Forged in Battle by Warhammer

Author:Warhammer [Warhammer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Warhammer
Published: 2011-08-03T07:00:00+00:00

All morning the smoke continued to plume into the sky, a constant reminder of the gathering danger. The numbers of people locked outside the walls of Helmstrumburg grew steadily, until it seemed an army was camped at the walls: an army of the desperate and the terrified. But the burgomeister had spoken. The town watchmen looked to Roderick and he bristled inside his blue velvet jacket and set his jaw firmly. Orders had been given. The refugees must return home.

In the Jorg family mill, the mill-hands worked hard, but even though they had promised to stay with their master, as the fires came further down the mountain, and the procession of terrified country-folk hurried past, their morning resolution began to fade.

They were not paid to risk their lives like this.

After a lunch of fresh bread, cheese and salami sausage, the men did not get up to leave. Andres heard the silence and looked up and found the men staring at him. He stared at them in turn as if they were deserters. Their faces reddened. Andres took a bottle of kirsch and poured himself another cup, drank it down.

“What is it?” he demanded.

The men shuffled uncomfortably. None of them wanted to say what had been agreed among them.

“Speak up!”

“We want to go to town,” one of the men said nervously, “lust for a day or so. Until the danger has passed. We heard that there was a fight on the other side of town last night. Eighty beastmen were killed. It’s said that there are free companies being raised.”

“Free companies!” Andres laughed and put his hands on the tabletop and pushed himself up. “Apprentices, greybeards and fat-guts! Do you think free companies will do anything to stop the goat-men?”

The men didn’t know what to say.

“Flee if you will—I’ll not stop you! I will not call you cowards, but I tell you those beasts will never dare come here to the riverside. And if they do,” Andres stumped across to pull the zweihänder down. “If those beasts dare come to this mill then we will meet them with cold steel!”

Two of the men left immediately, but the other four stayed on, their resolution shored up by Andres’ conviction. If their master said it was safe then they would not leave him.

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