Undead Kingdom

By J.E. Swenson

Part I: Apprentice

I was named Nathaniel in honor of my father’s father who had settled in the tiny village of Salmury. He had come seeking a simple life, the chance to raise a family and the opportunity to escape the wars in the Distant Lands.

Salmury was a paradise for those wishing for a peaceful existence, free of conflict and life threatening adventures. Wedged among snow-capped mountains, Salmury only had a single path to the outside world. Because of this, it was a rare sight to see an army in the valley.

The elder Nathaniel took to the fields as if he had lived on them all his life. He grew wheat, oats and hemp, which he was able to fashion into the strongest ropes Salmury had ever seen. He taught his three sons the art of the land and each one settled nearby, content with the future offered them. Not a one had any desire to travel beyond the mountains to face the horror that had driven away their father.

When my grandfather was too tired to work in the fields, he’d often take his grandchildren camping in the woods surrounding the town. He told us stories by the fire intending to scare us, convince us Salmury was a wonderful place to live. The tales had the opposite effect on me. The more I heard, the more I wanted to escape the life prescribed for me and go adventuring beyond the protective mountains. When the rest of the children drifted off to sleep I would ask my grandfather why he had left the Distant Lands. His eyes would glaze over as if he could see his past before him. When he spoke, his voice would catch on the first word and he’d pause. "All I can tell you is I made the right decision for the situation. You can’t understand any more unless you were there. It was a situation I hope you are never faced with, but if you are, always remember where you came from and where you hope to go. I thought of you that day, and there was only one choice that would allow me to meet you." I never pressed him for more, even though I hoped one day he’d tell me the whole story.

I often went hiking on my own in the woods. My younger sisters and brother were too scared to join me. They were terrified of the mysterious darkness living amid the trees. I was drawn to the darkness, intrigued by what it might hide. Rumors in town circulated that a glory of unicorns lived in the forest, even though no one could claim to have seen one. The only strange creature I ever saw was a yellow chipmunk with orange stripes that glowed and sparked whenever a storm rolled through the sky.

When I was fourteen, the town had its first visitors in over a generation. A cleric by the name of Rialdo made his way through the treacherous path to our village. His entourage had once been strong, but had lost many people during the long journey. After convincing our council that they were on a peaceful mission and would not engage in any battles in the valley, they set up camp for an extensive dig. Rialdo sought the grail and hoped to find it buried in our woods.

I welcomed the chance to hear more about the Distant Lands. In exchange for these tales, I cared for the knights’ horses and helped polish their armor, which had begun to rust after they had lost their last apprentice on the way to Salmury. The soldiers who followed Rialdo were all religious. They had devoted their lives to completing this quest. Many left families and the prospect of a happy retirement for a mission many thought improbable, yet not impossible. Rialdo always looked preoccupied as if in perpetual discussion with his god. I asked him about his childhood, where he came from, but all he talked about were the fleeting visions. The grail was always calling to him, providing him hints about its whereabouts. However, the visions were vague and the cleric had traversed from one end of Erathia to the other with nothing to show except an increased proficiency in the art of shoveling. The dig lasted three months and in that time I had a great opportunity to observe Rialdo casting spells. He showed me his spellbook, but the arcane writing was illegible. However, I was able to learn some basic magic such as levitation by simply watching Rialdo cast the spell. My talents were duly noted and when the time came for the cleric to leave, I was asked to join as his new apprentice.

My parents were against it and so was my namesake, but at least he understood why I needed to go. There was no way I would stay in Salmury until I had at least experienced what he had so many years ago. I said my good-byes and left with a belief that I would never see the land of my birth again.

* * *

I served under Rialdo for nearly a year before I grew weary of his incessant quest for the grail. I wished for more excitement and larger battles than the occasional skirmish with thieves. With Rialdo’s blessing I became the apprentice of the great knight Lord Mason in the town of Sky Waters. The town sat along the banks of a mighty lake that fed the river Acheron. My grandfather had taught all his clan the art of rope making, which made me especially useful aboard the ships Lord Mason planned to use in his assault on the Dungeon Kingdoms.

