Contents

Cover

Battle for the Soulspring – Extract

Warhammer Adventures

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Chapter One

Homeward

‘It was the Sylvaneth who healed me,’ Vertigan explained, leaning over the side of the airship and gazing into the tangled forest below. Strange cries echoed from the twisted trees and shimmering light danced in the depths. ‘Without Litheroot I would’ve been lost. Not dead, perhaps, like the others. But gone, nonetheless.’

Kiri heard deep sadness in the old man’s voice, and his face was drawn and weary. But at least now she understood her purpose, the reason she and her friends had been drawn together. They had to return to the Arbour, open the Soulspring and save the city of Lifestone, before it was overrun by the sorceress Ashnakh and her army of the dead.

Alish stood at the wheel, steadying the Arbour Seed as night winds buffeted the little airship. The others perched on the benches to either side, silently pondering everything Vertigan had told them. Scratch shivered, huddling close to Kaspar, while Thanis sat upright in the prow, gazing out into the night. Barely any time had passed since they’d toppled Ashnakh’s tower and escaped from the Realm of Death. Already, Kiri knew, the sorceress would be recovering her strength and marshalling her forces.

‘How did Aisha do it?’ Elio asked. ‘Who gave her the power?’

‘It was Nagash,’ Vertigan spat. ‘The Great Necromancer, Aisha’s true master. Like you she was born in Lifestone, the child of ordinary market traders. But her parents were taken when she was very young, I could never discover exactly how. She was left in the care of an ageing relative, a petty conjuror, little better than a woods witch. But the old woman was a follower of Nagash, and hoping to impress him she took this chosen child under her wing, giving her the secret name of Ashnakh and raising her in the ways of Death, encouraging her to use the power of her birthmark. Their intention was to corrupt the ritual, to poison the Soulspring and allow Nagash to claim the soul of Lifestone for himself. A great prize indeed.’

‘But you stopped her,’ Kiri said. ‘You broke the spell.’

‘I did.’ Vertigan nodded. ‘She wasn’t the only one who’d been training in secret. I’d become fascinated by the arcane arts, and had begun to learn all I could about the life of a witch hunter. I had just enough willpower to resist her, but I was the only one who could. And it cost me greatly. The ritual left me prematurely aged – it took me years to recover. My friends all lost their lives, Aisha included. It was Nagash who brought her back, returning her spirit so she could complete her task, find the next generation of marked children and corrupt the ritual again. We are the only ones who can stop her.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us before?’ Kiri asked. ‘Why the secrecy?’

‘Tradition,’ Vertigan sighed. ‘The truth was always hidden until the morning of the ritual. And I suppose I was afraid, too. Afraid that if you learned the truth too soon, if you realised how much danger you were in, you might be too scared to continue. I should’ve known better.’

There was a sudden screech in the dark, a blood-chilling cry echoing above the trees. They heard the thrum of wings and Kiri saw a hideous shape in the moonlight, a scaly, lizard-like form soaring on ragged pinions. Its black body was ridged with bony growths and its jaw was spiked with hideous fangs.

‘That’s a terrorgheist,’ Elio said with a shudder. ‘I saw a picture of one once and it scared the life out of me. I never wanted to see one for real.’

Thanis peered closer. ‘There’s someone riding on it,’ she said in awe. A saddle was strapped to the creature’s frame, a silver figure clasping the leather harness.

‘General Bloodspeed,’ Kaspar said. ‘He’s Ashnakh’s messenger, she sent him to alert her troops and start the attack.’

The soulblight vampire had spotted them – Kiri saw his blue lips draw back over pointed teeth, his bone-white skin shining in the moonlight. Then he snapped the reins and the terrorgheist surged forward, its barbed tail lashing behind it.

‘Sigmar’s hammer, why didn’t he attack us?’ Alish asked. ‘That thing could’ve smashed us out of the sky.’

‘He’s scared,’ Thanis sneered. ‘Seven against one. He’s a coward.’

But Kaspar shook his head. ‘Ashnakh ordered him not to hurt us, remember? She wants us in Lifestone. She wants us to carry out the ritual, so she can poison it again. So she and her dark master can steal the soul of the city.’

‘So why are we doing it?’ Elio asked. ‘Why don’t we just fly away, somewhere she can’t find us?’

‘Because that would doom Lifestone forever,’ Vertigan told him. ‘The city must be restored or it will fade utterly, and one of the jewels of Ghyran will fall into ruin.’

‘So we need to make sure we’re prepared,’ Kiri said determinedly. ‘When she comes for us, we have to be ready to fight back.’

‘Remember what Litheroot told us,’ Thanis put in. ‘She said if we could find Aisha’s childhood home, we might discover something that could help us. Some way to weaken her. Do you think that’s true, Master Vertigan?’

The old man pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘I looked for the place myself, but I could never find it. I came to suspect that Aisha had… well, that she had warned the house to watch out for me. Left a charm that hid it from my sight. You might have more luck. But it’s still one house in an entire city, where will you start looking?’

