by Wolfe Locke
The monster gave a scream of rage as the hand landed on the ground. It closed a gigantic hand into a fist and went to crush Sven, but Sven without stopping and without hesitation jumped upwards. Sword in hand, he launched himself like a javelin towards the monster’s open mouth.
Worldrender stabbed out in a flash of metal as the blade stabbed into the leathery skin and the tip appeared on the other side. With a free hand, Sven used his [Silent Seal] ability to prevent the flesh golem from calling for aid. Satisfied the monster’s death wouldn’t trigger any warnings, Sven pulled down on the handle of his sword and the sharp blade ripped downwards, easily cutting open the monster from head to toe. It split in two and Sven was on his way, putting Worldrender back in its sheath.
With the flesh golem defeated, Sven tracked down Camoe and found the skittish horse just a short distance away. He remounted, and they continued on their way. Before going, Sven reached into his [Spacial Ring] and pulled out an [Ointment of Calm] he didn’t need the horse panicking again. He remounted, and they went on their way.
It was sometime later they came to a makeshift checkpoint, crafted from wagons and carts. A dread knight kept guard. A sovereign undead. He can take me to the lich. Though Sven’s first inclination was to destroy the dread knight, he contained himself. Being in the undead's corrupting presence warped his sensing ability. It was not something he could trust, and it was the monster’s master he wanted.
"Dismount traveler or die where you stand. These lands have been claimed by Legion." The dread knight spoke with a hollow voice.
Sven pulled his cloak tight around himself, moving it to carefully hide his armor and the [Ancient Blade.] He wanted to appear as unthreatening as possible. I need to get closer to the sovereign before revealing myself. The last thing I want is the lich to go to ground. He got off the horse and muttered a command that sent it running back to the stables. My favorite benefit of the [Ointment of Calm]. he thought.
"Please," he said, pitching his voice so that it sounded weak and querulous. "I’m not ready to die. I can be of use to you and your master. Perhaps we can negotiate, I can send many people to him. Certainly, we can come to some kind of understanding."
The creature laughed and walked over to get a closer look at Sven. "Humans. Always so ready to betray one another. Who are you human that I should spare your life?"
"My name is Marcus, I’m an elderman of Woodward" Sven lied as he groveled on the ground, pretending to be terrified.
"We recognize no human government," the dread knight said. "We do as we please. But the master might find worth in your offer."
The dread knight moved again, Sven raised his head up slightly so he could see it more clearly. Its armor was rusted and black with age and it rode upon a skeletal horse. A grey cape the color of ash handing from its back. The horse had one eyeball hanging out of its socket. The other socket was black and empty. My mistake. Not a dread knight. Only a bone knight. Easier to destroy when the time comes.
"Are you afraid, human?" the skeleton bellowed as it approached.
"Of course not, oh great one," Sven said pretending to cowed as he forced his voice to tremble. My acting is terrible.
The skeleton laughed again. "You should be afraid. I question your intelligence. The living are not worthy of the lives you squander."
"Question it as much as you like, just please don’t kill me" Sven said, trying not to let his irritation show in his voice. "Just please let me live until your master can see my worth."
"Very well." The skeletal knight agreed, "But I must bind your hands."
Sven nodded and held his hands out. The skeleton tied them loosely with rope, working hard to make the knot. When it turned away, Sven flexed his arms against the restraints. They were weak and made weaker by him stretching out the rope fibers. I’ll be able to break them easily when the time comes.
"Come with me, fool," the skeleton said, spinning its horse around. "You may come to regret your request. I would have offered you an easy death"
They left the road and entered the woods, pushing through the undergrowth. Sven trailed behind, led by the bone knight and the bound rope. Skeletal warriors were posted at regular intervals in the forest. Each of the undead glared at Sven as he passed, but moved aside in the presence of the bone knight. Their red eyes glowed like coals in the darkness. Sven could sense their malice. How did this many undead set up an outpost here without being found out?
