The Woodland Tombs of Eliantar

by Gary Gaugler, Jr

  Chapter 17

  Queen Jenneka had clearly been a beautiful woman in life. Ara could see that though she had lived forty years, she didn’t look old enough to have Vale and Prode for children. Her skin was creamy white and smooth with small, delicate features and her raven-colored hair blew gently in the night air around her. She wore a sky blue, gauzy body suit and cape with a golden crown perched atop her head. Though he had seen many portraits and statues of the Queen in Ivory Towers, they hadn’t captured just how stunning she was.

  With the exception of some gashes on her Forehead and spots of blood on her suit, she looked intact. Ara guessed that the blood stains were from her fall into the thorns, when she killed herself. Other than that, he would’ve guessed that she was still alive, holding the dagger to her son’s throat with no expression on her face.

  Vale, on the other hand had a peculiar look on his face. He didn’t look worried or upset, but rather disappointed. He stared at the ground unable to look at his mother, Sorpa, or even Ara. It seemed the other members of the Royal Guard were mimicking their King as they also wore a defeated look.

  “Vale!” Ara called out. “Use your powers! Knock your mother back and get out of there!”

  Vale responded, “I can’t. I won’t attack my mother. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

  “That’s exactly the point. She isn’t your mother anymore. She’s just another one of Sorpa’s zombies. Don’t let her kill you.”

  “There’s nothing I can do,” the King sighed. “I’ll die before I can assault her. What if there is some way that we could bring her back?”

  “That’s what she wants you to think, remember?” Ara pleaded. “Remember the first time that Forr met Sorpa? This is what she does. She wants you to believe that she can save the ones you love from death, but all she can do is puppeteer. Your mother is dead.”

  Before Ara could get another word out a sharp blow from behind brought him to his knees. His shoulder ached at the part where he’d been hit. He spun his head around and once more saw Opo Scoloos standing over him.

  Though the stab wound still was present in his chest, he maneuvered as though he was ignorant to it. His dark, soulless eyes bored through Ara’s bright, blue eyes. Had he not known better, Ara would have assumed that he was thinking or feeling something. However, he knew at this point that there was no longer an Opo Scoloos, only a corpse that had superior strength and a tri-bladed weapon.

  Opo raised his trelamna high, again ready to stab Ara, who quickly swung his leg around. It caught the back of Opo’s ankles bringing him down hard onto his back. Ara rose to his feet and ran in the direction of the trees, knowing full well that Opo was stupid enough in his current state to follow him.

  Sure enough, as Ara reached a row of trees, he turned to see Opo running at top speed towards him. His trelamna now separated, Opo was prepared to kill his enemy off this time. Ara separated his as well and looked ready to attack when all at once, he turned his head to the sky and made an abnormal sound.

  Opo stopped in his tracks, which made Ara happy. He’d confused Sorpa. Looking back up at the treetops, he continued to make the low, guttural sound over and over.

  “What in the world is he doing?” Sorpa hissed before calling out to him. “Whatever games you’re playing are only delaying what you cannot escape. Distractions won’t save you from death.”

  Just then a group of giant, feathered bird-men descended from the trees, letting out a howl similar to the one Ara had been using.

  “Arbestees! Stop them!” screamed Sorpa. “Destroy them all if they try to interfere here.”

  But, it was too late. The massive bird-men, big as Elites, but far quicker, swooped down and clutched Opo with their golden talons and lifted him off the ground. Fast as a flash they flew back up to the top of the tallest tree and pinned the giant warrior between two massive branches.

  Opo struggled and fought against the branches, but couldn’t move his arms enough to break his confines. The whole time, he never took his eyes off of Ara, far below on the ground, who merely smiled back.

  Ara again approached the necromancer, this time wearing a smug look upon his face. “Go ahead and send him after me a thousand more times. I won’t kill him again. I’m done playing your sick games.”

  Sorpa stood staring at him blankly. Prode still lie motionless at her feet. What happened to him still remained unknown. The dagger in Queen Jenneka’s hand glinted in the starlight as it pressed into Vale’s neck. Seeing no change in this situation, Ara began to get nervous.

