Necrodruid

by Adam Witcher

  “I saw you bringing swords into this shack. Why?” I waved my dagger. The man looked over at Lily, who kept watch. Another man approached the front with a battle axe, so she motioned for us to move up against the back wall. We did.

  “Look now,” the man said with a slight smile. “What my wife and I do behind the privacy of our closed doors…”

  I cut him off by pointing the dagger at his neck.

  “You don’t strike me as one of Neptos’ goons.” His green eyes squinted at me.

  “Neptos?” I turned to Lily, remembering the name that the man on the street had said to us. She nodded. “Who is Neptos?”

  He didn’t respond for a moment. “Who the hell are you two, anyway?”

  “I don’t think I need to remind you who has the dagger to his throat, do I?” I made a show of pulling the dagger back, extending it to its full length, then holding it to his throat again. “Who are you?”

  “Fair enough,” he said, “My name is…”

  “Gani…” Lily said from behind me. “Rahm, let him go.”

  I turned to look at her. Her eyes were glistening. When I looked back at the man named Gani, he was furrowing his brows and looking back at her.

  “Lily…” he said. “Lily is that you? My gods, how long has it been?”

  “Twelve years,” she walked slowly over to him, and gave him a big hug. I was beginning to feel a bit silly holding a dagger to him.

  “I thought you hated your family, Lily.” I put it away.

  “Gani isn’t a Wolfgang,” she said to me. “He used to run the small lumber mill on the other side of the estate. I’d sometimes go hang out in his shack with him and his wife when Piggy was at his worst.”

  “I still run that mill,” the man said. “But perhaps not for much longer.”

  “I hate to break up the reunion, but what’s happening here?” I asked. “Is the estate under attack?”

  “Not exactly,” Gani said. “Occupied, though, yes. A sorcerer named Neptos arrived with Ignatius yesterday with a group of guards. Some orcs and hobgoblins. Lots of weapons. It isn’t clear to us exactly what’s going on, but I don’t suspect it’s anything good. Believe it or not, Lily, your cousin has become even more erratic as an adult. Your uncle Thom has been getting weaker, and Ignatius is champing at the bit to take the reins.”

  “Piggy is the heir? What about Jericho?” Lily looked taken aback.

  “Jericho has been absent for quite a while, Lily. Disappeared without a trace five years ago. Nobody knows why he left or where he went. Nobody claims to, anyway. I’d certainly be curious to see what some truth serum would reveal from Iggy. Regardless, Ignatius has been traveling back and forth to the northwest pretty frequently, toward that bloody tower. Each time he comes back acting crazier than usual, if that’s possible. When he showed up with a caravan, I figured that meant trouble. I talked to the other servants. We’ve been stockpiling weaponry for when trouble demands it. I suspect it will soon.”

  I paced around for a moment and tried to think. Gani broke a brief silence.

  “Now that we’re on friendly terms, perhaps I could ask one question?” He asked. I nodded.

  “Who are you, and why are you here?” he asked me.

  I started to speak when Lily answered for me.

  “He’s a disciple of Izmira,” she said, “a necrodruid who helped liberate my farm. He’s here to put an end to whatever is happening in the realm. You can trust him.”

  “Nice introduction,” I grinned. She was obviously hamming it up because she felt badly about the betrayal, but I enjoyed it anyway. “Couldn’t have put it better myself.”

  “How did you know something was happening here?” He asked.

  We briefly recounted the events that had led us to the estate. Lily cringed at the retelling of her betrayal.

  “If your parents are here, I haven’t seen them, but I suppose they would be in the main house. I’ve been avoiding it for obvious reasons.”

  “So you really don’t know what they’re up to in there?” I asked. “This is a massive estate. They must have a plan for it.”

  “Whatever the plan is, I suspect the weapons will come in handy.” Gani replied. “Better in our hands than theirs, anyway. Shall we go inside?”

  We followed him around the front. If the place had once been someone’s living quarters, it certainly wasn’t now. There was no furniture nor tools, no comforts of a home. There were only weapons grouped together by type. Some piles were stacked so high that I couldn’t see the floor or the wall behind them.

