by J. Carrarn
"Not all of it, but I've shown the Bonemenders what to do, and they are now working on completing it," Drys replied.
Arriving at the ground floor, Solus took another look at the hole that led to the caverns below Skulltown. He focused, and the opening shrunk, becoming smaller until it completely vanished, leaving only a slightly less dusty spot on the floor. Although Drys couldn't see it, Solus felt the entire tunnel that the hole led to do the same thing, eventually closing all the way down to the caverns below. If he had to leave for an extended time, keeping it open would be too dangerous now that these Kaots were running about.
Finished, he moved outside onto the quiet and desolate square. There were usually undead hanging around at this time. They came either to speak with Drys or with one of the Bonemenders who were usually hard at work in the buildings bordering the square.
"How many casualties did we suffer…?" Solus said as he spread his senses outward into the city, sensing the tiny tremors created by the undead moving around. His senses detected barely any movement. Only far out, on the outskirts of the city, were thousands of feet moving around.
Drys didn't respond but walked toward a road that led to the outer rim of the city. He seemed to be looking for something.
Solus quickly caught up to him. "Drys? How many?"
"I don't know. Some of the Kaots were almost as strong as Skull and Vingria. Their attacks were savage and unrelenting. Skulltown's inhabitants resisted, of course, which only made things worse." Drys sighed and shook his head. "They didn't stand a chance..."
—
From its vantage point on the highest stone building in the area, the shade followed and closely observed the two dangerous beings as they moved through the city.
It was annoyed. A novel sensation that it had never felt before. A whole night spent in the place with the tablets of squiggly lines, and it was none the wiser as to what any of it meant. Without the knowledge of what the patterns did, it dared not to inscribe any of it. Although it could easily undo it, there was the risk of being spotted while it reset. No. What it needed was a chance to watch the others as they inscribed patterns.
It would seek out weak undead and observe them. It would learn. Its eyes followed every small movement that the grey giant and the tall one made. When the two moved out of view, it quickly floated toward another building.
—
Solus and Drys quietly continued through the city. After traversing a few streets, they came across the first undead group, a trio of burly zombies with long black hair tied behind their back. When the zombies saw Solus, they rushed forward, looks of relief on their white pockmarked faces.
One of them had a large tear across the white plates that covered her chest. The corners of her mouth were ripped open, something Solus remembered all too well. She stepped so close that she almost touched him.
"Solus! Is everything fine now? Did you end those enemies?"
An odd sensation rose in Solus. He had felt it a few times before, usually when he was close to a female undead. Drys had said it was the initial reaction that might grow into what the undead with multiple evolutions were experiencing. Like Norg and Vingria. So far it had not, and Solus wasn't all that interested in experiencing it. It seemed to make most undead dumber and more prone to emotional outbursts, something he would prefer to prevent. Stepping back, he ignored the question.
"What are the three of you doing here?"
One of them, a bit taller than the others and with an empty eye socket, squealed and began hopping up and down.
"It's because... It's because…" she began jittering incoherently until the last one slapped the back of her head, causing her to shut her mouth.
"Will the two of you be quiet? He will think we broke something when we evolved!" She stared at the other two until they slowly backed off, staring at their feet, shamefaced. Then she turned to Solus.
"We are here to find two missing party members. When those mindless ones popped up and began tearing everything around them apart, we got split up. The last time we saw them, they were running this way."
Solus inspected the last of the zombie. She had an intelligent look in her eyes as she spoke with him and acted a lot less jittery than most. Although obviously a zombie, she seemed to have a good handle on her emotions, better than any zombie he had seen so far, in fact.
"Alright. There might be more of those… Kaots roaming around, so be careful."
The intelligent zombie turned, about to leave, when Drys stepped forward. "Wait. What is your name, and what pattern are you currently using?"
The zombie looked surprised at the question but answered without a hitch. "The others call me Lezli, and I have the Invoker pattern." At the last part, she tilted her chin up slightly, a sliver of a smile on her lips.
Solus knew she was proud of her pattern, and she had a right to be. With Drys's new system, it cost many mana-orbs to be able to pick one of the better evolutions. Most of the undead in the city didn't have the resources yet.
Drys took one more look at her, nodded in approval, and turned to Solus. "We must hurry. We have much to do."
Solus turned on his heel and moved off in the direction of the school building. "Be careful out there, Lezli!" he yelled.
The three zombies began muttering amongst themselves before they were out of earshot. Solus didn't pay any attention. His mind was buzzing as an idea began to take shape.
Two streets further, they found another few undead, skeletons this time, moving with obvious purpose. They didn't stop when they saw Solus and Drys, and Solus didn't care to ask them anything.
Soon they reached an even busier part of the city, undead milling about everywhere. When they reached the school, the city almost seemed its old self.
Solus stopped as he stared at the school on the other side of the square. Drys walked a few steps further before noticing he had stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"I want you to change all the undead you think can help into the strongest forms we have. Give them any pattern they can use, except for the one Silt had."
