Chapter 20: Resurrection
A cold wind blew across the barren wastes of the Sacred Land when Lady Shey and Gondrial appeared from the Ardenian portal of the sand elves. They had to push out of the chamber that housed the portal, and at first Gondrial was afraid the centuries of sand and dirt blowing across the ground-level covering of the chamber may be too much to slough off; the door may be stuck shut. Seancey put his weight behind a shoulder push, but the door did not budge. Lady Shey, on a whim, decided to try to use essence to move the door, and was a bit surprised the magic worked and the door came open. They stepped out into the brisk, cold wind. The small cemetery, where Shey had met Gondrial at the onset of the Sacred Land regenerating, was not far away.
“Strange,” Lady Shey said. “Remember when I met you here and we talked to the apparition of Ashonda?”
“Aye, what about it?”
“We were both concerned that we had no access to essence, but touch it now. Essence flows with force. The Sacred Land is regenerating at an incredible rate now!”
“Hmm, it is. I feel it too. But why is there still no vegetation or signs of life here?” Gondrial observed.
“There doesn’t have to be life or vegetation for essence to flow. The very grounds are teeming with power,” Shey said.
“There is no denying that. I just thought it strange that the Sacred Land is still barren here. I suppose I always pictured it regenerating as a lush grassland or something.”
“I’m sure parts of it are. Maybe signs of life will appear as the land replenishes itself. We have nothing to compare this to. Nothing has ever been completely destroyed and devoid of essence on a scale like this before.”
Gondrial gave her a sarcastic smirk. “I have been around as long as you, dear.”
“I didn’t mean to state the obvious. Sorry.”
“Did you want to visit the cemetery, Shey? I mean, before we head for the Temple of the Oracle?” Seancey asked.
“I would like to pay my respects to Marella,” Shey said. She started off in the direction of the graveyard.
“Wait.” Gondrial grabbed her arm. “Look, fresh footprints in the dirt. I wouldn’t have caught it because most of them have been blown away in the wind, but look at that mound of dirt.”
“Someone else has come through the portal?” Seancey asked.
“The door was stuck hard,” Gondrial said as he examined the lid to the portal now. “The edges of the door are curled up as if someone let it fall shut hard and it wedged in the frame. Someone else has come through.”
Shey drew her daggers out from under her robe. “Where else connects to this portal besides Ardenia?”
“I have no idea. Darovan, if I had to guess, Ramzi’s home. It stands to reason that if Marella had a portal from her kingdom to here that her husband would also have one.”
“Do you think Sanmir and Trendan could have found it?” Seancey asked.
Gondrial drew his sword. “Only one way to find out.”
Gondrial followed the trail as best he could. He identified several different invaders by the variety of sized footsteps. They were walking off in the direction of the cemetery. In the darkness of an outcropping of rock big enough to hide behind, he spotted four or five people crouched behind it. There was also movement in the cemetery. It appeared the people crouching behind the rock were watching whoever visited the graveyard. A little closer and Gondrial realized one of the crouched people was Trendan. Trendan also saw Gondrial and waved him urgently over to the outcropping.
“Keep your voices low,” Trendan told Gondrial as soon as he was close enough. “Whatever is stirring in the cemetery is unearthly.”
Gondrial greeted each of his friends before he peered over one of the boulders. “An apparition, for sure, but nothing out of the ordinary. When Shey and I were here a while back, the Defenders told us of apparitions floating all over the Sacred Land. Probably just vestiges of the War of the Oracle playing out as the land replenishes. I believe Morgoran and Ianthill saw nightmare shades here when they brought Dorenn through.”
“I thought so too, but look beyond it. Is that a Drasmyd Duil?” Trendan asked.
Gondrial squinted. “Aye, but its face!”
“Aye, it’s just a skull.”
Shey felt a shiver. “What do we do? What is it doing in that cemetery?”
Seancey scoffed. “Fear is unwarranted. I will bash it with my sword.”
“No, wait, Seancey,” Gondrial told him. “I want to see what it’s up to.” He looked around at Tatrice and Bren, and then Vesperin and Fayne. “Did Sanmir stay behind? He could tell us what that thing is.”
