The eyes of many humans were now focused upon Vanyra as she walked down the aisle at the center of the cathedral. Various priests offered benedictions as the others manlings wished her luck or prayed for the dwarf's success. No pressures dryly thought the Engineer as she held onto her repeater crossbow which had a fresh magazine placed in.

The baronial manor which was located further north was now her current destination and she wondered why anyone would even bother to build their home atop a place where some ancient evil lay underneath and she decided that now was not the best time to question it. As she neared the entrance of the cathedral, she heard the voice of one of the humans who had been on guard, shout of incoming zombies.

Muttering a curse, Vanyra sprinted ahead and on her way, she saw a large horde of zombies shambling towards the cathedral. The humans formed up into a defensive formation and the Engineer made her way forwards with crossbow leveled at the walking corpses. Carefully taking aim at the oncoming horde, the dwarf heard the human priests begin to whisper prayers to their gods and she could feel that strangely comforting sensation as they called upon what assistance their gods could offer.

Pressing the trigger of the repeater crossbow, she fired a single steel-tipped bolt that flew straight into the forehead of a zombified woman before another found its way to an obese male zombie to the right. Thinning out the horde as much as she could, the Engineer kept on firing until the magazine ran dry and with practiced discipline, she removed the wood and bronze casing. By the time she had gone through the replacement magazine, the dwarf Engineer had to switch to sword and wrench as the dead were almost upon them.

Taking a step back and joining the formation of Men behind her, Vanyra braced herself for the undead onslaught as several of the running ones barged their way through the slower ones with blood thirsty, incoherent screams.

'Stand fast Sons of Sigmar!' roared one of the Warrior Priests and the screaming zombie runners leapt towards them.

Swinging her wrench downwards in a chopping motion, Vanrya buried the jaws of the tool into the face of a freshly dead man in a blacksmith's garb. The hammers of the Sigmarite came down like pistons which smashed open skulls like rotten melons, while the swords and spears of the other human holy men found their marks. A human screamed in pain as a zombie tore his throat out before taking sword blade to the neck from a black armoured knight of Morr.

With clinical precision, the Engineer kicked the zombie she had slain off of her wrench while giving the tool a strong tug and she drove her sword into the side of another's knee and causing the thing to collapse before a Warrior Priest crushed it underneath his boot. The zombies who had been behind the runners soon met the embattled and pitifully small group of defenders and it was then that the true killing began.

Through the dark, underground tunnel which led back to the inn, Sashura and the three Imperial men who had accompanied her made slow progress due to the various medicines they had carried. Without the lights of torches or lanterns to guide them, all they could do was move ahead until finally, they saw at least some light at the end of the tunnel.

'We are almost there' said Franz with relief as the group picked up their pace.

Eventually they pulled themselves out of the smuggler's tunnel which had been made for the size of a halfling and the first thing the Kislevite did was to have good stretch. The basement of the inn was just as they had left it and they could hear the footsteps of those upstairs on the main floor.

'I need drink… and bath' wearily sighed the Kislevite sell-sword who had more than a bit of zombie blood on her leather coat.

'You and me both' commented Franz in a half-joking manner as the man looked absolutely exhausted for he had assisted in helping the old Handgunner going through the streets and into the tunnel.

Wilhelm took a seat by a pair of kegs along with Franz and they handed Sashura the bags of medicine they had collected from the apothecary shop. Easily taking the bags that had been handed to her, Sashura then began making her own way upstairs where she hoped that it was not too late to bring back the medicines.

As she reached the base of the staircase, Sashura heard the distinct crack of a pistol going off and with a hissed curse; she quickly set the bags down and drew her shashka. Quickly ascending the staircase, she heard the meaty, wet crack of a skull being split open by a blade and when the sell-sword reached the top of the flight of stairs, her eyes widened in shock. The Road Warden stood over the body of the innkeeper with a hatchet lodged into the man's forehead, blood smeared the mouth of the innkeeper whose flesh had become deathly pale in a way which the Kislevite had grown a bit too familiar with.

Looking to Rickert Grim she saw the fear in the man's eyes as he quickly began shouting the names of his wife and son. Sashura tried to hiss a word of silence to the Road Warden but she did not know whether he heard the Kislevite or not for he quickly bolted out of the kitchen and into the common room of the inn.

