Chapter 20
By noon, the exhausted Orcs had formed a half-circle outside the mouth of the cave. The entrance was small, perhaps large enough to admit two or three riders side by side. The dim sun raised a cold glitter on the snow around the cave mouth.
Redmorning looked at his people. Some of them leaned on their weapons, or on rough staves they had cut. But no one sat down, nor leaned on the travois. Not even the Elvish druid, though he was obviously swaying with fatigue.
"Here comes the Bladeleaper," Kev'ran said. Shel'yin, standing beside them with Lev Darksun, looked at her in surprise.
"I cannot hear anything," he said.
Kev'ran shrugged. A moment later, Kerd shot from the cave mouth and jerked her mount sharply to the right. Two or three black arrows fell harmlessly into the snow where she had been.
Redmorning found himself looking at Loudwhisper's back. This allowed roughly the same view as standing behind the town hall. He lost sight of Shel'yin and Darksun as they moved forward. Mana hummed in the air.
Silence stretched on for several seconds. Finally, Dib grunted and moved out of the way, to reveal Bladeleaper trotting toward them. The Orcs had drawn back from the cave mouth. Warlocks stood behind the travois, staves at the ready.
"What happened, Kerd?" Veren asked.
"Looks like we didn't explore far enough in when we were here last time," Kerd said. "There's a couple of dozen skeletons with bows and arrows. Some of them are pretty big."
"Orcish skeletons?" Redmorning said, even as one sector of his mind registered, And she came out of there unmarked? Demons, her luck is insane.
"I don't think so. The light is pretty dim, though."
"Who would go into a cave, raise a group of skeletons, and leave?" Redmorning wondered. "They'll just fall to pieces sooner or later, won't they?"
"Only if they were summoned," Shel'yin said. "If they have risen on their own, they will remain until they are destroyed."
"Explains why nobody's living in a cave this size with water close by," Lev Darksun said. "Knew it was too good to be true."
"What do you mean, risen on their own?" Redmorning asked. Shel'yin turned to look at the cave mouth. A dim green light issued from inside, but nothing moved. Hairs rose along the back of Redmorning's neck.
"Nel'hesh once told me that where there is much mana, dead bodies sometimes reanimate without summoning. The darker the power, the truer this is."
"I never saw that on Outland," Veren said.
"I did," Kev'ran said. "Once my clan attacked a village of Draenei that was near a gate into the Nether. Some of the dead of both sides rose and fought. But they were mindless. They attacked whatever was nearby. The Draenei were obliterated, but we were nearly wiped out as well."
"So that's what happened to the Black Tooth Grin," Lev Darksun said.
"But…" Redmorning considered for a moment. "These – Elves? Humans? – died with their weapons. What killed them? And where's all the mana coming from? Surely it can't be natural."
"It is not natural," Shel'yin said. "I feel it. This power belongs more to fire and the dead than to Ashenvale."
I guess that explains why I see so many eyes glowing all of a sudden. Shel'yin's eyes definitely shone green in the pale sun, and Dib Loudwhisper showed a gleam of red. Kev'ran's were still black.
I wonder what my eyes look like right now.
"We still need shelter," Redmorning said, half to himself. "No one here can go much further today. And if we're going to be pursued, we need a place to defend ourselves. Until it snows again, our trail is plain. Someone has to go back in," he concluded firmly.
"Not you, Chieftain," Shel'yin said at once. "You would be killed immediately."
"And don't think you will get past Loudwhisper and myself if you try to windwalk," Kev'ran said, no doubt observing the speculative look in her Chieftain's eye.
"Thank you for that vote of confidence," Veren said dryly. As tired as I am now, I doubt I could concentrate that long anyway. "Bladeleaper," Redmorning said. "How dark is it in there?"
Kerd shrugged. "I could make out shapes. Lightrunner didn't trip or anything, but I think that's more because he's used to sneaking around in the dark. They're right, though. You wouldn't be able to see if you windwalked. And the mana's too strange, anyway."
"And our warriors are tired, and you and Lev have both done far too much today already," Veren said. "…Shut up, Lev."
So I need someone with very good hearing, or very good night vision, or both. Someone who isn't so tired they'll get killed. Someone who can take on a dozen skeleton archers in the dark.
He remembered a day, seemingly ages ago now, when a lone warrior had killed twelve archers.
"Glaive could do it," he said. "But I'd rather have her stay with our prisoner."
And now isn't a bad time for another test.
"Kerd," Redmorning said. "Would you ask Rokhyel Shadebreaker to come here, please?"
"It is not wise to send an Undead into a source of dark power," Shel'yin growled as Kerd and Lightrunner padded off. His voice seemed to have taken on a strange harmonic. Redmorning looked at him, startled.
"You had made up your mind to trust the Shadebreaker before," Kev'ran said. "It is possible you are affected by the atmosphere yourself."
"Do not be ridiculous," Shel'yin snapped, whirling on the smaller Warlock. "It has nothing to do with - " He cut off suddenly as he stared into Kev'ran's eyes. Perhaps he saw the reflection of his own in the surfaces, black and shining like ink. He took a step back.
"She's right," Loudwhisper said, and Redmorning heard the same not-quite-sound in his rumbling voice.
"Demons," Veren Redmorning said. "If it's affecting all of us…" Then there's no way I can trust my own judgment. We'll have to move on, no matter what it costs us.
"Not all," Rokhyel Shadebreaker said. He stopped in front of the Orcs. His hood hung down and covered his sockets, and the sun blanched the bones of his hands whiter than white. "Look at your Chieftain and his guard."
Redmorning found himself the object of a great many pairs of glowing eyes.
"What is it?" he said.
"The dead man speaks the truth," Shel'yin said, with obvious difficulty. "Your eyes are still dark. The power does not reach you."
"How is that possible?"
"I think I know," Kev'ran said. "I will explain later, Chieftain, if you wish. What about you, Rokhyel Shadebreaker?"
The old knight pushed back his hood. Green light glowed brightly from his sockets, wreathing his skull in a sickly flame.
"I have no flesh," he said. "The power may burn these bones to ashes, but it cannot control me."
"Then are you willing to undertake this for the clan, Rokhyel Shadebreaker?" Redmorning explained about the skeletons.
"Yes, Chieftain," the Shadebreaker said. "But if I do not return, I do not recommend that you send anyone else."
And with that, he turned and strode into the mouth of the cave.