by C Woodward
Prologue
Things grew quiet in the basement of the magic school in Vunash. The basement was seldom used, since it was a place to store old school equipment. It held broken parts of the old printing press that was kept in the promise of being repaired but procrastination left it forgotten. Not many knew that the basement was also part of the original ground level before the city was erected many years ago. Amid the old junk in the basement was something that told why the magic school was built here many years ago.
Standing behind several boxes and under countless cobwebs was an ancient stone gateway. No one truly knew the origin of gateways except maybe the few Silthrym but even they never spoke of it. Early mages and scholars coming into the Farlands were interested in such a mysterious gate but none had managed to get it to work. Over the years, the city of Vunash grew. The sewer system that help maintain the city controlled most of the lower levels except this basement which the mages built to keep the old gateway protected and contrasted the magic school above. Sadly over the years, fewer and fewer were curious or interested in solving the secrets of the old gateway so it was now just a forgotten relic of the past.
A spider crawled over the etched carvings of the stone gate and jumped as the runes began to glow. One by one the runes lit up and soon a light formed from the middle. The light flashed and revealed a distorted image of what lied on the other side. Several men in black robes walked from the portal and cleared some of the junk away. Shortly after, several figures staggered through. Their clothes were filthy and reeked of rotting flesh. They wore rusted armor with blades that were long worn and somewhat broken. Their appearance was quite horrifying as they showed decay and signs of their original demise. The undead blindly followed where the men in black robes led them. Very quickly, the smell of a once stuffy basement was filled with the stench of undead.
The room became full of lined up undead troops. Two more figures poured out of portal. One towered over the other. The larger figure appeared to be a massive construction of bone and dark magic. It held a large, crude maul with its massive, boney arms while its two smaller arms dangled lifelessly. The smaller figure held an old, gnarled staff in its small, boney arms. The men in black robes bowed their heads at their presence. The small figure lifted the hood of his robe thus revealing a skeleton head with glowing red eyes, “You may begin.” The men in black robes bowed their heads and signaled their undead minions to charge up the stairs. The large bone-construct stomped behind them.
The hallway of the magic school was filled with chattering students who were discussing upcoming projects and theories about their work. None of them expected to see the worn door leading to the old basement swing open wide and undead pour out. It wasn’t long after seeing this horrifying visage and smelling their stench that the students began to flee. After shouting and panicking the mages, the bell of alarm rang. Students exited their classrooms to see a wave of their peers running away.
Students and teachers alike rushed out of the gates of the campus. Several of the city’s guards rushed to the scene. One guard shouted, “What is all this?” One of the students pointed back at the building but were too out of breath to explain. Soon a flood of undead poured out of the front door. Several balls of fire rained down upon the undead. Their frail bodies shattered from the impact. By the gate were several of the higher ranking mages including grand master Falstrid.
“Evacuate the students! We will keep these wretches at bay!” Falstrid ordered. One by one, the mages cast their magic at the waves of undead. Falstrid’s hopes had died as he saw the first bone-construct. The massive bone-being charged at the mages, not caring about trampling its smaller undead allies. Several blasts chipped away at the monster but it still charged. “Pull back!” Falstrid ordered. Several city guards moved in with spears aimed at the bone contrast. With one wave of its massive weapons, two guards were knocked into the air.
A few more volleys of magic projectiles impacted the bone-construct but did little damage. Several more guards charged in and finally overwhelmed the bone-construct. “Break the head!” Falstrid ordered. The guards pried the skull from its shoulders and instantly the bone-construct was no threat. Falstrid scratched his chin, “How could such a thing happen?” He was interrupted when three more bone-constructs came out of the school along with more undead. Several more guards came rushing in to aid. They were still out-numbered by seemingly no end of the undead.
Several of the guards barricaded the gateway as the last of the surviving mages passed through. The rest of the guards held their ground and fended off the waves of undead. Some of the mages offered support from the other side of the walls. “There is no end to them!” A guard shouted. “Stay strong men!” the captain of the guards shouted as he made his appearance with a large patrol of men. Falstrid took several deep breaths as he was getting too old for this and turned to the guard captain, “I fear something powerful is behind all this.” The guard captain nodded, “Go get your students out of here.” The guard captain took out his sword, “We will handle this!” Falstrid nodded and helped lead his pupils as far away as possible.
The guard captain shouted and a dozen men with crossbows lined up and fired at the group of undead. Bolts rained down on them but, sadly, did little damage. Two bone-constructs broke through some guards and the barricade by literally crashing into it. The guards swarmed in and took advantage of the fallen bone-constructs. Another bone-construct used a great crude axe to cleave into a hapless guard. The carnage caused panic among the guards. “Stay strong men!” the guard captain shouted. He raised his sword and, with his horse, charged toward the bone-construct.
