Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad that you like my story. As always I own nothing.
They made their way from their hiding place to the trapdoor, Karl making the vampire go ahead to make sure it did not attempt to make a break for it. They entered the tunnel and made their way down the tunnel and exited on the other side. Tied to abandoned building were to horses. Karl considered making the vampire ride behind him but he decided to let the thing ride its own mount, it gave it more opportunities to run off on its own but it also meant that it could not strangle him while riding. He pointed to the chestnut mare and growled at the vampire in a tone little more than a hiss.
"Take that one. Don't even think about trying anything. I already got one lecture on account of you and I am not feeling very charitable to you right now. In short, put one toe out of line in a way which suggests to me that you are trying to escape and Sigmar as my witness we'll find out the hard way just how good you are at regenerating ripped off limbs." The vampire shuddered and crouched as low down in the saddle.
With the sun going down there were few people on the streets and they had been provided with heavy cloaks which covered the vampire's attire, which would have certainly caused comment if seen. Karl had expected that with the hunt on for the supposed assassin on the guards at the gate would be even more vigilant but he was mistaken. It seemed that the guards were as eager as everyone else to earn the favor of the Schuhmanns and the majority of them had joined in the hunt leaving only guards either too old or too young to join in the hunt. Apparently Karl and the vampire did not trigger any of their mental alarms and they were waved through with barely a glance. Once out of the gates Karl made the vampire ride ahead of him so he could keep an eye on it.
So it went all the way back to Altdorf, riding during the night and resting were they could during the day. The vampire made no attempt to communicate with him and he limited himself to snapping commands at it. Not having any human blood and Karl quite unwilling to share any of his own blood the vampire was forced to subsist on the blood of animals, with Karl eating the remains after it was done. It had looked longingly at several farms that they passed but Karl growled at it and it made no effort to attack the inhabitants.
Still, as time went on Karl noticed that the vampire was becoming weaker and looked sickly. Not wanting the thing to die or waste away to practically nothing and have to explain to Marx, Karl decided that he would have to get it something of greater nutritional value. Letting it harm innocents was out of the question but fortunately, there were a number of non-innocent people in the Empire. Eight days out from Altdorf they were set upon by bandits. They quickly learned that they had made a poor decision but they did not learn this quickly enough to make good their escape. Karl allowed the vampire to drain the bandits till it was satisfied. It looked stronger and healthier but made no effort to attack Karl.
Aside from the bandits they had no difficulties as they made their way to Altdorf and they arrived at the capital without trouble. They reached the gates of the city an hour before sunrise. Despite the early hour there was already a large assemblage of farmers and other tradesmen were making their way into the city. Karl stared at them and considered his options. They were rapidly running out of time and he did not want the vampire burning up so close to the end. On the other hand, this close to the city the vampire might finally decide to make a break for it and if it got into the city Karl might never find it, having already used up his supply of good luck for the foreseeable future. He made his decision and turned to the vampire.
"We are going."
"Are you mad?!" It hissed at him, its fear of the sun apparently greater than its fear of him.
"No, but if you keep annoying me I may become angry."
"It is nearly sunrise!" It insisted, fear now clear in its voice.
"Then I suggest you put that supposed superior vampire intelligence to work finding a way in." With that he spurred his horse forward, after a moment her heard the vampire following him.
They made their way forward through the crowd, pushing and nudging their way through the crowd, taking advantage of peasants' natural inclination to defer to those who presented themselves as their social superiors. Their only difficulty came when they reached the gate itself.
"Hey! No shoving!" The gate guard snapped at them. Before Karl could think of a response the vampire came alongside him.
"Do you have any idea who I am you wretched little toadstool? I am Lady Irina Von Adler! And if you do not let me and my bodyguard through this instant I shall have you and your entire family's heads on spike over the gate as a warning to those who would show disrespect to their betters!" Thoroughly cowed the man stepped back touching his helmet with two fingers.
"Right you are my lady, no disrespect meant." The vampire did not acknowledge the reply, merely kicked its horse and continued on. Karl followed, also without speaking to the guard. Once inside Karl took the lead and led them back to Marx's house. As the sun was nearly up by the time they reached it Karl did not bother to knock, he merely pushed the back door open and led the vampire down the stairs to the basement where its cage waited. It looked exactly as it had before, right down to the man within, who gave the vampire a look that was a mixture of fear and longing.
"I'll leave you two to become reacquainted." Karl told it and then, seeing the hungry look on its face added hastily; "Remember what the master said about him." He then left so that he would not have to watch it feed.
He went back outside to the horses and led them back to the stables and saw to their needs. He then made his way to Marx's office. On the way there he came across the Halfling servant, who gave no indication that he was in any way surprised at Karl's sudden appearance.
"Is the Master in his study?" Karl asked. The servant shook his head.
