A Dwarf's Tale: Will of a Silver Coin

The morning came. I expected to wake up with a sense of pure dread. Instead, I woke up with the feelings of hope. I thought at one point that is a difference between dwarves and humans. But I remember Samos’s dwarves. They too, lost their spirit at one point. Perhaps I just haven’t reached that darkened pit. Or maybe I am insane. If I am insane, may my insanity see all of us through this. I’ll worry about personal consequences later. Getting up, I checked my gear. My worg armor, I looked with surprise. It was pristine. There was no dust, no blood, no arrow holes. Talma. I am betting she worked throughout the night to restore my armor. My weapons were equally cleaned and polished too. That woman either has silent footsteps, or, I was more out of it than I figured. Regardless of the reason, I was glad and smiled. I remember her tenderness last evening. She was a woman restored. And, if anyone else is going to fight as fiercely as I will, it will be her.

Can I honestly say that? Everyone in that room last night has had their second chance. No matter the outcome, their determination will be as fierce, perhaps more so, than mine. I underestimate people sometimes. Ever since my ‘rebirth’, I have been fighting. But I haven’t fought for personal reasons. It has been for others. Well, Torid-then known as Pox, was somewhat personal. But that quickly changed. This venture, was for everyone. This time, I had a personal stake in this too. This vampire, reached out and slaughtered my kin. I felt no compunction before, and now, I feel even less. This blight had to be eradicated.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. Right now, it was time to focus. I rechecked my weapons and found it to my satisfaction. I donned my armor and checked my bags and backpack. I thought about this. We will need to be as light as possible. Stealth will be more key here than gear. The bastard sword and the dwarven two handed axe were givens. I was going to take those. I looked at my bow. The bow, would have very little good in where we were going. So, I left that behind. The same would be for my daggers and hatchet. I do choose to take my staff however. That will be extremely useful. A thought came to me. The silver knife that I hid months ago, I brought that out. For some reason, my instinct was to take it. Why, I do not know. I’ve learned to trust my instincts however. The knife was relatively so small and slender, I put that inside of my right boot. It concealed itself nicely. I put on my backpack, took my weapons, and headed out the door.

Seems like I was the late one this morning. Kosser, Woodard, Tyna, and Torid were already there with Calvin and Talma. I greeted everyone, as they had greeted me. “Looks like all of you are ready.”

“Not quite my boy. Torid is lacking weapons. The magical kind. I just do not know what he could use.”

“I do. Calvin, do you still have the sword and mace that I gathered from the orc raiding party?”

“Yes. Those weapons are out in the barn. “

“Those would be perfect for him, especially the mace.”

Calvin nodded and went off to get those weapons. I took an ale mug and fixed coffee. Kosser’s goblet was great, but there is nothing like fresh made coffee. I suppose I should really enjoy it, for we won’t be having any for a really long time. “What about Tyna?”

“What about me silly? Do you think I come not prepared?” I saw it now, a small bow with quiver with a small blade and club. Well, small to me, but just right for her. I have never seen pixie weapons before. Calvin returned from the barn with the serrated two handed sword and the two handed mace. He gave them to Torid, who tested the weapons. “These good weapons. We survive this, can I keep?” Calvin nodded, and Torid smiled his toothy grin. However, this time, it was in gratitude and not in malice. It may him seem more human than ogre now. “Thank you. I bash enemies good with this mace.”

We all partook in breakfast. A hearty meal is necessary. Pragmatism has to be observed. None of us talked much while we ate. There is one thing that Torid didn’t lose however-his appetite. In fact, did my eyes deceive me or was he even bigger and stronger than before? He ate a meal worthy of four people. He burped and finished, but this time, with manners excusing himself, and cleaned himself up. For a half ogre, he was becoming quite mannerly and respectable. “Talma, after fighting is over, you need to come to city to show cooks how to cook. Food was so good.” She smiled at Torid. He is even now complimenting. I shook my head and chuckled. It is amazing sometimes what comes about when someone is given a second chance.

“Torid, what do you do in Stalvinport now?”

“I train soldiers. I teach how to fight with no weapons. Bram make me officer. That is daytime. At night time, I stay with old woman. She helped make me get better after we fight. She teach me new things. She helps me, become myself. Human. People no more run away from me. Kids run to me. I play with them. Men have drinks with Torid. Women dance with Torid, but I dance bad. It fun though. Valice nice old woman.”

“Valice? I met her. You have been with her?”

“Yes. But, she cry when I left yesterday. I told her I sad too, but will come back. She said something with Greg. I don’t understand.”

Kosser coughed. “Torid, fifty years ago, Greg was supposed to be her husband. The vampires killed him.”

Torid’s expression changed. He looked angry and grim, ogrish, but then, there was a discipline this time. “Valice nice woman. Always sad. Vampires hurt her. I hurt vampires.”

In Torid’s mind, it was as simple as that. For him now, this was personal. It is still amazing to me. An old woman, wronged by this blight, has helped produce a fine gem from a lump of rock. That gem, wants revenge now. Torid stood up, slung the weapons over his broad shoulders. “We go. We get this done.” I guess we needed no further encouragement. Getting up and heading out the door, we all bade each other our goodbyes. Well, they did. I do not do goodbyes, only til we meet again. I got on my horse. I chose the chestnut filly. With her, and my steppe pony, these are good mounts. Tyna choose to ride with Kosser. Kosser had a special sling pouch for Tyna to ride in. Torid’s horse, was a strong draft horse. Not surprising given his size and bulk. We all waved and departed. I was glad of the secrecy. There was no need to alert everyone of what was going on-not yet.

We took off at a gallop. I had Woodard lead the way, as he would remember where the western woods were at. I told him we need to give a good wide berth of the city. I know there are spies and we need to circumvent those spies. He agreed to the simple part of this plan. The ride was uneventful. Kosser and Tyna were conversing. I heard bits and pieces of their conversation. They were talking about different spells. Was Tyna a spellcaster too? If so, that is an additional edge, however slight, on our side. How we were going to destroy the portals, I was relying completely on Kosser and Woodard. Torid and I, were the muscle, to keep things busy while they work on portal destruction.

After travelling for several hours, we came upon a thick forest. Woodard slowed to a canter, and we all did the same. “This, is where we entered the forest that evening. From here, it will be slow travels.” We nodded and proceeded into the forest. Even now, with no leaves, the trees were slowly getting thicker and thicker, blotting out the sun. Snow itself was becoming less and less, becoming none on the ground after ten minutes travelling in. The ground was actually starting to turn into pale green plant life.

“How plants here? No rain, no sun? Makes no sense.” Torid asked a very good question on this.

“They are blood plants. They feed off of the wildlife that dies here. Or anything else that dies here. These are the harmless ones. I think the dangerous ones are up ahead.”

Blood plants? “How did this come about Woodard?”

“Legend has it that a druid died in this area. But rather than go to the afterlife, he so loved this forest that he became an undead creature. I hunted for him in my younger days, but could never find him.”

“A druid huh? Tell me, about how long ago?”

“Hard to say. It was the time around the Great War.”

“Someone that a master vampire could do business with?”

Woodard stopped. We all did in turn. “I have never considered that. It is possible.”

“What did this undead druid look like?”

“Again, hard to say. Only glimpses have been spotted.”

“I say we keep our wits about us as we approach.”

Everyone pulled out a weapon and we proceeded further. I see the more dangerous blood plants now. Long thorns on plants and numerous vines were evident now. “I’d say we leave the horses back a few yards and proceed on foot. We can clear a path to this stone altar too.”