Lord Mason was a fair master who devoted a lot of effort to the peasants who lived in his town. He treated everyone as an equal and expected them to do the same. He felt a happy population constituted a prosperous town. He was very honest with people while still maintaining a level of privacy. On the first day of our trip at sea, I found him leaning out the portal in his cabin. He was weak and nauseated. He swore me to secrecy, not wanting to show any weakness in front of his troops. He thought they would lose respect for him. I thought they would respect him even more if he showed his humanity. He disagreed and I’ve kept his secret all this time. I would have died for that man if he would have asked me and I was certain he would do the same.

During the voyage I learned the subtleties of combat from some of the finest pikemen, archers and swordsmen in the land. I excelled at the sword, but I wished to use the blade from an advantageous position. The horses of the knights offered such a perch. The horses were intimidating and strong enough to carry the heaviest knights. Even under such pressure they were quick and could turn any battle to our favor. The knights were more accustomed to the use of a spear to keep the attackers at bay, but I was sure that with lighter armor, a quicker steed would allow the blade to do more damage.

The forces of Lord Mason arrived on the East Coast of Erathia with high spirits, which dissipated rapidly once we took to the caves. Morale dropped with each dead end and eerie crossroads. Everyone was on edge waiting for the darkness to leap out and attack at the slightest whisper. I walked around as if under a spell. After years spent in the woods, the unknown didn’t bother me. I was eager for a chance to push back the darkness and explore its many facets.

After three weeks underground and with our food supplies running short, we finally reached the Ablath dungeon. We engaged the city while constructing a pair of catapults and a battering ram to break through the fortress walls. The ensuing battle was a spectacular scene. Before the first volley was fired, the darkness was torn asunder by a brilliant bolt of lighting that jumped from soldier to soldier. Lord Mason blessed his troops and the siege was on. The archers fired their first round as the swordsmen and knights stormed the castle. The catapults launched, but the stones crumbled against the walls. Thirty pikemen picked up the battering ram and rushed the main gate. I stood at Lord Mason’s side, ready to carry a message to the front lines. Powerful bolts of light streaked through the air as the main gate creaked and splintered. Screeches followed from the ceiling as a torrent of wings and steel dropped out of the sky to attack the archers. The remaining pikemen fought back their own fears to protect the only long-range attack we had. The swordsmen stormed through the battered gate and ran into packs of beholders. Some were mesmerized while others were struck down by flying tentacles. A horde of ugly troglodytes blocked the path of the knights. There were so many, the horses could hardly move. But the horses would not let their mounts perish; rearing up they struck at the creatures around them, leaving in their wake a sea of dead. The warlock fled before he could be captured, but he left behind a cache of gold and the magical statue of Legion that Lord Mason sought.

* * *

I spent three years adventuring with Lord Mason and serving as his apprentice. I learned more about combat and even began my studies in the art of spellcasting. I was such a quick learner that by the time we reached the town of Cold Tower, I decided to stay and learn from the archmagi. Cold Tower reminded me of home. It was nice to be back in the mountains.

My studies at the library advanced at the expense of my adventuring. After four years, I was at the top of my class. I was happy, but still I felt unfulfilled. There was something missing from my life, something just out of my reach that I needed to acquire before I was complete. What I sought wasn’t in Cold Tower, so when an army was raised for a peace mission to AvLee, I offered my services.

The wizard genie Talnia was a jewel of a woman. Her blue skin sparkled in the cool mountain air. She looked no older than I did even though she had been around for nearly four centuries. She wasn’t the most powerful spellcaster in Cold Tower, but she was the most charismatic. She could charm anyone who even glanced in her direction. You could say I loved her because I did, but you couldn’t find anyone at the library who didn’t love her. She was a natural choice for the diplomatic mission to AvLee. All of the apprentices wanted to accompany her, to serve her during the journey. I was chosen because I was the best in my class and because of my experience on the battlefield with Lord Mason. If worst came to worst, my knowledge of the sword could save Talnia’s life and ensure the success of the mission.

