A sudden jolt woke Gameth from his troubled rest. "Wh- where am I?" he slurred in a half-conscious state.
"Gameth? Gameth! You're awake!" A blurred image appeared over the warrior which resolved into the concerned face of Lydith. "Thank Krypta you're alive!"
"Ah, girl - Krypta would want me more dead than alive," quipped Gameth as he lifted his head. The evening sky loomed overhead but all around them were walls of thorny vines and scarred trees. "Where are we?"
Lydith looked around. "We were captured by the Daemonwood which seems to listen to commands from a dryad. She had it put us into this prison. I can't break out of this place, even with your dagger. There's no opening and the vines are too tough."
The warrior nodded and closed his eyes. "Don't worry, girl – I'll chop our way out of here as soon as I can get up."
A low, female voice called out. "A feat which you will find quite impossible, my lowly prisoners. These walls are thick enough to bear the damage from your sword. There is no way through unless you have the magic of the woodlands, like me and my sisters."
The dryad stepped through the wall of vines and wood, as if it were immaterial. About a dozen more dryads appeared the same way as the first, stepping through the wall with no hinderance at all. "In any case, you will eventually be taken from here soon enough."
"Why have you imprisoned us?" demanded Lydith as she turned to face the woodland creature. "We were merely passing through this part of the forest. Krypta will not be pleased of how you have treated one of Her priestesses. I assure you that even dryads like you will meet with Her when you pass from this world."
The dyrad laughed, low and evil. "A brave statement, girl. But you are hardly a priestess. I have seen what little power you have – you can barely sustain one miserable skeleton for more than a few minutes! I think Krypta would be more pleased if I dispatched a priestess-imposter to Her instead!"
The dryad smiled over the fuming girl and aged warrior. "As for why you're both here - the current Queen of the Dryads is at great age and will pass from us soon. But not before she Coronates one of us to be her successor. Her successor must be one of cunning and power." The dryad drew her head up proudly. "I already control the daemonwoods. And after I show her that I can kill elves and capture humans, she will look upon me with great favour."
"And after this Coronation, we'll be set free?" asked Lydith, more out of cynicism that hope.
The dryad detected her tone and laughed. "Even you know the outcome. As the new Queen of the Dryads, my first order would be one of diplomacy – with neighbouring the spider colony. They would greatly appreciate the gift of humans I will send to them."
"Oh no, they won't," called out a familiar voice from above. "Because the big spiders are going to attack and eat you all instead!" Yellow Sky dropped down next to Lydith from the tops of the trees.
Surprise was quickly replaced by anger on the dryad's face. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"I am the King of the Spiders!" declared the cultist.
"There is no King of the Spiders," sneered the dryad. "The spiders have a queen."
"Oh." said the cultist thoughtfully. He brightened up. "Then I am the Queen of the Spiders!"
Lydith could hear Gameth groan.
"Take him," glowered the dryad to her fellow dryads. "And surround him so that he won't disappear from us with his camouflaging tricks." The dryads spread out and around the threesome.
"What are you doing?" hissed Lydith to the little cultist next to her. The cultist looked around confidently. "If you were smart dryads," he said to the dryads, "you wouldn't waste time like this."
"What are you gibbering about, little man?" said the dryad as the circle of dryads closed in.
"Oh, just that the big spiders are pretty angry back at their colony," said Yellow Sky. "Especially after I paid them a little visit and killed their.. ah queen." The cultist puffed out his chest. "That's why I demand to be paid the full respect due to Yellow Sky as the new Queen of the Big Spiders."
The dryads froze. "You what?" breathed out the lead dryad. "Where are the spiders now?"
Yellow Sky shrugged. "Last time me checked, a whole bunch of big spiders were chasing me here."
The dryad gaped for a moment and then suspicion took control. "He's lying. He's just trying to-"
And then the spider webs started to fall. Panic and confusion broke out as several of the screaming dryads were caught in the sticky strands. The lead dryad tried to call for order, but was knocked over when the wall behind her burst open to reveal giant arachnid legs and gnashing mannibles. The dreadful, ear-piercing squeal of giant spiders filled the air.
"Come on!" hooted Yellow Sky as he yanked Gameth up and pulled Lydith along. A dryad grabbed Lydith's arm in an attempt to stop the girl but yelped in pain as the dryad's slender hand was suddenly withered into an ugly claw. "Priestess-imposter," muttered Lydith under her breath as the crimson power of Krypta faded from her eyes.
