After The Rabbit (Waldo Rabbit Series)

by Chereta, Nelson

  Most of them had to be long dead for they were mere skeletons. Perhaps one in five was a walking corpse. They carried no weapons. There was no order to them, no line of battle, they were just a mindless crowd following behind the lich. It was a hot summer’s day and each small breeze filled the air with rot. Every breath was nothing but the over powering scent of corruption. Theos was familiar with it, it was the aftermath of battle, when bodies had been left out to rot for days after a battle. Either because you didn’t have enough hands to bury them, or you didn’t care to. Even to a veteran like him this sickening pall was almost too much. He only kept from bending over and tossing up everything he had in his belly. Up and down the battlements he saw many of his men doing just that. Even many of the men lined up behind the gate started throwing up.

  Theos deliberately ignored it. He couldn’t blame them, and calling attention to it would only shame them needlessly. If the smells wasn’t bad enough just the sight might unnerve a man. He’d heard the stories about undead since he was a child. Growing up so close to Alteroth he had always heard tales about the black wizards and their disgusting practices. He had never actually seen one until now though. Watching the dead shuffle along below him was truly sickening. These had been people! His people! They had either been murdered or brought back from their rest. This was an abomination in the eyes of gods and man. If Waldo and the other whites were truly behind this then they were every bit as foul as the darks.

  What Theos knew about the undead came from the stories. They were slow moving, but would never tire or need rest. They existed to kill all living folk and knew no pain or fear. The only way to stop them was to smash in their skulls or burn them up. The dead would keep coming until they were destroyed or until they’d killed every living person in sight. Luckily the stories all agreed that the dead could not climb walls or cross running water.

  When they stopped coming out of the wood Theos estimated their number at five or six thousand, a good sized army. The lich came to a halt well outside of bow range. The other undead halted when they neared it. None would go past that point. The undead kept shuffling ahead until they were packed in tight, one great mass of corpses standing behind their master.

  Theos could see his men pointing talking to one another. Many drew circles over their hearts to ward off this evil. They huddled together and stared out into the field. He could hear their murmurs, the tone if not the words were clear to him.

  “Steady men! There’s nothing to fear!” He called out in a loud clear voice. “We’ll wipe out these foul things, never doubt it. Stand to and be ready to fight.”

  His words appeared to have the desired effect. The archers got back into their lines. For a leader half the job was making sure the men kept their heads. That was a challenge in a regular battle. Facing these monstrosities it was even more important.

  That was when the black robed creature began to walk forward alone. Where all of the others shuffled and staggered, it alone walked like a man, with steady, certain purpose. The sight sent a chill right through his guts. Theos was sure he was not the only one who felt that.

  “Arrogant.” The duke muttered under his breath. Liches were frightening creatures because they were a combination of undead and black wizard. They were terrifying because they could use all sorts of unnatural magics. His men had grown up with the same stories he had.

  “If it wants to come stand beneath our walls we’ll give it a proper welcome. Archers, light!”

  Up and down the wall sergeants repeated the command. By each squadron of archers there was a lit torch. The men placed the tips of prepared arrows into the flame where they caught.

  “Knock!”

  The order was again repeated by a series of voices. The men placed their arrows against string.

  “Draw!”

  As one they pulled back on the strings and lifted their bows into the air.

  Theos watched the lich stride into range and continue forward at a steady pace.

  “Hold!” He wanted the lich closer.

  It continued to walk towards them.

  “Hold!”

  He guessed it was within two hundred and fifty yards. Then two hundred and forty, thirty, twenty, ten.

  At two hundred it was in easy range.

  “Loose!” The duke cried out.

  Loose! Loose! The call went out up and down the rampart. Twangs reverberated as hundreds of draw strings were released. The air filled with flame arrows arcing up into the sky, to rain down all around the lich.

  XXX

  Lucius Corpselover had heard the lord’s orders as he’d approached. Seeing all the flame arrows came as anything but a surprise. He came to a stop and watched as they fell. The ones that came nearest struck his barrier spell and bounced away.

  Did those savages actually think their arrows could touch me?

  The arrows that were knocked away and the ones that had struck further out began setting the grass on fire. With wand in hand he cast a simple spell. “Velar est akua.” A thick mist formed over the ground and quickly smothered the flames.

  “You barbarians have no concept of what magic can do.”

  Lucius continued walking until he was within just thirty yards of the gate. Despite his poor vision he was sure there were wide eyes and gaping mouths on many of the faces above him. No more arrows rained down. The liege lord seemed uncertain.

  He was near enough to be easily heard. “I have no interest at all in your city.”

  “Then why have you come here?” Their leader demanded. “Why have you done all this?”

