by Cebelius
The flight lasted the better part of four hours before they descended through the clouds again and Asturial banked left, looking for the landmarks that Yuri had given her.
She had an excellent sense of distance, and had come down at just the right time to see the line of mountains that locals called Kaldebrekka. She had never seen these mountains before and began searching diligently as she flew just below the clouds.
She looked for more than the landmarks she'd been given. She was also searching for the telltale signs of aeries or lairs. Now that she had her body back much of her confidence had been restored, but she knew better than to presume she was proof against any who might contest her presence.
While she might restore what the mortals called a 'war body' if it were destroyed now that she had Terrence's bond, that didn't mean she was eager for the experience. Her mother had warned her that no matter how old she got, there would always be those older, wiser, and far, far stronger. While she would never ordinarily voice such concerns to mortals, they were very much on her mind now.
Though she told me that mostly to warn me to stay away from HER, Asturial thought sourly. Of all her siblings, she had stayed in the lair the longest. Most dragons left as soon as they were able to fly, their drive to build their hoards and power thrusting them into the wider world. She spared a moment's thought to wonder if any of her siblings were still alive. She doubted it.
Dragons became mighty, they were not born that way.
Mortals and other eldritch knew this well, and most hatchlings did not survive their early exploration of their abilities to reach adulthood. In the area around where her mother had laired, mortals actively hunted down her hatchlings, something she had not discouraged. It was one of the reasons Asturial had stayed so long. She'd needed time to gain the strength to fly beyond those borders.
Just one of many things for which I have da to thank, she mused. Her sire had sheltered and interceded often for her during her youth, giving her the time she'd needed. She felt a pang of melancholy as she thought of him now, but her thinking immediately shifted to Terrence, and that melancholy was replaced by a sudden warmth as she realized that she was on the cusp of realizing her sire's ambition for her. She would finally be able to justify his time, care, and affection by giving him a lineage.
She shook off thoughts of the future as she spotted the primary landmark she was looking for and banked slowly. The Kaldebrekka had a chasm through it, the origins of which were lost to time. Whatever had caused the damage had torn a vast gouge through the entire mountain range that ran for what must be fifty miles. Near that gouge should be a walled city grown out of a mining interest established centuries ago. Yuri had said it was called Torp.
As she flew lower, she saw the roads that led to and from the city, and the bridge that crossed the chasm.
Not much traffic. None that I can see, in fact.
Focusing her eyesight, she saw evidence of old fires and other damage. One of the walls nearer the mountains seemed to have been at least partially destroyed as well.
Now wary, Asturial chose a spot almost a mile from the quiescent city and carefully set her burden down.
Twisted hopped out of the back of the wagon and lifted her muzzle, scenting the air and then trotting toward a nearby hill. Euryale was next, and she promptly laid down in the grass and spread her wings to the sun. Laina was next, and Yuri followed last. Asturial noted with some amusement that he was taking deep, steadying breaths.
With a last long look around in every direction, Asturial lowered her body and formed a proxy from the meat of her shoulder so that she wouldn't have to constantly mind her volume.
As she strode toward the group, she also was forced to acknowledge that she was no longer accustomed to acting as a dragon. While a return to her full size was emotionally welcome on one level, on another she felt divorced from the action somewhat.
"Does flight not agree with you?" she asked as Yuri glanced up at her, then away again, his ears flattening to either side.
"Did you bring clothing?" the tiger-man asked.
"It's in the wagon," Asturial said, not bothering to hide her amusement as she lowered the tailgate and slid in. Given she only wanted to talk, she had made her proxy without the extreme density of its predecessor, and she found she rather enjoyed the fact that her presence didn't force the entire wagon to list and settle with every move she made.
"My nudity bothers you?"
"You are shapely, but not my woman. Yes, it bothers me."
"Do you think Terrence would not approve?" Asturial asked as she girded her loins and began wrapping a sarashi.
"He started a fight with Renardine for flirting with you," Yuri drily replied. "How much worse would it be if he caught a man gazing at your naked body?"
"Renardine was casting an enchantment. I doubt Terrence would much care if you see one of my proxies without clothing. Realize that I was naked for the last three hundred miles, and you couldn't help but see that."
"He hasn't been intimate with ... that you, it is different," Yuri said, tail lashing with frustration.
"Hah! Even with his newly gained so-called 'giant' size that might be difficult," Asturial said, smiling wryly as she tried to picture how that would go. She stepped back out of the wagon as she finished tucking her wrap. She lifted her massive sword from its place in the wagon and decided to have mercy by changing the subject.
"You may not have noticed, but the city you warned me to look for appears to be abandoned. That is why I set you down here instead of nearer the gates."
"Abandoned?"
Yuri looked at Asturial as she nodded and said, "No one on the roads, no smoke, serious damage to one wall and many buildings. Abandoned."
"I have never been here, but I was told that city had at least thirty thousands of people. It is massive."
"Was. If it IS a massive anything, I suspect the only accurate word would be 'grave.'"