Yellow Sky swiftly led them through a broken hole in the vine wall and out into the evening-light forest, rapidly leaving the chaos and commotion of the dryads and spiders behind.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was some time before he stopped and let them rest.
Gameth was the first to speak. "You crazy cultist imbecile!" he bellowed at the grinning cultist. "That thing about killing the Spider Queen better be a joke, or else we'll all be in big trouble. Those spiders will tear the forest apart looking for us!"
Yellow Sky laughed. "You mean these spiders?" Four giant spiders dropped down from the surrounding trees and skittered towards them.
Gameth cursed as his sword sang out of its scabbard and was about to advance when Lydith held his arm. "Wait, Gameth. I think these spiders are.. charmed."
The cultist laughed with glee. "Lydith is smarter than Gameth, it seems! Yellow Sky pulled a good trick, yes? Yellow Sky and his four spider friends!" The spiders clustered around the little man.
Gameth lowered his sword. "You charmed four spiders and got the dryads to believe that the whole colony was attacking them?" He shook his head in disbelief. "You're crazier than I thought."
The cultist giggled. "Yellow Sky named them too. Want to hear?" The cultist tapped each of the spiders on the head as he called them. "Cherry, Berry, Merry and Sir Gameth Chompalot." The cultist tickled the last spider fondly. "He wanted a warrior's name."
Gameth groaned as he shook his head. "I don't know what's worse – being tormented by vicious dryads or having a spider named after you by a raving cultist."
The cultist threw his head back and laughed as the spiders squealed along in their nerve-wracking calls.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aunt Daedra's departure from the Temple of Krypta was sudden and unexpected, but the priestess did not leave the place without seeing Lydith first. "Take care, child," she had told Lydith. "The convent sisters tell me that you are doing well here and that is very good. I might be gone for some time but I'll be back before you know it."
"Pay a visit to father and bring me back some news from him," pleaded Lydith. "Tell him I miss him very much and give him my love."
"Of course, child," said Aunt Daedra warmly as she hugged the girl.
Two months passed quickly in the Convent as Lydith found herself flowing into the routine of the rigid Convent schedule. The days started early with a pre-dawn devotional to Krypta along with the rest of the Initiates and the senior Acolytes. After an almost Spartan breakfast, the Initiates attended classes held by the elder priestesses who instructed the initiates in Kryptian history and theology. The later part of the mornings were spent helping the cooks prepare for the midday meal. After lunch, the initiates were allocated housekeeping tasks which mainly involved cleaning parts of the Temple or Convent, or helping out in the kitchen. Whatever time they had left over between then and dinner was taken up with studies on topics covered that morning. Dinner was followed with evening devotionals after which the weary initiates were allowed to retire back to their rooms.
Lydith spent most of her study time with Karyn in the library. Karyn had a passion for knowledge, especially Kryptian lore. She researched into dusty tomes and books and made her own notes. "There's so much that isn't clear about the Ways of Krypta," she commented to her new friend Lydith, "Although many of the rituals and spells have been passed down from priestess to priestess for generations, the lore behind those rituals and spells have somehow been forgotten over the years. The tomes and scrolls documented some of the lore, but there is still a lot left uncovered." Lydith could see that it was her friend's ambition to fully understand and document all she could find out about the Ways of Krypta.
Towards the end of winter, word went around the initiates that Sister ShadowLife was in the Temple, which itself was much cause for excitement. Sister ShadowLife was one of the most powerful and feared priestesses throughout the land of Ardania. Her exploits during her service to Krypta and Sovereign had gained her a legendary reputation – it was said that her greatest achievement was when she single-handedly routed an entire host of goblins which had been poised to raid one of the major trading towns. Or so did Judith, Karyn's roommate, state.
"The goblins never even stood a chance," said Judith with a knowing nod to the two fascinated girls. Judith was a few years older than Karyn and Lydith and would probably become an Acolyte by the end of the year.
"I thought that her greatest achievement was when she defeated two dragons at once with her skeletons," said Karyn while pushing her spectacles back up her nose.
Not wanting to be outdone, Judith waved her hand irritatedly. "Two dragons? That's nothing compared to the time she led the destruction of the Unholy Sanctuaries and drove the Evil Octi away."
