by Kell Inkston
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: IT BEGINS
There is a loud horn played off in the distance, deep in the woods away from the square. Gallin laughs with victory and raises his hand a moment to halt the gardener.
“Behold, fair men and women of the noble light crown, our heroes have returned!” the well-dressed dwarf says, ushering out cheers even more numerous than from when Order was impaled with her seed. By this point the fog, almost magically-thick, has engulfed the entire center square and is now moving past the castle. Not a soul can see more than three meters ahead, which starts to make a few of the fairies uneasy; they recall Love’s words just moments ago about how the necromancers would approach.
“What did the Knight there say? Don’t necromancers invade places with mist?”
“Motha, I very much wish to return to our roamy domey house and homey!”
“The dead ones are coming. Our people are doomed!” are a few of the outbursts from out of the crowd. Gallin sighs.
“Relax my dear brethren, there is nothing to worry about. Our soldiers were instructed to blow the horn upon their approach as they always do! Things have gone well,” Gallin says with a smile as he peers across the distance. This expression of confidence calms down the group in the square a fair deal, and they are now eagerly awaiting the fairies to come striding in triumphantly with Oa’s head on ten pikes. Gallin never thought about it until now, but the thick fog mixed with the black of the oncoming night gives off a very ominous feeling. He is about to give the signal to continue the execution, when a single gasp is let loose by an elf.
They look to where they expect the fairies to approach, but instead see the eerie, uncertain movement of figures, close enough to the lanterns and torches to be noticeable, but far-away enough to be indiscernible. “Welcome back, heroes of Liefland!” Gallin says with a wide grin, doing his best to appear fearless in front of his fellows. There is no response, but the fairies in the crowd begin to make out what seems to be horrible, contorted faces, grinning at the fairies like gourmands before an awaited meal. The horn blares once more. The light of the lanterns and torches diminish as the shadowy group approaches the square. Everyone in the crowd is now certain that Gallin is wrong and that they are all going to die tonight. Their silence holds only until one of them steps out and states the obvious. There is a long moment of the crowd staring at the shambling, shadowy force, and then from the edge of it all approaches a figure taller than Liefland’s many trees. The figure is of such an overwhelming height that it stretches out of view from the small flickers of lights remaining. Gallin begins trembling and does his best to look confused, rather than terrified. “Something’s wrong. Everyone stay calm and--” Gallin’s voice is overpowered by the sound of a void, emptied-out husk wearing Liefland’s elite military garb being plopped into the center of the amphitheater next to the dwarf.
There is a wide, collective gasp in fear as Gallin steps away from the organless, boneless mangling of what was recently an elf. There is a short moment in which everyone in the audience, afraid to speak or move at the thought of it aggravating their invaders, realizes that Love was right.
Gallin struggles to speak and is only exacerbated when the rest of the bodies are dropped from above by Oa’s great hand; every single one of the fairies sent to fight the necromancers. At the same moment, hundreds of necromancers come forward and pass through the crowd, entering the city and ensuring they have surrounded the entire capital.
“I AM SOMEWHAT OFFENDED. SOMEHOW I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU FAIRIES UNDERSTOOD THE POWER I HOLD OVER LIFE AND DEATH, BUT INSTEAD YOU SEND YOUR FINEST WARRIORS TO GRAVES EARLY, IF ONLY BY THIRTY MINUTES. ASIDE, I MUST THANK YOU, IT SEEMS YOU FAIRIES HAVE DONE THE DEED FOR ME IN BRINGING THE KNIGHTS ON KNEE TO BE EXECUTED LIKE THE REST OF YOU. FOR WITHSTRAINING THE KNIGHTS SO THAT THIS WOULD BE FAR QUICKER THAN EXPECTED, YOU HAVE MY GRATITUDE. YOUR DEATHS WILL BE QUICK, AND YOU WILL ALL BECOME