PART X
San D'Oria was in bad shape. Skeletal orcs lined every street. The few that had remained in the city were allowed to go about their business, provided they were all inside before night fell and that they never left the city. Anybody who resisted was struck down by the guards. The King had refused to leave, and was imprisoned within the Chateau. In the middle of this, the Light Warriors began to hatch their scheme.
The four were still gathered in the library. The evil guards hadn't entered, but were guarding outside.
"So, how do we get to Lich?" Voldos asked. "Without being killed for being rebels?"
"If we can get the guards to recognise who we are, they'll take us straight there." Zinkata explained. "Guess now is time to find out. Ready Viv?" He inquired.
"Not in the slightest." Vivli replied with what appeared to be a weak smile.
"Well, let's get this over with." Voldos sighed, and they swung open the door to the library.
The skeletal orcs instantly span around to face them.
"You have not been registered." One droned.
"Registered? Lich is registering citizens now?" Bootus asked in confusion.
"Registration promotes effectivness." The guard spoke as if reciting lines.
"That means he's seeing who's a threat." Zinkata filled in the blanks.
"Identify yourself!" The skeletal guard ordered.
"The Light Warriors." Zinkata answered nervously. The guards quickly lowered spears to their chests.
"Well," Bootus commented as they marched through the skeleton lined streets, "You're plan is working."
"Indeed." Zinkata replied. Lich's minions had stripped them of their weapons and any extra armour components, and had marched the party to the main gates of the chateau. One of the guards jabbed Zinkata in the back, and he leapt through the doors. "Polite aren't they?"
"If we die, I'm blaming you." Vivli whispered.
"Hey,
this is your idea." Voldos reminded her.
"Don't remind me!"
Vivli snapped.
"Hey, Viv, we've had our disagreements in the past," Bootus began, "But if you frack this one up, I'm fully justified in arguing with you."
"Aw, and for a moment I thought you were going to say something nice." Vivli grumbled.
"Shouldn't you be preparing yourself?" Zinkata asked.
"I'm petrified. I'm trying not to think about it." Vivli admitted.
"That's not the best way to do things." Zinkata remarked as the four were thrown into the throne room.
Lich, still in the body of Cruth, which was now considerably paler, and still with the glowing eyes, resided on the throne of the King, the crown on his head.
"Well," He remarked. "I cannot say that I am surprised."
"Lich. You haven't won." Zinkata warned.
"I don't see why I haven't. The Kingdom is mine, the King has officially handed over power and now resides in the dungeons and I am preparing to finish off this puny world." Lich laughed.
"We can stop you." Zinkata stated, standing as strongly as he could.
"Please?" Lich laughed again. "You think you could defeat me? Here? Now?"
"Why? You too scared to find out?" Zinkata shot back.
"Bah!" Lich began to float in the air. "Very well. Guards! Leave us!" The guards marched out and sealed the throne room doors. "You shall all perish as you have chosen!"
Bootus rushed Lich, but the evil fiend blasted the galka back effortlessly. Vivli took in a deep breath.
"Oh, our mother, the goddess Altana, who looks down on us from Heaven," She began to speak. She was trying to sound commanding, but her voice was naturally soft and the air that came across was unimpressive. Zinkata leapt at Lich, and Lich blew him away with a fireball and a loud laugh.
"Pathetic!" Announced the fiends.
"And of whom we are but unworthy servants," Vivli continued. "Hear my call." Lich turned to Vivli.
"Oh, very cute." He snarled as he began to figure out their plan. He threw a fireball at her. Vivli screamed as she saw it coming. Bootus leapt and knocked her aside just as the fireball soared past the pair.
"Try not to get killed until after this is done. Please?" Bootus said irritably. Vivli got up and started to rethink her position.
"Hear my call." She repeated. "I need you now, for the sake of myself, the four nations of the land and for the unfortunate soul trapped here today."
"Unfortunate soul?" Lich repeated in bemusement. "You are the unfortunate ones!" Voldos fired arrows, thumping into the body of the fiend. "You're killing him. Keep it up." Lich warned. Vivli tried to focus. She attempted to ignore the monster.
"Lend me your power and allow me to channel your beliefs. Look down on us today and help us. Remove from this vessel the unclean spirit that clogs it." Voldos ran and leapt at Lich, tackling him. The two tumbled to the floor. Something caused Voldos to fly back as he soared past Vivli and slammed into the wall. She gulped and attempted to refocus herself. "Oh Altana, hear my cry, do not abandon me now. For the good of your creation, of all your creations, and this poor soul before us today, lend me your strength."
"Strength? What would a little girl like yourself know about strength?" Lich asked, approaching Vivli. Zinkata leapt at him, but was blown aside. Vivli thought back to the books. 'Don't listen to the demon. They are the fathers of lies. They will seek to poison your mind. They will attempt to deceive you. To break you. The battle is mental, not physical. Do not listen.' She turned to Lich, trying not to focus on his words. "Well? You're feeble and pathetic. Once I slaughter your friends, I will kill you slowly." Bootus pounded Lich back before lightning struck him, taking him out. Voldos got up from the rubble.
