01 - Death's Messenger

by Sandy Mitchell - (ebook by Undead)

  “I didn’t know your fire spell was that powerful,” Rudi said.

  “That’s just the thing,” Hanna said, her voice trembling. “It isn’t. That was a different spell, one I never learned.”

  “You must have done,” Rudi replied, looking around for more of the rat-things. He couldn’t see any, but ominous scuttling noises in the ruins around them left him sure that they were still there, biding their time, waiting for others to join them. “You probably just forgot it.”

  “No.” Hanna shook her head decisively. “It just appeared in my head, and I knew I could do it. Those creatures were all over me, and I panicked. I was sure they were going to kill me. Then suddenly I knew the… the things you need to do.”

  “Lucky you did,” Rudi said.

  “Is it?” Hanna looked on the verge of tears. “I feel like there’s something inside me I can’t control. I thought magic was simple, something you do just to make life a bit easier, and people like Gerhard were ignorant brutes. But now I don’t even know what I am!”

  “You’re a pyromancer,” a voice said out of the darkness.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Rudi snapped his head round, searching for the speaker. Something about the voice, cool and feminine, sounded familiar, but it was only when he caught sight of her that he recognised Alwyn. A mixture of surprise and anger flooded through him.

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  “Not much,” the woman replied, shrugging casually. “We heard screaming from our campsite, so I came to see what was going on. The others will be here in a few minutes.” She was sitting comfortably on top of one of the largest pieces of stonework. Her grey cape rendered her almost invisible among the shadows. How she’d got up there Rudi had no idea. “But you seem to be managing quite well on your own.”

  “What do you mean I’m a pyromancer?” Hanna asked. Alwyn smiled.

  “A pyromancer is a sorcerer with an affinity for fire magic…”

  “I know what the word means!” Hanna snapped. Alwyn nodded.

  “I’m sure you do. You seem quite powerful for a hedge wizard, by the way.”

  “A what?” Rudi asked. Alwyn smiled again.

  “It’s a slang term for a sorcerer who hasn’t been formally trained. A bit disparaging, but I always preferred it to witch.” She turned her head, as though listening to something. “This isn’t really the time or place to discuss it, though.”

  She was right about that. Distracted by his astonishment at seeing her again and the bizarre conversation which had ensued, Rudi had almost forgotten the rat-things, but the creatures had clearly not forgotten them. Renewed scuttling and chittering in the shadows presaged another attack, and he glanced around, looking for a way out. Perhaps Alwyn could see a line of retreat from her elevated position, he thought, but when he turned back to ask her she’d vanished as abruptly as she’d appeared in the first place.

  “Come on.” He took Hanna by the arm, urging her to move. “We can’t stay here. Even if you can do that fire trick now.”

  “I’m not sure I can.” Her voice was soft in the darkness. “I don’t remember how I did it the first time. It just happened.”

  “Then let’s hope it happens again,” Rudi said. A flash of motion in a nearby patch of shadow caught his eye. He stooped for a chunk of rubble, and was about to throw it, when Alwyn took a pace out into the moonlight and beckoned to them. Rudi and Hanna moved towards her, but by the time they reached the block of stone she’d appeared from, the woman had gone again.

  “How does she do that?” Rudi asked in frustration. Hanna looked at him pityingly.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Before she could explain further a shrill squeal erupted from the ruins behind them, redoubling and echoing from the stone blocks all around. It was answered by a chorus of squeaking and chittering, which made the hairs on Rudi’s scalp bristle. Then it was all but drowned out by the pattering of dozens of rodent feet, as a grey tide of humaniform vermin scuttled towards them.

  “Now would be a good time to remember how you did the fire thing,” Rudi said, flinging his improvised missile. It impacted on a rodent in the front rank, who faltered and fell, but the rest of the creatures just kept coming, trampling their unfortunate comrade in the process. Rudi took a step forward, placing himself protectively in front of Hanna, knowing even as he did so that it was a futile gesture.