"Well, I heard that she's going to perform a special lecture for us initiates," said Lydith, hoping to change the subject before the two girls got into a 'Sister ShadowLife's greatest achievement' match.
That was another piece of thrilling news which circulated among the excited initiates like wild-fire. Lectures by Sister ShadowLife were rare and undoubtedly important. It was rumoured that Sister ShadowLife was going to demonstrate to the initiates the art of raising undead, a ritual which the initiates had never witnessed before in detail.
And so, a few days later, the initiates were called to assemble in the Sanctuary. Some of the more observant girls noticed the body lying on the altar the moment they entered the sacred hall. As the group of initiates arranged themselves along the red carpeted floor, they strained to see the unmoving corpse, as if expecting the body to sit up right then. It was clad in a simple brown tunic with a black cloth draped over the lower portion of the body like a blanket.
Sister ShadowLife entered the Sanctuary from the side-door reserved for fully ordained sisters of Krypta. She stared at the girls with piercing black eyes before moving behind the body on the altar. She faced the class and began her lecture, "As the world knows, the power of Krypta is not to be lowly regarded. The power of death strikes fear in all except among the followers of the dread goddess. Throughout the history of Ardania, Kings and Sovereigns have recognised this power and have requested the assistance of the followers of Krypta in more than one occasion. Despite the many religious sects and orders in the world, we the followers of Krypta know that our Order will remain and thrive as certain as death exists, and at the very end of time reign supreme throughout Ardania once death claims all."
She glanced around the assembly and was satisfied that the initiates will all hanging on her every word. "One aspect of the power of Krypta is the power to raise the undead." A nervous sigh of anticipation rippled through the class. "What are the undead?", the priestess continued. "You all know and recite the daily devotionals. What do they speak of? They tell of the elements of the human body. Body and soul. Upon the death of the body, the soul departs this world and enters the River of Souls which flows in the heavens. From here, the soul still can be retrieved and imbued back into the body, a process we call Resurrection, as long as it hasn't sunk too deeply into the River."
"The body remains in the world, waiting to be recycled in the vast circle of Life and Death. However, like a broken tool, it still can be used to a certain level of effectiveness. Krypta knows this and Her power re-uses this tool to serve a new owner."
A tentative hand raised itself. Sister ShadowLife frowned, unaccustomed to being interrupted halfway through a lecture. She stared at the owner of the hand, "Yes, girl?"
Karyn put her hand down and spoke in a timid voice. "Sister ShadowLife, I um.. was just wondering about what you said about the River of Souls. Um.. in the heavens, where does the River flow?"
"The River of Souls is strictly confined within the heavenly realm of Krypta," answered Sister ShadowLife with a tone that echoed finality.
Karyn's nose started to twitch. Lydith had begun to recognise this trait in her friend – it signaled that her curiosity had taken over her mouth. "But, Sister ShadowLife, if the Healers of Agrela can resurrect people as well, won't that mean that the River of Souls could be shared or maybe even acting as a boundary between the realms of Krypta and Agrel.."
"For Krypta's sake, girl! Do you want to become a priestess or a healer?" cut-in Sister ShadowLife sternly. The rest of the class tittered as a red-faced Karyn drew back next to Lydith. "What's wrong with wanting to know?" she muttered silently to Lydith who just smiled to pacify her friend's agitation.
With an irritated sniff, Sister ShadowLife continued, "Today, I will demonstrate to you the ritual of raising the undead. You will not be taught the Words of Evocation until much later, but I can tell you that invoking the Words is no easy task. The words must be recited in your mind, and pronounced properly with correct intonations." She stared at her audience until she caught Karyn's gaze. "No questions until after the demonstration," she said sternly, causing another titter to ripple across the class.
Sister ShadowLife looked down on the dead body before her and raised her hands, a look of hard concentration on her face. Neva, Sorsevarii-antha..
Lydith frowned. That's funny, she thought, her lips aren't moving but yet I can hear her in my mind. Sister ShadowLife's voice had changed as well. Instead of one voice, it sounded like there were at least three voices chanting at the same time, each intoning a different verse of the Evocation over and over again.
Suddenly, a red glow spread itself over the body and, in front of Sister ShadowLife's intent audience, the eyes of the body opened to reveal a red glow from within. Lydith heard the strange voices of Sister ShadowLife soften as the body slowly sat up. The undead stared around, its red gaze sweeping across the awed faces of the gathered initiates. It lifted its head slightly. Without opening its mouth, a raspy voice sounded, Where am I?