Tatrice buried her face in Bren’s chest again to stifle her soft cries. Trendan put his hand on her back. “Sanmir fell in Darovan. Tatrice has taken it especially hard.”
Shey teared up but immediately composed herself. “What happened?” she asked.
“He was attacked by . . . well . . . we think it was Kimala,” Trendan said. “I think Naneden did something to her before Sanmir and I rescued her from Lux Enor.
Fayne chimed in, deflecting the conversation away from Kimala. “Darovan and Shezuris is overrun with undead. The Great Pryus calls Shezuris a Necropolis. We met his army poised to retake it as the undead left on ghost ships. We waited until the city was nearly cleared before we sneaked in and used the portal.”
“Ghost ships?” Gondrial seemed surprised. “Flying ships?” He shuddered.
“Well, some were certainly floating in the air, but they were mostly floating naturally on the waves of the Black River and out to sea.”
“I don’t mean to sound callous,” Seancey said, “but we can all catch up later. The ghoul is doing something to the graves in the cemetery. Look.” He pointed.
The dark skies began to light up with flashes of lightning as the apparition held his arms up to them. The ground glowed with unnatural light, and the dead began to rise from their graves.
“A lich!” Seancey said. “We have to stop him!”
Shey was horrified when she saw Marella’s form rise from the hallowed ground. She froze at the sight, even though the cemetery was far enough away that she couldn’t even be sure it was Marella. “Gondrial, is that Marella he is raising?”
“Marella and Ramzi too. Don’t look, Shey. We won’t let him get away with this. Seancey, Bren, Vesperin, Trendan, and I will take care of this lich.”
“Aye, we will!” Seancey brandished his huge blade and rocked back and forth, ready to dash into battle at Gondrial’s word.
“Fayne and I will dispel this undead creature,” Vesperin said, grasping his staff until his knuckles turned white. “Loracia made a point to tell us we were to abolish all undead and unliving creatures. They are all an affront to our goddess.”
“You’ll get your chance,” Shey told him. “What can you do for Marella and Ramzi? I don’t wish to see them disrespected or in such a state as they are now.”
Fayne cleared her throat. “I will see to them.”
Shey nodded. “Okay, Gondrial. Give the word.”
He cocked his head at Seancey. “Seancey, take the Drasmyd Duil first.”
Seancey’s face curled into a smile from ear to ear. “Aye!” he said, and then took off at a sprint. Gondrial, Bren, and Vesperin followed. Shey waited with Fayne, Deylia, and Tatrice until the men were a few strides ahead, and then they too made for the cemetery.
Shey readied her daggers, and as she drew them, a lithe, dainty hand grasped her arm. It was Deylia. She had an anguished expression across her face. “What is it, Deylia?”
“Something is wrong. I’m getting the edges of an elaborate illusion. This scene is an echo from before. The illusion is somehow dirty and gritty, like chewing a mouthful of sand.” She went to her knees and began to choke. Shey put away her daggers and knelt down to help her. Fayne muttered a prayer. A moment later, Gondrial, Vesperin, Trendan, and Seancey returned. Bren stayed in the cemetery.
“There was nothing really there,” Gon
drial said to Shey. “As soon as we got close enough, the lich and all he had raised from the dead disappeared in wisps of mist.” He noticed Deylia. “What’s wrong with her?”
Shey looked up at him with an acidic stare.
“What’s that look for? I’m genuinely concerned.”
“Fayne is seeing to her,” Shey replied flatly.
Deylia stood and coughed once more. “I’m all right now. It has passed.”
“What was it?” Vesperin asked.
Seancey gave Deylia a flask, and she drank from it, wiping her mouth on her sleeve afterward. “It was a strange illusion. I think one of the resurrected was a mindwielder. The taint on the illusion was sickening.”
Shey wiped the tear she felt escape from her left eye. “Aye, one of them was a mindwielder. In fact, she was one of the mindwielders who sacrificed herself during the first War of the Oracle to stop the blight from spreading, and she and her kind effectively ended the war.”