Frowning, he said, "Torp is the closest city I know of to Svartheim, and the only place we might obtain reliable information without trusting to luck. Can you fly over it, look for signs of life?"
Asturial considered it a reasonable request, so she shrugged and closed her proxy eyes before taking flight.
As she flew over the city, what she saw confirmed that the city had been subject to seige, but not recently. There were no bodies in the streets or outside. It was clear to her that whatever magic had been involved in the battle had principally served the defenders, and been insufficient.
She crossed over the city several times from several different directions before she caught sight of movement, but it was only a glimpse, and when she looked again what she had seen was gone.
A scavenger most likely, she thought, banking to head back to the wagon. She landed and folded her wings carefully before shifting her conscious attention back to the proxy.
"The city is all but completely dead. I saw movement, but it could have been a wayward animal, at most a scavenger come to loot the ruins. There are no signs of organized life," she said. "The city was sieged and destroyed. Only the fact that most of the buildings are principally stone preserved it so well."
By now Twisted had come back down the hill and was glancing around as she said, "We're downwind of the city and all I can smell is rot. There are bodies but they're really old."
"I saw no bodies," Asturial said, glancing at the werewolf.
Twisted shrugged. "They're there. I smell 'em."
Yuri shook his head and said, "Perhaps we should skip the city and search for the dungeon directly. At best, the corpses Twisted can smell are those too buried by rubble for scavengers to claim. At worst, the dead are restless. The information I wanted to get might still be available ... I know where to look, but I am not certain if it is worth the risk."
"Yuri is probably right about the risk," Euryale said absently, without lifting more than a few snakes to look their way. "I can't petrify or poison the undead, and my arrows wouldn't be much go
od either. Necromancers are notorious for being little bitches that never show up in person."
Asturial shrugged. "It is of no concern to me either way. Get back in the wagon. Yuri? Where do we go from here?"
Laina got back to the wagon, but turned around and sat on the tailgate as she heard Yuri speak.
"I have only sketchy descriptions of this place. I had hoped to get the exact location of Svartheim from Torp. The only thing I am fairly certain of is that the road leading away from the chasm is the one we need to follow, but I do not know how far."
The more Yuri thought about it, the more certain he was that no matter how much he wished not to go into the dead city, they would have no choice. He said, "Unless Svartheim is visible from the sky, we will have to be very careful not to miss it. It could take us weeks ... perhaps months, to find it without a guide, or at least a map."
Glancing up at her war body in annoyance, Asturial set her arms on her hips and asked, "If Torp hadn't been destroyed, where would you get the information you're looking for, and what form would it take?"
Yuri sighed and said, "Guides typically keep and sell maps of the dungeons they plunder, but trying to find one of those might take us even longer than it would to find the dungeon itself. There should be markings on area maps that declare dangers, and Svartheim would definitely qualify. Such maps are most likely to be found at shops that specialize in outfitting travelers and caravan guards. There would certainly have been a detailed map in the keep as well, but given the time since the siege, there is no telling if it is still there, or what condition it is in."
"Anywhere else?" Asturial asked.
"Gatehouses are the next most likely place," Yuri said as he thought about it.
"Those I can search without taking too much time. If I don't find what we need, I will fly us to the keep and we will enter from the top. The idea of wandering aimlessly through the mountains for weeks or months does not appeal to me. There was evidence of giant settlements on the way here, though specifically what breed I could not say."
Yuri thought about it, then shook his head and said, "If there are undead in the city we do not want to ... shit."
Asturial laughed and nodded as she said, "Yes Yuri. My flying over the city was a pretty big giveaway that we're here."
"We should leave the wagon here, but all of us should go," Yuri said after a moment. "To do otherwise would break the number one rule among monster hunters, at least those that live to teach their skills to the next generation."
He paused, and though Asturial had no intention of taking the bait, Twisted jumped on it immediately.
"What rule?" she asked.
Asturial rolled her eyes, then quirked a brow at Yuri as she rolled a hand in invitation.
He saw her exasperation and grinned, then looked at Twisted and answered her directly.
"Never split the party."
10
A Generous Host
The gatehouses turned out to be dead ends not even worth searching. A closer examination from the air revealed them to have been burned out.
Asturial had taken them to the roof of the keep and they descended from there into the bowels of what must once have been a bustling hive of activity. Now, shafts of sunlight through arrow slits revealed only dust that swirled into the air with their passing.
The dragon proxy led, carrying not only her sword but a door-sized shield that had once belonged to Marcus. She carried it not for herself but for the sake of her companions, and at Yuri's insistence. The dragon had claimed she could use magic to shield the party, and Yuri had asked her if she would be willing to keep that up for the duration, pointing out that the physical shield was there whether she concentrated on it or not.
She'd conceded the point. Yuri followed behind her, with Laina behind him, then Twisted, and Euryale bringing up the rear.
Together they moved from one dead hallway to the next, searching for a council chamber, war room, or even a plush office that might have a map of the area displayed.
It was slow going. Because they didn't know the layout of the keep, they had to search it floor by floor, and had been moving from the top toward the ground.
