Navigating Fort Bane was a rather laborious process. As it happened, time and the elements had caused some of the corridors and rooms to collapse, blocking the ways off entirely. No matter how sturdy a building was, it needed some degree of maintenance. Particularly when the environment was as harsh as the eastern mountains.

And, ultimately, Riley had to take a few strange routes in order to navigate the upper levels. Supplies, as ever, were rare to come upon. He did, however, find a few pouches filled with strange electrum coins. He made a point to stash them in his Inventory, just in case.

He didn’t know what passed for legal tender in these parts, but those coins certainly looked the part. And it would be best to have at least a few of them on hand, if he came upon anything worth buying. He considered himself a cautious man, generally speaking, and wanted to cover his bases now more than ever.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he found little in the realm of more enemies to fight. As such he grabbed little extra Essence. Certainly not enough to boost another of his stats.

He found one more Lodestone just as the sun began to set on the horizon, sending rays of red and orange light through the windows. He thought little of it, until he moved around the corner from the Lodestone and found a doorway that led into a massive entrance hall.

From where Riley stood, he could see the doorway on the opposite side of the room lit with the fast-fading sunlight. Beyond that there was a vast and winding road, stretching off to parts unknown. His road to freedom.

Riley took a single step into the room, only to freeze up again. His eyes were drawn away from the vast, frost-encrusted doorway, to a figure he hadn’t noticed in his initial excitement. A man hunched in the shadows, his back to Riley.

Even crouched as he was, he was a towering figure rendered larger by his rusted plate armour and the black fur mantle spread across his broad shoulders. He was huge, big enough that he could have lifted a spearman in either hand as if they were made of cloth.

Riley inched closer, passing through the doorway entirely. He got a better look at the armoured man, paying particular attention to the grilled leg of meat clutched in his hands. A horse leg, or that of a deer, judging by the broad hoof it was sporting. The figure was focused on it entirely, growling and snarling as he bit great, bloody chunks right off the bone.

Another soldier, that much was obvious at a glance. But he looked far more formidable than the grunts Riley had seen thus far. And he seemed to still have his wits about him, compared to the half-insane wretches that stalked the halls of Fort Bane.

And he decided, in that moment, that no amount of Essence was worth picking a fight with the hulking figure. He swallowed hard, his back to the wall as he tried to move to the door as slowly and as quietly as he could. The man was eating so loudly that Riley doubted he could hear much of anything.

Or so he thought.

“Another deserter?” the towering figure asked, his voice a harsh rasp. He turned his head, the antlers on the sides of his helmet casting a twisted shadow on the wall, and spat out a chunk of bone. “Or did you crawl out of the gaol?”

The stranger rose to his feet, and Riley froze in place as he realised this man loomed more than two heads taller than him. “It doesn’t matter,” he eventually said. He turned to face Riley, his breastplate marred by a series of scratches and scars. His face was largely concealed by a shaggy black and white beard. But Riley could just barely see black pustules framing his left eye.

“I’m not...” Riley swallowed hard. This man could talk, then surely he was more rational than the people Riley had dealt with thus far? At least, he had to hope he could talk his way out of this. “I’m not a soldier here. Or a prisoner. I just want to leave.”

Baleful blue eyes glared at him. The towering man reached down, pulling a mighty axe into his hands. It was a beast of a thing that dwarfed Riley’s hatchet. One half of the blades had been snapped off, but the remaining edge seemed more than lethal enough to make up the difference.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I am Commander Klaus, the lord of Fort Bane. I decide who leaves, and who stays. And until we receive orders from the capital...” He turned to fully face Riley. In that moment he could see the hacked up remains of several soldiers behind the horned figure. “Nobody leaves.”

Commander Klaus, Stag of the East.

The horned figure raced toward Riley in a sudden burst of speed, the ground shaking under the weight of his armoured boots. Riley flung himself to the side, only barely avoiding a slash that would have bisected him at the waist. “Jesus!” he shouted, scrambling to his feet and rushing away from another swing. The air screamed around the blade of Klaus’ malformed axe.

He may have been huge, and decked from head to toe in tarnished steel, but Klaus was shockingly fast. Getting a chance to even hit him felt like a distant prospect.

