Chapter 10 Part 1

Family and Friends

The ceiling was hewn from logs with the gaps filled by a mixture of dried mud and plant fiber. Though the room was shaded, it was not really dark. Dylan had been staring at the ceiling for many long moments before he realized that he was awake. He had been dreaming of walking through a golden field of wheat. It had been a peaceful dream and he felt somewhat sorry that he had awakened.

Although he felt strangely comfortable, he was also somewhat curious so Dylan sat up. He was in a small bed with thick warm quilts and a soft downy pillow. The room was not very large. It appeared to have sides made of stone and dirt. To one side a small trickle of water flowed freely from a rock outcropping into a basin.

Dylan rubbed his eyes. The last thing he remembered was the battle against the specters. A wave of grief washed over him at the recollection of Kraal’s death. The centaur had been his companion for several weeks.

A noise to his left and behind him caught his attention. Turning around, Dylan beheld the most lovely elven woman he had ever seen. She was small, barely his own height and had very fair skin from what he could tell by her hands and face. The rest of her was cloaked and hooded.

“I see that you are awake,” she greeted him stepping into the light. Her voice was high and reminded him of the bells used at the Academy to mark the passing hours. She had a small slightly upturned nose and pale lips, but her most striking feature was the lavender colored eyes. She looked familiar, but he was still too groggy to focus on that.

“What happened?” It was the only thing he could think to ask.

The woman touched his forehead and took his face in her hands and peered deeply into his eyes. “You seem to be all right,” she announced. Then to answer his question, “you have been asleep for several days. You were brought here.”

“I remember being in a fight,” he recalled. “I thought we were going to die at the hands of those specters when this man came out of the woods and saved us single handedly. The specters attacked him but couldn’t harm him.”

“That was the Forester,” she told him. “This is his place and I am his mate.”

“The elf maid of unspeakable beauty?” Dylan gasped. The legends of the Forester often spoke of his wife.

“Unspeakable beauty?” the woman asked with a smile. She tossed her head and the hood fell back revealing long sunset colored hair. “I had not heard that one. Tell me more.”

Dylan swallowed. She was indeed beautiful. “The story tellers back home sing that the Forester would only mate with the most beautiful woman in the world. And when no woman could be found, Nature itself took on human form to be wed to the Champion of the Deep.”

The woman laughed. “I can not wait for Avery to hear that one. I hope that you will forgive his crude method of putting you to sleep. We were unsure as to your loyalty.”

“Are you sure now?” Dylan asked.

“What do you think?” the elf maid answered.

“I think that if a little flattery convinced you that I was loyal, then you couldn’t be as wise as the Forester’s mate is rumored to be.”

The woman chuckled. “You are right.” Then she passed a cup of water to Dylan. “I am yet still unsure, but I do like your words.”

Dylan took the water and drank it deeply. It was very good and he found himself to be quite parched. When he finished the drink, he returned the cup and the woman refilled it for him. “Do you have a name?” Dylan asked.

“They call me,” and briefly her eyes took on a sense of mischief, “ma’am,” she concluded. Then she winked. “But you can call me Nikki.”

Dylan finished the second cup and thanked her for the water. She smiled. “Your manners are quite good. Gage was right in choosing you.”

It was at that moment that Dylan realized that he had seen Nikki before. He had also seen the man that had saved them from the Specters before as well. They had been present at Gage’s induction as a master of magic. They were his parents. His master’s father was the Forester.

In a gentle rush, Dylan recalled more of what had happened with the specters and the events that had followed.

Nikki saw the boy come to the realization. She tried to head off the shock before it overtook him. “Yes, Gage is my son. As is Coran. We have a very deeply rooted family and also a very close one, a family that you have become, in a way, part of. So you must keep one thing in mind. We do not refer to each other as The Forester or anything like that. We call each other by our names. The legends and fame are not really welcome in our home.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Dylan answered.

“My, you are a fast learner.”

There was a muffled sound at the door and Nikki turned to it. Then she paused. “Dylan, would you go answer the door?”

Dylan opened the door as he was directed. A humongous monster immediately attacked him. It was wet, dark red and smelled foul. The boy reeled back and tripped over his feet to land on his back.

“Aha!” Nikki shouted as she grabbed a broomstick. She charged the door weapon in hand to repel the brute. “You thought you had me that time. But you were wrong.” The broomstick came down with a gentle, but audible thud on the back of the creatures’ furry head.