  “Did you not hear me?” he roared. “I won’t fight Opo Scoloos anymore, witch. No matter how much you want to see him kill me.”

  “You idiot!” she finally snapped. “Of course you won’t kill him again. You can’t kill him and I’ve just proved it. And you’re a fool to think that those branches will keep him trapped forever. All you’ve succeeded in doing was sealing the Arbestees’ fate by encouraging them to help you.”

  “It wouldn’t have been long until they assisted anyway,” he retorted. “I’ve spent years living in these forests and the Arbestees are the most benevolent, noble creatures that I’ve ever met. They would never have stood by and watched you take over Eliantar with your evil powers.”

  “I had hoped that they would come to realize that, like you, they had no hope. You see I gave them more credit than I gave the majority of Elites, who I knew would try in vain to put this to an end. Clearly they’ve proven me wrong.”

  “So why prolong this?” Ara asked, beginning to sense defeat.

  “Why whatever do you mean?” Sorpa smiled. “Prolong this? I was the one who wanted to make this quick and painless a year ago. This one…,” she glared pointing at Vale, “was the one who brought me to this point. I didn’t want to stage a dramatic coup in this depressing place. He led you all here, not me.”

  “Then just do it,” he screamed, not taking his eyes from the necromancer. “Kill us all if you’ve already won like you say you have.”

  “So be it,” she whispered once again allowing her eyes to gaze up to the heavens and her arms rose.

  Ara looked around and watched as all of the members of the Royal Guard who had fallen slowly rose to their feet. The open wounds that had killed each of them stopped flowing with blood as their bodies reanimated.

  Ara frantically looked from one to the next, hoping to see some sign of intelligence or knowing in their eyes. He wasn’t surprised when he saw none. He became very worried, but sadder than anything. So many young warriors, who only a few hours ago believed they had their whole life to live, were suddenly lifeless, forced to watch from the afterlife as their bodies performed the duties of a madwoman.

  Each warrior bent down to grab onto their trelamna and poise at the ready for Sorpa Veneficus’s next mental command. Their red eyes stared holes through Ara, as if waiting for him to strike first.

  A loud grunt behind him forced Ara to turn around. He saw Sorpa straining, still with her hands and face to the black skies. Turning back around, he watched as the re-slaughtered corpse army rose yet again. As they came to attention, they slowly made their way to join the Royal Guard. Together their numbers were massive.

  Ara’s stomach turned as he sized up Sorpa’s army. The entire Woodland Tombs were completely surrounded. There was no way that he could take on this many warriors. Even if the few remaining members of the Royal Guard were to help him, he couldn’t save the King and hope to get out of this alive.

  Maybe Sorpa was right, he thought to himself. Maybe it was time to concede defeat and allow the unspeakable to happen to him, before the situation became any worse.

  “I surrender, Sorpa!” he called out to the necromancer, who smiled with the delight of victory. “I have only one last request. If you’re truly as honorable as you pretend to be, I pray that you hear it.”

  She stood there, pondering over what Ara had asked for several seconds
before responding. “Go on with it then.”

  “What you’re doing to Vale is cruel and unfair. I beg that you let him go. His regime has had nothing to do with forcing your hand at anything, as you claim. He is heartbroken over the untimely loss of his mother and to have her attack him is simply malicious.”

  Sorpa looked staggered at this request. She paused for a moment, staring hard at Vale through her black veil. Slowly she turned to Queen Jenneka who still stood with a dagger to her son’s throat. She eyed the pair up for a bit before slowly turning back to Ara. Even through the black, tangled hair and long funeral veil, he could see that she was both saddened and surprised by what Ara had asked.

  “Malicious you say?” she said with a tinge of bitterness. “You have no idea what malicious is until you’ve lived the life that I’ve lived. Malicious is being treated like a slave by the Queen.

  “Oh yes,” she laughed, seeing the surprised reaction on Vale and Ara’s faces. “Yes, I knew Jenneka for years before that time I burst in on the Regulation Committee meeting. You see, I wasn’t always like this,” she gestured at her dark garb, hiding her emaciated form.

