By Volk-Oboroten'
Shortly after dawn, two regiments from Lik marched off into the Tauremorna. As they entered the Black Woods, little could be seen in the murky forest. The soldiers wondered how they could satisfy Roderic's order to bring the missing workers back to the mines.
As they proceeded deeper into the trees, the path became tunnel-like, as gnarled branches formed arches over the road. The captain of the western regiment became steadily more nervous, worried about the unnatural appearance of the area. While frost covered the land near Lik when they left, the black water of the Tauremorna had no ice, as it seemed to generate its own heat. He peered into a pond, hoping to catch a reflection of any beast waiting in ambush nearby.
As the soldiers plunged into the depths of the forest, Roderic stirred from an uneasy sleep. He recalled a black raven in his dreams, and awoke to see a young woman in an azure dress standing near his window. She had a large crow perched on her shoulder, just like the bird in his nightmare. He wondered how she had entered his chambers unannounced.
Before Roderic could call for his guards, his eyes were transfixed by a stern look from his visitor. In an ominous tone, she said "Your fate is sealed. You will no longer rule Lik . . ."
Irritated by this, Roderic said: "I've heard enough about Valaric. He isn't coming back."
The woman continued, her unyielding face showing no trace of emotion: "This town is doomed. It will suffer great tribulation. Before the next sunrise, you will join your brother."
Now, Roderic was quite concerned. She must be an assassin! "Guards! Come quickly!"
As Roderic's guards rushed to the door, the dour oracle finished speaking: "No man shall kill you, for your destiny lies in your own hands." As the sentries burst through the door, sunlight flooded into the room from the outside hall. The woman and her bird then vanished from Roderic's view. They were gone in an instant, fading away like mist in the summer sun.
"Sire! What happened? We ran here once we heard you call," one guard said.
His face dripping with sweat, Roderic said: "Didn't you hear her? She threatened my life! It was an evil witch, with some sort of avian familiar!"
The first guard directed the others to search the room, and said: "We heard nothing. When we arrived, no one was here but you. The window has been covered for weeks, to keep the cold out. No bird or person could enter or leave your room except by the door."
Still feeling qualms of fear, Roderic said: "It must be all this talk of demons. I didn't think it would get to me, but I guess I had a bad dream. Don't tell anyone about this! I cannot show weakness to anyone, or the whole garrison will be demoralized." Roderic then dismissed the guards, and prepared for a busy day, deciding that he should ignore the evil omen.
Roderic thought he had regained his composure, but his mind was now full of foreboding ideas. He pondered the vision he had seen at dawn, recalling the black crow and its gloomy mistress. As he meditated, his train of thought was shattered by a series of images. He saw his brother marching off to war, leading the regiment from Lik to Metamor. Then, the pictures became more haphazard: a great black wolf, Valaric sitting in a fortress tower, dark reptilian creatures with forked tongues, and skeletons rising out of the ground. Last, he perceived a great black axe. Its shadow fell upon the archway of Nasoj's portal, which then crumbled to the ground.
Roderic dismissed this as a hallucination. He must have a hangover, from drinking too much mead after hearing the reports from the regimental captains last evening. Why didn't they respect him, and get a simple job done? Valaric never had trouble with lutins. Maybe that was the problem. He was always being compared to his brother. Once everyone knew that Valaric was dead, they would accept his authority without question.
Far below Roderic's tower, Recared began work in the mines. This shaft was unlikely to have much ore, but it was best to look busy. As Recared's chisel struck the rock, he kept thinking about the portal. Why should Nasoj get the wealth of Lik? What did the wizard do with it?
Putting down his chisel, Recared started to hammer the loosened stones. With each blow, he imagined he was breaking off a piece of the archway, ending Nasoj's power over Lik. After a few minutes, he stopped, noticing the garrison troops rushing to a little-used shaft. Seeing the other miners heading there as well, Recared decided to investigate.
The soldiers had uncovered a secret hatch next to one of the tunnels. Their leader brought out a book covered in arcane symbols, and said: "Those mages have been down here! This is some kind of a register, describing shipments of mystical stones. Roderic will need to be informed." Opening the book, he said: "It's even worse than I thought. Its pages seem to be written in human blood instead of ink. Some sort of sorcery is occurring here. At least it will explain to Roderic what happened to the missing ore."
As the soldiers left, the miners peered into the empty chamber. It was littered with bones, small and large, and filled with a putrid odor, reeking of decay and death. Recared walked away, wondering how much evil had been performed with the stolen magic stones. Many heinous deeds could be perpetrated by a mage with such supernatural power.
Just before noon, the soldiers found Roderic near the base of his tower. He seemed lethargic, as if he had been drinking again. Their leader prepared to hand Roderic the book, but decided it was best to describe its contest first: "This book will explain what happened to the missing ore. The mages diverted it for their own use. We think they used the stones for black magic."
