Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to whomever really owns it. Though I am too lazy to point out who those people are, they know who they are.
Chapter 10
Thinner Than Blood
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
And then Lavok consumed Valygar, rejuvenated his power to the point of godhood, killed everybody but Boo who he made the personal overseer of Planar Sphere Travels, which caters to the vacation needs of the rich and famous, but he soon got tired of that and decided to destroy the world by introducing quickly made and cheap food that would clog the arteries of a dragon and he lived happily ever after.
Until one day Boo overthrew him by eating his eyes out and making Faerûn the personal playground of Miniature Giant Space Hamsters everywhere.
THE END
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Yeah… no really…
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"Ey, didja know tha big ball be back?"
"Ey, didja know that ya still be a twat?"
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"Save me, young blood, you must save me!"
Though the desperate words were shouted directly into his face, to Valygar they were nothing more than a distant echo.
Lavok prepared to sink his fingers deeper into his descendant's throat, each bloody millilitre rejuvenating him like a drug addict getting his fix… and Valygar did nothing to prevent it as he prepared to give in. Surprisingly his last thoughts were not about the betrayal of the necromancer who was killing him since the unforgiving vein of his heart was more or less expecting it… but on the inconsequential detail that one of his ancestor's eyes was slightly bigger than the other.
Just like his…
… Exactly like his…
And right before the horrified expressions of the others, he began to fade. It happened all too soon, less than a flash of a second glance and he was like evaporating rain… a tear lost and ignored in the belly of the river.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
She was constantly shivering, not from the chill that touched every part of her nakedness but from the flow of blood travelling her veins in an unending cycle.
It was a strange dream.
So different. Her consciousness was still foggy but from the only images she could recall, and even those were fleeting, her memories were like pictures discarded too fast for her to register what they were. Yet she recognized enough that the place she walked through now was strange, everything from the colours to the sounds and smells.
The ground was… harder.
The scent… danker.
The world… colder.
Her… hands? They hurt still, the blood on the cuts slowly congealing despite the steady red trail behind her.
When she had first opened her eyes, she screamed. Everything was… wrong, malformed, disfigured and grotesque.
She hated it… and she fought it with her fists. It did not matter that it hurt, that skin broke, that a red mist formed in front of her vision because eventually it all began to numb. She did not know where the anger came from, she just knew that it was all she had, all that was pent up and all that she came from.
She fought and fought and fought and struck and struck and struck… until finally the deformed world shattered into hundreds of glittering pieces and revealed behind its distorted curtain a world more familiar and yet so alien at the same time.
She did not care though. It was clear at least.
Now she had no idea where she was going… truthfully she was pondering how her legs knew how to work themselves. But she was leaving that place of ugliness and that was enough for her.
… At least until that place decided to follow her.
She gasped, halting to lean against the clammy wall and clutching her head as the pain lanced through her mind.
Not pain... worse than pain…
"… the sentence has been judged and passed…"
"… heheheh, I thought you too serious to create such a beautiful poem. I'm glad you've proven me wrong… "
"… not understand, do you? No, you could never comprehend, not since…"
"… Halt! You are to cease your actions at o-AAAUGGHH!"
"… love me…?"
"… I SHALL HAVE IT…!"
"… ever love me…?"
"… Hekhekhekhekhek…"
"… you ever love me…?"
"… must listen to us, he's dangerous! You cannot let your emotions…"
"… did you ever love me…?"
"… I…"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" she screamed, shattering the flow of images.
Yet the shards continued piercing her vision until finally with sweaty hair and teary eyes, she slammed her head hard against the wall letting merciful blackness caress her into a moment's oblivion.
Before she threw herself completely into the embrace of unconsciousness, a distraught thought of disbelief that may have been imagination or madness… her voice was not alone. Her scream had echoed like another voice.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"Evil old man, taste the furious steel of Minsc and Boo!"
THWACK!
There was a violent tugging in Valygar's throat and the constricting force was quickly replaced with a ballooning relief. Gasping furiously, a refreshing rush of air circulated back into his lungs… and his vision cleared enough to take in the angry profile of a big bald man.
Minsc stood like a pillar before him as Ancan and Reyna quickly rushed in to catch Valygar as he collapsed, the stalker obviously disoriented and unwary of the blood that leaked from his neck. Minsc had sent the necromancer sailing up and over the control panel and smack right against the giant machine.
Pan and the Cowled Wizards winced, hoping that Lavok's repeat performance of flying into the machine would not jump the sphere again. Fortunately it did not. Jaheira, Onvo and Yoshimo warily made their way towards the crumpled body while Pan and the Cowled Wizards looked on.
"Unghh," Valygar groaned, tenderly touching the wounds.
Reyna kept him from probing further, "Here, allow me," and taking off her gauntlets she gently examined the gouges, "Dear sir, what did you say?" though it seemed as if she were talking to herself instead.
Even though Valygar's throat felt like it was on fire he only did not answer because it was his head that ached worse. He squeezed his eyes shut as the spinning of the room did little to appease his nausea.
He had thought he was wrong about Lavok that perhaps behind the stories and the curse there was still some semblance of a soul in his ancestor… instead he was proven right all along about the misery that plagued his family. He was right and he still felt just as lost as ever…
"What's happened?" she asked unheard by Valygar as the others were more preoccupied with the necromancer who was not moving.
"Well," Teos began, "He did say that he wanted to die beneath Amnish skies…"
"… Grrr… I won't… I… I can't…!"
To Teos and the other's shock, Lavok suddenly sprang back up on his feet, fists clenched, eyes as black as shadows and no evidence on his body that a two-handed sword just hacked him through the air.
"Eh, what is this? Did I not whack you mightily with this great sword?" Minsc questioned confusedly.
"RRAUUGH!"
To their surprise and dismay, Lavok screamed terribly with rage, an invisible force throwing them off their feet and sending bodies crashing away.
"RRAAAUUUGGHH!"
"I thought he's supposed to be dying!" Yoshimo cried out, holding up one arm to shield his face from the raw power that roared and twisted from the necromancer, "Dying people shouldn't be able to do this!"
Incredible whipping winds churned throughout the room, the force so great that people had to struggle to remain upright. The black robed figure, screaming so powerfully that his voice echoed and thundered like a full chorus of war drums and stampeding elephants, was a stark contrast to the ancient man he portrayed just moments before.
"My… blood!" Valygar managed hoarsely, his voice barely heard, "He's strengthened… from what he took!"
"RRAAAAAUUUGGHHH!!!"
