I didn’t know what to do. This whole time I was supposed to be avoiding these people who channeled the will of their gods, and now I was in the same city as all of them. There was no worse situation for me to be in, and even my pocket god knew the danger of the situation.
You need to get out of there. We can’t afford to leave any evidence of you having been in this room.
I know, but how am I supposed to do that? If I try to leave now, someone is going to see me. The only chance I had of getting out of here was to wait for them to finish this meeting and then sneak out afterwards. I would just have to wait this out and listen in on the conversation for anything I could use against them.
The argument about whether I existed and that the Lord of Twilight was free continued for about a minute before the dwarf lady, who had been mostly silent up to this point, cut through the noise. “Enough! You all sound like squabbling children. Valder, your claim lacks evidence, and we can’t afford to chase after rumors when there is work that occupies our days. Until you can come to us with proof, we cannot agree to spending time and resources on this.”
The bastard, who is apparently named Valder, looked rather disappointed in his compatriots. “If we do not act now, then it may be too late. Any sign of his return must be taken seriously, or else the security and stability that we have worked so hard to build will be undone.”
Just hearing his self-entitled voice made me angry. Security for who? Stability for who? You use and abuse us like we're a resource! I was feeling completely indignant. The fact that he actually believed what he said only further added to that feeling as well.
Once he finished his little speech, the orc champion made his opinion known. “Tell you what, if it will get you off my back for a while, I can spare a few warriors to help you search for this troublemaker of yours. I stand to lose nothing from doing so, and if you do find something, then I get a potentially good fight. My god is also eager to see if the old war might be reignited. That was a time of great influence for us.”
“I would ask you not to wish for such a thing. The damage that was done to everyone was not small.” Valder countered.
“The best fights are often costly. It challenges your skills and pushes you past your limits in order to achieve victory and emerge stronger on the other side.”
“Yes, we are aware of your ideology, but please refrain from wishing for war as it also has a habit of destabilizing societies, and we have worked hard in the last millennium to pacify not only the human population, but to ease the fears of our own, make sure that our long memories can be laid to rest.”
The orc scoffed. “Long for you, maybe. How old was the last champion before he died? Eight hundred? Nine hundred? It may only be one generation for you, but it was several for the rest of us. We’ve moved on, and now we’re looking for the next challenge.”
Valder just sighed a little. “Whatever your motivation may be, I am still thankful for the assistance. When can I expect your warriors to arrive?”
“If I send a message now, they can be here and working in about three days. If you want them in a specific area, we might be able to get them searching sooner.”
“Very good. I take it that you two will not be joining in this endeavor?” He referred to the two women in the room.
“I find it to be a waste of time and the Earth Mother agrees. We have many other jobs that require our attention.” The dwarf responded.
“Aye, intrigues and bureaucracy never cease, and I am needed for the negotiations of several of my people's cities.” The goblin gave her excuse with a wave of the hand.
“Then that’s it then. If anything comes of the investigation, I will notify you all. May your endeavors be successful and may your future be brighter than your past.”
That seemed to be the end of the meeting as all of them stood and made to leave. There were a few casual conversation notes that they had between them before they exited the room and moved out of earshot. As soon as they left, I felt immense relief. Despite me not actually being in the room, I was stifling my breathing.
Now that they were gone, I had to get out before anyone could notice I was even there. I directed the rat to hop down off the bookshelf and make its way towards the door. We stuck our head under the small gap for a quick look around before exiting completely. It still impressed me how flexible the bodies of rats were, but that was also a negative considering how much of a pest they were.
Whatever the case, the hall outside appeared to be clear right now, so I took the initiative and slipped out of the room. It was much the same as when I came into the building, a lot of stop-and-go depending on the presence of priests, servants, and knights. Some lingered in a particular area for a while, others moved on quickly. I was getting antsy, desperately wanting to just scamper as quickly as I could out of this place.
