Warhammer-Blackhearts 06-The Blackhearts Omnibus by Nathan Long

Author:Nathan Long
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2008-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

TEN

They Were Not Men!

Reiner and the Blackhearts found no trace of Franka, Hals’ harlot, or the robed men, though they searched Brunn from end to end. The kidnappers and their prey had disappeared utterly. Even eerier, when the search party returned to the brothel to see if anyone else had seen anything, they found that the corpse with the furry arms was gone, vanished when no one was looking, though patrons and whores had been in and out of the room constantly. The only evidence that the whole incident hadn’t been some mad fever dream was a small glass ball that Reiner spied under a chair. It looked like the one that had filled the room with smoke, but this one was unbroken, and churned within with a greenish murk. Reiner pocketed it. Combined with the vision of the robed man’s clawed hand, it began to stir memories of things he had read in forbidden books while at university.

He stepped out of the brothel and joined the other Blackhearts, who were huddled in a circle before the door.

‘We must return to the fort at once,’ he said. ‘I want to tell Gutzmann of Franz’s kidnapping and the new evidence we have about the disappearances.’

It was obvious to Reiner that Abel had told the others all he had seen when he and Hals had burst in on Reiner and Franka, for none of them would meet his eye, and they answered him with surly grunts and mumbles.

Reiner cursed inwardly all the long cold walk back to the fort. Foolishness on top of tragedy. Just when he needed them most, when the life of one of their number was in deadly peril, his men had become suspicious, nearly mutinous. The maddening thing was that if he could tell them the truth all would be well again – at least with him. Things would be much worse for Franka. Only Reiner and Manfred knew the girl’s true sex. If it were revealed to anyone else, her usefulness as a soldier would be over, and the count might have her killed. And this didn’t take into consideration the reactions of her comrades. Franka loved Hals, Pavel and Giano like brothers. If they turned their backs on her, it would break her heart.

Reiner demanded to see Gutzmann as soon as they returned to the camp, but the general was sleeping, and so Reiner must go up the chain of command, telling his story first to Captain Vortmunder, then to Obercaptain Oppenhauer, both of whom would have dismissed his story out of hand if not for the corroboration of his fellows and the strange glass orb. At last, and very reluctantly, they brought him to Commander Shaeder, who was called from his bed, yawning and cross.

‘What is such an emergency that you must wake me at this ungodly hour?’ the commander asked as he sat down behind his desk, wrapped in a heavy robe. Vortmunder and Oppenhauer stood on either side of Reiner looking nervous.

‘My lord,’ said Reiner, bowing.

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