by M. Gregg Roe
41
‡ Morton ‡
Audrey stood next to Isadora against the wall of a row of townhouses. Isadora kept glancing around the corner, watching for Aliva’s signal. It felt as if they had been waiting for an eternity. Audrey’s stomach was in a knot, and she was still disappointed that Saxloc had decided to go off with Hankin rather than stay with her.
It didn’t help that Isadora looked nervous. Audrey was very worried herself. Even with all of her studying and speaking with Saxloc and his parents, she found the thought of fighting reanimated corpses terrifying. She took one of the holy water flasks from her belt pouch, and she found that holding it made her feel a little better. Isadora noticed and flashed a smile.
It was a clear night, but the crescent moon provided little illumination. It looked far brighter to Audrey, though, and she could see everything around her clearly. Hankin had cast a spell called “Darksight” on her and several others before he and Saxloc cast Levitation and flew off to hide on the roof of a nearby building.
The others were either at the back or on the other side of Morton’s house from where she and Isadora were waiting. On their way there, she and Saxloc had spotted several town guards. She suspected that Glasston’s entire guard force was lurking somewhere in the vicinity. Three of them were standing just a few yards away, and they were speaking quietly to someone who had come outside to see what was going on. She heard the guards order him to go back inside.
After another eternity of waiting, Isadora suddenly hissed, “That’s it! Let’s go!”
Audrey cautiously followed her around the corner and looked toward Morton’s house. The two adjoined houses formed a two-story rectangular building over thirty yards long with numerous windows on both floors. The fronts of the houses faced the lake, and it was about twenty yards to where a small cliff dropped down to the beach. The front doors of the two houses were close to the center, not far apart. Audrey was looking at the southeast corner of the nearest house, and Morton’s bedroom was on the second story on the corner nearest to them. It had large windows facing both the lake and to the east. Audrey could actually see Aliva through the front window wearing her revealing red-and-white dress. Aliva was smiling and waving a candle in a circle.
Isadora smiled, looking very relieved. She began to wave both her arms to signal the others to commence the attack. Glancing back up, Audrey saw Aliva suddenly whirl around. There was a loud noise, and she watched in horror as Aliva was blasted backward through the window, shattering it into a cloud of glass shards and wood splinters. Aliva slammed sickeningly into the ground on her back, creating a splash of blood as she struck.
Audrey was in an absolute panic and didn’t know what to do. She looked at Isadora, but the woman was frozen in shock. Suddenly, Audrey spotted movement and looked up to see a naked man leaning out from the hole where the bedroom window used to be. He had a thick beard and was wearing some kind of translucent amber covering on his left hand and forearm. She realized that he must be Morton. He pointed his right arm downward directly at Aliva and shouted “Death Lance!” A glowing spear of writhing crimson light sprang forth from his hand and struck Aliva directly in her chest. She screamed in pain as her body spasmed. Isadora yelled “Argent Lance!”, and Audrey saw a spear of golden light strike the man as he desperately tried to jump backward.
She could now hear a great deal of yelling and commotion from seemingly every direction. Gabriel, Harlock, and the huge man were running toward the second house’s front door Beyond them were town guards watching alertly and keeping spectators away. Isadora ran toward where Aliva was laying, and Audrey quickly followed. Only then did she notice that she had crushed the flask of holy water in her panic, leaving her left hand wet and bleeding.
They ran through the broken glass and stopped next to Aliva. She was lying in a pool of blood, covered with shards of broken glass and bits of wood. Audrey was amazed that she was not only alive but still conscious. But Aliva’s face showed that she was in considerable pain. Audrey noticed a large shard of glass that had completely pierced Aliva’s right calf, and she felt sick.
Aliva struggled to speak, and they both leaned down to try to hear her. “He was definitely dead,” she said, grimacing in pain. “Came back to life.” Isadora was stunned, but she placed her right hand on Aliva’s forehead and it began to softly glow. Aliva pushed her hand away, saying, “Save your magic. I can heal myself. Just give me a minute.”
