“Look here Great One. This one has more of those markings than any other. We found this one ringed by fallen captains and a pile of our own dead. We recovered the dead, and you’ll see that all of them are in perfect condition. Somehow this human slew them without cutting or smashing.”
The other magi added, “We fought ones like this before you came to us Great One. They are called “monks”. They fight without weapons and use their bodies to kill.”
Intrigued, the lich commanded, “Impress me. Bring this one back, as I instructed you.”
The ogre magi stood over the monk’s body and clasped their hands as if praying. Though they clearly despised each other's touch, the spell required it. As the lich instructed them, the ogres recited words they did not understand but had memorized in the eldar language of the lich. As they recited, the lich corrected pronunciation and form here and there. Purple, green, and other sickly colors of light swirled up and around the lich and, like serpents, struck the dead body. The magi began to sweat and then shake as exhaustion began to affect them. At last, the spell ended. “Very good,” the lich said. “Lets see if you performed well… for your sakes, lets hope so…”
For too many moments, nothing happened and the magi began to fear for their lives. At last though, the monk blinked its eyes. Like the lich, only purple fires showed there. The monk sat up and looked at its hands confused. The magi grabbed the monk during this confusion. The lich pulled a vial from within the folds of its robes and armor. “Welcome monk. You will drink this.”
The monk, finally noticed he had been grabbed and began struggling to break free. As it struggled, the purple fire in its eyes arced into its body. “You are weak monk. This drink will give you power.”
The monk noticed the lich. “You… I was fighting…”
“Yes. Yes, and you fought well. You are surrounded by those you slew. Look at them all laid out. Magnificent battle. But in the end, you too died. You are dead. Your soul might remember bits and flashes of it, but you are my creature now.”
The monk finally broke free of the magi and fell forward. He dug his fingers into the stone floor and then jumped back as the stone broke and shattered around his hand. His jump would have taken him into the ceiling had the lich not caught him mid-air. “I gift my servants with power. What you used to be, is no more. What you are now, is mine. I am your god now. I am your Imperius.” The lich placed the monk back onto the ground. “While your old self would likely view this as a curse, it is not without its benefits…” the lich pointed to the shattered stone. “Strength, speed, regeneration, and immortality… these come with a certain price. In this case, your old life burns away and I become your new god.”
The monk noted its teeth had sharpened to fangs. “What am I?”
“You are a vampire.” The lich shook his head remembering, “No, not a vampire the way your old self would have understood it. In the eldar times, vampires were simply creatures that fed on magic through blood-drinking. The act of blood-drinking was a metaphor for acquiring magic. If you want to, you can and will be stronger for it. But, like my two generals here,” he pointed to the magi, “you can draw directly from the wellspring of Chaos, the source of magic.” The lich held forward the vial. “I command you to drink.”
Compulsively, the monk grabbed the vial and drank the dark ichor inside. Purple fire immediately suffused throughout his body. The light became blinding and in that light, the monk saw the lich standing lordly and proud and very much alive. The monk noted that far away, almost too far to see, a ribbon of energy and light moved from searing brightness to twilight shade. Is that a river over there?
The lich’s voice hit him sounding awesome and glorious. “You see this place and how magic flows through it.”
When the light faded and the monk returned to the room, the lich looked like before, but brighter. The magi appeared smaller more diminished somehow. Monk tried to remember his life before and stared at the tattoos on his arms. The script there told his story of training and devotion to Imperius and the martial arts. “My name was Shiniba. I barely remember. We called that energy flow, the River. It is Time and magic and energy moving from creation to the end.”
“It doesn’t matter. I would rather you serve me of your free will. Though I can compel service, it is not how I do things.”
Shiniba nodded. “I will serve you, for now.”
“Good enough. Come. Your first task is to organize defenses for this, our place of operations. It is too close to the city of this god Imperius. We will either move into that city, or we will find a better base. For now, I need defensive fortifications and a plan to repel attack. I foresee several groups attempting to come here and either try to kill me or steal the source of my power, my soul gem. You are to be my last great defense against that.”
The monk looked up and surreptitiously asked, “Is there a source of power that can be stolen?”
The lich laughed. “No, I am my own power. While I am not concerned about whatever attempts they may try, I do not want them thinking that they can walk into my place with impunity. In particular, lets make this interesting. I entrust the details to you. All of these,” he said pointing to the corpses, “are yours to command and start with. In particular, I want this room and pool of water secured at all costs. It is to be your first priority.”
“Master, what shall I call you?”
The lich did not answer and walked out of the morgue. One of the magi said, “We call him ‘Great One’. We do not know his name either. The master said to know a being’s name is to have power over it.”
Not knowing how he did it, Shiniba summoned the dead to follow him and one by one they arose wrapped in purple fire and followed him into the mountain’s depths.
Chapter Twenty Six – Preparations Made
“Wake up,” Tembri’s knee nudged Malcor’s shoulder where he had sat down and apparently fallen asleep again. The barracks were too small for all of them. In Imperic fashion, they slept on straw mats. The heat and humidity of Khasra made it impossible to feel cool but so exhausted was he that any slowing down in the pace of activity made him fall asleep. He stretched and sat up.
