Nick recoiled, stumbled back, clapped a hand over his mouth and nose, and gagged once, hard.
Harry halted. He glanced down at himself. Dark, wet gore still slicked his arms and armor, dripping steadily to the ground at his feet. The smell hung thick and sour in the cool air.
“Sorry about that,” Harry said.
Nick waved a quick shooing motion with his free hand, eyes watering. “It’s alright.” His voice came muffled through his fingers.
Harry lifted his gaze and scanned the cavern entrance. Empty. No one moving. “What’s going on up here?”
Nick lowered his hand. He was pale, jaw tight, but he had himself under control. “Larson took the boys to the crypt. He was hoping they could hold the door when the Warden tore you apart.”
Harry nodded once. “Not a bad idea. And the others?”
“They went down,” Nick said. “Didn’t want to lock themselves out, but we were worried about Toby if we left it open and Larson attacked.”
“Good,” Harry said. “That was smart.” He paused, eyes returning to the field and the camp. “So no one saw what happened out there but you?”
Nick shook his head. The stink seemed to fade from his awareness as his eyes drifted past Harry. Awe crept across his face. “No. Just me. That was…” He swallowed. “That was, I never imagined seeing something like that.”
“Me neither,” Harry said. He took a breath and straightened a little. “Alright. If your people are at the crypt, we have a little time. I’m going to clean up some. You can come with me or wait here. Up to you.”
Nick looked Harry up and down. “I’ll… um. I’ll wait here.”
Harry nodded. “I’ll be back soon. I’m going to head down a bit and put some of the torches back up. That way you’ll know if anyone’s coming back.”
Nick nodded. “Thank you, Sir Harold.”
Harry gave a quiet chuckle. “You’ve been listening to Cedric. Just Harry is fine.”
He turned and walked back into the cavern. About a hundred feet in, he stopped and began returning torches to their wall sconces, setting them in a loose row that went back toward the crypt. Each flame caught while he stood near, burning steady and bright, and went out once he moved on.
He made his way into one of the side passages, following the familiar bend in the rock until he reached the same pool he had used after the spider fight. In the pitch dark, his vision washed the stone in shades of gray and silver. The pool lay flat and still at the base of the rock, its surface broken only by slow ripples where water dripped from above, each drop spreading a faint shimmer across the dark.
Harry stripped down and knelt at the edge of the pool. He scooped water over his head and body, methodical and thorough, washing gore from his skin and flushing dark stains from the links of his chain. He worked through his clothes and armor as well, rinsing each piece until the water ran clear. The stench lingered, stubborn, but it thinned with each pass.
He checked his inventory wardrobe.
Outfit 1 held all of his current gear. Outfit 2 was empty. His new Outfit 3 was empty too. He stared at the blank silhouettes for a moment, annoyance settling in. He had never taken back the black robe. Never bothered to grab another.
System, remind me to put more clothes in there when we get the chance. And some soap.
:: System: Affirmative.
Will these dry faster if I wear them or put them in inventory?
:: System: It will take a minimum of twenty-four hours to repair even minor damage. However, they will dry quickly in inventory.
Harry thought about getting dressed and using the inventory to put everything into the wardrobe at once. But didn't like the thought of putting all the wet gear back on. Instead, he cleared everything and worked piece by piece, slotting each item into Outfit 1.
The only piece he left out was the linen drawers Otho had given him when he got the rest of the gear. He grimaced, but pulled them on anyway. They were wet and clammy against his skin, but he wasn’t about to walk around naked.
System, I’m sure I have a pile of messages again. Just give me the highlights please.
:: System: [Enhanced Physical Attributes] has advanced to level 1. Congratulations.
“What changed?”
:: System: Physical attributes can now be temporarily increased by up to 30% for thirty seconds. This enhancement may be activated once per minute.
:: Duration can be extended to one full minute at a cost of one vitae.
:: Effect can be doubled to 60% at a cost of one vitae. Combining increased duration and increased effect requires two vitae per minute.
Harry let out a slow breath. Nice. What else?
:: System: You received 25 X.P. for assisted destruction of [Dead Warden].
:: System: New title awarded, “Swarm Master”. (+25 xp)
:: System: You received 70 X.P. for destruction of weakened [Dead Warden].
:: System: New title awarded, “Warden Slayer”. (+100 xp)
Wow. A hundred? They must have enjoyed the show.
:: System: Affirmative.
Anything else?
:: System: Damage details logged.
Harry’s jaw tightened. No penalties for getting a good man murdered?
:: System: Harry, you were not culpable for the death of soldier Page.
It doesn’t feel that way.
:: System: Captain Walls was solely responsible and remains to be dealt with.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment. True. He exhaled and pushed the thought aside. Alright. Time to get this show back on the road.
