Collections THE REALMGATE WARS: VOLUME 1 Various authors Contains the novels The Gates of Azyr, War Storm, Ghal Maraz, Hammers of Sigmar, Wardens of the Everqueen and Black Rift THE REALMGATE WARS: VOLUME 2 Various authors Contains the novels Call of Archaon, Warbeast, Fury of Gork, Bladestorm, Mortarch of Night and Lord of Undeath LEGENDS OF THE AGE OF SIGMAR Various authors RULERS OF THE DEAD Josh Reynolds & David Annandale Contains the novels Neferata: Mortarch of Blood and Nagash: The Undying King WARCRY Various authors An anthology of short stories CHAMPIONS OF THE MORTAL REALMS Various Authors Contains the novellas Warqueen, The Red Hours, Heart of Winter and The Bone Desert TRIALS OF THE MORTAL REALMS Various authors Contains the novellas Code of the Skies, The Measure of Iron and Thieves’ Paradise Coming soon GODS & MORTALS Various authors An anthology of short stories MYTHS & REVENANTS Various authors An anthology of short stories OATHS & CONQUESTS Various Authors An anthology of short stories SACROSANCT & OTHER STORIES Various authors An anthology of short stories DIRECHASM Various authors An anthology of short stories THUNDERSTRIKE & OTHER STORIES Various authors An anthology of short stories Novels • HALLOWED KNIGHTS • Josh Reynolds Book One: PLAGUE GARDEN Book Two: BLACK PYRAMID • GOTREK GURNISSON • Darius Hinks Book One: GHOULSLAYER Book Two: GITSLAYER • KHARADRON OVERLORDS • C L Werner Book One: OVERLORDS OF THE IRON DRAGON Book Two: PROFIT’S RUIN EIGHT LAMENTATIONS: SPEAR OF SHADOWS Josh Reynolds SOUL WARS Josh Reynolds CALLIS & TOLL: THE SILVER SHARD Nick Horth THE TAINTED HEART C L Werner SHADESPIRE: THE MIRRORED CITY Josh Reynolds BLACKTALON: FIRST MARK Andy Clark HAMILCAR: CHAMPION OF THE GODS David Guymer SCOURGE OF FATE Robbie MacNiven THE RED FEAST Gav Thorpe GLOOMSPITE Andy Clark BEASTGRAVE C L Werner NEFERATA: THE DOMINION OF BONES David Annandale THE COURT OF THE BLIND KING David Guymer LADY OF SORROWS C L Werner REALM-LORDS Dale Lucas WARCRY CATACOMBS: BLOOD OF THE EVERCHOSEN Richard Strachan COVENS OF BLOOD Anna Stephens, Liane Merciel and Jamie Crisalli STORMVAULT Andy Clark THE END OF ENLIGHTENMENT Richard Strachan CURSED CITY C L Werner A DYNASTY OF MONSTERS David Annandale Novellas CITY OF SECRETS Nick Horth BONEREAPERS David Guymer Audio Dramas • REALMSLAYER: A GOTREK GURNISSON SERIES • David Guymer Boxed Set One: REALMSLAYER Boxed Set Two: BLOOD OF THE OLD WORLD THE BEASTS OF CARTHA David Guymer FIST OF MORK, FIST OF GORK David Guymer GREAT RED David Guymer ONLY THE FAITHFUL David Guymer THE PRISONER OF THE BLACK SUN Josh Reynolds SANDS OF BLOOD Josh Reynolds THE LORDS OF HELSTONE Josh Reynolds THE BRIDGE OF SEVEN SORROWS Josh Reynolds WAR-CLAW Josh Reynolds SHADESPIRE: THE DARKNESS IN THE GLASS Various authors THE IMPRECATIONS OF DAEMONS Nick Kyme THE PALACE OF MEMORY AND OTHER STORIES Various authors SONS OF BEHEMAT Graeme Lyon HEIRS OF GRIMNIR David Guymer CONTENTS Cover Backlist Title Page Warhammer Age of Sigmar Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Epilogue About the Author An Extract from ‘Thunderstrike & Other Stories’ A Black Library Publication eBook license The Mortal Realms have been despoiled. Ravaged by the followers of the Chaos Gods, they stand on the brink of utter destruction. The fortress-cities of Sigmar are islands of light in a sea of darkness. Constantly besieged, their walls are assailed by maniacal hordes and monstrous beasts. The bones of good men are littered thick outside the gates. These bulwarks of Order are embattled within as well as without, for the lure of Chaos beguiles the citizens with promises of power. Still the champions of Order fight on. At the break of dawn, the Crusader’s Bell rings and a new expedition departs. Storm-forged knights march shoulder to shoulder with resolute militia, stoic duardin and slender aelves. Bedecked in the splendour of war, the Dawnbringer Crusades venture out to found civilisations anew. These grim pioneers take with them the fires of hope. Yet they go forth into a hellish wasteland. Out in the wilds, hardy colonists restore order to a crumbling world. Haunted eyes scan the horizon for tyrannical reavers as they build upon the bones of ancient empires, eking out a meagre existence from cursed soil and ice-cold seas. By their valour, the fate of the Mortal Realms will be decided. The ravening terrors that prey upon these settlers take a thousand forms. Cannibal barbarians and deranged murderers crawl from