He forced Mannfred down to his knees, the sword still in his gut. With his free hand, he grabbed the back of Mannfred’s scalp and dragged his head up. ‘Where is Isabella, boy? Where is my ring?’ he hissed, glaring down at Mannfred.
‘Dead, and gone,’ Mannfred spat weakly. ‘Just as you were.’
‘You should know better than that, boy,’ the other vampire growled. He kicked Mannfred off the blade, and raised it over his head, as if to split Mannfred’s skull. But before the blow could fall, Nagash raised his hand.
‘HOLD, VAMPIRE. YOUR STUDENT STILL HAS HIS USES, AS DO YOU.’
The vampire turned, his eyes widening in shock. ‘Usirian’s teeth,’ he hissed. ‘Nagash…’
‘YES. AND IT IS NAGASH TO WHOM YOU OWE YOUR FEALTY, VLAD VON CARSTEIN.’ Nagash loomed over the two vampires, his eyes burning like twin infernos, the air turning sour around him. ‘KNEEL, VAMPIRE. KNEEL AND RECEIVE MY BLESSING. KNEEL, AND JOIN ME.’ Nagash raised his claws as Vlad sank slowly down to one knee, his sword planted blade-first into the ground. There was a great roar, as of a thousand-thousand voices raised in agonised protest, and the world contracted like a beast in pain. The earth trembled, and the sky wept oily rain. And Nagash found it good.
‘THE GREAT WORK CAN NOW COMMENCE.’
About The Author
Josh Reynolds has blazed a trail across the Warhammer World with the novels Master of Death, Neferata and Knight of the Blazing Sun, along with the Gotrek and Felix tales Charnel Congress, Road of Skulls and The Serpent Queen. As well as numerous short stories, he has also written the Warhammer 40,000 audio drama Master of the Hunt and contributed to the Apocalypse anthology Damocles with the novella Hunter’s Snare. He lives and works in Sheffield.
In the north the forces of Chaos gather, awaiting their moment to strike. At their head is the Everchosen, the warrior who will lead the final assault. But he was not always thus - what dark events could have put a knight of the Empire on the path to becoming the harbinger of the world’s end?
To Lindsey and Graeme for making this, among other things, readable.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Published in 2014 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.
Cover and internal illustrations by Paul Dainton.
Map artwork by John Michelbach.
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ISBN: 978-1-78251-627-9
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The End Times | The Return of Nagash Page 40