by C. L. Werner
The mage Aurelion turned towards her companion, the dragon rider Khalanos, and nodded almost imperceptibly to him. The muscles in his jaw twitched, and his eyes narrowed.
'It has been many years since I had need to converse in your crude tongue.' the prince said curtly. 'I shall speak but briefly. More of the ships of my fleet will arrive in the night - I sent them to engage the cursed Norse. Already I have lost many elves to them. They will be mourned in Ulthuan. At the height of noon tomorrow, my ships will leave this shore to seek our foe. There will be room for two thousand of your men below decks. There is room enough too for your horses, reiksmarshal, for I lost many Silver Helms this day. Two thousand more men can ride on the decks of my ships if they have no fear of the seas.'
'You are most gracious, Prince Khalanos, to allow us aboard the vessels of fair Ulthuan.' said the reiksmarshal. Prince Khalanos merely nodded.
'You will bring none of your foul black powder cannon aboard the ships of Ulthuan.' said the prince. 'Dwarf inventions have no place on elf ships.'
'Truly, I am loath for my soldiers to leave the soil of the Empire when it is at its most vulnerable, but if that is what must happen, then so it must be.'
'You are wise for one of your kind, Reiksmarshal Wolfgange Trenkenhoff.' said Aurelion.
'However, I am the supreme commander of the armies of the Empire. I cannot leave the Empire without the consent of the Emperor Magnus. I will not lead the Empire forces that accompany you, Prince Khalanos. Captain von Kessel will lead in my stead.'
'As you wish it.' said Aurelion. Stefan felt the cold eyes of Prince Khalanos regarding him. 'Neither shall I be joining the pursuit.' continued Aurelion. 'I am to travel to the city of Altdorf and join with Lord Teclis. I am to aid him in his teaching your people of the ways of magic.'
Stefan cleared his throat, and everyone turned towards him. 'Is it wise, my lord, for our soldiers to be leaving the borders of the Empire at this time?' he asked. The reiksmarshal regarded him impassively, but anger flashed in his eyes.
'Long have we trusted the council of the elves, captain.' said the reiksmarshal diplomatically. 'You are right to be concerned for your Empire, as ever, but this is the course of action that we must take. I will send a messenger to the Emperor Magnus this night, informing him of this new development. Now, my lord and lady, we shall bid you goodnight, and leave to ready our troops.'
'Why do you bear those scars upon your face, human?' It was Prince Khalanos who spoke, and silence greeted his question. Stefan's face darkened. The reiksmarshal looked at him, frowning.
'It... I received them as a babe. My face was burnt.' he said finally.
'Burnt?' asked Khalanos coldly. 'An accident?'
'No.' said the captain. 'I... my grandfather brought shame upon my family. He was burnt at the stake for his crimes. It is this shame that I bear.'
The elf dragon prince frowned. 'You are a barbaric race.' said the elf, his mouth curled in distaste.
'Burnt at the stake... Is that not the manner of death within the Empire for those who consort with the powers of darkness?' asked Aurelion.
'It is, my lady.' said the reiksmarshal quickly, 'but von Kessel is utterly dedicated to the Empire and our cause, and a fervent follower of Sigmar, I assure you.' The reiksmarshal's words were dismissed with a slight shake of the head from the mage.
'No, I doubt that not.' she said, a slight frown creasing her delicate mouth. She regarded Stefan evenly, her eyes unblinking. He found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her gaze, both beautiful and uncomfortable. 'There is no taint in you, captain, nor is there any in your family.' With that, she turned on her heel and left, the stunned human trying to understand what her words meant. The dragon prince nodded to the reiksmarshal and left the two humans standing alone.
The older man slapped the captain on the shoulder with a heavy hand. 'Come.' he said, 'this is not the time to dwell on the words of an elf seer.' Von Kessel nodded dumbly, and the pair walked from the castle to rejoin their army.
'They are a barbaric race.' the Dragon Prince Khalanos repeated, this time in the elegant language of his race.
'They have a certain... vitality about them.' said Aurelion.
'It is their short lives. Why did you tell the human that he had no taint in him?'
'He feared that he harboured the seed of Chaos within him, yet he does not.'
