Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 123
THE LONGEST NIGHT
Night descended upon the crossing at Alderford.
The armsmen set out torches and lamps around the perimeter of the village, pushing back the night in a bubble of flickering illumination. Shay and Medelia helped the fleeing steaders extract their wagon from the ford, and they quickly fled down the road. Others came to the crossing; a pair of riders, their horses frothing from overexertion. Talen convinced them to walk their beasts for a time, but could get no useful intelligence from them, save that the lands south of the river were “swarming” with undead. A family of steaders, four adults and two children, arrived an hour later on foot, bearing torches. They were exhausted, and barely coherent in response to Talen’s questions. Talen was reluctant to let them remain at Alderford, but they clearly could not go any further, so he let them sleep in one of the abandoned homes of the village.
The hours passed. Snaggletooth continued scouting out the area from above, while invisible, while Attius waited for the return of his prying eyes. The diviner, guarded by the armsmen and two of the priests, also placed a pair of alarm spells in the nearby woods. The night continued, deathly quiet. Even the evening breeze died, and wisps of fog began to form out over the stream, as the winter chill deepeend with the night.
Talen posted watches and ordered the spellcasters to start getting sleep in shifts. All but three of Attius’s eyes returned, all with negative reports. Talen was worried at first about the missing ones, but the diviner told him that it was common for the scouting eyes to run into objects in the dark, and accidentally destroy themselves. That did not ease the knight’s worries, but there was nothing to be done for it in any case.
It was about an hour shy of midnight as Talen walked the perimeter of the village, careful not to stray beyond the radius of the torches that the armsmen had thrust into the ground. They had made extra torches out of pine boughs taken from the adjacent wood, combined with a bucket of pitch they’d found in one of the abandoned houses. The improvised brands cracked as they burned, but cast an acceptable light. There were dozens of them around the perimeter. The result was some night-blindness, but he was gladly willing to pay that price if it meant being able to see a shadow or other incorporeal undead trying to creep up at them.
Talen frowned at the thought. He had been used to thinking of undead as mindless, if dangerous, creatures, to be hacked into pieces before they could do any harm. But these foes were clearly guided by some malevolent intelligence. What they were facing was not a dumb rabble, but an army. But who or what was commanding it?
He found Shay waiting for him, in the lee of what had once been a farrier’s shop, little more than a lean-to built to cover an old anvil and firepit.
“You should get some rest,” Talen told her.
“So should you,” she shot back at once.
“Yeah, but I’m the commander,” he said, then let out a whoof of expelled air as she elbowed him hard in the side. It was more exaggerated than real, as she couldn’t really hurt him through his heavy armor. “Insubordination,” he said, cracking a grin that quickly faded.
She came in close to him, and he put his arms around her. “Damn all this metal,” she said, rapping on his breastplate with her knuckles.
“Shay, when all this is over...”
“Don’t,” she said, leaning into him. “Just... don’t, Talen. Please.”
He nodded, and held onto her in silence.
They were interrupted by the sound of someone running nearby. The pair broke apart and came around the hut to see Allera rushing into the village commons. As soon as she saw them, she ran straight toward them.
“What is it?” Talen asked.
“Snaggletooth,” she said, pausing to suck in a deep breath. “He says that there’s a large party of refugees coming down the road. Sixty or more.”
Talen and Shay shared a quick look; they could tell that there was more coming. Allera did not disappoint them, as soon as she’d taken another breath.
“There’s an army of undead right on their heels.”
* * * * *
By the time that the leading elements of the column of refugees became visible from Alderford, Talen had everyone up and ready for battle. He’d had his people rig up crude barricades of old furniture and lumber between the cottages that faced onto the commons, which could be used to fall back on into a defensive position if necessary. At the moment, however, his forces were arrayed along the road at the extent of the line of torches, ready to assist the fleeing refugees.
Shay had suggested running down the road to meet the refugee column, letting them know that succor was ahead, and helping them forward. But Talen had vetoed the suggestion, insisting that they were too few in number to risk separation. “If the dragon is correct in his estimation, they will be here in a few minutes in any case,” he’d told her.
The refugees were moving slowly, but they put on a burst of added speed when they saw the lights coming from the village, and a few cries of relief could be heard as they approached. Snaggletooth’s estimate had been conservative, if anything; Talen counted at least sixty people just by sight, and there were likely more in the backs of the four wagons he saw. Most of the refugees walked, but several on horses formed a screen around the company, and they seemed to be fairly well-organized, if haggard and afraid. Looking for a leader, Talen finally caught sight of a man in mud-spattered armor walking at the rear of the column, urging the others on.
