Lavitz lifted his sword from the sheath again. He swung it a couple of times, making it whistle through the air, and put it back.
Adora shook her head. “Would you stop playing with that? You’re acting like a squire who just received his first.”
“I’m trying to become accustomed to it. The weight is all wrong.”
“Maybe because you’re used to an arming sword and that’s a falchion?”
“The sword I won from Belial was a long sword, WarPriest.”
She shrugged. “Silly man. All are inferior to a flanged mace.” She waggled her weapon which dangled from its leather strap around her wrist.
He snorted. “A mace is superior when dealing with plate mail, but I’d rather stab or slash my enemies than crush them.” He shrugged as he ducked under a low hanging tree branch. “I think it’s not as cruel.”
“You care about cruelty when dealing with demons?” Adora reached up and touched the bottom of the branch her husband just ducked under. Loose leaves fell to the forest floor. “That’s an odd consideration.”
Lavitz chuckled as he shook his head. “We don’t only fight demons, Adora. We also fight mortals.” A branch crunched under his foot, causing a squirrel to run up a tree.
“Do you two always bicker this much?” The soft voice of Miah came from behind them, sounding curious.
“We’re not bickering,” Adora said. “We’re debating.”
“Regardless, I believe the graveyard is just past those trees ahead,” Lavitz said.
They passed the trees to see a path leading up to the cemetery gate. Ivy wound its way along the black iron bars of the yawning gates and flowers bloomed along the walls. Beyond it, a gravel walkway wandered through groomed grass, and white tombstones. A few statues rose on the hillside, their features gleaming in the mid-day sun.
“That’s not good,” Miah said. “The gates are open.”
Lavitz glanced to his wife and found her looking at him. He returned his attention to the guard. “Is it usually closed?”
She nodded. “When we’re not burying anyone, it is.”
He nodded. “Let’s go see what’s going on.”
Miah paused, drumming her fingers on her sword hilt before she shook her head. “I’m not qualified for that. I’ll wait here for you to return.”
He raised his eyebrow. “Really? What kind of guard are you?”
Adora pushed on his back. “One who has hired us to help out.”
He allowed her to move him forward into the graveyard. “Actually, the dwarf hired us. She just showed us where the cemetery is.”
On the hallowed grounds, all was silent. Even the wildlife and wind had quieted. The graveyard appears old but lovingly cared for. Fresh gravel covered the path and flowers, not weeds, grew beside the tombstones.
A mausoleum loomed at the heart of the place, a solemn structure of dark stone veined with silver, its heavy doors etched with faded religious symbols. Ivy curled around its pillars, while timeworn statues of mournful figures stood guard, their weathered faces eroded by centuries of wind and rain.
“Wow. This place seems older than I expected.” He paused as disturbed gravel caught his attention. “Hey, Adora, check this out.”
She crouched next to him, and examined the area he pointed out. “It looks like someone started running here, and slipped a bit.”
He traced the outline of boot prints without touching the tracks. “Two people. One larger than the other. See how this set is larger and deeper?”
She nodded. “I wonder what happened?”
He pointed. “Looks like two people are laying on the mausoleum’s steps. Want to bet they are our runners?”
She straightened. “Something is moving out there on the other side of the steps.” She narrowed her eyes and murmured a prayer. A blue haze dropped over her eyes. “I see a pair of wolves with a warg a little beyond them.”
The warg made a bark-type sound and the two wolves charged. Brown dirt flew up from the ground as one of the grey-furred animals weaved around the tombstones.
“Carter, don’t kill them. The warg is controlling them.”
“Alright.” He sheathed his sword and shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet. “You’d better be quick to heal me if I don’t time this right.”
The first wolf leaped for his throat.
Carter ducked under the canine and when it was flying over him, shot up into its belly to flip the wolf.
The lupine twisted its body, attempting to land on its feet – but failed.
The wolf hit the ground with a yip of pain.
“Aww, noo,” Adora said. She then cast a spell to put the animal to sleep.
While she was distracted, the other leaped onto her back, taking her down.
Adora cried out in pain as the wolf tore at her shoulder.
“You fucking mutt.” Carter bellowed and leaped at it.
The wolf lunged back, Adora’s blood dripping from its muzzle as it bared red stained fangs.
Carter stood over the fallen Adora, sword at the ready. He angled himself to keep the warg in sight while not losing track of the remaining wolf.
“Adora, are you okay?”
Bright red flowed over her hand as she tried to slow the bleeding of her shoulder. “No, but I will be.” The words came through gritted teeth. “It’s hard concentrating on a prayer while making sure the warg doesn’t ambush you.”
While she spoke, the black-furred beast narrowed its baleful red eyes and slunk closer.
Carter partially turned his face to the wolf while shifting away from Adora. “Eh, the warg is too much of a coward to attack now. Even if you are close to death.”
“Carter, what the fuck?”