Everyone did as I suggested. “I’ll guard the horses if you don’t mind. This place gives me the creeps. It wouldn’t do any of us good if something happened to the horses as we get closer.”

“That is a good idea Tyna. First sign of trouble, get you and them out of here.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.”

We slowly made our way forward. Torid and I were cutting away the vines and the plants so that we can proceed. It was slower going and safer making progress. We have no idea if there are any poisons associated with these thorns and plants. Best to not take chances. We hacked our way for another twenty minutes. There was a very thick and thorny wall made of plants, vines, and small trees ahead. Woodard had stopped here, and examined it. “Yes, this is it. But there is no opening from when Talma and I burst through.”

“It grew back over it Woodard. That’s what plants do you know.” Kosser said with a light hearted voice.

“Or the undead druid repaired it. We should take extreme care.”

“Care or not care. Let’s just cut through. It is undead.” Torid was about to swing that huge blade.

“Wait Torid, wait.”

“What? Why wait?”

“You heard Woodard. It is an undead druid. Could be just about anything. But what if that druid isn’t evil, but trapped? Just like you were trapped by Kafil. Plus, what if we damage his place? We could be hurting him and then he attacks. The vampires had to get in and out a certain way. Let’s see if we can find it first. Torid, you cut to the right, and have Woodard go with you. Kosser, you are with me and we’ll go to the left. We’ll stop when we meet on the other side or if we find the opening.”

“Ok Tor. We do it your way.”

We started cutting the thorny brush and the vines around this wall. After about five minutes, we met on the other side. None of us finding an opening. “Ok, no open. We now cut.” And before I could stop Torid, he took his blade and slashed at the wooded wall. We waited for something to happen. Nothing did. He kept cutting. After a minute, he had hewn an opening large enough for him to safely pass through. He stepped in, and we followed. Inside, was the stone altar, as it was described by Talma. It was very dark inside. Kosser’s staff produced that magical sunlight. There was nothing except for the stone altar.

“So, where portal?”

I was sure it was here. I examined the altar. That is when I noticed: the ground here was smooth and there were faint scratch marks. “We have to move the altar. Here is the evidence. Torid, you want to help me with this?”

“Sure Tor.” We both gripped the altar and pushed in the direction I found the scratches. The altar budged. We heaved again, and it budged more. We heaved a third time, and there it was: stairs leading down. I descended the stairs slowly, followed by Kosser, then Woodard, and Torid bringing the rear. We descended down about thirty feet. From Kosser’s light, it opened up into a huge room, bigger than any in the vaults. I would guess you could fit three thousand troops in here, and triple that in undead. Yeah, this was a plan all right. But, like Torid asked: where is the portal? We walked around the perimeter of the room, and finally found it. It was the same type of portal in the vault with similar runes and glyphs. Kosser and Woodard set themselves to examine the portal. Torid and I kept watch. We were expecting to be beset by creatures at any moment. Sometime later, Woodard and Kosser did a joint incantation, and the portal crumbled into dust.

“Great job Kosser!”

“Couldn’t of done it without you ole chap.”

“Awww, nothing to smash.”

“Don’t worry Torid. We’ll be smashing things soon enough.”

“Ok.”

Suddenly, from the stairs, a faint light started to grow. We all gripped our weapons. “Torid, you may get your chance.”

The light grew, and then stopped. We all looked to each other with confused looks on our faces. I walked slowly to the base of the stairs. I looked up, and saw there was nothing there: except sunlight. “Um, things seem to be clear. I’m going up.” I walked carefully up the stairs, waiting to be attacked by something. I got to the surface, and there was still nothing attacking me. I did notice that the wooded wall of bramble disappeared, and that the tops of the trees shown sunlight. “Clear.” I clambered out of the stairs and back on solid ground. Everyone else got to the top and looked around as well. Shrugging, Torid and I pushed the stone altar back in place. When we did so, a soft light came from the altar. An image of a man in green robes appeared. He was a very old man, and looked to each one of us. “Thank you friends. Thank you for releasing the curse that has been in this glade for so long. Thank you for releasing me from this place. I can finally go and rest.”

“Were you the druid from the time of Cloverdale?”

“Yes, I am Shaybalith. Priest, I know you. You were the one who destroyed my body years ago. That was thanks enough, as I was twisted and turned into something most unnatural. I was content enough with that. But today, you came and finished that job. The woods are restored. And I am released. For this, I thank you most.”

“You are welcome Shaybalith. We work to undo the evil that has been in these lands for all these years.”

I could see the form disappearing. But, before it faded out, there was one last thing Shaybalith said. “Indeed. Then priest, you may have my staff. May it serve you well. Farewell priest. Farewell to you all.” Shaybalith disappeared, and on the altar, was indeed a staff. It was crafted from mahogany and there are several runes on it. Woodard took the staff and inspected it. “This staff, is an amazing item. Kosser, can you do a simple spell and aim it at the staff?”

“In light of what we are about to face Woodard, I prefer not to. I may need my spells. However, that is a fine curing staff there. It should serve you well.”

“So, it is that type of staff. Excellent. I shall leave this in the care of my wards at the church. Should this all go badly, at least the church shall continue.”

The foliage continued to change. The blood plants started to wither and die. I expect, by spring, this will be a lush forest again. We traced our steps back to Tyna and the horses, using the withering vines and withering bramble as our guide. Heading back, was much faster. “Don’t know what you guys did in there, but I already feel much better.”

“They lifted the curse here Tyna. Now, onto Stalvinport.”

We mounted our horses and cantered out. I told Woodard it would be best if we did a wide berth and came up from the south. In this way, spies will not suspect anything more than we are heading into town for town business. He nodded. Even though it took us an hour more rather than the minutes to travel several miles, I felt that discretion is better than detection. Approaching the south gate, I told everyone let us go our separate ways once in the city, but meet at the fishery in thirty minutes. Woodard needed to go to his church, and Tyna mentioned about getting something from her library. Kosser said he needed to buy a few things. Which left Torid and myself. “I want to go see Valice. I want to talk to her.” I was fine with that. We headed towards her small sewing shop. Surprisingly it was closed. Torid produced a key, and we walked inside. “Valice?”

“Torid, is that you?”

“Yes mom it is me.” Torid turned to me. “It feels good calling her mom. And she feels good too.”

Valice came out. “You are back! I am glad. And Tor, what a wonderful surprise! I have now two fine men in my house. It is my luckiest day.”

Torid took Valice gently and sat her down. “Mom, people told me what happened long ago. We are going off to stop these people.”

“Torid, please. I am old. Can I not have a little peace?”

“Mom, I did bad things. I sorry for people I hurt. This vampire, not sorry. Caused Mom pain. I want to punish vampire who never feels sorry for people he hurt.”

“I can’t talk you out of this can I?”

“No Mom, you can’t.”

“Tor, look after him. Please?”

“I will ma’am. I will look after all of them.”

“All of them? Who else?”

“Kosser, Woodard, and Tyna. We are going to right the wrongs.”

“Oh my. Torid, mind them. Listen to them. They will bring you back safely to me.”

“I will Mom. I will.”

“I..do not have long for this world. I do not want to die alone.”

“You no die mom. After we done, Woodard will make you better.”

“Torid, Woodard cannot heal old age. I am old. But that is ok.”

“Kosser can make you younger. I ask him.”

“Torid, old age is the price we pay for living a good life.”

“Mom, you not had good life. You have pain. Pain is not good life.”

“Maybe not Torid. But you became good, and you became a part of my life. That makes my life, here at the end, good.”