"You fool Corthala!" Teos shouted, "How much did you give him? Everything but your spit!?"
Suddenly the screaming and forceful winds stopped like a closed door on a stormy day though the dead calm that descended was just as unnerving.
Lavok stood in front of the giant machine, his tattered black robe lazily floating and drifting, a testament to the immense power quietly emanating from him. The necromancer appeared the same, old and frail. But the difference lay in that somehow he did not look as ready to break, his skin a more shadowy ink, the cracked flesh a deeper red, his tattooed face practically glowing and his aura a little more sinister.
He was staring at his open palms as if he too could not believe his own rejuvenation. He did not notice that everyone warily began drawing out their weapons and muttering enchantments. Perhaps he did not even care.
"Un… unbelievable. I'd… forgotten this feeling… this power of life flowing through my veins…"
"Is that what you call it?" Valygar said faintly though disgustedly, "You died a long time ago, Lavok. You're just a shell, only lasting this long on stolen lives."
The necromancer chuckled, a mixture of desperation and madness, "Heheheh… you forget, all the family's lives belong to me. I am the forefather… you only exist because of me! I'm only taking from the herd… like breeding cattle, I choose amongst you whose meat I dine on."
Valygar's already fragile breath halted.
"Monster," Jaheira muttered.
Lavok continued on, looking the stalker dead in the eye, pitiless, "Like fine wine you are, young blood, I've not tasted such an exquisite blend of stock in a while. Did someone in the past replenish our line with a thoroughbred, a pedigree of some noble descent?"
"… We're your family, you bastard… how could you do this to us?"
He shrugged, "If I gave you enough time, you'd realize that what I've done is… understandable."
"Are you that insane? I'll never comprehend what could drive you to destroy your own blood like this!"
"Drive me?" a predatory grin growing on the necromancer's face, "You… don't know?"
"…Know what?" Please don't answer, please… I don't want to know…
"Ach, another bloody history lesson," Korgan groaned.
"Hahahaha!" the humour in Lavok's laugh as warm as dead fish, "Oh, truly the family has lost its way if it's as ignorant about our record than these mortals. Did you think I was the first to defile those who hold our name?"
"The first…?"
"Centuries ago I was like you, young blood. I bled, I fought, I quested and I desired to fulfill the oath of my family… by destroying my ancestor who stalked those of our house. It's… it's tradition, young blood! Hahahahaha! Admittedly, he slew members of our family, not to replenish his life but out of a long forgotten vendetta. Yet wouldn't you say the principle is the same, that to give meaning to our lives we must hunt those from our lives? Oh, but the story is far more impressive than that… for before him was another mad ancestor… and before that one, another and before that, another! …Young blood… we survive by destroying ourselves."
Right then, Valygar felt as if filth coursed his body.
"Our line should have been wiped out long ago from within but we have proven to be a strong folk… only a family as powerful as ours could survive the millennia of betrayal, death and hate. And no, young blood, not for nothing do we consume one another. You know why, you've felt it the minute you stepped into the sphere… we are all the same. Our blood, the proverbial embodiment of strength, has been separated amongst the children over centuries, growing thinner and weaker, constantly being divided and it cannot stand how far it has fallen. The fallen lifeline's silent pleas to be reunited is our calling… for every crimson drop that falls back into the well... it… it's a drug… a sweet, intoxicating drug that makes us stronger with every soul we take," Lavok's face distantly contemplative, "Perhaps we are of an alien lineage… or it's just our damned luck… Hahahahaha… Does that not give you a feeling of pride? Does that not give you a sense of history? We are destined to continue the legacy… as either the eater or the eaten."
He looked at the stalker whose features slowly became more and more distraught. Lavok found his descendant's discomfort amusing, a sadistic smile plastered on like he was the type of person who enjoyed telling children that their parents were dead and rotting in their beds.
The emotional turmoil always made the blood sweeter…
"… I've always hated who I am."
Lavok's smile broadened.
Valygar continued, his distress replaced with resolve hardening like cement, "I never knew why. I thought something was wrong with me, that perhaps I was adopted… I wish I truly was. The pride I felt in being a Corthala was stripped away long before you and I came face to face. But even if I am ashamed, when people ask my name, I tell them, 'Valygar Corthala.' That is the name I was given when I was born. It is the name I grew up with and I kept it Lavok… I kept it because I will not let a name tell me who I am, least of all, not from you. I… am not… you."
Though the necromancer did not appear to mind the stalker's dismissal of his own heritage, the delight he was feeling was quickly overrun with a salivating desire.
"A pity. But perhaps then, you wouldn't mind if I just use your life for myself?" he asked candidly, slowly producing a grey mist between his hands.
Much to Valygar's surprise, Jaheira, Minsc and the Solamnic Knights stepped up resolutely standing beside him. The Cowled Wizards just rolled their eyes… and Pan seemed more fascinated with sniffing her own fingers.
"I assure you, you will have a very difficult time trying to get through us," Reyna warned, her longsword drawn and ready for battle.
"What're you all doing?" Valygar muttered to Jaheira.
The druid answered, her shield and scimitar held in the ready, "Being mature about the situation," her tone clipped, "This was to happen inevitably… what can one expect from another whose only purpose is to disturb the natural order?"
The stalker was confused by her words but he remained beside her, katanas drawn and gratefulness and humility being pushed aside by pride.
"I hope you know that we don't really have a problem with you wanting to kill your own kin," Teos called out, he and the other Cowled Wizards standing to the side.
"Bloody wizards." "Bloody wizards."
Jaheira and Valygar looked at each other with small grins of agreement. However their attention was recaptured by the necromancer, his arms raised above his head and the ball of grey mist more than tripled in size.
"I think you will find," Lavok intoned, his voice gaining depth and volume, "that I don't concern myself with distinctions."
WHOOOMMMM!
Shooting out like expanding ripples, the grey mist descended and sped across the floor faster than anybody could react. A few tried hopping to avoid being touched but none of them seemed to be affected, the wispy vapours passing by harmlessly before disappearing through the walls. They all looked at the necromancer whose smile was definitely unfriendly.
"Is that the extent of your powers? Surely even you should know that it will take more than illusions to defeat us," Jaheira mocked.
"That is not so impressive, I could make special effects too… if I concentrated reeaaaaaally hard," Pan observed, "... or if I had a bar of soap and a pinch of bellybutton lint."
However Lavok was not put off their unimpressed looks, "Heheheheh… mortals. Mere mortals, all of you, unable to comprehend the power one can seize over all that governs the laws of existence. Where my descendent has given me the ecstasy of life… I shall show you the power of death."