He spent the next twenty minutes moving through the side passages, hunting by Blood Sense. Giant rats scattered ahead of him, many of them wounded. He bypassed those and tracked down three that had come through the fight untouched and used Mesmerize and Sip.
When he finished, he checked his meters.
H 105 | V 94 | TM 15%
Enough to work with.
He switched his gear to put Outfit 1 back on. The wardrobe shifted what he was wearing into the next available empty slot. He froze and checked.
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Outfit 2 now held his linen drawers. The wool britches he had just put on had ridden up immediately, tight and uncomfortable in all the wrong places.
Harry stood there for a few moments, annoyed, and got everything sorted where it belonged.
He headed back to the entrance and rejoined Nick. From there he opened the secret passage and called down for Jo, Cedric, and Stan. When they climbed up, he asked them to keep watch while he checked on Toby.
Toby’s breathing was steady. Color was good. No bleeding or fever. He was resting easy.
Harry asked about the pain and whether he wanted to be hypnotized again. Toby tried to wave it off, jaw tight, pride fighting sense. After a moment, he gave a small nod.
Harry used Mesmerize again and watched the tension drain out of him. Once Toby settled, Harry explained what was happening above and that he needed to go back up to talk with the others. They could not have that conversation down here, not while someone had to watch for the soldiers returning.
Before going up the ladder, Harry grabbed another one of the black robes from the cupboard and put it onto Outfit 2.
He climbed back up and found all four of them clustered near the cavern entrance, staring out across the field. Nick stood at the center of it, talking fast, hands moving as he described the fight with the Dead Warden, his voice tight with excitement and disbelief.
When Harry came into view, they turned as one.
Cedric stepped forward. He squared his shoulders, trying for composure, looking as solemn as a seventeen-year-old could manage. “Sir Harold, you are not destined to spend your days fishing. I have chosen well to follow you.”
“I got lucky,” Harry said.
They pressed him for details after that, questions tumbling over each other, but Harry cut it short. He nodded toward Nick. “Get the rest from him later. Right now we need a plan.”
That sobered them fast.
Harry laid it out simply. He and Nick would move up the cavern toward the crypt door and see what shape things were in. Cedric, Jo, and Stan would take Toby the other way, down to the far end through the passage. Depending on the situation, Harry could rejoin them or call them out.
No one argued. They split to their tasks at once.
Harry and Nick moved up the cavern toward the crypt door and stopped short when they saw the guards posted there. Voices murmured on the other side of the stone, low and tense. They waited while the discussion ran its course. After a moment, the door cracked open and a single soldier stepped out to meet them.
It was not Larson.
Two others held position in the doorway behind him, crossbows leveled and steady. Past them, Harry could see two more soldiers standing back with lit torches in their hands, flames burning clean and bright.
:: System: Caution Harry. Those torches are almost certainly imbued with Sanctified Flame.
Nick stepped forward and clasped the man’s forearm in greeting. “Jack? Where’s Larson?”
Jack hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Bastard went out the portal.”
Harry blinked. “What?”
Jack nodded once. “I figure he feared you really was gonna kill Korven and didn’t want ta face the things he’s done.”
Harry let out a slow breath. “Well damn. I didn’t expect that. So who’s in charge.”
Jack shrugged. “The fellas kinda asked me to do the talkin’ for us.”
Nick frowned. “Who else went?”
“Eller and Marshall followed Larson right out,” Jack said. “After that, Ernie and Lambert got right nervous and jumped too.”
Harry glanced at Nick. “Who’s Ernie and Lambert?”
Nick answered without hesitation. “They were the cooks.” He nodded once. “They were dead for certain without none of the bosses around.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “The food was that bad?”
Nick and Jack both gave him flat looks.
Harry held up both hands. “Never mind. So, Jack, what’s your plan?”
Jack tilted his head, eyes never leaving Harry. “Nick says you’re aiming to free the village?”
“That’s right.”
Jack did not soften. “That mean killin’ Korven and Walls?”
Harry’s mouth tightened. He took a moment before answering. “I don’t like going in planning to kill someone. If we can catch them, we can throw them through the portal.”
Nick snorted quietly. “I ain’t sure Cap’n Walls’d fit.”
Jack gave a short grunt. “So plain speaking. Them two die or go out the portal?”
“Yes,” Harry said. “That I can promise.”
Jack nodded once. “Well. In that case, there’s about a dozen of us left. And far as we know, it’s just Korven, Walls, and his Desiccants.” He paused, studying Harry. “We reckoned, if you’ve the stones to finish that last Warden, we’d stand with you.”
Harry held his gaze. “You know what I am.”
