“And, you're still trying to tell me this isn't a trip?”
“I am,” Paul laughed. “Anyways, what took you guys so long to summon me back? It's been over a week.”
“It's been over a month,” Sarrac corrected.
“No, it hasn't,” Paul counter-corrected. “It was exactly ten days.”
“Maybe for you,” the ogre ceded. “For us, however, it was just over six weeks.”
“Weird... Either way, why'd it take you so long?”
“We had to wait on the moons,” Myra explained. “We were fairly sure they had to be full before we could summon you.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Paul nodded. “Why weren't zombies crawling all over the tower like they were last time? Or did you guys just slaughter them all before you summoned us?”
“The undead think Daelcast has served its purpose,” Sarrac explained. “In fact, they believe you're still here, due to a lot of effort on our part. Apparently, they don't see any reason to guard a place that doesn't seem to have any further significance.”
“I got ya,” Paul nodded. “So, what have you been up to since I've been gone? Have you guys got the undead on the run?”
“We've been up to a lot,” Alena replied. “But, we certainly don't have the undead on the run.”
“In truth, it's basically the opposite,” Sarrac pointed out.
“What?” Paul asked, a tone of sincere surprise in his voice. “How? What happened?”
“It's a bit of a story,” the ogre replied, shaking his head.
“Well, we’ve got time,” Paul replied. “So, tell me everything.”
“Very well,” Sarrac said. “To begin at the beginning: things actually went relatively well right after you left. We managed to hunt down and kill two more of the vampires we'd wounded during the battle with Lord and Lady Telraen and the Warriors successfully fought their way up through the sewers at the same time. Before nightfall, we had the Tower of Daelfaun completely under our control.”
“That sounds like a good start,” the young man observed.
“It was,” the ogre agreed. “Lady Telraen and the remaining vampires managed to escape, but we destroyed the rest of the garrison. Then, Myra opened the vault and we took everything that could be of any use to us. Fortunately, there was a great deal to take. We even managed to empty out the larder along with a good portion of the wine cellar.”
“Better and better,” Paul smiled.
“It certainly began that way,” Sarrac nodded. “We carried everything we'd captured to the fairy spring so Thaelen could distribute it to the Warriors as they had need. However, just days later, Lord Grathis mobilized one of the legions to retake the tower. He had a force of thousands, so we had no choice but to flee before the enemy even arrived.
“Shortly after that, our forces were driven from the spring. Grathis sent hundreds of undead to surround and guard it, in order to prevent us from making any more use of it. Fortunately, word got to Thaelen before Grathis's forces arrived and he managed to get his family to safety. However, the Warriors had to abandon a majority of the equipment when they fled. And, obviously, they couldn't move the vault.”
“Which was really unfortunate,” Myra pointed out. “Had Nyssa or I been there, we almost certainly could have. Thaelen told us the runes started glowing again just days after our assault on Daelfaun.”
“Ouch...” Paul replied. “That could have gone better.”
“Much,” Alena agreed.
“Well, who is this Lord Grathis?” the young man asked. “I've never heard the name before.”
“He's the vampire lord above Lady Telraen,” Myra replied. “Her lands are part of his protectorate. So obviously, he had to react to our taking the tower. He couldn't just let it go unanswered. As a result, we actually ended up making things worse than they were before.”
“Maybe for the moment,” Alena ceded. “But, it's a temporary setback, and it was absolutely necessary.”
“I doubt the people being harvested to feed the legion feel the same way about it,” Myra replied quietly.
“I doubt they do,” Sarrac agreed. “However, the undead are the enemy; not us. We can't hold ourselves responsible for their actions. It's true that more people are dying at the moment, simply because a greater number of undead are on the march, but how many lives will we have saved over the course of centuries?”
“If we succeed,” the maiden replied, “we'll have saved a great many. I'm just not sure that we can.”
“Nor am I,” the ogre admitted. “But, we have to try.”
“Absolutely,” the young man nodded. “They're the monsters; not us. You can't defeat evil by giving it what it wants. You have to stand against it, even if the initial cost of doing so is greater than capitulation would be.”
“You know, Paul,” Myra said, gazing at the young man with a slight smile on her face. “You really do talk like a paladin sometimes.”
“Thank you.”
“I just hope you're right,” she sighed.
“He is,” Alena replied. “We just have to keep up the good fight.”
“In the spirit of that, what does the next prophecy say?” Paul asked.
“What do you mean?” Sarrac replied.
“I mean,” the young man began, “we could use a little guidance here. Surely, there's some prophecy that will point us toward a clear path to victory.”
“Not any that we can think of at the moment,” the ogre replied, shaking his head.
“What?”
“There are a great many prophecies,” Sarrac explained. “However, none of them seem to give us a clear direction from here.”
“Even though there may very well be more hidden caches of magical artifacts, any location even hinted at in any prophecy is under heavy guard right now,” Alena added. “So, for the moment, we've got to think on our feet and come up with our own plans. That's why we attacked Lord Telraen in the first place.”
