Author's Note: Surprise! Another double chapter! Enjoy! ^_^

Chapter 12:

The Revenants Who Say Ni

One moment, King Arthur, Sir Bedivere, and their servants were standing in the house of the Crazed-Yet-Wise Old Man. The next, they were standing deep within the Wilderness, surrounded by a wood of dangerous, and gnarled old trees. Although greatly alarmed, they managed to keep enough of their wits about them to know that their only chance now was to make their way south as quickly as possible. They began to do so, but as they rode, the four soon realized that they were being followed. Ghostly shadows of strange, horrible creatures could be seen stalking them from their peripheral vision. Arthur prepared to stop and challenge the creatures when at last they came into a clearing.

Immediately, they wished that they had not.

Standing before them were several ghostly apparitions of a number of creatures. Some were orc, some were vampire, yet all of them bore the same hungry, bloodthirsty look.

"Revenants!" Arthur and Bedivere gasped in horror.

Then one of the revenants, the ghost of what was once a giant of a man dressed in knight armor with a thick fur cloak and a wide-horned helmet, stepped forward.

"NI!" the specter croaked in a hollow, other-worldly voice which somehow also sounded annoyingly high-pitched and slightly whiny.

Soon the other revenants began to echo the chant, growing more loud and more persistent with each repetition of that single word. "Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!"

"No! No! No!" Arthur called out as he and his companions fell to their knees while covering their ears.

"Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!"

The lead revenant then raised his hand and the horrible chant suddenly ceased.

The King and his followers continued to lie prone on the ground, gasping for breath.

"W-what was that?" Bedivere asked.

"T-that," Arthur panted in reply, "Was the true power of the revenant spirits of the Wilderness. Not the ability to attack from all sides of the combat triangle, not the power to cast Tele-blocks and poison people, or heal themselves. It is the power to grasp at one's soul and drive a single meaningless word into your mind: Ni! Ni! Ni! Until it drives you utterly mad!"

"Ni?"

"Its an awful, forbidden word, invented by evil sorcerers who follow Zamorak. If spoken in the correct manner, even a mortal can use it to destroy an opponent's mind."

"What an awful power!"

"Yes, so awful in fact, that even Zamorak forbid its use in the God Wars; and even nowadays use of the word even by Zamorakians against Saradominists or Zarosians is punishable by death except in extreme circumstances. However…"

"However?"

"However, I've never known even a revenant's use of Ni to be as potent as this…Unless…"

Arthur gasped, then looked up and demanded, "How are you?"

"We are the Revenants Who Say Ni!" the Revenant Knight proclaimed.

"Oh, no!" Arthur gasped in horror, "Not the Revenants Who Say Ni!"

"The same!" the phantom assured.

"Who…?" Bedivere wondered aloud.

"In life," the revenant explained, "We were made guardians of the terrible power of the word Ni! Now in death, we have been forever cursed for our excessive use of the word during the great war. Now all who we meet must be slain by us with the power of Ni!"

"But, sir!" pleaded Arthur, "We are but humble travelers who are on a journey to…"

Once more, the terrible spirits began to bark out their horrific chant until the four mortals were paralyzed by the cursed, soul-sucking word.

"We will say Ni again to you, if you do not appease us." The Revenant Knight declared. "And as I was about to say before you so rudely interrupted, we are feeling generous today, so we shall release you. However, first must pass a test."

"What sort of test?"

"The Revenants Who Say Ni demand a sacrifice!"

"Oh, Ghosts of Ni, what is it that you want?"

"We want…," the ghost paused dramatically. "A shrubbery!"

Arthur, Bedivere, and their servants stared in utter confusion for several moments at this declaration.

"A- a what?"

"Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!"

Once more, the four travelers began to writhe in agony upon hearing the vile words. Then at last it stopped.

"Bring us the shrubbery," the revenant said with all of his spectral ominous…ness? Is that even a word? *shrugs* Oh, well. Anyway.

"Or you will never pass through this wood, alive!" the Revenant finished.

"Oh, Revenants of Ni!" Arthur groveled in fear. "We will find you a shrubbery."

"One that looks nice," the phantom interjected.

"Yes."

"And not too expensive."

"Of course."

"Now…Go!"

To Be Continued…