Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hoped that you liked the last chapter and that you like this one as well, as always I own nothing.

Karl was not sure how long he ran, Wilhelmina cradled in his arms. At last he decided that he had run enough and began looking for a safe place to rest. Most of the buildings, those that were still standing, were nothing but fire-blackened ruins so Karl found one that was still partially standing. After some searching he at last found what he was looking for, a door leading down into a half-collapsed cellar. Entering he placed Wilhelmina on the floor then, seeing that she was still shivering, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed himself against her in an effort to keep her warm. As they lay there he looked over their situation, it was not at all a pleasant thing to contemplate.

They had lost everything but the cloths on her back, there was no sign of their quarry, whose trail they had lost, Wilhelmina was injured and Karl had no idea how to help her; he was a beast not a priest or healer for Sigmar's sake! As Wilhelmina underwent another fit of shivering Karl tried to find a way out of the mess they found themselves in. He did not know if Wilhelmina had some means of contacting Marx but he certainly did not so unless she got better or Marx himself showed up it was all up to Karl to figure out what to do, which was not exactly his strong point. He felt his stomach growl, he was hungry and he was certain that Wilhelmina was as well, possibly even more so. He had to find food for them but at the same time he did not want to leave her alone in her current condition. So they just lay there, Karl was not sure for how long, till at last it seemed that her breathing was becoming somewhat easier. Though he still did not want to do so he felt he had no choice but to venture out in search of food.

He soon found that it would be as difficult as he had feared, if not more so. The burned city offered no opportunities to salvage food and everywhere there was such a feeling of wrongness that he was not sure that he would trust anything that he found to be safe to eat anyway. The more he thought about the more he found himself entertaining the idea that they may have to admit defeat and try to make their way out of the city and back to more hospitable lands. He doubted very much that Marx would be pleased with this turn of events but Karl did not see that they had much choice. Without food or any other supplies, including his cloths, they would not be able to effectively hunt for the vampire and possibly contend with those pursuing it. Thus deciding he headed back to where he had left Wilhelmina, all the while going over the arguments in his head to determine how best to present them.

When he returned he found Wilhelmina had awakened. She looked exhausted and drawn, she clearly was far from recovered from her ordeal with the undead creature. Regardless, she was awake and that was a vast improvement in Karl's opinion. A few minutes later he was no longer sure that that was the case. She was far from her usual strength but she was adamant that they were not giving up on their assigned mission. Karl pointed out their supply situation and her injuries, her only response to this was a very cold look.

"I can assure you," she said in a slow deliberate tone of voice which punctuated every word; "That I am more than capable of completing the task assigned to us. I have endured far worse injuries than this before and I have no intention of letting a few scratches slow me, or you, down. As for supplies, there was a certain…item that I had in my pack that we will need when we find the vampire and as all our weapons are there as well there is only one thing to do, you are just going to have to go and retrieve them from the mansion." Karl was about to protest when he saw the look she was giving him, a look which indicated that it would be very bad for his health to argue with her at the moment, so off he went.

He made his way back to the mansion, he had thought about waiting for darkness but then remembering what he might meet he decided that it would probably be better to make his move in daylight. As he approached it he could smell the scents of ghouls and magic but they seemed fainter than before. As he entered the mansion he saw fresh scorches on the walls and floors and here and there a severed limb but the mansion seemed deserted, there were not even any bodies. Staying alert in case that should change he went to where they had slept before and sniffed around till he found their scents. It took him some time, the first scent he followed led him up to where Wilhelmina had been held but he saw no sign of their equipment. He went back to their campsite and sniffed around again till he found another trail. This one was faint and mingled with the scent of the ghouls and he lost it a few times but he kept at it.

The smell of ghouls grew stronger and stronger till it threatened to overwhelm his nose but he kept at it. The trail led him down into the cellar and to what appeared to be a warren or nest of some sort, comprised of crude shelters and shallow holes. Everywhere he looked he saw signs of battle, shelters overturned, burns on the floor and walls and more body parts. It looked as if the ghouls had fled here and been slaughtered, Karl found he felt not the least bit sorry for them. Rooting through the remains of the ghouls' lair he found their packs; to his disgust he found that they had been ripped open and their contents riffled. Most of the food had been eaten but there was still some, which was better than nothing which was what they had before. Most of their cloths were shredded or gone but a few articles were still usable. To his great delight he found his weapons, a further search revealed Wilhelmina's sword and staff. Gathering these and all of the rest of their belongings that he could he find he left the ruined mansion and headed back to where Wilhelmina waited for him.

