"Welcome to the realm of the undead. That’s the main city ahead,” Padwin said.
The party watched with awe as undead flew all around. They followed the signs, which were written in very archaic language pointing them towards the north where the lich ruled over the city. They followed the road towards the twinkling lights and the gates of the city. Two undead soldiers stepped forward, blocking their path. Tarka growled. "Let us through you little shits!” she cried out.
She looked about ready to fight, but then, Padwin put his hands up, stopping her. ‘I'm bringing these people to see the lich, King Trafalgar. May we request an audience with him?
The soldiers stared at Padwin for a moment, and, as if they recognized him, they parted, allowing the party to step through the gate. When they did so, Tarka looked at Padwin with a glance.
"How do they know you?”
"I've been here a few times with Larkin,” he explained.
Tarka grimaced, but then they arrived at the throne room of the lich. A large skeletal creature stood there, studying the party with a strange gaze.
"You’re not dead,” he said.
"No. We need your help,” Cleave stated.
"What could I do for mere humans? What is it you need?”
The party tried to figure out what to say, but then Padwin spoke. "These travelers need the spell that will stop the undead from being controlled by others. They have been struggling with a group of nasty elves who are controlling the undead and wreaking havoc on the forest people. It’s been quite a mess,” Padwin said.
The creature looked at Padwin, and then he smiled. "I see. Well, I don’t know why they’re attacking your people, but I can help.”
"Please, we’ve been dealing with them for a long time. They’ve just about destroyed the forest,"Laryhalla said.
"I see. Well, I can give you a spell to release the undead from being under the control of the others, if that works,” he said.
The party sighed in relief, but then, Trafalgar spoke.
"For a price of course.”
They tensed. Then, Cleave stepped forward, looking at him. "What kind of price?”
"Well, I'd be interested in helping you in exchange for building a better relationship with the forest people and others too. I do believe the forest people have a lot to offer, and I think my powers here as a lich could help as well,” he said.
They looked at one another. It seemed to be a rightful sort of action. Then, after a bit, Cleave spoke. "That’s fine. We just need the spell.”
"Good, good. I trust that you’ll be able to spread the word to others then?” the lich said.
They nodded.
"Good. Then here it is. Give me your best mage, if you would.”
Laryhalla stepped forward. The lich touched her hand, a deadly feeling coursed through her body.
"What the--”
"Relax. It’s just a spell,” he said.
She then started to feel the power dissipate. The lich moved towards the entrance, motioning for them to leave. "Go. And I won’t forget this,” he said.
The party turned and left the palace of the lich. As quickly as they could, the made their way through the City of the Undead and back to the mausoleum. Padwin was very quiet the entire time, which irked Cleave. "You know him, don’t you?”
"Perhaps I've done business with the lich king in the past. He and I do know of each other, but right now, the goal for us is to actually go see the undead, and from there, implement the spell,” he explained.
The party crossed back over to a patch of the forest where the undead were. Laryhalla watched as they were milling about, and as they were about to attack, she stepped forward. "Come, darkness rising, stop these spirits from getting rowdy and causing trouble. Get them to fall under control and give them sentient thought!”
As she uttered those words, there was a giant pool of light. It immediately hit every single undead. As the light hit them, they changed. Instead of milling about waiting for direction from some outside source, they started to group together into formation. They turned towards the party, and that’s when Cleave noticed something.
"They’re not just attacking willy-nilly, they have freedom of thought. It seems like we broke the spell of the necromancers!” he said.
"Not quite,” Tarka said.
The skeletons were working under their own sentient thought, but the skeletons weren’t going after anyone but them. They moved forward, and soon, they were in a fight against the undead. Hordes of them started to attack, and as they continued to fight back, Tarka glared at Padwin. "What the hell is going on?” she said.
"I thought this would release the spirits and the bones would fall to the ground with no one to animate them, but it seems like they’re alive once again, and under their own control!” he said.
"Well, what the hell do we do now?” she said.
Padwin got a cocky look on his face and shrugged. Tarka slugged him.
"What the hell was that for?” he said.
"For being such an indecisive little shit!” she stated.
The undead soon came forward, each of them attacking, and Tarka moved her body about, slicing them up. Padwin stepped back, but then Cleave glared at him, annoyance on his face.
"What can we do?” he said.
"Send me out, and I'll get Larkin to send soldiers to help you in the attack if that works," he said.
The party hesitated. Could this really work? Could Padwin be trusted? Then, Cleave shrugged. "It’s the only way” he said.
The party then realized that they’d have to let Padwin go. Tarka grimaced but undid the bindings.
"Get us help,” she said.
"Will do.”