Roderic slowly responded: "I never trusted them. Did you get the stones back? Nasoj's envoy will want an accounting. The wizard is never happy about unauthorized use of magic. "
The soldier replied: "No. The mages didn't leave a single crystal in their chamber. The entries in this ledger say the magic stones were shipped to someone called Lilith." As he finished speaking, flames suddenly erupted on the book's cover, racing across its surface. The soldier quickly dropped the blazing block of paper, which was fully engulfed in fire by the time it hit the snow. Within a minute, nothing was left of the ledger except ashes, and the pungent odor of burnt flesh.
Roderic's face was filled with alarm, but he decided to make the best of a bad situation. He said: "I knew they were trouble. When Nasoj's envoy returns, I'll tell him the news. He can't blame us this time. Those disloyal mages are the wizard's problem now. They're in his own Citadel, so he can punish them for this crime."
At this moment, a man came running into Lik from the west. His clothes were torn, and his eyes wide-open in panic. Approaching Roderic, he declared: "The dead have come back to life!"
Roderic looked at him with a mixture of derision and unease, saying: "Which regiment are you from? I'm not interested in necromancy, just in finding our lost workers."
The soldier replied: "The western regiment. I'm Private . . ."
Roderic snapped: "I don't want your name. Just reliable news. Tell me the whole story. Starting from when you entered the Black Woods."
Speaking more slowly, the soldier said: "After marching into the Tauremorna, we reached the site of an ancient battlefield. The whole place had a fetid odor, with dark shadows hiding anything that might attack us from the trees. We saw no sign of giants or humans, but we kept hearing the howls of wolves and all sorts of growls from other beasts lurking in the malevolent forest.
When we entered a small clearing, the captain of the mountain regiment saw something sticking out of the ground. As he moved in to inspect it, he discovered it was a human hand, stripped of all flesh. Then, he was aghast when it began to rise from the earth. The whole field began to shake, as skeletons erupted from the ground.
Next, we saw a long column of skeletons marching towards us, from the east. They wore platemail armor, and carried banners with Lik's symbol. It was Valaric's regiment!"
Roderic felt very uneasy. "Are you certain?" he said to the western regiment soldier.
"Yes. They are all cursed! It must be dark magic from Metamor Keep! We began to flee, but were confronted by more of the living dead. It was horrible! I can still see their dry bones, with empty holes instead of eyes. But somehow they could still speak."
"What did they say?" asked Roderic, growing more concerned.
"We'll swallow your souls! Kill the mortals! They pursued us down the road, dragging men off into the marshes. I escaped by throwing my armor off, so I could run faster. But most were not so lucky. The mountain regiment reached the clearing first, so I fear they were all consumed."
Roderic then said: "Enough! Did they follow you? I don't see any walking skeletons. I'll order the remaining men to watch the western gate. I'll also contact Nasoj, and see if he can send troops to defend this town."
Roderic planned to contact Nasoj's Citadel once he had some positive news. The envoy certainly wouldn't believe a story about an undead army marching against Lik unless he actually saw it. After all, Nasoj was supposed to be able to use his magic to spot any threat of this type.
In mid-afternoon, Roderic walked to the north gate of Lik, where he had ordered the foreman of the road crew to meet him. They must have reopened the path north to Bremen by now, driving the insolent band of lutins back into woods. The rabble would scatter this time, as a few garrison troops had joined the workers in the morning.
However, Roderic was dismayed to see soldiers standing near the walls. Looking out the gate, he saw freshly fallen snow obscuring the path leading to Bremen "Why aren't you out on the road, doing your jobs!" Roderic yelled. The troops seemed to ignore his comment. "Go out there, and clear the lutins away from the path."
"The workers refused to leave the town," said the foreman, "So there was no point in sending troops to guard them. We'll try again when the snow melts."
"What!" said Roderic. "How dare they disobey my orders. I'm in charge here! Anyone who doesn't respect my authority will face the wrath of Nasoj himself. Tell them to start work immediately, or the wizard will deal with them when they are sent through the portal."
Carefully, the foreman replied: "The soldiers are needed here, to guard the town. Everyone has heard what happened this morning. An army of the dead is waiting just west of Lik, ready to take revenge for being sent on the campaign to Metamor. Hordes of lutins have blocked the roads to the outside world. We are under siege! We must defend our town."
Roderic shrugged, and with a look of disdain, said: "An army of the dead? I've heard the story, but I don't believe it. Those slackers just wanted to avoid work. They made up that preposterous story so they wouldn't have to hammer rocks in the mine. They are probably off in the Tauremorna with the others, getting drunk."
