Chronicles of Espiria Season 3
Episode 11 – The Island of the Banished
Written by the Dude
The small group of Graveborn stood at the top of a hill overlooking the bay from which one could most easily access the Island of the Banished. Grezhul was scanning the beach and the water for any signs of guards, Theowyn at his side taking in what was left of the natural beauty of the scene. Behind Grezhul was Shemira, holding Stitchy while Niru gave Daimon a piggyback ride. Next to Shemira was Vedan, who absolutely refused to give Isabella a piggyback ride.
"I still do not like this plan." Grezhul said. "These people have spent their entire undead lives fighting against King Thoran's rule. They will not support his personal bodyguard for any reason."
"They fled here to escape what they thought was oppression." Theowyn countered. "As long as they know that we are doing the same, they should at least shelter us."
"Are we there yet?" Daimon asked.
"There it is in the distance, son; the Island of the Banished. Now we need only find a way to reach it."
"Could we swim that distance?" Isabella asked.
"I do not swim!" Vedan answered, almost offended by the suggestion.
"It would not be wise anyway." Grezhul continued. "By order of King Thoran, this island is surrounded by sirens to discourage anyone from leaving. It is how he convinced himself that this is a prison rather than an island in rebellion."
"Then how do we reach the island?" Shemira asked. "Surely King Thoran had devised a way to visit the island if he ever needed to."
"Is that a boat?" Theowyn asked with some excitement, pointing to a small pier on the beach.
"Good eye, my lady. Come on."
"Oh, I can't remember the last time I was on a boat!" Theowyn commented. "I wonder if I will get sick again."
"You won't, your highness." Niru reassured her. "You have no stomach left."
Once they reached the dock, Grezhul took a moment to assess the craft from the shore. It was a coal-fired supply ship of Lightbearer design, likely modified to be driven by necromantic spells. It looked seaworthy from a distance, but he would have to inspect it more closely to be sure.
"I wonder whose boat this is." Theowyn asked as she examined her surroundings, noting that there were no structures nearby to house a captain or even a caretaker.
"A very good question." Vedan said. "Surely King Thoran was not interested in adding to the population of this island, so why would he leave the means to do so unguarded?"
Grezhul thought a moment. "Niru, can you inspect the boat from here?"
Niru passed Daimon from his shoulders to Shemira's arms and winked at the boy.
"Daddy has to go to work."
Shemira and Daimon smiled as Niru readied his scythe with an extra flourish. He then turned his attention from his family to the unknown vessel. Closing his eyes, he concentrated his power into his scythe, then slammed the handle into the loose sand. His face contorted as he concentrated.
"This is proving difficult in this loosely packed soil."
"Then let me help you." Shemira offered.
Shemira laid her hand on Niru's shoulder, allowing her power to flow through Niru and augment his already considerable magic. This proved more than sufficient to allow Niru to magically scan the vessel; after a moment, he was sorely glad that they were not on board.
"Get down!" Niru shouted.
Moments later, the dwarven gunpowder packed into the engine room exploded, detonated prematurely by Niru's scanning spell, scattering pieces of ship across the beach like shrapnel. Grezhul was on his feet again in moments, not noticing the small plank driven into his torso; the others were unharmed, but more reluctant to rise as quickly.
"That might explain why it was unguarded." Vedan snidely commented.
"That would have killed us!" Grezhul countered as he scanned the beach for enemies. "King Thoran would want to take fugitives alive so they could be punished!"
At that moment, a massive fishhook burst through Grezhul's torso, eliciting a cry of surprise and horror from Theowyn. Before anyone could react further, Grezhul found himself being dragged backward by the hook, finally coming to rest at the feet of his assailants. One was a teenager armed with the aforementioned hook and a crudely forged axe; the second was a man with a black trench coat and a tank full of green liquid strapped to his back; the third had a strange cylinder in place of his head. Grezhul and Niru recognized the man in the trench coat, Silas, because of his meetings with Niru on a secret project between them; the girl and the man with the cylinder head were strangers to everyone, save Isabella, who recognized the cylinder-headed man.
"Oden!" she whispered.
"You know, I really wanted that trap to work on you." the girl said as she twirled the axe in her hand.
"Calm yourself, Nara." Oden said before turning back to the fugitives. "You all have shown a remarkable strength of will in resisting Quadam's call, but that will not avail you much longer. You will bend your knee to your new Hypogean masters, or you will be consigned to eternal torment in the Underworld. The choice is yours."
"I've seen you defeated once before, Oden!" Isabella shouted. "We will find a way to do it again!"
Oden stared at Isabella for a time, until his eyes lit up in recognition.