'Ursun's Teeth!' muttered Sashura who quickly followed after the man and she began to have a most terrible feeling that they may have been too late…

'For Sigmar!' roared a Warrior Priest as he bashed in the skull of a zombie and causing its head to explode in a shower of bone and gore.

Smashing the kneecap of a walking corpse and driving her sword up its mouth, Vanyra saw the tip of the blade punch through the scalp of her foe. The humans who fought alongside the dwarf did an admirable job in holding the line for the numbers of the current undead horde were already thinning out. Slower and even more stupid than the grobi, the zombies which remained fell like wheat before grass until finally, the grounds outside of the cathedral were momentarily clear.

'There will be more' sighed a sword wielding human priest whose vestments had the emblazoned upon it, the scales of the goddess called Verena.

'Best if you get going now' said the Warrior Priest who had escorted Vanyra earlier and the Dwarf gave them all a quick nod before heading back out into the streets where more of the dead shambled about.

Just as she had done earlier, Vanyra, travelled through Mordendorf with both stealth and speed while occasionally firing a crossbow bolt or two into the skull of a zombie. With the key securely placed inside one of her satchels, the Engineer remembered the directions that been given by the old priest. The zombies which she encountered so far proved to thankfully not be the kind which could run but the slower ones which wandered the area were still numerous enough to pose a major threat.

As she travelled further onwards to the baronial manor, Vanyra noticed how the dead seemed to be congregating in greater numbers and her progress was halted by another horde that milled about in front of the open gate which led into the manor itself. It was a large structure with a circular wall surrounding and she could see that there was guard tower that also served as a gatehouse. No lights were seen from the inside and for a moment, the dwarf wondered if there still were any living souls within the manor.

Taking aim once more, the Engineer fired a salvo of carefully aimed bolts that brought down several zombies before having to switch the magazine. The dead were alerted to her presence and with arms outstretched; they shambled towards the Dwarf while moaning in hunger for her flesh.

Already down to three last magazines for her repeater crossbow, Vanyra knew that she had to make each one count. Firing a shot that struck a zombified man in the uniform of a state trooper between the eyes, she loosed more shots which felled a zombie with one hit while keeping her distance. Soon, the Engineer was forced to switch to the second of her remaining three magazines and as soon as she finished reloading the crossbow, she stowed it upon her back and drew her sword and wrench again.

Taking a deep breath and remembering that she had already done this, Vanyra charged headlong into the remaining group of zombies. She severed the arm of one undead woman before bashing the walking corpse's skull in and she was forced to leap back to avoid the lunge of a zombie that nearly landed on her. More of the dead continued to swarm around the dwarf who immediately began to wonder whether she had overestimated her own capabilities.

Fortunately though, she still had an escape route that remained clear and with some reluctance, Vanyra was forced to back away. Cursing herself for not having brought any grenades as well, the Engineer knew that there would definitely be another time to re-think her strategies. As soon as she got herself clear, Vanyra wondered if she should head back to the inn and get her things as well as some help for she hardly trusted the brigands who had holed up in the blockhouse.

She remembered of course that she had told the humans back at the inn to seal the place up after two hours, they should seal the tunnel. If she traveled there now, it probably would already be sealed, as such her best way to get back in would be through the front door where a large number zombies had been congregating as well. Cursing herself again and wishing that she had accepted the help from the Warrior Priests, Vanyra began to further think about her options before a loud series of gunshots echoed to west of her position.

What in Valaya's braids, thought the Engineer as the voices of Men followed the discharges of black powder weapons. Doubting that it would be the Imperial army for surely there would also have been the sound of horns, she began to have a fairly good guess as of who these others were. With soft grunt, the Engineer brought up her crossbow again and she went forth to investigate exactly who these other manlings were.

With a loud series of curses upon her lips, Sashura Kostina decapitated a zombie who had once been the cook of the inn's kitchen. The common room was a real mess for broken tables, chairs and glass lay everywhere. Blood mingled with the straw that lined the floorboards. The grisly remains of Imperials could be seen strewn across the common room and the zombies that now assailed the sell-sword each had large stains of blood across the front of their garments and their chins.

