03 - Sword of Vengeance by Chris Wraight - (ebook by Undead) Page A

Verstohlen, placing a
reassuring hand on the Steward’s shoulder. “There are things I’d like cleared up
myself. Trust me—if the man has been tainted by anything here, I’ll be able to
tell. I’m not proud, Herr Tochfel. If I’m wrong, then I’ll be the first to come
to you to admit it. Then we’ll decide what to do next.”
    Tochfel didn’t look reassured. “He’ll get stronger, the
longer we leave it.”
    “And what could we do, even if you were right?” asked
Verstohlen. “Could the two of us overthrow an elector? We need information. The
Empire will not leave Averheim alone for long. This thing requires subtlety, and
outside help.”
    For a moment, Tochfel looked as if he’d protest further, but
the words never came. He looked slumped and fearful.
    “Take heart, Steward,” said Verstohlen, trying to improve
both their moods. “We have already saved Averheim from certain damnation. What
corruption remains will be uncovered in time.”
    Tochfel gave him a piteous look.
    “If you really think that, counsellor,” he said, “then I do
not understand your reputation for wisdom.”
     
    Black Fire Keep dominated the land around it, just as its
architects had intended. The pass was under a mile wide at the point where it
had been constructed. It had been raised on a hill of granite in the centre of
the otherwise flat and featureless rock around it. The pinnacle of the fortress
commanded long views both east and west, and in normal times the standards of
the Emperor and of Averland rustled proudly from twenty-foot-high flagpoles.
    The bare rock stretching away from the Keep on all sides was
not there by accident of nature. After the second battle of Black Fire Pass, an
army of men and dwarfs had worked for months to clear the land. Piles of stone
were levelled in back-breaking labour, and the few clumps of foliage capable of
surviving the blinding snows of winter were cut down and burned. Approaching the
Keep undetected was now all but impossible, and bitter experience had taught the
defenders to remain vigilant at all times.
    The massive walls rose a hundred feet into the clear sky and
were as thick as a man’s height. Their stone was black from the many sieges
levelled against them, and the signs of historical devastation were impossible
to remove. For all the blood shed over the wind-scoured stone, it would never be
left undefended as long as the Empire stood. Black Fire Pass was more than a
trading route, more than a strategic foothold in the mountains. It was the place
where the Empire had been born. There was never a shortage of volunteers willing
to man the ramparts of the way-forts and Keep, despite the appalling casualties
and near-certainty of attack. Indeed, the mountain guard commanders had to pick
their men carefully, rooting out the genuine soldiers from the fanatic and
deranged.
    The cycle of fighting never ended here. Incursions would be
followed by a bitter fightback, which would be followed by fresh incursions. The
humans would never rid the world of the greenskin scourge, and the orcs would
never be allowed to hold the passes. As Bloch looked up at the distant walls,
now daubed with the blood of their last human defenders, he knew he was just the
latest to contest the site. Whatever the result of his actions, the game would
be played out for centuries after he was gone.
    He found the thought reassuring. All he’d ever known was war.
The idea of a world where it didn’t exist felt as wrong as being bought a drink
by a dwarf. Both were feasibly possible, but he didn’t expect to see either in
his lifetime.
    He stood with his troops half a mile west of the fortress, in
view of the ramparts but far enough away to be untroubled by them. At his side,
as ever, were Drassler and Kraus. Behind him, the army stood silently. They were
arrayed for battle, divided into companies and standing in well-ordered ranks.
They’d held together well. Averlander companies still