Two men from the wagon worked over several fires, turning the whole thing into a rolling kitchen. Pots came out, knives clattered, and someone started peeling something that looked suspiciously like a turnip.
Harry watched the soldiers split. Twelve went with the round one, Captain Walls, who waddled like every step was work. Eight gathered around a thinner man Harry guessed was Sergeant Jeffrey.
System, are you familiar with the term guerrilla warfare?
:: System: Negative.
It’s a style of fighting. Hit and run, ambushes, raids. That sort of thing. If you want to be fancy you can call it La Petite Guerre.
:: System: Is it your intention to engage in this La Petite Guerre against Korven’s men?
It is. You have any thoughts about it?
:: System: It is a sound strategy.
Harry nodded to himself and called up his map. It filled his vision with a detailed rendering of every tunnel he’d walked. Widths, bends, side passages, even little ticks every few paces showing ceiling height. He stared at those for a moment before he understood what they were.
:: System: At [Map] (2) you will gain a temperature overlay. At [Map] (3) you will gain a topographical overlay as well.
Cedric had known exactly what he was talking about.
He closed the map and focused on the camp again.
Captain Walls was leading his group toward the cavern mouth, he held a large glowing orb that shifted through shades of blue like a storm trying to form. The larger of the two Dead Wardens lumbered beside him, heaving itself forward on several full corpses protruding under its torso. One leg-body stomped, another twisted sideways, another dragged by its heel. Additional bodies protruded from its sides and back, some rigid, some loose, all of them shifting with every lurch of its uneven walk.
System, that is hard to even look at. What kind of world is this?
Harry sank lower against the rock, breath slow, eyes on the incoming threat.
The second group followed about fifty feet back, fanned out in a line. Sergeant Jeffrey walked in the center with another glowing orb in his hands and the other Dead Warden hulking beside him, its fused corpses shifting with every uneven step.
Harry backed deeper into the dark as they drew close. One of the soldiers of the first group barked orders, pushing the line wider as they approached the cavern mouth.
When Captain Walls’s group reached the entrance, they stepped inside but advanced only a few paces before stopping. Harry grinned as their heads whipped back and forth.
The fat captain barked something sharp and pointed. Two men crept forward to the first empty bracket, crouched, inspected it, and bolted back to him.
Walls cuffed one in the back of the head, then rounded on the man who’d been giving orders, calling him Larson. One of the names Nick had mentioned. Harry barely caught the exchange, but the order to send someone back for torches carried clearly enough.
Larson snapped his fingers. He and two others spun and sprinted back toward the camp.
Damn, I wish I had something I could throw… Harry, you’re an idiot.
:: System: Duly noted.
Very funny. Oh wait.
He checked his inventory. He had thirty-two daggers in one slot and twenty-eight spears in another from the cache but decided to save those for now.
It took about thirty minutes for the three men to return with a bundle of torches. They carried them into the cavern and had to light them by hand. Not magical. They lit six, passed them out so every soldier with a spear held one. The other six had crossbows. The groups advanced. Behind them the smaller group spread out at the entrance.
Harry kept backing off, staying close enough to listen. Larson asked Walls if they should search the side passages. Walls waved him off, and they moved down the main cavern toward the crypt.
At their slow pace it took around two hours. They gathered at the crypt door. Walls ordered Larson to get the special torches. He went to a man with a pack, dug out two torches that looked normal, but Harry suspected Sanctified Flame, like the Sepulcher’s Key in his inventory.
All of them went inside, even the Dead Warden. Harry wondered how it would climb the narrow stairs.
If I’d stayed inside I bet I could get close enough to light that thing on fire.
:: System: If you were close enough to ignite it, you would also be close enough for them to ignite you.
Fair point.
He waited in a side passage. Two hours later the door opened and they started back toward the exit.
Good, if they do know about the secret passage, they didn’t get in.
He moved to a long tunnel with plenty of side passages, let them pass, then trailed them to the front. By the time they reached the entrance it was late afternoon. Maybe two hours of daylight left. He found he already missed knowing exactly when the sun would set.
They left four men at the entrance from the small group and everyone else headed back to camp.
Well that was a waste of time.
:: System: Tomorrow they will begin a systematic search of the cavern.