hidden lairs. Martial hosts clad in black steel march from skull- strewn castles. The savage hordes of Destruction batter the frontier towns until no stone stands atop another. In the dead of night come howling throngs of the undead, hungry to feast upon the living. Against such foes, courage is the truest defence and the most effective weapon. It is something that Sigmar’s chosen do not lack. But they are not always strong enough to prevail, and even in victory, each new battle saps their souls a little more. This is the time of turmoil. This is the era of war. This is the Age of Sigmar PROLOGUE The children had been running for several minutes before they realised they were alone. They staggered to a halt and looked back through the trees. It was dusk and every shadow seemed to be moving. They leant against each other, a boy and a girl, their chests hitching, sweat running down their faces. ‘Father?’ whispered the boy, not daring to raise his voice. The monsters were close. He could hear them tearing through the undergrowth, approaching from every direction, howling and snorting, shivering with kill fever. Their father had led them for nearly a mile, taking the old, hidden paths, promising them they would be safe, but now the monsters had found them. And there was no sign of him. ‘Father!’ repeated the boy, louder this time. The girl held a finger to her lips, her eyes glinting in the darkness. ‘They’ll find us.’ ‘We can’t go on without him!’ he snapped, gripping her hand. The girl stared at him, her eyes wide and glistening with tears. ‘Keep moving!’ gasped their father, bursting through a wall of bracken, grabbing them by the arms and hauling them up a muddy slope. ‘You’re hurt!’ cried the boy. His father’s face was grey and locked in a grimace. The side of his jerkin was dark with blood and he weaved from side to side as he ran, stumbling like a drunk. He led them into a small clearing, then halted at the top of the slope and whirled around with his bow raised and an arrow nocked. There was an explosion of branches and leaves. A monster barrelled into the clearing. An orruk. It was huge – as tall as a full-grown man but three times as wide. It was as hunched as all the other greenskins they had seen, its knuckles almost touching the ground and its shoulders bowed by scarred muscle. Its hide was as green as the forest, it had a jaw like a bucket and its eyes were crimson studs. At the sight of its prey it roared, preparing to hurl the spear it was gripping. Then it grunted in confusion, an arrow jutting from its eye socket. The greenskin let out another cry and prepared to hurl its spear again. There was a thunk as an arrow sank into its other eye and the creature finally fell to the ground. ‘Go,’ snapped the man, lowering his bow and shoving his children down the other side of the slope. The three of them sprinted down the path, vaulting fallen trees and leaping over roots. ‘Mother?’ said the boy. The man refused to look at him. ‘Which way?’ gasped the boy, reaching a fork in the path. They could hear greenskins everywhere, howling and blowing on their harsh, braying horns. Their father looked left and right, then sprinted down the right-hand path, snatching a pair of hand axes from his belt as he ran, scouring the trees for signs of another attacker. The woods were dangerous even before the greenskins came. Every glade hid a predator. ‘Almost there,’ wheezed their father, his face growing paler by the minute. ‘Almost where?’ The boy was hanging on to his arm as they ran. ‘We can’t outrun them. Where are you taking us?’ The man led his children up another slope and then they emerged from the trees, with the valley spread out below. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fields of waving grass led down to the fast-flowing waters of a river. Corpses were scattered through the grass, their limbs wrenched into unnatural shapes, broken and butchered by the greenskins. They stared at the bodies. Fellow hunters. People they knew. Friends and relatives. The man whispered a curse. Then he nodded towards a bridge and ran on, charging down the starlit slope as his children scrambled after him, numb with grief, trying to ignore the carnage around them. Howls boomed from the hillside as greenskins emerged from the trees. The boy glanced back. There were dozens, perhaps hundreds of them loping into view, all massive and brutish, all brandishing weapons. Some of them were still wet with blood from the attack on the village.