The Road Warden who had rushed in was still alive, especially after Sashura had been forced to pull the man back into the kitchen. Understandably, the man was on the brink of becoming hysterical as he called for his family but at the moment the bar where drinks were served and the narrow entryway into the kitchen served as a minor bulwark against the undead. Hearing footsteps from the stairway that led into the cellar, Sashura glanced back to see Franz and Wilhelm arrive with weapons at the ready.

'Oh sweet Sigmar' breathed the old Empire soldier as he looked to the oncoming dead and he drew a short sword that had a bit of rust on it.

'Keep together!' shouted Sashura as one zombie shambled through the doorway and the writer from the Altdorf Press was the first one to engage it with his bloodied cudgel. A loud wet smack resounded through the kitchen where the spiked bludgeoning weapon smashed open the skull of the zombie and adding more blood to what already stained their own clothes.

Zombies moaned and continued to pour into the kitchen but thankfully, they seemed to get more in each other's way, thus slowing them down even further. Darting forward, Sashura stabbed one zombie in the back of the head and she pulled her shaska out before allowing another of the Imperials to move in for the kill. Sashura could sense a black mood that had descended upon the Imperials who had accompanied her for they also recognized more than a few faces from among the zombies which they now put down.

Among them, the Kislevite noticed the change in body language with Grim as he began to become more agitated with each zombie they slew. No doubt that the law man was wondering about his wife and son and he wanted to get a good to see if one of them may belong to his family. With several zombies still crowding the common room though, Sashura knew that the Road Warden's answers would still have to wait for many zombies still crowded around the common room of the inn.

Sticking close to the shadows which the alleyways provided, Vanyra soon was able to confirm her suspicion. The armed group of manlings was the same ones from the blockhouse and they had formed a defensive ring with handguns, crossbows and bows at the ready. Among them, she saw the foreign man, Lucio who was at the center of the group with one hand resting upon the hilt of a rapier.

Knowing full well that she would need their assistance if she was to break through the horde of zombies outside of the manor, she then took a deep breath and she called to the brigands. Multiple ranged weapons were immediately aimed towards Vanyra who purposefully stood still and a quick and alarmed word from Lucio was enough to stop them from firing at the dwarf. The leader of the brigands, the one with the eye patch and the dark hair angrily said something to the foreigner, no doubt that he was unhappy with someone else giving orders to the gang of thugs.

Lucio ignored the glare from the lead brigand and he called for Vanyra to step forward and the Dwarf did so.

'I trust you were successful in acquiring the key?' smiled the foreign human in a way which seemed rather reassuring to the Engineer.

'Aye, I did' nodded Vanyra who then looked towards the zombie horde that shuffled towards them now we got all of these undead ahead of us.'

'Worry not about it my dear' grinned Lucio who then looked to the leader of the brigands who rolled his one eye and began barking orders to his men.

The brigands then began firing into the crowd with the careful shots aimed towards the heads and judging by the way which they worked surprisingly well with one another, Vanyra guessed that at least some of them may have been professional soldiers at one point. Arrows, bolts and bullets mowed down the hordes of undead more efficiently (and safely) than what could be done with axe or hammer and it looked liked each of the brigands still carried a good deal of ammunition which they had stolen. Soon the acrid smell of spent blackpowder mixed with the stench of the dead and more than once, the brigands were forced back to evade the grasping hands of the dead.

Soon though, they were able to make a large enough gap for them to go through and reluctantly did the brigands proceed after a bit of bullying from their leader. Lucio went in first with rapier in hand and Vanyra followed the human who while certainly was far more pleasant company when compared to the brigands, there was something about this human that made the Engineer cautious a bit cautious as well. Eventually, they made it passed the gate leading to the manor and they found themselves in a courtyard that had once been a lavish garden but now was nothing more than a place of rot and death.

Dried and withered hedgerows surrounded them in the courtyard as more of the dead continued to shamble on towards the baronial manor. There was also something in the air itself which put Vanyra ill at ease but she could not quite identify what it was.

'Shut those gates!' roared the eye patched leader of the brigands towards his men and the outlaws split up into four groups with the largest number of them keeping watch on the gates of the manor. More of the dead continued to shamble towards them, likely they had been drawn to the cracks of firearms and the well armed brigands obliged with a volley of shots. The brigand leader then gave a hard look to Lucio and he said to him in a manner that was both serious and with an underlying threat to it 'you better come through, Estalian.'