“Mom, stop that. We have work to do. I do not want to cry.”

She got up and hugged Torid. Torid hugged her back gently. It was so strange seeing this, however, it was so beautifully poetic too. This brute of a man, has found his heart. And this old lady, had found hers. Life, is funny like that sometimes. One can never guess the turns the rivers of life flow with.

“Has coal man come by? Fire warm?”

“Oh yes son, it is nice and warm now.”

“Good. Mom, I, we, need to go. I will come back to you.”

“You will. Tor has told me you will.”

They hugged once more, and we left. Torid’s eyes were actually damp. “Torid, I am happy for you.”

“Why you happy for me?”

“You have successfully completed my challenge to you. I am proud to call you friend.”

“You gave me chance. You gave me challenge. Only knew people could be mean. So I was mean to them. Mom came, and she wasn’t mean. She was nice, kind, helpful. Dad knew nothing of this. Dad only knew how to hurt people. How to kill people. How to take what he wanted. I make what I want. I work, so I get money. I still fight. Men thank me though, instead of hurt me, call me names. Never knew of this life. I like this life. And now, stinky vampire bones wants to destroy life. I want to destroy stinky vampire. Tor, you showed me different way. Different way is good. I want different way, not pain way. So, you show me where I bash things and destroy stinky vampire. Then, we come back, and we feast all night long.”

“That, sounds like a good offer. Let’s go to the fishery then.”

“Yes, let’s”

Just as simple as that, a powerful ally and now friend. We headed to the fishery. Kosser and Tyna were already there. Woodard came about a minute later. Nodding to each other, we entered the office again. The clerk stood up. “Hello, what can I help all of you with?”

“Nothing my boy. We are here to just have a look around. Sit down please.” Kosser directed him to sit down. The clerk looked confused, but sat down. “Actually my boy, you could help us. Do you have a basement?”

“Yes, in that office, behind the far door.”

“Excellent. Now, if anyone asks you any questions about us, you never saw us or talked to us. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I don’t know you and never saw you.”

“Good. Now, go back to your work and whistle a little tune.”

The clerk went back to his books and started whistling a little tune. Kosser beckoned us to the other room and the door that opens to the basement. We opened it, and sure enough, there was a basement. We expected to hunt for an additional concealed door. But the arrogance of this ‘Leader’ was evident. The portal was there in a corner with a sheet draped over it. Kosser and Woodard performed the same incantations as earlier. Sometime later, this portal went to dust. I count ten minutes for these two to destroy a portal. It may require more time for the central portal. But at least I have a guideline. We all nodded and left the fishery. We went back to our horses, exited the south gate, and galloped back to the Randoss farm.

Honestly, I was expecting resistance. Instead, this went easy and smooth. Which means, I should be on my guard. Nothing about this whole mess has been easy and smooth. ‘Do not look upon small gifts and wonders badly. You will probably be wishing for more.’ There is that voice in my head again. ‘You caught them off guard. Time and surprise are on your side. Take full advantage over this.’ Like I’m going to sit back on my ass? I would argue with myself, but what is the point? We would ride back to the farm, stable the horses, and go with part two of my plan.

We arrived at the farm, and did exactly that. It was near evening time. “Ok, quick meal, then, we go.” We all nodded. Talma was in the house cooking, looking very relieved to see us. “All is ok. Quick repast, and then, we go in.” She nodded and pulled out a huge pan from her oven. There, was a fine roast already done, with vegetables and gravy already in it. Apparently, she was anticipating us. We all sat down and ate in silence. That was fine by me. There was little else to say in my opinion. We had a job to do, and we have to do it. It was the only chance to save all of our hides and skins.

We finished, gathered ourselves up, I hugged Talma, and we left for the ruins. We entered the stone hallway and descended the stairs. Coming upon the intersection, some of the archers and a officer were there. “Sir, where are you going?”

“We need passage through this barricade. I know I said it was to remain closed. But situations have changed. We need entry.”

“I assume the commander knows of this?”

“Yes, as of last night he does. Would you like to get him to confirm?”

“No sir. I just wanted to make sure I do not get reamed by him.”

“Understood soldier. Now, kindly remove enough of the barricade to let us through. Once we are through, rebuild it.”

“But sir, you would be trapped inside.”

“With a bit of luck, no we will not. Do as I ask please.”

“Yes sir.” He directed the archers to start dismantling the barricade.

“Tor, you and I can smash it down. It easy.”

“Torid, I do not want it smashed down. I want it rebuilt. If we fail, I do not want those forces to go through here. Understand?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sorry.”

“It’s ok. Yes, it means we have to wait a bit.”

And waited we did. It took the archers over an hour to provide an opening large enough for us to go through. One by one, we went through the opening. Poor Torid had the worst time of it though. I had to help push his large hulking body through the opening. I didn’t have too good of a time getting through. Pulling our weapons and gear through and rechecking ourselves, I signaled the archer to rebuilt the barricade. He nodded, wished us luck. We are going to need that luck.

We all walked for the ten minutes to the end of the passage. Just as I suspected, the bodies of all of the dead were removed. So was all of the blood and all of the weapons and armors. This cemented my resolve. Arriving at the portal room, Kosser and Woodard set upon the portal. This time, it was different. It was more up to Woodard to activate the portal since it was based upon divine magic. Kosser was helping Woodard transcribe the ruins and glyphs. I sat down on the floor. So did Torid. Tyna was flittering around Kosser and Woodard. “Sillies, it is a spell. It is a priest spell. The way to open the portal is easy. Problem is, you won’t like what the requirement is.”

“Oh, and what is the requirement.”

“A death.”

“Yes, a death. You touch the glyph you want, and then, you kill the person against the portal. The life energy fuels the portal and it opens.”

“But then, there is no way that we can open the portal then. None of us can kill someone just to open the portal.”

I stood up. “Oh I don’t know about that.”

Woodard looked at me. “Tor, you have killed, but not in cold blood.”

“You are mistaken Woodard. I have. You forget about the orcs?”

“That’s different.”

“You are right. But Tyna said a death. We have a candidate. Well, sort of.”

“Tor, what the devil are you getting at?”

“Simple. Steve. Or rather, Steve the vampire. Kosser, you said it. Right now, it is neither alive or dead. It is unmoving. Remove the arrow, and it comes back. We kill it against the portal and the portal opens.”

“Good plan Tor. One small problem. The barricade?”

Damn it. That is a detriment to my plan.

“Can death be animal?”

I looked to Torid and then to Tyna. “Um, I don’t know. I suppose. Why Torid, you have an animal in your pocket?”

“I smell farm. We close to farm.”

I guess the ogre part of Torid had a keen sense of smell. “But Torid, even if we are close to the farm, how do we get there?”

“Stone door above. We open it.”

“I tried earlier Torid.”

“Was I here?”

Perhaps the two of us could move it. “We could try Torid. We could try.” I went up the stairs to get the lower point. Torid came up behind me at a higher point. We put our hands against the stone and braced our legs. “Ok Torid, on the count of three. Ready?” Torid nodded. “One. Two. Three!” We put our strength against that stone. It budged! But, that is all we could get. That stone, was huge and heavy. We stopped, and went back downstairs. We sat down back on the floor. “It was a good try Torid.”

He grunted. We sat dejected. We shrugged at the rest of the group. “Sorry all.”

“No problem at all boys. I have the solution really. It only needs a death. It doesn’t say a death of what.” He pulled out a wand. “This wand, has one spell left in it. When it is used, it will ‘die’. We’ll just use this on the portal.”

“Will that work?”

