Post by deripsni on May 26, 2013 19:36:20 GMT
As I said, here is some writing. This stroy if called "The Gift" and sets the tone for my book.
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The sun was setting, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful night as Johann and Fredrick von Schadt sat on their horses in the middle of the road, craning their necks to peer into the distance. Simultaneously, the two brothers leaned back into their saddles with sighs and looked at each other. To an onlooker, it would have been easy to spot the similarities in their appearance, similarities only enhanced by the clothes they wore: the uniforms of off-duty Reikland soldiers.
Johann, the younger of the two, shrugged. 'I can't see it,' he said at last.
'Are you sure?'
'Of course,' his older brother, Fredrick replied, pointing. 'See? The white spot above the tree there. That's the roof. And if you look to the left and down, you can see a break in the tree line where the yard is.'
'There are trees and breaks everywhere.'
'You're blind, I say. That one, that one. See now?' Fredrick began making jabbing motions with his finger.
Johann looked at his brother. 'Yes, wave your finger some more. You've just pointed to thirty or so trees with all that gesturing.'
'I'm telling you, it's this way. I am absolutely positive,' he said, raising his hands to forestall Johann's inevitable 'Are you sure?'
'Good Sigmar, you should know this by heart by now, after all the times we've gone up and down this road?'
'Some of us don't remember directions well.'
'Some of us can't find our way out of an empty room, you mean, a room with only one door. And the door's open, so you can see it's the exit. And... and there's a sign.'
Johann looked at him.
Fredrick waved his hands as if fanning away his poor oratory. 'Anyway, this is definitely the way, I'm sure.'
Johann shrugged. 'If you say so, then it must be true.'
'So glad you see it my way.'
There was a moment of silence between them as they stared down the road thoughtfully. 'Four years,' Johann said suddenly.
'Aye.'
'Feels like a long time, eh?'
'Aye.'
'Well then,' Johann urged his horse forward, 'let's go home.'
They dismounted in unison and led their horses into the yard of von Schadt Manor, passing their reins off to a waiting stable boy. With an ease of familiarity honed by a great deal of practice, they strode up to their father and snapped perfect, parade-ground salutes, more for the benefit of the gathered servants than for theirs or their father's.
Gadj's face was the image of constructed solemnity. He eyed his sons and growled, 'And where have you been?'
The two brothers exchanged knowing glances and looked him squarely in the eyes. 'The Emperor had need of us,' Fredrick said first.
'The Enemy had returned,' Johann added. He threw a glance at the robed figure standing at his father's side and was startled to see it was a stranger.
'And did you meet the enemy on the field of battle?' Gadj asked.
'Yes, father,' Fredrick and Johann chorused.
The robed stranger stepped forward with a noticeable limp. He was exceedingly tall and well-muscled. A hammer pendant, the symbol of the man-god Sigmar, hung around his neck, and in his hand he held a heavy, spiked warhammer, the traditional weapon of a warrior-priest. His eyes, grey like mountain stone, stared at the two young noblemen.
'What did you do when you met him?' he prompted.
The two sons replied instantly. 'We killed him.'
Their words brought a smile to Gadj's face. He grabbed both his sons and pulled them closer, gripping them in a tight bear hug. 'As well you should! The war will be won by men like you!'
Around them, the crowd was reacting with delight, surrounding the three men. After a moment Gadj let go of his sons in order to shoo away the servants. 'It's good to have you back!' he said, grinning.
But Johann's attention lay on the robed stranger. 'And who might you be, Herr...?' He asked.
The bald priest smiled warmly at Johann. 'Einhardt Nito, and you are Johann, correct?'
Johann nodded, unable to keep the disappointment from his face, and began to scan the crowd.
After a moment the priest continued speaking, a note of forced jollity in his words. 'Johann, named for Grand Theogonist Johann Helstrum, I presume? A good name.'
'It was my grandfather's.'
The priest frowned. 'If you are looking for Father Dunn,' he said softly, 'he has passed away. I am his replacement.'
'How did he-' the young noble began, before Gadj interjected. 'Fredrick, this is Father Nito. He is our new resident priest. He has been very interested in the two of you.'
'Oh?' Fredrick said, smiling. 'And why might that be?'
Father Nito laughed. 'I believe young men like you will change the fate of the Empire.'
'I'm sure they will,' Gadj said, keeping his attention on his sons. 'Are either of you hungry?'
'No sir,' Johann said quietly. He couldn't believe Father Dunn was dead. His mind reeled. 'I'm going to retire, if you don't mind.'
'I think I will, too,' Fredrick agreed. 'We've been riding all day to get here, and I'm exhausted.'
'All right, but if-' Gadj began. Before he could say any more, Johann bowed politely and, without looking at Father Nito, hurried into the house.
Gadj raised an eyebrow at Fredrick, who was frowning after Johann.
'I hope you'll forgive Johann,' Fredrick said, noticing their father's look. 'The war tried him a great deal. I think hearing about Father Dunn's death must have troubled him.' He looked over at Nito. 'I overheard your conversation. Hard for me not to, since you two were standing right next to me.'
'How was it?' Gadj asked quietly.
Fredrick shrugged. 'It was war.'
Gadj von Schadt was a retired Imperial general. He had led the forces of the Empire against every conceivable enemy and seen more battles than most living men had even heard of. He nodded grimly. 'Fighting against the Enemy,' he muttered. 'I wish you two had fought some other foe at your first battle.'
'Middenheim wasn't that bad,' Fredrick said, the forced levity in his tone telling his father the exact opposite. Middenheim was that bad.
Fredrick coughed politely. 'Shall we continue this tomorrow morning?' he asked. 'I'm a bit tired.' With a muted farewell, he turned and entered the manor, leaving his father to stare after him.
Fredrick's mind was filled with exhaustion as he finished unpacking and collapsed onto his bed. Sighing deeply, he withdrew a pendant that had been hanging around his neck, holding it up to examine it.
The lamp's guttering flame sent flickering yellow light playing over the pendant's surface. Somehow, despite being completely solid, when Fredrick held it up to the light, he could see a dull glow shining through it. A single silver wire wound around the stone, connecting it to a silvery chain from which it hung. At first glance, it appeared to be a simple shade of amber, but when viewed closely he could make out silvery streaks and whirls within it.
Fredrick's heart began to beat faster as he stared at the stone, and his mind began to cloud. The whirls in the stone appeared to wind directly through it, as if he could see right inside it. He looked at it closely and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what.
There was a knock at the door, startling him. 'It's Johann.'
'Come in.'
The door opened and Johann slipped in, grinning slightly. He noticed the pendant and raised an eyebrow. 'Where did you get that?' he asked.
'I found it in a barrel,' Fredrick said.
Johann looked at him.
'Does it matter?' Fredrick asked, trying to cover up his terrible attempted subterfuge. 'Anyway, what is it you wanted?'
Johann nodded towards the pendant. 'I'm serious. Where did you get that?'
Fredrick held it higher, letting the light from the bedside lamp illuminate the dark yellow stone. 'Isn't it lovely?' he asked.
'Absolutely, but that doesn't answer my question.'
Fredrick sighed. 'Do you remember Middenheim?'
'Could I forget?'
