It was only a few days later we were driving behind Max's hummer on the way to the raid. Shade and the Renegades were packed in to the military vehicle, Zach and I enjoying the more spacious ride Theodorus offered. We were travelling far out of state to some wilderness area to meet Daedalus, who had finished the initial scouting mission.
"You guys are really bringing in the serious firepower!" he said as we all assembled. "Okay. It's been hard to tell how much is here as they are staying undercover during the day and even at night can be difficult to find." He went on to explain how we had to hike a way to the site of the vampire's nest. It was in the site of a mining town abandoned for the better part of a century. The road was as good as non-existent, but fine for wolves.
"Any hikers, campers, or anything?" I asked the bird.
"Not likely. There are a few other parks around here, none of them particularly popular. This ghost town would probably be a great spot for adventure-seekers, but no one seems to know it exists. It's very hard to find on this side, but in the umbra it stands out like a crow in the snow. They have some kind of vampire voodoo on it making it easy to miss."
"Does it strike anyone else as odd that these vampires are trying to hide so far from a city?" Zach pointed out. It seemed like a good point to me, but no one had an answer.
The Garou had switched to wolf form for travelling through the bush. I found archid better for bushwhacking. Daedalus grinned excitedly. He flipped from homid in to his flight-capable war form and flew up to my shoulders.
(Are you making a nest, or what?) I asked as he busily shuffled around directly behind my field of vision. (Won't you be flying for this?)
(It doesn't look like it,) Zach commented. I frowned, and avoided eye contact with Zach.
"Alright, perfect!" Daedalus announced as he finally settled down. "Let's go!"
Daedalus and I followed the wolves through the forest, easily picking paths over obstacles that would have slowed a lesser biped down. The sun was getting low in the sky when we began to approach the old mine site. "Whoa, whoa," Daedalus called. Varel was giving a warning, and the group knew to trust him. We stopped moving and the raven took to the air and then the umbra to try and detect the threat. Within a few moments he reappeared. He described the mine site ahead of us- a semi-collapsed shaft cut in to a mountain, the remains of an old track and a few buildings, and the monsters. "They're undead, but they're not vampires. They're like zombies...but...they're weird. In the umbra they look like part of the earth. They're attached to the ground."
"This whole place is cursed. How many are there?" Max asked.
"Lots. More than us."
"Right." In a few quick movements, Max had drawn his guns and readied them for the battle. "Let's go."
Varel spent a few moments explaining the concept of undead and the finer points of head crushing to Tiger Lilly. As the night set in we attacked the band. The wolves loped through the ruins and set upon the undead. I followed close behind. I loudly announced to our foes in very simple language that I would shortly be destroying them. Somewhere behind my head I heard somebody cackling with elation.
"This is so awesome!"
I ignored the bird. I stormed in to the fight. The garou were out numbered but holding their own- Varel was rending everything in sight, Lilly not far behind. Max and Will stayed clear of the fray, providing cover fire from the edge of the clearing. Over their heads I could see a monstrous, ogre-like zombie shambling up behind them. I glanced back at the battle-as if expecting to see Varel needing help- and then lunged in the direction of the shooting garou to intercept their attacker. Coming along side them I dove my head downwards and
(GLK!) suddenly choked as something drew tight around my throat. I lost my balance and fell forwards, in the same instant hearing Daedalus squawk and tumble from his perch and the resistance on my throat release. I crashed heavily on my wrists right in front of the two wolfmen.
"Vhat the-!" Max cried, hauling his weapon skywards. Will's shot glanced off my not-so-armoured face- a fraction lower and I would have caught it.
(Ah! Lookout!) I groaned futilely. The monster behind them suddenly came in to view over Max's shoulder. I gritted my teeth, pushed myself back to my feet and tried to strike at it over their heads, but I was not fast enough. It bought a heavy limb down on Max, who collapsed like a tree. I planted my hands on either side of the fallen garou and slammed my head in to the monster. With a loud crack it snapped backwards and splattered on the ground. It didn't look like it was intact enough to still be a threat, so I eased back to check on Max. He was lying on his back, looking dazed.
(Uhh...) I was useless at assisting the wounded.