Their looks of puzzlement, of unconcern, of boredom and of dismissal were quickly replaced with horror when the true consequences of his spell reared forth on stumbling limbs and hungry mindlessness.
"AAAAGgggglh…!"
A dying scream that ended in a wet gurgle caught everyone's attention.
The two Cowled Wizards that had accompanied Tolgerias but were slain by Ancan and Reyna were no longer cold corpses… they were now ravenous walking cold corpses.
No one had bothered moving their bodies and a mage who was in Teos' company was unfortunate enough to be the warmest being closest to their newly awakened state. Silently they had rose up, their mortal wounds having no affect on their motor skills as they grabbed the unfortunately surprised wizard and bit greedily into his throat and arm, the other Cowled Wizards running back in fear. They tore through his flesh as easily as cooked meat, red rivers of blood pouring out like an uncorked wine barrel, the moans of the dead and dying as one.
"Ggghll…!"
"Mmnnuuhhh!"
All those with a pulse stood in a moment of shock and disgust, helplessly watching the gruesome scene unfold in gory detail before their very eyes before one of them quickly acted.
FFFFFFSSSHHHHHZZZZZ!!!
A cone of intense flame like dragon's breath enveloped the feasting undead and their victim, quickly torching and cremating the bodies in just a few seconds. All that was left were black bones and ash.
Angrily, Teos whirled on Lavok the flames fading from his palms, "Idiot! Do you realize that you've brought the wrath of the Cowled Wizards down on your head!? You can't just kill our mages like that, they're horribly pricey to train!"
Note to self, Pan thought, purchase Cowled Wizard only on discount.
Teos swung his arms over his head viciously shooting forth five head-sized globes of violet energy, his remaining mages also rattling out their own magical spells. A wall of flame, beams of energy of various size and colour, thirteen conjured daggers and a miniature cloud of green hue descended on the necromancer.
Shhwwoooomm!
The others cursed as they scrambled out of the way to avoid the incoming projectiles, the Cowled Wizards not caring if anyone got caught in the middle. In seconds the spells converged onto the lone figure of Lavok, their combined powers exploding on contact in a flash of blinding light and a bang of flame and dust.
BHHHAAAMM!!
"…"
"…"
"… Heheheh… mortals…"
Jaheira called out across to Teos, "Can't you wizards do anything right?"
"Shut up, druid."
Despite the amount of power behind the bombardment of magical spells, Lavok remained standing though now encased within the silvery sheen of a grey globe. The shield shimmered like cooking oil, the grinning visage of the necromancer interchanging between visible and then covered by metallic energy.
The Cowled Wizards growled in frustration, none at all pleased that their attack did nothing but provide amusement to Lavok who quickly retaliated with his own magical arsenal.
In a display of his frightening power the necromancer made clawing motions with his hands and before anyone could attack, they were halted by the floor rumbling, quickly followed by a ferocious snapping sound like a building being hewn to pieces.
KEK- - CRAACK!!!
… A comparison not too far from truth. More than one of them stared in open-mouthed shock as an invisible force tore one of the immense columns from the left side of the room, the mass of marble hovering horizontally above the floor like some disembodied black horn. The sheer size of it stretched horizontally halfway across the room so the idea that it was floating above the ground seemed ridiculous yet Lavok levitated it up with as much ease as blowing dust off his shoulder.
"… He… he's not supposed to do that either…" the dismay clear in Yoshimo's voice.
"…"
Swwwooommmm!!!
Barely leaving enough time to react the necromancer swept his arms to the side. Like a puppet on strings, the massive marble column flew across the room, flying low near the floor. It sped onwards with the same brutality as tree being swung by a giant. Yells and screams abounded as people tried desperately to avoid being smashed by the makeshift bulldozing mass of marble.
"Homerun! Homeruuuuunnn!" Pan shrieked, diving low and barely avoiding getting smeared.
Some ran to the sides of the room to avoid its reach while a few brave souls threw themselves to the ground, flattening themselves as the column flew perilously overhead, bare inches from grinding their bodies into paste…
In their haste to avoid the giant projectile, none of the Cowled Wizards bothered to assist the prisoners. Glorcia, Madeen and Tolgerias struggled with their restrained bodies to fall to the floor. Two of them succeeded.
SPLUNK!
With her mouth gagged, Glorcia could only afford a terrified realization in her eyes that she was going to die before the flying stone column smashed into her, its velocity ripping her from the floor in a spray of blood and flattening her body like a squashed insect as it torpedoed its way into demolishing itself against one side of the room.
BBHHLLAAAAUUUMMMAAAKHRAAAKKKK!!!
It was like the ball had dropped. The ground shook with the same force if the earth was being torn apart and the echo of destruction thundered long and deafeningly. Dust exploded outwards, a sandstorm of pebbles and loose stone that covered the entire room and everybody else in a fine shower of dark grey and black powder. The force of impact blew people back and a few cried in pain from being struck by ricocheting shrapnel.
Nearly the entire right side of the room was a mess of broken marble and collapsed stone, looking like the poster child for the aftermath of dropping buildings down from the sky. The staircase had been completely demolished with only a few steps left hanging, the rest buried alongside Glorcia's body underneath a veritable landslide of wreckage. The grey stone wall miraculously remained standing and at first seemed undamaged except for the column-sized indentation where it was struck and now packed-full of rubble. Long cracks formed from the bottom, spreading all over the wall as if it were thin ice breaking.
Loud coughing could be heard all over the room as well as some colourful cursing. With Valygar too weak to stand up he wasted no energy in trying to avoid the column, wisely choosing to remain on the floor instead. He looked around and noticed that except for Glorcia, everyone else was relatively unharmed… including Lavok.
However, despite the lack of damage suffered, the necromancer was visibly shaking, the strain of controlling the sheer mass of marble too much for him, "Heh… heh… still weak… need more…"
The stalker was not amused as he stood up on unsteady legs, "You'll gain nothing more from me."
"Your cowardly lust for life has only sealed the judgement, necromancer," Jaheira declared from near the column remains, her scimitar and shield indicating her seriousness, "The destruction you're capable of is further evidence of your madness and total disregard for the world around you. Your power will be restrained permanently before the day is done."
"I'm glad we all finally agree on something, that old man really needs to die," Teos seethed angrily as he stepped up flinging a lighting bolt at the necromancer.
Like everybody else the Cowled Wizards were covered with a layer of dust but they still threw their spells at Lavok. Pan also tossed a salvo of magic missiles at the necromancer but once again he cast the silvery globe over himself.