"I could use a heal here." The elvaan whimpered.
"No. We can't distract Vivli." Zinkata told Voldos.
"The power of Altana compels you!" Vivli cried. "The power of Altana compels you!" She repeated, a mixture of trying to emphasise it and the fact she was panicking.
"You're losing it, little girl." Lich laughed. "Focus." He smirked as he advised her.
"Great, now the bad guy is giving her advice." Bootus grumbled. "We're doomed."
"No! Come on Vivli! You can do this! We believe in you!" Zinkata decided to be a little more optimistic.
"The power of Altana compels you!" Vivli repeated, this time gaining volume and strength in her voice.
"It really doesn't." Hissed Lich, casually blasting Zinkata way.
"In the name of our mother, Altana, the holy spirit," Her voice was gaining volume. "Unclean spirit," She took a deep breath and felt the power flow through her. "I CAST YOU OUT!" Her voice boomed with energy far beyond that which she could naturally produce. There was a gigantic crackle of yellow electricity. Every door in the Chateau blew open and every window and piece of glass exploded. The yellow electricity tore into the ceiling as a burning wind gushed throughout the stony walls. Vivli collapsed. Cruth's body fell to the ground, shaking.
Zinkata rushed to Vivli and Voldos rushed to Cruth. Bootus just watched. Cruth slowly opened his eyes.
"He's alive!" Announced Voldos, bleeding from his injuries.
"She's not!" Zinkata screamed back. Voldos bolted over. "I don't think. She's cold. Freezing." Even Bootus ran over in concern.
"That's not normal." He remarked. Cruth had managed to get up and ran over to join the gathered heroes.
"No!" He wept. "No! I will not lose my daughter like this! No! We have so much we've missed! So much to catch up on!" He paused as tears flowed down his face. "So much I owe you! Do not die now!" Vivli's eyes opened with a gasp of energy. Cruth, unbelievably relieved, held her tightly in his arms.
"What happened?" She asked weakly.
"You just doomed the world." Crackled a voice.
The five looked around, and there stood a tall skeleton. A ragged and torn purple robe hung from his body. He growled as he observed his own hand.
"Lich?" Vivli cried in disbelief. "No! It can't be!"
"Can't be?" He laughed. "You're pathetically foolish."
"Stop saying things like that!" Voldos protested. "It's just plain mean."
"You see, it was impossible for me to regain my full power." He began to explain as villains had a habit of doing. "I was powerful enough to crush pathetic fools like The Shadow Lord you so fear, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before that, vessel," He spat at Cruth, "Failed me. But I knew there was hope. I had to find somebody gullible enough to cast me from his body and free me." He turned to Vivli. "You? You really think you could exorcise me?" He roared in laughter. "It's pathetic. You are pathetic. I simply needed you to give me a push. I didn't need to fight it. I simply allowed you to force me out. A weakling like you couldn't achieve anything." Lich paused. "Well, except the death of the world it would seem." Vivli was in shock.
"No." She whispered. "No. No. No." She just kept repeating the word.
"Of course, now I must kill you and get on with ending this pathetic planet. I believe you are already familiar with the spell Nuke. Want to see it again?" He waved his hand and a fiery energy began to crackle around him.
"RUN!" Zinkata commanded.
Four bolted for the door. Vivli weakly struggled to move, but collapsed the energy drained from her body. Bootus skidded, and sprinted back, grabbing her and pulling her away and into one of the stony corridors just as Lich cast his spell. The room exploded and fire gushed down the corridors. The party threw themselves on the floor only to have the fire wash over them. Bootus was the first to look up.
"Don't think that rescue comes free." He told the tiny mithra. "You seriously owe me."
"Can we sort out debts later?" Zinkata requested. "Lich isn't done with us!"
"Can you stand?" Cruth quickly asked Vivli. Of course, the stereotypical answer would be 'yes' or 'I think so'. Vivli was more honest.
"No." She whimpered. Cruth helped her to her feet. Bootus just lifted her up, holding her above her head. "This is familiar." She sighed.
"Now can we run?" Requested Voldos.
"Lets." Zinkata said. The five sprinted down the stone corridor.
Not a moment too soon either, as a lightning bolt struck fiercely against the stone behind them.
"Run, heroes, run!" Taunted Lich. "You will never escape!" The five bolted down the corridor and out a door. They found themselves in the garden of the chateau.
"There's no way out from here!" Voldos cried.
"There has to be!" Zinkata yelled. "And we need to find one now!"
"Up?" Suggested Cruth.
"Any idea how?" Bootus asked.
"Climbing is the traditional way." Cruth ran to the edge of the garden, where vines had began to grow on the walls. He leapt between them and ran to the top.
"Bloody mithran agility." The galka muttered. "What about Vivli?" She was unconscious again.
"Throw her?" Zinkata suggested. Everybody stared at him. It wasn't a very Zinkata-ish suggestion. "What? She's unconscious. She'll never find out." Bootus sighed and obeyed. Cruth managed to catch her, so she wasn't hurt too badly. The three heroes managed to scale the wall and leapt from the Chateau into the moat below.
Cruth hauled Vivli out of the water, and the other three clambered out.
"We have to keep moving." Cruth advised.
"I thought male mithra were meant to be peaceful and weak?" Bootus inquired, panting.
"Ha. Who started that myth?" Cruth asked, looking down the streets. "We don't' hunt because of genetics. There are far less of us you see."
"Never would have noticed." Voldos sighed sarcastically.
"That's because you only notice things with breasts." Zinkata smirked as the party bolted down an alley. It was getting dark, which gave them valuable cover.
"Gates are blocked." Bootus commented as they saw them. "Shut and guarded."
"Damn." Zinkata cursed. Vivli slowly began to wake up.
"What's happening?" She mumbled.
"I think we're in trouble." Zinkata gave in answer.
"The gates are guarded." Cruth explained to his daughter. "We can't get out that way."
"Guards?" Vivli weakly repeated. "We have to fight our way out."
"What did you say?" Voldos suddenly cried, surprised.
"Fight. It's our only way." Vivli had managed to get to her feet. "We can't stay here. Lich won't be far behind. The entire city will be looking for us soon."
"Well, when Vivli suggests we fight, it must be our only option." Bootus laughed.
"I have no idea how we're going to win this one." Zinkata admitted. "But I guess we're about to find out."
The five approached the gate confidently. The two skeletal guards turned to them.
"You are not permitted to leave." One guard told the five warriors.
"We know." Zinkata said.
"We also know we're going to leave anyway." Cruth input.
"Identify yourself!" The guard snapped.
"They just recite lines." Sighed Voldos.
"It's the only way Lich can control them." Zinkata guessed. "They aren't alive. They have no emotions or feelings. They just recite lines and carry out functions."
"Identify yourself!" The guard cried again. Zinkata took a step up to it, eyeing the guard. It was a skeleton, still covered with flesh peeling from it. Its eye sockets glowed a gentle, barely noticeable, green. Old beaten orcish armour hung from its body.
"We're your enemy." Zinkata announced.
"Then you will be exterminated!" The guard drew a sword and slashed at Zinkata. The warrior leapt back, but the guard kept coming. It caught him across the chest and Zinkata fell. The creature faltered as Vivli cast banish on it. The second ran in, and Bootus threw himself in front of it, pounding it back. Cruth ran in, stealing the sword from it and throwing it to Zinkata. Zinkata cut off the arm clutching the blade of the first guard. This guard hit the warrior in the face with its remaining arm. Voldos dove down, grabbing the sword (and the arm). The arm sprang into life, throttling the elf.
Vivli ran and tried to pull it off, but failed. Cruth joined the two.
"Hold it out." He instructed. Vivli pulled on it so it was out straight. Cruth took Voldos's sword and swung it down, smashing the arm in two. The fractured pieces scattered across the floor. Voldos gasped for air as the arm reformed and scuttled to the guard that was keeping Zinkata busy. Bootus got hit in the chest and stumbled back as the skeletal guard took its turn to pound him. The galka managed to summon up one punch and hit off its head. The skeleton kept coming.
"Open the gates!" Screamed Zinkata. Vivli ran to them and tried to push them.
"They're too heavy!" She whined.
"Try the lock!" Zinkata groaned.
"Don't
act so clever!" Vivli snapped as Zinkata was getting pounded by the
skeleton. "I don't have a key." Bootus charged the door,
slamming into it. He grabbed the chained lock, and yanked on
it.
"Zinkata! Sword!" He snapped.
"I kinda need it." Zinkata was bleeding heavily, and being pounded back by the unstoppable guard. Blindly swinging his sword was his only defence.
"Just give it to me!" He threw it, and as he did, he was slammed to the floor. Bootus repeatedly bashed the lock until it fell to pieces. He threw himself at the heavy doors and forced them open. Vivli breathed a sigh of relief. That saved me the embarrassment of trying she thought.
"Come on!" Cruth yelled, running to the door. "We are leaving!"
"Little help!" Zinkata groaned on the floor. The skeleton was on top of him, hitting him. Voldos was busy fighting the legs and torso, now separated, of the guard he had been battling. The head snapped at him along the ground. He kicked it away and cut down the torso. It quickly began to reconstruct as he ran to Zinkata. He cut the guard in two, leaving two parts both scrambling after Zinkata. The five bolted out of the door. Bootus pushed it, sealing it. The five heroes bolted out of the door.
They ran into the darkness, leaving the occupied city of San D'Oria behind them, and the seemingly unbeatable Lich and his army to plan their next move.