Lydith was surprised. She had never been told that the undead could speak. She glanced around to see the reactions of the rest of the initiates and was puzzled that no one else seemed startled by the undead's words.
Sister ShadowLife also seemed unperturbed by this as she continued to speak, "The power of Krypta infuses itself into the bones of the body, giving them the ability to move on their own. The skin and flesh is of no use and just serves as extra weight to the undead. After the Evocation, you will be taught spells to rapidly decay the flesh and skin of the body so that the skeleton can move around unhindered."
"Also," she added with a glare to the class, "it is considered highly disgraceful for a priestess to have a half-rotten undead zombie which stinks to the heavens following her around. If I catch any of you doing that, I'll personally wring your necks and raise your bones myself."
Nervous laughs echoed in the hall as the initiates wondered if the priestess was merely joking or really serious. Lydith watched the undead closely and wondered if she had imagined that the undead had said something.
"You will initially find it hard to control an undead, but with practice, you will eventually be able to handle several more at the same time. What you must learn to do is to always recite the Evocation in your mind, stressing on the fact that the undead are dead and thus belong to Krypta. Observe."
Lydith heard Sister ShadowLife speak those strange voices in her mind again. This time, they seemed stern and commanding.
The undead screamed. Ahhhhh! Stop! The blood! The pain! Stop!!
Lydith stared in shock as the undead shrieked in her mind. All around her, the initiates and Sister ShadowLife seemed to be deaf to the undead's agony. Unable to bear the screams, she placed both hands on the sides of her head. "Stop it!" she screamed, "Can't you see that it's in pain!?"
Startled by the girl's outburst, the priestess released her magic and the undead fell back upon the altar, dead once again. Sister ShadowLife stepped in front of the girl, her hands on her waist. "What is the meaning of this!?" she demanded.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was past midnight and Lydith shifted uncomfortably in her bed. The day had gone from bad to worse after the incident in the Sanctuary. After unsuccessfully describing her experience to Sister ShadowLife, she was given the task of cleaning out the Temple furnaces all by herself, much to the delight of the other initiates who saw it as an indication that they would not need to do it themselves in the near future.
Exhausted and feeling soot-stained despite her rigorous bath afterwards, she lay back on her bed. Her body was tired, but her mind would not let her sleep. The undead's mental screams troubled her, just as much as the question of why she could hear it but the others could not. And Sister ShadowLife's evocation, unheard by the rest, had been clear to her as if she had chanted them herself.
At this thought, Lydith suddenly had an idea. She picked herself out of bed and put on her robes. Carefully, she crept out of the room, down the Initiates' Hall and proceeded towards the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary was dark with just a glimmer of moonlight coming in from the high windows. The red drapes and carpets seemed almost black in the half-light. Lydith walked towards the altar. The body was still there with no indication of its previous animation.
I'm crazy, she thought as she surveyed the corpse. But I have to know.
Neva, Sorsevarii-antha..
Slowly, she chanted the evocation from memory. It was difficult at first, trying to speak in two and three voices in her mind at the same time was complicated, but she tried over and over, getting an intonation wrong here, a word wrong there. An hour passed and Lydith had lost count of the number of times she had restarted.
Then, her tired eyes noticed something. A dim red glow started to emit from behind the dead face's eyelids. Lydith stared in wonder as she subconsciously recited the final verse of the evocation in her mind. The glow strengthened, and then the corpse's eyes opened.
Lydith held her breath as the undead corpse stared around. It turned its head slightly to face the girl, the red glowing eyes focusing on her. Who.. are you?
Lydith almost jumped out of her skin at the sudden mental question. Quickly, she regained her composure and replied in thought, My name is Lydith. She decided to be polite. And what is your name?
The undead continued its unnerving stare. I am.. Streffen. It's 'voice' was dry and raspy, as if it had difficulty in thinking.
Greetings Streffen, she responded. How did you end up dead?
Immediately, the undead contorted as if in pain. Knife! Darkness! Blood! Spilling in the alleyway!
Lydith gasped at the sudden change and hurriedly thought, And where do you work, Streffen? Lydith almost kicked herself for asking stupid questions.
Work? The undead seemed to think. I worked.. as a baker.
Baking must be a nice thing to do, she thought unable to think of any other response.
