In the early twilight of the twenty fifth day- as Silveredge counted her time- the platinum-eyed Shadar-kai stepped carefully between the tufts of dry grass, falling just slightly behind an agonized Vhalan. Niku, who seemed to have just as much energy on the second day of tracking as he'd had when he left the catacombs, padded faithfully at Silveredge's right side, not wanting to dart too far ahead of her. At the head of the party loped Smokedog, and though she ought to have been at the party's tail, Darelove trotted ill contentedly at his side.
"Much longer?" she asked with a quiet urgency.
"We just gotta pick up the cooky plants," the swarthy man replied gruffly, taking part of the bark off of another tree. "Soon."
"But Smoke, it's been nothing but the same old brush and nasty old scrub trees this whole way! You sure we're going the right way?"
"Is he the tracker, or are you?" Vhalan finally asked in exasporation. "I assume he is on the same scent as the puppy, though he will not lead- let them both guide us in peace."
"Hush it," the archer replied. "Let something happen to Smoke, you'll eat me and your pet right up."
"This insistence upon moving while it is day works in your favor." Silveredge watched Vhalan roll his red stained brown eyes when Darelove raised a confused eyebrow. "Ah, that's right. 'It is painful to move' is still putting my situation on a proverbial shelf too high for your powers of comprehension to reach."
"That's it- it must be the blood sucker," Smokedog replied grumpily, his voice not far from a true growl. "He's a rat, so now the shamblers know we're coming."
Vhalan rolled his eyes again, affecting a faint sigh. "Alas, mortal, you've discovered my fiendish alliance. It's not possible that a towering, lumbering wolf-man attempting to discreetly pass through low, dry brush in the middle of the day could have been seen snooping about."
Silveredge bit her lips, looking down at the ground where she walked in order to avoid open laughter.
Smokedog whipped himself around to hit Vhalan, but the vampiric chain master simply blocked the incoming arm, paused to shift his weight, then sent a chambered long-fist strike to the inside of the larger male's shoulder joint. When Smokedog responded by scrunching up the freshly-struck soft tissue, Vhalan calmly re-positioned his hairy head and slapped his face- relatively lightly, although the strike still resounded in the open air.
"I thought you said it hurt to move," Darelove crabbed immediately, seconds away from pulling an arrow from her quiver.
"It does." Vhalan's gaze, deeply planted in Smokedog's natural brown eyes, taunted the man's nerves, frittering away his calm. "Yet I will move; therefore, be mindful."
Bouncing out in front of the stopped party, Niku fired off a series of warning barks, and Silveredge quickly got her chain into her hands. Smokedog, forgetting Vhalan, began to turn to see what was the matter, only to have his arm twisted behind him by its wrist.
"Arms, lamb," he called lightly, as though he were requesting the limbs for breakfast. When Smokedog looked back at him as though he'd lost his mind, the vampire inclined his head slightly, letting go of the male.
Silveredge prepared her chain for a close range attack, whipping it around herself until it reached a singing speed. Niku, who located and reached the zombie before his mistress did, launched into it head first, knocking it onto its bony behind. Silveredge easily slung her chain around one of its arms, allowing the chain to bite into the rotten flesh, and ripped it off before the shambler was able to make any moves. Quickly whipping her chain two times to clear the severed limb and return to full speed, Silveredge wrapped the chain around the other arm and tugged it free of the creature's trunk. Meanwhile, Vhalan uncoiled and prepared his own weapon for an assault. Whipping his chain around his body and up over his head for maximum speed, he slung the weapon out with twice the effort that it would normally take him.
Silveredge, knowing that she would not hear the chain, listened instead for the sound of Vhalan's controlled breathing. The moment she heard him release a sharp breath, she turned her ankles outward, folded her knees, and laid backward on the ground like a temple dancer, allowing Vhalan's chain to pass directly over the length of her body to wrap itself around the creature's neck. The zombie, faintly aware that this was the end of his second life, began to make pitiful groaning noises.
"Gods, kill it, won't you?" Smokedog huffed. "Trying to put on a show?"
"Patience," Vhalan replied, turning under his chain and pulling it back toward himself with the centrifugal force. The zombie's neck was sliced through, and his head spun clear of his body, landing a pitiful quarter inch beyond Silveredge's head. "Wait, lamb, wait..."
Silveredge remained exactly where she was, terrified to breathe. But Vhalan, intent on reminding her to do so, pulled his chain clear of his last attack softly enough so that the tip of one of the barbs caught the bit of tunic covering Silveredge's midsection. Surprised, Silveredge gasped, and got a nose and mouth full of moldy death, which instantly made her gag.
"Control, lamb. For me, my hunger. For you, your... reflexes."
Silveredge squeezed her eyes shut and bit her tongue in the attempt to quiet her body. Niku, too concerned to allow the lesson to continue, shoved himself against her shoulder with most of his attacking power, which knocked her out of position and provoked a short squeak of pain. Silveredge rolled onto her face three inches away, and was immediately extremely grateful for the smell of dry, scorched ground. Niku skittered over to her side and pushed his face into hers, eager to apologize for hurting her arm. His breath, while still slightly foul, was nothing in comparison to what she'd breathed in just moments before.
"My lord will forgive Niku?" Silveredge managed, when she was certain that opening her mouth wouldn't allow more out than she'd planned.
"I will not," Vhalan replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "The puppy very well ought to be at the bottom of an ocean- instead, he interrupts lessons whenever he chooses."
Niku, as though he understood, closed his eyes and put a paw over his nose. Silveredge sat up on her elbows to look at him, then scooted up to sit on her knees with her gaze firmly pinned to the ground.
"Niku begs our lord's pardon," she nearly whispered. Niku made a few pitiful whines, and Vhalan covered his face with one hand.