Fredrick gave him an annoyed look and leaned back against the wall next to his bed. 'It was at Sokh, when we ran into those beastmen looting the city.'
In his mind's eye, Fredrick could see his demilancer troupe as they wheeled through the city, searching for the enemy. He could starkly remember every moment of that battle, and he suspected Johann could as well.
'Yes,' Johann said blankly. Fredrick could see that Johann remembered the event well.
'The captain believed they'd been sent to try and flank us but had gotten distracted looting. I do remember,' Johann said.
'We had just charged when their leader, the shaman, came out of a building, carrying some loot in its hands.'
Johann bolted to his feet. 'Don't tell me!'
Fredrick winced. 'Yes,' he said. 'I took it from the beastman's body after we killed him. He had it in his hand when he came out.' He grimaced at Johann's expression. ' What? There's nothing wrong with it.'
'How do you know?'
'I just do!' Fredrick shouted, making Johann flinch. 'Just look at it,' he said, more quietly this time. 'It isn't some crude Northern trinket, hammered together by some heathen animal that just recently discovered fire, and decorated by the fingerbones of whatever child he had just finished eating.' Where did this blasphemy come from, he wondered?
Johann's face turned pale. 'How can you say something like that?' he asked, shocked. 'How can you even think about being so dismissive?' He shook his head. 'And so what if it looks fine? That's what concerns me! The Ruinous Powers don't always come in malign guises! Sometimes they appear to be extremely beautiful or magnificent. That's how they seduce us with their lies!'
Fredrick looked at him. 'Can you hear yourself? You sound like a flagellant. Do you want me to start calling you one? Do you want me to get you your scourge, Herr Flagellant? How have you been, Herr Flagellant? Busy day of self-mortification, I trust? Is your-'
'This isn't a joke!'
The smile on Fredrick's face slipped away. For a moment, neither brother spoke. The lamplight flickered wildly, sending their shadows dancing on the wall.
'I understand your worry,' Fredrick said slowly. 'Trust me, I do, but there's nothing wrong with this pendant. How could there be?'
Johann shook his head. 'What happened to the brother I knew?' he said, more to himself than to Fredrick.
Fredrick clenched his teeth. 'What are you implying?' he hissed. 'Are you saying that I've changed somehow?'
Johann gestured at the offending pendant. 'Why else would you do this? May I remind you that not only is looting a crime, but looting from a beastman, of all things? You could put your life at risk if a witch hunter were to find out, never mind the risk to your soul!'
'You're so damn self-righteous, Johann!' Fredrick snarled back. 'On the topic of who has changed, what about you? Always preaching to the rest of us, always so solemn. After every battle do you head off to get good and drunk like the rest of us? Hell no! Let's go straight to the chapel instead! You would make a better priest than a soldier!'
'You think I don't know that?' Johann snapped. 'If it wasn't for the fact that it would kill father for me not to follow in his footsteps, I'd already be doing that. But here I am, stuck in this life that I don't want, trying to save the soul of a brother who doesn't even want my help!'
The anger immediately drained out of Fredrick, and his jaw dropped. For a moment, he sat stunned before responding. 'Sigmar, Johann... I had no idea.'
'No one did,' Johann said quietly. 'No one knew except for Father Dunn.'
There was an uncomfortable silence before Johann spoke again.
'He was going to try and talk to father when we got back,' he said. 'I want to fight for the Empire, but I also want to fight for Sigmar. I thought... If I spent some time in the military he wouldn't have a problem with me becoming a warrior-priest.'
He gestured at the pendant again, but this time it was muted. 'What makes that so important to you?'
The anger began to rise in Fredrick again, for no reason at all, but he forced it down. What is wrong with me? What am I getting so upset for, he thought, shaking his head? With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall. The bed creaked as he shifted his weight.
'Greta Luitpold,' he said.
'Oh.'
Fredrick managed a weak grin. 'We've known her for... a long time,' he said. 'I've loved her almost since we first met, and I think she feels the same. When I saw this, gripped in that dead shaman's hand, I acted without thinking.' He held the pendant up to the light. 'I spoke to father earlier. He told me that Greta and her father will be here tomorrow to visit us. If memory serves correctly, she'll go to the chapel first to take her blessing from Father Nito. I want to, ah, ambush her there and give her this.' He sighed. 'I want to ask her to marry me.'
Johann stared at him. 'I can understand that, but I don't think that pendant's necessary. Like I said, we've known her for years. She wouldn't decline, and neither would her father. What do you need that trinket for?'
Fredrick shrugged. 'You know, father gave mother her necklace when he proposed to her. Do you remember how much she loved it? It meant everything to her. Well... I just want Greta to have something to remember our engagement by.'
'You mean apart from the engagement itself?'
Fredrick frowned. 'Of course. I just want it to be special. How can you argue with that?'
'''All who profit from the spoils of Chaos shall be doomed',' Johann quoted.
'Grand Theogonist Vilgrim III. I am familiar with the teachings of our elders, brother.'
Johann looked him in the eye. 'Are you?' He asked. 'Is merely being ''familiar'' enough?'
Father Nito looked away from Fredrick's door, thoughtfully digesting everything that he had heard from outside the older brother's room. Without a word, he turned and made his way back to his chapel.
The chapel appeared to be empty as Fredrick pulled the wooden doors shut behind him, wondering where Nito was. With a shrug, he sat down and waited for Greta. He hoped that he didn't have to wait long, or else he might chew his arm off with anxiety.
The door opened a short while later and she entered. It may have been his imagination, but she looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was a shade of amber that perfectly matched that of the stone, and he could see her bright green eyes from where he sat, a short distance away. She bowed her head as she entered the chapel, and then paused, noticing him. The sight of her face after so long made his mouth dry as he stood and walked to her side.
'What are-' she began, before he held up the pendant, smiling as her eyes widened at the sight. 'Fredrick, where did you...?'
'It fell off the back of a cart,' he lied, horribly.
She looked at him.
'It doesn't matter, does it?' He looped the chain over her head and draped it around her neck. 'It's yours. I... I want you to have it,' he said before pausing, and then drew a breath, 'to remember our engagement by.'
She stared at him for a moment, mouth open in surprise. 'I will!' she promised, throwing her arms around him as he kissed her.
Fredrick would remember that moment with perfect clarity for the rest of his life.
'Will you be here for long?' Fredrick asked Greta as he walked her back to her room. She was still looking at the pendant as she walked.
'Hmm?' She asked. 'Oh, well, we should be here for dinner, and perhaps to stay the night. It all depends.' She smiled at him.
His heart skipped, and he smiled back. He could hardly believe that he had just asked her to marry him, or that she had said yes.
'This is my room,' Greta said, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. His heart skipped a beat. 'I'll change and see you at dinner, then?'
'Yes. You will,' Fredrick said, cursing inwardly at his sudden clumsiness. 'I'll come by to get you then.'
He could tell by the light in her eye that she was aware that he was off-balance, and she determined to make the most of it, teasing him. It had always been her favourite hobby as they had grown up, especially once she had realised his feelings for her.
'I can go inside by myself,' she ribbed, gesturing for him to leave. 'Go away!' She grinned as he held up his hands in surrender. With a final teasing smile, she opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. When she did, her heart skipped a beat, and it wasn't due to joy.