Baking.. the undead seemed to pause in thought. Smooth dough.. soft bread.. heat from the oven.. I feel.. the warmth.. The undead's eyes glowed with what looked to Lydith like contentment.
Lydith suddenly understood. The undead not only could remember it's past, it also felt through it's memories. Then, with grim realisation, Lydith understood why the priestesses were taught to control the undead using thoughts of death. The trauma of their own deaths caused severe mental agony to the undead. It was a small wonder why some of them seemed almost mad.
The undead finally shifted its red stare from the girl to its surroundings. Where am I?
You are in Necroselleum, thought Lydith. In the Temple of Krypta.
The Temple.. of Krypta, the undead being paused. Keera.
Lydith frowned. Who's Keera?
My.. living niece. She is here,.. as a servant. The being that was Streffen stared at Lydith with dead eyes. Tell her about me.. about what has.. happened to me.
Lydith felt tears coming to her eyes. I will. I promise.
The undead baker shook its head from side to side as if trying to remember. Tell her.. that the chest is under.. the floorboards.
Lydith waited. The baker did not appear to want to tell her the contents or whereabouts of the chest, so she did not ask.
I will, she repeated.
The undead being slowly straightened itself upon the altar again. Let me.. sleep again.
Lydith nodded and raised the palm of her hand, dispelling the death magic. The red glow in the undead's eyes began to fade away.
Lydith?
Yes?, thought Lydith while wiping the tears from her eyes.
Bury me, came the fading voice. Please.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A light but urgent tapping on the door slowly brought Karyn awake. She got up and yawned. On the other bed, her roommate Judith was in a sleep deeper than death itself. Karyn muttered a small curse as she made her way to the door and opened it a crack. Lydith stood outside, her hands holding on to something behind her back.
"Lydith, do you know what time it is?" whispered Karyn crossly while rubbing her eyes.
"I need your help, Karyn."
"Help? At this hour? What have you got behind you?" Karyn glanced behind Lydith and gasped in shock. Lydith was holding on to what seemed to be some red drapes which looked disturbingly familiar. Sprawled awkwardly upon the drapes was the baker's corpse. She must have used the drapes to drag the body all the way from the Sanctuary.
"Are you completely out of your mind!?" squeaked Karyn, horrified into full wakefulness.
Lydith considered that novel thought. Perhaps that would stop her from hearing the baker's words echoing in her head. "I wish I was."
Karyn then recognised the drapes. "Those drapes.. are from the Sanctuary walls?" she asked in a weak tone.
"Yes, and the faster you help me get this body to the gardens, the faster we can hang them back."
There was a noise in the room and the girls froze. Karyn peeked back and saw Judith shift around in her sleep. She turned back to Lydith. "If we get caught, I'm going to say that it was all your idea and had nothing to do with me. In fact, I was just about to turn you in when.."
"Sure, sure.. oh, do you know where we can get a spade?"
"A spade!?"
"We can't just leave it lying on the ground for everyone to see," said Lydith in a matter-of-fact voice.
Karyn covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head in resignation. "What was I thinking when I became friends with you?" she muttered regretfully.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning was greeted with a buzz of excitement upon the discovery of the missing body from the Sanctuary. A search was carried out throughout the Temple and Convent which turned out bodiless. There was no mention of the phrase, "It couldn't have just got up and walked out by itself" because corpses in the Temple of Krypta, unfortunately, could. Mother Darkfriend sent word to the city governor to warn the citizens about the possibility of an uncontrolled undead walking the streets.
At mid-morning, the initiates and acolytes were assembled in the Sanctuary. The stern Convent Mother of Krypta glowered at them, as if knowing that one of them was responsible for the entire mess. "It is not only imprudent but foolish to raise your own undead before your sisterhood. Someone can and will get hurt by whatever you bring back from the realm of Krypta, most likely yourself!" Mother Darkfriend's fiery glare swept the trembling crowd, as if trying to burn out the offender. "Pray for Krypta's help, for I will show no mercy to the one who is responsible for this."
Her piercing gaze stopped at the Sanctuary drapes. "These drapes are filthy!" An idea formed in her head. "You will all wash them with your own bare hands! Krypta forbid that any of the servants defile these holy drapes!" The army of initiates and acolytes obediently proceeded to take the drapes down as the Convent Mother stormed out of the hall.