By his example, he restored the morale of his frightened men to get back into the fight. The guard captain charged into a group of undead and the force of his steed and his blade caused several to drop with one swoop. A squad of guards charged at the bone-construct and managed to shove it to the ground. The men franticly broke it apart as soon its heavy body hit the earth. Another rain of crossbow bolts rained upon the bulk of the undead beyond them. More and more city guards came into the scene to lend aid.
The army of undead decreased rapidly. From his horse, the guard captain cleaved into another group. He raised his sword high and the rest of the men cheered as victory seemed at hand. Their vision of victory was cut short as clouds formed in the sky above them. There was an unsettling feeling in the air and they heard the moans of fallen mages and guards. Their lifeless bodies started to rise to join the undead army. If that wasn’t enough, another wave of undead with a large group of men in black robes poured out of the mage school.
The sky became to a dark red. Fear rushed through the guards as they faced their own fallen comrades. The guard captain took a deep breath and raised his sword again. He shouted, “This is all they have! We can knock these fiends back.” A large bolt of lightning shot from the dark opening of the mage school and went through the guard captain, killing him and his horse instantly. There was a moment of silence as the defeated guard captain dropped to the ground. A deep voice chuckled from the darkness, “Such hope will be their downfall.” The source of the voice came into view. The creature stood roughly fourteen feet tall with dark red skin, massive limbs resembling tree trunks, and two large horns that could easily be used as weapons. He stepped loudly with his cloven hooves and with his mass, he could crush stone. His tail swayed with joy as he stared at the last of the guards with his glowing green eyes.
He pointed toward the frightened guards, “Your rotting corpses will serve me!” As soon as he finished his threat, a dark purple beam shot out from his claw-like hand. The beam hit the guards, causing their flesh to decay. Their screams only made the monster laugh. He finished
off the last of the guards and turned his head. A skeleton man in the black robe walked beside him. The monster ordered, “Njyak, get everything prepared before we begin a full assault.” The lich lowered his head, “As you wish, master.” The monster turned and walked back toward the school. He paused and stared at the blood red sky, “My goal is close at hand!”
Chapter 1
It was such a nice day. The sun was warm and shone bright enough to make the swamplands feel cheery. We couldn’t have picked a better day for a carriage ride to the city of Halatross. It had been roughly six years since I was cast into this world by the evil lich, Xum’gol. I have found life here quite interesting. It would be hard to decide the most unique thing I have experienced while being here. An insane assassin tried to kill me a few times. There was the time I was possessed by the Dragon Deity, or maybe it was when I met Talestria.
I have been married for almost six years to a beautiful and crazy dark elf. Ah, Talestria. A woman with quite a reputation. Even her own people fear her, but in a respectful way. She does have a temper and her own odd quirks, but I love her. Although she is always sweet toward me, there is still that haunting thought that she could have been the death of me except that she fell for me right from the start. I still feel quite lucky to have found her, although her patience with my friends has dwindled after their recent visit.
For two long weeks, Bolam and a few other mages from the magic school stayed at our home. Talestria has what might be the best collection of ancient magical books. To a big nerd like Bolam, this was a huge deal. Bolam had hardly changed since I first met him. He was still a little insecure about his appearance and about how smart he is. You never see him without a book of some sort and his mage robe. Bolam is a large-built man who makes me wonder if he has ogre blood in him. But, he is also one of the brightest guys I know. His only problem is getting a bit carried away in whatever project he sets his heart. He can go on and on about certain things which makes my mind drift.
Bolam and his peers were riding behind us in a wagon while, in our wagon, Talestria and I led the way out of the swamp. The dark elves that inhabit these lands hate outsiders but as far as Talestria and me, no one bothered us. Talestria was stressed out during their two week visit with us, so she couldn’t wait to get some fresh air and see them leave. During my time here, the dark elves had accepted me among them, mostly due to my wife. It could also be the fact that I was considered a criminal among the elves whom the dwarves really hate. Still, Talestria insisted I wear my armor which was her wedding gift to me. It might be easier for me to deal with them if I wore the intimidating armor which was mostly blackened steel with decorative blades sticking out of the helmet and pauldrons. It had white trim as a result of it being enchanted about five years back, which cost a pretty penny. Also, the armor helps the dark elves forget that I am a human.
I hardly consider myself human anymore. I was born in a world with no magic. But while here, I have acquired traits that no human has. The most important trait for me is that now I don’t age and I am immune from some magic and curses. Well, any magic that produces a physical storm can hurt me. After all, a fireball is still a fireball. I have never gotten sick since coming here. Poisons have no effect on me, but I haven’t really tested that one fully. And I am not likely to do so. Anything bad that enters my system just comes back out, leaving a nasty taste in my mouth.