Good. Tomorrow, I’ll have at least one surprise for them.
He waited and watched long enough to be sure they weren’t about to regroup. The four at the entrance stayed back, leaving him free to slip close and check the camp. Looked like they were calling it a night.
Harry turned and sprinted for the crypt, using as many speed bursts as he could without burning vitae.
First, he collected every torch he could find all the way up to the portal, still gray. It turned out an inventory slot held forty torches. He finished filling one slot and part of another, his last empty one.
Second, he gathered every fist-sized piece of the broken sarcophagus lids, including the ones he’d left at the bottom of the stairs. He started loading them into his backpack until System reminded him he could retrieve them more easily from inventory.
After that, he went to the secret entrance and paused. The soldiers might come back.
Finally he shrugged, used Korven’s rod to open the entrance, still couldn’t remove Korven’s hand, went down, and closed it behind him. He moved fast through the passage to the group.
Toby rested peacefully in the bed. The others had laid their bedrolls on the floor and given Harry’s bedroll to Nick. They sat together talking quietly. Nick had his hands tied in front of him.
Harry called ahead so he wouldn’t startle them and stepped inside. He filled them in on everything and emptied several half-used inventory slots. Jo’s bow. The slots with bracers, greaves, helmets, and boots from the cache. Gear piled up in the tunnel.
Harry turned to Stan, “I’m going to drop the mesmerize on Nick now. But if he gets close enough to hit that lever and open the top, it would be disaster. You need to secure him so he can’t reach it.”
Stan nodded. “You heard ‘em, Nick, come on over to this end.”
Nick didn’t argue. He moved his bedroll to the far wall while Stan tied another rope between his hands and feet and fastened it over the wardrobe.
Before dropping the mesmerize, Harry knelt next to Nick to talk. “If you were able, would you open the door and let Korven’s men down here?”
Nick looked uncertain. “I don’t rightly know. You been fair to me. And if you was to kill Korven that’d be a good thing. But if’n he wins and finds out I coulda done somethin’ and didn’t…” He let the rest hang.
Harry reached out to squeeze Nick’s shoulder, then stood to check on Toby. “How are you doing?”
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“Yes sir, I think I’m alright.”
“I’m going to drop the trance from you. Tell me how you feel. If there’s pain.”
He dropped the mesmerize on both Toby and Nick. He watched Toby closely. A flicker of discomfort crossed his face, but he shifted and settled again.
“How do you feel?”
“It’s not so bad, Sir.”
“Good boy…” Harry grinned, glanced at Stan. “Good lad.”
He checked the bandaged wounds again, made sure everyone else was alright, then went back up the tunnel to the sarcophagus room and out into the cavern.
Alright System, time to get ready. Even if this doesn’t work, we’ll sow a little chaos.
He called up his map and started exploring the remaining tunnels, paying close attention to where the giant rats were. He stopped to use Sip a few times, making sure his vitae was topped off for the morning.
Once he was ready he settled in near the cavern entrance and watched the four guards through the night. They were stomping their feet, muttering, swinging torches around to check the darkness. Every few hours they were replaced by a new group. He thought about harassing them. Maybe creeping close enough to try Mesmerize on one, slip a little fear into the group. But he held off. Better to keep them guessing, keep them wondering where he was and what he was doing.
Bright and early the large group returned, this time led by Sergeant Jeffrey with the smaller Dead Warden lumbering behind him. They moved into the cavern, lit their torches, and spread out along one side, leaving two at the entrance.
Once they were fully inside, a group of four soldiers peeled off. Two carried torches and spears, two had crossbows. They headed down the first passage while the rest fanned out behind them on the same side. Jeffrey stayed behind their line with the Dead Warden at his back.
Harry crept closer, keeping to the same side. When he was close enough, he called one of the fist-sized stones from his inventory.
System, time to show them why I was the 1956 Hickory Valley all-star right fielder.
He tossed the stone from hand to hand, feeling the weight, adjusting his grip. He stepped a few feet out into the passage, pulled back, and drove forward into the throw.
It left his fingers smooth and clean.
And it was a beauty, arcing straight into the Dead Warden and slamming into the center mass of fused corpses with a heavy, wet crack.