"We’re here, be quiet unless instructed to speak," the monster said as they emerged into a clearing.
Sven discretely looked around through the corner of his eyes and saw they were in the heart of the undead encampment. The presence of so many undead in one spot was a blight on the earth that burned the grass and killed the trees around them. Armored skeletons marched back and forth between their posts, all eyes burning as other undead tended forges fed by newly hewn trees. At one end of camp was a line of undead horses stood motionless, waiting for their masters to put them to use.
A large bonfire burned with a spectral green flame at the center of the clearing, and the elder lich sat huddled in front of it, hood up against the rain. The undead might not have been bothered by the elements, but even rain could still be an annoyance.
"Master," The bone knight said, dismounting his skeletal horse. "I’ve brought you a captive. He calls himself an elderman of the city of Woodward. He offers tribute for continued life. I thought perhaps you would reward your humble servant for such a find."
The lich looked at Sven and laughed, drawing itself up to its full height. "Bone slayer, you’re even dumber than the pig shit I took you for. This is no elderman. This is the Shatterfist. It has been some time, Sven. When last we met I was still but a man. It has been thirty years or more since the last I heard of you. I hear rumors of your death are in error. Though I wonder how you managed that."
There didn’t seem to be much point in hiding his armor anymore. Sven threw his cloak to the ground. At least this monster recognizes me.
"You have some captives I want," Sven said, his voice resolute and firm. "Where are they? Turn them over unharmed, and I won’t destroy the lot of you, I’ll even let you retreat to the sunless lands to live among the other sentient dead."
"You mean them?" the lich said, nodding behind it while ignoring the offer.
Four adventurers were bound and gagged by the fire. Sven squinted at them and sighed with relief. It wasn’t Maggie’s party. Behind the bound party a skeletal huntsman was busy skinning a dead unicorn, preparing the horn for a grisly spell that Sven recognized from his younger years. The spell that required the corrupted horn of a unicorn to spread. [Plague of Feral Undeath].
Chapter 28: The Lich's Master
They mean to spread a plague of the undead on the land? Not sovereign, but fully feral. Something has gone wrong with the world. When this is over. I need to talk to Galen.
The lich noticed Sven looking at the dead unicorn. "The third I’ve managed to harvest so far," the lich said proudly. "It will make a good undead mount once we get the flesh off and transform it into a terror beast. I’ll have the rest of the herd soon enough."
A feint? The lich didn’t mention the horn. "Not a chance," Sven said, reaching for Worldrender’s hilt. "I’ll destroy you first."
The lich shrugged as it raised a [Mystical Staff] in anticipation of battle. "You can try."
Sven drew Worldrender and charged forward, already feeling the familiar steps of the kata as he stretched out his senses and looked for the source of the lich’s weakness, the phylactery.
The lich laughed. The monster gestured with a skeletal hand, and one of the kidnapped adventurers, a spry-looking elf, rose into the air. The lich waved a hand forward, and the elf flew towards Sven headfirst. Sven ducked and turned, reaching into the well of power within himself to cast [Greater Shield]. The elf landed hard on the ground behind him. His arm broke with a loud crack. Sven winced. A shield could only do so much. Still, better his arm than his neck. The
lich cackled as the elf’s body began to rise up again from the ground.
"Don’t you dare," Sven said. "I’m your enemy, not them."
"All humans are my enemies," the lich said. "To create a just and righteous world for the undead, all of you must be eliminated."
"Come on," Sven scoffed. "You have to know that there’s no way I can allow that to happen."
He leapt over the bonfire and struck out with his Worldrender. The lich dodged his blows with a flash from its [Mystic Staff]—once, twice, three times, turning incorporeal to avoid the blade before it teleported around in a flash of shadow to a rock overlook. The undead soldiers had assembled to watch the fight, and they clapped. The applause sounded like the clicking of dry bones.
"I’ll deal with you in a moment," the lich called out to Sven. "First things first."