"Rrgh!" this time his face noticeably strained as he concentrated on getting the shield to absorb the damage.
The knights and Minsc, seeing the ineffectiveness of the magical assault prepared to charge in with blades swinging. Jaheira was muttering a quick prayer to Silvanus to boost her strength while Yoshimo slunk off to the side to get in close enough for the kill without being noticed.
Like vultures on scrap meat, the assembled forces would overwhelm the necromancer striking on all sides and ending his life once and for all.
That was the initial scenario… so it was with disconcertion that a few of them noticed how the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end and an unexplained anxiety rapidly fermented in the pit of their stomachs.
"… uuuhhh…"
No denying it, the groaning that drifted like a figment of imagination clearly got louder.
Davish was close to the entrance and he was the first to notice the new arrivals shuffle in. The ever stoic big mage only raised one eyebrow seeing that one of them was familiar to him.
"… Mmnnuuuhh… big-hghg… mee-ghghg-eaat…"
Even in death, though his neck was angled like a bent straw and most of his internal organs were trailing at his feet through the giant tear in his stomach, Togan was adamant in eating Davish
The Cowled Wizard had no intention of satisfying anyone's hunger, "… I told you to stop picking on me," and the big mage aimed the fireball he had conjured for Lavok at the doorway.
Fwwwoooommm- - - BHOOMMM!!
There were no screams of terror or pain, only the moans of nothing as Togan and a few other halflings collapsed in burning heaps of ash and bone.
Davish gave a small nod of satisfaction, making to turn his attentions back on Lavok… then he did a double take. Shuffling their way past the blackened remains of Togan poured in the rest of the Jidja tribe of Darksun halflings.
All still dead. But all still clearly vicious little peckers.
The unholy chorus of undead moaning wailed pitifully from those halflings who still retained their vocal chords. It was a mortician's worst nightmare and a necromancer's wet dream, the scale and variety of death walking with mortal wounds visible as badges of honour. They moved with the awkwardness and stiffness of joints and limbs filled with congealed blood, their instincts driving only the necessary motor functions to get them to where the food is.
"Uuuoooghhh…"
The ravaged small bodies had risen from their mutilated state in order to satisfy their original goal… a hearty dinner of flesh with a side order of more flesh. Apparently even death could not keep the resilient halflings from satisfying their craving for food.
"Fools! Can you not see the desperation you've sunk me to? If I must use death to avoid death, so be it!" Lavok shrieked before he swept his arms across, solidifying the shimmering globe into a metallic surface.
The Cowled Wizards threw their magic against the shield but the effort was futile as their spells merely ricocheted off. Before they could intensify their attack, the horde of undead halflings pouring through the entrance forced the people to retreat further into the room.
"Rrrruuuuuuuhhhhh…"
Though not enough time had passed for rot to set in there was still a faint stench of decay wafting from the stumbling corpses. They jerked and moaned, they grabbed forward, they twitched and slowly gnashed their teeth. Despite their awkward movements, the Jidja tribe filled up nearly a quarter of the room quickly.
"Where's a bloody cleric when ye need one?"
A few could be spotted crawling on the floor, their lower half missing and leaving red streaks marking their paths. There were missing body parts, open wounds revealing inner organs, hands that still clutched weapons in a stiffened grip, hanging eyeballs, bones protruding through flesh. Some were already chewing on severed limbs, one looking suspiciously like it might have once belonged to Tolgerias.
More were still shuffling in.
"Nnnnnggggaaaaahhhhh…"
The sight of so many undead was unnerving, a few Cowled Wizards flattening themselves against the opposite wall in fear. Everyone was paralyzed with disbelief at the unemotional hunger that stalked towards them promising horror and nightmares before a bloody death.
"Aaaauuuunnnggghhh…"
The dead got closer.
"… Eeeeee… eeewwww! Gross!" Pan panicked, a swift movement of her hands spewing out a Cone of Cold, freezing a few undead halflings in place.
Like the start of a race, those still living sprang into action, desperately and fearfully cutting down the reawakened horde.
"Fall back unholy vassals of evil!"
"Blood 'n' glory, now ye'll really die when I be done wi' ye!"
"You shall not plague this world with your unnaturalness!"
"No mindless servant of Lavok shall deter me!"
"&(!$#& you &#$ $#&!"
"No eyes this time Boo, they've spoiled!"
"Diediediediediediediediediediedie… again!"
"Cowled Wizards, everything you've got left!" Teos commanded.
Those with weapons met the oncoming masses of dead flesh, moving quickly and swinging fiercely. Still tired from the confrontation with Lavok, the Cowled Wizards nonetheless put forth every spell they still had the energy to remember and cast.
BHOOOMMM!
SHPLACK!
SCRLLOOOOMMM!
FFFSSZZZZZZZ!
Magic sizzled viciously overhead the frontline fighters, striking, piercing, exploding, transfiguring, melting, disintegrating and destroying the undead in a fireworks display of lights and sound.
More came.
HACK!
THWACK!
SPLANK!
SHLAT!
The knights were at the forefront, fearlessly cutting down anything that resembled a corpse, Minsc beside them hollering with excitement. Jaheira and Valygar held the sides, striking down any zombies who managed to avoid the frontline juggernauts. Knowing that in order to take down the undead bodies he needed to deal more damage than his arrows could ever do, Yoshimo settled with darting in with vicious attacks only to quickly retreat and appear in an entirely new location.
More came.
SHPLANG!
Her powers of a druid practically useless in the confines of the sphere Jaheira focussed on a purely physical confrontation, her scimitar a hacking blur, her shield providing a barrier that allowed her in close enough to decapitate halfling after halfling.
More came.
"Aaa!"
SCHWISH!
Though Valygar's form was a twirling whirl, he was still weakened enough that he could only hold his own for brief periods, his swordsmanship sloppy despite hewing limbs like the heads off daisies.
More came.
Tcheeeewwww---KHLOOOM!
SCHPLAT!
A fine sheet of sweat was the only indication of strain on Teos' otherwise impassive face, the magic he conjured against the undead horde easily the mightiest amongst the mages. Dozens were obliterated just by a few of the spells he cast, torrential rains of acid reducing the walking corpses into fleshy puddles of goo, cloudy figures of large felines stalking amidst the zombies and ripping bodies apart like wet bread, and small whirling tornadoes of blades slicing and dicing and puréeing cadavers into a confetti of organs and twitchy limbs.
More came.
