Darian ducked into the musty building, Gorm waiting inside.
“Over there,” he said, pointing with his axe at a chest in the corner.
Darian started approaching it, but Gorm held him back.
“Could be trapped. It’s why I called you.”
“Trapped?” Darian squinted at the squat chest. “Why do you think that?”
“Never trust wizards,” he said. “No offence.”
“I’m not a wizard,” Darian retorted. “But what kind of trap am I supposed to help with?”
“Probably a magical one, if I had to guess.”
Darian stepped forward, Gorm eyeing the chest suspiciously. He activated [Detect Magic], blue light flooding from his body. As it settled on the room, it was drawn to the chest, but the chest itself wasn’t glowing. Meaning, whatever is inside is magical.
“Something with magic is inside the chest,” Darian said.
“Well, got any safe ways of cracking it open?”
“None that I can think of.”
“Harper could do it, but I’d rather not hear her complain.” Gorm pushed Darian back. “Stand over there, but be ready with a potion or something in case this thing explodes.” He maneuvered the upper blade of his axe under the lid, working his shoulders to pop it free little by little.
Then he gave it a sudden jerk, leaping back as the room flooded with purple light.
“What is that?” Darian asked, shielding his eyes with his left hand.
Gorm inched closer with his axe held up like he was going to hack at the light if it looking at him funny.
“Nether crystals,” Gorm said. “And charged ones.”
Same things we found in the cave under the fort. “Are they worth anything?”
Gorm nodded. “Not to most decent folk, but necromancers and the like will buy them at a high price.” He grabbed the top of the chest and shut it gently. “But they’re highly volatile, prone to explode if you handle them wrong. Best to leave them here. I don’t want us blown to bits because Gustan thinks he can carry them through a battle.”
“Could we use them as weapons?”
“No. They’re full of negative energy. The undead would probably just heal from the bastards.” He pointed at some etchings on the stone floor nearby. “They probably planned on using them to summon undead from the Nether.”
“The Nether?”
Gorm blinked at him. “You really don’t know much about anything, do you?” He stepped back from the chest, his axe slung over his shoulder. “It’s the realm of the dead, and it’s from where necromancers summon their minions. Place loves to eat negative energy, so they offer it to the realm in exchange for servants. But stronger undead are made from real corpses, though those require time and skill.” He glared at the circle, his bottom lip curling in disgust. “We’re lucky we got here before they started summoning. A few more bodies here and we would have been in trouble.” He touched his arm, the flesh still puffy and red from a potion mended wound. “We’ve been lucky so far, but we need to be more careful next time.”
Darian recalled how some kind of rage had consumed Gorm when the battle started. But he kept his thoughts of safety to himself and agreed with the half-orc.
“I think I can hear someone calling my name,” Gorm said, his shoulder slumping. “It never ends with that woman, I swear…”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Darian waited until Gorm was gone before he opened the chest. My inventory should be a safe place to store these, right? Bringing up the menu made him realize just how much useless junk was inside it. I really need to remember to clean this thing out. The crystals were light, so he decided to put the entire chest’s contents into his inventory. Since he healed from negative energy, they could be used as a last-ditch attempt at healing himself. Plus, he wasn’t against trying to sell them once his time in the forest was over. Figure I’ll need gold, eventually.
He stood up and was heading for the door when he heard Fria shouting.
“Undead approaching!” she screamed, something rumbling the ground.
Darian burst through the open doorway, sword ready. Two Bone Knights were charging Fria, Zan heading to cut them off. Gorm was shielding Harper and Gustan from a large, armored undead that lumbered at them with what looked like spears floating by its head. Activating [Bulwark] to strengthen his defenses, Darian rushed to Fria’s aid.
She rolled in the mud past him, the two Bone Knights engulfed in a purple haze, their movements faster than normal. As Darian blocked an axe swing, he saw another undead standing behind the rest. He was tall and covered in dark iron armor, a mace in one hand and a shield in the other. His eyes blazed blue as he slowly advanced.