  “I used to be quite a beautiful woman. We met each other when we were both young girls taking an Eliantar cultures class. I was just a commoner and I had no idea who she was. All I knew at the time was that she was the most beautiful girl that I’d ever seen.

  “We took to each other quickly and she was so kind to me. We’d spend hours out in the field talking and gossiping while we were supposed to be studying. She eventually worked up the nerve to tell me that she was a princess. But, that didn’t matter to me because I knew that I loved her no matter what.

  “I discovered later that it was so difficult for Jenneka to tell me that she was a princess, not because she was embarrassed by her fortune or power, but because as a ruler of Eliantar, she was not permitted to take a lover.

  “Both of our hearts were broken, but we decided to make the best of the time that we had together. We became secret lovers. I had all but moved into the castle under the guise of Princess Jenneka’s best friend and confidante. No one in the castle need know that we were sharing the same bed and promising each other our hearts until the end of time.

  “Alas, nothing lasts forever. A couple of years into my life of paradise, Jenneka’s father died and she was thrust into the spotlight of being the Queen of Eliantar. I did not know what was to become of me. I thought I would be shown the door.”

  Sorpa paused for a moment to compose herself. Ara and Vale both stared, openmouthed at her. Ara could tell Vale was feeling the same emotions that he was, the urge to call Sorpa a liar, but deep down knowing that all they had heard was the truth. And so, it spite of the shock, they allowed her to continue.

  “I was wrong about being forced out, however,” she continued. “Your mother allowed me to continue living in Ivory Towers as her friend and friend only. As she took on more and more of her responsibilities, I saw her less and less.

  “I still continued to keep her secret. I assume Forr always knew, but who knows what the old troll knew. He never even took an interest in learning my name while I was there. He didn’t even remember me when I strolled through the castle last year.

  “The few moments that I did have with Jenneka, I’d beg and beg her to be honest and let the rest of the world know about us, but she’d always refuse and beg me to keep my silence. Like a good lover, like a fool, I did just that. I lived bored as could be in my cell in the castle.

  “It wasn’t very much later than that when the good Queen gave birth to twin sons. I begged to the gods to give me patience and understanding but they failed me. Why would your mother take on a male lover? Just for heirs? How could she betray me like that after all that I had done for her? How could she be so cold when still at this point all I wanted in the world was to run to the tallest tower and scream how much I loved her? But, it didn’t matter. Now that she had her full time job, as well as two adorable children, she had no time for me. It was days and days before I would finally get to see her. Even then it would only be for a few moments. Needless to say, we hadn’t slept in the same bed in years. I felt betrayed.

  “Suddenly it occurred to me that maybe this was all my fault! Maybe I wasn’t doing enough to keep our love fresh and new. I had started under the guise of her advisor, but obviously never was. Perhaps if I became more political, I would be able to spend more time with my sweet Jenneka.”

  “What did you do?” Ara asked quietly, when Sorpa paused for almost a minute. “What did you ask her for?”

  “The offensiveness at having to ask at all!” she ranted back. “Imagine having to ask the love of your life for some attention. Every time that I looked in the mirror, I could see my beauty fading. I could see lines from stress erupting across my face. And as for the will to eat, that’s never quite returned.

  “Since you asked…I begged for a job as one of the Ambassadors. It didn’t even matter which realm. I told her that I would come to feel at home in the forests, the lakes, the mountains, even the fire. She, of course, asked if I was aware that I would have to live there and I told her that in spite of that I would still see her more than my current situation.”

  “Did you get the job?” Ara asked, already knowing the answer.

  “No!” she hissed. “She told me some drivel about only hiring those whose power reflects that of the realm they rule. He proved that she was a liar!” she pointed at Prode’s unconscious body and kicked it.

  “I suppose it wasn’t a total loss. After all, she did offer me a wonderful job as an alternative.”

  Her voice was filled with spite and venom as she directed her hatred at Jenneka’s zombie, who of course, was none the wiser. Ara and Vale stood watching Sorpa’s anger consume her. Hoping to buy a bit more time, Ara attempted to keep the conversation going.