When the next roadblock to my exit removed itself, I started to dart towards the next bit of cover when suddenly our right foreleg just stopped working. The sudden decrease in mobility caught me by surprise and sent me into a roll before I stabilized again.
What the hell?
I could only make my way to the next patch of cover awkwardly balancing on three legs. Now in relative safety, I was able to think more clearly about why that happened and came to a dreadful conclusion.
No, no, no. It couldn’t have already been an hour! Had I really spent that much time making my way through here? I was starting to panic as I was now conscious of the fact that I was slowly losing control over the rat.
I rushed as much as I could, taking risks by not waiting for people to fully exit a hallway before darting to the next position. The decay of the spell was progressively getting worse. Next, I lost control over the tail, then the sense of smell disappeared, and after that I was struck deaf. It all came to a head when my remaining forepaw ceased working and I flopped face first into the ground.
Struggling to even move, I pushed with my hind legs until I was under a short elaborate table that was holding a few candles, incense burners, and holy iconography. This was as far as I could go. It was only made clearer that that was the case when my remaining legs ceased functioning as well. I could only lay there, relatively concealed, until finally my vision went, casting everything into darkness.
I remained like that for a moment, and it was a little embarrassing that I didn’t realize I wasn’t actually blind, just the connection to the rat had finally been severed. Now with all my senses finally returning to my original body, I opened my eyes again, wincing a little as they were sensitive to the light after having been closed for so long.
The first thing I did when I came back was stand, pivot around, and punch the wall of the building I had been leaning against. Damnit! Everything about this was so messed up that I didn’t even know where to begin in the processing phase. I learned a lot of horrible things in this spying expedition. Firstly, what happened to my village, and probably many others, was not an accident. Second, the bastard who burned it down was a champion to the Lord of Light, making my plans for revenge even more difficult. Lastly, they were suspicious of me, and now would be searching for any and all signs that I had been in an area, especially after I left some evidence behind. I could only pray that whoever finds the rat will just throw it away without a second thought.
This situation was completely screwed, and my pocket god could only agree. Your position here is untenable. You need to leave immediately.
On some level I agreed with their assessment. If I stayed, I would eventually be corralled into a corner and captured. But there was a problem.
What about the people I've been talking to? Those who now pray to you, worship you? I may have already warned them to keep their heads down, but they aren’t prepared for this. In the face of an inquisition, they won’t last long, or will give up on you entirely. If they are found, then we will lose what little progress we made, and those families will probably die for nothing.
What would you do then? Our time here has run its course. We must regroup and try again elsewhere. So long as you live, we can still rebuild again.
I thought about it, and it did make sense, but I didn’t know if my conscience would let that lie. I had dragged them into this, and while it was inevitable that they would come under attack in some capacity should they choose to be vocal in their support, just leaving them to their fate felt like I was betraying their trust.
I need time to think.
You don’t have time to think.
I can afford a few hours! Get off my back! Even if I wanted to leave right now, I need a plan.
There was a slight feeling of annoyance coming from them before they yielded to my desire. Fine. Make it quick because every moment is valuable now.
I felt immense pressure to figure this situation out. The only thing I could come up with that would protect the families I had talked to would be to get the followers of light to look elsewhere. The only problem was that I had no idea how to do that short of screaming that I was here and then running for the hills. That plan would probably reduce my lifespan drastically, so I needed something else.
While I thought about how to distract the church, I decided to go check out the job board for the local adventurer’s guild. If I was going to leave, it would probably be best to do so under the guise of doing a job. A lone traveler stands out, a working adventurer tends to be looked over.
Many ideas came and went like the wind. Some were worse than others, and I'm ashamed to admit that I briefly considered a stint of arson to get them focused on something else for a little while. It was beginning to feel like a hopeless situation by the time I made it to the guild.
The building they operated out of here was less like a keep than the last one, but still grand and affluent regardless. I expected a crowd similar to the one I had found at Raven’s Peak, but the inside was surprisingly tame all things considered. There was a fair number of people inside looking for jobs, but I suppose the security that was already provided by the standing forces in the capital alleviated a lot of the need for adventurers.