"RRAAUGH!"
GLUNK! SCHPEW!
Korgan had entered into a ferocious frenzy, mindlessly wading deep into the left flank and devastating the ranks of undead with brutal swipes of his battleaxe. The red runes throbbed intensely with each bite into a body, the axe practically enjoying the carnage as much as its proud new owner. The battlerager had become a juggernaut, unstoppable and untouchable in his element, and so he was quite offended when a rather disrespectful walking corpse laid its hand on his shoulder. Not one to allow such a transgression, Korgan swept his battleaxe upwards cleanly cleaving from crotch through to the top of its head.
SHHGLLLI-iippp!
More came.
"Take that! And that!"
Bok! Bok!
Pieces of stone had flown into the heads of the forefront mass of undead, who strangely enough paused to stare blankly at where the offending projectiles originated from.
"Aaaaaand that!"
Bok!
"… Uuuuuuhhhh…"
"For Silvanus's sanity, Pan, stop throwing rocks!"
The alchemist stopped scrambling along the floor picking up debris, looking up at Jaheira incredulously, "But… are we not fighting for our lives?"
The druid stepped quickly to the side and slashed down, severing both arms of a halfling without a lower jaw.
SHLUNK!
"Exactly! Those rocks aren't helping us any better than me wasting energy talking sense to you!"
"Hargh!"
SCHKLRIP!
Valygar appeared, hacking open the chest of a zombie before going back to back with Jaheira, taking the moment to catch his breath, "What's wrong with you, fool mage!? Cast a fireball or something!"
Pan had resumed examining choice rocks to throw, tossing aside one particularly small piece before answering back, "Nuh-uh. I am saving that spell for later."
The stalker could only stare slack-jawed at the alchemist before Jaheira forced him to duck as she plunged her scimitar into the face of an undead halfling who had gotten close enough to take a bite out of him.
STHWIGK!
Jaheira rounded furiously back to Pan, "When could we possibly need your magic more than now?"
Like all ironies of chaotic battles, the druid was promptly answered.
"… sss-S-SS-SSSHHCUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH…"
Pan gulped nervously, "Eee… like now."
"Of course," Jaheira muttered as she turned to face the new threat, "isn't it always like this?"
Out of the darkness of the entrance, one bone exposed claw appeared grasping the circular frame. Flesh hung loose and muscles were exposed on a ravaged chest that emerged slowly, the light revealing little by little the remains of Tolgerias's summoned demon.
The Jidja had thoroughly decimated the demon. Three of its arms were missing, its stomach torn open like a hellish blooming flower and all its intestines missing leaving a clear view of its black spine. One of its cheeks was nothing but a hole and half a tongue was lolling out of its mouth.
"SSS-SSHCUUHHH…!"
When once it butchered and feasted on halflings, now its basic instincts preferred something a bit more live. It waded through the undead halfing horde, bumping a few of them who did not notice, all continuing forward towards the beleaguered group. Its legs, once hugely muscled, were nothing but bones and not even a ligament was left. Each step it took clacked… yet it was still able to stumble forward.
"That doesn't make sense! It's not of this plane, it shouldn't be raised!" Teos yelled incredulously.
"Who cares!? Barbequuuuuuue!" Pan cried out before launching into the fireball spell she had been saving.
"Wha-oh!"
hh-HHH-HFFFF!
Those still with the living ability to preserve themselves scrambled out of the trajectory of a massive ball of flame and molten steadily growing in front of Pan's palms. The entire group retreated behind the young half-elf, all staring wide-eyed at the largely irregular sized fireball, throbbing and pulsing like it was a tumour of a spell.
HHHFFFFF!!!
"Omini-nnnggh-falu…!"
Even though the heat was intense enough that the others sweated a bit, the alchemist remained unharmed though her palms were an angry red as she strained to mutter the incantation. The light of the flames lit the area around Pan like a miniature sun, the dancing orange glow highlighting the unfocused gaze in her eye. The undead stumbled closer and closer, the dead demon lumbering near the front, a nightmare wave.
Pan grinned loosely before releasing her big burning ball of fire.
"Heeeeeeeee…"
FWOOOOOMM!
The fireball was particularly huge, nearly the size of the alchemist who pushed as much energy and concentration as she could into it.
Phhwwoo!
Undead halflings burned away to ash so quickly that even if they could scream there would not have been enough time to, the fireball leaving an instant charred path behind it. The burnt remains were like a charcoal hallway amidst the wall of walking corpses. Pan's aim was particularly good this time, the fireball dead centred on the demon's chest.
"SCHCUUU-!"
BHHOOOMMM!
The flash of heat and light momentarily blinded the group as the fire engulfed and spread in an explosion of cloud-like fire. Most of the walking dead were knocked off their feet and smoke and still hot ash swept across the room. The immediate area around the demon erupted into a violent maelstrom of magma and flame, the undead halflings incinerated instantly.
But most of their intention was wide-eyed focus on what approached and they prayed… one more focussed than the others. The only other one who could offer any semblance of rational thought was Teos, cursing the day Pan ever learned to play with fire.
The sheer size of the fireball caused an explosion far more powerful than any they had encountered. It was deafening, it was silent. In a split second they would all perish beneath the uncontrollable blast. The rushing sweep of the fiery cloud bore down on them with raging speed and more than a few cried out in pain as fires scorched their skin. The heat boiled… and a few imagined a relieving coolness before the darkness…
Whheeeww- FWUUMMP!
"Ga-!"
"Da-!'
"Bwah!?"
"Eeeeep!"
Thump!Thump!Th-Thu-ump!
It was not the blast of the fireball but a powerful wind that beat the rushing flames and tossed the entire group off their feet and sending them flying far beyond the reach of a burning end. The cloud of fire crushed down where they had previously stood, a giant claw missing its grab and scorching the floor.
Onvo looked up from where he lay, his helmet askew covering half his face, "What the !#$ #(Q# of #& $ horses $&#(!# was that?"
The bewildered group looked around having no clue as to what just saved them. Pan, whose face was smeared with ash, looked up at Jaheira shakily standing up, a blue light fading from the druid's eyes.
"… That was making sure we don't pay for another foolish action," an unfathomable but hard look centered on the alchemist.
Pan gulped, turning her head down, unable to face Jaheira's gaze.
The others shrugged, thankful for the druid's quick thinking wind summoning. They returned their attentions back to the results of Pan's spectacular, if not life-threatening, 'barbeque.'