The warg lunged forward as the wolf charged.
The Walker of Worlds spun his sword in a reverse grip and stabbed back as the warg leaped.
The blade plunged deep into its chest. Its momentum allowed the monster to rake his back with its claws.
Carter hissed with pain as his back burned from the cuts, but he gritted his teeth as he yanked the blade out and flipped it around to thrust it into the wolf’s throat as it gathered its legs under it for a leap.
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The warg landed in a bloody sprawl next to the collapsing wolf.
Carter whipped the sword to the side, flinging blood to the gravel pathway as he turned to pull his wife to her feet.
The warg rose to wobbly feet and growled before falling once more, finally still.
“That was unexpected.” Adora glanced down at the dead wolf and warg. “Why do you think the warg was here?”
Carter shrugged, wincing. “That was dumb.” He twisted his torso, trying to work the tightness out. “Ow.” He stopped, and grabbing at his injured body as the pain flared. “That was dumber.”
“You silly man.” She pushed his hands away and examined the claw marks. “How do you want me to heal these?”
He furrowed his brow. “What?”
She gazed up at him from beneath her ebony hair where it had fallen over her eyes. “Do you want more scars, or no?”
“Wait, you can do that?”
She blew a strand of hair up out of her eyes. “Yes. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” It dropped back down.
Carter snickered. “Eh, heal it completely, please. I’ve got enough scars.”
She chuckled and then murmured a prayer. Golden light played over her hands and then sank into his back.
Warmth spread out from her touch as the divine magic stitched his muscles and then his skin.
She patted his back. “All done, big guy.”
He turned to face her. “Thank you. Now yourself.”
Adora raised her arms and swung them in circles. “Did that while your focus was on the warg and wolf. Speaking of…” She knelt beside the one sleeping near her feet and looked up. “What should we do about this one?”
“Let it sleep while we check out those two on the steps.”
She nodded and rose. A moment later, they stood before the marble steps of the tomb. Blood flowed from two bodies.
“They must have been savaged by some wild beast,” Adora said.
A male dwarf and female human lay in a pool of blood. They wore the remnants of the town sentinel's tabard. The sigil was like Miah’s but blue where hers was white. Their throats were torn out, but she also had a ragged hole in her stomach. Blood spatters covered the landing and the flagstones just inside the tomb's doorway.
Carter crouched by the human body and lightly touched near the wound in her belly. “Looks like the warg was hungry.”
Adora’s upper lip curled as she leaned back and swallowed hard. “I think I might be sick.”
Carter rose and looked at her. “Smashing demon skulls with a mace doesn’t bother you, but an animal feeding does?”
“Wargs aren’t mere animals. They’re intelligent.”
“Ah. An intelligent being feeding on another is what bothers you?”
She nodded, face pale. She studiously avoided looking back at the bodies.
He leaned toward her. “Guess how demons grow in rank.”
“Eugh.” She shuddered as she grimaced. “Don’t.”
He chuckled and moved forward, into the mausoleum.
“Where are you going? We can’t leave them here.”
“I’m going to look inside. You can head back and let Miah know about her patrol.”
“And leave you alone?”
He chuckled again. “Adora, I’m used to travelling the Abyss by myself. A sepulcher is nothing.”
She rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath. “Fine. Be careful, regardless. If there are undead, their attacks are long lasting and debilitating.”
He blew her a kiss over his shoulder and glanced around the large stone room. It contained a stone table and several vaults built into the walls. Across the room was a closed stone door. Blood was spattered and smeared on the table, walls, and floor. ‘Looks like they tried to use this place as a sanctuary. But it became a war room, instead.’
A narrow stairway spiraled down to a wide landing below. ‘Is the dancing light from a fireplace, or a series of torches?’
He descended the stairs to the landing. The torches cast flickering shadows over the cold stone walls, making them seem to shift and breathe. From the landing a shallow staircase led down into a room designed to allow corpses to be prepared for burial. At the bottom was the corpse of a human woman, crumpled and broken. The statue of some winged celestial being overlooked the scene from its pedestal east of the stairs. The shifting torchlight made him feel as if he were being judged by watchful eyes. Several tables stood against the east and west walls, and all but two of the seven had corpses on them. Farther into the chamber was a long pile of crushed stone where somebody or something toppled and crushed two of the tables. Beyond the debris, vault doors lined the north wall. Some stood ajar, revealing haphazardly scattered bones. A chill wind came from one of the doors, sending goosebumps up his arms.
He moved toward the next step and paused as a tingle raced down his spine. Something about the scene bothered him. ‘This doesn’t look natural.’ He peered over the banister to the floor below. The bodies of a male elf and half-orc lay below. One was on the floor, the other on a table. ‘They look fresh and not prepared for burial at all.’