Like most of those who were present, I stepped up to the job board and started to scan the options I had for escape. There were a handful of caravans that were leaving the capital for other parts of the world soon, so it would be easy for me to get out at least. While scanning for anything else, I stopped and did a double take as a few words on a job request caught my attention, namely, the mentioning of the undead.
I pulled the paper down to read closer. It was a report on a recent sighting of a roaming group of undead. They were spotted a little over a day away from the capital entering a large expanse of forest. The estimated numbers of the group were between seventy and one hundred. The request was for a gathering of adventurers to assemble and deal with the threat.
The implication of this gathering was that they were going to eradicate them, and not only did I have a duty to prevent that from happening, but I was beginning to form an idea. Maybe I could find them, convince them to help me. If I wanted to get the followers of light to pay more attention to me, I had to start fighting back against them. The recent revelations about what they have been doing to me and others like me seemed like a prime starting point. With a group of that size working together, we could cover a lot of territory and protect them from the experiments while rallying the intended victims to our cause. However, that all hinged on the state of those wanderers, whether they would be willing to do so or if they were just too far gone and needed to be put to rest.
It was a plan that could work, and frankly it was far better than anything I had come up with thus far. I took the paper to the front desk and asked about the specifics of the job that weren’t mentioned in the paper. They told me what town the others would be gathering in, and that the operation was scheduled to start in three days. That wasn’t a whole lot of time to work with, but it would be more than enough if I left today and made it to the wanderers before the other adventurers did.
The plan gave me the will to act, to forge ahead despite the situation that I had found myself in. It was no secret what the results of this plan would be. I was going to war with some of the most powerful people in the world. While it may be starting small, these things had a habit of growing exponentially and beyond control.
Apprehension and eagerness collided inside of me as I imagined what it would be like to go through with this. Part of me thought that I would be righting a grievous wrong that had been done to me and my family, another considered the violence and death that would inevitably come from all this. I thought that I was justified in doing this, but those who were against me probably thought the same thing about their actions. A war of ideologies rarely ends in understanding.
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For now, though, I need to hurry. While the plan on paper was to wait for a few more days, I wouldn’t put it past them to push up the timeline unexpectedly if they feel like they have already gathered more than enough strength to handle the situation. I went back to the room, gathered what was mine, and checked out of the inn by returning the room key.
It took me a little while to find some transportation out of the city, but eventually I found someone willing to transport me to the small town of Willowdale. The town itself was nothing special, probably why it was so difficult to find someone willing to go there. Even while climbing into the back of the cart, I looked upon the city and hoped that those families that I was leaving would remain safe until I could draw away the eye of the church to areas further afield. Despite my hesitation, I knew that this was the best plan for proceeding and resigned myself to the course of action I had chosen.
The trip itself to the town would take a seemingly agonizing amount of time. It would be about a full day before we arrived, and that would mean we would either have to continue through the night or sleep and move out first thing in the morning. Knowing that these transporters often don’t like moving at night, it would most likely be the latter of the two. My anxiousness wanted me to rush to the town as quickly as possible, but there wasn’t much I could do about this situation without paying an extensive fee for the driver to ignore safety.
Not much happened during the course of our travels. I scared off some wild animals and we caught sight of a roaming monster, but we didn’t come under attack and were allowed to travel in relative peace. After a long night of rest, we arrived at the town a few hours after sunrise.
The town itself was situated in a valley next to a river. Surrounding it, was a forest of willow trees, which I guess was the main factor in its name. There were no walls around the town, and there probably were only a handful of militias that oversaw defense in the event monsters or dangerous animals wandered too close for comfort. I could see why they would panic a bit with so many undead in the area.
We rode into the center of town where I saw a hub of activity had arisen. There were many armed and armored individuals loitering around the square, talking, sharpening weapons, or just passing time. The activity worried me a little bit. There should have been another day at least until they started to prepare for the mission as it was stated.
