by Warhammer
Her voice was low and husky, the accent Tilean. Felix did not like her tone, but now was not the time or place to tell her this.
‘Where are the keys?’
‘Goldtusk has them!’
Felix put his foot on the loop of chain, inserted the blade of his sword into the links and twisted. As he did so, he noticed that there were strange runes on the cuffs, and at first the metal seemed to tingle when he touched it. The tip of his sword bored into the deck and the blade flexed. A normal sword would have broken under the strain, but Felix was confident that the magical blade he had found under Karag Eight Peaks would endure. The link widened and Felix stooped until the connecting loop fell out. ‘What’s your name?’ Felix asked as he inspected the chain on her arms. Yes, definitely some sort of rune work there. Perhaps the orcs had a system for designating whose property their captive was.
‘Katja Murillo. And yours?’
‘Felix Jaeger.’
‘Well, Felix Jaeger, pleased as I am to make your acquaintance, I would appreciate it if you could hurry up and remove these chains from my arms.’
‘I’m working on it.’ He saw the woman’s eyes widen as she glanced over his shoulder, and he turned to see what the fuss was about.
The smoke clouds had parted momentarily and Captain Goldtusk stood revealed. He looked surprised to see a human on his command deck. Felix seized the opportunity and aimed a two handed stroke at his head. The orc responded with cat-like quickness. One of the cutlasses rose to block Felix’s blow, while the other lashed out to strike.
Felix leapt backwards, bringing his blade up into the guard position. Sparks flashed as the weapons clashed. The brutal strength of the orc’s blow almost knocked the sword from Felix’s hand. He was aware that the orc was a head taller than he was, and much heavier. Huge muscles rippled smoothly beneath the taut green skin as Goldtusk advanced, driving Felix backwards.
For long moments it was all he could do to defend himself. He had never faced a swordsman quite as deadly as the pirate captain. He seemed equally adept at using his blade with either hand, and his speed and power were devastating. Felix considered himself a better than able swordsman, and a stronger than average man, but it was instantly obvious to him that he was grossly outmatched.
He glanced around, looking for a way out, but saw none. The woman had vanished into the smoke, and all that was visible was the looming figure of the orcish captain. Their blades crossed again, and a slash from the orc’s left hand blade left a bloody weal across the front of Felix’s tunic. If he had been a heartbeat slower Felix knew the blow would have smashed through his ribs and cut through vital organs.
The crackling heat of the blaze was like an inferno. Sweat soaked his shirt now, and the acrid reek of smoke and gunpowder filled his nostrils. The screams of the dying rose from the deck of the Storm Hammer behind him. He could hear Gotrek’s bellowed war-cry and the shouts of the dwarf privateers mingled with the grunts and shrieks of the orcs. Under the circumstances there was no way of telling how the battle was going, but it was obvious he could expect no help from that direction. It looked like Gotrek would have to find someone else to write his death saga. Felix was going to be too dead to do it.
At that moment, he heard the hiss of chains whipping through the air, and the heavy links connected with the orc’s head, knocking him off balance. Katja Murillo was there, using the severed lengths of chain as a weapon. Goldtusk twisted to see the source of the new threat, and Felix lashed out with his weapon. Even half stunned, the orc’s astonishing quickness saved him. He half-sprang, half-reeled to one side, taking only a long cut across the forehead. He glared hatred at Felix for an instant before vanishing into the smoke.
‘We’d best get off this ship,’ said Katja. ‘It’s going to go down. There’s no way that fire is going to be brought under control now.’
‘Wonderful,’ said Felix. ‘How do you suggest we do that?’
The woman had already gone, vanishing off in the direction of the screams. Felix followed and found himself looking down from the sterncastle of the hulk onto a scene of utter carnage. Orc and goblin bodies were piled high on the decks of the Storm Hammer. Gotrek stood atop the heap, bellowing challenges and ranting insanely in dwarfish. Orcs still responded to his shouts, clambering over the corpses of their dead comrades to get to the Slayer while goblins clambered back up the boarding nets. Felix readied his sword to meet them. At the stern of the Storm Hammer the few surviving marines had rallied around Ahabsson and were more than holding their own.
