Chronicles of Espiria Season 3

Episode 13 – An Abomination Unmasked

Written by Stormrider and CindyDaGreat

Special thanks to Latt for letting us use his idea

Thane and Estrilda sat on opposite sides of an aged yet smooth chess table, where a dramatic battle of careful planning and precise moves was being waged. During a rare moment of inattention, Estrilda used her knight to take Thane's queen.

"Oh? What a turn of events," the general commented, plucking the queen off the board and placing it in the pile of discarded pieces. Her moment of gloating aside, she said more seriously, "This is unlike you. Is something on your mind, Thane?"

Thane, not paying much attention, suddenly registered the spoken words from the woman in front of him. Realizing he was now disadvantaged, he sighed. "You could tell, Estrilda?"

"You're welcome to share your troubles, if you don't mind." Estrilda laced her fingers together tentatively, awaiting an answer, the chess game temporarily forgotten. The older gentleman looked away, a pained and tired expression on his face, as if he'd felt this before.

"The anniversary of Baden's death is tomorrow."

Silence fell over the both of them; the late Baden Rayne was an important figure in both of their lives.

"I was thinking of visiting the battlefield in which he fell." Thane continued.

"Uncle Baden's resting place..." Estrilda mused, concerned for Thane. "Are you sure about this? Remember what happened last year."

"I'm not in quite so dark a place as I was last year. However, you are more than welcome to accompany me, if you so wish."

Estrilda nodded, already gathering the chess pieces. "I'll inform the King of our plans." She looked at her mentor again, a softer expression on her face. "You are sure you're fine enough to go?"

"Your concern is appreciated, but I assure you it is unnecessary. We leave tomorrow at sunrise."

The next day, approaching noon, they were in a desolate field, with many sentimental items scattered around serving as headstones to those that had fallen there. The half-sunlight through the clouds illuminated the battle field in such a way that you could almost hear the sound of metal on metal, of the shouting men and Maulers on either side.

"I do not feel safe here, Thane." Estrilda's usually calm tone was edged with unease. "I cannot explain it."

"We are safe here, Estrilda, so long as the cease fire with the Maulers is in place."

Estrilda could tell from Thane's voice that he had mixed feelings about the peace with the creatures who killed her Uncle Baden. Looking at him, she could see that it was an effort to hold it together, and in fact, had it not been for her presence, Thane may well have lost any scrap of composure he had in him. Estrilda laid a hand on her mentor's shoulder, grounding him a little more in the here and now. He straightened up a little, raising his chin as if to reject his memory.

They walked a little way out into what seemed to be the middle of the field. There was a single sword, standing firmly out of the ground, the blade glowing even in the little light there was. It was a nobleman's blade no doubt, and it had a number of military decorations adorning it that would have significantly changed his status had this warrior lived. Draped over the sword was a strip of blue fabric, blowing in the breeze, with a slight bloodstain at the end. It had been tied around the sword, presumably by a medic, as the body was never recovered. Thane swallowed, a hard look coming over most of his face, other than the sheer sorrow in his dark eyes. His remaining arm was trembling as he struggled to maintain his composure, Estrilda's hand still firmly on his shoulder. He knelt in front of the sword, bowing in the coarse dirt that seemed more like sand at certain points, and spoke aloud the name of the warrior who should have been buried there.

"Baden".

Estrilda gazed uncertainly at the sword sticking out of the ground, unsure what she was supposed to feel, or indeed what she was feeling. Her brow furrowed, and she slowly removed her helmet, bowing stiffly before the only remaining pieces of the man she had briefly known as her favorite uncle.

A shape whisked through the underbrush at the edge of the field. Estrilda snapped straight up, glancing from side to side. She slowly replaced the helmet on her head, unease radiating from every nerve in her body. Her horse, Valour, snorted and reared up, evidently as spooked as she was. Estrilda caught the reins, calming the horse to the best of her abilities.

"Thane, I need you to finish soon so we can leave this place. We are not alone anymore."

She said it loud and clear, as her gut told her whatever was watching them, there was no point in being quiet. Thane did not seem to hear her.

"Thane!" Her voice was sharp, bearing a strong resemblance to the unsheathing of a blade. Her mentor stared at her, but seemed completely lost in another time. Estrilda hastily scrawled a request for reinforcements, pinning both it and her seal to Valour's saddle. She sent him off at full speed, in the direction they had come from. "Hiyah!"