There was writing on the wall over her bed. It had been hidden by the open door as she'd entered, but she could see it clearly now. She couldn't look away from it, even though its very presence filled her with a dull sense of horror. It was a single word that she had never heard before.
'Nakhan,' she whispered to herself. What did that mean?
Without warning, the word's meaning became the last thing that she had to worry about as pain lanced through her body. The pendant on her chest was burning with an inner light, and she staggered as the intelligence within replied to the name and tore its way into her mind. As she lay convulsing on the floor, her last thought was of Fredrick.
It was late that night as Johann spoke to Gadj in his study. He had wanted to bring up the topic of becoming a priest, but whenever he was about to mention it, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, he had rambled on about a number of other topics until reaching Fredrick's engagement.
'It's about damn rime,' Gadj said simply. 'When is he supposed to make the announcement?'
'At dinner,' Johann said. 'I managed to-'
There was a furious banging at the door. 'Gadj!' Nito's voice came through the door. 'The chapel. It has been desecrated!'
Gadj and Johann stared at one another in shock before Nito opened the door and barged in. He looked at them as he tightly gripped the handle of his hammer. 'The chapel has been desecrated!' he said again.
Gadj and Johann were stunned. It was only when Nito gestured for them to follow that they leapt to their feet.
The three of them left the room and hurried towards the stairs leading down to the chapel. It was directly attached to the main house so that any of the pious von Schadt family could go there whenever they felt the need.
The three of them hurried down the hall. 'How?' Gadj growled. 'How could this happen?'
'Beastmen?' Johann suggested. 'The woods are thick with them since the end of the war.'
'No,' Father Nito said, 'not beastmen. It's too subtle... I fear this is something more insidious. My lord... there may be a heretic amongst your staff.'
'What?' Johann gasped. 'Really, that's a bit unlikely, don't you think? I mean, what led you to that conclusion?'
Father Nito turned and looked at Johann menacingly. 'You can be surprised at what can carry taint with it.'
Taint, Johann thought, and then remembered his conversation with Fredrick. What? How did he... does he know?
Gadj spotted the priest's glance and stopped. He stepped up to the priest, gritting his teeth in rage. 'What are you implying?' he growled.
Johann stepped back. He had never seen his father this angry before and was concerned that he might even attack the priest.
Nito raised his hands defensively. 'I meant no insult, my lord.' Even he seemed shocked at the older von Schadt's furious glare.
Gadj's head lowered. 'I should be apologising, Einhardt. It's just...' he looked up with tears in his eyes. 'This is our home. The war should not be able to follow us here.'
'The Enemy is never considerate,' Father Nito said, resting a hand on Gadj's shoulder.
'Hello!' Fredrick's cheerful voice startled them all from down the hallway. He smiled at them, but his expression faded as he noticed their looks. 'What's going on?'
'Fredrick!' Nito said, stepping forward. 'What are you doing here?'
'I was just looking for Greta,' he said, wary of Nito's forceful question. 'I was going to escort her to dinner, but she didn't answer her door. Have any of you seen her?' He frowned. 'I... what is going on?'
Gadj and Johann looked at one another, their faces troubled.
Nito looked back at them. His face was grim. 'We must find her,' he said.
'What is going on?' Fredrick asked again. 'What aren't you telling me?'
'The chapel has been desecrated,' Johann told him. 'We don't know who did it.'
'What?' Fredrick asked, looking around. 'Are you joking?'
Their expressions answered him. He shook his head, unable to believe them. Finally he looked up. 'I have to try to find her,' he said.
'We will send out search parties,' Gadj said. 'If Greta is in danger, we must do whatever we can to try and save her. We should also send for the witch hunters. I don't believe there may be a heretic in our presence, but if there is...'
There was silence as his words sank in.
'I would advise against that, my lord,' Nito said, surprising Johann. 'The Templars are notoriously exuberant in the persecution of their duties, and if they come here I fear heretics will burn even if there are no heretics to burn.'
Gadj shook his head. 'That's a risk I am prepared for.'
'I have to find her before that happens,' Fredrick said. He turned to his father. 'Please.'
'Go,' Gadj said.
Fredrick turned and ran down the hallway. Johann started after him, but his father stopped him.
'I need you to help me gather the servants together,' Gadj said. 'I can't believe that there are any heretics amongst us, but we must keep them safe.' He turned to look at Nito. 'I know your reservations, but you must contact the Templars. I feel that only they can uncover what is happening.'
Nito bowed his head. 'Then I will do as you ask,' he said grimly.
Hooves thundered as Fredrick drove his horse forward. Having failed to find Greta inside the manor, he had no other option than to search the surrounding area for her. His heart was filled with worry and disbelief. How did this happen? Where could she be?
This is my fault somehow. He cursed himself. Oh, my love, where are you?
Where was he, for that matter? He slowed his horse and looked around, trying to re-orient himself. After a moment, he noticed with a start that he was not far from the place where he had met Greta for the first time.
It was a tree at the edge of the river. Fredrick remembered he had been reading when his father had joined him, introducing him to his old friend from the army, General Luitpold, and his daughter. The memory clenched at his heart, and he could feel tears coursing down his cheeks.
I can't bear to lose you, he thought. Please, please, please be all right.
He wheeled his horse and rode forward, heading for the tree. His hopes of finding her there were dim, but maybe there Sigmar would give him a sign as to where she might be.
When he rode onto the bank, his hopes died.
He slid from his horse, dropping to his knees as he beheld Greta's body at the edge of the river, blood staining the ground around her arms where she had slit her wrists open with the kitchen knife lying nearby. He crawled to her side and lifted her into his lap, sobbing helplessly as he cradled her head in close to his chest.
'Greta...' he moaned, burying his face in her shoulder. 'Why?'
He stayed there for a while, rocking back and forth with her, before noticing the chain around her neck. The pendant! When he saw it, a wave of sudden nausea made him stagger. Without warning, he suddenly needed it. He wanted to look at it, to hold it in his hands again.
This is wrong, he thought, pulling the chain from around her neck. The stone was glowing brightly, and his mind reeled. This is... it is cursed! Johann was right!
He fought with all his will to keep the pendant away, knowing inwardly that if it fell around his neck, something bad was going to happen. His hands still looped it over his head, despite his struggle.
'No. Stop it!' he snarled as the chain settled around his shoulders.
His horse's ears twitched as Fredrick's body began to shake, and it dashed from the clearing as his agonised scream tore the night air.
'Bar the doorsand make sure no one leaves,' Father Nito said grimly as he mounted his horse. He wheeled it to face the road. 'I will return shortly with the witch hunters and we will see an end to this!'
'Wait!' Johann said, holding up a hand. 'Here.'
He stepped forward, pulling his sword, scabbard and all, from his belt and handing it to Nito.
'You are wrong,' he said, meeting the priest's eyes, 'there is no heretic here.' He gestured towards the woods. 'Whatever did this, it did not come from here. That warhammer will be all but useless on horseback, so you should take this in case the real culprit tries to stop you.'
Nito nodded. 'I agree with you, Johann,' he said. He raised the sword in salute. 'May Sigmar protect us all!' he shouted. His horse leapt forward, charging down the road to Altdorf.