  “Out of the way!” Hanna’s voice had changed, it was resonant with strength and power. Glancing back at her Rudi shuddered involuntarily. Her eyes were blank, and an uncharacteristic expression of malevolence suffused her face. A ball of fire, like the one she’d conjured to light their way earlier that evening, appeared in front of them, hissing and crackling, but this was no friendly beacon. Rudi could feel the furnace heat of it, and the flames it was composed of were a dull, hellish red.

  Abruptly it shot forwards, fast as an arrow, and struck home in the centre of the onrushing horde. It exploded as it hit, enveloping one unfortunate rodent, which thrashed about squealing as it burned alive, injuring several of its fellows in the process. The charge faltered, panic began to spread from the vicinity of the burning rat like ripples from a stone tossed into a pond.

  “Neat trick,” Alwyn said, suddenly standing next to Rudi. She drew a sword from under her cloak, taking guard with it with fluid precision. “Ever seen this one?”

  Rudi flinched, expecting some equally spectacular display of destructive power, but nothing seemed to be happening. Then his attention was drawn to a low rumbling sound somewhere in the vicinity of the main body of the rat-things. Before he could fully comprehend what was going on the ground gave way beneath them, pitching most of the creatures down a deep hole, which had appeared from nowhere. Frantic squealing followed them into the depths, although quite how deep the pit was Rudi couldn’t tell. The ground solidified again before their cries were cut off by their impact with the bottom.

  “That should even the odds a bit,” Alwyn said, with satisfaction. She glanced at Rudi as though vaguely surprised to see him still there. “I’d take care of your sister if I were you.” For a moment Rudi wondered what she was talking about, before he remembered the lie they’d told at the Jolly Friar. He looked across at Hanna, who was swaying on her feet, totally exhausted. The effort of casting the fire spell had evidently drained all the reserves she had. He hesitated, torn between concern for her and fear of the remaining rodents.

  “What about the beastmen?” he asked.

  “Beastmen?” Alwyn looked confused for a moment, then realised what he was talking about and grinned. “I think you can leave the rest of them to us.”

  There was no mistaking who she meant by that. Almost as she spoke the unmistakable thwip of an arrow in flight terminated abruptly in a thud and a squeal. It ended its trajectory in the throat of a rat-thing larger than most of its fellows, which seemed to be urging the panic-stricken survivors of the warband to stand and fight. That was enough: with shrill cries of terror the remaining ratmen scattered and ran, heedless now of where their flight would take them.

  In most cases that wasn’t far. The rest of Krieger’s warband were waiting for them. They stepped out of the shadows to engage and cut them down. It seemed that these creatures, whatever they were, relied on the weight of numbers to overwhelm an enemy, and once scattered into smaller groups they were easy prey for a competent warrior.

  And competent the sell-swords certainly were. Rudi saw Bruno taking on three at once. He laughed as he skipped and danced out of the way of their clumsy sword blows, parrying and slashing until the trio of creatures all lay dead at his feet. Theo, by contrast, plied his sword with grim efficiency, all deadly precision. Rudi watched him in awe, almost unable to tell where the man ended and the weapon began. A low rumble of laughter drew his attention to Bodun the dwarf, whose battleaxe cleaved through his opponents as though chopping wood. And throughout it all Conrad stood on a block of masonry that commanded the battlefield, picking off individual rat cr
eatures with a precision that Rudi, a bowman himself, could well appreciate.

  Confident that they were safe he approached Hanna, and took her weight as she collapsed with exhaustion. She looked up at him, her face and voice normal again. Fear and wonder mingled in her eyes.

  “I felt it,” she whispered. “So much power…” Then she swooned. Staggering slightly under her increased weight, Rudi lowered her gently to the ground and stood over her, determined to defend her if he had to. But it seemed there was no need. One of the creatures ran in their direction, impelled it seemed by nothing more aggressive than blind panic, but it tried to change direction abruptly as Alwyn stepped out to meet it. The effort was futile. She ran it through with an economy of motion which showed Rudi she was as experienced a fighter as the rest of them.

  “How is she?” the woman asked, trotting over to check on Hanna. Rudi shrugged.

  “You’re the sorcerer. You tell me.”

  “Hm.” Alwyn squatted, and examined the prostrate girl for a moment. “She’ll be all right. She just needs a few hours sleep and a good meal.”