The creature let out a groan and a roar, several voices rising at once from the half-rotted heads. It lurched forward a few heavy steps, legs pumping out of rhythm.
Jeffrey snapped his arms up, lifting the large orb over his head with both hands. It flashed bright blue, washing over the cavern walls. The Dead Warden stopped mid-step, frozen in place.
Jeffrey barked orders. The soldiers spread wide, forming a loose line, and as a group started pushing toward Harry.
He backed off, letting them follow, and pulled another stone from his inventory. He let it fly at one of the soldiers. It missed by inches, clattering hard against the stone.
They kept coming. He kept falling back.
When he reached the passage he had picked earlier, he slipped into it and waited.
The group reached the mouth and began passing by. Harry let them get fully ahead of him, stepped out behind them, and threw another stone. This one hit the Dead Warden square in the back, a solid, meaty thump.
They stopped and spun toward him. He stayed just long enough to make sure they saw him, a dim shape in their torchlight.
Six soldiers rushed him as he stepped backward into the passage.
He sprinted down the tunnel, cut into a side passage, circled ahead, and came out again in front of the group. Only four soldiers remained now, clustered with Jeffrey and the Dead Warden.
This time he drew a spear. He moved closer, pushed strength into his limbs, and let it fly. Melee Weapons helped, making the throw feel almost natural. The spear landed low, driving into the Dead Warden’s lower back and burying deep into the rotted mass.
The monster roared again, several mouths screaming at once. It spun and charged straight at him. Jeffrey ran behind it with the orb lifted over his head, the four soldiers scrambling after. Apparently the sergeant had decided now was the moment to attack, because Harry found himself staring at a very disturbing sight.
The Dead Warden dropped forward, no longer trying to stand upright. It moved more like a warped, overgrown centipede, humping and buckling as it rolled side to side, bringing more arms and legs into the motion. Multiple heads fixed on him, glowing eyes bouncing with the creature’s lurching stride. It was fast. Faster than it had any right to be.
Harry bolted, staying out in the main passage. He used bursts of speed to stay ahead, careful not to pull too far in front.
As the gap stretched between the Dead Warden and Jeffrey, Harry stopped, pulled out another stone, and hurled it. It cracked squarely into one of the heads.
The creature answered with another burst of speed. The motion was both fascinating and nauseating, the whole tangle of bodies surging forward as one.
Harry led it toward a wide passage and hesitated at the mouth, letting it close the distance. At the last moment he darted down the tunnel.
It followed.
Harry ran ahead, keeping to the path he’d chosen hours earlier. He felt the urge to check his map again, but he didn’t need it. He’d studied these tunnels carefully.
He was ready.
Harry cut into a narrower side tunnel and paused long enough to confirm the Dead Warden was still on him. The confirmation came fast. It didn’t hesitate. It was locked on, every head fixed forward, the whole mass dragging and crawling after him. He almost let it get too close. Several heads screamed at once as a cluster of grasping hands passed through the air behind him.
He bolted again, leading it down and into another tunnel, this one even tighter.
And again.
Each turn pushed the creature into worse ground. He ducked into a cramped switchback, and the Dead Warden had to twist and haul its fused bodies through, limbs scraping stone, torsos compressing, but it barely slowed.
And then he reached the spot. The kill zone.
The tunnel here was tight, tight enough that the monster would have to fight the walls as much as him. But several passages opened off this one in close clusters, exactly what he needed.
From those passages Harry called out to his troops.
The connection to six of the giant rats he had mesmerized and placed here during the night surged awake in his mind. He pushed hunger and anger down the threads connecting him to them and spoke one word, “attack”. The rats responded immediately, launching from the shadows toward the Dead Warden in a snarling, scrabbling wave.
The results were immediate. Discordant screams from every head tore through the tunnels, mixing with the hissing and shrieks of the rats and the heavy thrashing of bodies as the Dead Warden fought back.
Harry sprinted down a side passage, circling fast. In the distance he caught the scattered heartbeats of the soldiers. They were stumbling through the tunnels, disoriented and lost.
He came up behind the Dead Warden, spear raised. The noise was deafening, a wall of screams and tearing sounds.
