“What the damn hell happened here?” Ruan was perplexed.
“I don’t know it yet, prefect, but I believe we will find the answer soon,” Father Delgron was examining the corpses. “At first sight, I would say that a group of skilled swordsmen murdered the workers and the soldiers, but there is something odd here,” he said as he picked up a spear from the ground. “I can see pieces of flesh on this one. What’s more, they are rotten.” He smelled it.
“What do you mean by this, Father?” I asked.
“That we are facing a greater menace than we would think. That’s why…”
My sharp hearing warned me in time again, I noticed the sound of shuffling feet and rattling noises coming from different directions.
“Silence! I can hear noises coming from the entrance. Some are approaching!” I interrupted the father.
“Soldiers, take a battle position, raise the spears, lift the shields!” Hrindel yelled at the people while he was getting ready beside me to face whoever was coming.
We threw a few torches to the entrances to gain a better look of the ones approaching in the dim light. A few seconds later, the rattling and the shuffling shoes became clearly audible, even for the humans. The unpleasant whiff of decay got to our nose and many started coughing from the terrible smell.
“What can these be, your lordship?” Hrindel asked beside me.
“I don’t know, but I have a really bad feeling.” My senses were pulsating in my head. The menace that was approaching was truly real.
The first creatures emerged from behind the torchlight. They were at least seven feet high and none of them were shorter than six feet. Their skin that used to be pale yellowish was now dried to the bones that penetrated from under their ragged clothes and hardened leather armor. Their flesh had mostly been eaten by worms, they were gripping on maces and sabers of arched blades. Mystical blue light was flaming in the darkness of their eye-pits. Their skin partly peeled off, their eye-teeth came out of their thick chin since their lips had already rotten off. I assumed they must have been orc warriors in their lives. Fear, like a treacherous breeze, pierced into the hearts of those standing around me.
“Bloody hell, these are living dead!” Father Delgron shouted.
I have only encountered these creatures once and had no pleasant memories of them, luckily I didn’t have to fight them that time. These don’t speak, there is only one thing they are good at but they are great at that – murder. The soldiers shot a series of quarrels at them, not causing any major damage to them. They attacked us, rattling and using their weapons with incredible force. The shields of our soldiers were bashed in with a metallic clinking voice where they were hit. The servant of Ilthor was encouraging them from behind the hedge and he offered a keen prayer to ask for assistance in the battle.
“Target their heads, their heads!” I heard the words of the robust priest from behind the hedge.
I started fighting one of the monsters. It dashed oat me, raising his mace above its head but I avoided it by a quick sidestep. They fought well, very much so. It felt like fighting a living creature who has no fear and knows no mercy. Its next attack slid off the blade of Bloodgusher and clacked on my steel spaulder and bashed it in. I contorted with dull pain. I gathered all my power, and blocking its mace, I swiftly cut its weapon-holding arm above the elbow. All of a sudden, it grabbed me by the throat with its other hand, reaching to me through the gap between the helmet and the cuirass. Seemingly it wasn’t bothered by the loss of its arm. Its grip was so tight that it was close to smashing my trachea. One Eyed, who was fighting valiantly beside me, was on the guard, and with a half-twist it cut off the bony arm of the living dead orc warrior. Finally, I was released of the fierce grip, I was gasping for breath. It was helpless without its arms, merely clenching its teeth. I waited no longer, following the words of the Father, I cut its head off with one sharp move. Its horrid skull rolled to the wall, its rotting body flagged and dropped on the ground. This was a close call, within a second it could have broken my neck – these creatures were in possession of horrendous power.
One Eyed started fighting two of them at the same time on my right. He averted the deadly attacks, he pushed one by the shoulder and thrust on its head with his massive sword. The skull of the orc ripped into two with a loud crack, the body still stood for a while, then dropped down as the nourishing power of dark magic had left it. The other living dead cut Hrindel’s chainmail with its saber, who screamed loudly and rolled his weapon around furiously to assail on his horrific enemy.
My soldiers held the ground gallantly but these supernatural creatures never lost their energy and seized the opportunity each time my team made a mistake. One of them lowered his defence following a smack of the mace, this proved to be an enormous mistake. The next thrust targeted his neck and he immediately passed away. We were assailed and cornered, having great difficulty to hold ground. Our fighters either dropped dead one after the other, or they suffered severe injuries. I was defending myself desperately against a robust, rotten orc when I heard Father Delgron yelling.
“Do not fear them, my brothers! The power of Ilthor will spread through your body and will steel your arms to assist you in your fight. Destroy them without mercy!”
