of the skaven and the Bretonnian’s treachery.’
Agnar scowled. ‘The skaven must be halfway there already. We’ll never catch them.’
Gotrek looked towards the lift. ‘We’ll beat them easily.’
‘But the cage is gone,’ said Felix. ‘Henrik took it.’
Gotrek ignored him and walked out onto the iron bridge, now partially bent from the rocks that had fallen on it, and eyed the cluster of cables that stretched down one side of the shaft. Felix followed him out, his heart palpitating.
‘Gotrek, I hope you’re not thinking–’
‘There’s no faster way.’
‘But how will we stop? If you cut the cable, the cage will drop and pull us up, I see that, but we’ll be going too fast. We’ll be pulled through the pulley at the top of the shaft. We’ll come out like sausages!’
‘The cage will stop here,’ said Gotrek. ‘And we will stop just short of the pulley.’
‘How? Are you going to hook your axe into the wall as we fly past? Even you aren’t that strong.’
Gotrek didn’t answer; he just stamped on the iron bridge with a heavy foot as if to test it, then strode to the scaffolding that still stood above the archway through which they had entered the room, all the while craning his neck and looking up at the ceiling.
‘What is he doing?’ asked Agnar.
‘I have no idea,’ said Felix.
Gotrek remained before the scaffolding, stroking his beard for a moment, then at last hefted his axe and started chopping at a particular support post.
‘Gotrek!’ cried Felix.
‘Into the passage, manling,’ said Gotrek. ‘And you, Arvastsson.’
Felix and Agnar hurried past Gotrek into the passage, as, in three deft strokes, he cut the through post and it snapped under the weight. Again the scaffolding above began to fold in on top of itself. Gotrek stepped into the passage to stand with Felix and Agnar as it all crashed down to the floor and spread out across it in a roaring cascade.
Suddenly unsupported, the braces that held up the ceiling fell after it, and huge chunks of masonry began to plummet down and smash the floor below – at first only a few, but then more and more, an ever widening collapse that sent arches and keystones and decorative corbels thundering down to shake the ground. And as they hit, they bounced off the drift of wooden refuse and avalanched towards the iron bridge. The great stones bounded across it and slammed into the front of the lift shaft, denting and tearing it, and the stones that followed the first caved it in even more, until, as the rain of masonry finally subsided, there was a great, concave bulge in the shaft, filled with rocks.
Felix stared as the dust subsided. ‘You’ve pinched it shut.’
Gotrek nodded. ‘Now the lift cage will hit the rocks and stop.’
‘And the cable will stop short of the pulley,’ said Agnar.
‘And fling us against the walls of the cage to be crushed into jelly,’ groaned Felix.
Gotrek shrugged. ‘It might, but we’ll beat the skaven.’
13
‘I should have seen it,’ growled Agnar, as he and Gotrek hacked through the iron latticework of the lift shaft with their axes. ‘I should have known him for a rogue from the beginning.’
‘Perhaps he wasn’t one at the beginning,’ said Felix, slotting a ladder taken from the wrecked scaffolding through the lattice. Wedged into a corner of the shaft, it made a makeshift platform they would be able to step on. ‘A man might think being a rememberer a grand thing for the first few years, but come to regret it later.’
Gotrek looked around at him, cold-eyed. Felix squirmed under his attention, but went on.
‘A man might get impatient, and want to get on with his life. He might want riches and comforts. He might want to settle down.’
Agnar chewed his lip through his beard as he swung again. ‘He always joked about hoping I’d find my doom quickly, so he might spend all my gold while he was young. Perhaps it wasn’t a joke.’
Felix frowned as he slotted a second
Agnar scowled. ‘The skaven must be halfway there already. We’ll never catch them.’
Gotrek looked towards the lift. ‘We’ll beat them easily.’
‘But the cage is gone,’ said Felix. ‘Henrik took it.’
Gotrek ignored him and walked out onto the iron bridge, now partially bent from the rocks that had fallen on it, and eyed the cluster of cables that stretched down one side of the shaft. Felix followed him out, his heart palpitating.
‘Gotrek, I hope you’re not thinking–’
‘There’s no faster way.’
‘But how will we stop? If you cut the cable, the cage will drop and pull us up, I see that, but we’ll be going too fast. We’ll be pulled through the pulley at the top of the shaft. We’ll come out like sausages!’
‘The cage will stop here,’ said Gotrek. ‘And we will stop just short of the pulley.’
‘How? Are you going to hook your axe into the wall as we fly past? Even you aren’t that strong.’
Gotrek didn’t answer; he just stamped on the iron bridge with a heavy foot as if to test it, then strode to the scaffolding that still stood above the archway through which they had entered the room, all the while craning his neck and looking up at the ceiling.
‘What is he doing?’ asked Agnar.
‘I have no idea,’ said Felix.
Gotrek remained before the scaffolding, stroking his beard for a moment, then at last hefted his axe and started chopping at a particular support post.
‘Gotrek!’ cried Felix.
‘Into the passage, manling,’ said Gotrek. ‘And you, Arvastsson.’
Felix and Agnar hurried past Gotrek into the passage, as, in three deft strokes, he cut the through post and it snapped under the weight. Again the scaffolding above began to fold in on top of itself. Gotrek stepped into the passage to stand with Felix and Agnar as it all crashed down to the floor and spread out across it in a roaring cascade.
Suddenly unsupported, the braces that held up the ceiling fell after it, and huge chunks of masonry began to plummet down and smash the floor below – at first only a few, but then more and more, an ever widening collapse that sent arches and keystones and decorative corbels thundering down to shake the ground. And as they hit, they bounced off the drift of wooden refuse and avalanched towards the iron bridge. The great stones bounded across it and slammed into the front of the lift shaft, denting and tearing it, and the stones that followed the first caved it in even more, until, as the rain of masonry finally subsided, there was a great, concave bulge in the shaft, filled with rocks.
Felix stared as the dust subsided. ‘You’ve pinched it shut.’
Gotrek nodded. ‘Now the lift cage will hit the rocks and stop.’
‘And the cable will stop short of the pulley,’ said Agnar.
‘And fling us against the walls of the cage to be crushed into jelly,’ groaned Felix.
Gotrek shrugged. ‘It might, but we’ll beat the skaven.’
13
‘I should have seen it,’ growled Agnar, as he and Gotrek hacked through the iron latticework of the lift shaft with their axes. ‘I should have known him for a rogue from the beginning.’
‘Perhaps he wasn’t one at the beginning,’ said Felix, slotting a ladder taken from the wrecked scaffolding through the lattice. Wedged into a corner of the shaft, it made a makeshift platform they would be able to step on. ‘A man might think being a rememberer a grand thing for the first few years, but come to regret it later.’
Gotrek looked around at him, cold-eyed. Felix squirmed under his attention, but went on.
‘A man might get impatient, and want to get on with his life. He might want riches and comforts. He might want to settle down.’
Agnar chewed his lip through his beard as he swung again. ‘He always joked about hoping I’d find my doom quickly, so he might spend all my gold while he was young. Perhaps it wasn’t a joke.’
Felix frowned as he slotted a second
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