Drys stared at him with raised eyebrows for a moment, but then he seemed to understand what Solus wanted. He nodded with a grimace.
"I should have thought of that. If more of those Kaots show up, we will need more powerful defenders. I'll take care of it."
Solus nodded. He knew this meant Drys would have to stay behind, but he didn't think it wise that both of them leave anyway. He moved across the square and toward the school.
The guards that had been there the previous night were gone now, and only a few of the stronger undead hovered around the square.
"Why did we come here, anyway?" Drys asked.
Solus didn't respond but stepped into the main hall of the school. "Basil, where are you?"
His deep voice caused the building to vibrate slightly, and dust fell from the stone ceiling onto the many tables and benches that filled the spacious room. Before the rumbling of his voice could dissipate, an incredibly muscular undead sauntered out of a room at the end of the main hall.
"Well, if it isn't the big man himself! Solus, it's good to see you back here. I hope you are going to stay for a while this time?"
The muscular undead stomped forward, stopping in front of Solus. He looked up with a grin as he gripped Solus's shoulder, squeezing it. Solus copied him, making sure not to pulverize his flesh.
Such an odd custom, Solus thought before turning his attention to the undead in front of him.
"Sumil left a recruit with you. Red-eye-sockets?"
At Solus's words, Drys stepped forward, a look of keen interest on his face. "A red-eyed one? Where did you find that?"
Remembering the situation at the bone forest, Solus laughed. "I brought him from Uran's place. His searchers had just found him somewhere."
Basil watched the two of them, waiting for them to fall silent before clearing his throat with a disgusting wet sound.
"I'll fetch him right away. He calls hi
mself Samus now, and he should be in the pillar room, absorbing energy. A curious one, a quick study. Almost as quick as Derin was. He's only been here a day or two and is already able to evolve, a new record if you ask me."
As he continued talking, Basil moved to one of the side entrances and disappeared into the depths of the building.
"Samus?" Drys said with a grin. "Seems you left an impression!"
Solus ignored him and looked around the room. He did not visit the school that often, and the large hall had changed much since he had last been here. Bone and stone tables and benches still filled the main room. There were also two stairs leading to a slightly elevated area that had not been there before. On it stood an enormous bar that spanned the width of the room. Behind it hung pieces of Wyrm skin, while dozens of wyrm scales lay atop the bar. Names were carved in the side of the bar, with scratch marks behind them. Solus knew about the custom, although this was the first time he had seen the bar. The number of lines showed the amount of new awoken the hunting parties had brought back.
Examining the rest of the main hall, with its many corridors that led away to different chambers, Solus grinned. He was amazed how far this little scheme of Drys's had come!
It had started as an experiment to quickly increase the awareness of the new arrivals while showing them their options and improving the overall power of Skulltown. It had been closed after the enormous battle that had ended half of the city's population. With the remaining half actively gone searching for new awoken to bolster their numbers, there weren't enough undead in Skulltown to warrant leaving it open.
Eventually, enough new undead had arrived, but the school was forgotten. However, searching around for more undead was a tedious job, and most of the new undead felt little incentive to go back out. The risk of running into a Wyrm or something worse was just too great. Especially the skeletons, most without emotions, had little desire for anything, and many just sat around unless ordered to do otherwise. This left the task to the more evolved undead, and they quickly grew tired of that. Soon, there were only a handful of undead out in the wastes bringing newly awoken ones in, and their growth had stopped.
Knowing they needed more undead if another army attacked, Drys and Solus had tried finding a solution. Finally, a few months after the battle, Drys had come up with a plan. He would reinstate the school, but with a few changes.
Besides just teaching the new residents of Skulltown about patterns and mana-fields, the school would also function as a recruitment center. Upon completing their studies, the newly awoken would receive a set amount of mana-orbs which they could use to evolve or pay for being allowed to remain in Skulltown. However, those wouldn't be enough for a longer stay. If they wished to remain in the city and enjoy the safety of its walls, the company of others, or the battle-inn, they would have to earn more mana-orbs.
It hadn't taken long for the inhabitants of Skulltown to get used to the idea. Within another month, hunting parties consisting of undead hungry for mana-orbs were once more actively scouring the wasteland for newly awoken undead.
Loud stomping from the hallway announced Basil's return. Behind him followed a simple skeleton, its red eye sockets glowing brightly as it stared at Solus and Drys.
"Right, Samus. You know Solus already. The tall one is Drys," Basil said as he stepped to the side, grinning as he looked at Solus.
The skeleton was quiet as he stood before the others. Although dwarfed by their size, Samus didn't show any signs of fear.
Solus stepped closer, lowering his head to stare into the crimson eye-sockets.
"Samus, I will be leaving soon to take care of some things. While I am away, Drys will take care of you, teach you things. Currently, we are in dire need of highly evolved undead, so you are getting a chance that not a lot of undead get."
"Not interested."
A soft voice echoed around Solus and Drys as the skeleton shook his head.
A stunned silence caused the noise from the surrounding city to become more noticeable.