The foreign human then gave the brigand leader a rather non-chalant nod before heading towards the main entrance of the manor along with the Engineer and three other brigands. The main doorway leading into the manor had been left open with the doors themselves having been pushed forward and there was something quite ominous about how the darkness inside within seemed to beckon towards them.

'Come, let us send the dead back to Morr's embrace' said Lucio in a confident tone as he moved to enter the manor with the Engineer and the brigands following right after him.

The kitchen of the inn had become an abattoir with Sashura and the three Imperials being the butchers who did their grim work. Men and women who had still been living, breathing folk when they had left to gather the medicines were now milk eyed cadavers that sought only to eat the flesh of the living. Many bore the telltale marks of having been bitten and it became painfully clear that they had been too late.

The true death would be a mercy now thought Sashura as she drove her sword into the right eye of a male zombie who she recognized as of being one of the men who had also been assisting with the defense of the inn. The zombie fell like a marionette with its strings cut and Sashura back away in time to evade the lunge of another of the dead which was quickly intercepted by Rickert Grim. The Road Warden fought with a furious abandon as they tried to clear the way out of the kitchen but with so many zombies still crowding around the bar area, it would have been suicide to go out there.

Already, the sell-sword began contemplating the idea of using the smuggler tunnel to get out of this place. What caused her to stay though was the knowledge that her horse which was still in the stables as well as some of her other belongings were still in the room she had rented out. Escape would have to be a last resort she decided for the inn itself was still a defensible position and there certainly were a lot more of the dead out there than in here.

Zombies spilled out from the doorway in twos or threes and it remained a manageable task for the survivors to take on the walking corpses. Eventually though, the exhaustion from their recent sojourn as well as the all of the fighting from earlier soon began to affect their performance. Strikes became slower, limbs began to feel like lead and their breathing began to become more labored as the effort to swing their weapons gradually became greater.

The dead remained tireless in their pursuit of devouring living flesh but their number quite tellingly began lessened and a sense of hope came to the beleaguered survivors. One last push thought Sashura as she brought her down upon the skull of a zombie and she split its head in half from the top. The Kislevite's sword became stuck in the skull of the zombie she had put down and she tried to free the weapon but not avail and a pair of surprisingly strong, dead hands managed to grab hold onto her right arm.

'Chyort!' hissed Sashura as a zombie suddenly pulled the sell-sword towards it with a slavering, bloodstained maw held wide open.

Quick as a viper, Sashura drove her dagger into the forehead of the zombie that managed to catch her but not before another pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and the next thing she knew, she felt the crushing pressure as one of the dead tried to sink its teeth into her left shoulder. The teeth of the undead creature tore into her leather coat but it was unable to pierce the mail shirt which she wore underneath. A loud meaty thunk soon followed as the Road Warden stepped in and killed the thing with a hatchet blow to the head and Sashura was able to break free from the dead thing's grasp.

'Thanks' breathed the Sell-sword with a nod towards Rickert Grim and they heard the moaning of another zombie coming towards. As the two of them quickly turned to face the rest of the dead, the Road Warden suddenly froze up when he caught sight of one particular flesh eater.

'Lotte…' whispered the Road Warden whose eyes were focused on a zombified black haired woman in a common peasant's dress with a distinct bulge around the stomach.

'Oh Scheiße' whispered Wilhelm.

'You will have to put her down herr Grim' came the voice of Franz in a sad, sympathetic tone and they did not know if the Road Warden even heard but Sashura noticed how the man' hands began to tremble.

'No time for this!' hissed Sashura as she switched her hold on her dagger into a reverse grip and with her free hand she slapped the Imperial Lawman on the side of his right shoulder.

Rickert Grim was immediately broken from his shock and a look of both sorrow and determination came over his face. Once more, the butchers went back into continuing their bloody work.

The interior of the baronial manor seemed to be more like a tomb rather than a home was the thought of Vanyra Skorrisdottir as she carefully looked around for any dangers. They currently were in a spacious foyer where many expensive looking pieces of furniture and decorations lay around and the brigands seemed to eye these pieces with avarice. The air in here seemed more oppressive than the outside, as if they were in a long forgotten section of the Ungdrin where no sentient being had disturbed it in generations.