Suddenly the dwarf ship’s wheels started to churn the sea, and the Storm Hammer began to shudder. Perhaps some of the engineers had carried on making repairs below while the battle raged. Perhaps the obstruction had cleared itself. Felix could only guess. What he was absolutely certain of was that if he did not get back onto the steamship now, he would be swimming back to her through shark-infested waters. He looked around to see if he could find Katja and noticed that the woman had already abseiled halfway down the side of the hulk. She had found a rope and looped it around her waist and was using it to help her. Felix did not have time for that. Instead he threw himself over the barrier, and scampered down the net, lashing out with his boots at any goblins that got in his way. As if by silent agreement, they allowed him unobstructed passage, and he dropped the last span to the steel deck. Katja was already there.
It was obvious that the Storm Hammer’s paddles were not working perfectly, that one was churning the water quicker than the other, for the steamer had begun a slow rotation as she backed away from the hulk. A glance told him that the wooden wheels at the back of the orc ship had been broken by the impact.
The orcs seemed to realise at last what was happening. Some of them threw themselves over the side into the sea to return to their blazing ship. Others made the mistake of taking their eyes off the Slayer for a fatal instant, and never looked upon anything again in this life. The dwarfs made a final heroic effort and drove the last of the boarders into the sea. Within a few seconds not a single greenskin was left alive on the decks of the Storm Hammer.
Bellowing instructions, Ahabsson made his way back to his command deck and began to tug levers and batter gauges with his fist. The crippled steamship and the blazing hulk drifted apart. Felix could see the fire had spread from stem to sterncastle across the huge ship, the sails were alight, and the rigging ablaze. Frantic efforts by the orcs and goblins to stem the blaze went to no avail.
As the morning wore on, the two ships continued to drift apart. Eventually the surviving greenskins took to the boats, and rowed off towards the islands. Shortly thereafter, the blazing hulk slid beneath the surface and was seen no more.
Mobi strode up to Felix’s side. ‘There goes Goldtusk’s treasure,’ he said regretfully. ‘There goes our chance to be rich.’
‘You’re wrong,’ said Katja from behind him. Felix suspected that it would have been better for his health and his peace of mind if she had kept her mouth shut.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Mobi. ‘And who are you anyway?’
‘I’d better tell that to your captain,’ said Katja.
‘Aye,’ said Mobi. ‘No doubt he’ll be wanting a word anyway!’
‘First find a hammer and strike these chains from my hands,’ said the woman haughtily.
‘I take orders from Captain Ahabsson, not from you, woman,’ said Mobi, and led her away.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE ISLAND OF FEAR
‘Who are you and what are you doing on my ship?’ asked Ahabsson. He nursed an ale in his now bandaged hand. Felix and Gotrek watched interestedly as the woman prepared to reply. Faint splashes told Felix of orcish bodies being unceremoniously tossed over the side. Felix noticed that some of the goblins had hugely distended earlobes from which copper chains dangled. Others had copper pins struck through their noses. Most all of them were covered in barbaric scar tattoos.
‘I am Captain Katja Murillo, out of Tobaro in Tilea.’
&nbs
p; ‘Captain of what?’
‘The Golden Gull.’
‘Women captains? What will the manlings think of next?’ grumbled Ahabsson. ‘How came you to be Goldtusk’s prisoner?’
‘I was cruising these waters in search of Redhand’s treasure when Goldtusk took my ship. He fired some of my crew from the catapults and ate the rest.’
There was a near imperceptible change in the atmosphere, the dwarfs suddenly glanced around furtively and seemed to radiate attentiveness. They always did when treasure was mentioned. Urli licked his lips.
‘Why here?’
‘The treasure is to be found on those islands,’ she said.
‘And how do you know this? Redhand vanished a decade ago, and neither man nor dwarf knows where he went or what happened to his loot.’
‘He was my father,’ she said. Ahabsson shrugged.
