Earl Abery and his men continued to flee through the dim forest as the necromancer sent waves of undead, picking at the remnants of his troops little by little. Like a pack of wolves they targeted the soldiers who were too tired from running all day in heavy armor to put up much of a fight and like a pack of wolves the final strike would come once their numbers no longer posed a threat to the pack.The sun was now setting and Earl Abery"s gut was screaming that their end would come soon. Their numbers had been reduced by half and not only were they still ten kilometers from the s.h.i.+ps but the necromancer attacked in such a way as to corral them off course so now there was no telling how far they were from the s.h.i.+ps. Their was little hope of reaching them tonight even if he was a more optimistic man.
Running through the forest without the a.s.sistance of torches was a non-option, they would barely make it a kilometer before being wiped out. Lacking better options Earl Abery ordered the men to make a bonfire and circle around it for light. They would make there final stand here, if they could just make it through the night there was a chance, however slim, to survive.
Earl Abery looked over the faces of his soldiers as they prepared the ma.s.s of logs and leaves for the fire. Their slow movements seemed to shout out to the world that they were in a weakened state and their fearful expressions removed any pride they once had in being strong men from Abery. His expression was no better but he wasn"t afraid of death. No, he was afraid that his people back in Abery would die the slow torturous death at the hands of starvation.
Without him and his men returning the Durani merchants had no reason to honor their agreement. They would take the slaves and the people of Abery would be none the wiser as they starved. The only glimmer of hope he had was that his brother Teller might do the right thing when the territory of Abery cedes to him but that hope was about as realistic as them making it to the s.h.i.+ps. The people of Abery shunned Teller and he was never the forgiving type.
Night fell and the bonfire behind them blazed, lighting up the area as some men rested while others stood in a circle, ready to defend them.
"AWOOOOOOOOOO!" A beast howl resounded through the forest giving Earl Abery a chill.
He recognized the distinctive noise as the howl of a barghest. How could he forget what one sounded like? The pelt on his back was a constant reminder of how he almost lost his life when he was thirteen. The common folk and adventurers loved to spout the story of how he slayed the beast but it was all just propaganda created by his father. How could a thirteen year old possibly best a beast that large?
The true story is far less glorious, Teller and his friends had tricked him. They brought him out under the guise of going out to hunt deer and in the middle of the night they left without him, leaving him alone, deep in the woods to the north of Abery. He cried as he wondered for two days hungry and thirsty with nothing but his clothes and a dagger. The barghest found him on the third night and he soiled himself the moment he heard the beast"s howl.
The barghest motioned to pounce and he ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, tripping and rolling into a rotted out tree. Luck was on his side and as the beast went in for the kill it"s head became stuck in the small opening. He sat inside the tree for hours crying as the beast tried to pry it"s way in until it grew weak. He mustered up all his courage and plunged his dagger into the beasts throat over and over again until his fathers men eventually found him hours later still crying and stabbing the beasts throat.
His father thought it would be a shame to let the beasts pelt go to waste and thought up a story that showed how powerful the Abery bloodline was. It felt like poetic irony that his end was to be brought about by a barghest"s howl.
"Ready yourselves!" Marshal Dolan cried out, doing his best to appear enthusiastic.
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Silence followed as the men barely even let out a breath, waiting for the enemy to reveal themselves. The sounds of foot steps and the crunching of earth and leaves echoed out all around them from the darkness of the forest just outside the light of the bonfire. Once the sounds of footsteps stopped, silence returned and Earl Abery could hear menacing whispers come from within the forest.
All of a sudden the ground underneath the bonfire caved in as if the very earth had opened it"s maw and swallowed it whole. Darkness fell as the men stood frozen in fear. Over a thousands tiny purple flames peered at them, unmoving, through the cover of darkness. They were surrounded and blind yet the flames made no motion to attack, simply watching as his men began to lose any semblance of confidence.
"There"s a break in the encirclement!" A nameless soldier called out, causing chaos within the ranks.
Earl Abery scanned the darkness to find what the soldier had spotted and saw a region of the forest with no tiny purple flames inhabiting it, he knew it wasn"t the path to freedom but the path to death. Earl Abery didn"t need his gut this time, every Brentish n.o.ble is raised to learn military tactics and knew that one should always leave an opening when surrounding their enemies lest their enemies find themselves in a hopeless situation and fight to the death.
"IT"S A TRAP! DO NOT GO!" He cried out as the purple flames continued their unmoving malicious stare.
The men were already in the midst of running towards the gap and paused momentarily heeding his words until a purple flame projectile shot out from within the darkness. .h.i.tting Earl Abery in the chest. The explosive force sent him flying back into his men and the short peace ended. The men who had stopped began to flee once more as Earl Abery stood back up, his expensive enchanted armor nary had a dent in it after receiving the blast.
"DO NOT FLEE! WE MUST STICK TOGETHER!" Marshal Dolan continued to cry out but his words were left unheeded as dozens of men ran towards the darkness. Earl Abery couldn"t blame them, a man overcome by fear will forsake anything and everything for even the tiniest of chances to live.
It appeared that the necromancer was hoping for this outcome as the men who entered the empty patch of darkness made no sounds of agony nor pleas for life. They simply entered and disappeared allowing the rest of his men to believe they had made it to safety. Marshal Dolan continued to plea with the men to no avail as more and more ran towards the empty darkness.
In the end no more than thirty men stood behind Earl Abery and he felt nothing but apathy as he stared back at the glowing purple flames peering at him through the dark night.
"End it already..." His spirit broken from the trials he endured this past year came to a head and he whispered his thoughts in a helpless voice as he dropped his sword and s.h.i.+eld.
"My lord, what-" Marshal Dolan was dumbfounded and tried to protest but was ignored.
"Necromancer!" Earl Abery roared as he removed his helmet.
"You have won..." His volume lowered as he dropped his helmet and looked up towards the sky to see the glowing purple eyes of the bird-like creatures ever circling above him.
The creatures appeared like carrion now, as if they were messengers from the underworld, letting him know that he was already dead the moment they appeared. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of the cool summer air as the men behind him began dropping their weapons.
"I ask that you make my soldier"s end quick and painless. You can do what you want with me." Earl Abery turned his gaze back to the forest as he spoke. His men appeared to panic at the mention of their deaths but he knew better, the necromancer was never going to let any of them leave. The most he could ask for was to make their death"s painless.
"Why?" A voice from the forest asked as the tiny purple flames slowly moved closer.
"...Their only sin is following me they don"t deserve a painful death." Earl Abery was stunned for a moment at the cruelty of this necromancer but he pleaded nonetheless.
"No, you misunderstand..." The voice grew closer and Earl Abery could now see the owner of the voice. It was a young man with eyes of purple flames riding atop one large insects that had plagued his soldiers during the battle.
"I"m asking why their lives need to end when they could be given immortality." The young necromancer motioned with his arm and an old man with a gnarled staff stepped out from the darkness. It was Pontus, and even under the dim light of the moon Earl Abery could tell that he looked as healthy as ever. The only thing that appeared to be different was his brown eyes had now been replaced with that of violet.
"Death would be a waste, I have plans for you." The young necromancer revealed a mysterious smile as his purple flames gazed into Earl Abery"s eyes.