Johann and Gadj stared after him, their faces equally filled with dread.
'I've re-called the search parties,' Gadj said. 'All of the servants are inside the main hall, save for a few. I'm going to take some and search the house for whoever's left.'
'I'll come with you.'
'No, I want you to find Fredrick,' Gadj said, heading for the door leading back into the house. He stopped with his hand on the handle, turning to look at Johann. 'Sigmar be with you,' he said before going back inside.
Johann stared after his father, his heart filled with sorrow. He knew what was going to happen when the witch hunters arrived. Someone would have to pay the price for letting heresy, real or imagined, foster within the household. It was clear who.
He turned and ran to the stables, praying he would find his brother and Greta before it was too late. Within moments he had mounted his horse and charged into the woods.
It was an hour before he found Greta, and wept at the sight of her body lying in the dirt. He dismounted and chokingly covered her face with his cloak.
As he turned away he noticed tracks other than his in the dirt. Fredrick's already been here, he thought, but where-?
He mounted up again and rode his horse hard back towards the house. He felt like an idiot for having probably passed Fredrick in the dark without noticing him. Without warning, his horse shrieked and reared. It was all Johann could do to remain in the saddle.
'What is it?' he asked, peering into the woods and cursing himself for handing his weapon away to Nito. After a moment a rank stench hit him and he reeled, gagging. 'What-?'
In the dark he could barely make out a large shape lying on the ground a short distance away. He moved closer and stopped when he realised it was a body that had been torn apart as if by an animal.
Fredrick's horse! he realised. How did... there must have been beastmen after all!
Beginning to panic, he shouted and kicked his horse forward, not stopping until he reached the edge of the woods and burst from the underbrush. The von Schadt manor loomed in front of him, but any sense of relief he might have had died when he spotted the heavy double doors smashed in.
'No, Sigmar no!' he shouted as he dismounted and ran into the house.
Inside, there was only chaos and the stench of death. The bodies of servants lay all over the main hall, their blood staining the floor. He gaped at the sight, his mind reeling, before the sounds of screaming from deeper within the house stirred him into action, and he charged after them.
He pursued the screaming to the doors of the chapel and kicked them open as the last ones faded. He leapt in, shouting a prayer to Sigmar that died in his throat when he saw what awaited him within.
Whatever it was, it wasn't human, though it had once worn a like shape. As he watched, the gnarled, warped creature standing by the altar dropped Gadj von Schadt's mangled body to the ground. As it turned to Johann, he could see a chain around its neck from which a pendant hung.
'Hnnnnggghh... brotherrr...' it moaned, raising its heavy head to the ceiling and letting out an anguished howl.
'No,' Johann gasped, unable to believe his eyes. He reached for his sword, remembering that he had given it to Father Nito.
The creature staggered forward, falling to the floor as if its legs refused to work, then began crawling slowly towards him.
In his terror, Johann grabbed the closest weapon he could find: a pole-mounted brazier next to the door. The creature's shape blurred forward as it sank serrated teeth into his leg, making him stumble to the ground. The brazier rolled away, hitting the wall and catching some of the hanging tapestries aflame.
The creature pulled itself as upright as it could manage, raising its claws into the air above its head. Its eyes, horribly, were still the same as Fredrick's.
'Nnnngghhh!' it groaned. 'Can't... stopp...' The pendant was glowing brighter than a star as it prepared to bring its claws down.
The pendant!
Johann's hand lashed out and he grabbed it. He howled in agony as it burned his hand, searing his flesh as if it were made of fire. He broke the chain with a jerk and the creature collapsed, gasping. The glow and the agony faded into nothing as Johann rolled away. He grabbed the fallen brazier with his good hand as Fredrick, or what was left of him, sprung up on all fours and lunged for him. Flames licked the walls as they surrounded the two brothers. A loud howl filled the chapel, and then there was nothing.
Johann moaned as he stirred himself awake, blinking as he regained consciousness. There was air on his face and he winced as he opened his eyes.
Von Schadt Manor, or what was left of it, stood before him, smoking ruins replacing the place where he had grown up and spent his childhood. He could feel tears welling in his eyes as Father Nito crouched next to him, his shadow blocking out the light of the rising sun.
The sun? Is it morning?
'Johann,' Nito said again quietly. 'Johann, what happened here?'
The young nobleman groaned as he stirred, registering pain all over his body. Memories returned to him: riding in the darkness, fighting what was once his brother, and pulling himself from the fire. In a cracked, broken voice he told the priest everything, feeling his tears running down his cheeks as he spoke. As he finished, he held up the pendant in his scorched hand.
'This is it,' he gasped. 'This is what did it all. I don't know how or why, but this is it.'
'The Eye of Nakhan,' Nito said. 'That explains it. It contains the essence of a powerful Chaos sorcerer named Nakhan. He created the Eye in order to contain his soul in case anyone was ever able to destroy his body. It was a way of keeping himself alive and, essentially, immortal. It must have quietly worked at Fredrick's mind while dormant, slowly changing him. Fortunately for you, you haven't been exposed to it long enough for it to begin influencing your actions. Now that it's awake, you are lucky that you didn't try to put it on.'
'Changed...' Johann said, remembering their argument. Suddenly he thought of something. 'How did you know what it was?'
'You'll be fine,' Nito said, ignoring him. 'These burns may be painful, but they won't kill you.' The priest leaned down to stare into his eyes. 'But I will.'
The nobleman lashed out, swinging his hand through the air to knock the priest away, but Nito caught his arm and pried the pendant from his fingers.
'Thank you,' Nito cooed. 'You have no idea,' he said as Johann tried to crawl to his feet. 'You've no idea how much effort I put into this: the years of manipulating fate until I could bring this into my grasp, the shame of dressing like a complete idiot in order to lie in wait.' He gestured to his priestly vestments, which were darkening from brown to a deep blue in front of Johann's eyes. He kicked Johann in the side and leaned over him again, grinning wildly. 'But it was all worth it,' he said. 'With the Eye of Nakhan, nothing can stop me, least of all you.'
He pulled Johann's sword from its sheath and slowly inserted it into Johann's side, making him cry out. Nito laughed.
'I killed that doddering old priest,' he crowed. 'I wrote Nakhan's name on the wall of Greta Luitpold's room to awaken the sorcerer's will in order to overcome her and then Fredrick. I played you all, and you fell for it!'
He laughed as he wrenched the blade from Johann's side. The nobleman's eyes misted as Nito tied the broken ends of the chain together in a knot and placed it around his neck, grinning wildly.
Suddenly his smile faded. His body shook and he fell to his knees, staring in awe at the glowing pendant around his neck. Within moments waves of agony had him crying out and convulsing on the ground wildly before he collapsed, limp.
As the life faded from Johann, Nito got back to his feet, dusting his robes off. He hardly seemed to notice Johann die as he examined himself, smiling cruelly.
'No, Nito,' Nakhan said as he looked at his new hands, 'you played no one.' He smiled. 'It was not your manipulations that brought all this to pass.'
Without a backward glance, the reborn sorcerer turned and strode towards the road leading to Altdorf. The sun was rising, and it looked as if it was going to be a beautiful day.
