saw what Kleiber meant. Some beastmen remained, but they were clearly outnumbered by the elves and the humans, and looked confused. Their leaders had been killed or fled, the blackpowder weapons were gone, and they had nowhere left to turn.
'Let the elves pursue the last of them. They hate the beastmen far more than we do, and it will keep them occupied. No, our task here is done. Gather the men and regroup in the clearing.'
Wilcreitz nodded and turned away, and Kleiber stepped up and placed a hand on Dietz's shoulder. 'Come,' he said, 'let us leave this place.'
Dietz nodded and followed the witch hunter out of the ruins, cradling Alaric in his arms.
'AH !' THEY WERE sitting in the clearing between the ruins and the trees, where they had thrown together a makeshift camp. It had seemed a better choice than staying in the ruins, but safer then venturing back under the trees. Dietz had a damp rag in one hand, and was using it to clean away the damage to Alaric's face. Unfortunately, that damage included most of his skin, and each touch of the cloth was agonising.
'How bad is it?' Alaric asked after several more minutes, trying to unclench his teeth enough to speak properly.
'Bad,' his friend admitted. 'You'll never be pretty again.'
'That may be a blessing in disguise,' Alaric said sharply, remembering how his looks had gotten him undesired attention more than once.
'You will survive, friend Alaric,' Kleiber said from nearby, 'and that is what matters. Your scars will bear witness to your courage.'
Alaric twitched, and then regretted it as the movement caused his cheeks to tighten, the air making the raw flesh sting. Courage? He'd been possessed by a daemon! He was having a hard time thinking about that. It was as if his mind refused to acknowledge what had happened to him. He remembered shoving the mask onto his face, and then he had only hazy images of battle, followed by a burst of pain as the mask had been torn free. Dietz had filled him in on what he'd said and done in between, but he couldn't recall any of it clearly, which was probably for the best. As it was, he felt he was barely keeping himself together; strange images, thoughts, and emotions kept swirling through him, leaving him breathless and confused, and he feared that the slightest pressure could destroy what was left of his mind.
'You survived,' Dietz pointed out quietly, 'that's something.' He shrugged. 'Not many could fight their way back, I'd say.'
Kleiber was nodding. 'Dietz is correct,' he assured Alaric. The fact that you forced the daemon from your body is proof of your courage and your faith, for without both your soul would surely have perished. We do, of course, need to perform a proper exorcism upon our return to Altdorf.'
'I'm just glad it's over,' Alaric replied, starting to shake his head, and then thinking better of it. 'No more tainted relics for me.' He saw the look on Dietz's face. 'I promise.'
Dietz snorted. 'We'll see.' The older man set aside the rag. 'Done.' He reached for a bowl filled with some greenish paste. 'I asked Lankdorf how to make this salve the other day. I thought it'd be good to have.' All of them were injured to some degree, but Dietz had insisted upon treating Alaric's injuries first, as they were the most severe. Alaric had been in no condition to argue, and sat still as his friend administered the salve, coating his damaged face with the concoction.
'We owe him a great deal,' Alaric said after a minute.
'Herr Lankdorf was a worthy ally,' Kleiber agreed, 'and a good man. Surely Sigmar sent him to aid us, and has gathered his soul that he may be rewarded for his bravery.'
That's all well and good,' Dietz said without turning around, 'but what about his body? He deserves a proper burial.'
'I agree.' The new voice made Alaric glance up, and he saw Wilcreitz standing beside them. 'He was worthy of respect, and should be buried with honour.'
Dietz looked surprised, and turned to nod his thanks to the stocky witch hunter.
'We will venture back into the ruins shortly,' Kleiber decided, taking the wineskin Wilcreitz offered him and drinking before passing it along to Dietz. 'I would retrieve whatever we can of the stolen weapons, to bring back to Altdorf with our remaining rifles as proof. We will collect Herr Lankdorf s remains, and those of our fallen mercenaries' He frowned. 'We cannot carry them back with us, but we will build a fine pyre for them, and give them all due rites.'
Dietz nodded, wiping a hand across his mouth and offering the wineskin to Alaric. Glouste, perched on his shoulder, burbled, and the sound increased in volume as Alaric reached across to scratch the tree fox behind her ears.
'No, I'm not angry at you, Glouste,' he assured her softly, taking the wineskin and drinking, careful not to touch it directly to his torn lips. 'I know you helped. Thank you.' The tree fox rubbed her forehead against his hand affectionately.