Before he closed in, he stopped short. A rat lay dead at his feet. One of the bodies from the Dead Warden was on the ground too, flailing weakly, its movements slowing.
And the monster was swarmed. Not just the rats he had set, but more. A dozen at least. They crawled over the bloated bodies, biting into rotten flesh, clawing for purchase, drawn by the frenzy and the scent of exposed meat.
The creature fought back just as hard. Arms pounded and swept at the rats, grasping whatever they caught. Mouths not busy screaming snapped down and latched on, tearing out chunks of rat flesh and ripping bodies apart.
“Gang aft agley,” Harry muttered, and backed the hell away.
:: Caution: User may be experiencing stroke.
:: Scanning…
“No, wait…”
Dammit, not again…
:: System: No injury detected. Harry, could you please hold still and lift both arms together?
It’s an expression of speech. It means when a plan goes wrong.
:: System: A stroke is not something to take lightly.
It’s not a stroke. Now get your head back in the game.
A warm body brushed past Harry’s leg, making him flinch. He’d been too distracted to notice another rat had come to join the fight. His Blood Sense picked up more of them closing in from every direction, threads flickering in the dark.
Harry took off along another planned route. He followed the wide path he’d marked out earlier and slipped back into the main cavern. Jeffrey stood about fifty yards away, orb held high, its blue light washing over the stone. Only one soldier was with him, holding a torch. Both of them faced a tunnel where the screams still echoed.
Harry took a long calming breath, pulled a spear from his inventory, and crept up behind them. His Blood Sense told him the soldier was weaker, level one. Jeffrey matched him.
Harry dropped the mesmerize on the rats. Only three of his six were still alive.
He reached out to the threads coming off Jeffrey and the soldier.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Successful (Active, cost: 6 vitae) (1 vitae + 5 for multi-target)
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Failed (Cost: 10 vitae) (5 vitae + 5 for multi-target)
V: 92 | TM: 16%
The soldier didn’t move, frozen in place, but Jeffrey spun fast. In one motion he grabbed for the hilt of his sword and dropped the glowing orb.
As the blade cleared the scabbard the orb shattered at his feet in a wet burst of swirling blue liquid that soaked the stone and faded almost immediately.
Jeffrey stared down at the mess, panic flashing across his face. “I’ll kill you for that.”
Harry shifted into a defensive stance with the spear. “Hold on. We don’t have to do this.”
Jeffrey didn’t answer. He took a stance with his sword and stepped forward, then hesitated. He glanced back at the frozen soldier. “Page, what are you doing?”
Harry kept his spear leveled. “You’re Sergeant Jeffrey, right? If you and your men stand aside, I’ll remove Korven. You’ll be free.”
Jeffrey didn’t respond. Instead he spun and rushed in with several quick sliding steps, moving to go around the spear. His sword lifting high and cutting down in a crossing arc.
Harry’s vision slowed the moment Jeffrey moved. He backed up smoothly, bringing the spear back to center. Jeffrey had to pull away or risk running onto the point.
“Last chance, Jeffrey,” Harry said. “I might even be able to show you a way out of here.”
Jeffrey stayed silent and slid a step forward again, leading with his blade, reaching out and tapping the tip of Harry’s spear.
Harry didn’t break eye contact. “Page, throw that torch away as far as you can.”
Jeffrey lurched back toward the soldier. “What? No…”
The soldier, Page, took one long stride and hurled the torch in a high arc. It tumbled end over end and landed fifty or sixty feet away, leaving them in darkness.
Jeffrey moved immediately, clearly aiming to sprint toward the torchlight.
Harry moved faster. He spent vitae on speed and strength, swung the butt of his spear up and around, and caught Jeffrey solidly in the side of the head. The impact rang off his helmet and dropped him to the stone.
Harry checked quickly. Blood Sense told him Jeffrey was alive. He could hear his breathing, his heartbeat. And he could hear something else. The screaming from the tunnels had gone quiet. The soldiers inside were beginning to work their way back out.
Harry returned the spear to his inventory, bent, grabbed Jeffrey under the arms, and hauled him up over his shoulder.
“Page,” Harry said quietly, “put a hand on my shoulder and follow me close. Don’t make a sound.”
***
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