“Well, if it doesn’t, you both can work the rock again if you want. Or, we’ll just break down the barricade.” We stood up, as Kosser was working the portal. He used the wand, and then, the energy was absorbed by the portal. There was a hum and the portal glowed a dull red. “Well, shall we go?” I nodded, and went through the portal. There was a brief moment of disorientation and I couldn’t see or hear. When I regained my senses, I dropped the point of my sword. I landed right in the middle of a huge chamber-with thousands of the humanoid army present. Bows, crossbows, swords were pointed right at me. Torid appeared next to me. He came to his senses, saw the humanoids and weapons, and started to raise his sword. “No Torid! No!” He looked at me. “We bide our time. This is not our time.” Reluctantly he dropped his weapon. Tyna, Kosser, and Woodard then appeared. They looked, and held up their arms.

“Why we no fight Tor?”

“They want us alive. All of us could have been dead when we appeared here. They didn’t kill us.”

“Very smart of you dwarf.” A darkened figure appeared before us. But this one was taller, broader. It spoke with a human enough of a voice. “I assume you are the ‘Leader’?”

“I have been called many names dwarf. I must say, you have been a troubling lot. I have to also congratulate you as well. You have caused a lot of grief to my plans.” The ‘Leader’ looked at Kosser. “My my, you are still alive? Time has been good enough to you. And I know of Woodard. A pixie? There is only one that I know of-Tyna. I don’t know you half ogre or you dwarf.”

“Torid. Why not we fight?”

“A good question. You see, we haven’t been commanded yet to fight and kill you.”

I turned my head. “Commanded? You are not in command? You are not the ‘Leader?’

“Oh I assure you I am the ‘Leader’, but I do not command no. I do not know your name.”

“Tor. And yours?”

“That’s the trouble. I do not know my name. Do I have your word that you will at least hear us out and talk before deciding to fight us?”

Here is a switch. We could have been killed ten times over before raising an arm. This ‘Leader’ who has slaughtered gods know how many, wanted to talk to us. If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would be laughing hard. “All right, you have our word.”

“Splendid. Troops, lower your weapons.”

Each one did lower in turn. “Are there chairs that we can sit in?”

“But of course. Right over there.” He pointed off to his left.

We all sat down. The humanoid troops present, which I would guess to be about three thousand, seated on the floor. “Ok, I guess I’m going to do the talking for our small group. Is there something else I can call you other than ‘Leader?’

“Fris will do. For some reason, it seems known to me.”

“Ok, Fris. Now, who is in command?”

“We don’t know really. That person has never been forthcoming.”

“So, these troops, do not want to fight and take over Stalvinport?”

Fris sighed. “Tor, war is war. But it is a war we did not choose. Those here that is. The majority have, but we, have not. That is why we have been assigned here I guess. To guard.”

“I assume this is the castle Alifax?”

“Yes it is. Why, over there, is the owner, or what is left of the owner.” Fris pointed ahead. The dragon statue. It is huge. From snout to tail, I would say close to four hundred feet. “That, is a magnificent statue.”

“Oh that chap is no statue. That’s the bones of the first owner of Alifax.”

“You mean, that dragon, used to be alive?

“Oh yes, very much so.”

Amazing. The dead lord of the castle, nearly intact save missing one claw on a wing. And the lights! There were thousands upon thousands of lights inside of the rib cage of the beast. Just like Kosser described before.

“So, you all do not want to fight. Why do you simply not leave?”

“For two very simple reasons. There are thousands of undead warriors outside in the courtyard, with orders to kill anything that is alive. That would be us. Second, we have a curse put upon us that if we enter the mountains, we would die. And where would that get us? Nowhere.”

“So, how did you know we would be arriving.”

“Oh, by the portal glyphs. We noticed that the runs were lit. One of them has been dark for a very long time. Then, recently another went out this morning. Then another shortly after that. I guessed that the destination portals were being destroyed. And I figured those destroyer of portals would be arriving here. So, I gathered my troops here and waited for you.”

“But you did not kill us.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Well chap, you wouldn’t be able to help us if you were dead. We want to escape.”

Of all of the possible scenarios we could of encountered, this was not one I would of thought of remotely possible. The feared leader ‘Fris’ wants to escape with three thousand humanoids. “Why does everyone here want to escape? Are you not loyal to your commander?”

“We were at first yes. But then, as our troops were dying-I am guessing by your hands, the commander was taking the bodies and raising as undead. This lot may be marauders and killers, but they were looking for treasure and glory. Not to be propped up like some puppet after they die. Plus, it is worse than that. When someone dies and becomes animated, they go into that big chap there. They do not pass into the afterlife. To these fellows, that is horrible. I say I do not fancy it much myself.”

“You say there are undead troops in the courtyard. Is there a place where one of my group can go and see?”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Oh I believe you. I just want an idea of the numbers.”

“Ah, I can see why you are in charge. Tyna, the pixie, can fly up to one of the high windows and look.”

I nodded to Tyna and she flew up there. Even from this distance, I could see her eyes were wide and her mouth was gaped open. She flew back down. “Tor, there are too many to count. If I had to guess, I would say over forty thousand. And it is not just skeletons and zombies either. I saw wights, ghouls, ghasts, and I think I saw some shadows too.”

“She is correct Tor. And not bad of a guess. Forty five thousand, give or take a few hundred.”

“You said we caused a lot of grief to your plans. Yet, you want to escape. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t make much sense to me too. I know they are my plans that you have been tinkering with. But yet, I am not angry about it, nor do I know what these plans are supposed to do.”

“You remembered Kosser. Where from?”

“Again, I do not know that. I just know we have to escape from here, and soon.”

“Well Fris, I hate to say it, but you are the vampire we have been seeking.”

“I am? I have never drank blood.”

“Do you mind if Kosser removes the darkness from you? So we can look?”

“I suppose that is ok. Sure. Kosser, remove this darkness.”

Kosser did perform a spell, and the darkness was removed. There, was a man in his fifties having dark hair with silver streaks. He did have gray eyes, but they seem to be lively. He did not look like a vampire. “Interesting. Fris does not look like the vampire I fought years ago.”

“Like I said, I never drank blood.”

“Is there a mirror around?”

Tyna produced a tiny mirror, and held it up to Fris’ face. “Hey, a reflection! He isn’t a vampire guys.”

“Well, that is a relief. Ok, so all of you want out. That’s fair. But, you and your troops will have to trust us.”

The troops started jabbering a bit. Then they stopped. Another flind, came up and spoke. “I speak for the group. You have given your word you will not attack and harm us. We give that word back to you.”

“Excellent. First order of business. Kosser, Woodard, this curse that Fris spoke of. See if that is for real. Or was it a trick by their commander.”

They nodded, and set about examining. “Tor, I want to smash now.”

“In a little while Tor. We are going to attack that massive undead army out there. Just be a bit more patient.”

“Ok, I wait.”

“Tyna, go with Fris. See if you can find out a library or books or scrolls, or something that can make any sense as to what is going on.”

“I can do that. Fris, is there a library?”

“Oh yes, there is. It is one of the few places I can go and relax. Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

“Tor, it is ok, right?”

“Words on both sides have been given Tyna. Yes, it is ok.”

She nodded and went off. Another flind came up to me. “I saw you at Sigur. You and your kin fought very well at Sigur.”

“Hate to break it to you. The dwarves there are not my kin. Mine were killed months earlier. And the dwarves, were fleeing. I was fighting the army.”

“You? You were fighting alone.”

“Yes.”

“That means, you could of attacked, and we could have been killed. Why didn’t you?”