‘That would make a difference, I suppose.’
‘He left a map. It was etched onto the lid of a jewellery box he gave my mama before his last voyage. The pattern was concealed within a standard Arabian design. It was only when I got my master’s ticket that I realised what it was myself.’
‘And where is this box now?’
‘At the bottom of the sea. It most likely went down with Goldtusk’s ship.’
‘Then the treasure is gone, isn’t it?’
‘No. I memorised the pattern. I can find it.’
‘Can you now, girl? You sure?’
‘Aye.’
‘And I suppose you will split it with us if we take you to the islands and bring it back.’
‘Aye. Three shares to one. If you’ll give me your word on the deal.’
‘That would be three shares in my favour would it?’ said Ahabsson.
‘No. In mine.’
‘I have a ship to fuel and a crew that needs paying.’
‘Three quarters of nothing is nothing. And you’ll have to harbour in the islands anyway for repairs judging by the looks of your ship here.’
‘We could just set you down on the island and leave you there.’
‘You would not do that to another mariner, captain.’
‘Would I not?’
The woman just looked at him. Ahabsson shrugged and said, ‘I suppose you’re right. One for one and my word on it.’
‘A deal.’
They both spat on their hands and shook. Felix looked at Gotrek. The Slayer was bandaged in half a dozen places. He looked a terrible sight but Felix knew he would heal with near supernatural speed. He always did. Gotrek’s face was stone hard and enigmatic. For once he did not look all that excited by the prospect of gold. The chirurgeon had already slathered healing salve over Felix’s own wounds. It had burned at first but now the pain was all but gone.
‘Is that treasure the reason why the orc spared you when he killed your crew?’
‘Aye,’ she said. ‘I told him about it. It was that or be eaten like my men.’
‘That’s two ships that have gone down looking for this treasure then,’ said Gotrek. ‘Let’s hope we’re not the third.’
‘Aye,’ said Ahabsson. ‘Now we best begin repairing the ship.’
The engineers had got the wheels working properly once more, albeit very slowly. Felix watched the island come closer. He could see a mighty peak in the centre, and as they approached, huge cliffs of most unusual aspect. At their highest they towered to perhaps a hundred times the height of a man. The stone was predominantly reddish brown and layered in many different shades. Here and there streamers of rock ran down through the layers, as if the stone had run like wax and then solidified. Gulls hurled themselves outwards from the cliffs but Felix could see no way to climb up from where they were. Indeed, the base of the cliffs appeared to have been eroded inwards by the foaming breakers surging against its side. It would be an impossible climb, Felix realised.
‘Lava made those cliffs,’ said Gotrek. ‘That mountain is a volcano.’
Felix did not ask how he knew. Dwarfs were incredibly knowledgeable in the ways of stone and earth.
‘Let’s hope it does not erupt while we are here,’ said Felix, eying the peak warily.
‘Aye, let us hope so.’
‘What is twisting your face? You do not seem as happy as a dwarf with a prospect of treasure before him should be.’
‘There is something about this place I do not like, manling. I do not like it at all.’
Felix considered this and shivered despite the late afternoon heat. Anything that made Gotrek Gurnisson uneasy was something that should give any sane man nightmares.
Ahabsson and Katja stood on the conning tower. The engineers had struck off her chains, and found her a cutlass. She looked almost as piratical as Goldtusk. Looking at her, it was easy to believe she was Redhand’s daughter.
The captain relayed her instructions into his speaking tube. The Storm Hammer limped along at a fraction of her normal speed. Ahead of them a natural harbour loomed, a ribbon of black sand beach fringed by palm trees. Cliffs flanked the bay on either side, and jungle rose on the hills behind it. There was no sign of human habitation Felix could see.
The Storm Hammer shuddered to a halt. In the hours it had taken to find the harbour, Felix got some idea of the casualties they had suffered. Every one of the crew had been wounded. Some had been scratches, others had resulted in amputations. Some had been scalded badly by steam gushing from broken pipes. Half of them had died. Normally they would have been sewn into their shrouds and tossed overboard but given the presence of land so close, Ahabsson had decided to bury them there. Given the choice any dwarf would prefer to be buried on earth or stone, and the captain was willing to grant that if he could.