  “Good lord, how many of you are there?” I said. “You could arm a whole battalion with this stuff.”

  “The servants outnumber the Wolfgangs four-to-one,” Lily said. “At least they did when I lived here.”

  “We still do,” Gani added. “For many years, the Wolfgangs have been reasonable and fair employers, but we have always maintained our ability to stand up for ourselves if need be. This has become doubly true since Ignatius started exercising more power.”

  With that, the door swung open and two men entered carrying bundles of arrows. They were younger than Gani, but the resemblance was uncanny.

  “That should be the last of…” One of the men started speaking to Gani before noticing Lily and me.

  “Gani!” The other shouted, “Watch out!” They both dropped their bundles and grabbed a couple of individual arrows. Without bows, they held them out like daggers.

  “No, you idiots,” Gani rolled his eyes, “these are friends. Do you remember Lily? Rahm, these are my brothers, Breece and Togo.”

  “Lily Wolfgang?” the younger one said, lowering his arrow. “What a time for a return.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t need to be,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “But it’s good to see you Breece. You too, Togo.”

  “This reunion is heartwarming, folks,” I interjected, “but maybe the sentimentalities can wait until later. Are there more weapons coming?”

  “This is most of them,” Breece said. “But many of the men have a last trip to make.”

  “And nobody saw us hauling this stuff, right?” Gani asked his brothers.

  “They’ve been holed up in the main house all day,” Togo said. “It’s possible they’ve seen us, but they haven’t done anything.”

  “Let’s wait for the rest of your crew then, eh?” I said.

  Chapter Ten

  One by one the rest of the men showed up, each one surprised at the sight that greeted them when they opened the door. Lily recognized a few, but most, especially the young men, were new to her. As the crowd grew to fifteen or so, the atmosphere in the room became tense with chatter. I broke into a sweat. Once they all arrived, Gani spoke up, and the room hushed.

  “Listen up men,” he started. “It’s only a matter of time before those two psychos do something that we will regret not putting a stop to. We’re armed, but without knowing what’s happening there, we’re not going to know what the hell it is that we’re fighting. We need a plan. Someone needs to infiltrate.”

  “They sure as hell aren’t going to let any of us in there,” one of the men said. “I tried to walk into the house earlier and one of those orcs decked me.” He pointed to his bloody lip.

  “We can go,” Lily spoke up. “Rahm and me. I need to go and see if my parents are in there. They’ll at least let me inside.” She paused and slapped her palm against her temple. “Wait a minute, no way. They’ve been watching us. They probably already know that we’re here.”

  “I’d bet they’re expecting us, assuming they saw what we did to those orcs in the forest,” I said. “But they might not have seen us arrive. We did enter under those cloaks. We have no idea how good that tower is at seeing everything.”

  “Either way,” she said. “I think it should be us.”

  “And what are we supposed to do?” One of the men yelled, raising a sword into the air. “Sit here and watch while everything falls apart?”

 
“Don’t worry,” I said, “we’ll investigate first, but when the fight happens, we’re going to need your help.” I looked around at the cache of weapons. “Just wait for the signal, okay?”

  “What signal?” another chimed in.

  I thought for a moment.

  “Let’s just storm the damn building!” another man shouted. A chorus of voices agreed with him.

  “I wouldn’t advise that,” I boomed, quieting their chatter. “We don’t know exactly what we’re up against, but there are hobgoblins and orcs at the very least. I can speak from personal experience that they aren’t to be taken lightly.”

  “Just give us half an hour, okay?” Lily said. “No more.”

  The men reluctantly agreed, and we decided on a signal. When we needed to call in the cavalry, Lily would freeze the tip of one of my arrows and I’d fire it upward toward the shack. Lily and I put away our camouflage cloaks and made our way toward the house. It felt almost like a bad idea, approaching the house uncovered, but the darkness of night had set in, and that gave me a bit of reassurance. It didn’t matter anyway. We were going straight in. Along the way, we passed other cabins and work shacks, these occupied by the women and children who made up the workforce at the Wolfgang estate. A few of the women stared wide-eyed at Lily, but none of them tried to speak to her. Lily’s severe expression probably deterred them.