Wiping his face clear of the wetness, Dylan clearly saw the enemy. It appeared to be a wolf. But the size of the massive head almost filled the doorway and the powerful jaws should have been easily able to snap the elf woman in two. But instead the creature looked at Dylan then at Nikki, and Dylan could almost see the lupine face grinning. Then the head was gone, withdrawn through the doorway with Nikki in pursuit.

Dylan followed cautiously. Peering through the open door he saw Nikki chasing the monster around the clearing. The beast was what Dylan recognized as a coyodiak. It was huge, large as a horse, yet definitely wolf-like in nature.

Dylan watched as the tiny woman chased the monster around the corner of a cabin across the compound. The compound itself was fairly large. There were several cabins built in a rough circle around a central fountain of water. The lawn was well manicured with beds of brightly colored flowers. To one side a doe and her fawn nibbled absently at the grass while a red coated fox lapped at the water from the fountain.

Standing in the doorway of one of the cabins, Crystal saw Dylan emerge. She casually strolled over to greet him. Dylan was glad for the familiar company. “Good afternoon,” Crystal laughed. Obviously she had seen Nikki and the coyodiak at play.

“Don’t let Algol scare you,” she told him. “He’s a big spoiled baby.”

“Where are we?” Dylan asked the question again.

“We are in the most wonderful place in the world,” Crystal laughed. “Gage’s father is a strong person who can protect this area, and his mother is a powerful druid. Between the two of them, this glade’s almost paradise. Nothing bad happens here. I’ve been here many times with my parents and I love it here.”

“It’s very pretty,” Dylan admitted. “But why are we here?”

Crystal took him by the hand and began to lead him towards the larger cabin. “Something’s going on,” she told him with a serious frown. “All the undead that have been showing up in the area are very abnormal.”

“I’ve never seen any undead until recently,” Dylan admitted.

“Actually I haven’t either,” Crystal admitted. “But they’re around. I’ve never heard of so many showing up in so many places, though.”

“What do they want?”

Crystal shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s why we’re here. To get together and try to figure out what’s going on.”

“Is the king here?” Dylan asked. It seemed to him that things were getting very important and that the king might be involved.

“Not yet,” Crystal told him with a chuckle. “But some very special people have gathered to talk about it.”

Crystal beckoned for him to follow and with Dylan in tow, they approached the larger cabin and Crystal opened the door. Inside was a large commons room around a central fireplace. Over the fire was a roast. Next to the roast, Coran sat in a heavy chair. He poked at the cooking meat with a fork while Rathe stirred the contents of a kettle. A large wooden table sat to one side. Dylan instantly recognized the figure of the mysterious Master Ultrecht along with his own master. Another figure, Dylan saw was the master who Gage had apprenticed under, Armegon, stood nearby. The Forester, Gage’s father was nowhere to be seen.

Ultrecht and Gage were going through some papers on the desk while Armegon looked on. “I haven’t heard anything about the undead being so bold,” Armegon said.

“The undead are a form of involuntary possession by demons or devils,” Ultrecht noted. “Any victim killed by the undead comes back as undead themselves.”

“What determines what kind of undead a corpse will become,” Coran asked. He cut a piece of the meat from the roast and tasted it.

“In the initial possession, the power of the entity possessing the body has a great deal to do with the type of undead. Those killed by undead almost always come back as a very limited form of undead, usually ghouls, zombies, skeletons, or wights. Anything more powerful requires a possession or curse.

“What makes a vampire?” Crystal asked pushing herself past Dylan. The boy joined Rathe by the kettle.

“A vampire is either a priest or mage that has been possessed at the time of death,” Armegon answered. They can be very dangerous. Those that they kill become ghouls.”

“But that village was full of vampires,” Coran objected. “It was such a small village. I find it hard to believe that there were that many mages or priests in that small of a settlement.”

“What are specters?” Rathe was stirring the kettle. He spoke over his shoulder. “What kind of dead person makes them?”

Armegon continued. “Specters, ghosts, wraiths, and the like are usually warriors or thieves. Specters are the most powerful. They are usually very strong warriors possessed by major devils or demons. Their victims become phantoms and haunts.”

“Since when do you study necromancy?” a new voice said from the doorway. The figure that entered was not very tall for a man, but was powerfully built with silvery gray hair and solid amber eyes. Dylan recognized him as the man who had saved them from the specters. It was the Forester. In spite of himself, the boy retreated unconsciously, placing Rathe’s huge bulk between the enigmatic Forester and himself.