Jack shrugged. “We’ve grown accustomed to undead… more than a simple village should.” His eyes hardened. “And no offense meant, but if you meant the village harm, we’d stand with them against you.”
Harry stepped in and clapped a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m really glad to hear that.”
Jack scowled, more uncomfortable with the praise than any threat. “Only good thing we ever done was keep Walls out of the village. Korven never paid them no mind.”
Harry studied Jack for a moment. “Would you be comfortable with me questioning you and your men? I need to be certain about anyone who comes with us.”
Jack did not answer right away. He glanced back toward the door, at the men waiting there. “I’d do it,” he said at last. “Can’t answer for everyone.”
“Alright,” Harry said. “We’ll do it one at a time, out here. Anyone who refuses will have to stay here.”
Jack nodded and quickly explained what was happening to the door guards. He left them to talk it over and followed Harry and Nick a little farther into the cavern. As they went, Harry set more torches back into their sconces, spacing them out to keep the area lit.
He stopped and faced Jack. He explained what he was going to do, plain and direct. Hypnosis. No pain. No tricks. To show him, he used Mesmerize on Nick. Nick slumped and relaxed. Harry asked him a few questions about Jack and the remaining men and dropped his control. Nick shook himself and rolled his shoulders, wide-eyed and alert.
Harry turned back to Jack, waited for his nod and used Mesmerize.
Jack stood loose and steady while Harry questioned him. Did he intend to turn on them and side with Korven. What did he plan to do once the fighting was over. What he meant to see happen to the village after Harry was gone. What he knew about Korven’s remaining defenses.
When Harry dropped his control, Jack came out of it, nodded and went to get the next man.
After that, they brought the others forward one by one. A dozen men in all. Harry questioned each the same way, brief and focused. Most answered without trouble.
One man refused.
Harry told him he would stay at the crypt and wait. The man took one look at the empty cavern around them, swallowed, and left to use the portal instead.
Harry sent Jack and the others back through the cavern to gather what they could from the camp and get ready to leave for the village. They hesitated at the idea of leaving the caverns, but when Nick started telling them about Harry’s fight with the Dead Warden they headed off as a group. All clustered around Nick as he continued to tell the story.
Harry had them leave their two magic torches in the embalming room and once they were gone, he went inside, used the torches to burn the few remaining dead in the room, and stowed the torches in his inventory.
After that, he went back out into the cavern and reached out with Blood Sense. He followed the threads deeper into the dark and found a handful of giant rats. None of them at this end of the cavern had been involved in the fight. It didn’t take long to find enough to bring his health and vitae back up using Sip.
When he was done, he made his way up to the sarcophagus room and into the hidden chamber. Everyone was waiting. They had fashioned another litter for Toby using spears and a robe.
Together, they went back through the passage to the bedroom while Harry explained what had happened with the soldiers.
Back at that end of the passage they climbed the ladder and emerged into the cavern. Toby went up on his own, slow and careful, one rung at a time. No one rushed him.
They waited nearly an hour before the soldiers arrived.
Introductions were brief and stiff. The two groups kept their distance, watching each other with open caution. No one reached for a weapon. No one tried to close the space.
In two groups they walked down to the camp.
The Dead Warden lay where it had fallen, no longer a towering threat, just a heap of rotting corpses. More bodies were scattered around the field, torn and trampled into the dirt. The smell carried on the breeze.
Jack stopped and looked it over. “That beast killed some of our men. And Page is dead too. We’d like to bury them.”
“Of course,” Harry said. “Let’s stay here today. Do that, get sorted. We’ll head to the village in the morning.”
Jack nodded. “I’ll let everyone know. Gives us time to maybe fix the wagon and catch a few of the horses.”
“I think the wagon’s a wreck,” Harry said. “But I’ll see about the horses. I want one to carry Toby. He’s not ready to walk all that way.”
Harry joined Jo, Cedric, and Stan where Toby lay on the litter. “Any thoughts?”
Cedric rested one hand on the hilt of his sword, the other braced on his hip. “I trust your judgment, Sir Harold. If you say they can be trusted, I will not argue. But it is only wise we keep our own watch tonight.”
“I won’t argue with that,” Harry said. He looked out at the soldiers as they began gathering their gear, dragging it away from the Dead Warden’s remains. “Once they realize the wagon’s useless, can you salvage some boards? We can make a sled for Toby.”
“Aye,” Cedric said. “We’ll have it ready.”
Harry nodded. “Alright. Let’s get started. Tomorrow, if we pull this off, you’ll all get your Interfaces.”
They exchanged looks. Eyes went wide. Smiles locked in place, sudden and disbelieving.
Toby pushed himself up on one elbow. “We’ve got this. What can go wrong now?”
***
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