Elio sighed nervously. ‘I’m supposed to ask my father to give us access to the Archives. But you know, he might not help us. The last time we spoke it didn’t go so well. He told me I wasn’t his son any more.’

‘But you’ve changed,’ Kiri told him. ‘Maybe he has too. And anyway, I’ll come with you. To help persuade him.’

Elio’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t shoot him with your catapult or anything will you?’

‘I’ll come too,’ Kaspar said. ‘I know Ashnakh best, if we’re looking for something that connects to her, I might be able to spot it.’

‘So what about the rest of us?’ Thanis asked. ‘Do you think we should all go?’

Vertigan shook his head. ‘Someone must go to the Arbour and prepare for dawn,’ he said, scanning the black horizon. ‘I only hope we will have enough time.’

Beneath them the trees were beginning to thin out, and off in the distance Kiri could see the line of torches marking the outer walls of Lifestone. But between them and the city was a black gulf, the valley below dark and silent.

‘Where’s Ashnakh’s army?’ she whispered. ‘Are they gone?’

No one spoke, and for a moment the only sound was the droning of the airship’s aether-endrins. Then Thanis pointed and Kiri saw a moving speck, glittering silver as it soared from shadow into moonlight. The terrorgheist beat its wings, descending into the valley. And as it did so, a terrible cry went up.

The roar echoed from the steep slopes on either side, bellowing and howling and cursing in a hundred hideous tongues. Light bloomed below them, lines of sickly violet radiance erupting from the heart of the valley and spreading like vines. And everywhere it touched Kiri saw movement – corpse-warriors and skeletal steeds, soulblight regiments and shrouded banks of half-formed nighthaunts, all marching into position.

Bloodspeed landed his monstrous steed in the centre of the valley, torches flaring around him. He pointed one gloved hand towards the city and the dead army howled, turning to face the high shield walls of Lifestone. The earth shook as they started to advance, their feet pounding the dust, their siege engines groaning as they rolled over the stony ground.

‘There’s so many of them,’ Thanis said in horror. ‘The city’ll be overrun long before daybreak.’

‘My father and his Lifestone Defenders will be manning the walls,’ Elio said. ‘They’ll give as good as they get.’

‘No disrespect, but they’re already outnumbered hundreds to one,’ Kaspar pointed out. ‘And that’s before the rest of Ashnakh’s forces arrive.’

Scratch whimpered and wrung his hands, but Kiri refused to be daunted. ‘So we’ll find a way to slow them down,’ she said. ‘I know the odds are against us, but they have been all along. And look how far we’ve come.’

‘Kiri’s right,’ Vertigan said. ‘What you’ve achieved is already miraculous. And I may have a way to stop this army in its tracks. It might not work, but if it does…’ He frowned thoughtfully, gripping his staff.

They were approaching the city walls now, the ragged army churning and clamouring in the shadows below. ‘Okay, Alish, take us down,’ Kiri said, grabbing a rope and preparing to heave it over the side. ‘As low as you dare.’

Alish twisted dials and pressure gauges, angling the airship towards the battlements. A phalanx of skeletal soldiers were already nearing the foot of the wall and Kiri saw siege ladders going up, rising in the spectral torchlight.

‘Look for the fountain of Lifestone,’ Elio said. ‘That’s my father’s banner.’

More ladders rose from the dark, skeletal warriors clambering over the battlements and launching themselves at the Lifestone Defenders. But above the fray a bright flag flew, a silver fountain shimmering in the moonlight. Shouts sounded and Kiri saw a tall figure striding along the battlements, the torchlight gleaming on his bald head. Lord Elias drew a mighty broadsword and charged at the enemy.

Elio bit his lip. ‘I’m not sure who I’m most scared of. A million walking skeletons, or him.’

Kiri laughed, tossing down the rope. ‘I’ll back you up,’ she promised. ‘Alish, keep the ship steady.’

Kiri climbed over the railing, descending hand over hand towards the battlements. Elio came next, but as Kaspar made to follow Thanis took his arm.

‘Be careful,’ she said. ‘This time you won’t have me around to catch you.’

He smiled ruefully. ‘We’ll be back before dawn,’ he told her. ‘That’s a promise.’

Then he swung his leg over and began to climb down.

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Warhammer Adventures

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Warhammer Publishing,
Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

Represented by: Games Workshop Limited – Irish branch,
Unit 3, Lower Liffey Street, Dublin 1,
D01 K199, Ireland.

Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.
Cover illustration by Cole Marchetti.
Internal illustrations by Dan Boultwood & Cole Marchetti.

Battle for the Soulspring © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2021. Battle for the Soulspring, GW, Games Workshop, Warhammer Adventures, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Stormcast Eternals and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
All Rights Reserved.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-78999-662-3

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For Stanley and Frank – my favourite readers.

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