“I guess I can see that,” Paul replied. “So, what's the current plan?”
“Summon the it again,” Alena chuckled.
“Well, that plan succeeded,” Paul smiled. “So what's next?”
“We're going to discuss that once we reach Thaelen,” Sarrac replied. “At the moment, you're the only one who can turn. We've been able to do some damage and sow confusion, but you should be able to inspire both terror and panic – which is what we need right now.”
“Sure, sure,” the young man nodded. “But, now that you guys know the gods of the living aren't dead, why hasn't anyone else tried to become a priest or something? It seems to me that having a few people who could turn would be a really good thing at this point.”
“It would be,” Alena agreed. “However, once the undead realized that we may actually have managed to summon the it, they destroyed even the remnants of all the remaining shrines.”
“Why not just build a new one, then?” he asked.
“They would be able to find it,” Myra explained. “That's part of the problem. The living don't even have any place they can hide. If we built a shrine and sanctified it, the undead would be able to locate it using magic to detect the divine power flowing through it. You can be sure they'd send an army to destroy it almost instantly.”
“That would be a problem,” the young man admitted.
“A major one,” the maiden agreed. “And, it's one we can't do anything about. In truth, we can't even be sure you can turn until you try it again.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Normally, the divine power flows through the shrines,” Sarrac explained. “Now that the Shrine of Sarrin is destroyed, you might not have any power at all.”
“Well, let's hope I do.”
“We are,” Alena pointed out.
This observation brought the conversation temporarily to an end as the party maneuvered their beasts into a small wooded dell. The decision was made to spend a few hours of rest in what little cover the sparse and sickly trees offer
ed before continuing their journey. A fire was quickly lit and the companions sprawled out on the ground around the little blaze. Alena wanted to start Joey's training immediately, but Paul finally convinced her to wait until the following evening based on the fact that neither of the two young men had gotten much sleep.
Sarrac volunteered for first watch. As Paul lay beside Myra, he decided the time had come to speak to the maiden.
“So... You said we could talk about it later,” he pointed out.
“I did,” she replied, gazing into the fire.
“It's later.”
“It is.”
“So, what's wrong?” he asked, his eyes locked on the fair maiden.
“Almost everything,” she sighed.
“Can you be a little more specific? After all, we are courting and...”
“No, we're not,” she interrupted. “We can't, Paul.”
“What?” he asked, a surprised tone in his voice. “Why not? Did I do something…”
“Of course not!” she interrupted. “Well... that is to say, yes you did, but it certainly wasn't your fault.”
“If it wasn't my fault, why are you blaming me?”
“I'm not blaming you,” she said defensively, turning her eyes to his. “I've just come to the realization that it's not going to work out.”
“Well, what did I do that wasn't my fault?”
“You disappeared,” she explained.
“Well, I'm back!” he pointed out excitedly.
“Obviously. But, I didn't know you would be! In fact, I was basically positive I'd never see you again.”
“Well you were wrong,” the young man replied.
“I was this time,” she ceded. “But what about the next time you disappear?”
“If I do,” he began, “which I don't intend to, you'll just have to summon me again.”
“If that doesn't work?”
“It will,” he replied confidently, trying to offer her a sense of assurance, before adding with a smile. “If it doesn't, I'll just e-mail The Administrator and they'll work things out.”
“You don't know that,” she replied. “What's e-mail?”
“It's a way of sending messages,” he explained. “Either way, you can't live your life based on a bunch of what if questions. We're here together now and that's all that matters.”
“No, it's not,” she disagreed. “You being gone gave me a lot of time to think. It hurt me a great deal more than I expected and that gave me pause, Paul. It's not just that you might end up back on Earth; you might end up dead. We're already very close friends and if either of those things happen to you I'll be even more miserable than I am now. I can't risk us getting closer than we already are.”
“You can't refuse to be happy in order to keep from being miserable. Life doesn't work like that.”
“It's not just that,” she replied. “Courting often leads to marriage, Paul.”
“I think it might in our case,” he replied with a knowing smile.
“That's the problem!” she exclaimed quietly. “Because marriage leads to children and I will not bring children into this nightmare.”
“We're gonna save Zanoth, Myra.”
“You can't be sure of that! Even if the living succeed in defeating the undead, it's going to take centuries. Now that I'm mortal, I'm not going to live long enough to see it. So, I'm never going to have children, so I'm never going to get married, so I'm never going to court again.”
“I see...” he replied thoughtfully. “Well, what if we courted without any intention of getting married?”
“I don't see any point to that.”
“Well, I can think of a few advantages,” he replied with a grin.
In response, the maiden merely glared at him silently.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Well, don't,” she sighed. “I'm not happy about this, Paul. In fact, I hate it. I honestly think we could be happy together...”
“We could be!” he interjected.
“If it weren't for the undead,” she continued, shaking her head. “But, they're here and they're not going anywhere. So, please, just respect my decision and try to understand.”