I thanked the driver and hopped down from the cart, making my way over to the group of adventurers. Singling out a lone orc who was checking over his gear, I approached with the intent of getting answers to what was going on.
“Excuse me, sir.” The orc lifted his head up to acknowledge my approach. “What is going on here? Why is everyone gathered and preparing?”
He looked at me for a second, eyes quickly going up and down my body before returning to my face. “You here to join the hunt?”
I really wished he wouldn’t phrase it that way but figured it would be quicker if I suggested that I was. “Well, I figured I should see if I could help.”
A slight smile and a nod came in response. “Good on you for wanting to put your people to rest. I know many other humans who can’t stomach it. To answer your question, we just got word that we will be heading out tomorrow in search of the restless, so we’re all preparing in our own way.”
Damnit, that’s what I was afraid of. I guess it was a good thing I didn’t delay my exit. “I thought that it was scheduled to begin in two days?”
It was, but we already have well over a hundred people here, more than enough to handle the undead who were reported to be mostly without weapons of any sort. The sooner we head out, the quicker the situation is solved and the less likely it is for those restless to wander away or hurt someone.”
It made sense, and I really hated them for being so efficient with everything. If that was the case, then I too would have to push up the timeline for my intervention in this matter. I excused myself from the conversation so I could find some place to plan in peace.
Just walking out of town in the middle of the day and into the forest was not only likely to catch someone’s attention, but also be looked upon as suspicious. I needed to reach the roaming undead and do so without anyone’s knowledge. The only thing that presented itself to me as an idea was to head out in the middle of the night when everyone would be resting, and I could slip away under the cover of darkness.
Now that I had a plan, I just needed to wait. I figured that getting a room for the night would be the best way to do that and to provide me with some cover. I quickly found an inn due to the size of the town being a little underwhelming. Because of the recent influx of adventurers, they had almost run out of rooms along with every other establishment that housed travelers. I was lucky and was able to get one of their two remaining rooms.
I spent most of the hours between that moment and night reading from the spell book and checking my own equipment. The few times I went out of the room was to look for something to eat and stretch my legs for a few minutes. Time passed by, sometimes quickly, sometimes like it was fighting against a raging current, but eventually the sun dipped low on the horizon.
The little town slowly died down, seemingly at the same rate that the light was disappearing. I only had to wait just a little after night had finally taken over the world for the streets to become mostly abandoned. The only people who were out right now were the drinkers and militia who were wandering about.
Slipping out of the inn was easy. Many people go for walks or to try to find something to drink. The only real problem would be avoiding the militia and patrols that are going around the town. Despite that, it wasn’t much of a problem. They couldn’t be everywhere at once after all, so I simply waited for a rotation in the patrols before making my way out of the town.
Now in the wilds of the surrounding forest, I took a breath and gathered my thoughts. Okay, now I just need to find them. I wasn’t too versed in the art of tracking, so it was still a problematic situation that I was trying to find a work-around for. Then I thought of something, or more accurately, someone who could help me. “Lilith.” I called out to the hound hiding in the shadows and watched as she took form in front of me. She was sitting on her haunches at attention, waiting for my command.
The first thing I did was give her a quick scratch behind the ear which she enjoyed immensely. After that, I gave her my commands. “I need your help girl. There are people in this forest, undead, and I need to find them as quickly as possible. Do you think you can sniff them out?”
Lilith stood up and immediately put her nose to work, loudly sniffing all over the place in a large circle before her head snapped up in a particular direction. She gave me a low bark before trotting off into the forest at a fair pace. I quickly removed the sunstone from my pack before following her deeper into the thicket.
We traveled for some time, Lilith occasionally stopping to sniff around for a moment before continuing onwards or changing directions slightly. I was certainly grateful to have her. There was no way I would have been able to find the wanderers without her help and most likely would have gotten lost out here in the black.