No sooner had she done this than a blackened arrow buried itself in the ground where Valour once was. It was more comparable to a javelin, because of the sheer speed and crude design. Estrilda growled; warning shot. The next shot would not miss her so easily. Hearing the thunk of the arrow, Thane seemed to finally come to his senses, the two warriors drawing their blades from their scabbards. Despite this not being her usual choice of weapon, Estrilda had been using swords since before she could remember, so it came no less naturally than her usual lance. Thane's eyes glittered dangerously; he did not appreciate assassins intruding on this place.

With an unholy chattering call, a dozen or so Graveborn warriors burst from the surrounding area.

"Ambush!" Estrilda howled in frustration.

Thane responded by slicing three of them nearly in half. "If I shall fall on this day, I shall fall as Baden fell all those years ago."

Thane's voice sounded soft, but the undertone was nothing but icy steel. Estrilda's outrage showed through as she swung her blade, gripping the hilt with both hands and mercilessly dispatching the Graveborn around her with the swift brutality and sheer, uncontrollable anger that would have made any Mauler chieftain jealous. Thane, however, was nothing but grimly calm. His blade moved so fast he seemed to blur into multiple one-armed cape bearers all at the same time, parrying anything that got remotely near him and slicing through enemies as if they were water.

All the while, the two were dodging and knocking away oncoming arrows from the visible Graveborn archers. The owner of the freakishly accurate black projectiles was still a mystery.

In the midst of the decapitated corpses, another figure stepped out of the shadows. Had either of them been with Commander Hogan when he was ambushed by Graveborn before the fall of the Barred Gate, they might have recognised him as the Abomination who led the attack. His shallow, sunken eyes glowed with a hollow light that seemed completely inhuman and unfeeling. His laughter was every bit as hollow as he looked, and it echoed uncomfortably around the empty field. That was when the second wave of Graveborn burst out at the battling duo.

Back in Ranhorn, Hogan was drilling his men again; despite the cease fire with Bantus, there had been increasing reports of Graveborn activity in the area, and he did not wish to lose a single man to their armies should they break the cease fire, out of the chilling knowledge of what they would surely become in their defeat. He had also agreed to watch over a couple of Thane's trainees while he attended to 'personal matters.'

Without warning, and interrupting his train of thought, there was a frantic clatter of hooves and armour as a horse ran screeching into the encampment, sending a few of the men ducking for cover.

"Woah! Woah!" Ulric grabbed the horse by the reins, bringing it to a halt. His confusion quickly turned to panic, as he noticed just which horse this was.

"This is General Estrilda's steed, Sir!" He called out to Hogan, who rushed over. The Lieutenant noticed the message fastened to the saddle, and hastily grabbed it. Hogan caught a glance at the seal before Ulric began reading out loud. "'Ambush. Send help as soon as possible.' By Dura... We've got to help, Commander!"

Ulric's eyes danced with horror. Hogan nodded

"Gather your wits, men. General Estrilda's in trouble." He barked at the soldiers. A young man with dull reddish brown hair and lightweight expensive looking armour ran over to him.

"What is it Jacob?" Hogan turned around.

"Sir, if Thane has gotten himself into something, we'd like to get him out again. I speak for all of us on this matter."

Jacob looked Hogan right in the eyes. Hogan looked out at Thane's other students and frowned.

"You can come with us, provided that you follow orders. While you fight with us, you answer either to me or the Lieutenant. Understood?"

His tone was slightly softer than usual. Jacob nodded.

The second wave of Graveborn had been cut down just as easily as the ones that had come before them, but both Estrilda and Thane recognized what was going on. They were being worn out, until they were easier to pick off. The Abomination moved in and attacked Thane with speed Estrilda had only ever seen from Thane. Their movements during the battle were not only fast, but elegant, almost more a dance than a battle, and perfectly choreographed at that. It eventually ended when their swords locked and they stared each other in the eye.

"Thane…?" the Abomination seemed to force out.

The Graveborn had caught Estrilda off guard, its voice completely different from earlier. In her distracted state, a withered arrow whistled through the air, embedding itself right into her exposed thigh. She grunted in pain. Not wanting any Graveborn poison staying in her, weighing her options, she wrenched the arrow out with a painful squelch, determined to find whoever was responsible.

As Estrilda scanned the enemy lines for her attacker, Thane's face changed from that of a hardened warrior to one of shock and horror.

