Spirit Past (Book 8) (16 page)

He gritted his teeth and kept a stern expression. He knew there were soldiers watching him, trying to gauge their own reaction in comparison to his. Klusac wanted to turn away in disgust, but he couldn't allow it. For a few moments, he focused on one single shag, watched it carefully to assess its abilities and intentions.

It appeared as if the monster lost a battle with a river rogue. There were several gashes across its chest and upper arms, obvious slash marks from rogue claws. One of its hands was completely torn off and it looked as if one eye had been gouged out as well. Blood did not flow from any of the wounds despite the depth of the injuries. The hair was matted, covered with dried blood and a great deal of thick ooze.

The shag moved clumsily forward until it hit the outer ring of other monsters congregated around Burbon's wall. It stood behind several goblins, yet it showed no desire to knock them away... or even eat them. It accepted its place, but it did not remain still. It seemed to march in place as it wished to keep moving forward but had no where to go.

Once able to accept what he saw in the shag, the town captain gazed upon other creatures, including several elves and humans.

He had seen enough battles in his lifetime to know death, and he could not deny the condition of the bodies within the throng. As far as he knew, it was possible a shag could survive tremendous wounds, but he could not deny the proof in the humans that walked among the monsters. They had suffered injuries no one could survive, and their state of decay indicated they had passed through the curtain of death many days ago, some perhaps a full season.

Klusac had very little knowledge of the legends. He didn't know of Reiculf at all until just a few days ago. Suddenly, his town was thrust into battle with a power that could raise the dead. Looking to his left and then his right, he knew he didn't have to question his sanity. He saw the look of disbelief in each of his soldier's faces. Despite the fact that not one of the guards wished to accept what was before them, Klusac understood their astonishment was proof in itself.

Accepting the dilemma didn't mean he understood the scope of the threat, and for the sake of Burbon, he turned to Ryson for answers.

"Do you know what we're facing here?"

"It's animation magic," Ryson offered with a nod. "I dealt with it when the magic first returned. None of those things are alive, but they've been animated, given the power to move and even attack."

"Empty corpses with no spirit of their own?"

"Exactly."

"Do you think Reiculf is responsible for this?"

"That would be my guess, but I can't be sure."

"We'll have to make that assumption."

Before Klusac requested further information, he called out with a tone of strength and certainty to the soldiers at the wall and behind the gate.

"Hold fast! The enemy has been identified."

The captain then gave instructions to a signal guard. He knew he had to establish a sense of confidence among his soldiers. In order to do so, he had to break through the madness of the assault.

"Signal the other towers... command at west gate, hold position, gates remain closed. Attack on breach only. Await further orders."

He believed simple orders would give his soldiers a hold on reality in the face of unreal circumstances. As the guard signaled the instructions to the other towers, Klusac turned his attention back to the delver.

"Alright, how do we fight this?"

Ryson recalled the day he encountered an animated corpse in
Dark Spruce Forest. It was the same day he met Lief Woodson, the first elf he ever saw. Lief understood the threat of magic before anyone else, and he was prepared to face it. The elf had revealed what was necessary to the delver, and Ryson repeated the knowledge.

"I was told you either have to remove the magic, or damage the corpses enough so they can no longer move."

"So if we open fire with our arrows, they should fall... even though they're already dead?"

"It won't be that easy. You can't just shoot them through the heart or the head and expect them to die. Like you said, They're already dead. You have to do enough damage so the magic has no way to animate the body. Cut off the limbs, crush the bodies; it's got to be more extensive than a few arrows into the chest."

Klusac took a brief moment to review the legion of undead surrounding his town, bashing on Burbon's wall. There were thousands of corpses, and there weren't enough arrows to do the kind of damage necessary to stop them all. To inflict the kind of bodily destruction required to end the threat, his soldiers would have to use swords and cudgels. That meant face-to-face confrontation, not firing bows from the battlements.

"Will they tire?" the captain asked.

"No."

"Then we shouldn't wait. Time is on their side, not ours."

The delver couldn't argue with that sentiment, but he also understood the captain's intentions. Ryson was uncertain of success. Rushing headlong into battle against an army of undead foes seemed more like desperation than wise tactics.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to go out there?" the delver wondered.

"I'd rather not, but what choice do I have?"

"We could wait them out."

The captain shook his head. He meant what he said about time. It was a disadvantage in several regards.

"Listen to that noise," Klusac directed, as he nodded to the undead pounding against the wall. "Even if the wall holds indefinitely, how long do you think it will take before the citizens start to panic? Word is going to spread we're surrounded by moving corpses. Eventually, someone is going to lose control and try to escape. Too many try it and we have a problem. Besides that, do you think those corpses are just going to get bored and give up... walk back into the forest?"

"No, but the magic will eventually wear out. It won't just go on forever."

"Do you know how long that will take?"

"I can't say," Ryson answered honestly.

"Then it seems like the best alternative is to hit them now. They don't seem to move too quickly."

"They are ponderous, but they can show spurts of quickness. At least the one I faced did. It actually was able to grab me."

The warning did not sway Klusac's intentions. He faced a tireless menace and an expanding danger. It was not a battle that would be easily won, but if his soldiers moved with precision, he believed they could clear part of the wall quickly. Once his soldiers saw that their enemy had weaknesses they could exploit, they would rise to the occasion. Raising his soldiers confidence against such a foe was just as important as clearing the ghouls from the wall.