--
Nakhan/Nito Concept:
--
The sun was setting, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful night as Johann and Fredrick von Schadt sat on their horses in the middle of the road, craning their necks to peer into the distance. Simultaneously, the two brothers leaned back into their saddles with sighs and looked at each other. To an onlooker, it would have been easy to spot the similarities in their appearance, similarities only enhanced by the clothes they wore: the uniforms of off-duty Reikland soldiers.
Johann, the younger of the two, shrugged. 'I can't see it,' he said at last.
'Are you sure?'
'Of course,' his older brother, Fredrick replied, pointing. 'See? The white spot above the tree there. That's the roof. And if you look to the left and down, you can see a break in the tree line where the yard is.'
'There are trees and breaks everywhere.'
'You're blind, I say. That one, that one. See now?' Fredrick began making jabbing motions with his finger.
Johann looked at his brother. 'Yes, wave your finger some more. You've just pointed to thirty or so trees with all that gesturing.'
'I'm telling you, it's this way. I am absolutely positive,' he said, raising his hands to forestall Johann's inevitable 'Are you sure?'
'Good Sigmar, you should know this by heart by now, after all the times we've gone up and down this road?'
'Some of us don't remember directions well.'
'Some of us can't find our way out of an empty room, you mean, a room with only one door. And the door's open, so you can see it's the exit. And... and there's a sign.'
Johann looked at him.
Fredrick waved his hands as if fanning away his poor oratory. 'Anyway, this is definitely the way, I'm sure.'
Johann shrugged. 'If you say so, then it must be true.'
'So glad you see it my way.'
There was a moment of silence between them as they stared down the road thoughtfully. 'Four years,' Johann said suddenly.
'Aye.'
'Feels like a long time, eh?'
'Aye.'
'Well then,' Johann urged his horse forward, 'let's go home.'
They dismounted in unison and led their horses into the yard of von Schadt Manor, passing their reins off to a waiting stable boy. With an ease of familiarity honed by a great deal of practice, they strode up to their father and snapped perfect, parade-ground salutes, more for the benefit of the gathered servants than for theirs or their father's.
Gadj's face was the image of constructed solemnity. He eyed his sons and growled, 'And where have you been?'
The two brothers exchanged knowing glances and looked him squarely in the eyes. 'The Emperor had need of us,' Fredrick said first.
'The Enemy had returned,' Johann added. He threw a glance at the robed figure standing at his father's side and was startled to see it was a stranger.
'And did you meet the enemy on the field of battle?' Gadj asked.
'Yes, father,' Fredrick and Johann chorused.
The robed stranger stepped forward with a noticeable limp. He was exceedingly tall and well-muscled. A hammer pendant, the symbol of the man-god Sigmar, hung around his neck, and in his hand he held a heavy, spiked warhammer, the traditional weapon of a warrior-priest. His eyes, grey like mountain stone, stared at the two young noblemen.
'What did you do when you met him?' he prompted.
The two sons replied instantly. 'We killed him.'
Their words brought a smile to Gadj's face. He grabbed both his sons and pulled them closer, gripping them in a tight bear hug. 'As well you should! The war will be won by men like you!'
Around them, the crowd was reacting with delight, surrounding the three men. After a moment Gadj let go of his sons in order to shoo away the servants. 'It's good to have you back!' he said, grinning.
But Johann's attention lay on the robed stranger. 'And who might you be, Herr...?' He asked.
The bald priest smiled warmly at Johann. 'Einhardt Nito, and you are Johann, correct?'
Johann nodded, unable to keep the disappointment from his face, and began to scan the crowd.
After a moment the priest continued speaking, a note of forced jollity in his words. 'Johann, named for Grand Theogonist Johann Helstrum, I presume? A good name.'
'It was my grandfather's.'
The priest frowned. 'If you are looking for Father Dunn,' he said softly, 'he has passed away. I am his replacement.'
'How did he-' the young noble began, before Gadj interjected. 'Fredrick, this is Father Nito. He is our new resident priest. He has been very interested in the two of you.'
'Oh?' Fredrick said, smiling. 'And why might that be?'
Father Nito laughed. 'I believe young men like you will change the fate of the Empire.'
'I'm sure they will,' Gadj said, keeping his attention on his sons. 'Are either of you hungry?'
'No sir,' Johann said quietly. He couldn't believe Father Dunn was dead. His mind reeled. 'I'm going to retire, if you don't mind.'
'I think I will, too,' Fredrick agreed. 'We've been riding all day to get here, and I'm exhausted.'
'All right, but if-' Gadj began. Before he could say any more, Johann bowed politely and, without looking at Father Nito, hurried into the house.
Gadj raised an eyebrow at Fredrick, who was frowning after Johann.
'I hope you'll forgive Johann,' Fredrick said, noticing their father's look. 'The war tried him a great deal. I think hearing about Father Dunn's death must have troubled him.' He looked over at Nito. 'I overheard your conversation. Hard for me not to, since you two were standing right next to me.'
'How was it?' Gadj asked quietly.
Fredrick shrugged. 'It was war.'
Gadj von Schadt was a retired Imperial general. He had led the forces of the Empire against every conceivable enemy and seen more battles than most living men had even heard of. He nodded grimly. 'Fighting against the Enemy,' he muttered. 'I wish you two had fought some other foe at your first battle.'
'Middenheim wasn't that bad,' Fredrick said, the forced levity in his tone telling his father the exact opposite. Middenheim was that bad.
Fredrick coughed politely. 'Shall we continue this tomorrow morning?' he asked. 'I'm a bit tired.' With a muted farewell, he turned and entered the manor, leaving his father to stare after him.
Fredrick's mind was filled with exhaustion as he finished unpacking and collapsed onto his bed. Sighing deeply, he withdrew a pendant that had been hanging around his neck, holding it up to examine it.
The lamp's guttering flame sent flickering yellow light playing over the pendant's surface. Somehow, despite being completely solid, when Fredrick held it up to the light, he could see a dull glow shining through it. A single silver wire wound around the stone, connecting it to a silvery chain from which it hung. At first glance, it appeared to be a simple shade of amber, but when viewed closely he could make out silvery streaks and whirls within it.
Fredrick's heart began to beat faster as he stared at the stone, and his mind began to cloud. The whirls in the stone appeared to wind directly through it, as if he could see right inside it. He looked at it closely and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what.
There was a knock at the door, startling him. 'It's Johann.'
'Come in.'
The door opened and Johann slipped in, grinning slightly. He noticed the pendant and raised an eyebrow. 'Where did you get that?' he asked.
'I found it in a barrel,' Fredrick said.
Johann looked at him.
'Does it matter?' Fredrick asked, trying to cover up his terrible attempted subterfuge. 'Anyway, what is it you wanted?'
Johann nodded towards the pendant. 'I'm serious. Where did you get that?'
Fredrick held it higher, letting the light from the bedside lamp illuminate the dark yellow stone. 'Isn't it lovely?' he asked.
'Absolutely, but that doesn't answer my question.'
Fredrick sighed. 'Do you remember Middenheim?'
'Could I forget?'
Fredrick gave him an annoyed look and leaned back against the wall next to his bed. 'It was at Sokh, when we ran into those beastmen looting the city.'