“Provide what aid you can,” Talen said to Shay and Allera. “Have the clerics assist in treating injuries, but they need to get moving across the ford, and quickly, if what the dragon said was accurate.” Talen head a trill of protest from the empty air above Allera’s head. “Snaggletooth, you could help us greatly if you could get an updated estimate of how far back the enemy is.”
The invisible dragon let out a small chirp that Talen guessed might have been an assent. Leaving Shay and Allera to pass on his orders, he headed over to the armored man as he brought the last of charges into the clearing at the edge of the ford.
“Thank the Father you’re here,” he said, extending his hand to Talen as the knight came over. Close up, Talen could see that the man wore a holy symbol of the Shining Father around his neck. He could also see the exhaustion in the man’s face; he looked as though he hadn’t slept for days. “My name is Nelan, until a few days ago, the parish priest of some of the steadings along the Forest of Hope.”
“Knight Commander Talen Karedes,” Talen said. “Are there any others on the road behind you?”
“Just the undead. We had a decent lead at one point, but they keep coming, and they don’t get tired. I... I don’t know how far back.”
“Numbers?”
“I’m not sure. I personally saw several dozen skeletons, and some insubstantial undead: shadows, and wraiths. Those are the most dangerous, commander; they are almost invisible in the darkness, and they strike without warning.”
“We know. We will do our best to keep them off you.”
He looked around. “You don’t seem to have much in the way of forces here, commander...”
“We’re the rear-guard, Nelan. Our priests will help as much as they can, but you’ll need to get your people across the river, and keep going on the road north. I know you are all tired, but...” He trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
The cleric nodded. “I understand. Thank you, commander... and good luck to you.”
“We’ll be right behind you,” Talen promised.
Talen’s men and women had gone through the column, checking animals and people. The armsmen shared out cups of fresh coffee that they had brewed in buckets, while the clerics provided healing magic to those who needed it. Horses were fed and watered, quickly, while crying children were reassured, given food and drink, and wrapped freshly in blankets before being put back on the wagons. The family that had arrived earlier came out and joined the column, which made space on one of the wagons for the smaller of the two children.
To Talen, it seemed to take an eternity for the column to get ready, but in reality it was barely a half-hour before the tired drivers started the draft horses forward again. Medelia and Shay stood ready again to help the refugees navigate the difficult ford again, but the ropes that the earlier party had used had been left in place, making it easier to find the best route across. One of the wagons got caught in a rut, and there was a moment of fear as a wheel nearly fouled, but a dozen men were there in a flash, working together to free it before the weight of the wagon could cause permanent damage.
Allera’s voice drew his attention back around. “They’re coming!” she said. “Just a few minutes out, on the road!”
“Everyone, take up positions,” Talen said, forcing his voice to remain even. The armsmen had earlier moved the broken cart out from the commons along the side of the road where it passed the edge of the village, fashioning an impromptu barricade.
“How far off can you hit them with a fireball?” he asked Attius.
“I tolth you, commander, I am a diviner, not an evoker. I cannot uthilize thuch magikth. But reth athured, I am not defenthleth, and am well capable of protecting mythelf. I am a mather of the diverth arth of abjurathon, conjurathon, divinathon, enthantment, illuthon, nethromanthy, tranthmutathon, ...”
“Fine, fine, take up position in that house, there,” Talen said, when the wizard paused for breath. “The window should give you a complete coverage of the approaches along the road.”
The wizard nodded brusquely, and headed off in that direction.
“I am sure that Shay would say that you could have handled that just a tad more diplomatically,” Allera said quietly.
“We don’t have time for diplomacy,” he said. “I should have asked him earlier more about what he could do.” For a moment, he felt a twinge of self-doubt; it was unlikely that Tiros would have made such an oversight. Looking back, he saw that the last of the wagons was just now clearing the river. Shay and Medelia were already returning, holding up their weapons to keep them dry as the river doused them up to their chests.
One of the armsmen said, “Commander. On the road.”
Talen stared out into the darkness. The skies were still overcast, and the light that filtered down through them barely weakened the hold of the night. The road was just a line of darkness, flanked on one side by the shadowy edge of the adjacent forest, and on the other by the mounds of the nearby hills.
He heard it, first; the unnatural clatter of bone. Soft, distant, but present; a lot of bones. Then, as he focused on that noise, he saw the first hints of movement, vague outlines drawing slowly but steadily closer. Pale forms, too thin and aberrant in shape to be alive.
The enemy had arrived.
