by Various
The apothecary must have noticed Felix’s unconvinced expression. ‘Don’t worry, my dear boy. He’ll be sleeping for a week or so, but when he wakes he’ll be right as rain. Hmm? Yes indeed.’
Felix couldn’t shake the feeling he was heading down a path he’d rather not follow. But what choice did he have? He nodded.
Two minutes later, Gotrek appeared even closer to death than before. There was no sign of breathing, no shadow of life. Felix had never seen him so… helpless. The enormity of what had happened hit him like a mounted regiment. He knew it would be up to him to protect Gotrek while he recovered. Assuming he ever recovered. At the same time, he must find out who poisoned the Slayer.
And then Felix had an idea.
He stood in the pouring rain, listening to the priest pass last rites over Gotrek’s coffin.
‘You’re out early,’ Felix said to the woman standing beside him.
‘It’s my kind of weather,’ she replied.
‘I thought you couldn’t stand the Slayer.’
Ulrika chuckled. ‘I want to make sure he’s really dead.’
‘How did you hear?’
‘A lady does not reveal her sources.’
‘You are no lady. At least, not any more.’
They stood in silence. Felix was aware that his boots were sinking into the boggy ground. After a time he said, ‘I’m trying to find out who killed him.’
‘Do you have any suspects?’
Felix laughed loudly, drawing stares from the pallbearers and the priest. He cleared his throat and put on a solemn expression.
‘Oh, you’re serious. Where do I start? The most obvious suspect is Pragarti. She’s here in Kutenholz, somewhere.’
‘You know, the most obvious suspect is rarely the real culprit.’
Felix nodded. ‘Aye. While the list of those with a motive might be long, the number of folk likely to be in the vicinity is much shorter.’
‘As far as you know.’ Ulrika was quiet for a moment, then she said, ‘So we should start with Pragarti then?’
‘You know of her?’
‘Of course, I’m looking for her too. Why else do you think I’m in this Sigmar-forsaken town?’ Ulrika stepped towards the casket, her lithe form conjuring thoughts in Felix’s mind that were inappropriate at a funeral. ‘Can I see the body?’ she asked.
‘Why? Are you thirsty?’
‘No!’ Ulrika seemed genuinely offended.
‘A morbid sense of curiosity, perhaps?’
‘I want to examine him for clues.’
‘Fair enough.’ Felix ushered the priest over and whispered in his ear. The holy man nodded and took a step back. Felix signalled to the pallbearers and, with some difficulty, they raised the lid of the casket. All six of them gasped and stood back.
Felix and Ulrika hurried forwards to peer inside.
The coffin was filled with books. Of Gotrek’s body there was no sign.
‘I don’t know anything!’ the mortician spluttered, trying to maintain his composure despite the hand clamped around his throat, pinning him to the wall.
Ulrika squeezed a little harder. Felix swore he could see the man’s eyes popping out.
‘I find that unlikely,’ Felix said. ‘Now, we can do this the easy way’ – he drew his sword – ‘or we can do this the fun way.’
Felix raised the weapon and rested it in the crook of his free arm. He lined the point up with the mortician’s right eye and slowly inched it closer.
The man screamed and writhed, desperate to break free.
Felix was disappointed. ‘I’ve not even started yet!’
The mortician was trying to say something. Ulrika released her grip just enough to allow him some air.
‘All right!’ he gasped. ‘Please, I beg you. Let me go… I’ll tell you.’
‘Some people are just determined to spoil the fun, don’t you think, Ulrika?’
She probed one of her fangs suggestively with the end of her tongue and then said, ‘They can be a real drain.’
She released him. He crumpled to the floor and struggled to recover his breath. All the while he stared warily, not at Felix’s sword but at Ulrika’s teeth.
Felix sheathed his blade and hopped up onto an unoccupied slab, hoping it had been washed down since its last use.
‘If there’s something you’re keen to tell us, out with it.’
The mortician lay wheezing with his back to the wall, his gaze still locked on Ulrika.
‘A woman… dressed in robes… came with others… forced me… took the dwarf’s body…’
‘And where did they take him?’ Ulrika asked.