'But why tell him? What does it matter to us?' asked Khalanos. The elf mage shrugged her shoulders.
'He has a right to know.' she said. 'Will you be able to stop the enemy from discovering the body of the Chaos warlord?'
'We will stop them or we will not.' said Khalanos simply. 'The human warriors will help, but will it be enough? I know not. The humans must not learn that it was the duty of the elves to protect the body of the Chaos warlord, no matter what happens. None must learn that our wards have failed.'
Aurelion's eyes met with those of the dragon prince. She understood his words, and they saddened her. If word escaped that their wards had failed, then it may be discovered that the wards set on blessed Ulthuan itself were close to faltering. They needed Teclis to return to Ulthuan, but he was determined to aid the humans. She would travel to the Empire city of Altdorf and help him set up the colleges of magic. She would work hard so that Teclis could return home all the sooner.
'I will retire now, cousin. I will leave on the morrow to join with Lord Teclis. May your sleep be peaceful.' Aurelion said, and standing on her toes she kissed him lightly on the cheek. She left the dragon prince alone. His face was cold and impassive, proud and noble. He had seen the passing of over eight hundred years, and here he was helping fight in the wars of barbarous humans. He had argued against aiding the humans. 'Leave them to their own fate.' he had said. 'Their fate is our own.' had been the reply. He hoped that was not so, for he could not see the humans of the Empire surviving many more generations before being overwhelmed. They would be gone in the blink of an eye - a decade, a century, or three centuries perhaps, and then they would be gone. They would be forgotten by history.
Still, never would he let it be said that one of the noble-born princes of Caledor would shirk his duty. The Phoenix King himself decreed that the elves would aid the humans, and Khalanos would fight with all the strength and power that he possessed to do so.
Raising his head to the dark heavens above, he gave a shrill, reverberating whistle that carried far into the air. Within minutes, he could make out a serpentine shape descending through the darkness. He would ride the skies this night.
There was a messenger waiting for the reiksmarshal when he and Stefan returned to the Empire camp. Receiving these dispatches, the pair of men retired to the reiksmarshal's tent. Stefan stood uneasily while the knight ripped open the wax-sealed parchments and spread them out on the table before him. Minutes passed as the reiksmarshal read the dispatches, turning the pages of the parchments impatiently. He swore softly.
'What is it, sir?' asked von Kessel, feeling uneasy. The reiksmarshal passed a page of parchment to him wordlessly. Stefan read over the document slowly. Reaching the end, he scanned over it again. He looked up, his face flushed red.
'The cowardly dog,' he muttered.
'The Grand Count Gruber has retreated,' said the reiksmarshal angrily. 'He has pulled his army away from the Middle Mountains, "in the face of mounting aggression from the north and fearing the plague spreading through northern Ostland", and has retreated back towards Ostermark. What the hell is he doing? He's left an open corridor straight past the Middle Mountains and into the heart of the Empire! If the army that the elf mage spoke of moves south, there is nothing to stop it,' he raged. 'An army could march straight into the heart of the Empire unopposed!'
'I cannot join the elves and leave Empire soil, reiksmarshal. To leave now would be folly.' said von Kessel.
'No, you must go. In such things we have always trusted the elves. They are wise, Stefan, and we cannot ignore their counsel. No, I must leave right away. Bastard
! I will ride hard, commandeer his army and lead it back to the north to face the massing foe myself.'
'He will not take such action lightly.' cautioned Stefan.
'I care not how he takes it.' said the reiksmarshal. 'I'll see him dragged before the Emperor in Nuln in chains if he resists me. I'll not see us win the war in the north only for the Empire to fall due to the cowardice of one inbred, fat elector. Nor will I see civil war return to the Empire.'
'No. You will join the elves, and I will ride southeast tonight.'
It was just before dawn when Stefan entered his tent. He was dog-tired, having spent the night in preparations for the journey by ship to Sigmar knew where. The reiksmarshal had left the camp hours before, riding with around half his company of Reiklandguard. He had left the rest of the elite knight regiment with Stefan, under the command of Captain Lederstein of the Reiklandguard.
