The soles of Finn's leather boots squished and squashed as they repeated pressed into mud. The rain had started slowly at first, but now it pelted in big, heavy drops. Lightening flashed a few miles away, as the thunder roared in response. The sky was a mix of purples and gray as dusk fell. A little furry face poked out of Finn's pack. The soggy ferret was not enjoying the weather and looked like wet noodle of fur. A lightening strike danced reflections off Kasen's armor and Ferrety ducked deeper into the pack for safety.
The duo, trio counting Ferrety, had left the small town three mornings ago and were making their way to the large castle city, Welspring. Heart trade and commerce of the region. Kasen had agreed to travel to Welspring with Finn, although he was not certain how welcome he would be, as he was dismissed from the king of Welspring's service. Finn figured a place as large and populated as Welspring, would lead him to exciting adventurers and infinite opportunity. But he would have to make it there first.
"Finn, we need to find shelter from this storm." Kasen yelled over the din of the storm.
As if the words willed it into existence, the silhouette of a large building was briefly visible in the rapid flashes from a branching lightening strike.
"There! There's a house over there! We can shelter inside for the night." Finn replied.
As they neared the building they saw it was a two-story stone manor. The cragged roof was splotched with deteriorated voids. The corner of a room on the second floor had a wall collapsed from decades of neglect. Vines and weeds crawled their way up the walls and over the roof. They came to the door and found that it was shut. Finn reached to the latch, certain the door would be jammed shut by corrosion and detritus and readied himself to slam his weight into it. To his surprise, the entry door swung open freely with almost no effort.
They quickly made their way into the old building to get out of the pouring rain, as it now came down in stinging sheets. It was dark inside, extremely dark. The two could hardly see each other, except for the brief flashes of lightening slipping in through windows and random seams in the walls. Finn pulled a small torch from his pack along with his flint and curved steel striker. Finn wrapped a small piece of oiled cloth on the edge of the flint and struck with the steel, producing a small spray of sparks. The cloth smoldered and quickly took flame, which ignited his torch.
They looked around the dilapidated foyer. A room branched off to the left, a stair way ascended to the right , and in the back of the corridor, nest to the stair way, was a closed door.
"This should keep us dry at least. Looks like nobody is home, or has been for a long time," Kasen said as he lit his torch on Finn's. "Let's find a place to dry out and sleep."
"Yeah, lets check this place out." Finn replied. "Make sure no animals moved in."
Finn followed Kasen into the room on the left. A portion of the exterior wall was crumbled away and a portion of the ceiling was caved in. Remnants of a table and bench seating lay as splintered timbers among the rubble. Finn thought he hard the tinking of metal against stone from the stair way.
"You hear that? It sounded like it came from upstairs." Finn asked.
"What? I don't hear anything but this storm."
"I'm going upstairs to check it out." said Finn as he dropped his pack, leaving Ferrety with it.
Finn held the torch out as he gripped his dagger as he climbed the curved stair, which leg to a corridor that ended with a windowed wall. Two door ways lined the right side of the hallway, the first had a closed door, while the second had its door fallen from its hinges in the corridor. He faintly heard Kasen shuffling some items around in the foyer, likely setting up a bivouac for the night.
He came to the first door and slowly pushed the door open with a foot, peering into the room as the flickering flames of his torch lapped at the inky darkness. A wooden bed frame sat centered in the room adorned with rotten ribbons of cloth. A dusty shelf lined the wall and various junk and debris littered the floor. Finn sighed in relief that no beasts or dangerous animals had made this area its den.
Finn took a two steps back, leaving the empty room. To his left, Finn heard a noise that sounded like a stag antler skipping across a stone wall. Lightening clashed nearby, flashing into the hallway through the small window. In the corner of his vision through the white flashes of light, Finn glimpsed the silhouette of a gangly human-like form. He snapped his head toward the form and pushed the torch out quickly. In an instant, he felt his heart flutter as is brain processed the thing he saw. We was at first drawn to the deep pits in the head were eyes should be and the hole where one would expect a nose. It was a skull. And the skull moved closer.
It wasn't just a skull, Finn rapidly realized. It was an entire human skeleton and it was walking toward him!
Finn stepped back just in time as the rusty blade of a sword narrowly missed his neck before clanking into the stone wall. With a quick step, Finn thrust his dagger into the heart of the skeleton. When the dagger slid between to ivory ribs, he was instantly reminded skeletons don't have hearts.
"Uh, Oh." Finn let our involuntarily.