“Why didn’t you? Answer that question, and you are pretty close to mine.”

“You want something. You have goals.”

“As do you.”

“Then, while I cannot say we are friends, we are at least not enemies. That would make us allies.”

“I can accept that.”

“As can we. It is as the ‘Leader’ Fris spoke. We are a harsh people. But, even we do not relish being used as dead troops. We live and die by conquest, to go to our rewards in the afterlife. This is no reward, it is a prison.”

“Then, that is a good enough of a motivation is it not?”

“Yes it is dwarf Tor.”

“Would you mind communicating that to your people?”

The flind nodded, and spoke in the humanoid tongue. I could see their faces were astonished, some were angered, most feared. But all calmed down when our accord was discussed. Most grunted and nodded. After he was finished, I came back up to the flind. “I need to ask you some questions, and you seem to be one of the officers. Would you please sit with me?”

“We will sit and talk. What do you want to know.”

“First, the port towns. What condition are they in?”

“The dead were used as troops here. We knew that was going to happen. We didn’t know that we too were going to be used. The elderly, when they die, they were also added. The ones that survive, live as slaves for the commander. I never cared much about the conditions of humans. Though, even I have my limits. They work for many hours of the day, rest for very little, have barely enough to eat. They work and toil various labors for the commander. The commander takes some humans, and in his place, I hear their screams and torment. I do not know what happens, I just know of the screams and torment.”

“Are there more giants?”

“Yes. Dozens more.”

“When is the exact date of the attack to Stalvinport.”

“Two weeks today.”

“Was the commander here?”

“Yes, he left two days ago.”

Two weeks. Two weeks until hell is unleashed. “There are land forces and there are forces on boats on the river correct?”

“That is correct. Eighty ships are to leave and gather.”

Eighty! “Estimated amount of troops per ship?”

“One hundred per. Twice the population of Stalvinport.”

“So, the plan is to attack the city under the cover of night, engage Stalvinport, and then the land based forces come up from the south and overrun them.”

“Yes, that is the plan. Our army-that army, was to take over the human towns and cities. In its place, will be the undead outside to man and manage the towns.”

A necromantic empire. “Why attack now? Why not earlier or later?”

“That I do not know. The commander was very agitated several months ago. That is when the ‘Leader’ was assigned to us, as well as the puppet ‘Leaders’ too.”

“You mean the smaller darkened versions.”

“Yes.”

“How many are there?”

“Three now. One was destroyed several days ago.”

He must mean the vampire younger version of Steve. There were three more of them. And then the commander. But something was not adding up, not adding up at all. “How is it..what is your name?”

“Drask.”

“Drask. How is it Drask that four individuals can command so many of your kind?”

“Simple. Fear first, greed second. Many think that as the towns are over run, that the wealth they find, they will keep. Little do they know, that they are sealing their own dooms.”

“When the smaller puppet was destroyed several days ago, was there any change?”

“Yes. The legions had to be redistributed.”

So, the commander had to shift the troops around. Interesting. “What about the port towns. Are they too over run.?”

“Yes, by the dead. They command the humans that still survive. Their wills are completely broken.”

“Drask, what is it that your people want? I know freedom from here, but beyond that?”

“We want to go back to our lands. We came hundreds of miles from the south. Should we survive, that is where we want to go.”

“Completely fair request. Should we succeed, you all will journey home.”

“Good. Now, tell me what you need.”

“Well, the plan here is to destroy the portaling system. That is what Kosser and Woodard are working on now. The next part, is how to destroy all of the undead forces out there. Do you know what the exact instructions to those undead were said?”

“Let no one living walk onto the courtyard.”

“So, does that include the catwalks and the walls?”

Drask got a thoughtful look. “I..do not know.”

“Suppose we go and find out. Torid, come with us. Let us go to one of the catwalks.”

Drask led the way. We climbed several long flights of stairs. He opened a door, and there was one of the walkways. It led to one of the main towers. “Stay here you two. Get ready if this turns sours.” Torid and Drask both nodded. I took a step. Then another. I started walking slowly towards the tower. I looked down. All of the undead that were milling about, had their faces turned towards me. I finally made my way to the tower. Not one of the undead attacked me. As long as our feet do not touch the courtyard, they do not attack. Interesting. I made my way back to Torid and Drask. “Well, that proves it. They will not attack until one of us steps onto the courtyard.”

“Ok, but how does this help?”

“Well, as long as we are up here, meaning, all of the troops inside of the main hall, if we populate these areas, we can attack them.”

“Arrows do not do much to undead.”

“Look around Drask. We have weapons abound.”

The flind had a confused look on his face. “The stones Drask. Three thousand downstairs, should be able to work out chunks of stone from the walls now shouldn’t we? We then hurl them downwards, crushing them.”

“Tor, you are a dangerous foe. That is a great idea.”

“Wait, Tor. We get to break apart parts of castle and throw rocks?”

“Yes Torid, that is exactly what I am saying.”

Torid let loose a toothy grin. “This, gonna be fun. But, who to say they don’t attack when attacked?”

Torid had a point. “Well Torid, why don’t you work off one of the bricks from a wall and toss it down there?”

“Ok, I do this.” He was actually humming to himself between grunts. He worked off several bricks that was still attached to old mortar. He went to the edge, and heaved it down. We heard flesh and bone break. We looked over the edge. Several skeletons and a couple of zombies were beneath the mess, crushed. Their faces were upturned towards us, but none of them moved. I smiled. “It looks like, we have a plan do we not?”

“I do again! That fun!” He started working another part of the same wall.

“Wait Torid! You have to get rock from someplace else. If we take too many parts down, parts of the castle could come crashing down on us instead of them. We do not want our allies hurt.”

“Oh, I understand. Ok, I get other rock.”

“Rocks, heavy doors, anything with weight.”

Torid nodded. “Drask, communicate this plan to your forces, and work them up here.”

“What are you going to do Tor?”

“I’m going for the library. Something doesn’t seem right. And, I do not know if I can trust Fris.”

“He lead us. That means you do not trust us.”

“Drask, I trust you and yours well enough that we have to perform the same tasks to get our respective goals done. But Fris’ words, leave me uneasy. I trust him enough: enough that is Fris. There is just more going on than I can put my finger on.”

“Tor, I do not understand.”

“It’s ok. Anyways, let’s get going with the plan. Torid, try attacking also from a wall. The top brick should be very loose to work with.”

“Ok, I go climb wall.”

We left back downstairs. Drask communicated the plan. The humanoids lit up. Many smiled. They followed Drask upstairs. “Tor, what the devil are they doing?”

“Work. Honest work. I’ll explain later. How is the portal coming along?”

“Tor, this one is complex. We cannot do what we did to the first two portals. It seems this one is a construct of arcane and divine. Some of the portals, are divine, in fact, most are. But there are a couple that are arcane. There is also a lock on this portal. The lock is, is that if we destroy the arcane portion, the divine portion will explode here. And likewise for the reverse. The explosion, could be huge, killing us.”

“Well, that’s no good to us.”

“No it is not. Good grief, what are they doing out there?”

“Taking off stone from the castle walls and crushing the undead beneath. They are tossing them from above.”

“Well, that should work for most of the undead. Some of the more powerful ones will be able to shrugs off the attacks.”

“Yes, but at least, there will be fewer of them.”

“True enough. Ok Woodard, let’s figure this thing out.”

Now to find this library. I went in the direction that Tyna and Fris went to. The hall was damp and cold. I know that Tyna won’t like this place. At the end of the hall, there was a soft glow of light. I stopped at the doorway where the light was coming from. Sure enough, the library. Tyna was pouring over books and scrolls. Fris was getting more of them. “Well, you two seem to be getting along well.”