Audrey realized that she hadn’t been paying any attention to her surroundings. She looked around and saw Gabriel and the two mercenaries fighting a number of undead creatures. The skeletons were obvious, and Audrey thought that the other nasty-looking humanoid was probably some kind of wight, based on the research she had done. She heard a loud noise from above and realized that Hankin and Saxloc had probably flown into Morton’s bedroom through the large hole in the window that Aliva had made. They were probably fighting Morton himself. She said a quick prayer to Lasrina, asking her to grant them good fortune.
Aliva suddenly sat up, and Audrey winced as she reached down and pulled the long glass sliver out of her leg using her bare hands. Her hands were badly cut in the process, but the wounds stopped bleeding and began to close almost immediately. Audrey glanced over and saw that Gabriel and the other two seemed to be containing the undead in front. The ground was already strewn with bones from all of the skeletons they had defeated. Audrey glanced all around and didn’t see any threats nearby.
But then Audrey heard glass breaking and looked upwards. Four windows along the second floor had been broken, and odd-looking humanoids with dark gray skin were each sticking out one arm and pointing downward. Some kind of projectile suddenly fired from each of their hands and she saw Harlock jerk as he was hit. Isadora yelled in pain and Audrey whirled around. Blood was welling from two small holes in Isadora’s right leg. Isadora looked upward, pointed her right arm, and yelled, “Castigate!” She smiled in satisfaction at the odd-sounding screams from above that resulted. Audrey saw that the two creatures that had been closest to them had vanished.
Aliva placed her hands on either side of her waist and with a look of concentration said, “Recovery!” Her hands pulsed briefly with light. After a moment, she jumped up and held out her right hand toward Audrey, looking very determined. Audrey drew Aliva’s saber from its scabbard and handed it to her hilt first. Aliva smiled in a very disturbing manner as she said, “I’m going to kill Morton! Again! And keep killing him until he stays dead!” Aliva suddenly vanished, causing Audrey to jump in surprise.
She looked back to where Gabriel was fighting and saw what looked like animated wolf or dog skeletons had now emerged from the house. The men didn’t seem to be having any trouble smashing them to pieces. Harlock was no longer being attacked by anything, and she watched as he ran the short distance to the front door of Morton’s house and broke it open with a powerful kick.
Audrey was suddenly struck painfully in the right side, and she barely managed to stifle a scream. She cursed herself for forgetting the threat from above. She quickly looked at her side and saw that the two small wounds weren’t bleeding badly, although they were very painful. Isadora Castigated the two creatures that had just shot her, and this time Audrey saw them explode into dust as they screamed. Isadora gave her a reassuring smile and then began to look around for any new threats.
Audrey knew that she should also be looking around, but watching Gabriel smash wolf skeletons to pieces was fascinating. She saw the huge man run over and follow Harlock into the first floor of Morton’s house. When she looked back, Gabriel was forcing his way into the doorway of the other house, using his shield to push the skeletons back. A single wolf skeleton got past him and headed directly toward her.
She stepped forward and pulled out a flask of holy water. The skeleton was actually limping as it tried to run, and she realized that one of its rear legs was damaged. She threw the flask, aiming for the skeleton’s head. The flask shattered as it struck the gro
und to the left of where she had been aiming. Despite that, black smoke began to emerge from several places on the creature, indicating that some of the holy water had splashed it. It was still trying to reach her, but it was moving so slowly and awkwardly now that she actually felt sorry for it. Audrey darted forward and slammed a side kick into its skull. The skull shattered, and the rest of the bones broke apart from one another and clattered to the ground.
Audrey quickly glanced around, but she didn’t see any more skeletons or other undead. Isadora nodded at her before going to look into the house through a large window. Audrey moved up next to her, and she could see the two mercenaries standing in a nicely-furnished sitting room. Morton suddenly entered the room from a doorway to the right, and he and Harlock began to fight. Audrey found it amusing that Morton had taken the time to get dressed before going downstairs, but she was startled when he struck Harlock with his gauntlet, propelling the man backward into a wall. The huge man started moving forward, and Morton backed away from him.