The skeleton raised the sword and brought it down to cut Finn. Finn sidestepped, dodging the blade. A follow up stabbing thrust was narrowly avoided when twisting his body. Finn was on the defensive, all of his focus was on avoiding the slashes and stabs, he hadn't even thought of how it was possible a skeleton could be animated and weld a sword. The torch light gleamed from the armor as the knight hurried past Finn in the narrow corridor. Kasen ran full speed into the skeleton, bashing it with his shield. The sudden impact pushed the creature back several feet, and some of its bones seemed to separate before springing back together. The rusty sword smacked into Kasen's shield and the two exchanged blows until Kasen's longsword cleaved the skeleton from its shoulder to its hip. The bones collapsed into a loose pile on the stone floor.
"Thanks for that," Finn said as he made his bow ready.
"Bones of the dead swinging swords," Kasen said dryly. "Not something I expected."
"Yeah… it almost got me."
Liches, wights, zombies, banshees, Finn was even fairly sure he had read about shape-shifting undead that gained vitality by drinking the blood of humans. But Finn could not remember ever reading about weapon wielding and walking skeletons.
As Finn and Kasen were standing there discussing whether they should search the house or venture back into the stormy night, a clattering noise grew. They looked back at the pile of bones. They swirled and snapped back in place, forming a foot, a ribcage, legs and a hand, as if the unseen hands were recreating the dusty remains. The skeleton stood again, with a the sword in its hand as its head cracked into place and the jaw hinged into its sockets.
Finn wasted no time releasing an arrow which sent ribs flying from the skeleton. Kasen swung twice, snapping bones and causing the skeleton to again collapse into a loose scattering of remains. Finn and Kasen readied themselves for the creature to reconstruct itself. After a brief period of dormancy, the skeleton reconstructed.
Finn had special arrow nocked and drawn. The tip of the arrow was not pointed, but had a blunted iron head, intended to cause blunt trauma. Although the skeleton was close, its was dark in the hallway, causing Finn to be mindful of his aim. He released the arrow. The arrow smashed through the forehead of the skeleton. The bones fell to dust, scattered into powdery grains onto the floor as the old sword clanged to a rest.
"I think that did it." Finn said. "You have to destroy the skull. I've never read about such a creature."
Kasen looked at the dusty remains. "That was unnatural. I fear this is the work of dark magics. Wicked and torturous. we should be careful. But I think you're right. Go for the skull."
Carefully, they examined the remaining room on the second floor, finding nothing. After descending the stairs, they came to face the closed door. Finn saw Ferrety rummaging through Kasen's pack, likely looking for food as well as a place to hide. Seeing Ferrety burrow away didn't put Finn at ease.
After a quick nod back and forth, Finn and Kasen opened the door. Stone stairs descending and curved into the grim darkness of the basement as Kasen lead the way with his torch jammed into the handle of his shield. The stairs led to a small stone walled, barren store room. Flickering flame light seeped from under a door on the far side of the room. Kasen walked most of the way to the door when a sudden motion caught his attention. Kasen reflexively crouched into a fighting stance which caused the spear tip to strike his shield. Two skeletons emerged from the shadows on either side of the door. One wielded a spear and an old round-shield, the other was armed a curved bow.
An arrow whizzed by Finn's head before shattering on the wall behind him. Finn rolled down the remaining steps a reached for an arrow. Now aware of the threat, Kasen easily blocked another thrust of the skeleton's spear with his shield. Finn shot an arrow at opposing archer, send shards of bone airborne. With a swing of his shield, Kasen swept the spear aside, presenting an opening for his sword to smash through the brittle bones. The spear clattered to the ground among the scatter remains of the skeleton. Just as the skull shuttered and began to reconstruct, a boot crashed through it, causing the remains to fall to dust.
Finn aimed for skull of the archer, but had to abandon his shot, to duck an incoming arrow. Kasen quickly closed with the enemy and severed the left arm of the skeleton at the elbow with a mighty downward swing of his longsword. The hand, still gripping the bow, fell to the packed dirt floor. A backhanded blow sent the pommel of the longsword into the nasal cavity of the skeleton's skull, instantly turned the bones into heavy particulate. Kasen stayed by the door and Finn quickly checked dark corners of the room for more enemies, but found none. Finn approached the door by Kasen's side. The light from under the danced across their feet. Through the door, they could hear voices, no a voice. Finn could hear what was being said, but didn't understand it. It was unlike any language he had heard or studied. The voice was male and seemed to be chanting more than speaking. It caused an uneasy feeling to develop in Finn's chest. He swallowed that feeling down to the pit of his stomach.