Riley’s chest rose and fell with panicked breaths as he swept his staff toward the armoured man, launching a cloud of Blinding Mist at Klaus. He snarled and recoiled, a gauntleted hand pressing to his eyes. He stumbled and swung wildly, the force of his swings dispersing the cloud.

The temptation to make a break for the door was strong, but Riley knew it would be foolish to try. Can’t outrun this guy. I try to run, he’ll chase me down. I... oh shit I’m actually gonna have to fight him!

How unfortunate, then, that Klaus seemed a hundred times more dangerous than anything Riley had faced thus far.

Nevertheless he steeled his nerves and charged Klaus’ exposed back. His hatchet repeatedly struck against the damaged portions of Klaus’ breastplate, kicking up a few sparks and sprays of blood. But Klaus barely even stumbled, as if he didn’t feel the impacts and all.

Riley threw himself to the ground as Klaus swung around at him, the air rushing around his axe. “Shit, shit!” he huffed, jumping to avoid a crushing downward swing. The impact still kicked up a powerful shock wave, flinging Riley a considerable distance across the entrance hall.

Klaus huffed and spat on the floor. The effects of the mist had already warn off, the flesh around his eyes raw and bleeding. “One of Aqar’Ghul’s dogs. A servant of the Bitch Queen herself! Killing you will be doing another service for the empire!”

“Wait, wait, I don’t serve any-”

Klaus stomped the ground, fracturing a chunk of the stone floor. The power behind his foot unleashed another shock wave, flinging Riley off his feet. He landed harshly on his stomach, all the air being shunted from his lungs.

Well, he supposed he was dressed like some kind of evil priest.

Riley tried to scramble to his feet, just in time to see a great axe blade rushing toward his neck.

DEATH.

Riley opened his eyes and found himself seated by the Lodestone in the courtyard. Chilly wind buffeted him from all sides, while great lack birds cawed and flew high above him. He let out an annoyed sigh, his shoulders sagging.

“Great,” he muttered. That guy was built like a tank, and had the mental capacity of one too. Trying to fight him seemed impossible, and suicidal to boot.

But he had scouted every other part of Fort Bane he could get to, and the path through Klaus was the only way out. If he wanted to get free of this damn place, that overgrown maniac had to die.

Riley struggled to his feet, resting his weight against his staff.

“Well... that could have gone better. But it was a valiant first attempt!”

Arubis, as ever, stood a few meters from him. Being some kind of spirit made it easier to come and go as she pleased. She didn’t need to die to return to the Lodestone.

“I’m not exactly in a rush to fight him again. But it seems like that’s my only option.” What could he have possibly done in life to deserve this as an afterlife?

A scurrying sound hit his ear. Riley turned to the source, tensing until he realised it was just a rat poking his head from a nearby bush. Their eyes met for several long seconds. The rat didn’t move.

Huffing, Riley turned his attention back to Arubis. “Any ideas?” he asked.

“I am no fighter, unfortunately, my aid is limited. But it is clear that the Rot runs deep through Klaus’ veins. He was once a proud and noble warrior, yet now his flesh is a conduit for a foul power. In some respects, this makes him more dangerous than ever. But... in other regards, he is weaker.”

Riley narrowed his eyes behind the lenses of his mask. “How do you figure?”

“The Rot is... incompatible with mortal flesh. It is a vile cancer, warping the living. The host is rendered far stronger than normal, yet this strength comes at cost. The blighted matter gnawing at their flesh, rotting them from the inside out. The more he is consumed by it...”

“The weaker he’ll get. Huh. So even if I die fighting him, he doesn’t heal or anything?" Although he had to question the cancer comparison. Any cancer patient Riley had known couldn't throw hands in the way Klaus could.

“Only if he has the time and means to do so.” She grimaced. “But few thing withstand the Rot for long.”

Riley considered this, resting a hand under his chin. He supposed he had an advantage of some kind against Klaus. So long as he didn’t give up, so long as he just kept flinging himself at that brick shithouse, he’d eventually come out on top.

In theory, anyway.

He sighed, hefting his hatchet in his right hand, and slowly made for the entrance hall again. “Okay. Round two.”