‘I don’t know! I swear… I have no idea. They paid me… and left.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Paid you?’
‘A token amount… for my trouble.’
‘Oh, you’re going to need a lot more payment than that…’
Ulrika advanced on him, but Felix stopped her.
‘Don’t! He can’t help us any further. It’s obviously Pragarti who took Gotrek and I don’t think he knows where she is.’
‘Luckily, I do,’ Ulrika said, heading for the door.
Felix stared at her in surprise. Not only was he in search of the same foe as Ulrika, but all this time she knew where the liche was hiding!
‘You know, if you’d told us you were here earlier, we could have avoided all this,’ Felix said as they left the mortuary. ‘Gotrek might still be alive.’
Ulrika laughed. ‘Oh Felix, I know he’s not dead!’
As he struggled to keep up with her, Felix longed for a day when he knew something, anything, that was still a secret.
It took about half an hour to reach Kutenholz’s traders’ district. Ulrika passed by warehouse after warehouse, eventually stopping at a derelict site where an old building had collapsed in on itself. One wall had crumbled entirely and the entrance was blocked by fallen beams.
‘Why are we here?’ Felix asked. ‘Gotrek and I searched this area already.’
Ulrika didn’t say a word. She walked towards the nailed-shut doors and, without hesitation, stepped right through them as if they weren’t there.
Felix was suddenly all alone. He glanced about, looking for anyone who might be able to assure him he had not gone mad.
Hesitantly, he followed. He reached the doors and held out a hand. It passed straight through the illusion. He closed his eyes and stepped forwards.
When he looked again he saw the wall of a perfectly intact, smaller warehouse. Ulrika was moving along the outside of the real building, looking for a way in. Felix glanced behind him and saw the fake, ruined shell. From this side he could see it shimmer and fizz. He could even make out the street beyond.
‘Felix, come on!’
He turned just in time to see Ulrika disappear through a window she had forced open. Felix climbed in after her.
The warehouse was full of activity. Felix resisted the temptation to stand and stare. Instead he ducked down behind the same pile of boxes Ulrika used for cover. He peered out at the warehouse floor, watching the multitude of workers carrying lanterns, boxes, crates, pieces of metal and other, unidentifiable objects back and forth. They appeared to be constructing some sort of altar in the centre of the space on a raised dais. Supervising them were a smaller number of hooded figures in long grey robes – no doubt Pragarti’s loyal disciples.
‘Do you have any idea how long we spent looking for this place?’ Felix hissed as he moved back out of sight.
‘Aye. Now shut up.’
After all this was over, Felix was going to need a seriously long chat with the vampire, preferably before Gotrek recovered. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a lot of talking going on; just violence.
Felix had no idea how much time had passed, he might even have nodded off for a moment. He hadn’t had much sleep last night, after all. Ulrika was tapping him on the shoulder.
‘What? What is it?’
She pointed in the direction of the warehouse f
loor. ‘The Slayer,’ she said.
Felix peered around the boxes. There was a lot less activity now. The altar was complete and the workers had withdrawn. Only the hooded minions remained, standing solemnly in a circle around the dais.
Four of them came into view carrying a litter, upon which lay the body of Gotrek Gurnisson. Felix rose involuntarily, but Ulrika pulled him back down.
‘Not yet!’ she hissed.
‘What are we waiting for?’ Felix whispered angrily. ‘Come to think of it, why didn’t we grab Gotrek before they brought him in here?’
‘Too many people about,’ Ulrika replied. ‘Plus, I want to see what happens.’
‘Whatever’s about to happen, it won’t be good for Gotrek!’
‘Relax, Felix.’
‘Tell me what she’s up to or I swear I will give us away right now.’
Ulrika sighed. ‘Fine. Pragarti is planning a spell, a big one.’
‘I know that!’ said Felix. ‘That’s why Gotrek and I were trying to find her and stop her. She’s been gathering ingredients and followers all across the Old World. We’ve been tracking her for months, but we have no idea what the spell is for.’
‘It will kill every first-born child in the Empire.’