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Finn readied bola arrow, designed to ensnare, and gave Kasen a tight nod. Kasen steeled himself and pushed the door open, spilling inside first as he was the most armored and skilled at melee of the two. Flames danced in two braziers one opposite sides of the room. Centered in the room was table with a large form resting on it and a hooded figure standing behind the table with hands clasped above their head. It was a man, chanted over the form on the table. Black wisps of shadows seemed to emanate from his hidden eyes under the cloak. Two skeleton warriors turned to face the intruders, one held a curved scimitar and a corroded bronze shield and the other wielded a crude war axe and a rusty helm. A large pile of bones on the floor raised on four clawed legs. Finn instantly recognize the wide skull of the quadrupedal skeleton as that of a forest bear. It let out a silent roar as it focused on Kasen.
Kasen never so much as paused as he entered the room. He flowed like a raging river towards the closest threat armed with a scimitar. In a flurry of violence Kasen panged his longsword against the scimitar and smashed his blade through his foes skull, transforming the threat to bone meal. The massive bear skeleton started began its charge at Kasen as Finn released his arrow. The two tethered balls on the arrow head separated and wrapped around the front legs of the bear, causing it slam forward under its own weight and momentum. Finn glanced behind the bear at the form on the table. It was vaguely human shaped, but larger and grotesque. It appeared to be cobbled together from the flesh of several creatures. The chanting man held a dark blade in his hands raised above the fleshy mass. Finn didn't know what was happening or what would happen, but he knew it was wrong. He knew he had stop the hooded man fast.
"Kasen, we have to stop him before he can finish," Finn found himself yelling out, not even knowing what the man was trying to complete.
The helmeted skeleton surged toward Finn with his axe raised to attack. The skeleton swung the axe at the hunter. Finn saw the the blow coming but could only try to block the blow with his bow. Finn braced for the blow, as a shield smashed into the side of the skeleton sending it careening away as the knight drove his momentum into the the attacker. Finn took the sudden opening to quickly release an arrow at the dark robed man. The arrow struck him in his chest, causing him to stumble in pain and drop the dagger on the ground. Cords strained and snapped as the bear jaws cut the tether of the bola. It was back on its massive bone paws. In his periphery, Finn saw Kasen in a bit of a scrap with the skeleton. Kasen was repeatedly bashing the skeleton's head against the stone wall, but the helmet prevented the skull from be pulverized by Kasen's immense strength. Finn haphazardly pulled an arrow from his quiver, believing it to be a blunt arrow like he used before. He rapidly pulled and released the arrow on instinct alone, hitting the orbital socket where the bear's eye was when it was a being of flesh and blood. Flames erupted from the orifices of the ursine skull, creating a hellish scene. In his rush, Finn grabbed one of his special fire arrows. The fire arrows each contained a small container of oil that would shatter and ignite of contact. The bear roared silently in pain and anger with burning drool-like globs of oil falling like slobber from its charred jaw. Even though he failed to shatter the beast skull, Finn could tell he caused significant damage to the ursine skeleton. The bear charged at the hunter, swiping downward with its massive claws. Finn side stepped and evaded the first blow. The follow up swipe was nearly dodged, but the glancing blow still drove Finn to the ground. His shoulder throbbed in with pain. The smoldering jaws opened unnaturally wide as the bear lunged down to find purchase in Finn’s flesh. Finn raised his bow in time for the skeleton’s molars to grind against into the hardwood. Straining against the weight of the undead bear, Finn pressed with both hands in a panic to prevent the incisors from ripping into his flesh. The bear drove Finn into the wall, snapping and grinding its teeth against the bow in its maw. Finn pulled his dagger from his waist and drove it into the the temple of the bear skull. The skeletal bear turned rolled its head away in phantom pain. Finn kept his grip on the weapon and it snapped at the hilt, leaving the blade embedded in the bone.
Kasen bashed the head of the skeleton in the stone wall, again and again, until the deteriorated helmet crumpled inwards and shattered the skull. Kasen’s opponent turned to dust. Kasen quickly scanned the battlefield in the room. Through the flames of the brazier, he saw the man pull an arrow from his chest and raise his dagger over the large form laying on the table. To the right, Kasen saw Finn struggling not to be torn apart by the bear. The man resumed his strange chanting by the table, black streams of darkness swirled around him. Whatever he was doing, Kasen knew it had to be stopped, but he was conflicted as his friend needed help. Kasen had to act.