"Baden?!"

The Abomination made no response, no movement at all.

"Baden… old friend. Do not tell me this is what has become of you. Tell me my eyes deceive me, I beg of you." Thane's usually calm tone was wracked with sorrow and disbelief.

"Your eyes tell you the truth, Thane." he finally responded. "Now run. I can't keep control for long. Take her and run!" Every word seemed to be an effort for Baden to string together and force out.

"Thane, focus! We must leave this place!" Estrilda's commanding tones had little effect.

"I will not leave you here again Baden! Let me help you!"

Baden frantically shook his head. Estrilda grabbed Thane by the arm. That was when the arrows began to rain down. Estrilda, seeing this, took out her shield and pulled Thane behind it, covering as much of both of them as she could. Another wave of Graveborn started emerging from cover. Slouching down in an archer's position, a horned Graveborn, Ferael, readied a dozen arrows before leaping into the air. Each of the dozen withering missiles found themselves in Estrilda's shield, the impact splintered it into pieces. She roared and flung the splinters away, some getting caught in a rotting soldier's eye. Finally seeing the corpse who dared land an arrow on her, the general nodded to Thane before charging at the undead archer. The Graveborn was caught slightly off guard before continuing his onslaught of arrows, which Estrilda quickly dispatched with her blade cracking like a whip. She muttered a prayer to the Celestials.

No sooner had the prayer left her lips, than she heard the distinctive sound of Hogan's shouting, combined with the metallic clang of armour and loud cursing. The wounded general, relieved, jeered at the remaining Graveborn. With newfound spirit, the black arrows seem to move in slow motion as she kept knocking them away with her blade, the poison in her thigh slowly forgotten.

Closing in their distance, she swiped at Ferael, nearly slicing off a horn. The Graveborn, seeing his comrades falling like flies, and no obvious way to combat a sword in his face with his weapon of choice, leaped away. In a split second, just as Estrilda was about to land a brutal stab, the undead archer leaped into the trees and Estrilda sliced air. She scanned the forest to see if a silhouette could be found, but found nothing. It was too late, the bowman had fled. Discouraged but not defeated, she sliced a nearby Graveborn, the archer now the least of her worries. Around her, a war of living men and undead still raged on.

Hogan called his men forward after this. Baden was on his knees, hand gripping his head, moaning. Jacob charged so fast he barely seemed to be running at all, swiftly coasting across the field. He led some of his fellow trainees toward the flank of Graveborn. Ulric led Hogan's unit around to the front. Hogan gave a short nod to Estrilda, who smiled brusquely in return. He whirled around and entered the fight, signaling to the Lieutenant.

The trainees held their own remarkably for what was for most their first real fight. The Graveborn were not much of a challenge for the soldiers at all, and within minutes they had been dispatched. Estrilda dragged Thane away, with the aid of Jacob and Ulric, as he was refusing to leave. Hogan barked another command to his men, who began to move out. Baden was nowhere in sight.

The battle finally over, the new Lightbearer soldiers cheered. Estrilda suddenly buckled, dropping to her knees as the adrenaline finally wore off, her arrow wound finally catching up to her. Hogan noticed, and called for the healers to tend to the general.

"It's fine, nothing I can't handle. I've had leg cramps worse," Estrilda joked.

"At least let the medics take a look at it, we can't have the army's best go down from one arrow." Hogan grunted, sharing Estrilda's light tone.

Thane crouched down to her height, lightly clapping her on the back. "You did incredible, Estrilda. I suggest washing down the pain with alcohol."

It was common knowledge that after every victory, Lightbearer soldiers enjoyed raiding a tavern and drinking to their heart's content; not that tavern owners would turn down war heroes and a bit of extra coin. Slinging Estrilda's arm over his shoulder, Thane and Estrilda follow the crowd back to Ranhorn.

At the Noble Tavern, Thane, Estrilda, and Hogan sat together, watching the antics of Ulric and Thane's students, all three deep in thought concerning what they had seen.

"Thane, was that Uncle Baden?" Estrilda took a long sip from her glass. She didn't drink as often as most of the other troops, but this occasion was unlike most.

Thane sighed. "I am afraid that it was."

Estrilda's heart plummeted. "Then I must prepare for the inevitable."

"No, Estrilda, I will not let him die a second time. I could not help him the first time. I will not fail him again." His voice was on the verge of breaking.