Carter took the rest of the stairs and crossed to examine the elf. As he passed the table, the half-orc swung his arm at him. At the same time, a moan came from the side of the stairs as the elf stumbled to his feet. His movements were jerky and unnatural, as if invisible strings yanked his limbs into motion.
A clattering came from deeper in the room. ‘That sounds like bones.’
Carter dodged back as the elf almost hit him with his fists. “Back up, sir. I don’t want to fight you.”
Runny egg-white colored eyes turned to him as the elf lurched forward. Once more, it tried to hit the Walker of Worlds.
“Damn it. He must be enspelled.” Carter sidestepped the clumsy attack and then punched the elf in the jaw. ‘His flesh felt cold and brittle. That’s odd.’
The elf staggered to a broken table and collapsed.
Before Carter could check on the elf, the half-orc swiped clumsily at him. He almost fell from the force of his attack.
“Not you, too. What the hells is going on here?”
The half-orc turned the same color eyes on him that the elf had. It staggered towards him again.
At the same time, the clattering noise that reminded him of bones on stone grew louder.
Carter dodged another clumsy swipe from the half-orc and risked a glance to the other side of the room.
The clattering came from three animated skeletons that rounded the corner from the passage to the east. All were unarmored, and each wielded a bow with a quiver at its hip. The skeletal archers had arrows nocked, and one of those arrows was swathed in flame.
Another puff of cold air swept in behind the skeletal archers. This time, it also brought the scent of decay, foul and meaty with a hint of bitterness and wrong.
‘Skeletal archers? Wonderful. Does this mean the elf and half-orc are zombies? Let’s find out.’
One of the archers fired its bow, and as the arrow flew through the air, Carter grabbed the half-orc and maneuvered it into the flightpath.
He grabbed at Carter with shocking strength. Jagged fingernails raked at his leather armor while a putrid air washed over his face as the half-orc lunged to tear at his throat with his teeth.
The arrow hit the half-orc with a meaty thunk that didn’t elicit a reaction from him at all.
‘Not enspelled, but a zombie. Excellent. I can cut loose.’
Carter lifted his foot and shoved the half-orc zombie away.
It staggered back and fell over the jerky elf. Both collapsed to the floor.
The archers loosed their arrows. The flaming one flew a little faster and a faint howling sound came from it.
Carter dropped down.
Fire washed over the wall behind him as the fire arrow hit it. Intense heat surged over him, curling his hair. He felt his skin of his neck tighten as the flames scorched him.
“Fucking hells.”
He jumped over the table and somersaulted to his feet, before smashing the skull of the closest archer into powder with the hilt of his sword.
The other two swiped at him with bony fingers. He blocked one skeleton with the vambrace of his leather armor, but the other one managed to dig into his face and neck.
He yelled at the pain and clubbed the skeleton away with the back of his fist.
It staggered back and fell to the ground with a clatter.
The other archer took advantage of his distraction and clawed at his back.
The scratch of bone against his cuirass got his attention and he kicked backward into the breastbone of the skeleton.
It exploded into pieces from the force.
Moans and wet, shuffling steps remind Carter the zombies were present.
A glance over his shoulder showed him the undead lumbering around the stone table.
He stomped his foot onto the skull of the fallen archer, turning it into dust.
As he flipped his sword around to grip it by the hilt, Adora’s voice came from the stairs.
“Why are you playing with undead, Carter?”
“Show off.” He stuck his tongue out at her as he sheathed his sword.
She giggled as she skipped down the rest of the steps. “It’s not showing off to use your Kellün given powers.”
He turned to examine the area the skeletal archers came from. He found a door leading down a short passage. It had the statue of a human woman set in a niche on the northern wall. She was dressed in robes, and her arms and face were held upward as if toward the sky. On either side of her, fountains gurgled with what appeared to be fresh water. The passage smelled like rain. Directly across the hall from the statue was a closed stone door, and farther down the passage was an archway on the northern wall.
“That’s an interesting statue. I wonder who she was.”
He glanced back to his wife. “Adora Orwen doesn’t know people from history?”
“Adora Blake, mister.” She pushed his shoulder. “You shouldn’t pretend you’re not married to me. It’s mean.” She looked at the statue, trying to figure out who she might have been. “This doesn’t resemble any goddess I’ve heard described.”
Carter shrugged and headed down the hall. He spotted a door with faded writing etched on it and another with a ruby glow coming from the cracks around it.
He opened it and found the color of the stone was a darker gray, and the shape of the blocks making up the walls changed. Two small staircases descend to a stone door that had a strange image engraved on it. Something made him reach out and touch it.
When he did, the stones took on a pulsating red hue. He blinked and found himself in a white room with a vaulted ceiling. Rattling chains behind him made him spin around.
A dark aura of power surrounded a towering humanoid with huge bat wings. Lurid flames danced over its skin and disappeared at cuffs binding it to the wall.
“Ganēni Gēta. I’d wondered where you disappeared to. Your palace in the Abyss is in disarray without you.”