“It’s a form of magic, Avery,” Armegon said. “Disgusting as it may sound, it’s still a form of magic.”

“But not really a form of sorcery is it?”

“No, it’s not,” Ultrecht answered. Then with a wry smile, he added, “but there really isn’t a whole lot to sorcery to begin with.”

“Are we going to start that again,” Armegon whined. Apparently, to Dylan’s ears, it was a long overworked subject.

“It’s for the education of the young,” Ultrecht defended himself. He struck a pose and assumed the form of an instructing master. “There are only two traits necessary to be a successful sorcerer,” he droned.

Avery stuck his hand up imitating a hyperactive student. “Oooh, me, me, me!”

“Yes young man?” the fake teacher called upon the mock student.

“A bad temper and a short fuse!” Avery answered with a laugh.

“Correct,” Ultrecht confirmed and then both of them doubled over with laughter. Armegon watched them with a cool detached eye. He considered turning them into onions, but decided not to insult such a tasty vegetable.

“That’s enough,” Crystal announced as she directed Dylan to a seat. “Stop teasing Uncle Armegon. If it weren’t for his sorcery, you never would’ve defeated the Doyr, and you know it.” A few more chuckles followed, but the joviality diminished quickly.

“So who’s sponsoring or arranging all these possessions?” Coran asked. He struggled to hold in a chuckle of his own as he passed a knife to Avery. “Want a bite to eat, father?” It was probably a good idea to change the subject.

“That’s really a good question,” Ultrecht agreed. He wiped the tears from his face as the last chuckle escaped his breath. “Before, something like that would be attributed to House Blackheart, but they’ve been out of power for a long time.”

“So maybe someone else is playing politics with the devils or the demons,” Gage supposed.

“Not the Doyr,” Rathe laughed. Even Dylan understood that joke and he joined in the humor.

“There are a couple of sects that’re involved in devil or demon worship,” Crystal offered.
“But in general, they really don’t have any power. Most people don’t support that kind of thing.”

“Well, I suppose that we could do some checking into it. We might have to pay a visit to some of these sects to check on their activity,” Armegon announced.

“Why not just get the king to put some people into the investigation,” Coran asked. “Crystal’s father has the kind of influence to get that done.”

“That is a possibility, unfortunately anytime you use the proper channels to get something done, it’s very visible. The king’s simply incapable of doing anything covertly.” Ultrecht sighed. “And if we’re going to have to investigate something like this, I’d prefer that they don’t know that we’re coming.”

“Damned if this isn’t starting to sound familiar,” Avery decided.

“Same old story,” Armegon added.

“So what do we do?” Avery asked. “We don’t have any idea as to where these things are coming from or who’s controlling them.”

“Controlling them?” Ultrecht asked. “What makes you think that they’re being controlled?”

“Specters and ghosts and wraiths are common enough in groups,” the Forester told them. “But vampires are solitary creatures. They never work together unless controlled by a higher entity.”

“What kind of higher entity are you talking about?” Gage asked.

“Vampires are very high on the ranking of the undead. So only a lich or something worse can control them. The other possibility is a powerful devil or demon; possibly one of the Demon Princes or one of the Dukes of Hell.”

“Damn,” Armegon swore. “I knew that sooner or later they would cause trouble.”

“That’s the trouble with sooner and later,” Ultrecht sighed. “Neither one never happens.”

“Was that a double negative?” Armegon asked with a frown.

“The double negative yields an affirmative,” Avery added.

“Cut that out,” Ultrecht snapped.

“So we need to determine where these undead are coming from, and if they are being controlled, who is doing the controlling,” Gage continued ignoring the playful bickering of his elders.

“We also need to take measures to keep in check the outbreak of undead activity in the area,” Coran added. “I have a duty to my oath of service to Tycho.”

“What of other places,” Dylan asked. He was not sure if he should be speaking or be silent. After all he was a mere apprentice amongst archmages, legends and his own master.

There seemed to be no notice of the breach of protocol. Avery, instead answered Dylan with all the respect and attention that he would a master sorcerer. “You’re right. We can’t just concentrate on our own lands. We have to think about the rest of the world too.”

“There aren’t enough of us to cover the whole of Asille in combating undead appearances.” Armegon pointed out.

“We need help. Do you think we can get the king to do something about this?” Crystal asked. “Something like that doesn’t need to be done covertly.”