As he left, Laryhalla stepped behind them, muttering an incantation that seemed to do something. From there, a whole bunch of glowing motions appeared, and as they trailed behind Padwin, she smiled. "There we go,” she stated.
"What was that?” Cleave asked.
"A spell to watch what he’s doing. I don’t trust him.”
The party was on their own while they waited for Padwin to return with reinforcements. The undead seemed to be fighting for their own control of the forest. As the fight neared the Fey Wilder guild once again, Cleave and his party noticed many of the forest creatures were in their own fight against the undead.
"We have to help them!” Cleave said. He got his sword out. Tarka moved into the shadows, taking out some of the undead as she slipped into the forest. Since they had been set free from the necromancers and reanimated, they were easier to take down. Berryl slipped behind them and took out several more. Cleave and Krug noticed the skeletons were going down more quickly too. Laryhalla threw beams of ice at the creatures, while keeping an eye on a small scrying mirror she held. The spell she cast allowed her to get a bird’s eye view of Padwin.
He was rushing to what looked like the west. Padwin was moving quickly for a man in Plate, probably due to some other magic he had on him. It wasn’t long before he reached a large group of tents in the forest. When he got there, he was talking with someone she couldn’t make out, a tall figure in red robes. When he told them whatever it was, Laryhalla noticed a small smile on the robed figure’s face. "That’s strange," she said to herself, throwing a beam of ice at one of the undead, stopping it in its tracks as Cleave took him down.
"What did you see?”
"Come here.”
Cleave moved towards her and started watching the mirror. "That’s Larkin, at least it matches the description I was given,” he said.
"The leader?”
"Yeah. I don't trust them, but let’s see what happens. I thought he had left Larkin and was working on his own accord, so what gives,” he said to her.
“Maybe he’s just using Larkin so that they can help us, and after that they’ll disengage,” she explained.
He wanted to believe that. He truly did, but there was something so off about what he had just seen. He wanted to think it was just a temporary agreement
between Padwin and Larkin, but something deep within his heart told him otherwise. He didn’t have time to worry too much about what was going on between Padwin and Larkin though. A sword nearly cut him through the middle as he stepped back. He quickly drew up his own sword, rejoining the fight until Padwin showed up with reinforcements from the Crystal Kingdom.
The fight raged on. The undead were disposed of easily enough, but their numbers were many, and it was soon obvious that there wasn’t much of a chance of winning against the hordes of creatures. After a little bit, they finally retreated.
"There is no way we can win," Cleave said.
Suddenly, they heard a loud battle cry coming from a group of soldiers who were rushing to attack. The group from Crimson Kingdom wearing their typical red armor take a position on a hill. A horn was blown and the soldiers rushed into the undead lines. The party watched as the soldiers mowed through the ranks of the undead. They continued the onslaught, taking out each and every skeleton and zombie. Cleave was able to take out a few that got close to him, but for the most part, he was just watching the battle unfold with shock on his face and a look of amazement in his eyes. "Wow," he said to them.
He watched as the expert soldiers stabbed each of the undead. The undead weren’t able to heal, and every single stab caused them to cry out in pain. One by one they fell.
"Yeah, take that!” the soldiers said as they continued to slay the creatures. The party watched, shocked by this. Even Tarka was too shocked for words.
"Did they really just...take every single creature down?” Laryhalla said.
"Seems so," Cleave muttered, watching with surprise as the creatures were decimated by every single move of the soldiers. They saw Padwin over in the distance, and as they drew closer, he turned to them, smiling in excitement.
"See the difference we’re making?” he said.
"Yeah, quite the difference," Cleave said, rolling his eyes.
"Trust me on this, we’re about to make magic happen! I think it’s safe to say that this will get rid of the problem once and for all. By the way, Larkin told me to invite all of you to our place in the Crimson Kingdom. He said that, as thanks for all of your hard work, he has something for you. He also wants to inform you of the preparations that we’ll be making,” he stated.
"Preparations? What preparations? I thought you were helping us take down the undead, so the woodland creatures didn’t have to fight them! You said you were working alone and no longer Larkin’s puppet. What are you preparing for” Tarka asked.
He simply smiled, walking away. "Come to the kingdom in three day’s time. You're invited to a royal event there," he said.
The party watched as he slithered away, confusion present on their faces.
"I really don’t like the sound of this,” Laryhalla said.
"I don’t either," Tarka admitted, shuddering at the sensation of foreboding that overtook her.
"We should be careful," Cleave muttered, his body feeling a bit on edge as well.
The soldiers started to clear out the rest of the forest, and Laryhalla noticed that life seemed to be returning to the forest, but something still felt off. "I feel like this isn’t the end game of the Crimson Kingdom. Something’s up, and whatever they have planned...I don’t like it,” she told them.