  “I have come here for Waldo of the white robes and his familiars. Send them out to me and I will spare your city. All of you can live.”

  “So it’s true then? Waldo really was behind you and all your vile crimes?”

  “Yes, he is the cause. I am here because of him. Now send him out to me.”

  “You’re too late! Your master has already fled. My men have searched everywhere within Norwich and found no trace of him.”

  “You think Waldo is my master?” Lucius began to laugh. If he’d still had eyes they would have watered. “What sort of lies has that boy been spreading?”

  “He never admitted to anything, I pieced together the truth.”

  These people truly are idiots. “Well, whatever you believe makes no difference. Are Waldo and his familiars truly gone?”

  “Yes, there has been no sign of them for two days. The coward ran away as soon as I told him we would ride out to face you.”

  “Then the boy has a good sense of survival.” Lucius tapped his wand into his other hand. “Though his not being here is rather annoying.”

  Well now what? Lucius had hoped to draw his grandson out, but despite dressing like a White Mage the boy wasn’t stupid enough to behave like one. If Waldo had left two days ago then he needed to find the trail again as soon as possible. He had no further use for his undead minions, they were useless for tracking and would only slow him down. With Waldo gone the city meant nothing. Which was almost a shame since the walls were not warded and so completely vulnerable to magical attack.

  He gave a shrug of his bony shoulder. “Oh why not? I am already here.” Lucius held out his wand. “Ossum paros lutum.”

  To the right of the gate the base of the wall was transformed from grey stone to ordinary dirt. There was an ominous cracking, followed by about a hundred yard stretch of the wall come tumbling down. Mixed in were some funny screams from the soldiers manning that section.

  Lucius turned around and began walking away. He sent out some mana to give orders to his servants. “Enter the city and kill every living thing.”

  As one the undead began to stumble forward to obey. They parted to allow him to pass through as they continued on toward the breech in the wall. Behind him Lucius could hear the liege lord and others shouting out orders to try and rally their troops. There was no chance they would keep his servants out entirely, but they might defeat them in the end. Undead actually didn
’t make very good combat troops, especially when they were left unsupervised. Depending on whether the defenders broke or not the city might survive.

  Lucius didn’t care though. Tracking down Waldo was his only concern.

  Chapter 27

  The Third Familiar

  They found a road in the marsh. It was a simple dirt trail that just suddenly began in the middle of nowhere and ran in the direction of their goal. Waldo assumed it had to be a remnant from the attempt to fortify this place. After all, what good was a fortress if you could not supply it? Now that they had solid footing he was actually the one out in front leading the others. Alice was at his side with Gronk and the thief trailing after. He was so excited he could hardly wait. To his eyes a reddish light blazed out ahead of him, perhaps just half a mile away now. It was every bit as bright as what had come from Alice or Gronk. There could be no doubt at all this was his third familiar. Once it belonged to him a part of his quest would be completed, and he would be in excellent position to deal with the rest.

  What would it do for his reputation back home when they learned he had THREE Great Monsters as familiars? It was very rare for even the heads of families to contract with more than one. Even his mother only kept Enver at her side. Without a doubt people would start thinking he was amazing. Once they found out of course… that wouldn’t happen until his return. Until then they would continue to think of him as a fool, if they bothered to think of him at all.

  Just a couple days ago, as they’d been stumbling about blindly in the sewer, he’d seen himself as a failure. Now though, everything was on track. He was staring at all of that lovely, reddish light up ahead. His mind was swirling with ideas about what to do once he had all three Great Monster familiars with him. Who knew? Maybe he’d even get the contract right this time. With such powerful monsters serving him defeating a knight would be no problem at all. The next big challenge would be tracking down a dragon’s lair where he could try and steal an egg. That would be difficult enough as dragons were resistant to most magics and impossible to scry on. Their lairs were always well hidden and near impossible to find.

  And even getting that far would be the easy part. Dragons were creatures of almost godlike power and ferocity. Whatever the stories said a single hero or handful of heroes could not possibly fight a full grown dragon. Well, they could fight, there just wasn’t any chance they could win. To have any real hope required an entire army, with thousands of soldiers and at least a dozen mages or more. Even then victory was not certain, and if you won it would likely cost you half your forces or more. If he vastly improved his magical skill, if his third familiar turned out to be a giant or a blood thirsty vampire (oh Dark Powers please!) Waldo understood facing a dragon was still impossible. He would need to sneak into the lair, steal the egg, and escape without confronting the mother.

  Maybe I could acquire some slaves and use them as a distraction.