"I'll be fine, go get them," he urged in a pained voice. I quickly surveyed the forest to make sure there were no more monsters. This was probably as safe a place as any. I turned back to the fight.
The zombies were horrific in their mindlessness. They were clearly not creatures of rage like us, and the soullessness chilled me. They attacked with little strength and no self-regard, and although they outnumbered us significantly, it was not a long battle. As the last fell we gathered to plan. Max was still lying on the ground. A shallow pool of blood had formed. He would not be fit until the morning, so we decided to set up a camp. Not wanting to take any chances with midnight zombie attacks, I figured a tree was a good place to sleep. I slunk down to my suchid form and was promptly clobbered in the face by a long length of rope. (What the hell!)
(Talk to Daedalus,) Zach smirked. I grumbled and reverted to my most talkative. Almost immediately I noticed my necklace drawn against my throat like a choker, weighted down on my back by about twenty feet of rope.
"Daedalus!" I hissed. "What's this!" I fed the necklace around so that the attached rope was at the front, and started untying the knots. The raven hopped out of the darkness and perched above my head.
"Oh that? Reigns. So I have something to hold on to," he explained.
"Daedalus! That was you choking me! Dammit! Don't do that! This was a gift from an Elder!" I scolded, holding my jade necklace forward. "And my sun coin is on here! Don't tie stuff on here!"
"I'm sorry, I thought it was a collar. It looked a lot bigger when you were a dinosaur. I thought, 'Well isn't this handy? Garou should also wear collars!'"
"Don't do it again!"
"I won't. Can please I have my rope back?"
I dropped the rope on to the ground and went back in to my own tree to sleep.
We each took a turn watching during the night. By morning, Lilly had spoken to some locals to get a bit more history on the area. The local wildlife was a little sketchy on the specifics, but the area including the nearby ghost town had always had a turbulent undercurrent. There had been battles with natives, battles in the civil war, and some kind of devastating illness before the town finally closed for good. "She says, 'the earth here is restless. Things have always been strange here'," Varel translated. "She doesn't seem to have it any clearer than that from her sources."
"It's damn freaky in the umbra, I can tell you that much," Daedalus added.
"So... no vampires?" I asked.
"No, but something else has started stirring up the energy around here, and it's attached to the town somewhere."
We had camped not too far from the town, and waited for the raven to scout ahead before resuming our hike. He shortly returned with a report.
"The town really seems deserted. There's no people or zombies. But, there's a really old track out of town that heads towards a ravine. Near the edge of the cliff there's an old town cemetery, and there's a guy in there who seems to be setting up some kind of rite."
"Necromancer," said Max. "No zombies?"
Daedalus shook his head. "I didn't see any, which means there's none."
"He vill be most vulnerable vhile he is engaged in his vork. Ve must take him out before he completes the rite." Max instructed. Everyone agreed with this reasoning.
When we reached the village, it was clear we were too late. Thunderclouds were gathering over the site of the cemetery, and great arcs of sickly silver and green light flickered in the sky. We ran towards the graveyard, crashing through the branches and undergrowth.
There stood the necromancer silhouetted in a globe of white-green light. Tendrils of energy snaked from where he stood like an expanding river system. They crept to the edges of the area, netting the graves, flooding the yard, and streaming over the cliff where they flourished in the ravine below.
The group paused, unsure of what to do. I stood in awe.
"Where's that idiot Shade?" Zach suddenly asked. Right on cue, Shade sprang out of a pile of screen we had overlooked as a grave, right next to the mage.
"HYA!" He shouted, stabbing the necromancer in the throat. "NINJA-ED!"
The necromancer gurgled a scream, falling to his knees and then the ground. Stark red spiderwebs suddenly appeared in the tentacles of green light and burned sharply for a moment before the entire river turned a pallid murky grey. No longer appearing to be made out of light, the tentacles ripped in to the earth and blackening sky. The ground churned like water alive with feeding sharks. Corpses spewed out of the earth, up heaved by the writhing magical forces. The earth and air tremored and thunder rolled. As the necromancer's power molested the dead, their forms began to mutate. They grew spines and claws, horrendous bulk or gangly limbs, each more grotesque than the last.