'How are the others?' Dietz asked, taking the wineskin back from Alaric and returning it to Wilcreitz. Their wounded were stretched out nearby, and the stocky witch hunter had been tending to them.
'Seven are severely wounded and may not live through the night,' the second witch hunter replied. 'Four are
injured, but in no serious danger, and with no loss of mobility. Two have only minor injuries.'
Alaric did the maths. Kleiber had brought thirty mercenaries, plus Lankdorf. Thirteen had survived. They had lost eighteen men in the attack.
It could have been considerably worse, if Bloodgore hadn't donned the gauntlet, if he hadn't remembered about Deathmaul's throat... Yes, it could have been much worse.
'What about that man?' Dietz asked. The tall one in the robes? Did he get away?'
'Varlek,' Alaric answered. 'He's a sorcerer, and Deathmaul's assistant, or perhaps ally.' He struggled to remember what the Chaos champion had said before the battle. Varlek killed the cultists and took the mask, and he brought back the gauntlet.'
'Most likely he was responsible for stealing the blackpowder weapons as well,' Kleiber commented. 'Since the tracks we followed were of normal boots, not of heavily armoured feet.' He scratched idly at his chin. 'Clearly, this Varlek was deeply involved in what occurred. I will inform my superiors when we return so we can attempt to capture him.'
'And then,' Wilcreitz added, 'we shall execute him.' His superior nodded, and Alaric couldn't help feeling a surge of relief. From what he'd seen, Varlek didn't deserve any mercy, and they'd all sleep better knowing that the sorcerer was dead.
He started to say as much, when a faint movement beyond their camp caught his eye. Watching closely, Alaric saw something shift in the trees just past the clearing.
'We're being watched,' he said softly to Dietz. His friend's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, only nodded.
'I need another drink,' Dietz announced, scooping Glouste back into his jacket, rising to his feet and stepping over to retrieve the wineskin from Wilcreitz. As he took it
from the witch hunter, Dietz leaned in and whispered something in Wilcreitz's ear. Alaric saw the stocky witch hunter start, his eyes darting towards the forest, but Wilcreitz managed to control himself. It was not until after Dietz returned to Alaric's side that Wilcreitz leaned in and muttered something to Kleiber, whose hands immediately went to his sword and his pistol.
Kleiber had never been long on subtlety, and this was no exception. Rising to his feet, the witch hunter turned towards the forest's edge. 'Show yourself,' he shouted, 'or we will be forced to assume that you are hostile, and will react accordingly.' Behind him, the remaining mercenaries, startled by the sudden announcement, leapt to their feet and drew their weapons.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, just as Kleiber opened his mouth to speak again, the trees rustled. Alaric watched as a shadow beneath one tree detached itself, shifting and gaining substance as it crossed the distance between them, until it stopped just beyond the light of their fire. From this short distance, Alaric could see the grey cloak and leaf-patterned armour, and the figure's hair shone silver even in the dim light.
No one spoke. The elf - whose name, Alaric somehow knew, was Lasalnean Silverleaf - and Kleiber stared at one another, no doubt sizing each other up. Alaric noticed that the elf leader had acquired another bow, but it remained across his back. His hands hovered near the long knives at his belt, but did not draw them, and Kleiber's hands rested on his pistol and his sword, but they too remained holstered and sheathed.
The beastmen are no more,' Lasalnean declared finally. 'The ruins are empty, and soon they will be cleansed of all remaining taint.' From his tone, Alaric suspected that included their touch. You have trespassed upon our sacred place, and upon these woods,' the elf continued, his tone sharp, even though his voice was musical. 'You must die.'
'What in Sigmar's name?' Wilcreitz rose to his feet and took a step forward, hands going to the sword and pistol at his side. 'Are you threatening us?' he shouted at the elf. 'We are servants of Sigmar, protected and shielded by his divine grace! You cannot-'
Whatever he had meant to say next was overpowered by a series of soft thrums, followed by several quick whistling sounds.
'Down!' Alaric felt an impact against his side and the ground rushed up to meet him, even as something sharp pricked his cheek. Then he was hitting the earth and rolling over, pushing Dietz off him.
'What was that?' Alaric demanded, trying to get back to his feet, but his friend had a hand on his shoulder and kept him from rising. Dietz didn't speak, but shook his head and gestured with one hand.