Gondrial swallowed hard. “That’s why mindwielders became so rare afterward. They were almost completely killed out. She can still mindwield in that state?”
“The wild magic,” Deylia said. “That’s why no one remembered how to be a mindwielder until Rennon came along.”
“Aye, but there’s more to it than that,” Shey said. “The enemy thought for a long time they could prevent the interference of mindwielders in the future by hunting down the survivors. Nature has a way of thwarting such plans, as you know.” Shey gave Deylia a sweet smile and gently cradled her cheek. “You remind me of her.”
“I do? You mean the one the lich resurrected?” Deylia asked.
“Aye, her name was Marella, and she was my best friend, my greatest friend.”
“That explains the illusion, then. Someone wanted you to see what the lich had done. The illusion was for you,” Deylia pointed out. “Who would want to hurt you like this?”
“There’s only one I can think of who would be so cruel,” Gondrial said. “Naneden!”
“But I thought you said he was dead,” Seancey said.
“Only one way to find out. We can go to Roseshade and use the Migarath Portal there,” Gondrial said. “It will take us to the throne room where he supposedly died.”
“That portal was destroyed, if I remember right.” She thought for a moment. “Or was it just blocked off from the throne room?”
“No, you’re right,” Gondrial said. “Now that you mention it, I remember Ianthill and Rennon checked on it, and I also remember them running back in yelling the portal was destroyed. We couldn’t go back that way.”
“What about the tunnel from the White Tower to the palace?” Seancey said. “Could we use the Migarath Portal in the tower?”
Shey pulled her cloak tighter around herself. “We are close enough to Old Symbor to make the journey. There is a defender’s outpost on the way, and I believe there is even a hostel there. I think it would be more dangerous to try to get to Roseshade just to save a couple of days’ journey.”
Gondrial rubbed his day-old beard. “We came here to investigate what was going on with the Oracle. We still need to complete that.”
“If our hunch is correct and Naneden has found a way to immortalize himself, the Oracle may be the least of our problems,” Shey said. “Or worse, what if Naneden and Kambor are to join forces?” She turned to Trendan. “Were you headed to Ardenia when you arrived here?”
“Aye, we were,” Trendan answered.
“Good, I think it’s time to split up. Some of us need to go to Ardenia and tell Morgoran, Ianthill, and Dorenn what we have learned.”
“Wait, Shey,” Gondrial interrupted. “We don’t know anything yet. We don’t know the status of Kambor. We don’t know if Naneden is actually the lich we saw or even if anything we saw here was real at all. Naneden was mad. Did he even have the presence of mind to do this? I think we might be jumping to some conclusions.”
“You know as well as I, Gondrial,” Shey said. “Naneden has been experimenting with phylacteries and such since we were adepts. If that lich was anyone we know, it’s Naneden.”
“I hate to say it, but you’re right. I still want to go to Old Symbor and see for myself.”
“What will you see there?” Vesperin asked. “A dead Naneden?”
“No, but there is an enchantment Shey knows. She learned it long ago when we encountered something similar. If Naneden has become a lich, the enchantment will show us the whole affair,” Gondrial said.
“You mean like a visual echo?” Deylia asked.
“Aye, exactly like a visual echo,” Gondrial confirmed.
“Why can’t we all go back to Ardenia and then use the portal there to go to the White Tower?” Trendan asked.
“Wrong portal,” Gondrial said. “Unless Morgoran or Ianthill know of a Migarath Portal in Asperden or any other Ardenian city, it’s impossible. The portal that connects to here is primitive and not at all compatible. Even if it were possible to connect it to the Migarath Portals, none of us here have the knowledge to do it.”
“Well, make a decision,” Shey said. “I would prefer to have at least one of the clerics with us, for obvious reasons. Deylia has to accompany us as well. The rest of you can decide for yourself.”
“We will all accompany you to the Temple of the Oracle and on to Old Symbor,” Trendan said. “After we know any information of use, I will travel back here and use the portal to go to Ardenia. By then, maybe Dorenn will have rallied the Trigothians into an army.”