The longsword cut through through the air as it arched toward its target. A grizzly crunch echoed in the room when the blade cut and shattered vertebrae. The jaws remained clamped on the bow, but the violent weight behind the biting disappeared. The thick bones of the forest bear sunk to a pile on the floor.
“Now, Finn! Stop him now!” Kasen yelled.
The strangely-tongued words became disturbingly loud and sounded deep and booming. Unnatural speech for any human. The robed man hand the dark-bladed dagger above his head, and sliced his palm to the bone. Finn shook the bear skull from his bow, drew an arrow tight against the string, and released in one fluid motion. The arrow hit the man squarely in his throat. He held his bleeding hand out, over the fleshy figure on the table and smiled. As the blood flowed from his hand, he made a gurgling noise and collapsed lifelessly with a bloody grin. Kasen had just finished pulverizing the bear skull, eliminating the final skeleton when Finn saw it.
The man’s blood that fell to the flesh on the table began to smoke. It was a black smoke, almost as if made of shadow itself. He quickly realized the dark smoke wasn’t coming from the flesh, but going into it.
“Kasen.” Finn gestured to the sight on the table.
“What in the…”
The large form on the table started to move. It had two legs, two arms, a large torso, and a strange hunk of flesh for a head. The thing was made of mismatched body parts sewn crudely together. Some parts were clearly human, while others where covered in various furs.
“Its a golem, made from flesh.”
The golem slowly moved its lumbering form from the table and began to stand. The light from the two braziers illuminated the horrendous monstrosity.
“Burn it!” Finn yelled.
He drew an arrow as hard of he could and released it, aiming low. The arrow pierced the creature’s foot and continued several inches into the hard dirt floor. The golem took another step and Finn expertly sent an arrow pinning that foot as well. Kasen was sure the golem would break free from the pinning arrows in an instant, he was surprised to see it stumble. He took the opportunity to ram the brazier with his shield sending the flaming debris directly onto the golem. It instantly took aflame and released a mouthless scream as it flailed. Finn placed three more arrows into the flesh construct before Kasen kicked the contents of the second brazier onto the golem. The flesh split as is charred. Unable to walk or run, the golem writhed until it collapsed in a burning mound of flesh. The sweet and putrid smell turned Finn’s stomach. Kasen hacked away large chunks of flesh until he was satisfied the thing was dead or other defeated as he was unsure if it was even alive.
The two walked behind to check on the strange man. He was unmoving and clearly defeated. His face wore a bloody grin. His skin was pale and head was bald. The man was thin to the point of being emaciated. The dagger with its pitch black blade lay by his side.
“Black magic. Evil stuff. Even though I am no longer in the service, I am bound by my personal honor to face this kind of wickedness,” Kasen said. “This one is a necromancer. They called upon the dead to do their will. I have never faced one before, but this darkness is unquestionably the result of necromancy.”
“Well, now we know. Go for the skulls,” Finn replied.
Finn reached down and plucked the dagger. He turned the blade in his hand to see the light of the flames dance on its edge. It was so dark, it seemed to absorb the light, except for were the crimson blood was. This dagger was roughly shaped like the one that lay in two on the floor. He wiped clean the blade on the rope of the necromancer and tucked it into his belt.
“You’re not going to keep that are you,” Kasen asked incredulously.
“Yep. Looks sharp and I need a new dagger.”
Finn and Kasen returned up stairs to the foyer after verifying there were no remaining threats in the basement. The storm had picked up in intensity. The wind howled through the many openings of the house and rain pelted the door in sheets. The foyer, however, remained dry. Ferrety poked head out of a pack on the floor.
“I don’t think we have much choice, but to stay here,” Finn said.
Kasen begrudging agreed. Finn and Kasen wedged some deteriorated furniture against the door to the basement, still being uneasy about what they had just gone through.
“Let’s set up a watch,” suggested Finn.
“Right.”
“You can have first watch. I’m exhausted,” Finn exclaimed as he readied his bedroll.
Kasen could only watch in disbelief as his new companion laid down and fell asleep, as if the night’s events were completely normal happenings. He saw Ferrety leave the pack and curl up under Finn’s arm. Finn’s cavalier attitude regarding their recent deadly encounters was confusing to Kasen. After a moments thought, Kasen began thinking about what horrid pitfall would come next for him if he continued traveling with this young, rash hunter. The thought formed a smile at the corner of his mouth.