Blood on the Reik 3 - Death's Legacy by Warhammer

Author:Warhammer [Warhammer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

97

bodyguard felt the need to take precautions here, of all places, the contraband must

be valuable indeed.

Ignoring her, von Eckstein folded back the weatherproof cloth, and spread its

contents out on the polished wooden surface. Hanna’s breath stilled, her eyes

widening with astonishment, while Rudi fought the impulse to turn and run, a blast of

terror stronger than anything he could ever recall almost sweeping his legs out from

under him. Trying to slow his hammering heart, he forced himself to look at the

wonders laid out before his eyes.

In all, there were around half a dozen different items. Rudi’s eyes skipped

quickly over a couple of gems of almost impossible brilliance and depth of colour,

and a series of small statuettes no bigger than his thumb, depicting creatures like

none he’d ever seen before, all bearing marks of a script he didn’t recognise. They

had the soft, refulgent gleam of solid gold, and under any other circumstances would

have attracted his undivided attention. This time, however, he barely noticed them. In

the middle of the table lay two other objects: a flat disc of polished stone, about the

size of a crown piece, so black and lustrous that the light in the room seemed to fall

into it and be lost entirely, and a curious tangle of cords, knotted in dozens of places

with a precision he instinctively knew must carry a wealth of meaning.

“What’s that?” Hanna asked, stretching out a hand towards the peculiar stone,

and then clearly thinking better of it.

Von Eckstein shrugged. “I’ve no idea, but Hollobach seems eager to get his

hands on it.” To Rudi’s intense relief, he rewrapped the bundle of marvels from the

ends of the world, and as the mysterious objects disappeared from sight, the feeling

of dread they’d conjured up in him began to diminish.

“Where did they come from?” Hanna asked, clearly awestruck. Rudi couldn’t

even imagine how they’d looked to her magical senses. Von Eckstein shrugged

again.

“Southern Lustria,” he said, “one of the lost cities the reptile folk abandoned

centuries ago. There was a temple there, full of stuff like this, apparently.”

“Apparently?” Hanna asked.

Von Eckstein sighed. “The lizards take a dim view of tomb robbing. Not much

more than this made it back, and whatever else there was, the elves kept. Under the

circumstances, I felt it best not to press the matter. There’s enough here to get the

merchants’ guilds salivating, and it doesn’t hurt to keep Silvershine happy at the

moment. We need him and his clan, and he knows it.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t want that magic thing,” Hanna said. “It must be worth a

fortune.”

“Not to an elf,” said von Eckstein. “Their mages have a different perspective on

such things, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have something that the colleges here in

Altdorf want.” He didn’t elaborate, but Rudi was beginning to realise that, far from

being remote bastions of intellectual endeavour, the Colleges of Magic were as

bound up in the politics of the Empire as any other institution.

To his unspoken relief, the nobleman placed the packet of treasures in a drawer

and locked it. As the small package disappeared from sight, Rudi felt the tension

drain out of his body, leaving him feeling weak and enervated.

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