Shuffling wearily across the tent, von Kessel was ready to collapse on his pallet fully clothed, when he saw the sealed letter on his chair. Frowning, he clumsily ripped it open and read it quickly. He re-read it to make sure he had read correctly. Standing, he moved to the tent entrance and called out to one of his guards. 'Get me Albrecht.' he said.
The tent was poorly lit when the sergeant arrived. 'Sir.' he said cautiously into the gloom, pushing open the tent flaps.
'Come in.' said Stefan from the darkness, his voice strained. As Albrecht's eyes adjusted, he saw that Stefan was sitting at his table, a letter open before him. There was a bottle of spirits on the table in front of him. He groaned inwardly. He had seen Stefan drunk before, but rarely when on campaign. He was a difficult, moody drunk, but was wise enough to know it, and would only drink alone.
'What is wrong, captain?'
'I have just received a letter from Ostermark. Sigmar knows how long it has taken to reach me.' he said. His words were said through gritted teeth, but they were clear, with no hint of slurring. Good, thought Albrecht. He would rather have Stefan angry than drunk.
'Oh? And how do things fare in our homeland?'
'Badly. Plague is slaughtering our people. The north is rife with it. Entire villages and towns have succumbed. Thousands are dead. The larger cities have closed and barred their gates, allowing none to enter. Thousands more of our people have frozen to death after being refused entry.'
'It is a bad thing indeed, this plague; not natural.'
'Not natural.' Stefan repeated. Then his voice hardened, and Albrecht was taken aback by the hatred he could hear in the captain's voice. 'Our land is suffering, and now I learn that it is led by the man responsible for it.'
'What? What are you talking about, captain?'
'Gruber is the one responsible for the spreading plagues - him and his infernal allies.'
'Stefan... You could be hanged for such words.'
'This letter I hold was sent from a Sigmarite temple in Ostermark. It bears the mark of a priest of Sigmar, and the signature of Gruber's own physician.'
'His physician? Heinrich? The physician that disappeared months ago?'
'The same. He did not disappear. He fled from Gruber. He knows the truth.'
'The truth? What, of the old man's illness? I don't understand, captain.'
'He should have died years ago! Bastard. I'll kill him myself.'
'Kill him, captain? What are you saying? What madness is this? Slow down.'
'Madness, Albrecht? Yes, there is madness here, but it is not of my creation,' ranted Stefan. 'The cur. He gave me this scar,' he snarled, indicating his face. 'He gave me this... this...mark of Chaos. He had my grandfather murdered, my father exiled.'
'It wasn't him, Stefan,' admonished Albrecht. 'Once your grandfather was exposed, his fate was sealed. He brought it on himself.'
'Brought it on himself. No, that was a lie, Albrecht, a lie that was fed to us all.'
'A lie? I don't understand, captain.'
'Read this.' he said, thrusting the letter towards the burly sergeant. 'Read it!' Confused and alarmed by the apparent madness of his captain, Albrecht skimmed over the letter. The mark at the foot of the page was indeed the mark of a Sigmarite priest - a hammer emblazoned with a twin-tailed comet - and he saw the signature of the physician Heinrich. His eyes widened as he read the words on the page.
... have unearthed a secret that the cursed elector believed put to rest decades ago - the truth of the execution of your grandfather, Grand Elector Piter von Kessel, a fallacy of justice hiding the true offenders - the courtiers of Ostermark, led by the grand deceiver, Otto Gruber, the true worshipper of the fell gods of Chaos...
'What does this mean?' asked Albrecht dully.
'It means that my grandfather was wrongly accused and wrongly sentenced. It means that Ostermark is being led by a treacherous fiend working against the Empire from within. No wonder Gruber has pulled the army back! Hewants the Chaos forces to attack!'
'How can we know that this letter speaks the truth? Could it not be a trick of the enemy to sow dissent amongst us?'
'It bears the mark of Sigmar! No Chaos spawn could use such an icon of good for their own fell purposes!'
'This priest of Sigmar.' said Albrecht looking at the mark at the foot of the page, 'Gunthar. How do we know he can be trusted?'
'How do we... He is a priest of Sigmar, man! What is wrong with you, Albrecht? How can you doubt the word of a priest!' ranted Stefan, his eyes blazing.