  Waldo was not even thinking about the capture of his third monster. Already having two at his side he was sure he would manage it somehow. His mind was spinning far beyond to the really hard part of his quest.

  “Darling, I want to talk to you about something.”

  Waldo was wrenched back to the present. “Yes?”

  He noticed Alice had a handful of hair and was tugging at it.

  “You… you know even though we argue sometimes and I get angry, I am still very happy to be your wife. There is no one else in the world I would rather be with. You are my ideal husband.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  She immediately stopped tugging at her hair and he felt annoyance through their bond. He didn’t understand the reaction since he was agreeing with her.

  “That’s how you see me too isn’t it darling? I mean you see me as your beloved wife not as your familiar. Right?”

  Waldo nodded. “I do see you as a wife.”

  He saw her hesitate and take a deep breath. “I love you.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  She stopped walking.

  Waldo was forced to stop as well.

  “Is that really all you have to say?”

  He paused. “Thank you?”

  That was evidently the wrong answer as Alice planted her hands on her hips and sent him a look he was all too familiar with.

  “What was I supposed to say?”

  “Nothing! It’s not like I wanted to hear you tell me that you love me too.”

  "Fine, I love you too."

  Alice started tapping her foot.

  "What?"

  "You don't mean it, you're only saying it because I told you to."

  "Well obviously, now can we get back to finding my third familiar?"

  "Do you care more about finding this monster than you do about my feelings?"

  "Yes."

  She blinked and he could feel surprise through the bond.

  “How can you say that?”

  “Simple. You’re always upset with me for one reason or another. In any case I already have you, so obviously my priority is getting this last monster.”

  Her eyes narrowed and for a moment he was absolutely sure he was about to be kicked. Alice then started walking back down the road, her back and arms as rigid as a piece of iron.

  “Master.”

  Waldo turned to see Gronk standing there.

  “What?”

  The ogre stuck one finger at him and poked the air. “Badger!”

  “Right.”

  XXX

  The road ended before a stone archway. It might have been a gate once. There were sections of wall still standing, and the base of what was perhaps an archers’ tower. Other than that there were just piles and piles of stone blocks, most of the ground was covered in them.

  There were also bones… lots and lots of bones. From the skulls Waldo could tell most of them were goblin, though there were a few human ones mixed in as well. They were scattered everywhere, the remains of hundreds of creatures.

  “Fuck me,” Cleptus muttered. “Was there a battle here? Is that why it was abandoned? The stories don’t say anything about that.”

  Waldo casually picked up a thigh bone and examined it. There were teeth marks on it.

  “This has nothing to do with battle.” Waldo tossed the bone aside. “My new familiar is just a messy eater.”

  “It ate all these things?!”

  “Yes. Isn’t it marvelous?”

  Cleptus gaped. “You’re happy about this?”

  “Naturally, why wouldn’t I be? My last familiar is a predator with a taste for goblin and human flesh. What master wouldn’t be happy about that?”

  Shaking his head Cleptus started walking back down the road the way they had come.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Away from whatever it is that did all this.”

  “If I die you will only live one more day you know.”

  “That’s still longer than I expect if I stay. If you survive just come collect me.”

  “You’re a coward!” Alice snapped.

  He stopped, turned around, and gave her a bow. “I prefer to think of it as being sane.” He continued to walk away.

  “Want me to drag him back Master?”

  “No, it’s fine, I want him for his thieving skills not for his fighting. I was always depending on the two of you to capture this monster for me. Speaking of which, I want you to try and be as gentle as possible. This monster will be joining us after all, so try and do as little harm as you can.”

  Alice glanced about at the bones. “Right, gentle.”

  “You may as well transform now.”

  Alice did so, taking on her true form.

  Gronk cracked his knuckles. “Don’t worry Master, I won’t be too rough.”

  Waldo took out his wand. “Great Monsters who are in the wild are notoriously hard to capture. I expect it to resist pretty fiercely. I can’t think of anything more dangerous than a feral beast fighting with all its strength to remain free. Subduing it will def
initely put both your lives at risk. Just keep in mind that no matter how dangerous and brutal things may get I want you both to be careful not to hurt my new familiar any more than necessary.”

  Alice rolled her eyes. “I am so glad to hear how worried you are about this other monster’s safety.”

  “Well I’ve learned to be more thoughtful.” He began walking towards the archway.

  Despite a look of annoyance Alice followed on his heels, so did Gronk.

  Past the arch there were only more blocks of stone and gnawed bones. On this side the stones were not only all over the ground but in several large piles. The biggest was the size of a small hill. Waldo pointed at one of the lesser piles. Without a word both Gronk and Alice slid past him and got between their master and where the monster was still hidden.