The Manor itself looked as if it had been abandoned for months but surely that was not possible for this outbreak only began less than two days ago? From the outside, the voices of the other brigands could be heard as more gunshots rang out into the night. Vanyra kept her senses for any dangers and the Engineer noticed the way which the Estalian man, Lucio seemed to become tenser as well as how he now carried his sword in a more defensive manner.

'Where to manling?' asked Vanyra who had a strong feeling that this man knew much about what was going on.

'The way to the catacomb is beneath the library' responded Lucio in a calm manner which had an underlying hint of wariness.

'Lead on Estalian, but no funny business' came the voice of one of the brigands, a shifty looking, rat-faced man who wore a rusty suit of chain armour while wielding a blunderbuss and a hatchet tied to the side of his belt.

Lucio nodded towards the armed men and he cautiously led the way down a hall to the right of a grand staircase. They traveled in near silence with the only sound they made coming from their footsteps or their armour until eventually after passing by four rooms with closed doors, they made it to the end of the hall where to the left side, there was a last door. The Estalian tried to open the door but found it to be locked and the man knelt by the key hole while producing a series of lock picks which he used with expert skill.

'How long is this going to take?' demanded the blunderbuss armed brigand in a quiet whisper.

'Not long now' replied the foreigner until a light click resounded and he placed his hands on knob before opening the door.

The group soon entered the library one by one and soon they found themselves in a small room with many shelves surrounding them. Vanyra's inborn dwarfish senses began to kick in and she could feel that behind one of the shelves on the north side of the library room, there was a tunnel behind it.

'Over there' pointed Vanyra towards the shelf that concealed the tunnel.

'Looks heavy' commented another brigand who carried a light hunting crossbow and wore fur garments that had the atrocious smell of a person who seriously needed a bath.

'Maybe one of the books will open it?' shrugged Vanyra for such a thing often happened in the cheap pfennig dreadful which circulated around the Empire. The brigands then began to shuffle through the books on the shelf, trying to find if indeed there was one that would open the path and after about a minute, they found that there was no secret switch. 'It was worth a try' shrugged Vanyra and the rat faced, blunderbuss armed man lifted his weapon up.

'How about we just make a new one' said the brigand before firing his weapon. The loud roar of the blackpowder gun within the enclosed space was deafening to all of them as the acrid smell of spent gunpowder filled their nostrils. The shelf in turn, exploded in a shower of wooden splinters and they saw the tunnel with walls of smooth stone that lead down to the catacombs.

The brigands then began to use their weapons to slash and smash a path through the ruined remains of the bookshelf until finally they created an entryway large enough for them to go through.

'After you my dear' said Lucio towards Vanyra and the Dwarf knew that she did not have much choice in the matter.

With a quiet nod, Vanyra took the lead into the tunnel with the humans following her and with each step they took, the air became more and more oppressive. A strange pressure began to build up within her head and she thought that she began to hear a whispering voice as the stones around them gradually became rougher. Cold sweat began to bead around her forehead and she felt her that her heart began to beat more forcefully underneath her breast.

Cautiously looking to the humans who accompanied her, Vanyra noticed the way they began to struggle with each step. Through the darkness which her eyes pierced, she saw that in the eyes of humans, there was now a glazed and unfocused quality them.

'Hey stay with me!' shouted Vanyra for while she honestly had little care for these humans, the Engineer would rather prefer to not go further down the tunnel without at least some back up.

'You have… to do it' hissed Lucio with strained his as he gritted his teeth and his eyes began to take on a pinkish hue.

A sudden unnatural pulse from deep within the tunnel was suddenly felt and the humans collapsed to the rocky with a pained shriek as they began to clutch their heads.

'Ah krut…' whispered Vanyra who proceeded to go further down the tunnel while leaving the humans where they had fallen. The voices and the pressure in her head began to magnify in its intensity and she could have sworn to the Ancestors that she was beginning to grow mad for she could have sworn that she began to see strange and unknown things surely could not be real.

Within her mind, Vanyra Skorrisdottir saw an ancient city with crude stone towers that rose high into the sky, she saw a vast forest of green where many serpentine creatures stalked underneath the brush. She saw a great battle between two races of these serpents, one group marched with gilded blades as a mighty frog-like sorcerer led them while the other group were a more malevolent race of cyclopean creatures. Blood was spilled as these two scale-hided armies fought underneath the eaves of the primordial forest but their battle was eclipsed by a more titanic struggle.