Another interesting ability of mine is that I can regenerate. This has been a blessing since I have had a number of injuries since arriving in this world. But the major reason why I consider myself non-human is the fact that I have dragon blood in me. When I was first possessed by the Dragon Spirit, I grew fangs which still make up my most of my back teeth. I have to be mindful of them around strangers while yawning and laughing because I get some strange looks. I received other dragon characteristics after the battle where I faced off against Xum’gol. My body turned into a dragon-form energy and to this day I have no memory about what really happened. All I know is that afterward I became a stronger and I’m able to sense emotions in others and other weird things.
The ability to sense emotion has saved my butt countless times in my marriage alone. I can tell the very moment that Talestria becomes upset or irritated and I can quickly brighten her mood before it becomes something awful. It’s handy to determine when someone is lying as I stare them in the eyes and it has saved me plenty of coppers on errands to town for Talestria.
There is one strange thing about myself that scares me though. It hasn’t happened since I was lured by the group who kidnapped Talestria. It is something I can’t quite explain. I become so enraged that I act like a beast. My vision dims and I start to lose of my mind a bit. It is unsettling and I don’t like the idea of going berserk, but thankfully it hasn’t happened often. I have faced several battles here and there, one while taking Talestria up north and one on a silly, waste of time adventure with Jerak. The foes were often lowly choguls or a subhuman bandit, not enough to enrage me.
Two rabbits scurried off as our wagons noisily crossed a dirt trail. The dark elves don't like to mingle outside their race since their civil war with the other elves. Most of them consider other races untrustworthy and often make them targets for robbery. Talestria's reputation aids in our safe passage. She might be considered cursed and taboo among her own kind, but they respect her due to her magical abilities and her royal blood. Then there is her temper. They dare to get on her bad side.
Talestria let out a loud snore and turned her head on my lap. I smiled and looked ahead. It is rather funny how she gives off a villain-like image and yet when she is around me she acts like a giddy school girl. All those years of being feared and isolated took its toll as most of her anger was an attempt to fill a void in her heart. I still don't know what she saw in me but I am thankful she fell for me the moment she found me chained up in her dungeon. That’s a long story.
"When are we going to stop for lunch? I am getting hungry," Talestria grumbled without even trying to raise her head nor open her eyes.
"Not too much longer. I want to get out of the swamp at least," I replied. Even though there is little risk of any rogue dark elves bothering us, there is always a chance one doesn't know who we are. The last time it happened, we were traveling alone and were swimming in what we thought was a remote pond. I chuckle thinking about it.
"What's so funny?" Talestria replied as she finally lift her head up. She wiped some drool from her face.
I smiled, "I was thinking about the time we were swimming in that pond."
Talestria let out a big yawn, "Oh, and when that pervert tried to steal my clothes? I don’t see how that was funny!"
I shrugged, "He was trying to steal my stuff and didn't see you at first"
Talestria lifted a brow, "Well, he still was rude to interrupt our fun."
I laughed, "I believe he learned his lesson when you cast a volley of fireballs."
Talestria let out a sinister chuckle, "Yeah that was funny, especially when one hit his pants and they caught fire." She wiped a tear from her eye, "It must have been a long time before he could sit down, the pervert!"
I shook my head and couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes I wonder if I really did marry a villain.
The sound of the guys in the wagon behind us interrupted our laughter. Bolam and his friends were signaling for us to stop. I tugged at the reins and Alpo, my horse, stopped. As soon we stopped, Talestria climbed into the back of the wagon and began digging into the pack of food. I peered behind me to see why they wanted to stop right now. Bolam was the first to hop down and suddenly scurried off. I grabbed my weapon and jumped down to see what was wrong.
My armor made a noisy, clunky sound as I jogged to see what was wrong. Bolam had stopped behind some bushes and was still. I let out a sigh of relief that he only had to answer nature's call. I put my blade away and eased my paranoia.
Talestria poked her head out from the back of the wagon with a mouth full of food, "Do you want the last t
art?" She held it in her hand with hopes that I would say no.
I shook my head, "No, it is alright hon, you can have it." Halfway through my sentence, she had already shoved it in her mouth. Those were her favorite and even I won’t dare get in her way from having the last one.
The other mages got out to stretch their legs and do their own business. Talestria finally hopped out of the wagon as she finished the last tart. She stared at the sky and took her first step. Her face cringed.
"Leg asleep, hon?" I asked.
She nodded and awkwardly walked in a circle to get rid of the pins and needle feeling.
"Hey, Blake!" Bolam shouted as he came from behind the bush.
I turned my head toward him, "Yeah? What?"
Bolam adjusted his belt and reached into his pocket, "Here, I wrote this in your language."
I grabbed the note and began to read it. Years ago I taught Bolam the written word of my world as he helped me learn to read their language. I felt ashamed at how far better his handwriting was than mine. The note read, "You know it is bad when we can hear her snoring from our wagon." Bolam chuckled as I looked up at him. I tried to keep a straight face but really couldn't argue. He had been practicing his writing while at our place. Most of his writings were jokes along with some ranting about his peers. He knew I could keep a secret.