THE FOOTSTEPS OF EVIL

CHAPTER 4 Battle at the Burial Grounds

Together, Arc and Telindhra traveled for most of the day across the plains. The plains were rife with wandering bands of monsters. Fallen, zombies and Gargantuans fell to their combined martial skills. As they drew closer to their destination, the Rogue burial ground, they began to encounter Telindhra's worst fear. Dead sisters in the Rogue order, raised to unlife by the Blood Raven's demonic power. Many a times she was forced to shoot down those who would have once been her brethren. It caused her no end of grief. Even so, it strengthened her resolve to do whatever necessary to end this tragedy, even if it cost her life.

And even if it meant taking orders from that low sellsword. Arc remained silent during the course of the journey. After the first encounter he did not give any her more orders. He knew it would just aggravate her and none were needed when they were forced into combat. Just as in the Den, their fighting styles blended seamlessly as Telindhra wreaked havoc on the enemy ranks from afar, while Arc flawlessly danced his deadly dance through any that managed to reach them. Telindhra had to admit that without him she may not have made it this far, and if she had, she wouldn't have made it to the Blood Raven.

Finally, Telindhra called a halt as they crested a hill to find the Rogue cemetery below them. "Well this is it. Do you have a plan, oh great leader." She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Arc pretended not to notice it. "Not really, nothing springs to mind. This Blood Raven, who is he?"

"Not he, a she. Blood Raven was the leader of the Rogues before Kashya. She was slain in the field of battle and has been raised by some demonic power. Since then she has organized an assault force on the Rogues, mainly by gathering the undead. However, her greatest sin is that she is raising the other fallen Rogues to use as her crack troops. Every day her force gets greater and greater until soon we will stand no chance and her undead will wash over the camp like a tidal wave. We must stop her now."

Arc was silent for a long time. "Her bastion is impregnable. Undead don't require food or rest, so they will be alert for intruders all the time. They will instantly detect us from the mere fact that we are alive. We will never get even close enough see her, let alone kill her."

"There may be a way, I guess." Telindhra said tentatively. "All Rogues have been trained in the use of the Waypoints."

"Waypoints?" Arc queried.

"They are flat stone squares in the ground engraved with magic symbols. You can travel from one to another if you know the proper rituals. There is one in the Rogue camp." Telindhra explained. Arc recalled the Waypoint he walked past and nodded.

"Sometimes, if they are close enough, you can travel to a specific person with a different ritual, so long as they are friendly to you."

"I'd hardly call the Blood Raven friendly, Telindhra. You do want to kill her, remember?" Arc pointed out.

"No, but in the graveyard there is a mausoleum that holds the remains of some of the legendary heroes of the Rogues. Perhaps I can transport us to their tomb. If the Blood Raven is raising Rogues, she will be in the graveyard just outside the mausoleum."

"So jump in, kill the bad Rogue, and jump back out, none the wiser?" Arc theorized.

"Not quite," Telindhra warned. "I can't get us out again."

"I see." Arc said. "Well, where is this Waypoint?"

"It is not too late for you to turn back, Arc. I can do the ritual on my own." Telindhra pointed out.

With a half-grin on his face, Arc replied, "I asked you a question, soldier. Where is this Waypoint?"

With a black stare, Telindhra turned around and stalked off.

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Within an hour, they were standing on the Waypoint. "Last chance, Arc. It's easy to travel back to the Rogue camp from here."

"No can do, not unless you come too." Arc stepped into the middle of the Waypoint. "So let's do this then."

Telindhra gathered some twigs and lit small fires on each of the small pyres set on opposite sides of the circle figured on the stone. Standing in the circle with Arc, she began chanting and inscribing sigils into the air in front of her. There was a blinding flash and a strange sensation of falling, then a sudden jolting halt.

Arc blinked away the bright afterglow in his eyes and looked around. They were in a dank cellar somewhere. In front of them was a large sarcophagus lying on a bier. "We made it." He breathed. He turned to Telindhra. "Why hasn't the Blood Raven raised these, if they are powerful Rogues."

"The protective magic for these chambers are strong. I guess she has not yet reached the power level to break the seals."

"No, but we will soon!"

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Telindhra and Arc whirled around. A group of eight Skeletal Warriors stood at the door, lead by a larger skeleton with a slightly red aura and wielding two swords. For a split second the two groups simply stared at one another. Then Telindhra drew an arrow and shot in a single fluid motion, shattering the skull of one and dropping it into a pile of bones. The Skeletons charged.