'I've never been one for religion, Stefan, as you know. Don't get me wrong, I'll ask for Manann's favour when I board a ship, and Sigmar's boon when I go to battle, but I don't put my faith in such things. A priest is just a man, Stefan, just a man, and I don't trust any man I don't know.'
'Bah! What does it matter - this letter contains the truth. I know it in my heart!' Stefan was breathing heavily hatred coursing through him. Albrecht sighed and put a hand to his temple, where he could feel a headache rising.
'I fear the letter speaks the truth, Stefan, don't misunderstand me. Your grandfather was a good man. We were all shocked when... Well, when he was accused. He was a better man than Gruber, there is no doubt of that. But what you are speaking of - there will be civil war, man. The Empire was almost brought down by civil war. We wallowed in it for centuries, and it almost destroyed us all. Emperor Magnus united the states. Now, while the Empire is still threatened, you want to start another civil war?'
'I cannot let him get away with it, Albrecht. You know that.'
'I know,' said the sergeant with a sigh, 'and you know that your army will follow you against any enemy - even against Gruber. But is it wise?'
'I don't know if it is wise or not, but I will kill him.'
'You would be asking men of Ostermark to fight other men of Ostermark. They would know each other. Some would be friends, or even family, and you would ask them to kill each other.'
Stefan's face hardened. 'If Gruber is truly allied with the powers of darkness, then there is no question here at all, Albrecht. Hemust be slain.'
'Aye, agreed. What of the elves, captain? As we speak, our men are preparing to take to their ships on the morrow.'
'We will not go with the elves. We cannot leave Empire soil while Gruber is walking free upon it.'
'What of the reiksmarshal's orders?'
'He was unaware of this new information. He is travelling to Gruber as we speak. We must catch up with him and warn him.'
'You know of course that we could warn him, and still go with the elves. The reiksmarshal could muster an army to face him.'
'An army from where? Stirland and Ostland are wastelands, their armies slaughtered in the Great War. The remnants of their forces have already joined with us! Talabecland? The armies of Talabecland are all but gone. Their soldiers are barely able to man the walls of Talabheim. So, from where? Middenland? Reikland? They have armies, it is true, but it would be months before they would reach Ostermark, and that would be leaving the heart of the Empire completely undefended. No, there is no one Albrecht, and I will not have the pleasure of ki
lling the fat wretch taken away from me!'
Albrecht frowned. 'If we do not join the elves, and instead march across the Empire, what happens if the enemy attacks here? There would be no one to stand against them. Surely they would advance into the heart of the Empire?'
'There alreadyis an enemy within the Empire!' snarled Stefan, his face twisted in hatred, 'and we must destroy him!'
Aurelion stood on the castle ramparts, watching the last trailing troops of the Empire filing away over the horizon.
'They are blind fools,' snarled Khalanos. 'They cannot see what they have done this day. Fire and darkness, and death will come of this.'
I know, thought Aurelion, but she could not help but feel pity for the scarred Empire captain. Rage burned within him, and she knew that he had learnt some terrible truth. He had made his path, made his decision as he saw it, and he would have to live with the consequences or die with them.
'You give them too much time, these humans,' the Dragon Prince stated.
'I pity them and their brief lives. How can they see the folly of their actions when they live so fleetingly? The captain is doing what he thinks is right.'
'You are young, Aurelion. He doesn't do what he thinks is right. He is blinded by anger. In time, cousin, you will realise that the humans are undeserving of our pity.'
'They know not the power of what the forces of Chaos seek! And we cannot tell them, for it was our duty to keep it safe!'
'What are you saying, cousin? That it isour fault that the humans cannot see the folly of their actions?'
'It is not truly their battle to fight, Khalanos. It is ours. I cannot loathe them for not joining you,' she snapped. She immediately regretted losing her control. 'What will you do now?'
'What I must. My fleet will leave to face the Chaos forces.'
'Without the Empire forces, you will not outnumber the Norscans, cousin.'
'I know, but they must be stopped. You know this. Pray that the actions of the human captain have not doomed us all.' He stalked from the ramparts, tall, noble and proud. As she had said, Aurelion could not loathe the humans for not doing what she had wished, and she did pity the human captain. Nevertheless, she knew that dire occurrences would result from his rash decision.