Isadora heading for the doorway and Audrey followed her inside. She was surprised to see that Morton had turned around and was now fighting Aliva. They were both enraged, which was making for a sloppy fight. Morton hit Aliva with his gauntlet causing her to sway, but he was then distracted by having to evade an attack by the huge man. Audrey suddenly saw the blade of Aliva’s glowing sword emerge from the center of Morton’s back. Aliva yanked her sword out and Morton crumpled to the floor. Audrey winced as Aliva used her sword to slash Morton’s throat.
Aliva yelled, “I definitely killed him before in his bedroom and he somehow came back to life. I am not going to let it happen again!” She stabbed his body in the chest again. Audrey looked away as the two men also stabbed Morton’s body.
Saxloc walked into the room and had to detour around the body, which Aliva was still suspiciously eyeing. Audrey felt a thrill, but it was muted because of how tired and battered he looked.
“Are you all right, Audrey?” he asked with concern. “You’re bleeding.”
“You’re bleeding worse than I am,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll be fine. Is it over?”
“I think so, although there still may be some fighting going on in the other house. Do you want me to heal you?”
Isadora was smiling as she walked up and told him, “Heal yourself first, Saxloc. I will take care of Audrey. I am so relieved that it is over and Morton is dead.”
She placed her hands on Audrey’s side and cast Recovery. The pain from the wounds soon faded, and Audrey thanked her. Saxloc cast Recovery on himself, but he still looked tired.
Isadora frowned and said, “Aliva! That is enough. If you are still worried about Morton coming back to life, then remove his gauntlet and see if there is any magic still emanating from his body.” Aliva jumped to do as Isadora had suggested. “I am going outside to see if anyone else needs to be healed,” she told them, and the two mercenaries went with her.
Audrey and Saxloc both sat down in the comfortable chairs in the sitting room. Siljan came marching in but looked puzzled when she saw Morton’s bloody body there. Ariel and Grasapa followed her in, and all three looked like they had been in a real fight. Grasapa and Ariel began speaking with Aliva, and the three of them walked out of the room.
Siljan walked over to the two of them and said, “When the first undead appeared, Ariel went totally berserk and started attacking them. It was all I could do keep her alive while fighting a bunch of undead myself! And now she says that she doesn’t remember what happened!”
Siljan plopped herself down in a chair across from them and said, “Ooh! Comfy!” She frowned and asked, “Why is Morton’s body down here? Wasn’t Aliva supposed to sex him to death in his bedroom?”
“Aliva said that he came back to life,” explained Audrey.
“Wow! That must have been a shock. I’m sorry I missed it. How did you guys do?”
“Hankin and I failed to kill Morton upstairs,” Saxloc told her. “Then we had to fight this really nasty undead knight and one of Morton’s followers. Hankin’s still upstairs looking around.”
Audrey sighed. “I got shot twice and handed Aliva her sword. And I put an injured wolf skeleton out of its misery. It was a slow night.”
Siljan burst out laughing. “Look at it this way, Audrey. If you got shot then someone else didn’t. You might have saved the life of some poor innocent bystander. And that’s just the way it goes sometimes. You should hear my father complain about all the times that Albert and Adrian blew all the monsters to bits with magic before the fighters could even get near them.”
Saxloc smiled and said, “I don’t think skeletons have misery, Audrey. They don’t have brains.”
“True,” she agreed. “But how do skeletons see? They don’t have any eyes.”
“Magic,” said Siljan in a spooky voice while waving her hands.
Audrey sighed. What else could it be? There wasn’t anything visible holding the bones together either.
They sat and talked for a while, and soon Hankin and Gabriel joined them. They both looked pretty beat-up, but they were joking and in a good mood. Isadora returned along with an older man she introduced as Mayor Henrik. The seven of them went to search through the house. Morton’s house was nicely furnished, but there were signs of fighting and carnage throughout most of it now. The other house had been stripped bare of furnishings, and the two houses had indeed been connected by knocking large holes in walls.