“Silly, this is more than well. These books and documents have the whole history of Alifax.”

“That information, could prove most useful Tyna.”

“Dum dum dum, understatement of the year silly. These have all of the details from the Great War.”

“I really would wish all of these books and documents would give me an idea of my memory though. It seems like I should be angry, but I’m not at all angry. In fact, if Tyna could piece it together for me, all the better. She is a wonderful reader.”

“Yup, that’s me. My memory is near perfect too. That’s why I do not bother writing notes. I’ll do that later for Stalvinport.”

“So, what have you found out so far Tyna?”

“Well, the standard. Conquest, egos of rulers, many plans. One word keeps coming up though that I have no idea what it means: Nivlats. Is that dwarven or gnomish?”

“I don’t think so Tyna. I do know one thing. That is the word Stalvin backwards.”

Tyna looked at me and smacked her own forehead. “Now I am being silly. Of course it is. But what does it mean?”

I turned to Fris. “Does that mean anything to you?”

“Not a clue Tor, not a clue.”

I nodded. “Tyna, keep trying. You are doing great so far. Fris, I was wondering. Do you have any flammable oils or blast powder?”

“Not at all Tor.”

I sighed. Fire would help settle a lot of matters here. Wait a second. “Fris, how do the torches keep lit?”

“The torches are magically lit Tor. The flames are cool to the touch.”

Of course they would be. Fire is a huge problem for the living, but it is the bane of the undead. No matter which route I try to go down with, there is no way to set fire to the courtyard to destroy the undead. I turned to leave.

“Tor, where are you going?”

“To find a way to burn this place. Maybe I find a cellar that has old liquors that I could use or something.”

“What about the furniture?”

“Eh, not enough Tyna. We need something more.”

“Well, that’s a huge courtyard out there. I don’t know what you, or any of us, can do.”

“Yeah, I know Tyna. Keep looking through those books. Find us the answers.”

“I’m on it silly, I’m on it.”

I left the library, and started searching the castle. I heard a huge crash outside. I looked out of a window. Seems like the humanoid soldiers tore apart the top of one of the towers and had it crash below. I will say one thing for humanoids: they know how to destroy things. I found a set of stairs going down. I pulled out my axe and went down carefully. The stairs kept going down and down. I would guess for more than one hundred feet the stairs wound downwards. Fortunately, the stairway was lit with those cold flame torches. I got to the bottom, and it was a fairly large stone cavern. There were chests and crates all in a corner. I opened one of the chests. Gold and silver coins. Another chest had jewels of various sizes and types. This was a veritable lair of wealth. Under normal circumstances, I would be excited. But none of this wealth does any of us any good with still that huge undead army above. There was a passage to the right and to the left. Perhaps this was a storeroom of sorts? I took my silver coin, months ago from Calvin’s house, flipped it, and put the coin back in my hidden pocket. The coin told me to go to the right passage first. Right it is. I went down for about a minute, and came upon another room. I was about to turn around and go back, for it had small bottles and books in it. Then, it hit me. A mage’s lair? There were several small objects that looked like very old wands. I took these and put them in my backpack. I will have to get Kosser and bring him back here if we get the chance. There may be something here he could use. I retraced my steps and went down the left passage. This one disappointed me. It had a huge pit of bubbling black liquid. A tar pit.

“Wait..really?” A tar pit? I wonder. I took out a flask and carefully filled it with the black liquid. I put some cloth and closed it up. Walking back to where the room of wealth was, I pulled out my tinder box and lit the cloth. Hefting the flask in my right hand, I flung it hard against the opposite wall. The black liquid splashed against the wall, and the cloth set it on fire. I smiled to myself. I have found my way to burn this place to the ground. Now, I just got to get the army of humanoids here and..wait. That won’t work for the moment. They will see the wealth, and their greed will get the better of them. Drask. I will have to speak to Drask, get them back into the main portal room, and explain not only my plan, but also, to divide the wealth. I turned back to the wealth. The humanoids can stuff their pockets of gold and silver. I went to inspect the gems. How I wish Goper was here. He could tell me which ones were the most valuable. Oh well, my best guesses then. I picked out the best of gems: ones that were the largest and also shown the most. I tried to pick out those that did not have any blemish to them. These, I wrapped in cloth, and set it in my backpack. I rearranged my gear so that it would be in the top half of the pack. Pulling out a belt pouch, I took more of the gems and attached that to my belt. That way, if the humanoids want proof that I already had taken ‘my fair share’, I could show them. Time to get everyone else, before telling the horde. I actually will need to have an ally in this scheme, so I decided to get Drask too. I first went to the library. It was closest. “Tyna, I need you to come with me.”

“What? Are you kidding me?”

“No. There is something afoot with the undead army. Fris, can you find Torid and Drask for me? We need to have a conference in the portal room. Also, could you help the humanoid army get some more of the stone and brick for ammunition?”

“That would be fine ole chap.” We walked to the portal room and Fris went off to find Torid and Drask for me. “Tyna, Kosser, Woodard, listen up. I found something extremely important, actually, several things. Fris is getting Torid and Drask. Trust me please, do not ask questions right now. I’ll show and explain all in a few minutes. Ok?”

“Everything ok Tor?” Woodard asked me with a frown on his face.

“More than ok, but if we do not play our cards right, we could be in big trouble. Trust me please.”

With that, Torid and Drask appeared. “Aww, Tor, I having fun crushing dead things. Why you want to see me?”

“I must admit Tor, your friend Torid is right. It has been satisfying.”

“Please, I ask all of you to follow me. Don’t ask questions until I turn around and tell you all it is safe. Ok?”

They frowned as well, but nodded. I took them back to the area with the winding staircase. “Tyna, make sure no one followed us please.” She nodded, zipped back with her wings. A few seconds later she came back. “All clear.”

I nodded. “Kosser, the device please.”

He pulled out the silencer device-I didn’t know what else to call it. “Ok, Drask, everyone else here knows. Only we can talk and hear each other right now. Do not move or it will break the device. Right now, no one else can see or hear us. Now, please, here me out.”

“I went exploring. At the bottom of these stairs, are three rooms. One room, has a huge tar pit. The liquid is flammable. I want to get your kind in here Drask to start pulling buckets of it out and splashing the undead, setting them ablaze. But there are catches. In the main room before the tar pit, there is a wealth of gold, silver, gems, and whatever else down there. I do not want a riot with the humanoids out there Drask. I want everyone to get a fair share and shot at it. With you Drask, because you have been honest and forthcoming, I wanted you to have the first choices with us. I already have chosen what I wanted.” I pulled out my belt pouch with the gems inside.” I want each of us to get our own fair shot. After we are done, Drask, I need you to pull in your army into the portal room. Tell them the plan with the tar, and tell them about the room of wealth. Assure them that everyone will get an equal share. If they ask why, tell them it is my way of saying thanks for their help, and they will be able to return to their homelands as well. The third room, has a room with ancient bottles and books. Kosser, Woodard, Tyna, this is your department. After you choose what wealth you wish, please inspect this. Maybe there are things down there of use. Maybe not. I do not know. Does everyone understand?”

Drask was the first one to respond. “Tor, you are one I can respect. I thank you for this. Yes, I completely understand. Do not worry, they will not come out of line.”

“Tor, you are full of surprises my boy. You may just have saved all of our hides yet.”

