Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad people ate enjoying the story so far. As always Games Workshop owns the Warhammer world, I am just playing around in it.
Karl carried Werner, who seemed to be regaining consciousness, to the temple at the end of the street. A plump priestess of about fifty met him at the entrance. Karl told her they had been attacked by footpads. She nodded and instructed him to take Werner to an inner room.
After a quick evaluation she stated that Werner's injury wasn't serious. After she and a novice cleaned and bandaged the wound the priestess asked if he had injuries that needed treating. He hastily assured her he did not, eager not have her see that, while his cloths were torn and bloodstained, he had no wounds. After receiving her assurance that Werner would be fine in a day or two Karl relaxed; still, he was determined not to take any chances of the attackers finishing the job with Werner. He would stay here until Werner was well enough to leave.
The residents of the temple seemed to understand, for no one bothered him, and a young novice brought him a bed roll. Determined not to waste this period of forced inactivity he determined to go over what they had learned and see if he could not answer some of the questions that had been plaguing them. So deciding, he sat down and began to think.
There had been five murders, all members of families competing for the title of Elector or their supporters. Yet so far none of those killed had actually been the ones competing for the title, indeed at the attack at the Alptraum estate, they had passed on just such an opportunity. The Lord High Justice had opined that the killings may be the work of an unknown party and the facts seemed to support this.
The Stokers, despite being allied with the Leitdorfs, had been in communication with that family's rival for reasons unknown. They were also eager to keep the existence of this activity secret. Till they could speak with the Leitdorfs he and Werner would not know if they knew of the Stokers activates.
The Alptraums were up to something that much was obvious. For reasons he and Werner did not know they had employed a servant in the Stoker to engage in some activity which was also unknown. But it had to be something big, as the boy had clearly been promised both money and patronage for performing it. Karl wished they knew what that activity was, indeed, they did not even know if he had done whatever it was that he had been hired to do.
They had an unknown person tailing them for an unknown purpose. As Karl that about that man he began to entertain the notion that there was, in fact, more than one person following them. The first individual that they had sensed following them had been cautious, hanging back and even ceasing to follow them when he realized he had been detected. While the man he had seen had boldly followed him into an alley, exactly the opposite of how their earlier pursuer had acted.
Next there was the attack. His discounted the possibility that the men were just common footpads; they had clearly targeted Karl and Werner, disregarding easier marks. Karl briefly considered that these men might be the assassins they sought, and then dismissed that idea. While the numbers were right the weapons were not. These men were armed with clubs, knives, short swords and at least one garrote, not the curved blades that had been used in the killings.
Finally, there was the unexpected intervention of their mysterious friend in the fight. No, not friend, friends, there had been at least two in the fight. The thrown knives and the noose; there was no way for someone to move fast enough to have used both, so the man had a friend. Karl wondered if this new person was their stalker from earlier.
"The next morning Werner was fully awake. He declared himself recovered and ready to resume the investigation. The abbess, however, would have none of that and declared that he must remain in bed and rest for at least two days. Seeing as how she would not budge on the issue Werner consented. He then called Karl in and suggested that while he rested Karl should attempt to learn from the Watch anything he could about their attackers.
So Karl sought out the Watchmen stationed closest to where the fight had occurred. At first they were unwilling to talk to him; at which point he produced the letter with the Lord High Justices Seal, which Werner had entrusted him with. From the now more talkative Watchmen he learned that the men in question, while having worked for many of the gangs in the city, were not members of any. Rather they were just low-level muscle for hire, willing to work for anyone who would pay, and were often hired as cheap extra muscle.
Not wanting to go back to the temple, which would mean having to report a dead-end and the spending the day fidgeting, he decided to do a little investigating on his own. Heading back to the upper-class section of the city he found a place of concealment near the Stoker house and settled in to watch, he doubted anything would occur before dark but he wanted to be there just in case. Hours passed and the sun slowly set and night settled on the city.
Karl suddenly detected movement; a carriage was coming from the back of the house. He allowed it to get a bit of a start on him and then followed. There was not much in the way of traffic on the streets after dark so he had no difficulty in trailing it. He was nearly spotted once, however. Rounding a corner he saw three Watchmen coming towards him. Lacking his werewolf eyes, they had not yet seen him and he quickly darted into an alley till they had passed.