To Audrey’s great surprise, they found some zombies simply standing quietly in a room. Saxloc told her that they were mindless creatures, and wouldn’t do anything unless ordered. Isadora used her magic to destroy them.
In Morton’s house, they found a desk with some papers and letters. Isadora looked through the letters quickly and then said in disgust, “They are all love letters from Morton to Alessandra. He never sent any of them.” She stuffed them into her belt pouch.
One desk drawer contained a huge number of gold coins. The mayor said that he wanted the money to go to help the people that Morton harmed, and Isadora didn’t argue. Audrey noticed that Saxloc looked very disappointed when this occurred, and she found that disturbing. In her opinion, he was still too obsessed with amassing wealth. But she was also disappointed because even a small share of the gold would have solved her own financial problems.
They found a locked chest in a nearby room, and she was impressed when Hankin pulled out a case filled with small metal tools and swiftly opened it. Inside were bones which appeared to comprise a complete human skeleton. Isadora examined them and wanted to take them back to the temple, so Gabriel carefully transferred all of the bones into a sack.
Everyone then went downstairs where Aliva was still keeping a watchful eye on Morton’s body. Isadora picked up Morton’s gauntlet from where it was lying, turned to the mayor, and said, “I would like to have this. I know that Alessandra would like to examine it. We still have no idea of where Morton obtained it.”
The mayor nodded. “I have no objection. It might well be a cursed item, and I would as soon be rid of it.”
“We also need to discuss the disposal of Morton’s body. It needs to be destroyed. I do not want some other evil cleric coming along and bringing him back.”
“We could use one of the larger glass furnaces to incinerate the body,” he suggested. “Would that be acceptable?”
“Yes, but I would like to be present. The body also needs to be guarded until then in case Morton still has allies in the area.”
“I will have Captain Fleming see to it, Priestess Isadora. We will likely burn the body sometime tomorrow morning. I have arranged rooms for all of you at the Crystal Inn for the next two nights. That will give you time to rest and perhaps do some shopping before returning home. Thank you all for your efforts.”
42
‡ Shopping ‡
“Did you see that?” asked Audrey in disbelief.
“Yes!” said Saxloc. “But I’m not sure I believe it. Siljan tol
d me that she wasn’t sure if Isadora even liked men.”
Audrey turned and looked at the happy couple now walking away from them. Isadora had restored her hair to its original dark red color, and she was wearing a white shirt and a short black skirt, both very tight. She was with a handsome, muscular, blond-haired man wearing a brown robe cinched at the waist by a rope. Isadora was clinging to his arm, smiling and talking. Audrey hadn’t even recognized her at first.
“There is no question that Isadora likes that man,” she said. “I just hope she ends up at his house tonight. My room is right next to hers.”
“Are you afraid you will hear them copulating?” he asked, grinning.
“If I do, I’ll probably end up having to self-copulate. And don’t give me that look!”
He was leering as he said, “Speaking of that, I confess that I had no choice but to self-copulate after seeing you in that dress Aliva made for you.”
Audrey stared at him in disbelief as she began to blush. “Good for you, Saxloc,” she said drily.
“I also confess that I would really rather have just ripped it off and copulated with you.”
She looked around quickly to see if anyone else was close enough to hear them. “We’re in public, Saxloc,” she scolded. Apparently, all the fighting the night before had aroused him, and now she was feeling aroused too.
“Do we need to find you a brothel,” she asked in a low voice.
“Uh … no. Sorry about that. Let’s just keep shopping for a while. There’s a shop I want to go back to.”
The shop they returned to was a jewelry shop, but all of the stones were colored glass instead of being gems. She was surprised by both the beauty and the reasonable prices. She would have been tempted to buy something, but she was nearly broke.
After letting her browse for a while, Saxloc said, “Audrey, I know that you don’t usually wear jewelry, but I think we should get you a nice necklace. Maybe one that goes with your new dress. I’ll buy it for you as an apology for my earlier behavior.”