With unease, the foreman said: "What about the water? We've heard that everyone who drank from the springs near the Black Woods has been bewitched. Most of them have wandered off into the accursed forest. They have all been possessed by evil spirits."
With a laugh, Roderic said: "The only spirits that have possessed them are alcoholic. Once they return, all of these shirkers will be flogged! You have new orders. Go to the west gate of Lik, just before sunset, and proceed into the Tauremorna for ten minutes. Wait on the path for anyone approaching the gate. All who defy my authority will be arrested!"
The soldiers from the mine regiment walked down Lik's main street sullenly. None of them really wanted to go into the Black Woods. However they feared the wizard's wrath, knowing that new soldiers were likely to arrive from Nasoj's Citadel soon.
As the setting sun sank into the dismal mist hanging above the Tauremorna, Roderic decided it was time to contact Nasoj's envoy. He knew that Lik's garrison was seriously understrength now, with a majority of the soldiers mutinous. Nasoj must make a show of force.
Activating a crystal sphere next to the portal, Roderic prepared to address Nasoj's envoy. He dropped a flagon on the ground, realizing that he didn't want the emissary to see it. Roderic always had a reputation for coping with stress poorly, and could not show weakness now.
The envoy's grim face appeared in the center of the arch. He walked through it briskly, eager to confront Roderic: "Why didn't you report sooner! Those mages you sent . . ." The envoy stared directly at Roderic, with a look of blind fury: "They are all traitors! Why didn't you spot them? They should have been executed here, not sent to defile the wizard's own Citadel."
Roderic slowly replied: "They were clever. We found their chamber today, where they had stored gems. That's why our shipment was low . . ."
Exasperated, the envoy said: "That's all? You must be drunk again. These mages are servants of Nasoj's enemies. They stole magical items from the Citadel. Then, they transformed into bats and flew out of the tower. When Nasoj discovered what was missing, his outrage could barely be contained. You don't want to see the wizard when he's angry."
Alarmed, Roderic said: "Nasoj is coming here now?"
Annoyed, the envoy replied: "No. He has other problems. There's bad news from a small town to the west. We sent troops to crush some rebels in Starven, who refused to pay tribute, and blinded a tax collector. It should have been easy, but the beasts from Metamor intervened."
Surprised, Roderic said: "I thought we had routed the Keepers. Didn't you report that the army only temporarily retreated from the Metamor Valley, ready to resume the campaign in the spring? The remnant of the garrison of one castle shouldn't be much of a problem, even if they are sinister beasts instead of men. Has Nasoj's power become that weak?"
Shocked at this comment, the envoy said: "Don't even think that. It's only a momentary setback. If everyone had been loyal to the wizard, it would have been an easy victory. First, the campaign fails. Then, Starven revolts. Now, rebel mages violate Nasoj's own tower. Fireballs have been flying all day! The Citadel has several rows of new windows."
Roderic said: "I also have trouble with disloyal men. Many in the garrison are not respecting my authority. In fact, I think they are in league with the rebel mages. New soldiers must be sent at once. Just think what would happen if this town fell to Nasoj's enemies."
The envoy scrutinized Roderic carefully: "We don't have many troops to spare. Nasoj is afraid of more attacks on his citadel, so he won't release any soldiers until after sunset. He used transformation spells to turn men into flying beasts, as he is intent on capturing the mages. The rebel warlocks haven't been apprehended yet, but they will be caught eventually."
Roderic decided to mention the stories about the animated skeletons in the Black Woods. Perhaps this would be enough to get reinforcements to arrive soon. The envoy listened to his story, growing increasingly weary. Nasoj was in an extremely bad mood, so he dreaded reporting that new troubles had started in Lik.
As the guild lord continued to plead for help, the miners left the shafts under the town. Normally, Roderic's troops would have forced them to dig for ore well after sunset, but most of the soldiers had been ordered into the Tauremorna. Walking down the main street from the mine, Recared noticed the setting sun, drifting down into the dense trees. He then recalled Kriemhilda's words from the previous evening. He must go to the gate, and see her again.
A few minutes later, Recared stood by Lik's western gate, looking at the red sunset. He had seen the troops marching out into the Black Woods earlier in the day, and wondered if Kriemhilda would appear. How could she evade dozens of men without being spotted? As the red sky slowly dimmed over the forest, he heard a hypnotic voice calling from the gate: "Recared . . ."
Walking outside, he saw that no troops were near Lik's walls. Where had they all gone? As he opened the gate, Kriemhilda was there, waiting for him. The color of her pallid face nearly matched the snow, while her red lips reminded him of poppies. Drawing the coins from his coat, Recared said: "You must have dropped these gold pieces last night."
"You can keep the gold," said Kriemhilda, "It's time to act. Before this night is over, Roderic will no longer rule Lik."