The ship herself had fared about as well as her crew. She was still capable of movement, but slowly and painfully. She had suffered a great deal of damage, and according to Malgrim, the chief engineer, it would take a lot of work to make her seaworthy again. There was no way she could survive another storm like the one the night before, let alone a sea-battle if it came to it. For all that the crew seemed happy enough to go about their business, even the wounded helping as much as they could. It was amazing how the prospect of finding hidden gold perked up a dwarf.
‘I will not be sorry to feel land under my feet again, manling,’ said Gotrek. Felix agreed, although there was something about the riotous life of the jungle that made him uneasy as well. He felt as if anything could be lurking in there, watching them with malignant eyes.
‘What do you know about these islands?’ Felix asked.
‘Nothing, manling, I am not a sailor.’
‘They might be part of the Megalean Chain,’ piped up Mobi. ‘It could extend this far south. Or it might be some place no mariner has heard of. We were driven pretty far off course by the storm.’
‘One woman at least had heard of them,’ said Felix, nodding significantly in the direction of Katja. ‘And one man: her father.’
‘It’s possible,’ said Old Narli, scratching his wizened face with an equally wizened hand. ‘Redhand was the terror of these seas for twenty years, long afore Goldtusk and his orc freebooters appeared. At one time, Redhand had a fleet. They sailed everywhere they pleased. Even stormed the walls of Magritta. Although that was the end of them. The King of Estalia took exception, or so they say, and sent out all of his admirals. The pirate fleet was smashed at Bounty Bay. They say Redhand escaped with his treasure, and was never heard of again. Many a strange tale is told of Redhand. They say he was married to a sea-witch, who ruled him with a hand of iron, and wove wind and wave to her bidding. An evil pair they were. Drank blood and offered up the souls of their captives to her dark gods. I would not be surprised if this treasure was cursed. Still gold’s gold for all that.’
‘I wonder what happened to him,’ said Felix.
‘I think you might find out, manling.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If you were a pirate with a cache of buried gold, would you not come back to collect it?’
‘I suppose so. And if he did not simply desert his family and take up refuge somewhere else, then he might still be here.’
‘Or his corpse. Assuming he’s not in Far Cathay, laughing at us and all the other fools trying to find his treasure. And that’s assuming the chit of a girl’s story is really true.’
‘Oh, it’s true,’ said Katja. Felix had not heard her approach, but he had to assume that Gotrek had. The Slayer’s ears were far keener than his own. Either he did not care whether he offended the girl, or he wanted her to hear for reasons of his own. ‘And truthfully I do not know whether I hope to find it or not. If my father took it and is living somewhere right now, then may the gods watch over him. If he died here, I hope to find that out. And if the treasure is here, I hope to claim my legacy.’
She smiled at Gotrek and then at Felix. ‘A party is going ashore to bury the dead and look for water. Would you care to accompany us? We can take a look around and see if we can find the trail.’
‘I will,’ said Felix quickly.
‘I would like to feel the earth beneath my feet once more,’ said Gotrek. Felix was glad that the Slayer would accompany them. The more he saw of the jungle, the more his unease grew.
‘I wonder if Goldtusk made it to land yet?’ he said. No one answered.
It felt strange to be back on solid ground. Even with sand crunching beneath his feet, Felix still swayed slightly, as if compensating for the subtle movements of a deck beneath him. It made him feel off-balance and he realised how used he had become to the ship’s rocking movement, even in the few days they had been aboard.
The dwarfs were already returning to the ship to bring ashore more of the dead for burial. A few small shrouded corpses already lay in the sand. It was strange to think that they would lay for eternity so many hundreds of leagues from home. A deep feeling of melancholy settled on Felix as he realised that the same fate would probably befall him one day.
Gotrek seemed to read his thoughts. ‘At least they will be within sight of a mountain, albeit one with fire in its heart.’