I wasn’t sure how much distance we had covered, but it certainly felt like we had been moving for a long while as the impromptu hike left me a bit winded. Then, I noticed something shimmering in the distance between the trees. It was small, so it was still a bit far off, but the light was unmistakable even at this distance.
We approached with renewed vigor as the goal seemed to be in sight. Soon enough, the wisp that I had spied noticed us as well. The floating blue flame drifted over and started to hover around me, drawn to my nature as servant to the Lord of Twilight. While it may have only been one little wisp, where there is smoke, there is fire, and I could see more pale lights now that were deeper in.
It was like a trail of souls as one inevitably led to the next. Each wisp we encountered simply added itself to the growing mass of souls at my back. The trail of ghostly lights we were following eventually led us to the ultimate destination.
In the dark I saw hundreds of wisps floating around between the trees. As we got closer, I noticed smaller lights in the dark as well, traveling in close pairs. After a moment, I recognized that they were the eyes of the undead, and a moment after that, the smell hit me. Both familiar and repulsive, the rotting flesh of the undead was pungent in the air and I had to take a moment to adjust to it before continuing.
We entered a glade where the density of the trees was significantly thinner. In the somewhat open space, there were close to a hundred wandering undead in various stages of decomposition, simply ambling about or standing still, but not leaving the confines of the glade. They didn’t seem to notice me yet, but when I took a few more steps out into the open, several heads turned my way.
I don’t know what I expected really, but what I wasn’t prepared for was a dozen of them to simply rush me. My eyes went wide, and I sort of froze, not knowing what to do. Lilith stepped up between me and the charging undead, letting loose a deep and threatening growl as her fur stood up.
Eight of the dozen undead stopped their charge, but four continued on, heedless of the threats Lilith was throwing their way. Lilith, seeing that they would not be dissuaded by her growls, barked at them and charged as well. I watched as she trampled the first two before sinking her teeth into the collarbone of the third, dragging them to the ground and pinning them into place. The last one made it around Lilith, continuing towards me in an almost frantic sprint.
I tried putting up my hands to ward them off while calling towards them. “Wait, stop!”
They ignored me, eyes burning with desire that would not be ignored. I sidestepped, redirecting their frantic movements and throwing them to the ground. The rotted remains of the man that tried attacking me rolled across the grass, bones popping and cracking, yet they did not stop. “Wait, I'll help you, just-” He clawed his way back to his feet and immediately charged again. This charge did not have the same wild momentum that was built up in the last one, so when he collided with me next, he was able to grapple with me instead of me just throwing him down.
Incoherent gargling sounds made their way out of the man’s throat as his fingers clawed at me, like he was trying to rip something he wanted out of my body. While I struggled to keep him at bay, my pocket god spoke up to explain the urgent situation that I had found myself in.
He has gone feral, there is nothing left of reason within him. You have to put him down.
What? Isn’t there something we can do for him?
As he is now, it would be a mercy. There is nothing we can do so long as he’s trying to kill you.
My mind was racing as I tried to find a way out of this situation that didn’t involve me cutting him up. Then I noticed several more undead people running towards me. Damnit it all! Bracing myself, I shoved the man off me and to the ground again. Using the time that provided, I drew my sword and prepared myself for a fight. My original assailant got back on his feet and started coming at me again just as the others caught up to him. I prepared to fend off the multiple undead before another unexpected thing happened.
The other undead that had caught up with the feral one grabbed onto their deranged ally, tackling them to the ground. Three of them pinned their compatriot down as he continued to struggle to get at me, clawing at the grass and dirt in an attempt to drag himself closer.
I remained on edge for a moment, studying the situation. A few of them approached in a much calmer manner. When I glanced over in Lilith’s direction, I saw that the two she had run over had been secured as well, while the third was still struggling in her jaws. I relaxed a little as the new undead individuals seemed to be giving very apologetic body language.
With the threat nullified, I put my weapon away. Now that they couldn’t attack me anymore, perhaps I could do something for them. I approached the restrained man before me. “Hold him still for a second, please.” They did so, adjusting their grip to allow for more leverage against him.
