Author's Notes: Hey everyone I hope you liked the last chapter and that you like this one as well. As always I own nothing.
They departed the city just after sunset. Marx had provided them with horses and supplies for Karl. For Helena he had given a flask which had a rune etched on the seal, Karl had neglected to ask about it as he did not want to know. They took the southern road, riding in the direction of Hausenburg. Marx had provided Karl with a map showing the fastest route to the village, also marked on the map were a number of caves were Helena could hide from the sun.
The journey was unpleasant for both of them. Helena was clearly intimidated by Karl and loathed to be in his presence. Karl for his part did not like being in the vampire's presence either and so the journey was made in silence, talking to one another as little as possible and when forced to take shelter during the day she stayed as far away from him as the confines of whatever refuge they were sheltering in would permit. Even with the delays caused by having to hide from the sun they finally arrived at their destination. Looking down from a hill onto Hausenburg Karl wished that they hadn't.
Everywhere they looked Karl and Helena saw death and decay. The walls of the buildings were sagging and the roofs caving in. Worse were the bodies, they lay for the most part in what had been the village square. They were bloated of course but even at a distance Karl could see that something was wrong, it did not help that they were viewing it by moonlight, Karl could see perfectly by the light of the moon but it added a sense of eeriness. Then there was the smell.
"It stinks of magic." He said, half to himself. Even so, the vampire responded.
"Yes, definitely magic." She paused and when she spoke again her voice took on a petulant tone. "Normally I could gather more, but." Here she ran her finger distastefully on the collar around her throat. Karl growled in his throat but reached into a leather bag that he wore on a thong around his neck and took out a metal disc. Like the collar it bore a dwarven rune. He held it up where the vampire could see it, when she saw it her eyes widened with a mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation.
"Is that…" She began.
"It is." He replied. He went up to the vampire, he forced her head down and flicked her hair away. He inserted the disc into a slot and twisted it. With a snap the collar came lose and he had to catch it before it fell to the ground. She quickly slipped away, rubbing her neck with relief.
"This is only temporary." He told her quickly; "And just in case you have any bright ideas…" Here he grabbed her hand, forcing the disc into it. She yelped in pain and tried to jerk her hand away, which Karl allowed her to do. "As you can see, it will do you no good to try to take it from me. You can try to run but if you do it will only be a question between me and your former sister which of us will catch you first. Now, let us have a closer look." With that he headed down the hill toward the village, after a moment he heard her following him.
As they moved toward the village square they passed through the fields around the village they saw the rotting remains of the village cattle. Their bodies were bloated and stank of decay and magic. He looked over and saw that the vampire also had a look of revulsion on her face.
"I thought you vampires liked death magic." He said, letting a little nastiness into his voice. She gave him a nasty look.
"This is not death magic." He snorted.
"Looks like death magic to me."
"This is not death magic." She insisted. "It causes death but that is not what it is meant to do."
"Then what is it supposed to do?" A look of disquiet came over her face.
"I don't know but I wonder…"
They proceed to where the bodies of the villagers lay in the village square. Karl had anticipated a battle, a desperate last stand like the one he had been in. But while he saw wounds on some of the bodies none of them appeared to have weapons. Their faces were locked in horror and pain and their bodies' were bloated and stank of decay and disease.
"What happened here?" Karl asked.
"I don't know what happened, but they do." She said as she walked up toward the nearest corpse. Karl felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
"What are you doing?!" He demanded as she squatted down beside one of the corpses and took its head in her hands.
"Doing what your master sent me along for."
"Our master." Karl said, stressing the words. "And you have not answered my question." She sighed in exasperation.
"Gods, you are as stupid as that horrid girl said you were. We vampires have power over the dead. I am going to ask him what happened, now hush." Giving him no further notice she returned her attention to the corps.
She then began to chant in a strange language which Karl could not understand but which made him queasy and he had to fight the urge to smack her to make stop. At last she stop and Karl breathed a sigh of relief and then she started again. This time she spoke normally, but in a sing-song tone.
"I call you who perished before your time I call you. I call you who were foully cast into the Dream Lord's. I call you back to me, I call you back to me." She repeated this again and again. As she did so a white mist formed around the body and rose up toward the vampire. To his horror the mist took the form of a man.
"What do you want of me?" It asked in a hollow tone, barely above a whisper that made Karl feel as if ice water was being poured down his spine. "Why do you disturb my rest?" The voice held such a mixture of pain, longing and misery that Karl and the wolf both wished to howl in sympathy and pain.
"I summoned you because I have need of you. You and all your folk were slain in a manner most foul and I must know how this event occurred."
"Yes, we were killed, in a manner most foul." It voice while, still sad, had taken on a tone of anger. "It was such a lovely day too. We were working out in the fields when they came."
"Who?" Helena insisted.
"The carnival. They had a big bright cart. They called us all in and set up a stage. They played music, put on a play and there were clowns, I never saw clowns before. It was all captivating, none of us could look away. Then something happened, they all changed into monsters and attacked us! I tried to run but I suddenly felt sick and my strength left me and I couldn't move when it came for me." As the specter spoke its voice became full of terror as it remembered its last moments. "And then I died." It looked full at Helena. "Why did they do this? We never did anything to anyone." She gave no answer, she merely made a gesture and the mist faded away. After a moment she rose and stood looking thoughtful.
"Well, what was all that about?" Karl demanded. She turned to look at him, a look of disquiet and loathing on her face.
"Something that I hoped was nothing but something told to frighten children. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Carnival of Chaos?"
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope you liked it. What did you think? I read about the Carnival and I have been wanting to make use of it and the two make rather a good pair to send after it do you not think? Not quite sure what to do with it so if you have any suggestions please let me know. Here is a link to explain what the Carnival of Chaos is if you do not know about it /Mordheim/Warbands/Carnival_of_ . Till next time please pray for the Christians held by ISIS and the homeless and sick and all who need prayers. Bye and may Jesus bless you.