THE LONGEST NIGHT
Night descended upon the crossing at Alderford.
The armsmen set out torches and lamps around the perimeter of the village, pushing back the night in a bubble of flickering illumination. Shay and Medelia helped the fleeing steaders extract their wagon from the ford, and they quickly fled down the road. Others came to the crossing; a pair of riders, their horses frothing from overexertion. Talen convinced them to walk their beasts for a time, but could get no useful intelligence from them, save that the lands south of the river were “swarming” with undead. A family of steaders, four adults and two children, arrived an hour later on foot, bearing torches. They were exhausted, and barely coherent in response to Talen’s questions. Talen was reluctant to let them remain at Alderford, but they clearly could not go any further, so he let them sleep in one of the abandoned homes of the village.
The hours passed. Snaggletooth continued scouting out the area from above, while invisible, while Attius waited for the return of his prying eyes. The diviner, guarded by the armsmen and two of the priests, also placed a pair of alarm spells in the nearby woods. The night continued, deathly quiet. Even the evening breeze died, and wisps of fog began to form out over the stream, as the winter chill deepeend with the night.
Talen posted watches and ordered the spellcasters to start getting sleep in shifts. All but three of Attius’s eyes returned, all with negative reports. Talen was worried at first about the missing ones, but the diviner told him that it was common for the scouting eyes to run into objects in the dark, and accidentally destroy themselves. That did not ease the knight’s worries, but there was nothing to be done for it in any case.
It was about an hour shy of midnight as Talen walked the perimeter of the village, careful not to stray beyond the radius of the torches that the armsmen had thrust into the ground. They had made extra torches out of pine boughs taken from the adjacent wood, combined with a bucket of pitch they’d found in one of the abandoned houses. The improvised brands cracked as they burned, but cast an acceptable light. There were dozens of them around the perimeter. The result was some night-blindness, but he was gladly willing to pay that price if it meant being able to see a shadow or other incorporeal undead trying to creep up at them.
Talen frowned at the thought. He had been used to thinking of undead as mindless, if dangerous, creatures, to be hacked into pieces before they could do any harm. But these foes were clearly guided by some malevolent intelligence. What they were facing was not a dumb rabble, but an army. But who or what was commanding it?
He found Shay waiting for him, in the lee of what had once been a farrier’s shop, little more than a lean-to built to cover an old anvil and firepit.
“You should get some rest,” Talen told her.
“So should you,” she shot back at once.
“Yeah, but I’m the commander,” he said, then let out a whoof of expelled air as she elbowed him hard in the side. It was more exaggerated than real, as she couldn’t really hurt him through his heavy armor. “Insubordination,” he said, cracking a grin that quickly faded.
She came in close to him, and he put his arms around her. “Damn all this metal,” she said, rapping on his breastplate with her knuckles.
“Shay, when all this is over...”
“Don’t,” she said, leaning into him. “Just... don’t, Talen. Please.”
He nodded, and held onto her in silence.
They were interrupted by the sound of someone running nearby. The pair broke apart and came around the hut to see Allera rushing into the village commons. As soon as she saw them, she ran straight toward them.
“What is it?” Talen asked.
“Snaggletooth,” she said, pausing to suck in a deep breath. “He says that there’s a large party of refugees coming down the road. Sixty or more.”
Talen and Shay shared a quick look; they could tell that there was more coming. Allera did not disappoint them, as soon as she’d taken another breath.
“There’s an army of undead right on their heels.”
* * * * *
By the time that the leading elements of the column of refugees became visible from Alderford, Talen had everyone up and ready for battle. He’d had his people rig up crude barricades of old furniture and lumber between the cottages that faced onto the commons, which could be used to fall back on into a defensive position if necessary. At the moment, however, his forces were arrayed along the road at the extent of the line of torches, ready to assist the fleeing refugees.
Shay had suggested running down the road to meet the refugee column, letting them know that succor was ahead, and helping them forward. But Talen had vetoed the suggestion, insisting that they were too few in number to risk separation. “If the dragon is correct in his estimation, they will be here in a few minutes in any case,” he’d told her.
The refugees were moving slowly, but they put on a burst of added speed when they saw the lights coming from the village, and a few cries of relief could be heard as they approached. Snaggletooth’s estimate had been conservative, if anything; Talen counted at least sixty people just by sight, and there were likely more in the backs of the four wagons he saw. Most of the refugees walked, but several on horses formed a screen around the company, and they seemed to be fairly well-organized, if haggard and afraid. Looking for a leader, Talen finally caught sight of a man in mud-spattered armor walking at the rear of the column, urging the others on.