Zach and I exchanged glances. The rumbling earth finally crumbled and the cliff gave way, taking the party, graveyard, and a lot of the forest with it. In the rush I heard the wolves yipping and cursing as we plummeted downwards. As I scrambled madly to find purchase in the avalanche, I caught a glimpse of the canyon we were falling in to. For as far as I could see, it was boiling with grey green tentacles thrashing amongst a sea of mist and the rising dead.
(Aaaaaaaaugh...)
I figured smaller was better for surviving a slide, but as soon as I felt it start to level out I was thundering out of the way of falling rocks, hoping no one was under my feet. The floor of the valley was dark and murky, I was up to my hips in a creepy mist.
(ZACH!) I screamed. (ZACH!) My voice echoed deafeningly in the tight canyon.
"You're easy to find. Ouch. Are you injured?" A familiar voice floated down from above. Daedalus was drifting overhead. I didn't think I was badly injured, so I shook my head, as the party's chatterbox spoke no Mokole. The bird landed on my back.
(ZACH!)
"Ah! Is that really necessary? I'm going deaf! I'm sure you can shout a little quieter than that," the bird nattered. I growled in response. "Okay, whatever. Hold still." I had turned around to go back to the rockslide. I paused. Daedalus darted in front of and back over my face, looping his rope between my jaws and then drawing it back like a bridle. He drew it snugly at the back of my head and then secured it by looping and tying it around my crest.
(I am going to kill you,) I rasped.
"Don't worry, I didn't tie it to your collar. Now I can tell you which way to go!" Daedalus explained.
(Your death is going to endure in the memory of Mokole for the next one hundred million years, and even when your species is extinct no one will pity you. ZACH!)
"Kate, zombies!" the bird warned. He shot at the lurching forms that had suddenly lurked out of the darkness. I swept around and crushed them across the rocks with my tail. Their bodies splintered and crumbled. I could vaguely make out more approaching from deeper in the canyon. I was torn between fighting them off and going back to find Zach. Zach's adaptable, I reminded myself. He might not be in too much trouble. Daedalus chose for me. He wrenched the reigns, turning us back towards the heart of the canyon.
(What about – finding survivors?) I gagged and stumbled forwards. The rope was cutting in to the corners of my lips.
"Hey! Cool! That worked!" Daedalus shouted, oblivious to my words. "I can steer you!"
(Of course it worked, you bastard! You try walking in a different direction than you're looking! Argh!) We took another step in the direction of the zombie hoard. I was trying to direct my sacral plexeus to override Daedalus's steering when I felt my body freeze. No lack of balance or carry over momentum, the whole world silent like a photograph. Except for Daedalus. He called out in surprise.
"What? What are you doing?" He jerked on the reigns but I couldn't move. Suddenly a light appeared before us, as warm and bright as the light of the sun. Within the light I could make out a majestic spirit looking very solemn. I tried to blink, but couldn't.
"Warrior, my time here is very short, and my powers are severely depleted. We must act quickly. Tell me, what is your name?"
Daedalus sprang up and flapped over my neck and crest, still holding my reigns. He landed on my snout to address the spirit at eye level...my eye level. I watched as he lightly dug his claws in to my face to keep his balance.
"Daedalus Mandarke, Corax. They call me Nines."
"Daedalus. The power of this place has been awakened, but the binding has been interrupted. It is no longer within my power to stop the legions of undead. Only you can save the world. Do you have any companions?"
"I do, but I've lost them!" the raven cried. HEY! I silently shouted. Curse this petrification!
The spirit was visibly wavering and fading. "We don't have time to find them, you must work alone. Take this," he said, handing the corax a short, heavy-looking stick. "It's a weapon of light that will be instantly fatal to the undead abominations. Channel your spiritual energy in to it to enliven it," the apparition instructed. After a short moment I heard Daedalus gasp.
"A lightsabre!" He exclaimed. I caught a few glimpses of the brightly burning blade as he swung it around. The weapon sounded surprisingly identical to the star wars weapon, until I realized the bird was probably making the noises himself.
"Alas, I can offer you no more, as the night closes in on me," the spirit moaned. "Go, my child, with this weapon you shall be able to free the land of this curse. Let the light guide you..." he faded from view. The darkness returned and I was moving again. Daedalus had not let go of the reigns that were secured to my crest, and was now somewhat harnessed in a standing position on my face. I swung forwards towards the zombies, and Daedalus leaned outwards with the sword. It sliced through the monsters like a knife through flour, reducing them to piles of dust.
