AVALANTIA THE DRAGON WARS

THE GATHERING.

The earth above was scarred and blackened from the recent battle. Now it was silent and bathed with light from the three moons, whose light filtered down through the cracks on the surface to the tunnels below. A scraping and a clawing could be heard as the undead and creatures of the night began to dig themselves free from the ground that had entombed them for thousands of years. As if drawn by some unseen force, they set off in the same direction as if they were migrating birds heading south in the winter. They travelled quietly, swiftly, and undisturbed in the tunnels, no one above ground aware that they were even there. They reached the end of the caves and dug themselves free using daemons and undead creatures to move the soil and rock. Once in the moonlight, the creatures didn't stop to rest they just began to climb the mountain path. The path had been there for centuries and had stood the test of time as it was carved directly into the side of the mountains themselves, almost as if they had been put there when the mountains were formed. This was a long trek for the night creatures and undead who encountered more of their kind along the way. Some had stayed out of the way hidden in old dwarf mines that had been long since vacated by the dwarves as they had proven empty as the pockets of the dwarves that had started them.

All three of the moons were full when they reached the last bridge in the journey to the castle at the foot of Crackus. It must have taken many years to carve the huge stone blocks that were used in the bridge's construction. On the side of the bridge were decorations that had been almost worn away by the wind, snow, and ice. One of the vampire lords snarled a stop at some of his undead followers. Then hissed at a small group of them who obediently walked out onto the bridge. It appears whoever had first made the bridge had intended it to be there for a long time and that it might be nearing the end of its time of use as the bridge could be heard crumbling under the feet of the small group. A block came loose and fell into the deep ravine below, bouncing along the sides of the cliff till it hit the bottom. The vampire lord seeing that the bridge had seen better decided that it was best to send them all across a group at a time, making sure he was one of the first and therefore more likely to survive the crossing those that came after would have to take their chances after all you could make more of the mindless undead. Not far behind the hordes of undead and night creatures, humans started their ascent on the mountain road and caught up with the night creatures as they had nearly finished crossing the bridge and crossed with them, to the locked gate at the other side. The undead scaled the walls as the living waited to be granted passage into the once great fortress of the wizard Waldamore.

The castle that had been carved from the mountainside had once been filled with soldiers and servants, now stood empty the noise of the footsteps of the soldiers and undead echoed across the large walled-off area surrounding the bailey to the castle fortress. The stone blocks used to construct the wall were so huge no human could have possibly moved and set them in place. The joins in the block appeared almost seamless and with no mortar holding them in place. Clearly, this was built with someone who had knowledge beyond Waldamore's abilities four hundred years ago.

The soldiers began to make camp for the night and the once silent castle filled with the noise of soldiers and the undead that prowled around it. The door to the castle suddenly opened and a small group of undead guards escorted a lady dressed in red, her skin nearly as white as the snow and her hair as black as night. She was followed by a man with a hood over his head so no one could make out his features. He was fidgety and his hands were shaky and his palms were clammy. The soldiers stopped what they were doing and the undead all stood up as she approached them. The soldiers being trained to follow did the same. The man reached forward for a chain that was attached to a chalice, that wrapped around the woman's waist and was fastened there with a small lock. She batted his hand away forcefully and gave him a stern look, which made the man shy away. She then picked up his hand, "You know I can use the chalice." She reminded him in a soft and sweet tone and then gently kissed his hand. "You could ever want of my blessing soon enough." She put her hand in her pocket, "You can take your hood off now Lord Denthore." She told him,