In another split second Arc's shield was on his arm and his sword in his hand as Telindhra shot another time, dropping another skele. She didn't get another chance though as the six remaining warriors, including the leader reached them. Arc charged ahead, shield first, drawing three of the skeletons and the leader to him, while the other two slid past to engage Telindhra.

Arc had yet to even launch an attack as he was busy fending off five swords slashing and bashing at him. He danced a dangerous dance of weaving and parrying, ducking slashes and warding off blows with short swings of his shield. It soon became clear that there was no way he could defeat all four enemies at once with sword work alone. "This is it. Time to reveal the secret weapon." He thought to himself as he blocked away both of the leader's swords with his own.

Arc cleared his mind, channeling his concentration inwards. It was a mark of how skilled he was that he could bring about the Opening Trance, a trance that required a vast deal of concentration, while still fighting off four enemies and protecting himself from harm. He directed his concentration inwards, towards his chi, his life energy, and quickly started the manipulation required. Soon he had pulled his chi together into the pattern he desired, a pattern that empowered his aura, allowing him to affect those around him. His enemies pulled back as they saw his aura begin to glow misty blue.

But they didn't pull back far enough. The aura shone it's light on them and encased their limbs in frost, slowing their movements. Only the leader was unaffected. In that instant, Arc's concentration snapped back to the task at hand and leapt to the attack. The three warriors who were before pressing the attack found themselves too slow to adequately defend themselves as he quickly dispatched them with two broad sweeping slashes.

Telindhra, in the meantime, was having difficulty fending off the other two skeletons.

Having opted for the second shot with the bow, she had not had enough time to draw her javelin and buckler. She had taken a few nicks and slashes in the opening attacks but now was holding her own, busy dodging slashes and thrusts, parrying attacks with her bow, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Suddenly, they were both bathed in a light blue light and both seemed to be covered in a cold frost. Confused, she backed away and looked around in confusion. The light seemed to be emanating from her companion. Not one to give away an advantage, she drew her javelin and sprung forward in attack.

The leader of the skeletons realized he had lost his advantage of numbers and was on the defensive as Arc charged forward, swinging his sword. The Leader was still a formidable warrior in his own right and leapt forward to meet his attack. Catching the attack on his left sword, he countered with a thrust with his right sword. Arc caught this attack on his shield and lashed out with a front kick, connecting with the skeleton's torso. Seeing his opponent off balance, Arc followed through with a low slash, slamming his blade into the skeletons right left knee, shattering the bone. Falling to his knees, the skeleton weaved his swords in a complicated pattern, warding off Arc's attacks with both shield and sword. Standing little more than arms length from each other, the two expert swordsman traded blows in rapid succession. While at an obvious disadvantage, the skeleton was still holding his own, beating off Arc's rapid attacks. However, this stalemate could not continue, both knew it.

Finally, the skeleton gambled it all on one last attack, swinging his left sword down low while thrusting his right sword towards Arc's belly. This left the skeleton's defence dangerously open, but it hoped it could kill the human as he in turn was killed. Arc was too quick however. Chopping down with his sword, Arc took the skeleton's left arm off before the sword came near him and knocked the sword thrust away with his shield. With his left side now useless, the skeleton had no way to defend against the sword swing that shattered it's skull.

Telindhra finished off the last skeleton with a javelin stab that shattered it's spinal cord, and turned to Arc. "How did you do that? Was it some kind of spell?" She asked Arc.

"Not really. It's an art I learned of controlling one's life energy to affect your aura." He answered. "You're wounded."

"Nothing really," she said. "Just some scratches."

"When we come at Blood Raven, we want to be at full strength. We will rest here a little."

"Any rest here will make little difference." She argued. "We should strike before Blood Raven has a chance to find we are here." She started to move.

"Just a little while. Stand still for a second." He closed his eyes and entered the Opening Trance again. Again his aura changed, to a different shade of blue. Immediately she felt the affect. Her pain was slowly lessening and she could feel her wounds noticibly getting better.

It was only a few minutes before her wounds were closed and she felt refreshed, like she had just woken from sleep. She began to ask him about his power again, but he cut her off. "Come on, now it is time."

Telindhra lead them out of the room and they headed towards the exit of the mausoleum. As they walked she felt Arc's aura changing again. "It will help shield us from harm."

They reached the entrance and peeked out. The Blood Raven was standing in the graveyard, her back to them. She was surrounded by a good number of her minions, too many for them to defeat at once. As they watched, the Blood Raven chanted in a powerful voice. The ground around her burst as corpses were being animated to become undead.