  “Young Wolfsbane!” A hand like granite pounded Rudi on the back, making him stagger. “By Grungni’s beard, I never expected to see you again so soon!”

  “You can add skavenslayer to that, Bodun,” Alwyn said. “I saw him throttle one with his bare hands.”

  “Really?” Bruno looked at Rudi with an expression of surprised respect. “That’s pretty impressive for a tenderfoot.”

  “It’s impressive for anyone,” Conrad added, exchanging a kiss with his wife. They stood together, arms around one another’s waists, exuding an easy intimacy. “Couldn’t resist doing the hole trick again, could you?”

  “What can I say?” Alwyn shrugged. “It’s an old spell, but it gets the job done.”

  “And buries any loot along with the victims,” Conrad added, with transparently feigned irritation. “Still, I suppose it’s flashy enough to impress a couple of youngsters…” He broke off as she elbowed him gently in the ribs.

  “Heading for Marienburg the hard way, I see.” Theo joined them last of all, sheathing his sword. Rudi glared at the group of adventurers, who all seemed so full of themselves. His anger rose. In spite of his best efforts he felt his fists clench.

  “You didn’t leave us a whole lot of choice about that, did you?” he snapped.

  “What?” Theo glanced at the ruins surrounding them. “This is hardly the spot for a long conversation. Let’s collect your gear and get back to our camp. You can fill us in on what you’re doing here then.”

  “We don’t have any gear,” Rudi said tightly. He didn’t even have a clue where his last remaining snare line was. “We’ve lost everything, thanks to you.”

  “Thanks to us?” Bruno looked on the verge of accepting his challenge even if he didn’t understand it. “All you’ve got to thank us for is saving your lives.”

  “At the very least,” Conrad agreed, placing a gently restraining hand on the young man’s shoulder. Alwyn nodded soberly.

  “Those creatures take slaves. At least so the stories go—”

  “What are they, anyway?” Rudi asked, unable to contain his curiosity despite the anger he still felt towards the group. “Beastmen of some kind?”

  “No one really knows,” Theo said. “Most people don’t even believe they exist. But there’s enough who do to spread the word.”

  “They’re creatures of Chaos, that’s clear enough,” Alwyn said. She indicated Hanna’s prostrate form. “I need some help to carry her.”

  “I can manage,” Rudi said sharply, but Conrad laid a hand on his arm, the way he had with Bruno a moment before. Rudi began to shrug it off, but the touch was light, and somehow hard to resent.

  “You’re all in, lad. Let us help her.”

  “All right.” Rudi nodded reluctantly, and allowed Bruno to step in and support Hanna’s other shoulder. She roused just enough to stumble forwards on her own, clinging to the young adventurer and the sorcerer, who held her up on either side.

  “Good lad.” Theo turned to Bodun and Conrad. “Can you two take care of things here?”

  “Do you doubt it?” The dwarf glanced contemptuously at the body of the rat thing Alwyn had stabbed. “Though there’ll be precious little worth taking from this vermin, I’ll be bound.”

  “But what there is you can always trust a dwarf to find,” Conrad added, to the general amusement of the company.

  “That’s true,” Bodun agreed happily, and began to search the creature’s body.

  The adventurers’ camp wasn’t far away. Nevertheless Rudi was so tired that it seemed a to take a long time to reach it. He was too exhausted to even ask questions, and it wasn’t until he was sitting in front of a cosy fire with a bowl of stew in his hands that he found his voice again.

  “What were those things, anyway? You started to explain, but…”

  “They’re called skaven,” Theo said as Rudi devoured the thick mixture of vegetables. “Like Alwyn says, they’re creatures of Chaos.” He shrugged. “And that’s about all anybody knows. They live underground, like the rats they resemble, and most folk will tell you they don’t exist.”

  “Which doesn’t stop the councils of most cities paying a good price to anyone who’ll keep the vermin out of their sewers,” Bruno added. “So long as you know who to ask, and keep your mouth shut afterwards.”