The lich stepped forward off the ledge and levitated in the air. Green light flickering on its skeletal face. Its robe trailed behind it like a shadow. It reached out, and the broken-armed elf rose up and floated toward it.
"Please," the elf pleaded. "I just want to go home. I won’t come near your camp again! I promise! I didn’t know this was your territory."
"Your empty promises mean nothing to me," the lich said, grabbing the elf by the throat. "And there is no point in trying to avoid your fate. You would have died eventually either way. Either now, or when I and the army of the dead descend upon you."
"I can give you gold!" the elf said. "Jewels! Whatever you want! Mana? You want mana clusters right?"
Casually, as if it required no effort at all, the lich reached through the [Greater Shield] and snapped the elf’s neck and dropped its body to the ground.
"I do not want anything you have to offer," the lich replied with finality.
Sven bellowed with rage, and the lich turned its red eyes toward him.
"Now to deal with you, Shatterfist." The lich said.
Sven clenched his fists and looked at the remaining three adventurers. They were way out of their league here. One of them, a buxom dryad, was sobbing with fear. He knew he couldn’t let the lich kill anyone else.
He couldn’t reach the lich with Worldrender. But I know what else can. Sven reached and grabbed a fist sized rock and threw it at the lich, knocking it back. It wobbled in the air, one bony foot touching the ground, and almost fell. Then it rose again, angrier than before, and levitated the dryad into the air before Sven could finish it off with his sword.
"No!" Sven said.
The dryad was crying too hard to speak. She floated slowly toward the lich, flailing her arms in a futile attempt to keep herself from the creature’s clutches. It reached its hands out for her eagerly.
I won’t let the lich kill her. Another rock in hand, he reached up and grabbed the dryad’s legs, pulling her away. Panicked, she kicked out at him blindly. One of her giant boots hit him in the face.
"Ow! Stop fighting!" he said. "I’m trying to help you!"
She kicked him again, harder this time.
"Do you want the lich to kill you? Let me help!" Sven screamed.
The dryad stopped fighting him and went limp.
"The end is inevitable, Shatterfist. What comes for her, comes for all." it boomed.
Sven rolled his eyes. Fine, the lich could do this the hard way if it liked. He threw the rock at the lich’s head. Part of the skull chipped away, and the lich reeled back, losing its hold on the dryad. She dropped into Sven’s arms with a thud.
"Okay," he said, throwing another [Fireball] at the lich and cutting the ropes that bound her. "Now I need your help. I can take on the lich myself. But that’s all I can do. I need you to free your party and escape. Take on any undead that gets in your way but try to avoid fighting if you can."
"A—auriel," the dryad sniffed, looking at the body of the skinny elf. "It killed him."
"Yes," Sven said patiently. "And that’s why you have to get away from it."
"It killed him! He’s dead!" she said again in disbelief
Sven turned and threw another rock. "Yes! It killed him! But you’re still alive. The lich is too dangerous for the lot of you. You have to get out of here! Take your companions and go."
The panicked look left her eyes, and Sven knew he had finally gotten through to her.
"Okay," she said, rolling over and pulling a dagger from its sheath. "I’ll do as you say. Thank you."
Sven threw another rock to ward off the lich and watched her out of the corner of his eye, making sure she made it to her companions safely. She cut their bonds with her dagger, and they disappeared into the night. He hoped they made it wherever they were going.
He and the lich faced off against each other, each waiting for the other to move. It snarled with fury as the [Mystical Staff] shone with energy. Ah, that’s it. That’s his phylactery.
"How dare you deprive me of my prey? They would have been good additions to army of my master." The lich said.
The sovereign undead serves another? This bodes ill. Sven closed his eyes, thinking of the new move he’d invented the night before. [Light Sword]. Could he pull it off against the lich? There’d be a moment of danger as he charged the blade of energy—if the lich attacked him then, Sven would be vulnerable. But he had to try. A single attack to destroy the lich before he realizes he’s lost. No escape, no rebirth. He couldn’t let any more adventurers die on the road. The creature and its band of the undead needed to be destroyed.
