Chapter Three
As Edelith slowly regains his wits, Krei, Hillan & Kareida cautiously approach the nearest farmstead & are somewhat relieved at the sound of barking & the grumbling of those within for being disturbed at this ungodly hour, feeling the need to discuss these matters further, Edelith is collected & mounting the dead merchants horses they head in the direction in which Lung & Lexian earlier left to find the priest responsible for the joy which had prevailed in the village of Plaig before this night.
Eventually the grove is found & the occurances of the last hour or so related to Lexian, Lung & the priest, Torfiril, appalled by what has struck the village, Torfiril is keen to return, so accompanied by Krei & her companions they make haste to the inn to see what can be gleaned from the latest attack.
Reaching the outskirts of the village it is apparent that they are not the only ones interested in what has occurred, outside of the inn are twenty or so riders clustered around a cart, Lexian whispers that he recognises the insignia worn by the patrol as Rosen. Being innocent of the sins committed so recently within the inn, Torfiril, Krei & the others move into view of the patrol, despite the smell of death, Krei can't help smiling to herself as several of the patrol stare at her most obvious attributes.
Approaching the officer in charge they overhear one of his men reporting,
"Its been here already sir, but long gone now"
Introducing himself as Zelth, Captain of this patrol, he questions the party as to who they are & what they know. Realising that Krei & her friend's are no strangers to the black shadow he nods to one of his men who draws back the tarpaulin on the cart, two caskets lie open, each containing a corpse, both however are diseased, skin yellowing, purifying, fingers, nails elongated like talons. Zelth tells that he & his men have slain these abominations in their search for origin of the shadow. Agreeing that their paths for the moment are one, they join Zelth's temporary camp outside of the village hoping to reach the main highway by fall of night the next day.
Unable to sleep Krei slips away from the camp well before dawn towards the village, reaching the deserted inn all is deathly quiet, slipping inside she avoids the swinging bodies of the merchants as best she can & heads to their sleeping quarters. Finding nothing of interest Krei makes to leave, wanting to be back before she is missed but on the the stairs her gaze falls on the still head of the innkeepers daughter, sighing she gathers the head & places it next to the young girls body before combing the girls hair. Collecting oil from the kitchen Krei douses the bed & leaves a lit candle next to the oil soaked sheets, an hour or so later as she eats breakfast with the others, a shout of fire comes from one of the Rosen troops,
"Well" said Zelth, "it would appear the villagers have saved us the trouble of burying them, however the smoke will soon bring Bretonian troops running, give the order to ride sergeant, on the double"
With that Krei joins the others in packing, silently cursing for not searching the merchants packs in the stable, looking back over her shoulder Krei bids a silent farewell to the innkeepers daughter, whatever her name was.
As the morning stretches on the column is suddenly brought to a halt, on the trail ahead an imposing figure sits astride a horse wearing a Bretonian uniform. Ignoring the exchange of insults between the respective uniformed oafs, Krei picks out the half hidden archers to either side of the trail & beyond more troops awaiting orders.
Mittain, as the Bretonian introduces himself, is demanding answers from Zelth,
"Tell me Rosen, what jurisdiction does Archibold have here, in the forests of Breton ?"
Glancing about, Krei sees Lung slip down between two horses but of Lexian there is no sign, with a barely perceptible nod to Kareida, Krei dismounts & approaches the two testosterone exuding captains, smiling ever so sweetly Krei address the Bretonian,
"Captain Mittain, wasn't it, may we speak privately"
Standing aside from the others Krei spins an unlikely tale of how they were accosted & "requested" to travel with the ill mannered Rosen"
Swearing the truth of the matter Krei hangs back slightly as Mittian turns back towards the watching throng, before he can go further however, Krei draws & buries the poison coated serpent blade in his neck, mouth open, Zelth reacts, screaming for his men to fight for their lives as a rain of arrows descend upon them.
Crouching for some time at the foot of a tree, Krei curses, pinned down by arrow fire she is unable to see how goes it for her companions, keeping low she squirms her way through the bushes hoping to go unseen by the Bretonian rabble, alas this is not to be a as some ill mannered fool blocks her way screaming for all to hear. Slipping from beneath his blade Krei, dagger still drawn, launches herself up intending to gut the idiot, missing however she grins & slides her fathers naginata from her back, before the fat oaf can react she neatly disembowels him.
Peering out of the undergrowth Krei can see Lung, Hillan & Lexian picking off Bretonians who appear to have been bound by branches from the trees above them, sorcery no doubt, Turbulane is holding their horses but of Kareida there is no sign until she sees the bitch drop lithely out of the tree canopy above.
Despite the overwhelming odds, the ferocity of the Rosen troops & the sorcery of Lexian have triumphed, as the last few Bretonian's & the mortally injured Rosan's are put to the sword, Zelth snarls at Krei for the death of his men, which now number only a handful, riling at her for her actions without his prior knowledge.
"No man commands me Zelth, death was to be the only outcome from this meeting, I simply ensured the Bretonians were leaderless"
Still cursing for the death of his men, Zelth abandons the wagon & refusing to ride further with Krei, flees the scene with those few Rosan's who can still ride.