“Thank you. Drask, one more thing. A somewhat of a favor, or maybe a challenge. I swear to you, there is enough wealth down there for you and each of your army to ‘retire.’ Instead, as you see, it is not foolish that fortune favors, but those that thwart evil. I challenge you, and each of your kind, to do the same. With a bit of luck, not only will you have your lives intact, but, each of you will be well off. That is how I live, that is how I show to live. Do not answer now. Think on it, but communicate it to the others when you talk to them.”

“Tor, you are a strange dwarf. I will accept your favor to think on it. But why?”

“Silly, he thrives in giving everyone a second chance.”

“I do not give second chances Tyna, I spot them. Drask, this is you and yours ‘second chance.’ Are you going to waste it?”

Torid spoke up. “Drask, months ago, I was evil and mean. I was breaking men for fun. Tor nearly broke me, but wasn’t fun. He gave me same challenge. I took it. My life has been good since. Tor is who he is. He no lie. He is true.”

“He is true. I saw his combat at Sigur. And I see and hear him now. As I just said, Tor, you are someone I can respect. I will think on your words.”

I nodded. “Ok, Kosser, put away the device. Let’s go downstairs.”

We carefully went downstairs-except for Tyna. It must be nice having wings sometimes. We got to the bottom, and everyone’s eyes went wide. “It is just as you say Tor. Again, I thank you for sharing this with me.” Drask gripped my shoulder. “It is nothing but pure pleasure for me Drask. Please, all of you, go and take your pick.” Everyone chose what they wanted. There was a rather huge silver goblet that Kosser brought to me. “Tor, I cannot carry this. Would you mind?”

“I carry Kosser. Tor has backpack. I don’t. I carry for you.” Kosser smiled, and also put a second one attached with a bit of rope and tied it to Torid’s back. Drask, I noticed, was smart. He went for the gems. In fact, most everyone did. Surprisingly, Tyna wanted the smallest gems. But these gems, shown the brightest.

“Hey Tor, where are the buckets?” Damn it! The one flaw to my plan. How the hell were we going to get the tar up there? Kosser performed an incantation, and there were ten buckets made. “Don’t worry. Each person that picks up a bucket, another will appear.”

“Three thousand buckets?”

“Ten thousand if I wanted. Each one can pick up two buckets, half fill one of wealth, and the other of tar. Then, go back upstairs and do with as they want”

That old sage was really full of surprises. Kosser pulled out a wonderful set of cups and plates, made of the purest ivory, He put them in a bag. How they fit, I had no idea. That bag looked too small. Heck, Woodard was doing the same thing with some gold and silver candelabras. How they fit, I do not know. Magical I would guess. Good enough for me. Torid, had a large sack filled with some gems, and then, a fair amount of gold and silver. “Mom gonna be really happy when I come back. Oh, Woodard, can you do something with Mom Valice. She is very sick.”

Woodard came up to Torid and smiled. “Torid, if I can help her, I will. That I promise you.”

“Good good! Torid happy!” You ever see a half ogre dance around like a pixie or a gnome? It isn’t a pretty sight. It is a good sight though.

After a few minutes, Kosser and Woodard went down the right passage. I nodded to Torid and to Drask. “Shall we get started with the plan?” They nodded. “Remember, not a word Torid. Let Drask do all of the talking.”

“I remember and understand Tor. I just happy Mom gonna be well again.”

“Tor, I have thought on your words. If they were just words, I would likely ignore them. But your actions have spoken louder than your words. It seems there is a different way. If the others do not take your challenge and favor, know that I will. I am pretty sure my gnolls will take your challenge though. They usually listen to my counsel.”

I nodded. We headed back to the portal room. Torid and I sat down. We waited as Drask called in everyone. With surprising discipline, they came in. He instructed them to gather around. Drask broke into a speech. During the speech, many turned to look at me several times. After a few minutes, Drask was done. There was silence in the room. Drask then spoke again. Sounded like a question. One by one, each of the humanoids got up, and saluted. The humanoids then spoke to Drask. It seemed amiable enough. Drask turned to look at me. “They agree with everything Tor. And, they would like to thank you.” They all turned to me and saluted. Thinking something of decorum had to be done. I saluted them back. They all grinned and smiled. It was an ugly yet pleasing sight at the same time. I thought of this as a better arrangement. In a fight, most than likely, we would all get killed, and in turn Stalvinport would get destroyed-not to mention the Randoss farm. I gambled that these humanoids, have seen enough of battle for a while. And I’m sure they witnessed scenes they do not want to talk about. So, it was a mutual set of accords. To these humanoids, dying in battle and killing in battle is one thing. To see the dead arise, be it your foe or friend, is quite another to them. It is unnatural to them. And to us for that reckoning.

I led them down the hall and down the stairs. Fris was following as well. “I heard what Drask said Tor. I completely agree. Let’s get done with all of this business.” I nodded. I was concerned that the wealth and such was his. I see it is not. I suspect that Fris was a mage. I was still suspicious of him slightly. However, he has not steered us wrong yet. We got to the bottom of the stairs, and all of the humanoids piled into the large cavern. Drask was in the lead, holding his hand. He said some more words, and everyone nodded. He turned to me. “I told them to pick up a handful of gems and several handfuls of the gold and silver. Put them in one bucket, and then take another bucket, and go into the left passage to get the tar. We will all set the buckets of tar in the main portal room. That way, you can direct where you want them to splash the tar.” I nodded. Excellent. Fris did the same thing but then, went down the right passage. Some of the humanoids started to do the same thing. I held up my hand. They looked at Drask. He said two words. They nodded and went back. “I told them it was mage stuff.” I nodded. The humanoids had no cares about the arcane. There may have been divine stuffs in there too. But, this was good enough.

The last of the humanoids took their portion of the treasure. The gems were but a handful left. The gold was taken, and not much left of the silver. Drask came over to me. “My troops also have agreed on one other thing Tor. They agree they will not attack Stalvinport or any of these port towns ever again. They will not have any of the tribes agree to attack any of these cities here north of them. I do not think they will overturn their ways. But, they honor the one who has offered them survival and wealth.”

I nodded and salute them again. They did in turn. We had good accords and relations here. Now, all we needed to do was destroy tens of thousands of undead. We all went back upstairs into the portal room. Each one of the troops marked their bucket of wealth. I will say this for Drask: he keeps his troops in line. We then went to the catwalk. I looked over into the courtyard. The troops did a fine job smashing several thousand to death. Having Drask translate for me, I had them line the walls of the castle. They stood shoulder to shoulder with each other. I also pointed the remaining troops to go to the towers. They ringed the towers. As far as I could tell, when they were going to throw their tar down below, it should cover all of the undead. Drask whistled and raised his hand. “Say the word Tor.”

“The word is now Drask.” They splashed the contents of their buckets down below. “Also, have them throw their buckets too.” He barked orders and everyone threw their buckets down as well. They slowly started to make their way back and started to go inside. “Wait.” Drask ordered them to wait. “Have them stay. If there isn’t enough room here, then, have them go inside to windows. They all should have a chance to see this.” He relayed my wishes. Most of them had grins on their faces. Each one shuffled around in order to ‘have a seat’. The smaller humanoids were carried by the larger ones. Everyone was on the catwalk. I took a bit of rope, and dipped it into the tar of my bucket. I also threw my contents down below. Putting the rope in the bucket, I lit it. It became hot in my hands as I quickly threw it down below. Yeah, I was burned a little. But that will heal in no time. Down below, different story.

