Chapter 6: Malek's Bastion
Once again, I used my bat form, this time to return to Vasserbunde. The feeling of unease was still there, but had lessened greatly. The town, however, was still the same: silent, empty, and cowering.
Gripping my mace, I smashed down the blockade at the end of the town. Screams of horror erupted from within the nearby buildings, and my attention turned. This mace was strong enough to crush stone; it seemed I would crush some heads, as well.
I trashed into every house, finding it unguarded and filled with pathetic humans. I quickly satisfied my hunger, and then continued north, on the long road leading to the snow-covered mountains of northern Nosgoth.
The life around me began to trickle off and fade. I had grown up in these lands; they were no place for the weak. Packs of wolves constantly roamed the terrain at night, searching for fresh blood. In fact, they were no different from myself...except I was alone.
As night fell, I rested against a cliff wall. There were few humans on the road; I found little chance to feed. My strength was quickly fading. Then, as if by some good fortune, I saw lights approaching.
A large wagon passed by, driven by two young, healthy men. Four others rode at the side, armed with heavy pikes. I ducked behind the rocks, drew my sword, and waited. As they entered range, though, a loud howl echoed through the mountains. The riders glanced around nervously, but were quickly killed when a pack of ten wolves descended on them, tearing them apart.
I saw their blood flow onto the ground, and my anger grew. The wolves cared not for the blood; they went after the worthless meat! Finally, I could take no more. I raised my sword and charged. The wolves turned and growled, but I quickly subdued half the pack before they could react. In fear, the others blindly attacked, but four only succeeded in tearing themselves apart. The final wolf whimpered and ran, but an Energy Bolt caused its body to completely explode.
I looked at my fresh kill, and sampled the blood. I immediately spat it back out. Human blood was all that could satisfy me; this pathetic excuse was tasteless and bland. I salvaged what little human blood I could, and continued down the road.
The next sign I came upon was welcoming: it pointed to Coorhagen, the land where I was born and ruled. Nowhere in Nosgoth could there be fairer, nobler town. My family had presided over it for centuries, before I fled. I thought of avoiding it, but it was on the only road-leading north, and I was curious to see what had happened to my home. Still, I did not falsely assume a warm welcome when I arrived.
Further down the road, I saw what seemed to be a body, lying face-down in the dirt. At first, I thought it was merely a victim of a robbery, but when I got close, I saw the horrifying truth. The man's body was green and rotten, his face twisted in a look of horror and pain. Even his blood was now a sick green. His clothing was rotten, and his path was worn; he had tried to escape.
As I looked up, I saw more than I wished to. More bodies were lying on the ground, tossed over rocks, or thrown haphazardly into old carts. I now knew what had happened. We had heard of a disease ravaging a few small towns in southern Nosgoth, which caused the skin to melt off the body and the blood to become a sickly green. When the first few travelers brought it to our town, I fled to avoid its terrifying effects, only to be trapped with an even worse disease.
None of the warnings given to us were able to prepare Coorhagen for the monster...that was the Plague.
I continued down the bloodied road. The hundreds of bodies here would have brought tears to my eyes if I could still cry. The tragedy here was too much to behold. The Plague had wiped out practically my entire home. What a terrible waste it was, to see good blood go bad.
When I finally reached Coorhagen itself, it was worse than the road. Bodies were either thrown into carts or simply left where they fell. The town was as silent as the grave. It was now certain; I was the last member of town alive...in a manner of speaking. I went through every house I could, only to find the same carnage. However, I finally found one person: a small girl, huddling in her bed. I looked down at her, my eyes filled with hunger. She did not even look back at me; she just whimpered and cried. I saw two other bodies in here; they were most likely her parents.
I decided to go soft for the first time since Nupraptor's Retreat. I quickly bit into the girl's neck, and my hunger was satisfied. She didn't even resist as I drained her. When I examined her body, she was actually smiling. I felt sick inside, so I began to leave.