  She was seething by the time we stood on the lawn before the house. She glared up at it, almost as if challenging the mansion itself. The dark towers that made up the third floor seemed to glare right back. Around the house were a series of unattended wagons and horses. The dark red and black tower insignia was depicted on the sides of each one. Little of the house’s interior was visible in the darkness, but we could make out some gas lanterns from inside that emitted low glows. Whoever was in the home wasn’t making a peep, but I could feel their eyes boring into us. Lily stepped right up to the porch and hammered her fists on the door. I admired her tenacity, but it struck me as reckless. Nobody answered at first.

  ‘Pigg—Ignatius!” She called out, knocking again. “It’s Lily. I’d like to have a word with you.”

  The door opened, and an old woman in a faded black dress stood there. Lily froze in place for a moment. The old woman had tears in her eyes. “Lily,” she said with a shaky, hushed voice. “You shouldn’t have come.”

  “Bring her in, Faedra!” I heard a nasal voice call out through the house.

  Reluctantly, the old woman did.

  She led us through an elegant foyer and into a dining room with polished floors and walls covered with glass cabinets housing fine dishes. A great table stood in the middle of the room, and it was occupied by about twenty people. All were dressed extravagantly in furs and leather. A feast was laid out and lit by tall candles. Three turkeys, a roast pig, an assortment of fruits, mashed potatoes, and a tray of fine cheeses were all on display. It seemed that the group hadn’t started eating yet. Their plates were still bare. Sitting across the room at the head of the table was a bald, fat man with pudgy cheeks and a sharp-toothed smile. Though I assumed Piggy to be about my age, he could have passed for much older. Beside him was a shadowy man who wore black robes and a hood. I could only see the silhouette of his face, but he looked to be late into middle age.

  “Lily, the prodigal Wolfgang!” Piggy snorted. “So nice of you to come and visit us. We were just about to have dinner. Perhaps you’d like to join us.” He gestured to two empty chairs at the end of the table near us.

  The rest of the faces at the table were sullen and strained. I saw Lily lock eyes with a few of them. Then I recognized Lily’s parents at a corner of the table just to the left of Ignatius. Her mother looked down at her lap. Her father met Lily’s gaze desperately, as if to apologize for leading us here. I noticed a blade in Piggy’s hand.

  “Now, why don’t you and your friend just take a seat here and join us,” he said patting the chair to his right. “I can carve the turkey. Unless you’d prefer for me to carve something else instead. He lazily twirled toward Lily’s mother’s neck and caressed it. She let out a whimper at its touch.

  We slowly stepped forward and took the two open seats. My heart raced. It was such a blatant set-up, but it seemed that our hands were tied. Lily’s fingertips glowed blue as she sat down.

  Ignatius redirected his knife toward the turkeys in front of him. With an air of showmanship, he cut into it, then looked around at everyone else. Nobody moved.

  “Well,” he said, “what are you waiting for? Everyone has arrived. Eat!”

  He licked his lips sloppily, then reached out and grabbed a chunk of sliced turkey. He stuffed it into his mouth.

  “Pour the wine!” He shouted at Faedra, who pulled several bottles from the cabinet and began to pour with a shaking hand. Piggy greedily guzzled the contents of his goblet, then reached out and grabbed the plate of mashed potatoes. The rest of the Wolfgangs reluctantly ate. Neither Lily nor I moved. I felt my stomach rumble, but I did my best to ignore it. Watching the spittle drip from Piggy’s mouth helped suppress my appetite.

  “So, you’re the necrodruid,” he said, exposing his wine-stained teeth. “You have been quite a nuisance for my associates. Those friendly hobgoblins just wanted to extend the family business, and you murdered them in cold blood.”

  “Those things ransacked our farm!” Lily cried out. “They tied me up and used our crops to make that horrible stuff. Of course we killed them. I’d do it again.”

  Piggy stared at her as he shoveled in another mouthful of food.

  “My dear Lily,” he said. “If only you could see the big picture. But you’ve been away so long. The realm is changing quickly, and the Wolfgangs will remain as important and industrious in this new world as they were in the last. Family traitors aside.”