‘Sigmar’s beard!’
Ulrika continued. ‘The final ingredient is the blood of a dead hero.’
‘Gotrek? But he’s not dead!’
‘Exactly. Why do you think I’m waiting to see what happens?’
Felix fell silent and watched as Pragarti stepped onto the dais. She lifted her hood to reveal a hideous, skull-like head. Sunken eyes gazed down at the prone Slayer while boney fingers toyed with the crest atop his head. Her parched skin clung tightly to withered cheek bones and her ghastly teeth, no longer concealed by lips, chattered as she began an incantation.
Despite the risk to Gotrek, Felix was also curious to see what would happen. Hopefully it would involve Pragarti’s pickled innards spread over a wide area.
‘Get up!’
The voice was so loud, everyone in the vast space turned to look.
Felix and Ulrika rose slowly. There was a gasp from many of the assembled throng. The two men who had discovered the eavesdroppers were carrying pistols. Their faces were obscured by their grey hoods.
‘Why am I being interrupted?’ Pragarti snapped, her voice echoing.
‘Supreme sorceress,’ one of the men said, pushing his captors out into the open. ‘We found these two watching the proceedings.’
As Felix approached, Pragarti’s fury turned to humour.
‘Herr Jaeger,’ she said. ‘And Ulrika Magdova! I’m so glad you could join us. Have you come to pay your last respects?’
‘You’ll regret poisoning the Slayer, Pragarti,’ Felix said, matching her steely gaze.
‘I would love to take the credit, Herr Jaeger, but I would be doing the real killer a disservice. It’s true I wanted Herr Gurnisson dead, but I had not intended him to die for a week or so. But since someone went to so much trouble, I thought it best to take advantage of such delightful happenstance. Genuine heroes are hard to come by.’
At first, Felix assumed she was lying. But why wouldn’t she take credit for the Slayer’s death if she was responsible? With no reason to lie, she must be telling the truth. So, if not Pragarti, then who had sent the assassin?
Ulrika slapped Felix on the arm to get his attention. He followed her gaze to the far corner of the warehouse where a sewer grating had been flipped over.
Nobody else had noticed. All eyes were fixed on Pragarti.
The sorceress didn’t seem to care that her prisoners weren’t paying attention to her. ‘I shall continue, then, if that’s all right with you and your distinguished friend, Herr Jaeger.’
‘Yes, please do,’ Felix said, turning back. ‘It’s just a shame you won’t get to finish the spell. I for one would love to have seen the results.’
Pragarti smiled – at least Felix assumed it was a smile, it was hard to tell.
He glanced once again at the grating in the far corner. Something was emerging. No, not something. Somethings. Dozens of them. Black, fast moving, rodent-like.
Oh no.
Now all eyes turned to the flurry of activity in the corner. Swords were drawn, pistols readied, cloaks and hoods shaken off.
Felix backed away, following Ulrika’s pre-emptive retreat. Nobody stopped them. A surge of black fur, twitching whiskers and deafening squeaks was pouring out of the sewer. A large area of the space was now coated with writhing ratmen. It was like watching a swarm of giant insects. The smell of them was overwhelming: musty and cloying.
‘Gotrek!’ Felix yelled to Ulrika, taking a step towards the dais.
‘There isn’t time,’ Ulrika insisted, pulling him back with astonishing strength. ‘We have to go or we’ll be cut to ribbons!’
The skaven descended on Pragarti’s followers like a waterfall of thick, black pitch. Screams of dying men filled the air, mixing with the cacophony of chittering and squawking.
The sheer number of skaven was enough to convince Felix to turn and flee. As he ran he glanced back at Pragarti. She seemed twice her usual size now. Fire and lightning crackled from her bony digits. Creature after creature fell in crisp, toasted heaps at her feet as one by one she deep fried them in their own fur. The unnatural skaven stench was joined by the sickly sweet smell of sizzling flesh and smoldering fur. Hundreds of the creatures were roasted by Pragarti or cut down by the swords and pistols of her followers. But they didn’t stop; the torrent of black fur seemed endless. Felix had seen skaven attacks like this before, but still he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
‘How have you survived this long?’ Ulrika said. She yanked Felix’s arm again and led him out of the building. The terrible screams of the dying – human and ratkin alike – were instantly muted as they passed back through the false image of the derelict warehouse. The illusion of shattered commerce masked the terrible battle taking place within. Felix was glad of it.