The frog-sorcerer had fought a great battle against another sorcerer who was of the same breed as the cyclopean creatures. A great exchange of destructive magic was exchanged between the two until finally; the frog-thing began to claim the upper hand. The cyclopean creature attempted to escape the wrath of the frog-sorcerer and it called upon the aid four, darkly familiar deities of infinite malevolence.

One of the cyclopean thing's deities, a being that could only be the Plague God, Nurgle, answered the one eyed sorcerer's call and its body began to swell with pustules and buboes. Pestilence and disease began to run rampant across the battlefield of the two serpentine armies and those who had died soon began to rise from the dead. The battle turned in favor of the cyclopean creatures and it was with one last effort of mighty sorcery, the frog-sorcerer unleashed a powerful blast of magic that obliterated the leader of the diseased army.

The images within Vanyra's mind then began to become more jumbled up and the only thing she could remember seeing afterwards was some sort of dark, funeral…

Gritting her teeth and steeling her resolve with typical dwarfish stubborness, the Engineer carried on until finally, she found the door for the key. Standing before the dwarf was an ancient stone portal which had several wax seals with strips of parchment sticking to its surface.

Many of the seals were broken with the papers having been shredded and Vanyra quickly saw the round slot at the center of the door. Reaching into her pack and placing the stone sphere from the Sigmarite cathedral into the slot, she soon heard a click which was followed by a rumbling sound. The door then began to lower itself and another unnatural pulse reverberated through the tunnels.

Vanyra saw more images that appeared in her mind, she saw human barbarians exploring these very catacombs which had been dug by a race far older than they and within this place, they began to bury their dead within it. In time, the humans would find the ancient corpse of the cyclopean sorcerer and despite having been dead for countless eons; it still retained a measure of the pestilence that had been granted to it. The dead which the humans had buried began to rise and what followed was a brutal massacre that rampaged across the lands.

The darkness that spread eventually was beaten back by a hammer-wielding human warrior who was clad in a fur cloak and wore the skull of a wolf. Frost and cold radiated from this human champion as wolves howled into the air and with a great war cry dedicated to the manling battle god, Ulric, he charged into the horde of the undead.

What followed became unclear to Vanyra as her feet moved as if on their own accord through the tunnels and her mind was filled with more images that made less sense. Ancient human bones soon surrounded the tunnels around her and the air soon began to take on a damp and musty quality. Keeping her mind on the task at hand, she eventually made her way into what she recognized as the burial chamber and some fresh images began to appear in her thoughts.

She saw a band of adventurers who accidentally managed to open the door and none made it close to the burial chamber before their bodies were consumed by contagion. She then saw the band of Sigmarites who had tried to cleanse this place and they were able to make it to the burial chamber. A small piece of the Cycopean sorcerer still lived and it rose up to defend its tomb from the Humans.

One by one the priests and Sigmarites died, all save for one who managed to flee. In this battle, one of the Imperials, a Witch Hunter managed to severely harm the thing with a shot from his pistol. The ancient Cyclops had then for the first time in millenia, felt pain. It used powerful dark sorceries to summon a swarm of flies which assailed the Witch Hunter and the large host of insects flew into the orifices of the human.

Then all she saw was darkness and her vision returned to normal. Vanyra now found herself staring at the ancient sarcophagus of the Cyclopean Sorcerer but the lid was left open and inside was the desiccated corpse of the Witch Hunter who was the last to fall and he lay there in silent repose. Vanyra's head soon began to clear and she knew well enough what she needed to do. Drawing her sword, the Dwarf soon began to feel a strange tingling sensation at the back of her head and she knew that something was also not right.

The withered Witch Hunter slowly opened the lids of its eyes which were yellow and rheumy rather than being empty sockets and for a brief moment it looked to her. With a loud roar, Vanyra brought the tip of her blade into the skull of the undead Witch Hunter and she heard a deafening, psychic scream that threatened to rip out her very soul. The buzzing sound of an insect swarm soon began to fill the ears of Vanyra and to her horror, she saw a shifting cloud of flies rise up from the Witch Hunter.

