Author's Notes: Hey everyone I am glad that you liked the last chapter I figured you all deserve this for me taking so long to update, as always I own nothing.

Wilhelmina led Karl towards where a pair of horses were being held by a groom. As they rode towards the wealthier part of the city she informed Karl that Helena had been sent by the Lahmians to subvert one of the wealthier merchants of the city. Through yet unknown means her dealings with Marx had become known to them. It was essential that she be found by Karl and Wilhelmina before the other vampires did, not only would Marx lose a valuable asset but he would become known to the Lahmians, as would part of his network.

They soon came to the house that Helena had been staying, since she had fled in haste they hoped that she had left some clue or something that could be used to track her whereabouts. Even as they dismounted Karl caught the smell of vampires as well as normal human scents. Wilhelmina stooped down and looked at the lock on the front door.

"It has been picked." She said simply; "They beat us here, if there was anything here they most likely found it. Still, we have to look."

Testing the door they found it to be unlocked and went in. The smell of vampires was even stronger inside but he forced himself to concentrate. As they split up to search he tried to remember what Werner had taught him about looking for clues, to look for things that seemed out of place. As he looked around he saw some items, such as bust of some long dead general, were not in their usual place. Lifting it up he found that it was much lighter than he had expected it to be. Moving it around in his hand look at it from all angles he found that that there was a hole at the bottom and that the inside of the bust had been hollowed out.

"Found something?" Wilhelmina's voice came from behind him, wordlessly he handed the bust to her. She took it and gave it a cursory glance. "A common practice, get a replica of a statue or bust and hollow it out to hide valuables inside. From the size this one most likely held an emergency money supply."

"So Helena has some money at least?" Karl asked. Wilhelmina snorted.

"If it did it was the only preparation that it took. The searchers made a mess upstairs but from the look of it the vampire did not take much. Looks like it left most of its belongings behind. It probably panicked and ran as soon as it learned that it had been found out and ran." Wilhelmina paused for a moment to think, then she began to speak again. "Actually, this can work in our favor. Since it left in such a hurry, it probably left a trail that will be easy to follow. We just have to determine which direction it took once it left the city then we just have to follow the bodies."

"Bodies, what bodies?" Karl asked.

"At most all she will have with it are its coachman and maid, if that, it will need to feed." Holding back his revulsion Karl forced himself to focus on the matter at hand.

"How are we going to find which gate she went through? There is more than one gate and the smells of this city are masking all individual smells." She just gave him a smile and told him not to worry she had thought already thought of that.

First they returned to the livery stable and returned the horse Karl was riding, though they kept the one Wilhelmina was riding. They then headed out of the city and stopped in a small group of trees nearby. Wilhelmina informed him that they would be waiting for nightfall and then asked about where he had been. He told of his capture, captivity and subsequent escape, though he decided to leave out any mention of Yuviel from his retelling. Wilhelmina seemed to enjoy the story, however, her smirk made it clear that he was leaving something out. Well, Karl thought; she can just keep smirking. Because it is going to stay left out. In order to change the subject he asked her what they were doing among the trees.

"You'll see but we need to wait for nightfall. I'd get some sleep if I were you." So saying she made herself comfortable and went to sleep, not having anything else to do Karl went to sleep. She woke him up several hours after the sun had set. She had him shift into his wolven form. She then reached into her bag and drew out a horse brush that he had seen her take from the stable at the house. Taking the brush she held it to his nose. "Go on boy, get the smell." He growled at her in annoyance but never the less took several deep sniffs of the brush and then started towards the road.

He sniffed around for some time, it had been several days and the road had seen much traffic. At last, however, he picked up the smell that he sought and took off following it, Wilhelmina riding a little behind. "I feel a proper lady," she joked; "On a hunt with her favorite hunting hound." Karl growled again, there were times he found that he almost missed the days when she still despised him, at least then she mostly ignored him.

There was only one road at first so the trail was easy to follow, which was good because there were times when the scent became to muddle with other smells for Karl to follow. Eventually the road split into other branches but the smell led ever westward. So it continued, during the day Karl would resume his human form and they would rest, sometimes at inns but more often they rested under the open sky. When they did stop at inns Wilhelmina, who did most of the talking, would ask after Helena, giving some story or other about a friend or relative. Often such inquiries drew nothing but occasionally they would be told that others had been through looking for someone matching that description.

This second group apparently consisted of a mixed company. There was a carriage that would not have been out of place in the capital and was escorted by four young men dressed as nobles. What was unusual was the others who traveled with them. They appeared an assortment of hired toughs with the look of mercenaries or bounty hunters about them. Unfortunately, accounts varied on exactly how many of these there were but there seemed to be at least ten of them.

While they at times lost the trail there was another way to track them, the bodies. Karl did not know if it was Helena or those who pursued her but whichever it was, they needed to feed. While it was not at every village they began to hear reports of people going missing and never being seen again, or being found drained of blood. They also found bodies on the side of the road occasionally, most had the look of bandits but others appeared to be road wardens or merely travelers who had had the misfortune to cross the path of either the one the sought or their fellow hunters. Some said a witch hunter had been sent for by a temple near one of the slayings, a fact which pleased neither of the trackers.

As they continued on the signs of civilization seemed to grow more and scarce and Karl noted the even Wilhelmina was beginning to give off the smell of fear. Even the land seemed to change, it smelled foul and rotten in some way and it only seemed to get worse as they pressed on. Karl did not like it but they kept going. He did not how long they had been on the road, the days had begun to blend together, when Wilhelmina called for him to halt. He looked back to see her staring at a fallen sign post, he could not read but whatever was on it seemed to have confirmed something she already suspected but had been hoping was so. Unable to speak in his wolf form he gave her a curious whine. She looked at him and said a single word that sent a chill down his spine.

"Mordheim."

Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has taken me so long to get this out to you but I hope this made it up to you. As you can see things are going to get interesting soon. Till next time please keep praying for the American held in Sudan, Meriam Ibrahim, under a death sentence for being a Christian, the other Americans held abroad, kidnapped girls in Africa, trapped Turkish miners and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.