"You were one of the fools who opposed me at the Mortuary Void. Yes, I was drawn in; my soul was kept safe in the Hypogean realm, while my body was restored after the fall of the Barred Gate. Now I command the brotherhood of willing servants of the Hypogeans, the Abyssal Creed, as we continue our work to bring justice to the children of Dura! Thanks to our efforts, you are now opposed by every station in Graveborn society, from the lowest of the wilderness guards to the very throne of King Edwin!"
"King Edwin?!" Theowyn cried out; she imagined her wicked brother occupying Thoran's throne, and was horrified by the very thought.
"And yet you still hope to be our undoing?" Oden continued, ignoring Theowyn's outburst.
"Of course, Oden; I and all my friends."
"As you wish. Silas, give the signal."
Silas smiled as he pulled a remote from his coat and entered a code into it. Moments later, the water near the island began to bubble violently. The distraction caused by the eruption allowed Grezhul to free himself of Nara's hook and rejoin his friends. Soon, a pirate ship made entirely of bones lashed together with rope and tar rose up out of the water and turned its bow toward the fugitives.
"The Sacral Ark!" Grezhul exclaimed. "That's Admiral Hodgkin's ship!"
"I bow to your military expertise, Captain," Vedan said to Grezhul, "How do we fight that?"
"I don't know yet, but it seems he's taking orders from Oden and Silas. If we can stop them, we may stop Admiral Hodgkin."
"How did he even know we would be here?" Niru asked. "This is no hastily assembled trap; he had to know that we would come here from the moment that free will was suspended!"
"Of course; you are far too predictable." Oden answered. "From the moment you escaped from King's Manse, Grezhul, you have sought out allies to aid you in your flight. There is no place in all of Bantus more inviting to someone seeking refuge than an island fortress guarded by the enemy of your enemy."
"We have taken precautions in the event that you would try to reach the island." Silas continued. "The Sacral Ark has been outfitted with new cannons of my own design, powerful enough to reach King's Manse if Hodgkin so chose. He was so pleased with them during the demonstration that he asked me to make pistols for him using the same design."
"As fascinating as it is to hear of your genius," Oden said sarcastically, "it is time to give the second order."
Silas entered another code into his remote. Silas' cannons on the Sacral Ark were rolled into position, but rather than turning the ship so that the cannons could face the fugitives, it simply dipped into the water so that the cannons were just under the surface. From the way the ship shuttered and drifted, it was clear that the cannons were firing at something underwater, but at what precisely was a mystery.
"What are they shooting at?" Theowyn asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Nara said, giggling like a schoolgirl. "They're blowing up the island! They're shooting out the ground that the fort sits on so it'll sink!"
"But the people..."
"They belong to the sirens now!" Oden bellowed. "You have no more allies in Bantus! There is nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide! You are cornered, defenseless, beaten! Now surrender, submit to Hypogean control, or be destroyed!"
As Oden spoke, soldiers of Bantus marched over the hills surrounding the beach and boxed the fugitives in, all while the Island of the Banished began to slowly vanish beneath the waves. Oden was partly right; they were surrounded, with little hope of escape. But they were far from defenseless. Grezhul drew his swords, Niru readied his scythe, Shemira readied her crystal, Stitchy (to Daimon's delight) sprang to life and took on his monstrous form, all ready to ensure that Oden and his forces paid dearly for their victory. Even Vedan, normally one to make a "tactical retreat" at the first sign of danger, drew his sabre and took his stance facing the nearest quarry.
"I don't think they're giving up." Nara said with an unsettling grin as she raised her axe.
At that moment, all were distracted by a blood-curdling roar coming from the water. Before anyone could react, two of the Bantus soldiers were grabbed by a twitching mass of bone and meat, still dripping from having just emerged from the water. It crushed the two soldiers in its bare hands, then looked over the scene with its three skeletal heads before roaring again. The gloating attitude of the three Abyssal Creed melted away at the sight of this monster.
"Kill them all!" Nara shouted.
The soldiers charged from all sides. Grezhul maintained a small circle around himself and Theowyn with his swordsmanship, while Theowyn channeled her sorrow and fury into a curse that left many of Grezhul's opponents too weak to fight. Niru and Shemira stood back to back, reaping the power from their attackers, while Stitchy finished off the weakened soldiers. Vedan did not attack, but rather distracted the soldiers quite skillfully so that none would notice Isabella's death curses until it was too late. The most terrifying, however, was the three-headed giant, who stomped the soldiers where it found them and used their own bones as weapons against their allies.
"Oden, what now?" Nara asked, a little nervous.
"For now, we retreat, and wait for reinforcements. We have completed our business here; the giant is the last new ally Grezhul shall receive. So long as we do not give up our pursuit, it is but a matter of time before they are worn down and captured. Once Ferael and the Abomination return from their task in the Lightbearer lands, our victory shall be assured."