"Infantry with shields and spears," the captain responded. "No cavalry, the horses may get spooked. We hit them at one gate with a phalanx formation. Once we clear enough ground, we open a small corridor in the formation and a second line of soldiers will be waiting with maces and swords to decimate the ones we let through."

Klusac was about to give the order to deploy, but based on Ryson's expression, he decided to hold off and give the delver one last chance to offer another solution.

"You have more information on this than I do," the captain admitted. "If what you say is correct, I believe my soldiers can handle this, clear them away from the wall, but if you have a better idea, now's the time."

As Klusac waited, Ryson considered the alternatives. It was either cause great damage or remove the magic. Removing the magic would take a spell of significant power. If Enin had been there, it would be a simple matter for the great wizard. Unfortunately, Enin wasn't there, and so Ryson was about to give in, but then he remembered why the undead were probably attacking in the first place.

"Neltus!"

"Excuse me?" Klusac questioned.

"Neltus. We put him to use for us. He uses red magic, casts spells with power over the land. Maybe he can swallow up the corpses in the ground, bury them so deep they can't get out. Since he's here, let's have him help us!"

Klusac didn't know Neltus for long, but it was long enough to realize he didn't like the wizard... or trust him, but he believed Neltus owed Burbon. If the town was offering him sanctuary, the wizard would have to pull his weight. If he didn't, then it would be time for him to go anyway.

The captain could not be sure about the wizard's powers, but it wouldn't hurt to give him a chance. He could allow the wizard a first strike and then follow up with an attack of his own if the red magic failed.

"Go get him," Klusac agreed.

Ryson leapt out of the tower, slid down the ladder, and then raced toward the Borderline Inn. He found Neltus alone, standing behind the bar, helping himself to an ale.

"Everybody left," Neltus claimed, "so I helped myself."

"Everyone was ordered to their homes," Ryson explained in a frustrated tone.

"This is my home... at least a temporary one."

Neltus began to drink, but Ryson grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You can finish that later," the delver ordered. "We need you now!"

"Me? For what?"

"Don't you know what's going on?"

Neltus nodded.

"I admit I cast a small sight spell. I have to say I was curious. Like I said, everybody left. I wondered about that. Took a look for myself. You have a bunch of corpses surrounding the town. Not a pretty sight."

"No it's not, and you're going to help get rid of them."

"Can't do that," Neltus stated calmly but firmly.

"What do you mean you can't? Your magic is pretty strong. There must be some kind of spell you could cast."

"Oh, there's plenty of spells I could use. Best course would be to cast a decay spell on them. Their bodies have already started to rot away, basically they're all turning to soil, and that means I have power over them. All I have to do is speed up the process and turn them to dust."

"Great! Then let's do it."

"Ryson, Ryson, Ryson, you know this isn't about the undead. This is about me and Reiculf."

"Which is why we have to clear out these corpses," the delver demanded.

"You think this is all there is? There's going to be more. There has to be. This is Reiculf we're talking about. He's hoping to force me out into the open, waste my magic on the easy stuff. Then I'll be helpless."

Neltus' selfishness was not a surprise, but his willingness to allow others to fight for his survival left the delver cold.

"So you'll just let the town suffer so you can live?"

Neltus took no insult from the claim. If anything, he understood it all too well.

"Wasn't that basically Ansas' plan?" the wizard asked. "You make it sound like this is a surprise to you. Nonsense. You were there. You heard what the sorcerer said. Don't tell me you didn't think about it."

Ryson wanted to argue, but he couldn't. He
had
heard the plan. The sorcerer didn't want to just separate Reiculf's targets, he wanted them placed in areas where they could be watched, areas where there would be confusion if there was an attack. Ansas never said it outright, but the sorcerer was willing to sacrifice all of the people in Burbon to keep Neltus safe. The delver probably knew that from the beginning, but wouldn't allow the thought to come to the surface.

Neltus could see the anguish in Ryson's face and actually felt sympathy for the delver.

"Don't let it upset you. It's not like he's got any great plans for me. I'm bait. Nothing more and nothing less. I've understood that from the start. I was put here to draw one of Reiculf's pawns out into the open. Looks like I've done that. Hey, if it wasn't for that, Ansas would have just advised you to kill me. That would have been the easiest way to keep me out of Reiculf's hands."

"Kill you?"

"Absolutely. If I couldn't be of any use, the safest play is to just remove me completely. That way Reiculf would never be able to get his hands on me."

"But Ansas would have known we would have never allowed that. I would have stopped him, so would have Enin."

"You think Ansas cares what you, or Enin, would allow? He'll do what needs to be done. Ansas sees this as a game, one epic challenge. I know him well enough to figure that out. He's playing against the greatest threat anyone could come up with in Reiculf. This is Ansas' dream come true."

"And you just played along?"

"What else was I supposed to do? Reiculf wants me. This is the only hope I have. And if I had to be honest, I'd rather be dead than end up like Scheff or Macheve. I went to Enin because I was desperate. I never thought Ansas would end up being the one I'd have to depend on, but that's what I've got."

Ryson's thoughts swirled in confusion, but as he tried to clear his head, he heard the crashing thuds against the town wall and smelled the ghastly stench flowing through the streets and seeping into the tavern. It didn't matter what Ansas wanted, or what Neltus thought. Saving Burbon was the priority for the delver.

"I don't care if Ansas thinks this is a game. We have to deal with what's outside our walls right here and now! You have to forget about Ansas—and Reiculf—and help us out."