Arc silently motioned at Telindhra's bow, telling her to make the first attack. Telindhra nodded and whispered a ritual that enchanted her arrows with fire. She drew the string back, and a flaming arrow thudded into the Blood Raven's back. The Blood Raven staggered forward, then righted herself and turned towards them.

In a chilling voice, the Blood Raven spoke. "You will join my army of the dead!" With a quick motion, her minions charged towards them.

Telindhra continued firing in rapid succession, felling a good number of the zombies shambling towards them. But still they came, a great number, and they obstructed her view of the Blood Raven, so they couldn't get a clear shot. Suddenly, the Blood Raven leapt out to the side from behind the zombie pack and fired an arrow straight at Telindhra. Quick as a flash, Arc's shield shot up to catch the arrow. "You try and get around to get Blood Raven, I'll occupy the zombies." With that, he charged the pack, hacking and slashing with precise cuts.

Telindhra rolled to the right under another arrow that Blood Raven had launched at her way. Coming up in a crouch she fired another shot at Blood Raven that cracked into her shoulder. Both began to launch shot in earnest, but both were concentrating a great deal more on dodging than shooting. Telindhra recognised the affect of Arc's aura, seeing that she was dodging the arrows faster than she ever had before.

Years of experience for the Blood Raven served her well as she shook off the lethargy of her initial surprise that allowed this young Rogue to land two hits early in the battle. Blood Raven weaved away from the arrows launched at her. But still she was amazed at the talent displayed by this young Rogue, far greater than any other talent she had seen in Rogues that young. None of Blood Raven's arrows seem to be able to hit the lithe young archer.

Despite the slowness of the zombies, Arc realized that he could not hold this up forever. Gone was his initial offensive and now he was forced to concentrate purely on defending as facing odds of perhaps twenty to one. He realized that he was slowly being forced back and soon he would be in Telindhra's way, effectively ending their attack, and indeed their lives.

Telindhra knew that they were in a stalemate and also knew time was their enemy. Already she could here the sounds of the Blood Raven's zombie armies approaching. Soon they would be surrounded and their attack would fail.

Diving away from another close arrow, she pulled four arrows simultaneously. Trying to break the stalemate, she shot four arrows simultaneously in at the Blood Raven. The Blood Raven predictable tried to dive away, but surprised by the multiple shot, caught another arrow in the right leg.

Arc swung a parry with his sword and missed. A zombie claw slashed deep across his torso and knocked him from his feet. Rolling backwards with the force of the blow, Arc came to his feet to stand next to Telindhra.

Enraged, the Blood Raven leapt to her feet. Being dead had it's advantages. The wound in the leg hampered her movement, but only a little and was not the crippling blow it would have been had she been alive. "Look around you!" She cried. Her forces had entered the graveyard and Telindhra and Arc were surrounded by almost a hundred zombies in a rough circle. "You have lost." Blood Raven laughed. "I will kill you slowly and raise you to fight for me. Perhaps, with your skill I may even make you captains in my army. I imagine Akara would be pleased to see you as you bury a shaft in her chest." She laughed mockingly.

Telindhra glanced at Arc nodded towards the Blood Raven's wounded leg. Arc understood.

Telindhra grabbed an arrow and launched it at Blood Raven. Predictably, Blood Raven dodged away from the arrow to her left, favoring her wounded leg. But she hadn't counted on the other projectile, Arc's sword spinning hilt over blade as it slammed into the Blood Raven's chest.

Blood Raven flew backwards to slam into the great tree standing in the middle of the graveyard. She fell to the ground screaming, as a storm of magical energy ripped out of her, flashing all across the graveyard. All the undead that Blood Raven had raised fell lifeless to the ground, their magical energy ripped out too, to join the storm.

Arc and Telindhra crouched together, shielding themselves from the storm. As the magical energy whipped around them, they were certain that soon their life would be ripped out too in the magical tumult.

But eventually the storm of magic died down until all was silent. Tentatively standing up, they saw that they were alone, among a virtual sea or rotting corpses. For a moment, they were silent in their amazement when they realized they weren't going to die.

Finally Arc spoke. "Well, that was unexpected . . ."

"Yeah." Telindhra agreed. "Kinda a good thing that happened, too."

Arc approached the corpse of the Blood Raven. His sword, he noticed, was a pile of twisted, burnt metal. He turned to his companion. "Well, I guess we go back to camp now. And Telindhra, if they give you a heroes welcome that's anything like the last one, I suggest you do the digging."

She grinned. "You can call me Telin now." She said.