Mathias Thulmann [03] - Witch Killer by C. L. Werner

Author:C. L. Werner [Werner, C. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Epic, Fantasy, General, Fiction, Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9781844163953
Publisher: Games Workshop
Published: 2006-12-26T05:00:00+00:00

The burgomeister began to flip through the book he had retrieved, smiling as he reached the page he sought. He set the book down on the table, standing back for the witch hunter and his companion to examine the open page. Snarling back at them was an old woodcut of a fanged reptilian face, horns ringing its brow.

“The dragon Skorn,” Reinheckel pronounced. “It never was agreed upon why the old wyrm emerged from his mountain. Some said it was the dwarfs, who dug their mines too near the dragon’s lair and that the smell of raw gold caused him to stir. Others claimed it was the will of the gods, that the dragon was set loose to punish the land for its greed and avarice. There were even rumours it was the work of the Great Enchanter, that it was his fell magics that broke its slumber. Whatever the reason, he came with wrath and ruin, laying waste to the countryside. The dwarfs retreated into their strongholds, trying to wait out the wyrm, leaving men to fend for themselves. Skorn wiped many towns and villages from the map, for none it seemed could stand against the dragon. Then, one day, there came a warrior, a knight from Altdorf. People tried not to laugh when he said he would kill the dragon, for how could he prevail where so many others had found death? Yet the knight’s intention was sincere and he left Wyrmvater to find his way into Skorn’s mountain and bring doom to the monster.”

“None can say what powers guarded the knight,” Reinheckel continued, turning the page, exposing another woodcut. This one showed a riot of images, from a jagged, craggy mountain peak to a lone warrior striking at a writhing dragon with his sword. The largest and centremost figure was the same knight standing beside a well, washing blood from his armour. “But surely more than skill and luck were needed to accomplish what he did that day. Into Skorn’s lair he went, one man against a beast that had killed thousands. That it was the man who would walk away from that mighty battle was a miracle none would have dared hope. The knight staggered back into our town, weary from his great ordeal, weak from his wounds. His armour steamed with Skorn’s searing blood and the townsfolk rushed to wash it from him. But as they drew bucket after bucket from the well, casting the water across the knight’s battered body, the dragon’s blood was splashed across the town square, draining back down into the well. It was found later that the dragon’s blood had polluted the water, rendering it unfit to drink. It was sealed and a statue of Skorn and the knight was placed above it.”

Thulmann had wondered at the strange brickwork base that supported the statue Reinheckel described. It had struck him as peculiar that a piece of sculpture that was fine enough to be a Caliosto or even a von Geier should endure such a crude and unsightly pedestal.

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