  “What did she have you do in place of being an Ambassador?”

  “I was a tomb keeper!” she roared. “I was never so insulted in my life. My job was to work with a few other hooded Elites and come to the Woodland Tombs to bury all of the deceased nobles, guards, and such. That’s how I came to discover this place. That’s how I came to know so much about my control over the dead.”

  “Maybe that’s why she had you work as a tomb keeper,” Vale offered in a whisper. “She probably thought that with your knowledge of the dead, it would be a job well suited for you.”

  “Yes, you’re right my dear,” Sorpa mocked. “That would make perfect sense if not for the fact that she had no idea what my power was! I didn’t even know what my power was until I began working there. I’d never seen a corpse before so how would I know I could raise the dead? And your mother was so arrogant, she never even cared that I didn’t know what my gift was. But, she would fly around the fields and castle, looking down her nose on all of us.”

  “My mother didn’t look down her nose!” snapped Vale. “Plenty of Elites never know what their powers are because they may only apply in certain circumstances, just like yours. You can’t blame my mother because she didn’t know you had to be surrounded by death to be of any use.”

  Sorpa ignored him and continued, “And so I continued biting my tongue and worked hard as one of her tomb keepers. I worked so hard, hoping to be recognized by Jenneka. I kept thinking that one day if she heard how well I was doing she might remember me and how much she loved me. That day never came.”

  “Had it ever occurred to you that maybe my mother wasn’t in love with you anymore?” Vale asked, his voice filled with hatred. “Have you ever once thought that you were just a teenage fancy for her and that she just didn’t know how to dismiss you with tact? Or maybe she did love you still but was overwhelmed with her responsibilities so she kept you as close as she could. If she truly felt nothing for you anymore she would’ve thrown you out of the castle.”

  “No!” roared Sorpa. “You’re not listening to what I’ve
told you. Yes, deep down Jenneka must have still loved me. Her selfish responsibilities to her country and her children overwhelmed her so much that she couldn’t even follow her heart anymore. But that should not have driven her to push me away! She was being brainwashed by the very life that she was forced into.”

  Vale and Ara didn’t need to say aloud what they were both thinking. Jenneka’s seeming rejection had clearly driven Sorpa insane. Her fists were clenched and in spite of the number of years old her story was, she was still filled with obsession that crossed the border to rage.

  Vale could see from where he was standing that the veins in Sorpa’s neck were protruding, a hideous purple color. She frantically ran her fingers through her frazzled hair. Vale realized that they were running out of time before she finally broke down and went completely mad.

  “So what happened next?” he asked. “Obviously you didn’t work as a tomb keeper for long.”

  “Certainly not!” she barked. “That job was beneath me. I’d worked so hard and wasn’t being recognized for it.”

  “Did you ever try telling Queen Jenneka how rejected you felt?” asked Ara. “She seemed to be a reasonable woman. Maybe if you had spoken with her directly, she would have realized she was hurting you.”

  “I never had the chance! She was always too busy to see me. Finally I worked up the nerve to storm into her chambers and demanded to know why she was treating me this way. She of course pretended to be upset and swore that her obligations kept her too busy but that she still cherished me. I demanded to be treated with more respect than I’d received and be given duties befitting of a Queen’s partner in life.”

  “That couldn’t have gone well,” Vale said snidely. “Members of royalty don’t usually like being given direct orders.”

  “That’s an understatement young King,” she replied with sadness. “That was the day she sent me away from the castle. She broke down right in front of me, but wouldn’t say another word. I begged and pleaded to at least be able to stay in the place that I’d come to consider my home, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She threatened to call the Royal Guard if I protested at all.

  “I left Ivory Towers heartbroken that night with the few possessions that I actually owned. I lost the love of my life as well as my residence. I didn’t have a friend in the world outside of that castle. I hadn’t spoken to my family in years and your mother had been my only friend. I was officially homeless and didn’t know what to do. But, then Skarsend, the fallen god of darkness, began coming to me in my dreams. He understood the pain that I’d been through. I spent years trying to locate him so that we could help each other.