As I did, though, I spied a scroll lying on the table. Once again, the accursed necromancer's symbol was on it. I read the scroll: "This spell will create a barrier around you, making you immune to all forms of attack. However, its affects are only temporary in nature, so action must be taken quickly in order to effectively use it." I decided to name it the "Repel" spell. I pocketed the scroll, kicked the girl's body once for good measure, and returned to the carnage outside.
The plague-ridden corpses blocked my passage, forcing me to take the routes through the buildings. Not a single soul moved now; that girl may have very well been the last survivor of my once noble town. Cursing the misfortune of this event, I sat in one of the buildings and pondered about what had happened.
However, my thoughts were distracted when a sickening scratching sound emerged from nearby. I readied my sword, and the scratching drew ever closer. Suddenly, a trap door crashed open, and loathsome creatures, nothing more than animated human skeletons, climbed out. I struck at the creatures, smashing their skulls and breaking their bodies, but they continued to march towards me. In desperation, I ran to a back room and slammed the door shut. The creatures pounded against it, trying to smash it open. My eyes darted around the room, and I saw a way out: another trap door. In desperation, I threw it open and jumped inside.
My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and I saw what was hidden inside: a strange suit of armor. As I examined it, I realized that it was made completely out of human bone. The solution to my problem came quickly. As I put the armor on, the sound of wood splintering echoed from above; the skeletons had broken through the door. As I slipped the final piece of armor on, they smashed through the trap door and jumped down. However, they did not approach me; they simply looked around blindly, and then stood still. Their lack of intelligence caused them to mistake me for another skeleton.
I made my way past them and left out the back door of the building. Before I continued through Coorhagen, though, I made sure the building burned behind me. Like I thought, it helped ease my pain.
As I wound my way through my old hometown, the carnage seemed to lessen. In fact, when I was within twenty yards of the other side, I found no corpses at all. I was both elated and saddened to see this. It seemed that my humanity was still there somewhere. However, a good deal of rubble blocked the town exit. I entered a nearby home, hoping to find some way out. What I found, however, was another pile of corpses; these however, seemed to have committed suicide, rather than die from disease. A staircase led into another underground area. I never realized how many of these peasants had multiple levels in their homes. I wished I had been harsher in life; they did not deserve such luxuries.
I went into the basement, desperate to satisfy my curiosity. More bodies were to be found, and these, too, seemed to have committed suicide. I had stumbled upon the results of a sick, twisted ritual. Another waste of perfectly good blood.
The only usable item I found was another old scroll. Once again, it bore the necromancer's symbol. "This spell will exploit the petty differences and hatreds humans have for each other, turning them from mere dislike to all-out hatred. They will turn onto each other temporarily, leaving you to feed off of them." I decided to call this the "Inspire Hate" spell. I smiled at the thought of what the last surviving human victim of this spell would think, as he saw his neighbor's blood on his own hands. It was fascinating to me.
Satisfied, I left the basement and made my way out of a back window. I was now out of Coorhagen. My once glorious home was now quiet, forever silenced by the plague. I felt some sorrow, but then realized that I had greater concerns. I had to destroy the Circle and regain my humanity.
I continued north, and the green shrubbery gave way to blankets of white snow. At first, I feared the water content in the snow would be dangerous, but it did not burn me in the least. It seemed my armor was able to protect against the little amounts of water to be found in the snow.
I finally reached the northernmost end of the trail; there was no other place to move to. I looked over the edge, and through the dense mist and fog, I saw my target. In the distance, a towering mountain loomed, surrounded at all sided by deep water and fog. Its center was thin and slender, while the base and plateau were enormous. However, the most important sight was the large fortress sitting on the plateau. This was no doubt Malek's Bastion, his isolated home.
With no other way of reaching it, I transformed into my bat form and flew to the fortress. I landed in front of the icy gates, as piercing winds blew from all directions at once. Two guards stood in front of the iced-over main gate, themselves frozen solid for centuries. Feeling particularly malicious after what I had witnessed in Coorhagen, I smashed their frozen corpses, shattering them. Sadly, there was no blood on which to feed. Sighing, I kicked the frost-covered gates open, sending ice and metal flying everywhere. The formidable fortress stood in front of me, cold and lifeless. I readied my sword, and prepared to face my foe inside.