"What do you mean?"

"It is not now as it was in the early days. Many warriors of Chaos have come here and hold their own small fiefdoms. There are entire towns in the Underhalls now which are dedicated to the worship of one of the four Powers of Darkness. They each have their own liege lords and armies. They trade ore, weapons and armour to those outside. They exchange swords for slaves, spearpoints and arrowheads for their disgusting food, armour for magical devices."

"You said there were other dwarf fastnesses in Karag Dum," Varek said.

"Gone now," Hargrim said. "Over the years, they have been wiped out. Those of their people that survived made their way here. Most did not. Many have been hunted down by the Hounds of Khorne as they fled. Others would not come here lest they led the followers of the Terror to our last haven."

"The Terror?" Felix said.

"Of that it is best not to speak," said Hargrim. "For it is our doom. When first it came it took the lives of hundreds of stout warriors. Our runemaster gave his life to drive it off. Now that it has returned I doubt that anything can stop it—although your axe gives me some hope, Gotrek Gurnisson."

Felix's heart sank as he saw Gotrek and Snorri exchange glances. He knew that Hargrim had aroused the Slayer's professional interest. Hargrim saw this too and shook his head.

"Tell me: what do you think King Thangrim is thinking about?" Felix asked, just to change the subject. "Do you think it likely that he will send messengers to the outside world."

"I do not know, Felix Jaeger. I think it likely that we will all die here."

After that there was silence for a minute, and then Gotrek spoke: "I wish to know more of this creature known as the Terror."

"This does not surprise me," Hargrim said, looking up and inspecting the dwarfs tattoos. "You wish to hunt it?"

"I do."

"That would not be wise."

"It is not a question of wisdom. It is a question of my doom."

"And Snorri's," said Snorri.

"Spoken like true Slayers," Hargrim said. Very well. I will tell what I know of this fell creature It is a daemon of Chaos, potent and deadly. It was summoned by Skathlok in the last days of the siege and he treated it not as a master treats a servant but as a warrior treats his king. It came upon us at the south-west gate after that was thrown down and none of us could stand against it. It slew a dozen heroes armed with potent rune weapons. It almost slew King Thangrim himself when he faced it in the Hall of Shadows. They exchanged blows for mere moments but it had the mastery. He could not believe its strength."

Gotrek reached down and grabbed his axe. A gleam had come into his eye. "It must be strong indeed to withstand the Hammer of Fate."

"Stronger than anything it is, Gotrek Gurnisson. More fell by far than the three orc chieftains of the Red Fang. More dangerous than the three ogre mages of Ventragh Heath. Deadlier even than the dragon Glaugir, for all its poison breath. I speak without boasting when I say I have stood beside my liege as he measured himself against mighty foes, but this vile thing was by far the mightiest. I doubt that in the full pride of his youth, even so great a warrior as Thangrim Firebeard could have overcome it."

"How then was it beaten?" asked Felix, licking his lips nervously. "How did you survive to tell us this tale."

"It was not beaten, it was driven off when our high Runesmith Valek smote it with the sacred axe you carry, then invoked the Rune of Unbinding. Such a wound it was that anything but a creature so great would have died instantly. This thing merely withdrew into the deepest depths of the mountain, near its fiery heart. It must have brooded down there for many years, recovering its strength, for now it has returned. As it prophesied."

"Prophesied?"

"Even as it disappeared, it told us it would return to be our doom. It told the king that one day it would return and tear out his heart with its claws and devour it before his still-living eyes, and he told Thangrim that this was his doom. And all of us who heard it believed this prophesy, for there was a flat truth in its voice."

"It was a daemon," Felix said softly. "Daemons have been known to lie."

"Aye, but this one gloated as it spoke and we knew that it intended to work our ruin in its own time and way. Some of the warriors even suspect that this is why we have been allowed to survive for so long. And our Runesmith Valek also spoke a prophesy before he died. He told us to fear not, for his axe also would return to us when the Last Days came. Many of us wondered about this prophesy, for how could the axe return to us when it was destined to remain hidden in our fortresses. Then the king's son took the axe and we thought it lost. And lo, you have returned it to us but a score of days after the Terror returned."

He looked meaningfully at Gotrek's axe. "You can see why your coming has disturbed the king."

"How did Valek invoke this Rune of Unbinding?" Gotrek asked.

"I know not. He was a runesmith and knew many secrets. I only know that he summoned its power and it killed him, consuming his life even as it banished the daemon. The axe you bear is old and potent beyond all reckoning. It passed from runesmith to runesmith from the most ancient times. Its full history was passed only from bearer to bearer, but with Valek's death the tale was lost. His son and apprentice fell before him in that final battle. The king's son, Morekai, took it from the runesmith's smouldering corpse and bore it away with him when he tried to cross the Wastes."

"Then without the Rune of Unbinding this creature cannot be beaten?" Felix asked.

"Who can say. That weapon is potent indeed even without the Rune of Unbinding. Perhaps in the hands of a warrior sufficiently strong…"

"Describe this daemon," Gotrek said.

Hargrim leaned forward drunkenly and rested his chin on his fist. For a moment he smiled a smile empty of all humour. Then he sank into reverie and gazed off into the distance, as if looking once more on a sight he would rather not see."

"Huge it was," he said eventually. "More than twice the height of a tall man. Vast were its wings. Vast and bat-like, and when it unfurled them there was a crack like thunder. In one hand it bore a terrible whip. In the other an axe emblazoned with evil and eldritch runes that hurt the eye to look upon. Its eyes burned with infernal fire. Horns crowned its bestial head. On its brow was the mark of the Blood God."

As Hargrim spoke, a silence and a chill spread across the chamber. Felix began to have a terrible suspicion that he knew what the dwarf was describing. It was a creature that was hinted at in the old books he had read about the time of Chaos. It was indeed a creature worthy to be known as the Terror.

"A Blutdrengrik," said Gotrek quietly.

"The Bane of Grung," Varek mumbled, tugging nervously at his beard.

"A Bloodthirster of Khorne," Felix whispered, and felt the cold hand of fear touch his spine. He had just named the deadliest, most violent and implacable creature ever to emerge from the nethermost pits of Hell. A daemon second only to the Dark God it served in its mythical powers of destruction. A being which even the mightiest would fear to face.

"Let's go and kill it" said Snorri.

"Let's have another drink first," Felix said, hoping to dissuade the Slayers from this foolish quest for as long as possible.

Felix awoke with that same feeling of disorientation which he had become quite familiar with over the years. He was in a strange place, looking at a strange ceiling and he felt somewhat nauseous. It took him a few moments to get his rebellious mind and stomach under control and to work out where he was. When he managed to do so, he wished he had not.