The journey to AvLee was uneventful until we stepped foot on cursed ground. The terrain surprised Talnia. Latest word from AvLee mentioned the increase in necromancer activity, but it had yet to spread this far. You could feel the diseased ground chill your bones. Talnia’s power was drained as we made the way across the land, but for some strange reason I could feel my own grow. The ground called out to me, invited me to add my existence to the power of the dead.

The master gremlins who performed all the menial tasks during the journey were terrified of the shadows and each impending night. The stories told around the campfire by the magi did nothing to ease the fear. A few had fought the dead in the past. They spoke of battles where you knew for certain that not only might you lose a best friend, you may have to kill them a second time to release their spirits from a necromancer’s hold.

We made it off of the cursed land without incident, but the anticipation had taken its toll. Everyone was exhausted and on edge, jumping at the slightest noise. The group was asleep when the alarm sounded. The attack came from all sides. The ground opened up and approached out of the night air. Talnia dispatched a stare of gargoyles to seek reinforcements. She wasn’t sure we could survive the battle alone.

The iron golems formed a wall of protection around the gremlins and magi. Bats flew out of the trees and transformed before our eyes. They attacked the golems, but they could not turn any of the animated statues. Without hesitation, they turned their sights on the magi attempting to burn their flesh before they could get closer. A shriek rose up as wraiths were summoned from the ground beneath us. I could feel the power of the dead swallow me whole. I did not want it to let me go. The gremlins scattered everywhere, each one hounded by its own ghost. The golems were too slow to help. By the time they could react, they were beset by skeletons that outnumbered them ten-to-one. The magi fought bravely, but for every two vampires they struck down, one of their own was killed and infused by a demon. The battle was nearly lost. Talnia was weakened from the surprise attack, but she still had enough energy for a spell she had hoped never to use. The incantations began and woke me from my spell. I ran to her side and helped her finish the spell. The heavens opened above us and a powerful wind raced down the trees and pounded the earth. The undead screamed at the attack as Talnia collapsed in my arms. Only fifty percent of the attackers had been banished and each second one of our own dead added to the undead force. A handful of skeletons raced through the golem blockade to attack Talnia. I confronted two with my sword at the ready, but three more surrounded Talnia. She was weak and unable to defend herself. I felt a rage surge up from the essence of my soul. The words flowed out of my mouth as a tiny spark left my hand. The three skeletons froze in place. I struggled with my own concentration as I knocked one of the skeletons down with my foot and struck down the other with my blade. The bones crumbled before me and I turned my attention to the three now under my control. With one clean sweep I struck them all down. I was about to attempt a retreat and save Talnia when the night sky was lit by streaks of fire. The flaming arrows hit the vampires and they vanished in a puff of smoke. The wraiths chasing the gremlins through the forest were caught up in the branches of dendroid soldiers. Their whispery forms were bound to the earth from which they came. The branches reached down and tore the wraiths to shreds. Without the vampires, the magi were free to even the odds at the front line, allowing the golems to pound the skeletons to powder. The necromancer vanished into the darkness as the last of the troops fell. I left Talnia to be cared for by the elves and magi while I made my way to where the necromancer had run the battle. I could still sense the power emanating from the ground and wished I could reproduce it. I stumbled over a tree root and landed on a dark gray book made of bone. When I touched it, I knew this was the unknown I had sought for years. This was the unspoken magic that had meant banishment for so many magi. I smiled at the thought of thoroughly learning the contents as I slipped the book into a buried fold of my robe and returned to Talnia’s side to help finish this mission. 

To be continued in Part II: Betrayal ...