"That creature was not Baden, Thane! Nothing but a puppet of whatever vile thing he serves! I will avenge him on whoever desecrated his body!"

Estrilda slammed her glass down, stalking off and ending the discussion.

"You must be quite a teacher." Hogan nudged Thane, trying to lighten the mood. Thane gave him a withering look. Hogan sighed. They sat in silence, drinking, for a few minutes. Hogan looked back at the seat Estrilda was in a few moments ago, casting a hard look at the ground. Finally breaking the silence, he attempted conversation with Thane again.

"You know, sometimes I forget she has endured anything like that. She's always so commanding, so put together. I really do mean it when I say you're quite the teacher."

Thane raised his eyebrows at the compliment, before taking another swig. He avoided eye contact and seemed lost in thought.

"Sometimes, I wish she never became a knight. She could've lived a good, deathless life as a noble woman. But she wasn't like that; she didn't want to be sheltered by royal status. That's what I was most proud of about her, her drive. Every setback, she found a way to overcome. She really held the Rayne name proud."

Hogan quietly listened to Thane's words. He placed an armored hand on his shoulder. "Of course she did. I feel the same about Ulric. Never was the tough type, but brave as anyone I've known, and fights with certainty and passion. I couldn't have picked a better man to do the job."

Thane nodded at Hogan, no longer irritated at his earlier attempt at lightening the mood. Their glasses were nearly empty, and that's when Dolly stepped by, carrying three tankards in each of her hands. "Refills, sirs?"

Thane and Hogan looked at each other, and Hogan smiled. "Of course!"

Back in Bantus, the shoreline that once allowed one access to the Island of the Banished now swarmed with the army of Bantus as they searched for the bones of the island's inhabitants which should have been left by the sirens; their hope was that the victims of the sirens could be resurrected again and forced to submit to Quadam's call. This task was made all the more difficult by Niru's turning, but Niru had trained his assistants well; they could do the task that Niru had abandoned.

As one of the soldiers waded in the shallow water, he came across a green luminescent hand, seemingly untouched by the sirens' appetite. Feeling himself fortunate to have found such a pristine specimen, he reached down to claim the prize for the empire, only to find it resisting his attempts to lift it. He tried a few more times to free the hand from whatever held it in place when, to his surprise, he found himself pulled under the water, then cast into deeper water for the sirens to deal with.

Moments later, the owner of the hand freed himself from the submerged sand and rose from the shallow water. Like the hand, the man was a luminous green, clad in rusted armor with a sword lodged in his back that seemed to spark with the energy of centuries of experience. Another Bantus soldier, who had observed the vanishing of his ally, charged at the glowing man, only to find himself cast unceremoniously into deeper water as well. The glowing man then scanned his surroundings, observed the soldiers still searching the beach, then raised his hand to his mouth and whistled. This drew the attention of the soldiers, but more importantly to the glowing man, it summoned his most trusted friend. Moments later, a powerful war horse, as luminescent as his master, emerged from the water and nuzzled the man.

"Come, my friends, we have people to avenge."

The man threw himself onto the war horse and drew a spear from his back as the soldiers began to converse among themselves.

"By Quadam, that's Lieutenant Treznor!"

"We must capture the traitor!"

"How? He was almost as good as Captain Grezhul!"

"Who cares? Get him!"

Treznor charged at the soldiers taking up arms against him. The soldiers did their best to surround Treznor and drag him off his horse, but his erratic movements, high speed, and surprising dexterity made any strategy they tried fall apart before they could even put it into action. It was not long before the soldiers were in pieces strewn across the beach. Once the beach was secure, Treznor dismounted his horse and picked up one of the severed heads, staring it down with furious eyes.

"Why does King Thoran attack the Tainted now?! What is his game!"

"All hail King Edwin!"

Treznor could feel the head lose consistency. Soon, the head and its nearby remains collapsed into a pile of dust at Treznor's feet. Treznor's anger slowly faded and was replaced by confusion.

"Edwin? What madness would prompt King Thoran to even resurrect that despot?"

On closer inspection of the ground, Treznor found evidence of an earlier battle that took place on the beach, probably at the same time the Island of the Banished was destroyed. If he read the evidence correctly, the giant Torne took part in the battle. Left now with more questions than answers, he decided against traveling to King's Manse just yet, instead opting to follow the trail of the giant.