"This is the most BADASS EVER!" Daedalus shouted elatedly. I forsook language for an archid bellow of pure bloody rage.
We charged through the basin, destroying the evil like a tidal wave at a beach. The undead fell in droves at the touch of the weapon, and the mist cleared as we cleansed. Gifted with such a weapon by a entity of limited strength, I dared not break our run lest our power expire. On and on we slogged. Finally, after hours of storming and charging and mist and dust we made our way back to the rockfall. I started calling for Zach again. We crested a rise in the floor of the canyon to see the garou in the remains of the fading magic fighting off the last of the zombies.
(ZACH!) I cried. All unengaged heads turned to us as we strode in to battle. Daedalus gloriously smote the remaining zombies as I waded through them. The garou backed off as we passed, most of them looking awed to my utter disgust.
"Ah-hahaha! Bvvvvvvroom! Bvvvvvvroom!" There was no stopping the corax. As the last zombie fell, the blade of the sword arced a giant lightening bolt in to the thunderclouds above. They blazed blindingly white with a deafening crack like heaven was splitting open. Instantly the dusty remains of the zombies flared like lasers in to the clouds. The clouds roared, surged, and finally, unable to contain themselves, dissipated with a giant shock wave. We were left in the silence that followed with an overcast day in a totally mundane canyon.
"Whooooohoooooo!" Daedalus crowed.
"Did you just destroy the zombies with a light sabre?" Varel asked in awed tones.
"Yes I did!" the raven gloated. "I totally just saved all you guys' asses!"
I gave my head a violent shake. (GET OFF MY FACE!) I snarled. The bird squawked indignantly as he was flung off, but quickly recovered and flew safely to the ground, leaving the ropes tied around my head.
"Thanks for the ride, Katie!" he called. He gave me a wink, and I swear he grinned, despite being beaked. I stormed towards the rubble.
(ZACH!) The conversation being carried out in the background drifted over.
"There were about two thousand of them!"
"There were not. There were about four hundred at most."
"She said last night the traditional name was 'Valley of Five Thousand Dead"
"That was so awesome, when you came over the hill riding on that roaring dinosaur..."
"I'd say there was about two thousand... it was full, and look at how big it is..."
(ZACH!)
(Kate! It's okay! I'm okay,) the chameleon appeared out of nowhere. He glanced at the footprint-shaped bruises on my nose and the ropes tied around my head. (What happened to you?)
(Don't ask. Can you please get this rope off me?)
"Zach! Did you see that? I totally just killed ten thousand zombies with a lightsabre from God!" I was crouching with my chin on the ground so that Zach could remove the massive tangle of rope. "With Kate's help," the bird hastily added, catching my eye.
"I think you better fly away before I finish here, Nines," Zach remarked.
I related my version of the events to Zach in our private language while we dug Max out of the avalanche. The garou was alive and healing despite being trapped. My bruises had all healed but I was still feeling furious and disinclined to rejoin mammalian classification. However, I had spent a lot of energy and was getting hungry. Too lazy to hunt and not trusting prey in a cursed environment anyway, I opted to be a not-so-terrible lizard. The garou, having healed their numbers, were ready to leave the canyon.
(Do you have any food?) I asked Zach.
"Not here," he replied.
(Are you wounded?)
"I wasn't doing very well for a while after that rockfall, but now I think I'm okay."
"Oh." The garou were taking their most impressive supernatural forms to climb back out of the canyon via the cliff face. It was very steep. (Can you give me a lift up the cliff?)
"You don't want to ask Daedalus?" Zach teased. I sighed, and the chameleon laughed. "For a thing without lips, you are doing a wonderful job of pouting. Yes, I can give you a lift."
The consensus of the group was that hiking to get out and away was far preferable to camping anywhere near the town. The hour grew late and then early. I needed my dinosaur to keep up with the wolves, but I was running very low on fuel and needed a lot to keep going. I made no objections when we finally decided to camp. As I fell asleep in my tree I watched the waning moon between the branches. Not long now.