Dar Kendra stood speaking with her battle priest and a member of Ori’s royal household. The black haired man bowed deeply and ran off. “We have been granted use of the throne chamber to plan our activities. We start in thirty minutes.”
Tembri handed Malcor some more food. With barely a day of recovery, Malcor still looked like a walking skeleton with too-stretched skin. Most of the Imperics gave the boy wide berth and more than a few stared openly at him, their eyes darting elsewhere when he met their stares. The other knights offered verbal encouragement, but for the most part gave him the space and time he needed to not feel self-conscious about how exhausted he felt. It made him feel a bit lonely though.
Walking out to the courtyard, Malcor saw heavy chargers dressed out in Tanian armor as well as light sprinting horses used by the priesthood in support of the knights. Tembri led Malcor over to their two healers and explained, “After we gated in, Apprentice brought in all our gear. Until you’ve had training, you’ll be riding one of these lighter horses if we need them at all. I doubt we’ll be doing much riding where that lich is.”
Two healers came forward and bowed, greeting Malcor warmly. Though they had met formally, there had been no time for in-depth discussions or conversations. Malcor learned that, unlike Tembri, these healers had just passed their second rite, which qualified them for official combat support. “The next rite for a priest is to earn glory in combat. Brother Tembri has is order mixed up!” They had applied and been wait-listed for the Order of Water for years. “We probably missed many chances, but are thrilled to work with you Sir Malcor. My sister entered an order that is often involved in logistics and movements. She is already at her sixth rite, but…” and he chuckled, “…she’ll have nothing on me when we defeat this lich!”
It dawned on Malcor that these healers would support Tembri s
upporting him. It made him feel humbled and more than a bit insignificant. The two healers had been friends for some time and watching them banter back and forth made Malcor wonder how Calvin fared. He asked how the Order of the Shield worked. Though both Tembri and Ora had explained it to him, he finally got it when they explained it this time. “The Shield Order is protective, especially of the mages. The mages are not often put in harm’s way, but when they are, it is usually in anticipation of some attack that might overwhelm the front line. They train for guarding the mages and recovering them before they can either be killed or captured. Think of the mage as a fortress and the Order as the wall around that fortress.”
They walked to the throne room. To get there, they passed through immaculate gardens of raked pebbles and pools of soft-flowing water. An elderly man played a koto, its dissonant twanging completing the feeling that Malcor, most certainly, was not in Morbatten anymore. The rhythm followed him through the garden and into the shaded steps before the throne room. Dar Kendra had changed from her armor into more comfortable dark steel gray silk attire Malcor noted many of the elite seemed to wear. Like most Tanian clothing, it had a certain flair but allowed for total freedom of movement. Like Malcor, the others kept their armor on. Mats and cushions had been set out for them and they all sat kneeling. Steaming cups of tea and snacks had been set out by each mat. Actual benches ringed the area and on these, the battle priests and others sat. Apparently, only the knights would sit with Dar Kendra.
Once everyone had arrived, Dar Kendra bowed to the empty throne where the daimo would normally sit and then turned to face her party. “Fellow members of the Order. Welcome to Ori. The extension of the cease-fire, though not anticipated came as no surprise to those of us familiar with Dar Itain. We have an unknown amount of extra time. My plan is simple. Our stealth experts and ranger will look for possible entry points to the lich’s base. The rest of you will remain quiet and low key. The lich will be walking here in Ori. My orders are for each of you to avoid the lich at all costs. Understood?”
A priest, and a higher ranking one, signaled a question. “With the lich here, in daylight, this group should be able to easily turn it. If the lich is too powerful for turning, we could certainly attack and slay it. May we understand why we are to avoid it?”
Kendra looked out over the group. “This is not Morbatten. Expediency does not rule Ori. Honor does. The daimo gave his word. We must respect that. Also, defeating the lich is not the objective of our party. It is Sir Malcor’s objective. We must create that opportunity and a fight here in the city, besides putting Ori’s citizens at risk would not guarantee Malcor that opportunity.”
Another hand signaled and Kendra said, “Ask.”
The priest of Krentismar spoke and asked, “I do not understand the objective. Sir Malcor appears to be just a boy, against the lich. Surely defeating the lich is a higher order objective…”
Dar Kendra cut him short, “Our orders from the dragon emperor, and our agreement with your Temple, is not open for question. Sir Malcor is my squire and the emperor himself has made this decision. It is to be one of his rites.”
Undeterred, the priest said, “Defeating what may be an eldar lich? For a rite? Am I hearing this correctly? Defeating a powerful foe, but - I still do not…”
“You are not required to understand,” Kendra interrupted. “Look, I know this may not make sense to you but consider that nothing about your religion or your worship of a god limited to the Forsaken Isles makes any sense to us. Yet, you do not hear or see us railing against these things we do not understand. I ask that you take this on faith and may the Queen of Dragons bless you with insight.”
Reznor’s Apprentice signaled and asked, “The Order’s request to the Mage’s Guild was vague on several points. Are we here for combat, support, or other purposes?”