‘What now?’ he asked.
‘Now we wait.’
‘For what?’
‘I have a theory,’ Ulrika said. ‘Ragethar is a skaven poison. Perhaps they’ve come to collect Gotrek’s body. All we need to do is wait until they win, then follow them.’
Felix stared at the ruined facade for a moment, lost in thought.
‘Perhaps you’re right.’
When they re-entered some time later, it was hard to breathe. Clouds of scalded fur made the air thick. Bodies, skaven and human, littered the floor. The dying could be heard moaning and whimpering. Felix ignored them all. There was only one body he was interested in.
He leapt up onto the dais but saw that it was empty. He searched for some sign, any evidence that the Slayer had been consumed. Thankfully there was none.
‘They took him?’ Ulrika asked, eyeing the dead and wounded like a hungry, fat man would ogle a banquet table loaded with fine meats and delicacies.
‘Aye, I think so.’
She nodded. ‘Stands to reason. So we go after them?’
Felix saw no other choice, though he wished for one. He must have spent a good quarter of his life in sewers and tunnels. He knew full well that Gotrek would never leave him down there with a bunch of ratmen. He placed a hand on his sword hilt to still his nerves and followed Ulrika to the corner of the room.
In their haste to retreat, the skaven had left the grate open. Patches of fur clung to the sides of the square entrance. Felix tried to avoid making contact with anything as he dropped down into the tunnel below. Ulrika landed silently beside him and pointed ahead.
‘The skaven will go as deep as possible as quickly as possible. Come on.’
The smell down here was stomach-churning, though slightly more tolerable than that of the battle’s aftermath in the warehouse. Felix sloshed through the town’s detritus as quickly as his aching legs would carry him, hoping that none of the undesirable flotsam spilled into his boots. He found himself mi
ssing the wide sewers of Nuln with their ledges alongside the water channel. Kutenholz was a town just big enough to warrant a sewer system, but it wasn’t extensive. Every now and then they would pass under a grating, which allowed some light to filter down into the tunnel.
After a time, Felix could hear the rush of flowing water some distance ahead. Presumably this was the sewer’s outlet to the river. Instead of continuing on, Ulrika led him to a side tunnel. Felix realised it was in fact a large hole, gnawed into the stones lining the sewer walls. As they walked, all trace of light faded and the ground sloped downwards. Felix knew they were entering the skaven undertown. He was aware of labyrinthine nests hidden beneath the Empire’s cities, but it disturbed him that even towns such as Kutenholz had their own secret hives of activity beneath the surface.
Felix only became aware that Ulrika had stopped when he walked into her. He could barely make her out and was grateful for her astonishing night vision. He stepped back and unsheathed his sword part of the way, as quietly as he could. But a moment later, she started up again so it must have been a false alarm.
After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, the tunnel opened out. Ulrika halted again.
‘That way is a large chamber,’ she whispered. Felix couldn’t see where she was pointing. ‘It will likely be full of skaven. I’m surprised we’ve not seen any yet.’
Felix could hear noises from the gloom: voices, squeaking, chattering.
‘We should find another way in.’
‘Aye. Let’s go this way.’
Ulrika headed off. Felix struggled to keep up with her. His leg muscles burned.
Finally, light crept into the tunnel. The sound of a single skaven speaking, punctuated by roars and squeaks from a large audience, carried clearly to Felix. In time, the pathway opened onto an empty platform, set up high above a huge chamber. As they crept out onto the rickety balcony, they could see below them hundreds of skaven gathered in the large space. All those present, mostly clanrats with a few rat-ogres here and there, stared up at a single, grey-furred creature addressing them. Its robes and markings were familiar to Felix, but the skaven itself was not. This grey seer was young, eager, no doubt deadly. At its feet lay the prone body of Gotrek.