I was overcome by a strange feeling, the fear that had been clasping my heart from the beginning had suddenly vanished. I experienced an odd inner harmony that made me feel more confident and powerful. Bloodgusher revived in my hands. So, this is how it feels when one is touched by the power of a god. I warded off the blade coming down on me and thrust my sword straight into its eye pit. My sword was blocked in its skull, I strongly pulled it and the neck vertebras were ripped apart from the spine, the head dropped from the body. The supernatural light flared up then vanished in its eye socket, the body flagged and fell down. I quickly kicked the rotten orc head from my blade. I noticed that everyone continued combat with renewed energy. Hrindel also slayed one beside me, ignoring the heavily bleeding cut on his side. Four more living dead orc warriors remained who relentlessly kept smiting soldiers down. We attacked from the side, I cut the hand of one together with its weapon, One Eyed seized the opportunity and routinely separated the rotten head from the body. The tables turned, now it was us who had an advantage over them thanks to the priestly magic.
My impeccable hearing alarmed me about a strange murmuring noise coming from one of the passages behind us. Turning back, I glanced at a hunched odd creature half our size, wearing a dark cloak and a hood, that was watching us. His pasqueflower-yellow eyes blazed at us viciously, he raised his disproportionately long arms towards us. A glaring violet flash dashed out of his fingers and hit three of my soldiers in the head. All of them dropped down unconsciously and suffered severe burns. It was only due to Father Delgron that they were not killed immediately, he stepped in front of the living dead and raised the symbol of his god, the broken shield.
“You cannot harm us, foul creatures! Sacred light protects me against you!”
The symbol he was holding started emitting harsh light and forced the creatures of the afterlife to retreat. They seemingly weren’t capable of attacking him. He was sweating heavily as he was holding onto the symbol, casting spells had worn him out. I gripped the Bloodgusher and began rushing towards the tiny creature, yelling loudly. I managed to frighten him because he turned around and fled like the wind. I could follow his steps easily in the darkness due to my superhuman eyesight and hearing. I almost managed to catch him, I raised my sword and I was about to smite him but I dashed only on his flapping cloak that was torn apart with a crackling sound. All of a sudden, I saw him climbing up the cliff with an astounding mastery and disappearing in one of the narrow air-channels that was leading up to the surface. I cursed out loud but I couldn’t do anything so I hurried back to the others with a small piece of his baize in my hand. My team had finished off the last enemy, thrusting a spear in between its eyes. We had defeated the living dead orc fighters, but we paid a high price: man
y had lost their lives and twice as many were severely injured.
“Are you alright, sir?” asked One Eyed, holding onto his side.
“I am, although my shoulder is smarting something fierce and my windpipe was nearly crushed. But thanks for intervening.”
“I am glad that nothing major happened to you, sir. Did you manage to catch that odd little creature?” He glanced at the piece of baize in my hand.
“Unfortunately, no. Although he was within reach, the little maggot got away through one of the air channels! He must have been a goblin if my eyes didn’t deceive me. “
“I am quite convinced that you were chasing a warlock, sir. They are the masters of resurrecting and controlling the dead.” Father Delgron turned to me as he was taking care of the wounded.
“What would a black magic fiend be doing in this mine? And on the territory of the Baron?” One Eyed said and raised his eyebrow in doubt.
“This is a very good question, Hrindel, but it remains unanswered before we catch him,” I slid Bloodgusher back to its scabbard. “Father, are the wounded capable of walking?”
“Some are, but some of them have grave injuries, we must take them back on a stretcher.”
“Prefect, stand up! We must scour through the whole mine to make sure there are no more living dead in the passages,” I said.
The prefect was sitting in a corner, staring ahead. He was clearly grief-stricken by what he had seen.
“What? How?” he quickly raised his head in confusion.
“We must carry on. Are you still capable of guiding us?” I asked.
“Yes, sure, sir,” he stuttered nervously as he got on his feet.
I picked up a torch from the ground and called those who were still capable of fighting to join me. We continued to check the tunnels but after half an hour of search, and thanks to Andor’s determination, we encountered no more living dead. We took the injured back to the entrance of the mine and asked for help from the villagers. They provided us with a couple of carriages to transport the wounded to the village hall where Father Delgron, joined by the local healers, could take care of them. It was stark darkness by the time we returned to the village, everyone assembled around us, impatiently expecting us to tell them what we had found. They confronted me with many questions simultaneously which quickly led to chaos.
“Where is my son?” a mother was crying out nervously.
“Is my dear husband alive?” a stout woman yelled as she stepped before me with tears in her eyes.
I hushed them all and tried to stick to the point in describing what we had seen.
“We have secured the mine thanks to the valiant actions of my warriors! The monsters were orc living dead and we slayed them all. However, we couldn’t save those who had been inside, they had all perished. A goblin warlock was controlling the creatures of the afterlife. Unfortunately, the bastard managed to flee but I promise that we will track him down. We are leaving tomorrow early in the morning!”
Some turned around sobbing at the news of losing their beloved ones. Some others cursed and called for revenge.
“I promise you that I will not rest until I see the head of the murderer impaled! I will start a hunt tomorrow. If any of you are skilled trackers, they must come to the village hall in the morning. But now, return to your homes. This is a day of mourning, bid farewell to your beloved, for tomorrow, a new day breaks. A day of revenge!”
“Long live Baron Telron! May it be so, we are with you! Death to the warlock!” the villagers shouted in rage.