“I'll try,” he said, an obvious tone of displeasure in his voice, “but it ain't gonna be easy.”
“I know,” she agreed. “We're still friends, aren't we?”
“Always,” he replied with a smile after a few moments of silence. “I just wish we could be more.”
“So do I,” she said. “Maybe we will be in the next life. Whatever it's like, it has to be better than this.”
“Let's hope so,” the young man replied.
Paul had a hard time getting to sleep after this brief conversation but, fortunately for him, Alena volunteered to take the second watch. As a result, he managed to get a couple of hours of actual rest before the ogress awakened the band to continue their journey. With weary limbs and a heavy heart the young man climbed back atop his beast.
As much as he didn't like it, he had to admit that Myra had a point. There was no way of knowing how, or even if, he would be able to find a way to stay in Zanoth. Even after such a short period of time, this breakup made him feel as if his heart had been run through a wood chipper. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel if they had been dating - or courting, or whatever she wanted to call it - for years before he ended up back on Earth. And how would he deal with it if they got married before he found himself sent back home? Some guys would probably love having a wife in each world, but that certainly wasn't his style...
Of course, there were several obvious solutions to the problem. He would either have to find a way to stay in Zanoth forever and kill all the undead on the planet or find some way to take Myra back to Earth with him. Then, they could leave the kids with his mother when it was time to go undead killing. Both of these options seemed borderline impossible at the moment but, on the other hand, he was still a lot closer to being with her than he had been when she had been dead. So, all things considered, he had pretty high hopes.
“This trip is starting to be a real pain,” Joey observed, interrupting his friend's thoughts. “I didn't even know it was possible to be this tired in a dream.”
“You missed a few hours’ sleep,” Alena replied over her shoulder. “Big deal.”
“I had to work all day yesterday.” he pointed out. “What'd you do?”
“Well, I woke up yesterday morning with undead attacking the camp,” she began. “Then, we spent the day traveling through the dark lands and avoiding even more undead. After that, we had to creep into the tower and lay on the hard stone floor until around midnight when we were finally able to cast the spell that brought you here.”
“You win, I guess,” he sighed. “Still, I'm glad that I didn't pay for these drugs. I mean; I'm furious now. Somebody is seriously going to end up wrecked. If I had paid for this experience, then that someone would end up in the hospital.”
“If you had paid for it, it would be your fault,” Paul pointed out.
“Okay, you're right,” his friend ceded. “That means we need to seriously injure whoever did this for real. As soon as I wake up, I'm getting you up so we can start tracking down whoever it was.”
“Why is it that men from Earth have such a hard time accepting reality?” Alena chuckled.
“I think it's the whole no magic thing,” Paul speculated. “That's what it was with me, anyway. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I'd been transported to some other world filled with undead.”
“But, could these drugs he keeps talking about really make him dream something like this?” she asked.
“Some people claim they could,” he replied. “But, Joey and I couldn't tell you. Winners don't do drugs, you know?”
“I didn't know that,” she admitted. “But, that still doesn't explain why you two didn't do them.”
“Oh, that's funny,” he replied with mock disdain. “That right there was hilarious
. How do you do it?”
“I just keep my eyes open for opportunities,” she smiled.
“Anyway,” he chuckled, “where are we headed? I mean; no place in Zanoth is safe, so where did Thaelen go?”
“He and the Warriors with him stay on the move,” Sarrac replied.
“As do his wife and children,” Alena added.
“We've worked out a number of campsites,” the ogre continued. “Every few days, we move. We can't keep it up forever but, for the moment, we've managed to stay one step ahead of the legions.”
“That's not much of a life for the wife and kids,” the young man observed.
“No,” Myra agreed. “It isn't.”
“But, it's a lot better than the alternative,” Alena pointed out.
“I agree,” Paul nodded. “Hopefully, before long, we'll be able to come up with something better. Either way, how much longer will it take us to get there?”
“A few more hours,” Sarrac replied. “The current camp is in the Forest of Yilmar, which we're already nearing. We stay on the very outskirts of civilization. It allows us to avoid the legions, but it comes with problems of its own, of course.”
“Like what?” the young man asked.
“Roaming undead,” Myra replied. “And a lack of food. The dark lands aren't the best place to forage, and you certainly can't farm in them.”
“Yep,” Paul said. “Those are problems alright.”
“They are,” Alena nodded. “Hopefully, now that we've got you back, we'll be able to find a way around them.”
“Well, we certainly have to try,” the young man agreed.
Chapter 2: Nobody Home
“So,” Paul said suddenly, as the party passed through the dreary depths of the half-dead Forest of Yilmar. “Riding around through the dark lands again has got me thinking.”
“About what?” Alena asked.
“About that dark shard in Daelfaun.”
“What about it?”
“We shattered it weeks ago,” he pointed out.
“We did,” Sarrac nodded.
“Well, have the surrounding lands begun to heal at all?”
The Fortress of Donmar (The Tales of Zanoth Book 2) Page 2