In his mind's eye, Fredrick could see his demilancer troupe as they wheeled through the city, searching for the enemy. He could starkly remember every moment of that battle, and he suspected Johann could as well.
'Yes,' Johann said blankly. Fredrick could see that Johann remembered the event well.
'The captain believed they'd been sent to try and flank us but had gotten distracted looting. I do remember,' Johann said.
'We had just charged when their leader, the shaman, came out of a building, carrying some loot in its hands.'
Johann bolted to his feet. 'Don't tell me!'
Fredrick winced. 'Yes,' he said. 'I took it from the beastman's body after we killed him. He had it in his hand when he came out.' He grimaced at Johann's expression. ' What? There's nothing wrong with it.'
'How do you know?'
'I just do!' Fredrick shouted, making Johann flinch. 'Just look at it,' he said, more quietly this time. 'It isn't some crude Northern trinket, hammered together by some heathen animal that just recently discovered fire, and decorated by the fingerbones of whatever child he had just finished eating.' Where did this blasphemy come from, he wondered?
Johann's face turned pale. 'How can you say something like that?' he asked, shocked. 'How can you even think about being so dismissive?' He shook his head. 'And so what if it looks fine? That's what concerns me! The Ruinous Powers don't always come in malign guises! Sometimes they appear to be extremely beautiful or magnificent. That's how they seduce us with their lies!'
Fredrick looked at him. 'Can you hear yourself? You sound like a flagellant. Do you want me to start calling you one? Do you want me to get you your scourge, Herr Flagellant? How have you been, Herr Flagellant? Busy day of self-mortification, I trust? Is your-'
'This isn't a joke!'
The smile on Fredrick's face slipped away. For a moment, neither brother spoke. The lamplight flickered wildly, sending their shadows dancing on the wall.
'I understand your worry,' Fredrick said slowly. 'Trust me, I do, but there's nothing wrong with this pendant. How could there be?'
Johann shook his head. 'What happened to the brother I knew?' he said, more to himself than to Fredrick.
Fredrick clenched his teeth. 'What are you implying?' he hissed. 'Are you saying that I've changed somehow?'
Johann gestured at the offending pendant. 'Why else would you do this? May I remind you that not only is looting a crime, but looting from a beastman, of all things? You could put your life at risk if a witch hunter were to find out, never mind the risk to your soul!'
'You're so damn self-righteous, Johann!' Fredrick snarled back. 'On the topic of who has changed, what about you? Always preaching to the rest of us, always so solemn. After every battle do you head off to get good and drunk like the rest of us? Hell no! Let's go straight to the chapel instead! You would make a better priest than a soldier!'
'You think I don't know that?' Johann snapped. 'If it wasn't for the fact that it would kill father for me not to follow in his footsteps, I'd already be doing that. But here I am, stuck in this life that I don't want, trying to save the soul of a brother who doesn't even want my help!'
The anger immediately drained out of Fredrick, and his jaw dropped. For a moment, he sat stunned before responding. 'Sigmar, Johann... I had no idea.'
'No one did,' Johann said quietly. 'No one knew except for Father Dunn.'
There was an uncomfortable silence before Johann spoke again.
'He was going to try and talk to father when we got back,' he said. 'I want to fight for the Empire, but I also want to fight for Sigmar. I thought... If I spent some time in the military he wouldn't have a problem with me becoming a warrior-priest.'
He gestured at the pendant again, but this time it was muted. 'What makes that so important to you?'
The anger began to rise in Fredrick again, for no reason at all, but he forced it down. What is wrong with me? What am I getting so upset for, he thought, shaking his head? With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall. The bed creaked as he shifted his weight.
'Greta Luitpold,' he said.
'Oh.'
Fredrick managed a weak grin. 'We've known her for... a long time,' he said. 'I've loved her almost since we first met, and I think she feels the same. When I saw this, gripped in that dead shaman's hand, I acted without thinking.' He held the pendant up to the light. 'I spoke to father earlier. He told me that Greta and her father will be here tomorrow to visit us. If memory serves correctly, she'll go to the chapel first to take her blessing from Father Nito. I want to, ah, ambush her there and give her this.' He sighed. 'I want to ask her to marry me.'
Johann stared at him. 'I can understand that, but I don't think that pendant's necessary. Like I said, we've known her for years. She wouldn't decline, and neither would her father. What do you need that trinket for?'
Fredrick shrugged. 'You know, father gave mother her necklace when he proposed to her. Do you remember how much she loved it? It meant everything to her. Well... I just want Greta to have something to remember our engagement by.'
'You mean apart from the engagement itself?'
Fredrick frowned. 'Of course. I just want it to be special. How can you argue with that?'
'''All who profit from the spoils of Chaos shall be doomed',' Johann quoted.
'Grand Theogonist Vilgrim III. I am familiar with the teachings of our elders, brother.'
Johann looked him in the eye. 'Are you?' He asked. 'Is merely being ''familiar'' enough?'
Father Nito looked away from Fredrick's door, thoughtfully digesting everything that he had heard from outside the older brother's room. Without a word, he turned and made his way back to his chapel.
The chapel appeared to be empty as Fredrick pulled the wooden doors shut behind him, wondering where Nito was. With a shrug, he sat down and waited for Greta. He hoped that he didn't have to wait long, or else he might chew his arm off with anxiety.
The door opened a short while later and she entered. It may have been his imagination, but she looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was a shade of amber that perfectly matched that of the stone, and he could see her bright green eyes from where he sat, a short distance away. She bowed her head as she entered the chapel, and then paused, noticing him. The sight of her face after so long made his mouth dry as he stood and walked to her side.
'What are-' she began, before he held up the pendant, smiling as her eyes widened at the sight. 'Fredrick, where did you...?'
'It fell off the back of a cart,' he lied, horribly.
She looked at him.
'It doesn't matter, does it?' He looped the chain over her head and draped it around her neck. 'It's yours. I... I want you to have it,' he said before pausing, and then drew a breath, 'to remember our engagement by.'
She stared at him for a moment, mouth open in surprise. 'I will!' she promised, throwing her arms around him as he kissed her.
Fredrick would remember that moment with perfect clarity for the rest of his life.
'Will you be here for long?' Fredrick asked Greta as he walked her back to her room. She was still looking at the pendant as she walked.
'Hmm?' She asked. 'Oh, well, we should be here for dinner, and perhaps to stay the night. It all depends.' She smiled at him.
His heart skipped, and he smiled back. He could hardly believe that he had just asked her to marry him, or that she had said yes.
'This is my room,' Greta said, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. His heart skipped a beat. 'I'll change and see you at dinner, then?'
'Yes. You will,' Fredrick said, cursing inwardly at his sudden clumsiness. 'I'll come by to get you then.'
He could tell by the light in her eye that she was aware that he was off-balance, and she determined to make the most of it, teasing him. It had always been her favourite hobby as they had grown up, especially once she had realised his feelings for her.
'I can go inside by myself,' she ribbed, gesturing for him to leave. 'Go away!' She grinned as he held up his hands in surrender. With a final teasing smile, she opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. When she did, her heart skipped a beat, and it wasn't due to joy.