Solus wasn't sure what to say. He had not expected that reaction. As he tried to come up with a response, Drys snorted and stepped forward.
"And why not?"
"I want to decide for myself what to do. I want to look around the city, and after that, find out what is beyond it."
Drys snorted again, louder than the first time.
"What is out there is danger. If you go as you are now, you won't get far before you end up as someone's mana-orb."
"Still not interested," Samus said before turning and walking back to the hallway he had come from.
Solus's temper flared up, and he was about to step after Samus when Drys raised an arm to bar his path.
"Leave him be. You go do what you have to do, and I will see if I can't change his mind. In the end, keeping someone here who doesn't want to be here might be more dangerous than having too few people," Drys said before turning to Basil.
"If he leaves, let me know and have him followed."
The large undead nodded. The smile had vanished from his face, and he was shuffling his feet. "Sure, sure. Sorry about this, Solus. I had no idea, or I would have warned you…"
Solus turned and walked out of the building as he replied, "It's alright, Basil. Just do as Drys said and keep an eye on him."
As he stepped out of the school, Solus looked around the square, unsure of what to do next. He had planned to get Drys acquainted with Samus and leave them to figure things out. Then he could have gone back to Domain to see if he was done inscribing his program on the darkhunter's mana-field.
Sighing deeply, he realized he needed more time to think.
"Let's go to the battle-inn," he said, hoping that Norg would be back.
From the shadows
Moving toward what was usually the busiest part of town, they passed groups of undead, talking amongst themselves. The structures around this part were heavily damaged, but as Solus and Drys passed, they noticed a group of skeletons moving from building to building. They stopped in front of every building, raising their hands and moving them in a series of complex and arcane gestures. When they were done and had moved on to the next damaged building, the previous structure was mostly repaired.
"The Bonemenders will have a busy repair schedule for the next few days," Solus said.
They walked past a small group of zombies that looked up at them briefly as they passed before continuing their discussion. Solus heard many questions about what was really going on.
"As soon as the barrier is upgraded and fortified, I'll send the Bonemenders working on that to help out with the repairs," Drys said.
Solus didn't reply and continued onward.
The state of the city became worse the further they went until they came to another open square. An enormous edifice dominated one side. Constructed entirely from stone, the three-story structure bore only a few scratches and looked oddly out of place, unmolested as it was, amongst the rubble.
Many undead, mostly zombies in their first evolution, stood close to its three large entrances. In soft voices, they discussed the safety of leaving Skulltown and finding another town or city somewhere in the wastes. As soon as they saw Solus, a hushed silence fell, and they stared at him wide-eyed before turning their gazes to Drys.
Solus ignored them and stepped toward the center opening, a large oval arched doorway. The zombies almost fell over each other in their haste to get out of his way. He was almost through when a small, thin zombie finally seemed to gather his courage and cleared his throat before spitting some foul-smelling phlegm onto the street.
"Solus, do you know what these things were? Are they a new sort of undead?"
His voice was smooth, mellow, and surprisingly pleasant. It made Solus feel inclined to answer him.
He turned to the zombie half his size and nodded. "We are calling them Kaots for now, and they come from rifts—"
"I saw one of those! Completely black, with edges like a shattered red rock. A dozen dark sk
eletons with long black thorns covering their bones ran out of it. They were responsible for the destruction of Skulltown! Well, until Vingria and Derin led some of the Ragers against them!" the small zombie said, his voice rising in volume and causing the hushed conversations that had just started up to fall quiet again.
The other zombies began chiming in, seeming incredibly excited as they rambled on to each other about the feats each had witnessed. Within seconds the sound of these discussions had melded together to become an incoherent cacophony. Solus was about to shout for them to shut up when the small, thin zombie raised his voice again, much louder than his small frame would suggest he could.
"Pipe down, you lot! How can I hear myself talking like this?" A sort of song-like quality came to his voice.
As if someone had removed their vocal cords, the rest of the undead fell silent.
"Much better," the small zombie said as he turned back to Solus. "Will there be more of them? Will we have to flee?" The latter was asked in a much softer, weaker tone.
Solus shook his head and turned to Drys, wanting him to take care of this. Drys didn't even see him, though. The tall undead's eyes fixed on the small zombie with the golden voice, a calculating look on his face. Realizing that Drys would not be much help, Solus cleared his throat, removing some of the restrictions he put on himself so he wouldn't destroy things around him with his booming voice. When he spoke again, his voice had a deep, low thrum that caused the crowd to step back, startled. The dust and debris around them bounced around.
"We are strengthening the wall, and soon none of the rifts will be able to appear in the middle of the city. That will make Skulltown the safest place in the wasteland. Until we figure out how to stop the rifts from showing up, I need you all to prepare. Soon the Pattern Hall will be giving away better patterns for free. Start thinking about the pattern you want, and spread the word!"
The zombies stopped backing up and were now staring at him with gleaming, awe-struck eyes.
Many of them had stopped ranging beyond Skulltowns walls after purchasing their first pattern, and thus the opportunities to become more powerful were minimal.