"The Master is not in the city at the moment and he left no indication when he would be back." Karl nodded, feeling slightly relieved that he did not have to face the wizard right away. He made his way to his own room, propped his weapon onto the floor, peeled off his boots and through himself onto the bed. He was asleep as soon as he felt the bed under him.
He was not sure how long he slept but when he at last stirred he saw that the sun was beginning to go down. The second thing that he noticed was that he was not alone in the room. Looking around he expected to see Marx but instead it was Wilhelmina.
"I see that the puppy has found its missing toy." Karl growled at her but this only seemed to amuse her. "It is a good thig that you did, Marx was becoming rather annoyed that you were taking so long, I think he has something else in mind for our little blood-sucker and he will be glad to have it back."
"When will he be returning?" Karl asked. Her only reply was a shrug.
"Who knows, it is not as if he tells me his plans. He vanishes when he wishes and he reappears when he wishes. Though in this case he made it seem as if he might be gone for some time."
"And what will you be doing?" Karl asked.
"Unfortunately, I will be going as well, I have other tasks, which I fear you would be more hindrance than help."
"So I am stuck here?" Karl asked, not at all thrilled at the prospect of lying about the house for Sigmar knew how long."
"If the doggy feels it needs a walk it can do so. Provided that it doesn't kill its food supply Edward is quite capable of looking after the vampire."
"Edward?"
"The Halfling servant, allow me to assure you that he is far more than a mere servant. Well, I have to go. Do be a good dog and try not to get into too much trouble." With that she was gone.
Karl lay in bed awhile longer, enjoying the feeling of not having to get up and do anything if he did not want to. At last hunger drove him to seek the kitchen. There he helped himself and ate till he felt he was in fear of bursting. After that he decided to walk about the city and see what he could see. He walked about in an aimless fashion for some time, staring at all the buildings and the variety of people, from both within the Empire and beyond, his sightseeing only interrupted when he paused to box the ears of a street urchin who was trying to pick his pocket.
Around noon he began to feel hungry and again and quickly located a tavern and went it. It was a large place and quite full. Still, with a little wriggling and polite pushing, he made his way to the bar. As he looked about for somewhere where he could sit down and eat his attention was caught by a table at which a man and a Dwarf sat and appeared to be interviewing people.
The man was very tall, even taller than Karl, of medium build with brown hair flecked with gray. He had a number of scars on his face, which was also browned and weathered from exposure. He wore many jeweled rings and brightly colored and elaborate clothing which would have looked more at home on some noble at a fancy party rather than in a tavern. The Dwarf was also finely dress, though more subdued than the man and his blond beard, which reached almost to its waist, was elaborately braided. As Karl drew near the two saw him, they shared a glance and gave a slight nod to each other, then the man rose to address Karl.
"Ho there," the man said in a cheery and insinuating voice; "You look like a stout young man! Care for something that will both make you rich as a king and be far more exciting than spending your life mucking about in the fields?" Intrigued Karl moved over.
"Do tell." Karl said trying not to sound too interested, though in truth he was. While he could not get away from Marx that did not mean that he had to be completely dependent on him for money either and whatever these two were offering it sounded more exciting than sitting around waiting for Marx to return, a meeting he was quite willing to put off for as long as possible.
"I am Helwig Freitaler and this," he said indicating the Dwarf; "Is my good friend Dilir IronHeart and we are arranging a little expedition to the World Edge Mountains."
"What sort of expedition?" Karl asked.
"My clan," IronHeart said, in deep and gravelly voice; "Once hailed from Karak Bryn till we were driven from it during the Time of Troubles. We are going there."
"You mean to retake your lost home?" Karl asked. The Dwarf shook his head sadly.
"Unfortunately not, we have not the numbers for that. We go rather as thieves than conquerors."
"What my friend means," Freitaler said hastily; "Is that we are going to Karak Bryn to reclaim what we can from the greenskins who stole it from them."
"Sounds dangerous." Karl remarked.
"Oh it is, very dangerous." Freitaler agreed. "But, if I may say," here he cast a significant look at Karl's weapons; "You strike me as a man who knows how to handle trouble. Also, as one can see, the risks mean great rewards." Here he spread his arms wide to show his fine clothing while waggling his fingers to emphasize his rings. Karl thought for a moment but that was more for show than for anything else.
"I am in."
"Exhalent," Frieitaler said, calling for a celebratory drink.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, a bit short I know but this was only a set up chapter. So how do you all feel about a good old-fashion treasure hunt? I thought it would make for something new and maybe get him some cool stuff, feel free to give me your opinions in the reviews and the next chapter will be a long one again, scout's honor! Till then please pray for Asia Bibi, the Pakistani woman under a death sentace for her Christian faith, as well as Pervaiz Masih another Pakistani Christian facing persecution for his faith and all others who suffer for their beliefs. Also, the victims of the San Bernardino shooting and their families and that such violence will end and all who need prayer, including several people here in Nevada who have gone missing. Bye and may Jesus bless you.