Zan yelped, the other bone knight’s boot crunching into his ribs. Darian pushed the axe free from his sword and dashed into Zan’s opponent, his sword cracking into the monster’s armored forearm. He pulled back, both knights coming at him at once. Then he heard Fria’s hissing breath, and he ducked, [Omni Element] speeding over him to explode against a Bone Knight's chest.
The arrow opened a sizzling hole in the knight’s armor, and Darian wreathed his blade in electricity as he shoved it inside, the blow enhanced with [Determined Strike]. Bone gave way from the piercing attack, and the Bone Knight swung with its massive shield, catching Darian on the shoulder.
Knocked back, the second Bone Knight came at Darian with an overhead chop. He brought his sword up to block it, but something stabbed into his leg, and he buckled. The axe crashed into his weak grip, Darian able to summon just enough force to keep from being cut in half. But a new enemy was coming at him from behind the rest, tall like the Bone Knights, but its body writhed in solid shadow, its green eyes narrowed behind its iron helmet.
Zan bit into the Bone Knight’s leg, snarling as he pulled it off balance. Darian let the axe slide down his sword and stepped back, a flaming spear smashing the Knight in the face before an electric arrow to the chest sent it to the dirt. But the second Bone Knight wasn’t giving him a chance to regain his balance. It swung its shield at Darian, the massive bulk sending him crashing into the mud.
As he lay there, he caught sight of a solid purple spike jutting from his thigh. Reaching down, he tore it free as he snarled, an axe coming straight down at him. But before the blow could land, Gorm was there, his axe barely catching the strike in time. Darian silently thanked the half-orc as he rolled between the Bone Knight’s legs, his sword striking at the exposed spaces behind its knees.
It buckled and Darian jumped to the side, more dark spears flying from the approaching monster. And just when Darian managed to get his feet under him, the smaller skeleton was there, his mace slipping past Darian’s weak guard to smash his shoulder. The pain spread all the way to Darian’s toes, and he dropped his sword, jumping away just as another thunderous blow nearly cracked his skull.
The skeleton lowered and then burst forward with incredible speed. Darian brought his arms up, taking the blow right above his elbows. Both arms went numb, and he stumbled back. The creature went for another swing, but it was too wide. Darian stepped in close and grabbed the skeleton around the back of the head with his left hand, his right arm pressed uselessly between them. This close, the skeleton couldn’t swing his mace, and Darian hit him with [Corrosive Touch], the monster’s helmet melting beneath his palm.
From behind it, Darian saw Gorm, Fria and Zan had finished off the two Bone knights and were busy fighting the larger, shadow covered knight. He couldn’t see Harper or Gustan, but he could hear them fighting behind him. No one to help me. Darian pivoted with all his strength, doing his best to throw the skeleton to the ground. But he was too strong, and instead it forced Darian’s grip to loosen, and he was pushed back.
Darian activated [Summon Zombie Horde], shadows spreading from beneath him. Should've led with that. But he lacked mastery of his abilities, and with the fight starting so suddenly, the temporary skill had slipped his mind. But the sudden appearance of six zombies gave the beast pause, and it attempted to retreat.
Not caring if someone saw, Darian pulled the Strengthening staff from his inventory and activated it twice, boosting two of the zombies so suddenly they surprised his opponent. They fell on him snarling and biting, pulling his shield from his arm. He bashed at them, crushing one’s head after only two strikes. But their numbers proved too much, and he fell back, his mace torn from his grip.
You’re finished. The skeleton, now without a weapon, raised his left arm, dark energy bursting from it to surround his body. But whatever you did, it won’t be enough to stop all of them. Then the skeleton turned and ran in the other direction.
“Don’t let him get away!” Gorm said, veins on his neck pulsing as he and the knight pushed against each other’s weapons. “He’ll warn the rest!”
Darian rushed around his zombies, the skeleton splashing into the murky water along the ruined road. The monster didn’t get far before a horde of small green creatures came rushing at it from the darkness.