“Provide what aid you can,” Talen said to Shay and Allera. “Have the clerics assist in treating injuries, but they need to get moving across the ford, and quickly, if what the dragon said was accurate.” Talen head a trill of protest from the empty air above Allera’s head. “Snaggletooth, you could help us greatly if you could get an updated estimate of how far back the enemy is.”
The invisible dragon let out a small chirp that Talen guessed might have been an assent. Leaving Shay and Allera to pass on his orders, he headed over to the armored man as he brought the last of charges into the clearing at the edge of the ford.
“Thank the Father you’re here,” he said, extending his hand to Talen as the knight came over. Close up, Talen could see that the man wore a holy symbol of the Shining Father around his neck. He could also see the exhaustion in the man’s face; he looked as though he hadn’t slept for days. “My name is Nelan, until a few days ago, the parish priest of some of the steadings along the Forest of Hope.”
“Knight Commander Talen Karedes,” Talen said. “Are there any others on the road behind you?”
“Just the undead. We had a decent lead at one point, but they keep coming, and they don’t get tired. I... I don’t know how far back.”
“Numbers?”
“I’m not sure. I personally saw several dozen skeletons, and some insubstantial undead: shadows, and wraiths. Those are the most dangerous, commander; they are almost invisible in the darkness, and they strike without warning.”
“We know. We will do our best to keep them off you.”
He looked around. “You don’t seem to have much in the way of forces here, commander...”
“We’re the rear-guard, Nelan. Our priests will help as much as they can, but you’ll need to get your people across the river, and keep going on the road north. I know you are all tired, but...” He trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
The cleric nodded. “I understand. Thank you, commander... and good luck to you.”
“We’ll be right behind you,” Talen promised.
Talen’s men and women had gone through the column, checking animals and people. The armsmen shared out cups of fresh coffee that they had brewed in buckets, while the clerics provided healing magic to those who needed it. Horses were fed and watered, quickly, while crying children were reassured, given food and drink, and wrapped freshly in blankets before being put back on the wagons. The family that had arrived earlier came out and joined the column, which made space on one of the wagons for the smaller of the two children.
To Talen, it seemed to take an eternity for the column to get ready, but in reality it was barely a half-hour before the tired drivers started the draft horses forward again. Medelia and Shay stood ready again to help the refugees navigate the difficult ford again, but the ropes that the earlier party had used had been left in place, making it easier to find the best route across. One of the wagons got caught in a rut, and there was a moment of fear as a wheel nearly fouled, but a dozen men were there in a flash, working together to free it before the weight of the wagon could cause permanent damage.
Allera’s voice drew his attention back around. “They’re coming!” she said. “Just a few minutes out, on the road!”
“Everyone, take up positions,” Talen said, forcing his voice to remain even. The armsmen had earlier moved the broken cart out from the commons along the side of the road where it passed the edge of the village, fashioning an impromptu barricade.
“How far off can you hit them with a fireball?” he asked Attius.
“I tolth you, commander, I am a diviner, not an evoker. I cannot uthilize thuch magikth. But reth athured, I am not defenthleth, and am well capable of protecting mythelf. I am a mather of the diverth arth of abjurathon, conjurathon, divinathon, enthantment, illuthon, nethromanthy, tranthmutathon, ...”
“Fine, fine, take up position in that house, there,” Talen said, when the wizard paused for breath. “The window should give you a complete coverage of the approaches along the road.”
The wizard nodded brusquely, and headed off in that direction.
“I am sure that Shay would say that you could have handled that just a tad more diplomatically,” Allera said quietly.
“We don’t have time for diplomacy,” he said. “I should have asked him earlier more about what he could do.” For a moment, he felt a twinge of self-doubt; it was unlikely that Tiros would have made such an oversight. Looking back, he saw that the last of the wagons was just now clearing the river. Shay and Medelia were already returning, holding up their weapons to keep them dry as the river doused them up to their chests.
One of the armsmen said, “Commander. On the road.”
Talen stared out into the darkness. The skies were still overcast, and the light that filtered down through them barely weakened the hold of the night. The road was just a line of darkness, flanked on one side by the shadowy edge of the adjacent forest, and on the other by the mounds of the nearby hills.
He heard it, first; the unnatural clatter of bone. Soft, distant, but present; a lot of bones. Then, as he focused on that noise, he saw the first hints of movement, vague outlines drawing slowly but steadily closer. Pale forms, too thin and aberrant in shape to be alive.
The enemy had arrived.
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![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
