The Adventures of Larson and Garrett, Quest of the Crusader

Chapter 6

The group puffed, yawned, stretched, ate, drank, relieved themselves, and gathered their gear while Eric relayed the event of the previous night. He showed them the squirrel before reaching for his arrow. A plated fist smashed the head; Murman looked at Eric, who bore a face of disgust. He finally pulled free his arrow and checked the steel, which was fine.

"Let's go," Sasha announced.

"Where, exactly?" Kyle demanded.

For a moment, they bickered about a direction. Kyle told them to search for tracks, bushes with torn or broken branches, anything that might indicate the direction from which the undead had come. It took the better part of an hour of mindless wandering before Sasha spotted a bloody boot caught in the broken branch of a snag.

Kyle jogged over, stepped over the snag, aligned his foot with the boot, and figured an undead had stridden from behind. He turned around, gazing intently at the pines. "If we go this way, we'll probably find more scraps of cloths or bloody tracks, something."

"Yes, I smell dead," Murman mumbled, and ambled off.

They pushed and pulled their way through some low hanging branches. Indeed they did locate more evidence of undead. They also found a necklace caught in a bush. The sunlight glinting off the gold had drawn their attention.

Yoris removed it, accidentally breaking the clasp. He rolled the gold chain over his fingers. Since it held no charms, he figured it a man's necklace. Everyone gathered around him.

"The necromancer is probably using the undead to attack merchants," Kyle suggested. Elucidation was demanded. "He sends out the undead to attack carts at night. The monsters kill the people and haul the corpses to some lair where the wizard pockets the loot and reanimates more dead."

"Arm, here," Murman said.

Yoris was the first to run over. It was a small, rotting arm, likely a child's. Raccoons, or other rodents, had gnawed away at the fingers.

"We'll keep traveling this way," Sasha volunteered while pointing her nose towards the new direction.

Hours of marching ensued. The sun began to set, casting ominous shadows. Apart from scraps of cloth and straps of leather, they saw no more evidence of undead, but when they came unto a clearing in the woods, everyone halted. A dark and timeworn cabin stood at the far end of the clearing.

A beaten trail led directly to the front door. Tall grasses swayed all around the structure. Kyle suggested they round the cabin by staying hidden in the trees. He wanted to be sure there were no undead guards prowling.

Breaking into two groups, Yoris, Sasha, and Eric circled in a westerly direction while Kyle and Murman circled towards the east. Ducking beneath limbs, and making extra careful to minimize noise, the crusader stepped over twigs and around roots. A tap on his shoulder had him turning abruptly; Eric had touched him with his bow. The half-elf slowly motioned towards something.

Straining to see, Yoris was witness to tiny, red orbs slowly approaching. The creature, whatever it was, was about thirty yards away and very low to the ground, yet it seemed too large to be a squirrel. Eric whispered to move a little deeper into the woods and let the thing go by. Yoris nodded and all three of them moved beyond some graying, craggy boughs.

Breathing slowly and deeply, the crusader was quick to notice that no thoughts had run rampant since they had begun to skulk. Then, he was thinking about not thinking, when the creature, visible in the twilight, drew nearer; it was an undead raccoon, judging by the tail and paws. The rest of the creature looked to be little more than skin and bones. Quick as lightning, Sasha drew her long sword, rolled over the sandy ground, and removed the creature's head.

She pulled her blade from the dirt as she stood. After inspecting the carcass, and as her compatriots surrounded her, she knocked the soil from her sword by beating it against her boot. Once clean, she sheathed it and suggested they continue warily until meeting up with the others. When they did meet, Sasha told them of the raccoon. Kyle said they saw nothing.

"Let us make for the cabin then," Yoris said.

"Let's observe it for a moment," Kyle countered. "Let's see if any candles or fires spark up; we should be able to see light through the cracks in the shutters."

Huddled together and crouching in the forest, the warriors waited a spell. Hooting owls, far off howls of wolves, and chirping crickets filled the ears. By the time necks, backs, and thighs grew stiff, everyone agreed the cabin appeared uninhabited, and yet it was possible they had found the patrol creature. Murman added that he still smelled death.

"We are here to fight, to slay the necromancer," Yoris whispered.

"Yeah, okay," Eric puffed. "Cousin?"

"I'm ready," she replied looking to the other two. Murman and Kyle nodded.

"Sasha, Murman, and I will make our approach," Yoris announced. "You two keep us covered.

Kyle drew one of his curved blades and used it to give a little salute. It didn't look like a throwing a knife, but the crusader figured it was magickal. Eric drew and steadied an arrow before nodding. Low to the ground, the other three hurriedly skulked off the beaten trail and through knee high grasses for the side of the cabin.

It was night. Stars twinkled when clouds swept over a crescent moon. Misty rain had begun to fall, and no one saw the pair of glowing, red orbs perched high atop a pine. An unseen force observed the intruders.

Reaching a set of shutters, Yoris stood up beside them and tried to push them open. They didn't budge, and he didn't want to risk making too much noise. He whispered to Murman to employ his nose. The piggish man said he smelled death and earth.

"Move aside," Sasha whispered. She drew a small knife, placed it in the crack between the shutters, at the base, and slid the blade up to unlock the latch. She pushed open the shutters to peek inside.

It was dark, too dark to see much of anything. Something creaked and groaned. A figured shifted. A red eye appeared in the darkness. Then, another shone, and she quickly ducked, pulling at her friends. "There's a skeleton in there."

"Let's head back and tell Eric, see if he can snipe it from the woods," Yoris advised.

Heeding the crusader's suggestion, they snuck back to the forest. Once Eric was informed, he posted up against a low branch, waited for the glowing eyes to show, and he let fly an arrow. It sailed through the night, struck the skeleton in the skull, and the eyes vanished from sight.

Believing the skeleton defeated, they hoofed it back to the cabin. A quick peek inside revealed the skeleton was trying to screw its head back on. Frowning, Kyle threw his curved blade. Surprisingly, it flew quite well, bounced off the undead, and following a bright but silent explosion, the skeleton was dust, and mysteriously, the knife was back in the warrior's hand.

Yoris arched a brow, scrutinizing the swarthy man. Kyle said it was blessed by Akalabash. Shrugging, the crusader said it was time to enter. Rather than using the door, they clambered in through the window. Murman had to be hoisted up, but once inside, the half-dwarf lit a torch.