Chapter 21
"At least I won't be a prisoner of war much longer," the druid Arinagh said. "I suppose I will likely be killed with the rest of you."
Glaive watched the cave entrance. The Orcs stirred restlessly around her, pacing against the tide of dark mana. Their eyes glowed green or red, and only a very few had the tired black stare of the Chieftain and the smallest warlock.
From the corner of her eye, Glaive saw the other Elf looking at her.
"You care what happens to this dead human?" Arinagh said. His voice was dull, spent, but his eyes were still sharp.
"I think so," Glaive said mildly. "I've no way to compare what I feel to what anyone else does."
"Yet you're not the monster I thought you were," Arinagh said. "You are not kind. But you're not cruel. You don't enjoy others' pain. That would require you to understand pain more deeply than I think you're able to do."
Glaive lifted one shoulder. "There's no use talking about it, Arinagh the Druid."
"But it doesn't make you angry when I do," Arinagh said.
"Why should it? It's true, as far as I know."
---
Veren Redmorning stood between his guards and waited. I hope I was right to send the Shadebreaker. Will the clan recognize why I sent an Undead, instead of an Orc? Or will they believe that I no longer trust in their strength?
"Loudwhisper," he said, to give himself something else to think about. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, Chieftain," Dib Loudwhisper said. "Want to kill things, but still sitting on it okay."
Lev Darksun seemed all right as well, though he occasionally shifted from foot to foot. Kerd Bladeleaper had gone back to talk to her raiders. Shel'yin stood with his face averted, panting silently. It was the first time Redmorning had ever seen him breathe hard. His eyes glow most of the time anyway. Does that mean…?
"Kev'ran," Veren said. "Tell me why you and I are exempt."
"I am not completely sure," she said lowly. "I think it is because we began to fight off the demon's influence before Magtheridon's death. I know that I had thoughts I could not explain, long before our bondage was lifted. Did you, Chieftain?"
"Yes," Veren said. "I did. But why us?" He lowered his voice. "Why not Shel'yin, or Kerd, or Lev?"
"I wish I knew," Kev'ran said. Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper. "And sometimes I wish it were otherwise. I feel so very tired, all of the time. As if there is no end to fighting it, or…" She shook her head. "As if it came from inside, instead of from the demon."
"Yes," Redmorning said. "I understand. It's as if - "
Veren was never able to describe what happened then. He felt the dark mana in the air, grinding at his nerves like a dull razor, but it suddenly rose to a nerve-wrangling pitch that was still completely soundless. He stood frozen, convinced that if he moved something would sink its rotting teeth into his throat.
Beside him, he heard Loudwhisper snarl deep in his chest. Shel'yin fell to his knees.
The onslaught died away quite suddenly, leaving Redmorning gasping for breath in the cold afternoon. He stood very still, all senses alert, but he felt nothing but the old mana of Ashenvale.
"What just happened?" he asked the world at large.
Kev'ran went to help Shel'yin to his feet. The sight should have been ridiculous, as small as she was. It was not.
Then Rokhyel Shadebreaker walked out into the daylight.
He stopped just outside the cave mouth, leaning on his sword. A small chain wrapped the hilt below his hands, and a rusty medallion hung against the chipped blade. His eye sockets were utterly dark.
"I believe it is safe to enter now," he said.
"Kerd, Lev, check it," Redmorning said. The lieutenants moved into the dim opening as other Orcs shook themselves, trying to understand what had happened. One or two had collapsed, and were only now getting up. "What happened?"
The Shadebreaker came slowly toward them, moving like an old man.
"There were twelve archers," he said. "But the cave goes back further than Kerd Bladeleaper realized. There was also a revenant of fire."
Shel'yin, who stood with one hand on Kev'ran's shoulder for balance, looked up. "Demons," he said weakly.
It was the first time Redmorning had heard him use the word as an oath. "What's a revenant?"
"The source of the power we felt," Shel'yin said. "A very ancient and powerful Undead."
"I believe it had been attacked before," Shadebreaker said. "It is nothing but empty armor now, but most of the plates are dented."
"It must have been guarding a great treasure," Shel'yin said. "Only a fool would attack a revenant otherwise."
"Or one with nothing to lose," Shadebreaker said.
"The clan is in your debt once again," Redmorning said.
"I will be pleased to follow your commands as long as you are willing to give them," Shadebreaker said. "But I doubt whether this is any great treasure."
He unwrapped the chain from his sword hilt and held it out. Letters became visible on the medallion as the sun fell on it.
"Can you read it?" Veren asked, as he took it by the chain and examined it. It seemed unreasonably heavy.
"It is in an Elven language," Shadebreaker said. "I can speak it a little, but I do not recognize the characters."
"Then why don't we see if - "
"I read it for you," Glaive announced, from behind him. Redmorning turned to find her standing a few yards behind him, the druid towering at her side. "Need better bodyguards, though. Too easy sneak up on."
"Thanks," Loudwhisper said dryly.
"Not worry too much," Glaive said. "Nobody good at sneaking up as I am. Here." She took the medallion from Redmorning's extended hand. She turned it over and over slowly.
"Very old," she said. "Probably older than druid, even."
Arinagh must have understood part of this. He shot Glaive a wry look.
"Not sure how say all this in Orcish," Glaive said after a moment. "Says is for bring back dead. Not for summon skeleton, though. Something about calling soul back in. And this says… Get dressed with skin? Clothe with flesh, I think. Got some instructions, too." She frowned slightly as she fingered the surface. "You sure you not read this, dead man? Look again." She raised her head as she held out the medallion by the chain.
Shadebreaker took it carefully. He set the medallion on the palm of one bony hand as he stared down at it. At least, Redmorning assumed he was staring. His sockets were still dark.
"No," he said. "I cannot - "
Glaive stepped quickly forward and laid her hand atop the medallion. The dead hand and the living sandwiched the relic for just an instant. It was enough.
Tendrils of darkness sprang from the metal, expanding furiously. Blackness enfolded the Elf and the death knight, and a smell like hot metal filled the air. Redmorning heard the hiss of snow melting. There was no other sound.
Then the black smoke evaporated, vanished as if it had never been. Glaive lay on her back on the bare ground, still and silent.
Beside her lay the body of a man.