How easy it was to control their emotions, one merely had to utter the proper words and they would act accordingly, just as I had expected. Most often, people rely on their emotions, especially in the matters of safety and the clinking of golden coins. This race could be convinced to hang their own mothers if you merely feed into their feelings or offer a sum of gold.
I spat on the ground. Damn it, these bloody humans had conquered the continent! Time had come to turn the wheel of fortune and bring upon chaos to their world. I didn’t need to wait much longer before our time would come to take the leading reins. Then, even their gods wouldn’t be able to save them from our vengeance. I returned to the vast village hall. This was once where the local events were organized, celebrations, weddings, gatherings. Now, it resembled more of a campsite hospital. The healers of the village and Father Delgron were bustling about the injured soldiers. One Eyed stepped beside me.
“We have six deceased, eight critical and six lightly injured.”
“I was expecting to have losses but apparently I had underestimated,” I frowned.
“How are you, my guard?”
“I will survive, sir. There are some who came off much worse. The Father is going to help me soon.”
“That’s reassuring because tomorrow I will need you at the chase. We must catch that warlock as soon as possible. How many people do we have who can still fight?”
“Barely ten, including the lightly injured.”
“Father Delgron, come here for a second!” I shouted to the hustling man.
“Please be quick, your lordship, I have much to do tonight,” he said stepping closer.
“I want the lightly injured to be able to fight tomorrow. We will have time to take care of the severely injured later on.”
“But sir, some of them might die if I don’t help them now!” He was staring at me, startled.
“It was a difficult decision to make but I have no other choice. That goblin spellcaster must be caught and I need able men for that. If we cannot pull that off tomorrow, it might be too late, he will vanish without trace. I had made a promise to the people and I am planning to keep it. I will not repeat myself. Do as I have ordered! And another thing, heal Hrindel too!”
“I must protest, sir! But... I will obey your command. I would like to retreat to my work if this is all, your lordship.” I sensed a certain cynicism in his tone but I decided to ignore it.
“Now, I will retreat to my bed, wake me at dawn,” I told Hrindel.
He silently nodded, signalling that he had taken note of it. I took off my armor and tossed myself down onto a plank bed. I must find out the reason behind his attack, and mostly, who mandated him. Today it is only thanks to Andor that I wasn’t seriously injured. I wouldn’t want to find myself in such jeopardy again.
CHAPTER NINE
The Chase
I was awaken by the loud crowing of roosters the following morning. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and everyone was slowly coming to their senses. Hrindel came to me holding a jug of water.
“I am sorry, sir, I was overcome by sleep! I didn’t wake you up in time, I promise this won’t happen again.”
“We haven’t missed anything, it is still early,” I took a sip from the fresh water. “Collect the people who are capable of fighting, we are leaving right away!” He made a bow and left.
The lightly injured had all been healed thanks to Father Delgron and the power of Ilthor. Delgron came up me.
“I trust that you will catch the warlock. However, I will not be joining you this time. The severely injured soldiers are hovering between life and death, I must save them, and this day is going to be critical. I hope that you won’t command me to leave them to their fate.” He looked at me, raising his eyebrow worriedly.
“You don’t need to come with us, Father. Stay here and take care of my soldiers. Anyways, I assume that we will pass through rough territory, the forced march might not do you any good.” I took a dig at him, insinuating that his weight imposed limits on him.
“We can agree on that, my lord. I wish you a fruitful chase, but now I would like to retreat to my work, if you allow me.”
“Go ahead,” I replied as he bowed and rushed back to his patients.
Soon, two tough peasants appeared at the entrance of the village hall, wearing a cheap woollen tunic, leading a couple of woofing dogs on a leash.
“The Filrox brothers are at your service, ya lordship,” they both bow
ed. “We came to help ya out in tha’ chase, them dogs can smell anything. Be it a boar, deer or tha’ devil i’self!”
“Great, the dogs will be of good use. I even have a piece of baize which they can use to take the smell. Here you are!” I threw the piece of cloak to them. “This is from the garment of the warlock.”
“Brilliant, sir, these fleabags can start off from this.”
After having been equipped with some nourishment, we headed to the silver mine where the dogs took a whiff of the piece of clothes. Picking up the scent, they started barking excitedly and turning towards the southern mountains, they fervently rushed away, pulling their owners behind. Ten of us and Hrindel mounted the horses to capture the fleeing black magic-user. The dogs lead us confidently up the steep mountainside amidst coniferous pine-groves. Fortunately, the scent didn’t escape them, although this could happen at any time at a chase. The tiny bastard must have had a strong smell if the dogs could follow it with such ease. We advanced alongside a cold brook, up against the stream through relatively rough terrain. We dismounted our horses and lead them forward by their reins. The dogs traced the scent towards a smaller waterfall. Water was pouring down from a sharp, twenty-foot high cliff, creating foam on the surface of the fast-moving brook. The dogs halted and started barking at the waterfall.
Faceless: The Takeover (The Shapeshifters Book 1) Page 14