  “Once that was done, I knew that Jenneka would finally come to appreciate me. We would finally get the chance to be together because I would be the one to unify Eliantar and protect it from Skarsend’s destruction.”

  She strode over to Jenneka Procer and began running her fingers through the Queen’s flowing hair. She let out little coos and whispers as she did so.

  “You hadn’t counted on her death,” Ara stated. “Is this really how you envisioned your future with her? She’s a zombie.”

  “Better than nothing,” she responded coldly. “At least in this function, I have no fear of rejection from her anymore.”

  “You must only be a shadow of what you were then,” Ara said. “Did Jenneka even recognize you last year?”

  Sorpa laughed evilly, “Well she of course knew my name. I daresay she couldn’t hide the look of shock on her face at seeing how I’d changed. Her rejection ravaged my appearance and it felt satisfying to let her see what she’d done.

  “I apologize for your mother’s deception,” she turned to Vale. “And I am so sorry that I’m forcing her to kill you. It’s the only way that I can think of to punish her for her coldness to me. Wherever her soul truly is, I pray that she can see that it is by her hand that her son will die.”

  “So be it,” announced Vale, who quickly turned to Ara and gave a panicked wink and began nudging Prode with his foot. He had a plan! Ara knew that he had to distract Sorpa for just a few seconds more.

  “Where is the shadow god that you’ve planned all of this with?” Ara called out. “One would think that if he’s been helping you mastermind this whole nightmare, he’d be here to assist you. That is unless he’s so much of a coward that he’s let you do all of his dirty work.”

  With Sorpa’s attention now back on Ara, Prode opened his eyes, looked up at Vale’s head, and concentrated. He hadn’t been unconscious. He and Vale must have worked out this plan from the beginning. Ara watched as the large, golden crown atop Vale’s head slowly rose into the air and high into the trees. Ara smiled and prayed that the twins’ plan would work.

  “He will be along shortly,” she smiled. “This was to be my big scene. I had no interest in ruling Eliantar, but it seems that’s the only way I can be with my love. I only want to live with my sweet Jenneka without the burden of her responsibilities or her children.”

  Ara looked at Vale and saw he was looking back with a small reassuring smile. Whatever, he was hoping to achieve, Ara could only implore to the gods that it succeeded.

  “Go on then,” Ara mumbled, filling his voice with defeat. “You win.”

  “Well thank you,” she cackled. “Do you know that’s the first time that any person has ever said that to me before?”

  She turned towards the King and his mother and called out in a booming voice, “Jenneka!”

  Immediately, the Queen turned to look at her former lover with the same blank look that she’d had throughout the whole night. Vale on the other hand, had a look of determination mixed with hope.

  Sorpa pulled back her veil and smiled broadly. Her face was the color of snow and her cheekbones poked at her skin as if ready to burst through. She appeared as though at one time she could have indeed been beautiful. Now, she looked like she could pass for one of her corpses.

  “Jenneka, dear,” she beamed. “It’s time to end this long life of misery. It’s time for you and I to rule as queens! It’s time for the ruler of Eliantar to die.”

  Vale smiled and breathed a huge sigh of relief as Prode, still lying down, mentally allowed the crown to fall. It landed hard on Sorpa Veneficus’s head. She let out a sharp yelp at the surprise and pain of the golden metal cracking against her skull. Jenneka began to press the dagger against her son’s throat.

  “Sorpa Veneficus,” Vale shouted. “I dub thee Queen of Eliantar and all who reside there!”

  A look of horror spread across Sorpa’s face as she realized what the young King had done. Before she could react, she looked up to see Jenneka leaping at her, dagger in hand.

  Ara watched as the body of Vale’s mother tackled the necromancer to the ground. She’d hit the rock hard on her back with the Queen straddled on top. Jenneka raised the knife high. Veneficus let out one last yelp as the knife plunged down.

  An overwhelming feeling of relief swept over Ara as he rushed forward to embrace Vale, but the feeling quickly dissipated as his surroundings turned to black. He frantically looked from side to side but the void was all around him. He couldn’t see Vale, Jenneka, or any of the Woodland Tombs.