There was writing on the wall over her bed. It had been hidden by the open door as she'd entered, but she could see it clearly now. She couldn't look away from it, even though its very presence filled her with a dull sense of horror. It was a single word that she had never heard before.
'Nakhan,' she whispered to herself. What did that mean?
Without warning, the word's meaning became the last thing that she had to worry about as pain lanced through her body. The pendant on her chest was burning with an inner light, and she staggered as the intelligence within replied to the name and tore its way into her mind. As she lay convulsing on the floor, her last thought was of Fredrick.
It was late that night as Johann spoke to Gadj in his study. He had wanted to bring up the topic of becoming a priest, but whenever he was about to mention it, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, he had rambled on about a number of other topics until reaching Fredrick's engagement.
'It's about damn rime,' Gadj said simply. 'When is he supposed to make the announcement?'
'At dinner,' Johann said. 'I managed to-'
There was a furious banging at the door. 'Gadj!' Nito's voice came through the door. 'The chapel. It has been desecrated!'
Gadj and Johann stared at one another in shock before Nito opened the door and barged in. He looked at them as he tightly gripped the handle of his hammer. 'The chapel has been desecrated!' he said again.
Gadj and Johann were stunned. It was only when Nito gestured for them to follow that they leapt to their feet.
The three of them left the room and hurried towards the stairs leading down to the chapel. It was directly attached to the main house so that any of the pious von Schadt family could go there whenever they felt the need.
The three of them hurried down the hall. 'How?' Gadj growled. 'How could this happen?'
'Beastmen?' Johann suggested. 'The woods are thick with them since the end of the war.'
'No,' Father Nito said, 'not beastmen. It's too subtle... I fear this is something more insidious. My lord... there may be a heretic amongst your staff.'
'What?' Johann gasped. 'Really, that's a bit unlikely, don't you think? I mean, what led you to that conclusion?'
Father Nito turned and looked at Johann menacingly. 'You can be surprised at what can carry taint with it.'
Taint, Johann thought, and then remembered his conversation with Fredrick. What? How did he... does he know?
Gadj spotted the priest's glance and stopped. He stepped up to the priest, gritting his teeth in rage. 'What are you implying?' he growled.
Johann stepped back. He had never seen his father this angry before and was concerned that he might even attack the priest.
Nito raised his hands defensively. 'I meant no insult, my lord.' Even he seemed shocked at the older von Schadt's furious glare.
Gadj's head lowered. 'I should be apologising, Einhardt. It's just...' he looked up with tears in his eyes. 'This is our home. The war should not be able to follow us here.'
'The Enemy is never considerate,' Father Nito said, resting a hand on Gadj's shoulder.
'Hello!' Fredrick's cheerful voice startled them all from down the hallway. He smiled at them, but his expression faded as he noticed their looks. 'What's going on?'
'Fredrick!' Nito said, stepping forward. 'What are you doing here?'
'I was just looking for Greta,' he said, wary of Nito's forceful question. 'I was going to escort her to dinner, but she didn't answer her door. Have any of you seen her?' He frowned. 'I... what is going on?'
Gadj and Johann looked at one another, their faces troubled.
Nito looked back at them. His face was grim. 'We must find her,' he said.
'What is going on?' Fredrick asked again. 'What aren't you telling me?'
'The chapel has been desecrated,' Johann told him. 'We don't know who did it.'
'What?' Fredrick asked, looking around. 'Are you joking?'
Their expressions answered him. He shook his head, unable to believe them. Finally he looked up. 'I have to try to find her,' he said.
'We will send out search parties,' Gadj said. 'If Greta is in danger, we must do whatever we can to try and save her. We should also send for the witch hunters. I don't believe there may be a heretic in our presence, but if there is...'
There was silence as his words sank in.
'I would advise against that, my lord,' Nito said, surprising Johann. 'The Templars are notoriously exuberant in the persecution of their duties, and if they come here I fear heretics will burn even if there are no heretics to burn.'
Gadj shook his head. 'That's a risk I am prepared for.'
'I have to find her before that happens,' Fredrick said. He turned to his father. 'Please.'
'Go,' Gadj said.
Fredrick turned and ran down the hallway. Johann started after him, but his father stopped him.
'I need you to help me gather the servants together,' Gadj said. 'I can't believe that there are any heretics amongst us, but we must keep them safe.' He turned to look at Nito. 'I know your reservations, but you must contact the Templars. I feel that only they can uncover what is happening.'
Nito bowed his head. 'Then I will do as you ask,' he said grimly.
Hooves thundered as Fredrick drove his horse forward. Having failed to find Greta inside the manor, he had no other option than to search the surrounding area for her. His heart was filled with worry and disbelief. How did this happen? Where could she be?
This is my fault somehow. He cursed himself. Oh, my love, where are you?
Where was he, for that matter? He slowed his horse and looked around, trying to re-orient himself. After a moment, he noticed with a start that he was not far from the place where he had met Greta for the first time.
It was a tree at the edge of the river. Fredrick remembered he had been reading when his father had joined him, introducing him to his old friend from the army, General Luitpold, and his daughter. The memory clenched at his heart, and he could feel tears coursing down his cheeks.
I can't bear to lose you, he thought. Please, please, please be all right.
He wheeled his horse and rode forward, heading for the tree. His hopes of finding her there were dim, but maybe there Sigmar would give him a sign as to where she might be.
When he rode onto the bank, his hopes died.
He slid from his horse, dropping to his knees as he beheld Greta's body at the edge of the river, blood staining the ground around her arms where she had slit her wrists open with the kitchen knife lying nearby. He crawled to her side and lifted her into his lap, sobbing helplessly as he cradled her head in close to his chest.
'Greta...' he moaned, burying his face in her shoulder. 'Why?'
He stayed there for a while, rocking back and forth with her, before noticing the chain around her neck. The pendant! When he saw it, a wave of sudden nausea made him stagger. Without warning, he suddenly needed it. He wanted to look at it, to hold it in his hands again.
This is wrong, he thought, pulling the chain from around her neck. The stone was glowing brightly, and his mind reeled. This is... it is cursed! Johann was right!
He fought with all his will to keep the pendant away, knowing inwardly that if it fell around his neck, something bad was going to happen. His hands still looped it over his head, despite his struggle.
'No. Stop it!' he snarled as the chain settled around his shoulders.
His horse's ears twitched as Fredrick's body began to shake, and it dashed from the clearing as his agonised scream tore the night air.
'Bar the doorsand make sure no one leaves,' Father Nito said grimly as he mounted his horse. He wheeled it to face the road. 'I will return shortly with the witch hunters and we will see an end to this!'
'Wait!' Johann said, holding up a hand. 'Here.'
He stepped forward, pulling his sword, scabbard and all, from his belt and handing it to Nito.
'You are wrong,' he said, meeting the priest's eyes, 'there is no heretic here.' He gestured towards the woods. 'Whatever did this, it did not come from here. That warhammer will be all but useless on horseback, so you should take this in case the real culprit tries to stop you.'
Nito nodded. 'I agree with you, Johann,' he said. He raised the sword in salute. 'May Sigmar protect us all!' he shouted. His horse leapt forward, charging down the road to Altdorf.
