Free Mark of Chaos by C.L Werner Page B

way to rescue an elf sorcerer-prince?' asked a stunned von Kessel. The reiksmarshal turned his cold gaze towards the young captain.
    'We came all this way to aid our high elf allies, and to secure lasting peace between our people. They are an ancient and powerful race, Captain von Kessel. If ever our friendship with them should falter, then we will be in dire times indeed,' he said curtly, 'and there is an elf mage- princess in that castle. The death of a princess of the royal household of Ulthuan on Empire soil would not be a good thing.'
    Stefan grunted in response. 'Can we see the siege from the ridge, Wilhelm?' he asked the scout.
    'Yes, captain. I will lead you there,' the scout answered, stepping from the saddle of his horse. A young man took the reins from him, and led the horse away.
    'Good.' said von Kessel. He turned to a soldier standing nearby. 'Bring the engineer, Markus, up here. Make haste.'
    'The engineer?' enquired the reiksmarshal, as the soldier ran off.
    'He has an eyeglass.'
    The climb to the ridge was steep, and Markus slipped to his knees several times, as he climbed, cutting his fine silver silk stockings and grazing his knees on the rocky ground. He cursed silently, breathing heavily. He looked down the way they had come. He had not realised how far they had climbed. The convoy snaking its way along the road was far below.
    'Hurry yourself, engineer,' hissed Captain von Kessel. The engineer, puffing and sweating profusely, climbed the last steep incline to the top of the ridge. He gasped as he reached the summit, and surveyed the scene laid out before him.
    He stood on the edge of a great cliff. It dropped off several hundred feet below him, the height making his head spin. The valley flattened off, leading to the rocky coastline of the Sea of Claws, about two and a half miles off, the engineer estimated. He was famed within the Engineers' Academy in Nuln for his skill at judging distances and trajectory.
    The northern fringes of the great Forest of Shadows spread out at the foot of the cliff, thinning a mile from the coastline. In the distance, beyond the line of the trees was a crumbling castle, long abandoned by men of the Empire. It perched atop a rocky spur about a mile from the coast. The ground around the castle seemed to swarm and ripple with movement. The sea itself was dark, and the mists over the water disguised where the sea ended and the sky began.
    'Engineer, your eyeglass, please,' said the captain. The engineer nodded and gently removed what looked like a leather scroll case from within his fine, embroidered coat. He popped off the lid of the scroll case, and von Kessel could see that inside it was lined with rich, purple velvet. The engineer carefully upended the case, and eased a cylindrical object wrapped in soft cloth from inside. With great care, he unwrapped the brass eyeglass, and handed it gently to the captain.
    'Be careful with her, I beg you.' The captain nodded, and raised the object to his eye, squinting into its lens. He had owned such a contraption himself once, but it had been broken during a battle. He carefully turned the knobs on top of the cylinder until what he viewed through the lens came into focus.
    Firstly, he turned his gaze towards the castle. He could see glittering figures upon the partly ruined ramparts, dressed in silver and white: elves. An ornate, tapering flag flew from the highest remaining tower, its perfectly white material almost glowing. It was hard to judge from this distance, but he estimated that there were around two hundred figures on the castle walls.
    He turned his gaze towards the forces of Chaos that swarmed around the castle. Like a living tide washing up against the castle, the forces of Chaos were innumerable. He saw hundreds of banners topped with grisly trophies, carried by men in horned helmets. They threw themselves at the walls in living waves. A pair of rough, hastily constructed siege engines rolled slowly towards the crumbling