I kneeled and placed my hands on his back, reaching out to try and extract his soul. Pulling, tugging, and struggling against the man’s soul was more difficult than it had been before. It was like one moment he was trying to help me remove him, the next he was actively fighting against me. The pendulum swung back and forth so rapidly that it was difficult to get him out.
When I eventually did pull him free from the body, what I saw was disturbing to both my senses. What I had managed to free was a pitch-black... thing, that looked like it didn’t belong in this world. It didn’t resemble smoke or fire. The closest thing I could compare it to would be a writhing mass of snakes, coiled around one another in a vicious knot. Not only did it look disturbing, but the feeling of it was like something slimy crawling around inside my head.
Frankly, I was at a loss. I had never dealt with a feral before, so I decided to ask a higher power. What do I even do with them?
You can do nothing. Send them to me, I will do what I can.
Well, if even a god would have trouble dealing with this, then it was far beyond what I was capable of. I lifted the sick soul up to pass it along. “Be at peace and return to the calm twilight at the end of all things.”
The wriggling mass smoothed itself out, calming down, but remained a black void. I figured what I did was akin to putting them to sleep before sending them on their way. The soul disappeared into the air, and I repeated the process with the remaining feral undead who were still restrained. By the end of it, I felt like I needed to bathe for a week in order to get that feeling out of my mind. Now with the immediate problems dealt with, I turned my attention towards the crowd of undead and wisps who had gathered around me.
Most of them kept a respectful distance, but those who still had recognizable faces looked at me with eagerness and hope. I needed their help, but I also didn’t think it was right for me to leverage their peace of mind against them. If they are going to do this, they need to be willing to forgo rest and risk their own mental wellbeing.
I stood before them to address the group who all stared at me with their glowing eyes. With a quick breath to prepare, I began to speak. “Everyone, I know that you are tired, I know that you have been suffering and I know that you want nothing more than to just rest. However, I fear that I must first ask something of you, but know that you are free to refuse me, and I will still help you cross to the other side.”
The crowd shifted around a bit, looking at one another before turning back to me. “Recently I’ve made a disturbing discovery. The followers of light, and by extension, the Lord of Light along with the other complacent gods, have been experimenting on us, on humans. It may be hard to believe, but I found written evidence that corresponds with my own personal experiences. They poisoned my home many years ago, and if it wasn’t for the Lord of Twilight, I would be dead along with everyone else.”
I couldn’t really decipher what the crowd was thinking about my claims. It was difficult to read expressions that only existed on half a face, and impossible to read them on those who barely even had any flesh on their face anymore. If they decided I wasn’t telling the truth, then it would be almost impossible for me to continue with this plan of mine.
“If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, but I speak the truth. I came here to ask for your help in stopping these people. Justice demands they answer for their crimes, and I don’t want to see another village burned in their sick experiments. I would ask you to help me find those who are spreading these plagues and stop them. It will be dangerous, and if you would aid me, I would be eternally grateful, but if it is too much to ask, then I will set you free from your bindings of flesh and bone.”
I waited, ever so painfully, for them to make their decision. It was almost like a silent conversation was taking place between them as they looked between themselves for any signs of agreement. For a minute I thought that no one would step up to the task, and I couldn’t blame them. But then, to my surprise, one individual stepped forward.
The dead man looked to have passed some months ago with rotted holes opening over his body. He was probably handsome once, but now he made for a grisly sight. Still, he was beautiful in that moment to me as he came up and then fell to one knee like a knight accepting a task from a king.
With his action came a wave of others who followed. Most of the crowd stepped forward to kneel before me in a silent, resolute show of acceptance. I couldn’t help but smile, joy blossoming in me as a response to these magnanimous people who would risk their afterlives to protect others.
I reached out a hand to the first man who kneeled. He looked up at me and gave me a nearly full smile due to one side of his face being open before grasping my hand. Pulling him to his feet, I felt confidence rising within me.
“We won’t let them hurt anyone else.”