Johann and Gadj stared after him, their faces equally filled with dread.
'I've re-called the search parties,' Gadj said. 'All of the servants are inside the main hall, save for a few. I'm going to take some and search the house for whoever's left.'
'I'll come with you.'
'No, I want you to find Fredrick,' Gadj said, heading for the door leading back into the house. He stopped with his hand on the handle, turning to look at Johann. 'Sigmar be with you,' he said before going back inside.
Johann stared after his father, his heart filled with sorrow. He knew what was going to happen when the witch hunters arrived. Someone would have to pay the price for letting heresy, real or imagined, foster within the household. It was clear who.
He turned and ran to the stables, praying he would find his brother and Greta before it was too late. Within moments he had mounted his horse and charged into the woods.
It was an hour before he found Greta, and wept at the sight of her body lying in the dirt. He dismounted and chokingly covered her face with his cloak.
As he turned away he noticed tracks other than his in the dirt. Fredrick's already been here, he thought, but where-?
He mounted up again and rode his horse hard back towards the house. He felt like an idiot for having probably passed Fredrick in the dark without noticing him. Without warning, his horse shrieked and reared. It was all Johann could do to remain in the saddle.
'What is it?' he asked, peering into the woods and cursing himself for handing his weapon away to Nito. After a moment a rank stench hit him and he reeled, gagging. 'What-?'
In the dark he could barely make out a large shape lying on the ground a short distance away. He moved closer and stopped when he realised it was a body that had been torn apart as if by an animal.
Fredrick's horse! he realised. How did... there must have been beastmen after all!
Beginning to panic, he shouted and kicked his horse forward, not stopping until he reached the edge of the woods and burst from the underbrush. The von Schadt manor loomed in front of him, but any sense of relief he might have had died when he spotted the heavy double doors smashed in.
'No, Sigmar no!' he shouted as he dismounted and ran into the house.
Inside, there was only chaos and the stench of death. The bodies of servants lay all over the main hall, their blood staining the floor. He gaped at the sight, his mind reeling, before the sounds of screaming from deeper within the house stirred him into action, and he charged after them.
He pursued the screaming to the doors of the chapel and kicked them open as the last ones faded. He leapt in, shouting a prayer to Sigmar that died in his throat when he saw what awaited him within.
Whatever it was, it wasn't human, though it had once worn a like shape. As he watched, the gnarled, warped creature standing by the altar dropped Gadj von Schadt's mangled body to the ground. As it turned to Johann, he could see a chain around its neck from which a pendant hung.
'Hnnnnggghh... brotherrr...' it moaned, raising its heavy head to the ceiling and letting out an anguished howl.
'No,' Johann gasped, unable to believe his eyes. He reached for his sword, remembering that he had given it to Father Nito.
The creature staggered forward, falling to the floor as if its legs refused to work, then began crawling slowly towards him.
In his terror, Johann grabbed the closest weapon he could find: a pole-mounted brazier next to the door. The creature's shape blurred forward as it sank serrated teeth into his leg, making him stumble to the ground. The brazier rolled away, hitting the wall and catching some of the hanging tapestries aflame.
The creature pulled itself as upright as it could manage, raising its claws into the air above its head. Its eyes, horribly, were still the same as Fredrick's.
'Nnnngghhh!' it groaned. 'Can't... stopp...' The pendant was glowing brighter than a star as it prepared to bring its claws down.
The pendant!
Johann's hand lashed out and he grabbed it. He howled in agony as it burned his hand, searing his flesh as if it were made of fire. He broke the chain with a jerk and the creature collapsed, gasping. The glow and the agony faded into nothing as Johann rolled away. He grabbed the fallen brazier with his good hand as Fredrick, or what was left of him, sprung up on all fours and lunged for him. Flames licked the walls as they surrounded the two brothers. A loud howl filled the chapel, and then there was nothing.
Johann moaned as he stirred himself awake, blinking as he regained consciousness. There was air on his face and he winced as he opened his eyes.
Von Schadt Manor, or what was left of it, stood before him, smoking ruins replacing the place where he had grown up and spent his childhood. He could feel tears welling in his eyes as Father Nito crouched next to him, his shadow blocking out the light of the rising sun.
The sun? Is it morning?
'Johann,' Nito said again quietly. 'Johann, what happened here?'
The young nobleman groaned as he stirred, registering pain all over his body. Memories returned to him: riding in the darkness, fighting what was once his brother, and pulling himself from the fire. In a cracked, broken voice he told the priest everything, feeling his tears running down his cheeks as he spoke. As he finished, he held up the pendant in his scorched hand.
'This is it,' he gasped. 'This is what did it all. I don't know how or why, but this is it.'
'The Eye of Nakhan,' Nito said. 'That explains it. It contains the essence of a powerful Chaos sorcerer named Nakhan. He created the Eye in order to contain his soul in case anyone was ever able to destroy his body. It was a way of keeping himself alive and, essentially, immortal. It must have quietly worked at Fredrick's mind while dormant, slowly changing him. Fortunately for you, you haven't been exposed to it long enough for it to begin influencing your actions. Now that it's awake, you are lucky that you didn't try to put it on.'
'Changed...' Johann said, remembering their argument. Suddenly he thought of something. 'How did you know what it was?'
'You'll be fine,' Nito said, ignoring him. 'These burns may be painful, but they won't kill you.' The priest leaned down to stare into his eyes. 'But I will.'
The nobleman lashed out, swinging his hand through the air to knock the priest away, but Nito caught his arm and pried the pendant from his fingers.
'Thank you,' Nito cooed. 'You have no idea,' he said as Johann tried to crawl to his feet. 'You've no idea how much effort I put into this: the years of manipulating fate until I could bring this into my grasp, the shame of dressing like a complete idiot in order to lie in wait.' He gestured to his priestly vestments, which were darkening from brown to a deep blue in front of Johann's eyes. He kicked Johann in the side and leaned over him again, grinning wildly. 'But it was all worth it,' he said. 'With the Eye of Nakhan, nothing can stop me, least of all you.'
He pulled Johann's sword from its sheath and slowly inserted it into Johann's side, making him cry out. Nito laughed.
'I killed that doddering old priest,' he crowed. 'I wrote Nakhan's name on the wall of Greta Luitpold's room to awaken the sorcerer's will in order to overcome her and then Fredrick. I played you all, and you fell for it!'
He laughed as he wrenched the blade from Johann's side. The nobleman's eyes misted as Nito tied the broken ends of the chain together in a knot and placed it around his neck, grinning wildly.
Suddenly his smile faded. His body shook and he fell to his knees, staring in awe at the glowing pendant around his neck. Within moments waves of agony had him crying out and convulsing on the ground wildly before he collapsed, limp.
As the life faded from Johann, Nito got back to his feet, dusting his robes off. He hardly seemed to notice Johann die as he examined himself, smiling cruelly.
'No, Nito,' Nakhan said as he looked at his new hands, 'you played no one.' He smiled. 'It was not your manipulations that brought all this to pass.'
Without a backward glance, the reborn sorcerer turned and strode towards the road leading to Altdorf. The sun was rising, and it looked as if it was going to be a beautiful day.
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Nakhan/Nito Concept: