Chapter 9 - Cemetery of Dren -----------------------------
The two adventurers awoke as the rising sun spilled its golden rays through the shutters in the Inn room window. The morning was cold, but the clouds of the previous night dissipated once again. The ominous revelations of the previous day seemed like a bad dream. Velarus watched the tent that Aliana transformed from her arcane cloak. It began to rustle as the female mage stirred.
Aliana poked her head out. "Good morning." The young mage stepped out of her magical shelter and covered her mouth as she yawned. She uttered a soft word in draconic and the tent once more returned to a cloak, which she draped around her shoulders and clasped it at her chest. She sat down on the tiny bed and removed a leather bound tome with strange arcane script written on the cover and read silently through the yellowed, vellum pages.
Velarus removed a small symbol from his undershirt, a small leather cord holding a wooden disc with the picture of a white unicorn, the symbol of Mielikki, Goddess of the Forest. He closed his eyes and kneeled facing the window outside looking into the wilderness, the source of his strength. He began to whisper his prayers as he basked in the slightly warm sunlight. After a long while of reflection and prayer, the ranger rose feeling his spirits lifted and his energy renewed. He turned and watched the young mage as she ran a slender finger along a page of her book.
Aliana flashed a smile to the woodsman as she put the leather-bound book in her backpack and stood. "I guess we go talk to Renel this morning?" she seemed less than thrilled about the prospect.
The ranger smiled, as he gazed into her captivating blue eyes. "Yes, we must find out more of this dark magic and look for the knight that entered the cemetery. But, first I would like to enjoy a hot meal before we depart. I doubt we will have a chance to hunt for fresh game on our travels."
"All right. Let's eat." Aliana followed after the ranger donned his equipment and exited the room.
The two companions enjoyed a quick meal at the Drunken Boar tavern. The bartender informed them that the sage has requested their presence at her shop before they proceed to the town's cemetery. Hastily the two travelers departed the tavern.
They arrived in a small alley and noticed the snow covered garden the barkeep mentioned in his directions. A single, barren tree with radiant white bark lay at the center of a garden with small chimes hanging from its tiny branches. The chimes swayed gently in the cold winter breeze, emitting a soothing, soft harmonic tune. The store front looked more like a home than a shop. A small statue of a winged cat sat above the modest wooden door.
"Well.. This must be the place." Velarus glanced at the statue a second time when he felt like it stared back at him.
"Yes. I suppose it must," answered the mage, hesitantly.
They carefully opened the entrance door. The inside of the shop contained a number of strange artifacts that littered the wooden shelves along the walls. Scattered all around room are various rune covered staffs, swords, and bubbling potions in a myriad of colors. An old woman, with a mauve colored gown as wrinkled as her old skin, sat in an arm chair with her eyes closed.
Velarus walked near the elderly lady. He started to clear his throat and offer greetings, but she held up a finger to quiet him. The ranger paused his attempt and stared, bewildered at the venerable woman.
The old woman began to speak without opening her eyes. "The girl is with thee... but she doesn't want me to know. Dost thee, girl?" Renel smiled as she opened her eyes.
Aliana remained behind the ranger and chose not to respond.
The ranger spoke diplomatically, "What is it thou hast called us for? Dost thou have a way to cure the man?"
Renel, slowly, but gracefully rose to her feet. "Let me tell thee a story boy. A long, long time ago, before thee, before I, before any of us... there were the elves. Not elves like we have now, the ancient elves. These were not so aloof and pretentious as the elves today. There were large numbers of ancient elves in these lands. The marshes around the Horns, I'm sure you know them Velarus of Birchwood." She gave the woodsman a questioning glance.
The ranger simply nodded, and listened.
Renel walked over to an old, dusty tome with an oak cover. She grabbed a leather marker and shoved the cover open, sending a puff of dust in a wide arc. "There was an Elven wizard all that long time ago. No, not a wizard, far worse. He was known as Aralargal' Devmena. Aralargal was as a dark necromancer. Even the ancient elves feared his power. After a battle with the Elven arcanists, he was imprisoned in the deepest dungeon... in the worst manner. For a long time, I thought that the stories were only fables told to children."
The old sage paused and breathed deeply, as she stared at the door.
Velarus listened intently to the old woman's story and asked at her short pause, "Dost thee think this Aralargal is behind these undead occurences?"
Renel turned toward the woodsman, her long gown swirled around her short, stocky frame. "Hast thou seen the undead? Not the hopper, but the true undead?"
"I have seen the bones of the undead. Knights rose from their skeletal remains and attacked several caravans near the Storm Horns." Velarus removed some bone fragments from his leather pouch and offered it to old woman to inspect.
"Very good, boy." Renel took the bone fragments and examined the strange markings. "The Hopper is constructed by body parts, not a true undead creature." She continued her inspection of the bone pieces.
Aliana stepped out partially from behind the ranger and peered at the old woman. "Like a flesh golem? Sort of?"
Renel eyed the young mage as she came into view. "Aye. They are similar to the flesh golems created by certain wizards." The old woman ran her finger along the strange script on the pieces. "These bones were marked by someone accustomed to writing in Mulhorandi... I suspect a Thayan."
Aliana kept her eyes on the ground trying to avoid Renel's penetrating gaze.
The old woman handed the fragments back to the woodsman. "These runes let the beasts use some dark magic, they can also give them some unique abilities."
The young woman spoke up a hushed tone, "Thayans...a Red Wizard, maybe?"
Renel sighed deeply and returned to her chair. "The elf became a Lich... I believe he was found by a Red Wizard, and the unholy union became what it is now. I have seen the elf before... many years ago... when I was still young."
"A 'Lich'. What is that?" Velarus looked, confusedly, to Aliana for some sort of explanation.
The old sage answered, "An undead wizard. One that has been stripped of mortality and has bound himself to this plane of existence. They wield powerful, dark magic."
Aliana nodded to Velarus as Renel answered. "Generally very dangerous. And the Red Wizards are not generally thought of as nice people either." The lady mage looked more than a little frightened by the prospect of facing either of those.
A tinge of fear crept over the normally stoic face of the ranger. "Dost thee think this Lich responsible for cursing the survivor with undeath?"
Renel thought about the possibility. "No. I'm not sure of that. I believe they have agents. The Red Wizard's agents. The old lady shifted in her seat. "The groundskeeper at the cemetery was killed recently. He was a good man, not the sort to dabble in necromancy. His death has left the crypts open to infiltration."
The ranger tried to understand the arcane and ancient magic involved. "So there is a Red Wizard possibly helping the undead wizard, or Lich, as thou hast called it?"
Renel stared at a shelf as she responded, 'He is probably errant... I believe the Lich is holding something over his head, an object of power perhaps. I know not. I have not left this town... I have not left since I can remember."
She peered at the ranger and the mage with a glare that seemed to penetrate the two adventurers to their very soul. "I want both of thee to take the survivor to the cemetery. Ye may find some answers to this mystery there."
"Take the survivor?" a dumbfounded look resided in the ranger's unshaven face.
Renel's face became somber as she looked to the two companions. "We cannot save this man, but ye can allow his soul to be released from its torment."
Velarus pinched the bridge of his nose. "All of this is giving me a headache." He looked to the old sage, somehow hoping that she will change her mind and that this will all end. Realizing it was not so, he nodded to the woman in resignation. "We shall make this journey, but how do we help the survivor in the cemetery?"
Renel closed her eyes for a moment as the ranger paced the floor in front of her. The mage spoke in a low tone. "There is a tomb. The Tomb of the Faceless... It contains the body of a saint, Ilmatri, one of the first. It has power... Bring the survivor to this tomb, and he should be released from his torment."
Velarus sighed and glanced around at the magical trinkets around the room. "Dost thee have anything among this hoard to aid us against this 'hopper'?"
The old woman walked over to a shelf and rummaged through a few of the enchanted items and vials. "I know very little of the beast. Just that it is of no variety that I am familiar with. I don't know if it even can be killed. I have not seen it, but from what thou hast seen, it would seem that nothing hurts it."
Aliana watched the older woman dig through the items in her shop and tried to shake off the animosity she's been feeling toward her ever since their first meeting. She moved up closer to Velarus and away from the door where she'd been hovering until this point. In a hushed tone, she asked, "Umm...Renel? Mayor Puklon told us yesterday when we checked into the inn that the town's only Purple Dragon had gone to this cemetery a few days ago and not returned. Dost thee have any knowledge of what his mission was and what befell him? I assume he's been gone rather too long for it to have been anything good."
Renel shook her head solemnly. "I told that man not to go, that some adventurers would be along soon enough. But he said it was foolish to just sit around and wait, so he took his horse and went out into the snow. I fear it is too late for this man."
The wrinkled sage placed a small box on the cluttered counter she had been looking under and searched a tall shelf, with books and papers poking out from all crevices. "Try to open that box woodsman, perhaps you will find something inside. I have forgotten how to open it, there is a trick to it, but cannot remember exactly what that was."
The ranger eyed the small box, about four inches high and two feet long. It is covered in gold designs and dust, and made from a rich, black wood, black as night, not stained or painted.
Velarus examined the box carefully, looking for any latch or mechanism to open the chest. "Dost this gold script mean anything Renel?" The box is heavy, which made young man wonder how such a venerable woman could handle it with such ease.
He continued to look at odd gold designs, a maze of circles and straight lines. The patterns were intriguing, but somehow complex. The ranger began to feel light-headed as he tried to decipher the script. He shook his head in disgust and craned his neck to view his mage companion.
Aliana noticed the ranger's lack of progress and the frustration evident on his face. She kneeled down next to the woodsman and studied the box carefully. She also tried to make sense of the exotic patterns. "It isn't any script, arcane or otherwise, that I am aware of." She shrugged apologetically.
The old lady turned away from the shelves and faces the two companions. She looked at the sword on the ranger's belt. "May I see thy blade?"
The ranger looked suspiciously at the strange, old woman. After a brief pause, he removed the sword from its hard leather scabbard and presented it to the sage.
The old woman studied it carefully, reading the arcane script engraved on the flat of the blade. "Eldritch, huh? A fine blade, and an honorable wizard that enchanted it. This is as good as any weapon I could give thee." She turned toward the young mage, her gaze made Aliana even more nervous. "Perhaps I could give thee a helper. More of moral support I suppose."
The ranger glanced around the room then stared blankly at the old woman. "Any help would be appreciated..."
Renel raised her fingers to her lips, and proceeded to whistle in a shrill tone. Moments later, a small window above the door opened, allowing a small gust of cold air into the musty shop. A small cat, with large feathery membranous wings, covered in soft white feathers, peered at the ranger and mage, then spread its wings and swooped down to the counter beside Renel.
Velarus was a little shocked by the creature. "What in the nine planes of Hell, is that?"
Aliana, on the other, hand was keenly interested in the strange beast. She walked over to the counter where it stood with its wings wrapped around its body like a cloak. "A winged cat, how adorable."
Renel smiled and scratched the cat under its chin and it purred in response. "She may not want to go with ye, but if she so chooses, we have a mental link." She regarded the ranger and his less than tactful question. "She is a creature called a Tressym."
Aliana shed her nervousness and timidity as she approached the winged creature. "What is her name?"
Renel continues to stroke the animal gently as she replied. "Her name is Kahn'marnal'lekel. But I call her Kan."
The young woman gazed, admiringly, at the flying cat. "I could see where her full name would be a bit tedious." She smiled to the old woman and extended her hand to pet the creature. "May I?"
The old woman smirked. "Don't ask me girl. I do not control her, she is a companion."
Kan brushed her fur up against the young woman's outstretched hand. Aliana caressed the Tressym's soft white fur, apparently overjoyed by the whole experience.
Velarus stood up and placed the box in his backpack, lamenting over his lack of success with opening the container. "We must get moving if we have any hope of rescuing the knight, or saving the survivor from a fate worse than death."
Renel's face again grew serious. "The boy is right, time is of the essence."
Aliana straightened out her backpack and checked her straps, then bent down to eye level with the counter where the Tressym sat. "Will ye come with us, Kan?"
The cat responded by standing up, stretching its wings and walking toward the edge of the counter next to the youthful mage.
Renel watched the creature's reaction. "Well, I wouldn't expect any feats from her, she is old like me. But she will keep an eye out for thee."
"Then on with our quest. May Mielikki guide and protect us," the ranger stated.
The old woman smiled at the honorable woodsman. "May she guide thee well, Velarus of Birchwood."
The two companions arrived at the Drunken Boar, followed by the mystical feline who trotted silently along the creaky floorboards of the tavern. The place was nearly deserted since breakfast, and the burly middle-aged bartender sat at a table next to the bar with a tub of water washing mugs and flagons. The survivor was slumped over the bar counter, breathing heavily and laboriously.
The ranger glimpsed the sleeping survivor, and then Aliana. "How are we to get this poor man to the cemetery? I cannot carry him for many miles in the thick snow," the ranger seemed exasperated. He realized his coffers could not support a cart or horse or both.
The bartender scratched his white, full beard and looked over the trio. "I've got a 'orse ye can borrow, if ye promise take care of 'em."
Velarus bowed graciously to the middle-aged tavern owner. "That would be very helpful. Thank thee good sir. I shall look after him as if one of my own. I look after all creatures, 'tis my sworn oath in life." The woodsman smiled to the middle-aged man.
"Very well. Here, let me help ye with him." He turned toward the kitchen and yelled. "Bree. Come out here, I need ya." The young waitress appeared in the doorway as she was called. The man motioned to her, "Go fetch Tirin and 'ave 'em prepare me horse for these two folks."
After about fifteen minutes a small brown haired boy with two missing front teeth opened the tavern door and poked his head inside. "I gots Moonbeam ready, pa."
The ranger and barkeep heaved the unconscious man on top of the gray horse and strapped him down using his long, hemp rope. The strong smell of ale and body fluids wafted through past the ranger as he completed a securing knot, causing him to wrinkle his nose. After securing the survivor, the winged cat perched itself atop the sleeping man.
The waitress walked across the packed snow and handed the bartender three wooden flasks. He stuffed them in the large, coarse saddlebag as he glanced regarded the two companions. "'Tis six pints of ale in there." The gray-bearded man pointed toward the large burlap bag strapped to the saddle. "If he wakes up, ye may want to give 'em some ale, otherwise he'll start ta moanin' somethin' fierce. Good luck." The middle-aged man appeared more than a little relieved to have this man, finally, out of his tavern.
The ranger bowed his head toward the burly man. "Thank thee, barkeep, and farewell to thee as well." The ranger and mage began down the hard packed snow path towards the town gate, and then entered the white-coated wilderness.
After a short hike, they arrived at an iron gate, dangling from a single, rusted hinge. The gate and surrounding fence looked ill maintained to say the least, covered in all sorts of dead weeds and overgrowth. A morose atmosphere shrouded the entire area giving the travelers an uneasy feeling. At the center of the cemetery there was an elevated area surrounded by pillars, the pillars were chipped and stained. Three stone mausoleums stood to the left, two enclosed by stone doors, and the third had no door. One other structure graced the clearing, a run-down, dark shack barely stood past and to the right of the pillars.
Aliana glared at the overgrown weeds and gulped at the feeling in her stomach. She muttered hesitantly, "I guess this.. is the place."
Velarus nodded nonchalantly as he pulled on the reins of the gray steed. "Renel said that we must take the man to the, 'Tomb of the Faceless'? I wonder which one she was referring to." The warrior mulled over the words in his head as he scrutinized the three structures in the distance. Something caught his eye in the snow, and he kneeled down suddenly, checking the ground.
" Tracks. Partially covered in snow. It looks to be the shape of boots, human sized. heading toward that shack over there." The ranger indicated ramshacked building.
The Tressym stood on the slumped survivor, its back arched and hissing in the direction of the cemetery gate.
Aliana looked to the winged cat with concern. "What is it, Kan?" she whispered. The creature hopped off of the horse and settled on a stump sticking up out of the snow several feet away. She looks to Velarus. "Kan seems very tense, maybe she senses something."
Velarus regarded the cat and the woman. "Her senses are much more keen than ours. But, we didn't come all this way to stand outside." The ranger removed his thick bow from his shoulders and readied an arrow.
Aliana followed his actions preparing her own crossbow with a bolt and armed the mechanism to fire with the trigger. Both of the companions cautiously approached the dark, crumbling shack.
Velarus bent down to examine the tracks leading to the shack, then suddenly reared up and instinctively pulls on the bowstring, causing the lady mage to jump a step backward. He relaxed the bowstring after rapidly moving his eyes around the structure. "I heard a noise, sounded like a board creaking. I believe something or someone is in the shack."
The ranger approached cautiously, arriving at the dilapidated wooden door. He peered in and around to see if anything was near the door. Seeing nothing within the limited light shining through the numerous cracks and holes, he attempted to kick the door open. The badly rusted iron hinges collapsed under the blow and the entire door fell forward instead of swinging open.
Immediately the keen-eyed warrior noticed two gray humanoid shapes huddled in the back of the building. After a few moments his eyes adjusted somewhat to the darkness within and he realized that there were two savage looking creatures, with purplish skin stretched across thin, skeletal frames. One of the things held a femur bone and gnawed on it with bloody fangs. It stood erect like a man. Both creatures hissed loudly, baring their sharp, blood-stained yellow teeth. They began to approach, wringing their clawed hands in the air, leering at the ranger from their eyeless sockets.
Velarus pulled the string of his bow taut and released his first volley, which struck the creature in the shoulder. The arrow buried halfway to the feathers in the rubbery flesh. The creature jerked back from the impact, but quickly resumed its hunched over approach toward the bow wielder. "Aliana, two ghoulish creatures are within, take heed!"
Hearing Velarus' warning, Aliana was momentarily seized by panic, still not tremendously comfortable in a fight. She forced the fear down, though not without a great deal of effort, unwilling to leave her comrade unaided. With that thought steadying her, she began to incant the most potent spell she knew.
The ranger released another missile into the belly of the undead creature. The beast staggered back for a split second and raised its clawed hands as it closed the distance to the woodsman. The creature lashed out with its sharp claws at the young man's face. Velarus swiveled his torso out of the deadly grasp of the ghastly beast, while dropping his bow. He heard the sound of his mage friend chanting in her arcane language, bringing him some comfort in the deadly confrontation.
The ranger quickly removed his rune-inscripted longsword and swung a backhanded stroke toward the foul beast. The swift attack sliced through the creature's exposed ribs and cracked a few of its bones. The creature fell sideways from the force of the blow and landed hard into the floorboards kicking up dirt and dust. It continued to writhe for a few seconds and then became still.
Suddenly a shimmering silvery lizard, nearly the height of a small man appeared next to Velarus and engaged the second beast as it approached. Its spiked golden mane ran from its reptilian head down to its prehensile tail. The felldrake snapped its powerful jaws at the ghast tearing away some of the rubbery flesh from its chest. Velarus shifted his weight and sidestepped the allied creature to get behind the undead monstrosity. The ranger raised his silver blade and struck downward sinking the tip of the sword deep into the creatures back.
The undead beast recoiled at the attack from behind and spun to face the ranger. It howled and hissed opening its jaws at an impossible angle. A powerful decayed stench emanated from the creature and began to overwhelm the young warrior. He was disoriented as bile rose up from his stomach.
The wicked creature grabbed the opportunity to attack quickly with its claws and struck the ranger across the chest and face, causing the woodsman to fall backwards. The warrior attemped to roll back to a crouched position, but an ice cold feeling coursed throughout his veins, causing his muscles to fail. His entire body stiffened, and he could only look up helplessly at the evil grin on the horrid face of the undead monster.
The ghast was interrupted in its apparent glee as the lizard creature clamped its powerful jaws around the undead creature's arm. The felldrake thrashed its head around severing the arm free of its torse. It lets out an inhuman wail and clawed at the lizard creature with its remaining appendage.
Aliana moved in and saw the warrior lying on the ground. Fear crept up the mages spine as she witnessed her summoned felldrake locked, alone, in heated combat. The young mage was afraid for herself and her creature, but mainly for her fallen friend. She calmed herself as she chanted softly and pointed her index finger toward the undead beast. A pair of shimmering, silvery missiles erupted from her fingertip and struck the purplish skinned beast in chest. Two wisps of smoke arose from the dark impressions they left, as the creature silently dropped in a heap onto rotted wooden floor.