When he presented his find she did not say anything but she did give a superior look which he could only grind his teeth as he changed back into human form and belted his weapons to his belt. After that they ate some of the supplies he had found and she rubbed some sort of salve on her wounds. After she was done Karl broached the subject that had been on his mind.

"Do you have any idea how we are going to track the vampire? The trail that we followed here was thin enough as it was, it most likely is gone by now so how are we going to search the whole of this wretched place?"

"There is another way." She told him; "It was not practical when we were on the road but now that we know that it is here in the remains of this city we can use it." She reached into a pouch belted to her waist and brought out a feather, though faint Karl could smell the magic on it. She sat down cross-legged with her hands in her lap holding the feather with both hands. "Now this may take some time so see that nothing disturbs me and that includes you." So saying she closed her eyes and began to chant in a language that he did not recognize but seemed vaguely familiar to him. As she continued to chant black smoke rose from the feather and formed a great black bird. Her chanting seemed to reach a pitch and came to a sudden end, her head fell back and her eyes rolled back in her head. The bird gave a ghostly cry and flew away.

Karl was not sure how long he sat there staring at Wilhelmina's motionless body before the bird returned. As he watched it dissolved into smoke which seeped into the feather and with a gasp her eyes returned to normal and she righted herself. For a moment she just sat there, her head hanging forward panting. After a while her breathing returned to normal and she raised her head to look at Karl.

"I have found our prey, unfortunately the others have found it as well. We must hurry time is short."

At her command he returned to his wolven form and, bearing both Wilhelmina and their gear, he took off at a run. She gave him directions as needed which was good as he was soon lost in the array of streets and ruins. They crossed a bridge as the sun began to go down. The smell and sense of wrongness had increased when the crossed the bridge but Wilhelmina urged him on. Finally, a little after sunset, she urged him to slow his pace. From what remained of the buildings around them it seemed that they were in what had once been one of the poorer sections of the city.

Wilhelmina dismounted and hid their gear in a pile of rubble and then returned and told him to return to his human form and ready his weapons. He did so swiftly knowing that they would soon be needed, before he had changed he had caught the whiff of another familiar smell, the smell of vampires. It seemed that their hunt had at last come to an end.

They now made their way forward more slowly, taking pains to not make any more than was necessary. As they moved forward the smell of vampire grew stronger, as did the smells of men and magic. The ruins suddenly came to an end and there was an open space beyond, it had the remains of a fence around it and it looked like it had once been a paupers graveyard, what drew their attention most though was the battle being waged there.

While some of the combatants were men, mercenaries mostly by the look of them though three of them looked to be too finely dressed to be so, the majority of the combatants were skeletons which looked brittle with age and a few zombies, which appeared far fresher and garbed similar to the living combatants. It seemed that most of the combatants where trying to force their way into the remains of a small house. When Karl focused on it he saw a figure standing in the doorway, it was Helena, though she looked nothing like she had when Karl had last seen her. Her clothes were dirty and torn and her hair looked matted and filthy. Her hands were raised and she was chanting rapidly words that made Karl's ears hurt.

Near the entrance of the graveyard there stood a black elegant coach drawn by four black horses. Beside it stood an elegantly dressed woman. She looked to be about thirty and dressed in the latest fashion, a burgundy gown and black gloves, beside her stood a young man, a noble by the look of him, who was clearly guarding her. Like Helena her hands were raised and she was chanting, though she seemed to be more proficient at it than Helena. The number of skeletons that she seemed to be controlling outnumbered Helena's by at least three to one and she seemed to be raising more. Nor was that her only advantage, as Karl watched six of Helena's skeletons came apart. The cause was a tall figure in in leather armor, with short brown hair. Karl suppressed a groan, it seemed Isabella had survived after all.

Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope you all like this one. Next time we will be in for a proper fight. Till next time please pray for persecuted Christians and all others who suffer persecution, the sick, the homeless and runaways, victims of human trafficking, those who suffer, Gail Berry, a friend of the family suffering from mental deterioration and all others who suffer from physical and mental degeneration and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.