The keep itself was mostly square, though the bottom floor spread out significantly in three directions. Yuri knew this because he had been able to see the whole structure from above as they flew in.
It was obvious that whatever attack had destroyed the city had lasted quite a while. Many of the rooms had been pillaged, but many more were notably empty, and Yuri suspected that the furnishings throughout much of the building had been used for fuel.
It was also obvious that the fighting had been bitter, though the signs were fewer than might be expected. Bloodstains were common, as were the scars of cross-bow bolts and occasionally of magic. There were no bodies though, no bones, and by the time they finished with the top floor and descended the stairs to the next, Yuri was convinced that either the invading force had consumed the bodies ... or the dead were restless.
As they came to the stairway that would take them to the ground level, Yuri called a halt and relayed his growing certainty.
"While we may not encounter them, I believe this has become either a city for the restless dead, or a necromancer has taken control here."
"What makes you say that?" Laina asked, glancing around nervously.
"There are no bird nests or animal tracks," Yuri said, keeping his voice down out of long habit. "If this city had been destroyed and completely abandoned, there would be birds nesting inside by now. There are no droppings. The middle of all the hallways is clear of dust as well, though it is piling up in corners."
"Why have we encountered nothing so far then?" Asturial asked, glancing around without apparent concern.
"It is daytime. While most undead can move in daylight, it tends to accelerate the decay of their bodies," Yuri said.
"What do you suggest?" the dragon proxy asked.
"Just that we keep quiet, find what we came for, and get out before dark."
"Well, we're not going to make that," Euryale said after a pointed glance out the window. "The sun is already half down."
Yuri had noticed the darkening shade of the light coming through the windows, but hadn't quite put it in proper context, focused as he had been on searching for the map they needed.
"Shit. Let us find the entrance and get out immediately. We can try this again tomorrow, after the sun is well up."
"Or, you could tell me what you want. Perhaps I could simply give it to you, and see you on your way."
There was no body to go with the masculine voice, and after a quick glance around, Yuri said, "We want a map of the surrounding territory."
"What, specifically, are you searching for on such a map?" The voice was cultured, urbane, but not entirely friendly. "As you no doubt have noticed, things have changed quite a bit for the locals these last few years."
Above them, on the floors they had already searched, a groaning arose. It was subtle at first but quickly grew until the squeal of countless doors closing on rusted hinges drowned out even thought for the long moment until the sound ended with a myriad slam that shook dust from the ceiling.
"Quite a bit indeed," the voice repeated, wryly amused. "I should tell you that it is polite to close the doors you open. I do not mind handling it this time, but in future, you know? Courtesy."
"Nothing specific," Yuri said, speaking cautiously. There were a thousand reasons not to reveal their destination to whomever spoke to them. "We came here for adventure."
"Ah, well, you certainly will not find that here. Only death. I can see that you are a formidable group, and the dragon proxy you travel with tells me that I would probably find harvesting you to be more trouble than your bodies are worth. So, instead, I will provide you with the map that you are looking for. It will be affixed to the door leading out of the great hall. Proceed down the stairs, turn about, and when the hallway ends take the left, then another when opportunity presents. You will
come out in the main hall. After that, I trust your intelligence will lead you out."
There was a pause, then the voice added, "Though I do recommend you not dally. While I am not minded to deliberately assault you, I will not bother to keep any of my citizens who wish to attack you from doing so, and as you mentioned earlier, they will be out and about soon. Chop chop!"
"Go. Go go go!" Yuri said, waving his hands in a shooing motion toward the stairs.
For a moment, Asturial didn't move. She looked curiously down at Yuri and asked, "Are you serious? We are simply going to bow before this ... apparition?"
"Yes!" Yuri said, throwing up his hands. "This is not where we need to risk our lives! There is bravery and then there is stupidity. Just because they are kissing cousins does not mean we need to humor them both! Now move!"
Laina snickered at that, but it was a nervous laugh and she hefted the Ax of the Great Plains as she looked pointedly at Asturial. "You gonna stay in the lead?" she asked.
Asturial was still clearly not happy, but she descended the steps with Yuri on her heels.
They followed the spectral voice's instructions, and as they got to the main hall saw that it was only faintly lit by the last dying rays of the sun shining in through two high stained glass windows that had, against all expectation, survived whatever assault had claimed the life of the city.
The sound of doors came again, but this time they were not closing, but opening. A high-pitched, manic cackling arose from somewhere deeper inside the keep, and Yuri was reminded of the laughing curse Baba Yaga had cast on him.
"Guys?" Twisted said, glancing around, her ears swiveling in all directions. "The smell of death and decay in here just got ... way worse."
"Keep moving!" Yuri abandoned the order of march as he darted around Asturial and trotted toward the double doors that marked the entrance — and their exit — from the hall.
Affixed to the door with a simple metal tack was a faded map of the area. Yuri snatched it, tearing a tiny corner off in his haste that he cursed and bent to pick up as Laina reached the door and heaved.