“That’s truly a possibility,” Ultrecht agreed. “Let Sam use his influence to get the king to put that military machine of his to work. Hunting down and destroying undead shouldn’t meet with any political resistance.”

“Well that’ll help alleviate the symptom, but until someone works the cause, it may be a losing battle.” Coran’s statement was gloomy, but true.

“He’s right. We’ve been through this before with the Dreadknights. We can’t win a war against the dead, when every time one of the living dies, the enemy gets a new soldier.” Ultrecht recalled their experience from long ago with sorrow. “We mustn’t make that mistake again.”

“Right,” Armegon agreed. “While the king keeps them busy, it’ll be our job to find out what’s driving this and figure out how to stop it.”

“I’d like to point out that we’re still not sure if there’s a serious problem. It still could just be nothing more than a renegade lich.”

“What’s a lich,” Dylan asked.

“A lich is a powerful archmage or high cleric who can’t accept his own mortality. So when he is near death, he works some magic, making an arrangement with a demon or devil that transforms him into a lich. It is an undead entity that is very powerful and insanely evil,” Gage explained to his pupil. “In the case of a lich, the body is dead, but the presence of a minor demon or devil allows the archmage or high cleric to continue on in the dead body. The demon is not in control, but the body and its owner are irrevocably enslaved to the demon prince or arch devil; that arranged it.”

“The question is to see just how far spread this thing is,” Armegon stated returning to the subject. “If it’s contained in a localized area, then Coran may be right, and this might be just a renegade lich.”

“’Renegade lich’?” Avery asked. “Is it possible to have a lich that’s not a renegade?”

“Don’t get picky,” Armegon answered irritably.

"I guess it’s time to take a road trip,” Ultrecht decided. “I need to go to the Academy and take care of some business anyway.” He tapped Gage on the shoulder. “You want to come with me?”

Gage shook his head. “No, uncle, I have a responsibility and I need to get back to it before the boy forgets how to study. We will go with Coran to Tycho and check out things there. But I would appreciate it if you delivered some messages for me.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Ultrecht assured. “What about you,” he asked Armegon.

“I think I’ll swing by High Branch and Keron. I’ll stop by and see Sam in Keron and try to get him to pressure the king into taking some action. Then I’ll drop by New Aspberg on the way back. That’s where Blackheart’s power was based. Maybe I can dig something up.”

Avery frowned. “’Dig something up’? Are you trying to be funny?”

“So where will you go?” Ultrecht asked Avery.

“I guess I’ll go north with Gage and Coran. They can stay in Tycho, and I’ll go with Rathe on to Haganaw. That way we can see just how far this thing has spread. I dare say it’ll take a while to make that journey.”

“Rathe,” Armegon called to the Minotaan sipping from a ladle. “Will you be coming back or will you go home for a visit?”

“Oh, I’ll be back. I can’t listen to my father tell that story of your journey into the world under Mount Gale any more. After the hundredth time it gets very old.”

“I’ll drag him back with me,” Avery promised.

Ultrecht sighed. “Coran, pass me some of that roast and a bowl of stew. I’m going to try to leave early tomorrow so I want to eat now.”

“Who made the stew,” Crystal asked.

“I did,” Rathe answered.

“Then, I’ll have some too. As long as Coran didn’t cook it.”

Coran laughed. “Want some roast pork?”

Dylan and Crystal joined in the dining. The stew was very good and the roast was very tender. Nikki entered several moments later with a loaf of warm bread. She passed it around generously with an apology. “I had two loafs, but Algol stole one of them.”

“Really Avery, you need to have a talk with him about his appetite. He is totally capable of fending for himself. He needs to stop ambushing me every time I bake a fresh loaf of bread.”

“He likes your bread, Nikki,” the amber-eyed man told her as he sipped the stew.

“He is a meat eater,” the woman answered. “He needs to be what he is.”

“What do you want me to do? Spank him?”

“If you do not do something I will have to take matters into my own hands,” Nikki threatened.

“And what would that be?” Avery asked with a chuckle.

“I will stop baking bread altogether,” Nikki announced. The silence that followed was deafening. There was no sound of spoon or cup. Every one just stared blankly at Avery.

The amber-eyed legend emptied his cup wordlessly and then pushed his bowl aside. Then he stood and made his way to the door. He stopped and looked long and hard at his wife who was innocently dipping a bowl of stew. He started to say something but decided otherwise. Then he opened the door and stepped through it. Before the door closed behind him, Avery’s voice could be heard outside. “Don’t look at me that way. You know darn good and well that you’ve taken one loaf too many.”