For a brief moment, Vanyra stood there in paralyzed horror as she felt an incredibly ancient and malign entity which stared into her eyes with millions of its own. It then began to speak in a disgusting and slurping tongue which she could not understand before finally, she heard something which she could understand and it spoke 'you will have to do, for now…'

'You will not escape me, daemon!' roared the voice of the Estalian and it broke whatever spell the daemonic thing had on the dwarf.

'Never!' roared the daemon-thing that took the form of many insects and it shot towards the foreign human like a bolt from a crossbow.

For a brief moment, Vanyra saw a confident grin on the face of Lucio as he drew something which resembled a gleaming crystal shard and once again, the daemon-thing gave out a loud, psychic scream which was followed by another, powerful pulse of magic that caused the ground to begin shaking. The Engineer then began to feel light headed, the vision within her eyes began to blacken and she felt her consciousness slip away. Unable to resist whatever was happening no longer, Vanyra soon found herself passing out and into a another series of troubled dream that offered no answers and only questions.

Silence filled the inn as the last of the zombies was put down by the survivors. Exhaustion and weariness began to take its toll from them but they knew at last that the fight was now over.

'Everyone all right?' called Sashura who tried to catch her breath.

'Just… just need… a breather' said Franz and Wilhelm spoke a similar sentiment.

The Road Warden on the other hand remained silent as he looked down upon the corpse of his wife who he had personally been forced to put down in the fight and Sashura could see the tears which flowed from his eyes. Before the Kislevite could say anything, they heard the sound of footsteps from the basement below and with horror; Sashura realized that some zombie had managed to make it through the tunnel. It screamed as it began to sprint and the Sell-sword heard its quick footsteps as it ascended the staircase.

Readying her weapons once more, Sashura saw the thing quickly reach up to the kitchen and then suddenly, it began to violently spasm and jerk about. Clumps rotted flesh began to fall from its flesh which was immediately followed by the muscles and meat beneath until only bones remained. The zombie then fell in a clatter of wet bones that fell into the cellar below.

'What in Sigmar's name was that!?' questioned Franz and Sashura instinctively glanced back to see that a similar, gruesome thing was happening to the remains of the zombies they had slain.

When consciousness returned to Vanyra, she found herself alone within the catacombs. If felt as if she had awakened from a terrible dream which she could not remember. Slowly getting back up to her feet, Vanyra soon began to make her way back to the surface.

Her natural dwarf senses allowed her to easily find her way back up to the manor and along the way, she found the spot where the brigands had fallen earlier. All that remained were bloody skeletons that lay surrounded by piles of putrid, necrotic flesh and the dwarf felt like she was going to vomit but managed to keep it in. Confusion began to fill the mind of Vanyra over what had just happened and eventually, she made it back to the library.

The Engineer then made her way out of the manor and into the cool light of dawn which was also accompanied by the grisly sight of many bloody skeletons.

'Valaya's silver cups' breathed Vanyra as she found herself in an eerie, silence which was soon broken by the distant sound of a ringing church bell.

Still confused and simply lost over what had just happened, Vanyra slowly walked towards the church where she hoped to find at least a living soul.

Many Months later…

Standing before ancient stone steps that led up towards the great temple, Lucio Sierra grinned as he made his ascent while the hot sun of Lustria bore down upon them. It had been a long and tiresome journey from the Old World but one that would be well worth the rewards. The reptilian guardians that protected this place had allowed him to go through unharmed and after several minutes of climbing up the steps he made it to the top of the temple where is patron awaited.

Seated in deep meditation underneath a veranda, he saw the great, frog-like mage, the Slann as they were called who Lucio guessed was the king of this city. A small reptilian creature wearing a prominent headdress of bird feathers soon came up to him and it began making a series of clicking sounds while pointing to the satchel where he kept the shard. Handing the satchel towards the reptilian thing, it took the leather container and inspected it for a moment before scuttling off to the Slann.

The toad-mage whose corpulent form was shaded by the Veranda then raised a single, thin, clawed hand and one of the larger reptilian guards then began to make a series of bestial sounds while raising its heavy blade high. At the base of the temple a commotion occurred and soon he saw the familiar glint of gold as several reptiles carried a large platform that had been loaded with the precious metals. Another smile was etched upon the face of the Estalian who thought that it was a fair trade.