Turning to where Dietz had pointed, Alaric saw Wilcreitz. The stocky witch hunter was still standing, but now he swayed, his knees giving out. As he slid slowly to the ground, his body twisted, and Alaric could see the arrow piercing Wilcreitz's throat.
'By Sigmar!' Alaric raised a hand without really thinking about it and brushed the stinging spot on his cheek. His fingers came away sticky, and a quick glance showed that they were covered with salve and something darker: blood.
'Coward!' Kleiber was shouting, not at Lasalnean, but at the trees beyond him, both weapons in his hands. 'You would fell a warrior of Sigmar, and from under cover? Come forth and face me!' Somehow the witch hunter was unharmed, although Alaric saw what looked like a new tear along Kleiber's hat brim.
A figure emerged from the woods and drifted forward to join Lasalnean, its cloak blending into the shadows, creeping in as the sun drifted below the horizon. Another followed, and another, all of them moving without a sound, all with bows in hands and arrows nocked. Alaric
saw that their leader also had his bow in his hands. There were seven elves in all, and Alaric glanced behind him to do a quick count of their own forces. It was only then that he realised why he had heard so many thrums. Four of the mercenaries lay dead, arrows in their throats or eyes. Judging by what he saw, the sharp-eyed elves had carefully targeted the healthiest of Kleiber's men. Of the remaining nine, seven seemed unable to stand unaided.
That left two still capable of fighting, plus Kleiber, Dietz, and himself, against seven very angry elves.
Alaric felt laughter bubbling up in his throat, and could not prevent the hysterical giggle that escaped his bloodied lips. They had survived a daemon and its champion, and a battle with beastmen, and now they were going to die at the hands of a pack of elves? A race that most believed to be pure myth? He let the laughter sweep through him, knowing he seemed mad, and wondering if it were true.
Then he drew his rapier and leapt forward. He knew without looking that Dietz was right behind him.
'SIR!'
The harbourmaster looked up from his papers as the other man, one of his dockworkers, approached. "Yes, Fredrich?'
'You'd better have a look at this, sir.'
The harbourmaster followed as Fredrich led him to one of the outermost piers. Another dockworker, Hans, stood there with a long pole in his hand. The pole had a metal hook on its far end, and was used to pull waterbound items closer or push them farther away from the safety of the pier. The harbourmaster noticed that Hans's pole was angled down towards the water, but that he was not putting much pressure on it.
'Down there, sir,' Hans said as they approached, waggling the pole to indicate its far end. The harbourmaster glanced out over the piers edge, and stared.
It was a raft, or at least so he assumed. Really, from here, it looked like little more than random branches and
planks crudely tied together, yet the rough collection did seem to float. Stretched across it was a man, spread-eagled with his hands and feet wedged into the gaps in order for him to hold on.
'I noticed it as it bumped up against one o' the pilings,' Hans explained. 'Caught it without trouble and pulled it close to wait for you.' He glanced down at the man below. 'He ain't moved once.' All three of them looked at once towards the slender shafts protruding from both the raft and the man stretched upon it, their fletchings stiff from river water, but still discernible. Someone had not wanted this man to get away alive.
Then the man stirred. His hands twitched and his head shifted, turning to the side. Now they could see his face, and all three men gasped.
'Fetch a healer immediately,' the harbourmaster told Fredrich. 'Hurry!' Then he turned back to Hans. 'Get Jan and Pieter,' he instructed the dockworker. Tell them to take a skiff, bring it around, and pull that man onboard.'
'Yes, sir.' Hans set his pole down and ran off searching for his fellows, leaving the harbourmaster alone, looking down at the man on the raft.
At first glance, the harbourmaster had thought the man old, but now he saw that was not the case. It was the hair that had fooled him. It was white as snow, and so he had assumed the stranger to be elderly. Examined more carefully, the man could not be beyond middle-age. His face was horrible, mere shreds of flesh clinging to raw tissue, with bone showing through in several places, but beneath the terrible damage it did not seem the face of an old man. Nor did the hands and feet seem withered enough to be those of an older fellow. Why was his hair white? An illness? A family trait? Or some terrible shock?
The man was wearing tattered rags, and the harbourmaster doubted there would be anything in those cloth
scraps to identify the stranger. If he didn't wake up, they might never find out who he was.
'Welcome to Nuln,' the harbourmaster whispered finally. 'I hope, whoever you are, that you survive long enough to see it.' And, he added silently, for us to learn who you are, and to know what happened to leave you in this sorry state. For surely there was a tale there. He only hoped they would have a chance to hear it.