The roar of the blast died away like fading thunder…
The ash and smoke slowly cleared revealing a ruin of dying embers and smouldering halfling remains…
… And one slightly burnt but still standing and very hungry, undead demon.
"SHCUUUUHHHH…!"
"…"
"…"
Disbelief.
"&!#$!!"
"Dirty as the buttocks of evil," Minsc disapproved of Onvo while covering Boo's ears with two fingers.
"I'm no expert on undead fiends… but I'm utterly positive it shouldn't have its diabolical protections to go along with its own seemingly impossible reanimation," Teos remarked calmly despite the slight shakiness in his hands.
"Wha-?" Pan could barely stand up, let alone register what the ruby-robed wizard said, most of her energy having flown away with the fireball, "Oh, phooey."
"What's it waiting for?" a Cowled Wizard observed as the group slowly got back to its feet.
Strangely despite its earlier rush the undead demon now made no further advancement, its seemingly sightless gaze examining the group like they were a buffet. It swayed its head back and forth to an rhythm unheard by the group, unmindful of the few tiny flames that slowly died away on what was left of its black fur.
Not wasting time to ponder its hesitation, those with their wits still about them prepared to assault the undead beast. They were still spread out from one another and the inaction of the fiend left the need to regroup an unthought-of priority.
A fluttering of hope that they could win the day… disappeared faster than a slap to the face.
"!!!"
"GO-AAHHHH-DS!!"
The horrified scream whipped their attention to their backs in time to see one Cowled Wizard have his body ripped in half…
SGLRE-ECTCH!
…By the reanimated corpse of the Lavok possessing demon.
Disbelief crushed their thoughts, the much too sudden turn of events more than they could process.
"Nature preserve us," Jaheira mumbled fearfully.
Its chest was blown open for all to see and there were obvious incisions from Pan's earlier dissection of its carcass but still it stood tall, two halves of a man held in each clawless hand.
"…"
The group paid for its shocked immobility. In near perfect synchronization with each other, both the undead demons pounced upon the scattered group.
Bhum!
"SHCUUHH!"
"!!!"
"Aaaahhhh!"
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Where once hopelessness stained his every thought, rage had built itself up to flow over the damn of emotions churning his heart. It was all too much. Being hunted by greedy wizards, the crazy young mage, the trying druid, being kidnapped and bartered, the despicable dwarf, the constant accompaniment of magic users, the hell of the Sphere, the tragedy of the knights, the seemingly unending wave of butchering battle, the people who sought to rescue him and unknowingly got caught in the middle, the ancestor who shattered what was left of his own frail identity, it was all too much.
However, what hurt the most was the unimportance he felt branded with. Not to be the center of attention but the total lack of fault the others had placed on him. All the madness and sorrow is because of him and yet they dare, they dare still fight for him.
They fight for nothing… for there is nothing here for me but a debt. Not even a princess to rescue.
He could not remember why he fought on anymore and if he could not remember why, then why should they fight? Unworthy is what he is and unworthy would be their deaths.
A faint recollection came to the fore.
Mother?
He needed to end it now.
MOTHEEERRRR!
The collision of the events in just the past couple of days swelled frustration into a red vision window to the world…
This was probably why he failed to quickly register the undead black demon plunging its clawless fingers towards his chest.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Far more times than he was comfortable with, Valygar once again that day saw his death approach. Once again, he was unable to do anything about it.
Could I die now?
It was faster than he could react but he could still notice the inconsequential path the demon's hand took as it sped forwards to rip a hole through his body.
Should I die now?
"…"
"!!!"
The stalker would never remember seeing what happened in the split second it took for the strike to reach him. In one moment he saw only the featureless black demon head with its fried open chest and flinging small bits of charred flesh and gooey insides quivering…
… Then the next his vision was obstructed by a body in a full suit of armour.
PTHUNK!
"Unh!" Ancan grunted, his mouth already spilling blood.
The undead black demon punched through the elderly knight's armour and it held him there, its eyeless sight gazing into the defiance of the human. Viciously it whipped its hand out in a spray of blood and shoved him back into Valygar and sending the two crashing to the floor. A gaping hole was wrenched through the metal and the crimson fluids of Ancan's body were reflected in the light as it began to pool.
The stalker stared in shock into the old knight's clouding eyes.
"Ancan!" Reyna wailed desperately from somewhere as she scrambled for her fallen friend.
The demon wasted no time in continuing its assault against the two. Valygar was unable to defend themselves because both from Ancan's weight on him and the fear of aggravating the wound should he move him.
Quickly it reached them and it raised its bloody clawless hands to smash the stalker's skull.
However, a roar of rage interrupted the strike and another armoured body flung itself heedlessly against the undead demon causing it to stumble back. Onvo had seen his comrade's fall and the young knight cried his fury into the destructive swings of his sword as he hacked into the fiend.
So great was his sorrow and anger that his war cries were for once without cursing or even words, just only a long, tearful howl.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh-AAAHHHHHHH!"
Valygar stumbled stupefied to his knees as Reyna sobbed, carefully laying her old friend on his back. The stalker could not take his eyes away from the dying knight despite the battle going on.
"C-come now, old friend, you cannot die now," Reyna tried soothing despite the cries she wished to release, "After all we've been through, surely you wouldn't let this one fiend end your duties now?"
"Heh-urk… after a-all we've… been through, my duty sh-should have ended… ages ago."
Reyna grasped his withered hands. She whimpered in dismay at the coldness of his touch where once it had always been full of safe warmth.
"Please, Ancan…"
Valygar found his voice, "You… you… why? Why?"
Ancan's pale face looked up towards him, the blood he had coughed up strangely contrasting with the grim acceptance in his set mouth.
"My… my debt is paid. R-rather quickly, w-wouldn't you… say?" he chuckled though he mostly just gurgled more blood.
The stalker remained silent amidst the screams of fighting and the tears of a knight.
"Wh-what a grand knight… you would have made…" Ancan's voice grew dimmer, echoing the same words he said to Valygar earlier as he turned his last sight on Reyna, acceptance reluctantly dawning on her, "and… what a grand knight you… are…"
As the remaining undead halflings renewed mobbing the scattered group, as an angry Solamnic knight and an equally furious berserker continued to hack and parry with an undead black demon, as one undead summoned fiend clacked its way towards an exhausted alchemist and a frightened Cowled Wizard… a tired stalker witnessed an old knight die and his young commander cry.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
The undead halflings were upon them faster than their stumbling movements gestured. Teos had exhausted most of his spell repertoire and could only conjure himself light blue shimmering armour and an enchanted sword. His silver braid whipped back and forth as he fought off the rotting corpses.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
There were sounds of screams and battles. He was sure of it, it was all around him but there would be no more for the old man lying in front of him. The dead knight would never have to fight again.