  I could feel the rage building in Lily. I nudged her under the table, and she got the message.

  “What are you doing with the krokum?” I asked. It was worth a shot.

  “In the market for a good time, necrodruid?” Piggy said. “Perhaps I can fix you up with something that will make you see things from our perspective. The beauty of krokum is—”

  Neptos put his hand on Piggy’s shoulder and cut him off. He shook his head. The fat man stopped talking immediately, and his cheeks flushed a little. The great charisma he’d displayed faded quickly. The rattle of forks against china stopped for a moment, and pressure built in the room. The other Wolfgangs looked even more afraid than they had before. They remained silent.

  “No matter.” Piggy recovered and put another handful of turkey into his mouth. “The information won’t be useful to you, anyway. Please eat. I’m of the opinion that true warriors deserve a final feast before they are escorted into the afterlife. Nuisance though you two have been, I cannot deny your tenacity.”

  Neither of us responded. We just watched while Piggy’s cheeks turned red again.

  “Eat, damn you!” He yelled, spit spraying the table. “Show some appreciation for my generosity!”

  The other Wolfgangs began to eat more quickly, peering at us with urgent eyes. Their fear was deep. I wondered what they had already endured from this psycho. Lily and I exchanged glances.

  “This might be worse than we thought,” I whispered. “This place seems pretty far gone.”

  “He was bad enough as a kid…” she said.

  “Stop that whispering, damn you!” Piggy shouted again, pounding his sweaty fists on the table. “Shut your mouths and eat!”

  “There’s only two of them,” I said, looking around. “Two in here anyway. Maybe we should just go for it.”

  “Two in here but…”

  “THAT IS ENOUGH!” Piggy stood up and lumbered toward us. He still held the knife that he’d cut the turkey with. “If you won’t eat my food then I’ll cut open your belly and stuff it in!” I stood up and pulled out my own dagger. He stepped toward me. I was about to strike when Lily passed me with a handful of turkey.

  “You can eat i
t for us, Piggy!” She ducked under his swinging blade and shoved the meat directly into Piggy’s open mouth. Before he could react, she grabbed another handful and stuffed it in too. Piggy choked and dropped the knife. The whole room gasped.

  Across the table, Neptos slowly rose to his feet and began to raise his hands. A purple light glowed in them. Suddenly, I felt an energy surrounding me. The lights shot out in different directions, out through windows and doors. Piggy spat out the last bits of meat from his mouth and looked up at us in rage. A commotion sounded outside. I heard the unmistakable grunts of Hobgoblins and Orcs. Metal clinked together. I looked at Lily.

  “Ready?” I said. She nodded. I pulled out my bow, strung an arrow, and Lily froze the tip. I let it loose through one of the dining room windows, shattering the glass. It sailed through the estate toward our army.

  Chapter Eleven

  Piggy roared, “You traitorous bitch! You worthless cretins!” He clambered up, spitting out the last bits of turkey. “You have no idea what you’ve just done. I’ll have you skinned alive for this!” He waved his knife toward me, making a couple of futile swipes. It was hard to take his threats seriously. The man was slow and clumsy with rage. We took a couple of steps back to safety.

  Before we could react further, a bolt of bright purple energy exploded on the table in front of us, showering us with bits of potato. The remaining Wolfgangs who were still seated all stood up, and the room descended into pandemonium. Through the chaos, I saw Neptos across the room preparing to strike again. A few of the Wolfgangs started to run out the front door, but after some screams, they ran back inside and up the stairs. I heard war cries from the lawn, and I glimpsed weapons through the window.

  Piggy leapt at Lily with his dagger, and she quickly waved her hand to form an ice wall between them. He ran headfirst into it. The cloaked man unleashed another beam of purple energy, and I had to grab Lily’s hand and pull her to the ground to avoid it. Part of the beam clipped the side of Lily’s ice wall and it sent a spray of splintered shards into the air behind us. The rest smashed into a cabinet, reducing it to a pile of wood and shattered china. One of the younger Wolfgangs, a teenage girl in a lace dress, screamed as some of the pieces struck the staircase. She hurried up the rest of the way.