This allowed the carriage to get further ahead than Karl liked and he had to hurry to catch up. To avoid being delayed by having to hide again he climbed up and ran along the rooftops. This kept him relatively safe from detection, as long as he refrained from making too much noise. Even if he was seen he would hopefully only be thought a burglar and would not concern those in the carriage.
Eventually the carriage pulled to a halt. Karl was not surprised to see it was in front of the Von Galt estate. As the carriage came to a halt the front door opened and a young man, Karl recalled his name was Hector, came out with a lantern. From the carriage a man got out, Karl instantly recognized Franz, the missing hand being a dead giveaway.
Once he had dismounted her turned back to assist someone else out. The person he was assisting was shorter than he and wore a dress and a hooded cloak that hid her face. Even at a distance Karl could smell her, an unpleasant mixture of too much perfume and fear. She clung to Franz as a third figure got out and joined them. This one also wore a dress and hood but no perfume; and Karl didn't smell fear on her. Franz pried himself lose from the first woman and handed her off to the second one, instantly the first latched onto the second instead. With Hector leading the way they all went inside and the door closed behind them.
Karl wasn't sure how long they were inside, but it wasn't long, less than half an hour he was sure. Then the door opened and the three exited. The one woman was still clinging to the other and the smell of fear was greater. They all entered the carriage and departed.
Again Karl followed them but they went straight back to the Stoker home and went inside. For some time Karl watched but the lights went went out and there was no further movement. An hour before sunrise Karl was just about to head back to the temple to get some rest before reporting to Werner what he had seen when he caught a scent on the wind. It was the scent of the second woman he had followed earlier.
His immediately set off, following the smell. He soon saw her; she was heading down a side street towards the lower class section of the city. He followed at a distance; he didn't need to see her to track her, though he did try to keep her in sight.
Eventually the buildings became unevenly spaced and sized and Karl had to drop down to the street to continue on foot. This caused him to lose sight of quarry and by the time he caught up with her she had gotten into trouble. Two men, by their smell and appearance drunks, had confronted her. One had grabbed her arms while the other was reaching for her cloak.
Before Karl could do anything the woman brought her foot down on the bare foot of the one holding her. The man yelped and let go of her. She then rammed her elbow into his stomach, causing him to double over. Just then the second man grabbed her hood. She jerked around; her fingers hooked like claws, and raked his face, drawing lines of blood. During this her hood had come off, revealing the dark, curly head of Esmeralda.
Her had shot into her bodice and came out with a thin dagger. This she wielded with the skill of a veteran knife-fighter; and soon the man was in retreat, blood spurting from numerous cuts on his arms and hands. She then turned back to the other man, who was just beginning to get his breath back. She grabbed his hair with both hands and brought his head down to meet her rapidly rising knee.
Even at a distance Karl could hear the man's nose breaking. Blood poured from his nose and he collapsed to the ground clutching his bloody nose. Esmeralda, who was not even breathing hard, turned without giving the man a second glance and continued on her way.
She did not go much farther. She soon came to a corner near a tanner's shop, the smell of which threatened to overwhelm Karl's nose. She seemed to be waiting for something or someone, glancing up and down the alleys and streets. Not wanting to be seen Karl deftly jumped onto a nearby roof. Just as he settled down behind a chimney he heard the sound of someone approaching. Soon so did Esmeralda, she turned and hurried toward the sound. Soon a man came down a street and Esmeralda threw herself into his arms and they embraced warmly. Like her he wore a hood and cloak so Karl could not see him, but he did not need to, even so near the tanner his smell was recognizable. It was their friendly stalker and unexpected ally.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, well, three chapters I hoped you liked them, got bit by the writing bug. Bit short I know, next will be longer, any theories yet as to what is going on? A few answers will be in the next chapter. Please keep praying for Shawn, persecuted Christians, Saeed Abedini and everyone else who needs it, including Amir Hekmati, an American in poor health being held in Iran. Bye for now and may Jesus bless you all.