Kendra smiled and said, “Other purposes that include combat and support. I do not wish to go into combat with a lich without my own trusted mages. As you know, the Order’s assigned mage recently crossed over into Temple service, leaving us absent a key post. Reznor felt you may have interest in this quest. Do you?”
“Honor and glory to you Dar Kendra. Yes. I would submit my application and prove myself worthy of this Order. It is long overdue that I serve outside the Mage's Guild.”
Questions turned to more general tactics. Because only three of the other knights had ever faced a lich, Dar Kendra established some basic tactics. “The paladins will stand in front with the healers in the back. When not healing, the healers are to focus on turning. At distance, this should confine the lich to an area. The mage will keep the lich from leaving magically. Our resistance to magic, our divine gift from the Queen, should protect us from magical attacks. The real challenge will be Sir Malcor’s fighting ability. This lich, it seems, carries weapons and is adept at both combat and magic.”
“I will be ready to play my part,” Malcor said as eyes turned to him. “I will not let you down.” Tembri and his healers called out their support. “I have a question though,” Malcor added. “If we engaged the lich’s armies, this group alone would devastate it. Would it not be easier to confront the lich as part of the overall war, than to seek it out and manipulate it into being alone?”
Some of the knights chuckled and one said, “You come to us with dreams Sir Malcor! What would it be like for this group to come together and fight an army! It’d be glorious! Alas…”
“…since Bloodstone, Tania must be careful about full scale confrontation with necromancers. It tends to draw the attention of the Jade God. In this case, with a pre-Hellhound lich, we must find another way. However, once we have better intelligence about the lich, its armies, and the layout of its home, I am willing to allow any of you to fight alongside Ori for a time. Should our plans change to allow it.”
Verit quietly noted to Malcor, "And the Order of Water does not draw attention to itself. You'll see. Daryx and the Empire prefer to keep us out of sight and out of mind. It gives us agility, mobility, and flexibility to engage strategic enemies, like the Hellhounds."
Tembri agreed, "Like all of us Malcor, you'll be given official rank in one of the other Orders. Only the Order Generals, like Dar Kendra, know who all of the Water members are."
Questions from there wandered back and forth between strategy and tactics and what-ifs. Malcor found himself paired up with two other knights, the other mage, and the elven ranger. “This group will be responsible to explore any potential openings and determine defenses and likelihood that we might find the lich. I want all of you ready to roll at a moment’s notice.”
Other groups were formed as well. One to shadow the lich as he wandered in Ori. Another group to explore and map the battlefield. “My group,” Kendra said at last, “will be tasked with drawing the lich to the location we desire. As such, we must find something of utmost value to the lich, such as its soul gem. As you go about your tasks, keep your eyes, ears, and inspiration open to such items of value.”
The next several days passed by in a blur. When not working or making preparations or moving to avoid the lich as it wandered through Ori, Malcor slept and ate. He started to show signs of recovery and the horrified stares sent his way changed to a normal curiosity at their foreign appearance and attire. Malcor heard stories of King Rojo having come and trained here as a young paladin, and having done well "for a foreigner". They always added that.
When not otherwise pre-occupied, Tembri and the healers sparred with Malcor teaching him new signals and practicing basic maneuvers intended to allow the knight to protect the healers and vice versa while exchanging healing and other spells. “Compared to us Sir Malcor,” Tembri said at one point, “you are a battering ram. We are defense heavy and this basic tactic allows us to propel you forward. This creates space as enemies die or retreat. We then step forward to cover and heal you. Ram, step, heal, advance. This technique is called ‘The Ram’.” They practiced The Ram over and over. It meant three prayers Malcor had to open hims
elf to. The first made him fast. The second changed his body’s size. For an enemy line, they see only an increasingly large paladin charging them with unbelievable speed. "As you cross into their lines, we will flame strike you. The flame creates a zone around you of dead and dying enemies." Tembri explained it as the most basic Tanian squad tactic. So that he would not have to signal each, The Ram had its own signal.
They had drawn a crowd of samurai, monks, and others watching. Tembri ignored them. “They are familiar with Tanian tactics. Focus here. Sometimes, it helps to not be a giant target. The armor and weapons of the Order make you an easy target for powerful foes and spell-casters. Of course, you seek out such foes and welcome the attention. It is what makes you who you are. However, strategy sometimes requires a different approach. As a paladin, you are most effective surrounded by enemies. Look at this current situation as an example. All of the knights want to kill the lich, but you Sir have it as your sole objective. This means that, even if you see a prize far greater than the lich, you must refrain. A fellow knight could strike a death blow, but must not. So, The Javelin technique. May I?”
Malcor nodded. The two healers began praying and Malcor watched with interest as the three of them grew very large, but Tembri more than the healers. Suddenly, when Tembri picked Malcor up, he understood. They had strengthened and enlarged Tembri while shrinking Malcor. “We have also boosted your agility my lord.” He made ready to throw Malcor, “This is why it is called The Javelin technique.”
Malcor's Story Page 21