I envy him.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Bif! Bwok!
Once again, Davish had resorted to using one of his massive fists to beat off any undead who came within reach, while at the same time shooting off blasts of energy with the other.
ZHOM!
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Step by step he moved further away from the grieving knight. She was unmindful of the danger that could eat her and that would be her own undoing he concluded. Surely the knight should know by now that soldiers die all the time. Friends die all the time.
… But are they supposed to die for me?
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Korgan crashed to the floor, a bloody gash on the side of his head where the undead black demon had struck. The berserker groaned, groggily shaking his noggin clear in time to see Onvo being choked and lifted high off his feet in the demon's tightening grip.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
A debt. All this… for a pitiful debt. A debt with no worth for what is the point if his entire family is nothing but patricidal, matricidal and filicidal. The Corthalas stand to eliminate one another. The debt is therefore moot. Is it not?
Is he who he thinks he is, who he has lived his entire life up until this point… or is he of his own, the family's, the necromancer's blood?
… The blood should end with him. After he is consumed, Lavok would have no one else to feed on. It would be the end of their curse.
Sacrifice…
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"Uh!" Minsc gasped in pain, his left arm hanging limply where one of the halfling had managed to bite in deep.
His one good arm was tiring from swinging the Sword of Chaos wildly, the two-handed weapon unwieldy without the proper handling. The ranger was alone amidst the largest mob of undead and they closed in mercilessly and hungrily.
"Run Boo, run! Don't let the nasty decay of evil have a taste of miniature giant space hamsters!"
The undead swarmed over the still fighting Rashemi.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Funny how despite all the chaos happening throughout the room, there was an odd peace about him as he walked. Or perhaps it is not peace but finality that he felt. Either way, there was nothing to challenge him as he approached closer and closer to his goal.
He would be free.
No more magic. No more past. No more stories.
No more.
Nothing is left for him after this. Let it end, let it end, let it end. Might as well get it over with.
His grip tightened on the weapon's handle.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"NO-AAAA!"
STHKRLUG!
Pan could only stare in wide-eyed horror as the undead fiend impaled the Cowled Wizard who cowered beside her, its bony claw skewering the mage from throat and chest and out his lower back. With ease it lifted its raw and still squirming wizard kebab into its jaws, munching through the body making squelching noises and spraying the alchemist in a shower of red mist.
"Ghulp!"
In the fog of her fear, Pan was utterly fascinated by the chewed remains of the wizard falling out of the undead demon's open stomach.
"Shcuuhhh…"
Unable to think of a spell or raise her shortsword, Pan could only whimper as the giant undead demon reached its dripping claw for her.
"… Phooey…"
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
He stood before the silvery sphere, its faint glow illuminating the emptiness of his face. As if detecting his presence the shield brightens, the shimmering mercury that would be his last sight of light.
"…Here I am."
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Pan screamed purely in fear as the boney claw grabbed her around the middle. The demon's massively butchered face gazed dully at her as it slowly brought her towards its mouth. Pieces of flesh and other unidentifiable matter dripped from its mouth, the peeled flesh and exposed bone gnashing and drooling.
She beat her fists futilely against the bone. She wriggled and squirmed trying to get out of the iron grip. She cried and screamed.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"Tell your filthy dead to leave the others, Lavok. You can have me. I… I don't care anymore."
At first, no response.
Then the shield's light dulled.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"Jaheira!" the alchemist cried, "Help! He is going to eat me!"
"Pan! Pan!" Jaheira shouted back fearfully, desperately trying to hack through the halflings who blocked her path.
Yet they were too many and she could not break through them fast enough. She could only watch with a failing heart as the undead fiend prepared to feed upon her young charge.
"My chiiild!" Jaheira wailed.
The druid could do nothing more.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
As the shield dissipated before him, he gathered his last thoughts.
It would have all inevitably ended this way sooner or later. At least this way, he could preserve whatever dead shred of… dignity? Honour? …Whatever it was he had left.
Of all his regrets he would at least wished to have known that one thing that had eluded him all his life though.
It would have been nice if the stories were true.
It would have been nice to rescue the princess.
It would have been… nice…
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Yoshimo lost his composure slightly, he was no closer to Pan than Jaheira as a sizeable crowd of undead halted him from moving any further.
"This is all going so wrong," the urgency in his mumbled voice the only evidence of panic, as he carefully levelled his katana horizontally.
Even as the halflings stumbled closer already making grabs for him, the bounty hunter flung his weapon as hard as he could, "Hiii-YA!"
Yoshimo watched, now defenceless and surrounded by hungry undead, as his katana flew straight and true piercing into the head of the demon.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
It will be all over soon.
Mother? MOTHEERRR!
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Her hope shrivelled up and died before it could blossom. Yoshimo's katana did nothing to stop the undead demon but cause it to shake its head slightly in irritation.
Tears flowed freely down Pan's dirty face as the jaws grew larger and larger the closer she got. The demon cruelly could not comprehend her whimpers.
I do not want to die. I do not want to die. I do not want to die.
The thought echoed rapidly.
IdonotwanttodieIdonotwanttodieIdonotwanttodie… I do not want to die. I do not.
It awoke. What she could not identify reared up and flooded her soul.
Bones, bones, so many bones, a sea of bones, so painful so painful, stiiiiiill swimming, always swimming and swimming and climbing and climbing and swimming and god skull and god skull and screaming and screaming and lovely soooooo lovely so lovely lovely lovely, lovelylovelylovely, make it sorry so sorry cannot stop so sorry flying wolf, flying wolf, flying wolf, blood and blood and always climbing the god skull and swimming the bone sea and always there and feel so good feels soooo good and oh, goooood and dance and cut and dance and cut cut cut bleed bleed and dance, mix Teal root, manticore venom and copper and love the screammmmming and the bleeeeeeeding and killitkillitkillitKILLITKILLITKILLKILLKILLKILLMURDERMURDERMURDER!
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
The stalker looked upon the necromancer and the necromancer looked upon the stalker.
One expressionless, the other smiling.
A step towards each other.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Horrible anger bled radiantly from Pan.
"I do not want to die! I am going to KILL YOU!"
The alchemist's defiant roar echoed and thundered the room and, perhaps by the trick of the light, the undead demon quailed slightly.