He closed his eyes, drawing on his power…and a [Ice Shard] struck him in the side, knocking him off balance. His armor absorbed most of the blow that would have left a lesser man dead or on death’s door. His blade lost the charge. He’d have to start over.
Again he tried, and again the lich’s strike dispelled his power. It cackled gleefully.
"Annoying, isn’t it?" it bellowed.
It was annoying, but Sven knew he needed to stay calm. He had a plan. Worldrender was an [Ancient Blade], and it could absorb power from magical attacks. An ability that Sven and the handful of others who held an [Ancient Blade] had kept secret. When the lich launched the third attack at him, Sven was ready.
Fully immersed in the kata, Sven countered. The blade caught the lich before the undead was able to move. Worldrender burned with a searing light. Sven averted his eyes from the rod of pure energy in his hands. It was too bright to look at.
The lich screamed with rage, furious that its attempts to destroy him had failed. Much of it’s body had been burned away in the attack as had its robe. Sven didn’t bother for last words and buried his sword in the monster’s skull. It gave him one last furious look with empty sockets burning with rage and sank to the ground.
A green spirit rose up from the corpse and began to dissipate as whatever controlled the lich spoke out.
"Shatterfist," it said. "You’ve already lost. A man out of time cannot stop what’s coming."
The spirit disappeared, and the lich’s body turned to dust, leaving only the ruined black robe behind. Its undead servants disappeared with it, leaving only the bonfire and a row of empty tents. Sven was alone.
Chapter 29: The End of Illusion
Whatever had been controlling the lich was gone, and with it the encampment of the sovereign undead. Sven breathed a little easier and put Worldrender back in its sheath, dispelling the stored energy before doing so.
The monster’s comments lingered in his mind, bothering him. It wasn’t the first time Sven had recently been told he didn’t belong. Something about it irked him, he had thought so himself. What is it I’m missing? What have I lost? What’s coming?
Sven looked down the road again, feeling the tug of the familiar: The adventurers are safe, Lloyd is watching the tavern, Maggie’s group isn’t here, and Ash is wherever Ash went to. Others have echoed the words of the Lich and its master.
He took a different route, heading instead for the Guild port that would take him to back to the beginning, when he had first set out to retire instead of continuing to just go through
the motions of being alive.
Some hours later, Sven quickly busied himself by hacking his way through the Dungeon of the Wood. The gremlins, ents, and other monsters were quickly reabsorbed into the dungeon. What had taken him hours while escorting lower ranked adventurers took him a fraction of time instead.
Soon he found his way to the front of the bosses’ chamber, looking at the heavy door made of stone. The craven images carved into it remained every bit as cheery as he remembered. It’s been awhile since the last time I was here. Months, even. The hydra might still be pissed, but it’s worth a shot.
He knocked on the chamber door. Here goes nothing. Purple fire spread familiarly across the edge of the door. From instead four voices called out simultaneously. "Who dares to disturb me and knock at my gate? Friend or foe?"
Some things never change. Sven thought with a smile as he answered. "Friend." Sven turned back towards the gate and knocked sharply on the boss chamber door. Immediately, the row of carved skulls around the door’s edge lit up with purple fire. "I am an adventurer come in need of assistance, I offer a gift." It was a hunch, but Sven hoped this would pan out.
"Shatterfist?" The hydra called out quizzically. "Unusual. You may enter. Watch your steps though, some of the gore of my last fight is lingering."
Sven stepped through the open gate, a not-quite smile on his face as he waved anxiously at the hydra. "Hi, I thought maybe we could talk."
All four heads of the hydra turned on him in unison, saliva and magic power at the ready as if they made to attack. "Is this gift your life, Shatterfist?"
"Guys, we’ve been over this. You can’t handle me. No, the gift I bring is something better. Something I have newly discovered for myself." Sven replied as he reached into the pocket dimension of his [Spatial Ring] and pulled out the stored crate of Honey Mead.