"I don’t either, but let’s not jump to conclusions too fast," Cleave stated. “We’ll get our answers in three days.”
They may get their answers in three days, but Cleave still wondered why Larkin was inviting them out like this. Was it because he had other plans to reveal? Was it because he really just wanted to help the Crimson Kingdom and the inhabitants of the forest create a better relationship? He knew that whatever was going down would have huge implications on future issues. He had no idea just what might happen next or in what direction this would lead his small group of adventurers.
The group decided to head back to where the Fey Wilder was temporarily headquartered. Bitterroot and Lurupine were there, and when they saw the party, they smiled in relief.
"You’re all safe!” Bitterroot said.
"Yeah, as safe as we can be for now,” Cleave said.
"We’re really glad that you’re okay. Apparently, there has been a lot of new issues that have arisen in the forest, issues that we’re going to have to resolve,” Bitterroot said.
"What do you mean?” Cleave inquired.
"Well, we noticed that the forest has been more peaceful since the undead have been destroyed, but then early this morning we noticed some work going on here. We heard the sounds of trees falling, and we fear it may have something to do with all that has transpired,” Bitterroot admitted.
The party looked at one another, all of them realizing that they were about to be introduced to yet another issue they would have to deal with..
"This doesn’t sound good," Cleave said.
"Not at all. Do you know anything else?”
"No. just that there have been trees falling, and we have a bad feeling about it,” Bitterroot explained.
"You’re not alone. I've got one too," Cleave admitted.
The party needed to find out what was happening. The Crimson Kingdom had helped them out with their former trouble, but now they were finding themselves in a new kind of trouble. Cleave was pretty sure that the Crimson Kingdom was directly responsible for the happenings in the forest. Cleave’s body felt heavy, and he was overcome with exhaustion. When he turned to Tarka, he could see she looked weary too. They needed some sleep before dealing with this new problem.
Once they got to their rooms, Cleave sat down and sighed.
"You okay?” Tarka asked.
“I don’t know. I feel like...we made a big mistake,” he said.
"We don’t know if we did Cleave. The truth is that there is a lot that could happen next. But we managed to stop the undead from taking over the forest and stop the blight. We’ve protected the characters here," she admitted.
"I don’t think it’s just that though, Tarka. I think the whole protecting the forest from the undead was just the beginning of whatever was about to happen next. I don't know what it is, or even what it means for us, but I'm just...I'm worried, that’s all,” he said.
Tarka pulled him into her lap, stroking his hair. "It’s okay. I know that you have a lot on your mind. But we’ll make it. We’ll be okay. Trust me,” she said.
"Thank you, Tarka. I...I don’t know what I'd do without you.”
"I don’t know either, you nerd,” she said, lightly elbowing him.
The duo smiled at one another. Tarka grabbed his hands and squeezed them. "I get that you’re worried. I am too. We’ll figure this out though. We’ll do what we have to do to save everyone in the end. The campaign will be over soon , I’m sure; but I think there is danger still ahead,” she said.
"I think so too,” he admitted.
“We did what we had to do to save the forest. We had to accept the help the Crimson Kingdom offered. Now we’ll see for ourselves the price we have to pay for working with the enemy,” she told him. “It is what it is. There’s no sense in losing sleep over it.”
He looked at her, smiling warmly. "Thank you,” he replied.
"You're welcome.”
They spent the rest of the night in one another’s arms, sheltered from the troubles they knew were waiting for them. Tomorrow would reveal the answers to their questions, whether they liked it or not.
TWENTY-FOUR
The day of the meeting was nigh, and the invitation to the Crimson Kingdom certainly set most of the party on edge. Tarka was grimacing, and Laryhalla was watching the forest with concern on her face. "They’re still not fully alive. I feel some of the forest still dying,” she said.
"Is it because of the undead?”
"No. something else is choking them out,” she said.
"How is the guild doing?”
"I don’t really know. What I do know is that the elves are having trouble navigating through the area. Guards are set up everywher
e. Whatever the Crimson Kingdom is planning, I don’t like it,” she said.
He nodded, listening to her. "Well, we should take our time, be mindful and ready, and go from there,” he stated.
"Yeah. I guess so,” she told him.
The two of them looked at one another, both of them smiling, and Cleave felt his body relax as he looked at Laryhalla. The elf was someone he had grown to trust, and he knew that despite the odds, he would at least have her and Tarka.
The road to the Crimson Kingdom wasn’t long, but Cleave felt as if it took hours. When the party finally arrived, a group of soldiers greeted them with open arms. "Welcome!” the soldiers said, ushering the group towards the main building where the event was to be held.
The Tainted Wood Page 20