Its claws shook as malevolent energy seeped through Pan, her brown eyes glowing brighter and darkening to a reddish hue, silent screams of fear and pain and death spinning forth on an unknown wind…
… and as quickly as it begun, the power faded and died away. Disappointment like a lame punch line at the end of a good rise left the demon holding a fairly normal but still scowling Pan in its grasp.
"…I was going to kill you," she uttered quietly, resignedly.
With nothing for it, the alchemist reared up her throat, hocked an impressive sized spit on the demon and closed her eyes as the jaws closed down on her.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
"Ahhh, young blood," Lavok sighed happily reaching for his descendent.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Wondering why she was not smelling rotten breath or having her head bitten off, Pan decided to take a peek. Squinting one eye open, a vision of the undead demon staring back greeted her.
She quickly shut her eyes again.
"…"
The alchemist was getting really bored and hoped that the demon would eat her soon. It is just bad manners to keep people waiting like this.
"Pan! Pan-chan! Are you all right?"
She looked down to see Yoshimo running towards her in concern, his leather armour slightly torn but nonetheless still alive.
"Oh Yoshi, can you tell it to hurry up and eat me? It is taking too long."
He cocked an eyebrow in amusement, "I don't believe it will listen. It seems that they're all properly dead now."
Pan looked around from her perch in the dead demon's grasp, finally noticing how all the remaining halflings had lay about the floor, collapsed in ragged heaps. Not even a twitch of limbs. In fact, the demon itself had frozen, its maw open but unmoving, a statue of a carcass.
It began to wobble.
The alchemist paled slightly, "Oooooh... this could hurt."
Then it tilted forward, crashing to the ground, its remaining limbs breaking apart and organs splashing out, dropping Pan like she was litter.
All around the room, the survivors looked around in confusion and wonder. Where just moments ago they were to be eaten alive as snacks for the undead, now the corpses were spread all around as regular… corpses.
Jaheira appeared by Pan, helping the alchemist stand up, "Child, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
She smiled goofily back at the druid, "I am not eaten!"
The older half-elf shook slightly, her relief, her grief, pouring out into the tight grasp she had around Pan's shoulders. The alchemist looked in confusion at the strange look coming from Jaheira, something unidentifiable even with the almost imperceptible wetness around her eyes.
As the scene unfolded, Teos was walking towards the rest of his Cowled Wizards including Davish were, passing a large pile of halfling bodies… that began to move.
"Oh, not again," the ruby-robed mage muttered in annoyance, stepping back and trying to remember a spell to use.
The pile began to shake and quiver, heaving up and down like a lung when without warning it exploded.
"YYAAAAHHHAARRR!"
Halfling bodies were sent flying like large pieces meaty confetti that rained down, narrowly missing the Cowled Wizard.
"HAHA! Evil dead bodies cannot suffocate the might of Minsc! It would take many more bigger bodies and perhaps a few giants to doggy-pile this mighty warrior to death!"
Teos was less than impressed by the sight of the big Rashemi standing amidst the halfling bodies, one arm poised victoriously and the other holding Boo close to his face as he cooed sweet nothings to the squeaking hamster.
"What the /$&!# $( happened?" Onvo called out hoarsely, rubbing his sore neck where the undead black demon had nearly crushed to death.
He stumbled down next to Reyna who had not moved from Ancan's side. The dangers of battle now gone his grief finally caught up with him and the young knight bowed his head, shoulders shaking at the loss of another comrade.
Reyna silently placed the old knight's hands atop his chest, carefully trying to cover the hole in his armour. Reverently, she tried wiping the mouth clean of blood. She heard Onvo sob slightly as he placed his head against the dead knight's side. Reyna had already cried her tears, there would be no shame in letting Onvo have his.
Heavy footsteps caught their attention. Before they could protest, Korgan was beside them already picking up the old knight's dropped sword.
"You cur…" the lack of strength in Reyna's words belaying her loathing.
The berserker sneered down, not caring for the seething glares of the two remaining Solamnic knights. He examined Ancan's sword carefully, admiring the craftsmanship and sturdy weight, ignoring how both Reyna and Onvo were slowly drawing their own blades.
While he did prefer a good old fashioned axe for chopping down enemies, this sword would not be so bad… might even catch a fair price on the market…
Without thinking about it, he leaned down and carefully placed the sword back beside Ancan.
The two Solamnic knights did not say anything, their hands sliding away from their sword grips, though Reyna did acknowledge Korgan's strange action with a slight nod.
The berserker ignored their silent gratitude, instead gruffly asking, "Have ye seen the boyo abouts?"
Onvo shrugged not knowing, however Reyna tilted her head slightly behind her, indicating that she did know.
"Valygar," she began quietly while resuming cleaning Ancan's cold face, "has seen to it that this old knight died for something."
A slight groan came from near the back of the room. Korgan stepped around some broken debris and found what had become of the stalker.
Lavok stood there, the unidentifiable breeze blowing his black robes. The necromancer was moaning, his head swaying slightly and the strange tattoos on his face seemed to burn brighter.
And protruding out from Lavok's back was the blade of the Corthala family katana.
The necromancer's arms that were grasped around his descendant's neck fell loosely to his sides. He stared in wide-eyed disbelief into the indifferent glare of the stalker.
"Y-you… gave yo-yourself up…"
Valygar twisted the blade deeper into the necromancer's body.
SCRIGK!
"Oouuuhh!"
This caused Lavok to cry in pain, spitting black blood and he fell forward grasping weakly the stalker's shoulders. In desperation he tried pleading, bringing his lips to the ears of his descendant.
"You a-are … f-f-famil-ly… you…you must… sa-AGCK!"
Valygar did not care to listen, instead twisting the blade even more and slowly cutting it diagonally across the necromancer's body.
Shchlgk! Shhhchlgk!
Lavok could say nothing more, only able to watch helplessly as Valygar slowly, methodically and dispassionately sliced and sawed through bone, flesh and organs, both of them still standing. Finally, after cutting across two-thirds of the body from the stomach, the stalker swiftly cut out through the necromancer's shoulder in fantastic shower of crimson.
The dying necromancer collapsed, his upper chest area slightly angled up and separated from the rest of the body, the black blood quickly pooling.
His fading sight took in the indistinguishable emotion on Valygar's face looking down on him. Strangely, Lavok smiled crookedly almost humorously.
With his last breath he uttered gladly, "You… you really are… a Corthala."
When Lavok gurgled his last, Valygar still stood with a dripping katana in one hand… now truly the last bearer of his family's legacy… and a burden greater than any debt.
Mother?