The fire spread quickly, eagerly devouring what was splashed. The undead lit up the whole courtyard, the fires ravaging their undead bodies. There were shrieks, as darkened figures tried to move out of the way, only to be consumed. Tyna was right, there were shadows down there. The skeletons were silently moving around in their final dance, and the zombies were just still moping about. The ghouls, ghasts, and the wights, were also shrieking. These undead were not mindless. They didn’t have much of minds to be sure, but they did have them. These were trying to move away from the quickly engulfing fire. A couple of minutes past, and the whole courtyard was engulfed in flame. Fortunately, the walls and the towers were made out of stone. Doors burned however. No matter. We can take care of putting out the fires of the doors. The dead below continued to howl and shriek. The skeletons and zombies began to drop. Many had various hide type armors on, so those burned as well. There were some with metal armor. I could see the metal starting to glow from the heat. Eventually, each one was dropping. Even the ghouls, ghasts, and wights were succumbing to the flames. The flames continued for nearly an hour. Finally, they began to die down. The undead, were now mostly ash with charred bone bits. This had to be one of the biggest, if not biggest, funeral pyre in history. This is something each one of these humanoids will take back to their lands. Sure, their stories will be embellished with each one of them doing the work and coming up with the idea. But, I didn’t care. The undead army was destroyed. Now, just had to worry about the horde army. Well, present company excluded.

Throughout watching the undead burn, I would of expected cheers. Instead, most were silent, but some were offering what seemed like prayers. Interesting. I will have to find out more about humanoids and their belief systems. I guess they believe that life should be conquered, and at times, killed. To pervert life into undeath, gets to these humanoids. Maybe, there is some hope for their kind after all. “Drask, a moment of your time please.”

“Of course Tor. What is it?”

“Well, one thing we haven’t really thought out. Once we destroy the portal system, we were going to go north through the tunnel network and go along the river to get back to Stalvinport. Is there a better way?”

Drask pointed to the west. “There, is one tunnel, and only one. Follow that tunnel. It will be underground for some distance, eight miles I think. There will be a lot of twists and turns, but trust you are going west. Once you leave the tunnel on the other side, travel due west for five days. You will be then at Sigur Fortress. I trust you can find your way from there.”

“Indeed. Drask, I thank you. You and your troops have made me change a lot of my thinking about your kind of people.”

“I thank you as well Tor. Your group shows me that there are better ways to live, and that one day, perhaps the fighting for all peoples will end.”

We shook hands. A week ago if someone asked me if I would ever shake hands with any humanoid, I would suspect them crazy. Drask and his troops changed that for me immensely. Sure the bulk are still marauders and killers, but for some, hope exists. I left and went back into the portal room. The troops started filtering inside too, finding their bucket of wealth and pulling out sacks and pouches to fill up with. Even Fris was there too. He was ready to travel.

“Tor, everyone, thank you. I am going with Drask and his troops, to see if we can find a better way to live.”

“Be well Fris, be well.”

Slowly, more were filtering inside and getting ready for their journey. Again, I do mean what I say. I wish them well. I was saluting the troops as they entered and as they were leaving. They did the same in kind. Yes, perhaps one day, we can find common grounds. Was today not a start of that common ground?

“Aha! I figured it out!”

Woodard was excited. I hope he means how to destroy this accursed portal. “Kosser, to activate the portal requires death. To shut it down, requires life. That life be created. That life, must be in contact with the portal.”

“Well that’s great ole chap, but just how are we going to create life?”

“Sillies, that’s easy. A plant.”

“What?”

“ A plant. I have seeds with me. We just find a pot, find some dirt, and I can make a plant grow within an hour.”

“You know, that could work! And this area has been devoid of life. That just may work.”

I coughed. “Um, question. Just where are we to find dirt in an unholy place like this that can grow life?”

Stunned silence. Sure, great plan, if we had everything that we needed. I could grab one of the buckets that Kosser conjured. And we can find water, heck, I have some on me. But where do we find dirt in a place that has nothing but rock and death?

“All, I’ll tell you what. Keep watch and see if you can come up with something else. I’ll go search out the castle again. I found the tar pit. Maybe I can find a nice grove with a pool there and a nymph residing. She could be kind enough to let me have some dirt.”

“Bad joke Tor, but good idea. Ok, we’ll hold down the fort here.”

I went off. First, flammable liquid. Now, dirt. I know my new name: Tor the bloodhound. The Seeker Tor. I was shaking my head at myself. Usually, when I get silly like this, as Tyna would put it, it would be for one of four reasons. One, I am tired. Two, I am hurt. Three, I am hungry. Four: all of the above. Well, one and three are valid. For point two, I was slightly burned still. That silver ring however nearly healed me up. So, I guess all of the above applies. But soon, we will be done with this rotten place. Then, we can eat and rest.

I searched the main part of the castle. I did not find any further stairs down. None of the rooms I entered had anything remotely looking of dirt. I left the main castle, and started searching the first tower. The doors entering the tower were burned away, but the rest of the towers were intact. I searched all of the rooms and climbed up the stairs. None of the rooms here had anything of value or anything resembling of dirt. I went back downstairs and left the current tower heading towards another. Again, I was searching room to room. I reached the last room that had a window facing east, and was going to miss it had I not looked again. There was actually a small pot made for a plant. Daring to look, I saw that there was dirt. I don’t believe it. I actually found a small clay pot of dirt. The dirt was dry, and there was a withered small plant of some sort. I actually cradled this pot. It is times like this, that simply tripping and destroying this simple thing in the tripping would cause me some anguish. I carefully went back downstairs, headed for the main castle doors, and carefully went back upstairs.

They were still trying to figure out alternatives. “Don’t tell me. You found dirt?”

“And a small clay pot.”

“Amazing. Ok, put the pot on the floor and have it touch the portal.”

I did as Kosser told me to do. Tyna fluttered down, pulled out a couple of seeds, pulled out a small flask of water, and filled the pot. She sat cross legged in front of the pot and started chanting. Pixie magic or pixie prayer? At this point, I didn’t care much. I pulled out a couple of rolls and some dried meats. I ate these with relish, along with drinking some ale from Kosser’s fantastic goblet. Satisfied, I leaned back and closed my eyes. We just had to wait now. I had to shade my eyes. Kosser had his staff with that magical sunlight of his out trying to help the plant.

“The plant is starting to grow!”

And with that, there was a crackling sound in stone. Ok, that got my attention. I got up, and looked to the portal. Yes, there was a crack in it. Another sound, and another crack. Then, another, followed by more in rapid succession. The portal was starting to break. Everyone backed away from the portal, Tyna included. She stopped chanting as the plant took a life of its own. The energies in the portal started to flare and waver. Pieces of the portal were breaking off and falling now. The plant, was starting to grow. Vines started to wrap around the stone of the portal. Where the vines went, there were more cracks and breakage. The vines, seemed to hunger for that energy because it completely grew around the whole portal. The energy started to flicker and suddenly, it went out. The stone, also crumbled to the ground. The stone was breaking apart even now, pieces were starting to become dust.

“So much these nasty portals.” Tyna went over to the vines, and extracted seeds. “I promise I will plant your children when we get back. Thank you for your offering.”

I looked around. The only piece of business was this dragon skeleton. All of those lights were still inside of it. Kosser saw my attention and shook his head. “There is nothing we can do for them right now. There is a force this time around this skeleton. I cannot penetrate the force. Neither can Woodard. I will have to research further and get these poor souls freed at a later day.”

I nodded. Well, far as I’m concerned, mission accomplished. I relayed to the group what Drask told me. We were all in agreement to go into the western tunnel. We vacated from castle Alifax. To be honest, I was glad to be rid of that place. There is nothing but death in there.