Chapter 21: In the Gardens
A detachment of Defenders escorted Lady Shey and the rest from the hostel to the edge of Old Symbor. After a brief warning that the old city was dangerous and might be home to some frightening new residents, the captain of the Defenders bid them farewell with a promise to check on them in a day or so. Lady Shey was taken aback when they entered the choked streets to find grass and wild flowers had overgrown the old walkways on either side of the cobblestone road. In fact, the cobblestone road itself was showing signs of weeds and other plant life trying to spring up between the stones. As they ventured farther into the city, Shey noticed the long dead trees were no longer dead and were budding in the crisp spring air. Bushes and hedges also showed signs of life as they passed them on the way to the old palace of the king.
“Soon the vegetation will overgrow the city,” Lady Shey said, pointing to one of the king’s administrative buildings on the edge of his estate, which was covered with green vines.
“I had forgotten what this city looked like with life in it,” Gondrial said. “It’s still ugly.”
“The ruins, perhaps,” Shey corrected.
When they reached the palace, they had to wend their way through fallen arches and crumbling walls to the throne room. The marble and granite showed improbable signs of cracking, and the long black marks indicated that it had been rent with the only thing hot enough and strong enough to do the job—dragonfire.
The throne room was in utter ruins, even more so than when they had left it after Naneden’s death. There were signs of blackened dried blood, but no bones and no bodies. They made their way to the spot where Naneden fell. Shey had secretly regretted leaving Naneden’s body unattended the way they did, and she was apprehensive about finding him, but her curiosity got the better of her, so she prepared herself for the gruesome sight. Only, he wasn’t where they had left him. She and Gondrial both scoured the area but found only a few pieces of his tattered robe.
“It’s as I feared,” Gondrial said. “You had better cast the spell.”
Vesperin and Fayne had climbed up a broken piece of wall, not far off the ground, and found a place to sit as they watched. Tatrice, Bren, and Seancey appeared from exploring the antechambers. Trendan was walking on top of the broken wall, bow and arrow at the ready, looking out over the ruins of the palace and to the city beyond. Shey was concerned when he suddenly stopped at the west corner and dropped his bow to his side. He turned to see her watching him. “You have to see th
is,” he said, his amazement apparent on his face.
Shey rounded the wall to find a good foothold, and then she climbed up and walked the wide wall. Curious, Vesperin, Fayne, Tatrice, and Bren followed her. As soon as her eyes broached the wall line to gaze upon the sundrenched side of the palace, she was met with the most amazing view of her life. The old gardens of the palace had rejuvenated and overgrown the walls. Flowers of every kind imaginable grew in unkempt tufts scattered about the grounds. Birds chirped and chased each other as bees and hummingbirds flitted from one flower to the other, drunkenly happy. Pink clusters of cherry blossoms covered a row of trees on either side of the flowered fields. Overgrown grass surrounded the trunks of shade trees. Water had once again begun to trickle down the walls to the west from the aqueducts, long thought defunct.
“It’s beautiful!” Deylia said. “I have never seen so many flowers.”
“Let’s go!” Tatrice said to Bren as she slid down the leaning portion of broken wall to the gardens below. Vesperin and Fayne soon joined them.
“Be careful in there,” Gondrial yelled after them like a worried father.
Trendan moved beside Shey and Gondrial. “Seancey and I will keep watch if you two want to join them.”
Shey looked back at the roofless throne room. “We will after we conclude our business.” Reluctantly she climbed back down, and Gondrial joined her. Over the joyful noises of merriment from her companions, Lady Shey cast the imaging spell to see if dark essence, the kind drawn from all the evil in the world, not just the dead, had been used recently.
To her horror, the resurrection of Naneden, her former husband, replayed before her eyes.
“It’s done, then,” Gondrial said in a melancholic voice. “He is the lich plaguing the Sacred Land.”
Shey could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Gondrial must have seen them too because he embraced her.
After a time, Shey pushed away to think about what she had seen. Although she couldn’t make out a figure precisely, it almost seemed to her that the phylactery was placed before him rather than with him.
Battlefield of the Sacred Land Page 17