  “Which is rather beside the point at the moment,” Theo pointed out. He turned to Rudi. “So what are you doing out here on your own, and why do you think it was our fault?”

  “You sneaked out of the inn and left us to pay the bill!” Rudi almost choked on his stew. Theo laughed.

  “Think of it as a learning experience.”

  “Is that all you can say?” Rudi snapped. “Thanks to you we were nearly arrested, lost all our possessions, and got thrown off a riverboat!”

  “What were you doing on a riverboat?” Theo asked, then shrugged. “Never mind. It sounds like a long story, and I’m sure it’ll keep.” He glanced up as Conrad and the dwarf strolled into the camp, chatting happily. “Well? How did we do?”

  “About as well as you’d expect.” Conrad was carrying a bundle, wrapped in cloth, which he dropped on the ground next to the campfire. It clanked metallically. “Most of their weapons were pretty crude, but there were a few pieces worth having.” He unwrapped the cloth as he spoke, revealing it to be the bloodstained remnants of one of the dead skaven’s garments.

  “Hmm.” Theo turned over the collection of artefacts he’d revealed. There were a couple of swords and a handful of knives. The others clustered around to have a look. “Empire workmanship. They must have come from other travellers who weren’t as fortunate as our young friend here.”

  “Throwing knives!” Bruno pounced on a couple of daggers, which looked pretty much the same as all the others to Rudi’s untutored eye. He hefted them approvingly. “Magnin’s work by the feel of them.” He tossed them in the air, spun them like a juggler, and caught them alternately by the hilt and the tip of the blade until Rudi began to fear for his fingers.

  “That, and his maker’s mark there,” Conrad pointed out. Alwyn smiled.

  “He’s in love. Isn’t that sweet?”

  “No one’s taking anything yet,” Theo said. Everyone looked surprised, and Bruno returned the knives to the pile with a faintly sulky air. Theo gestured at Rudi and Hanna. “They’ve got nothing left. They should get the first pick of everything.”

  “Fair enough,” Conrad agreed, and Alwyn nodded.

  “Fine with me. They fought the skaven too, don’t forget.”

  “And that’s a story worth hearing, I’ll be bound!” Bodun nodded vigorously. “Well worth a bauble or two.”

  “You’re the boss.” Bruno shrugged. “What else did we get?”

  “Just odds and ends.” The dwarf opened a leather pouch, spilling a mixture of coins and other small objects across the cloth. “They don’t carry much.”

  “
Why would they have money?” Rudi asked. Theo shrugged.

  “Because it’s shiny. They’ll scavenge pretty much anything.” He indicated the scattered collection. “We’ll sort that out when it’s light, and we can see what we’re doing.” He turned back to Bodun. “You’ve got the real earners?”

  “Right here.” The dwarf grinned, and produced another cloth-wrapped bundle. This was stained with blood, and Rudi found himself shrinking away from it before he knew what was in it. “There’s a couple of crowns’ worth if I’m any judge.” He pulled it open, revealing what, for a horrified instant, Rudy supposed to be the bloody remains of a nest of giant serpents.

  “You cut off their tails!” he gasped. Bodun nodded with relish.

  “Of course. How else could we prove we’d killed them?”

  “Like I said,” Theo explained, “there are a few officials who know about these creatures, and pay a reward for every skaven slain.”

  “That’s what we do,” Bruno put in. “We’re bounty hunters.” A douche of icy water seemed to run down Rudi’s spine.

  “Some of the time, anyway,” Alwyn said.

  “Is that what you’re doing out here?” Rudi asked. Theo nodded.

  “That’s right. We’ve got an arrest warrant with a big reward on it.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Despite his apprehension Rudi slept soundly until well after dawn, wrapped in a borrowed blanket. He didn’t stir until somebody shook him gently awake. To his great relief it was Hanna, who looked well-fed and refreshed. She smiled as he sat up, and handed him a bowl of oatmeal porridge, which he devoured gratefully.

  “Feeling better?” he asked, and she laughed.

  “I was about to ask you that,” Rudi nodded.

  “Much,” he said, with his mouth full. He swallowed, and lowered his voice slightly. “Have they told you what they’re doing out here?”