Shrugging, Krei joins the others in saddling the best of the abandoned Bretonian war horses & with the wagon in tow move on still hoping to reach the highway by nightfall. Regrettably Edilith will ride no further, his body lying amongst the dead that litter the trail.
Remembering the pain in Edilith's eyes Krei takes his long sword as a memento of an honourable man.
As afternoon rolls on their path is again thwarted, near naked, a huge bearded filthy figure stands astride the trail,
"I am Drenk, Drenk the Destroyer & my word is law, priest, tonight you will burn & you" gesturing towards Krei & Kareida, "you will pleasure me"
Glancing over her shoulder, Krei can see a dozen or so similarly clad individuals charging from out of the woods behind, leaving those to face the wrath of her companions, Krei spurs her horse to the charge intending to ride Drenk into the dirt, before he can raise his axe, Krei deftly flicks a poison coated shuriken into Drenk's left knee, as he stumbles Krei spills his guts to the earth with a single slash of her naginata, wheeling her horse about, the spearman poised to strike her down suffers a similar fate to Drenk.
Quickly the last few remaining outlaws are struck down as they try to flee Drenk's demise & the group wearily press forward, Krei not satisfied with Drenk's death swiftly cuts both his cock & head off, his head she impales on a discarded spear in the middle of the trail for all to see, his cock she bags for later.
With evening beckoning, Krei realises that the imperial highway will not be reached before nightfall, however before they break for the night they begin to encounter patches of melting snow, soon the patches become large areas & eventually the trail is free entirely of snow, indeed flowers are blooming, birds nesting & insects swarming as if in the depths of spring. Continuing on, all manner of woodland creatures are congregated together, happily cavorting with no thought of ripping each others throats out.
Entering a clearing all can see a figure, an old chap, fussing with a small bee hive, disturbed, presumably, by the parties approach, bee's fly in all directions, Krei can't help smiling as the old man does a merry dance as bee's buzz beneath his hood.
Wafting the bee's away, the old chap looks questioningly at the motley crew before him, with no apparent fear for his safety he introduces himself as Mohimas, a Bretonian academic, a weaver & teacher of all things sorceress, retired. Krei's companions soon find themselves telling of recent events, events which Mohimas seems most interested in, he continually questions them however as to how they found themselves in this place as if somehow they had crossed some impassable boundary.
Krei, dozing, only half listening to the conversation watches the old man through half closed eyes, devoid as she is of sorceress talent, even she can feel the power that radiates from this likeable old fool, Krei's daydreaming is suddenly shattered as Lexian thrusts forward a open pouch containing Armash towards Mohimas's face,
"Want a snort ?" bellows Lexian
Mohimas, taken aback, smiles "Pardon"
Satisfied with his answer, Lexian draws back the pouch & stuffs it back beneath his cloak.
Fully awake now, Krei listens as Mohimas tells of what he knows of Korvin, Armash & something called rootvile or earthsbane. Reclining in the pleasant evening atmosphere, Mohimas prepares a meatless, & therefore tasteless from Krei's point of view, feast for their evenings repast. As they eat Mohimas urges them to take the two corpses away from this place & burn them.
Lexian, accompanied by Lung & Hillan, disappear off towards one of the pools Mohimas says are beyond the clearing, Kareida, separate from the others, also slips away into the woods whilst Turbulane doze's quietly in Mohimas's company. Krei, unable to relax excuses herself & bathes at length, luxuriating in the coldness of one of the numerous pools around Mohimas's home.
Refreshed, Krei returns to the clearing to find Turbulane still sleeping whilst Mohimas potters around, of the others there no sign.
As the sun sets over the trees, Kareida bounds back into the clearing babbling about having bagged a live one, in brief she relates a tale of having encountered a foulsome creature, quick beyond belief but which she had dealt with. Gathering by the pool where Lexian, Hilan & Lung were thought to be, no sign of them can be seen, however Kareida, recalling Lexian's origins, that of an aquatic elf, shrugs & points into the pool, Mohimas, picking up a pebble, casts it into the water & tells Kareida to repeat her tale, within moments three wet, but apparently alive, figures emerge from the pool, fully aware of what Kareida had spoken.
Hurrying into the woods, they soon find themselves staring at the creature that Kareida had so recently slain, Mohimas, all pretence of a bumbling recluse cast aside an obviously far older in years than his apparent dotage, barks at them not to touch the pox ridden corpse, again he witters of undead creatures, transformed powerful beyond imagination, of death, of primal power & of the infamous Doctor X.
Raising his hands, Mohimas gestures & the corpse rises to float before his outstretched hands, ichor dripping to the earth burning its way into the dirt. Returning towards his home hearth, corpse in tow, he confesses his intention to induce the rebirth of this creature to its conclusion before joining them in their journey to Gran Breton.
Protective sorcery summoned, Mohimas allows the corpse to settle to & then into the ground, as dirt covers its corpulent flesh, Krei's objections fall from her lips as she too watches fascinated at what will occur.