When the door closed, the entire cabin erupted in laughter. “He really does love your bread,” Crystal complimented Nikki.

“So did Mirfak.” The druid sat in a chair next to Dylan and Crystal. She leaned and whispered to Dylan. “Do not worry,” she said as the sounds of combat and growling drifted in through the walls. “Avery and Algol wrestle all the time.”

Dylan finished his meal and listened patiently as Crystal and Nikki talked about the animals and trees and the changing of the seasons. Coran and Rathe each brandished goblets and began to take drafts from a keg on the far side of the room. Ultrecht too produced a cup and partook of the brew. Armegon and Gage quietly spoke in the dim glow of the fading fire. Dylan could not hear their words, but he could tell from their glances and body language that the subject concerned him.

After an hour or two, Avery returned. He was covered in dirt and scratched up, but otherwise seemed to be very euphoric. He finished his food and then held a hand out to his wife.

Crystal and Nikki giggled, and then Nikki stood and joined her mate. Together they left the room through a side door. Ultrecht, Rathe and Coran took no notice and although Armegon waved as the couple passed him, neither he nor Gage made any other sign that they had noticed.

Crystal, on the other hand, now deprived of her companion, was faced with the choice of either joining in the drinking or imposing upon Armegon and Gage’s discussion. Instead she opted to retire early. “I’m going to go to bed,” she told Dylan. “These men will stay up all night. I suggest you go to bed too.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Dylan admitted. “Am I to sleep in the same place?”

“That will be fine,” Crystal told him. She stood and opened the door. Dylan followed. They walked across the compound. Near the central fountain, a mountain of fur lay dozing.

“Goodnight Algol,” Crystal laughed. She was rewarded by a muffled woof.
“I guess there aren’t many creatures that will wander into this place at night,” Dylan offered.

“Well you’re right for the most part,” Crystal said. Most creatures fear the scent of a coyodiak. Only the occasional dragon drops by unannounced.

“Dragons?” Dylan was thrilled at the thought of seeing a dragon.

Crystal laughed. “Very rarely. Uncle Armegon’s a very close friend of a dragon.”

“Is Master Armegon really your uncle?” Dylan asked.

Crystal sighed. “Well it’s a little more complex than that. Let me see if I can explain it.”
They stopped and sat on a bench outside the shack that Crystal was sleeping in. “Armegon raised my father. And when my father married my mother, they were very young so he cared for her too until they went out on their own. Ultrecht and Avery are kind of like brothers to Armegon so just to make things easy, I call them all ‘uncle’.”

“So although you call Avery your uncle, you’re not really Master Gage and Coran’s cousin.”

“That’s right. And you’ll notice that Coran and Gage also call Armegon and Ultrecht ‘uncle’ as well.”

“I think I see,” Dylan said.

“Good,” Crystal yawned. “Well I’m going to go to bed. Sleep well and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight,” Dylan called as Crystal disappeared. Then he went into his own shack and went to sleep.

The next morning, Dylan discovered that Armegon, Ultrecht and Crystal had already left. He found Avery, Nikki, Coran, Gage and Rathe in the main cottage eating breakfast.
“We will be leaving for Tycho this morning,” Gage told his student. “So make sure that you are packed and ready for travel. The journey will take about a week and a half.”

Dylan shared in the breakfast and joined his master as they loaded a train of horses and pack mules. Rathe was the only one to walk. The others rode in single file with Coran in the lead. They departed the compound leaving Algol and Nikki standing by the fountain.

“Does it never bother you to leave your mother alone when you are away?” Rathe asked Coran.

Coran laughed. “Look at her bodyguard. Who would dream of attacking her?”
“I see your point.”

“Nevertheless,” Avery interrupted from the rear. “Someone did attack her long ago. That was when we lost Mirfak. Together the two of them killed well over a score of Doyr soldiers.”

Dylan’s ears tuned in. He had heard the story of the Forester’s annihilation of the Doyr civilization from minstrels before. With only a little pleading, he had the opportunity to hear the story straight from the source. And as usual, it turned out that the truth was even more interesting than the fable. The most significant thing that Dylan learned that was contrary to the popular tale was that Avery told him that he was not the one who had killed the demon that the Doyr had worshipped. It had been Armegon, and he had not killed her but had banished her.