"You know, the tribe has a chain fighter," Darelove offered, moving from Smokedog's side to offer Silveredge a hand up. "A good one."
"There are many in the Shadowfell, also," Silveredge replied, scratching behind Niku's ears for a moment without looking up from the ground. "Yet, none like my lord."
"You're just afraid," Darelove smiled. "We can take him, sister."
"Not so," Silveredge corrected, briefly inspecting the few cuts that her weapon had given her when she rolled over. "Though my lord be demanding, here shall his servant remain until she is removed from his teaching."
"Or until she's turned into a goddamned thrall," Smokedog grumbled, turning away from the kneeling Shadar-kai. "Get up, won't you?"
Vhalan picked his head up to finally respond to his student's request for pardon, but stopped when he caught a damp scent in the open, dry area. Niku, similarly struck by the scent, picked up his head and wagged his stump of a tail, immediately gathering power in his limbs.
"Send him, lamb," the ivory skinned male commanded in a very small, but firm voice, preparing to gather his chain.
Silveredge said nothing, but simply pushed the hand that had been scratching behind the hound's ears against his hindquarters. Instantly, the intense hunter leaped up and soared back the way the party had come. Vhalan raised an eyebrow, but made no other show of his surprise. Readying his chain, he looked over at Silveredge, then sent his gaze toward the direction in which Niku had gone. Just as hair-trigger responsive as her hound, the periwinkle-hued student arose and nearly flew after the muscular canine.
"And you're gonna stand here and watch her go?" Smokedog growled, annoyed. Not willing to waste any more words on the alabaster creature who'd bruised the inside of his shoulder, the brutish male hustled off after Silveredge.
Vhalan cast his glance over his left shoulder, took a deep breath, then held up a his hand to stay the archer behind him. With a quickness that stole her breath away, his chain sang through the air and found purchase around the neck of a zombie that was most certainly edging its way toward them both. In five perfect silvery spins, the head, arms and legs were all gone, and the creature was nothing but a helpless stump.
"Make yourself useful- put an arrow in the mage responsible," the vampire commanded without looking up. When Darelove didn't move, Vhalan allowed his eyes to rise just slightly from his kill.
"I'm not your pet," Darelove replied acridly, though she still drew an arrow for her readied bow.
Vhalan only kept himself from hissing at the stubborn female with every drop of his fading self-control. The final rays of the sun taunted his skin, making his muscles ache as he pulled himself back to a ready position. A familiar scream pressed his eyes shut.
"Change your range," he called. "Don't let them get closer than you want them to be."
An arrow whizzed behind his back and straight into the head of another zombie, nearly taking the decaying thing right off. The sound of its landing- a thick splat, as though a slab of meat had slapped a wood cutting board- revolted Vhalan, who suddenly disappeared from the sight of the warm blooded skirmisher.
Niku discovered, through the sudden clutch of reanimated dead, a live creature to attack. He plowed through the shamblers like a thing possessed, either slamming into and running right over the zombies, or forcing them to stumble and give way. Silveredge, working hard to remember her lessons in the face of things whose stench nearly stopped her breath, could not keep up with his forward advance, and found herself hemmed in by five shamblers within minutes. Smokedog pushed his way toward her, the coming night and his rising energy level putting more hair on his arms, sharpening his teeth and lengthening his nails. The smell that sickened Silveredge merely poured more furious power into his spirit, pushing him to attack more fiercely.
It was only after ten solid minutes of bare force that Smokedog was able to notice what Niku was fighting so far ahead of them. Beyond the shamblers- which seemed to respawn, two to every one taken down- raged a warrior with a heavy bladed mace. Surprisingly for the werewolf, Vhalan had somehow passed through the fight between Darelove and the living warrior without being seen by friend or foe, and was giving the much larger male a very difficult time. A lucky strike smacked the hound spine-first into a tree, which Vhalan repaid by binding the male's arms up in his chain. From somewhere else, some strange magic word was spoken, and Vhalan's athletic stance weakened considerably, enabling the warrior to grab hold of the chain and sling its owner into the same tree that Niku had struck.
This done, the warrior charged through the zombies himself, and Smokedog prepared himself to launch an attack. The warrior, seeing the potential obstacle, prepared to slam his mace into the werewolf. Smokedog dodged it, but stepped into Silveredge's area of attack in the process, and received two deep scrapes on his back. As the werewolf howled his pain with back stiffened, the warrior slammed his mace into his shaggy side, forcing him down to one knee, and buying himself passage through the rest of the zombie horde. Silveredge, mortified, stopped cold, which resulted in a not-quite-dead zombie taking advantage of her abrupt pause. The Shadar-kai found herself caught in its grip, and as she attempted to move farther to the side, she fell spectacularly on her side. The zombie immediately clambered on top of her, but a recovered Niku appeared to slam himself into the zombie's side, knocking it away from her. Smokedog, also recovered, picked the zombie up by its neck and squeezed, popping its head off like a cork.
Darelove, who had been taking down zombies easily with single arrows, was concerned when she saw the warrior coming toward her. It was quick and intelligent enough to dodge her flying assaults, and closed the area between himself and her much faster than she could hope to draw her knife. Just as the warrior raised his mace to smash it into her face, a rock materialized out of apparent air and bashed itself into his own. It knocked the helmet off his head, showing pallid flesh, cobalt black eyes, and a completely shaved head. While it was obviously Human- or it had been some time ago- the male now seemed to have more in common with Vhalan than the warm blooded creature it fought. Smokedog took advantage of the stunning strike to the head, grabbing the inside of the male's armor and throwing him to the ground. Just three slashes from his rage-powered, clawed hands rendered the Human's pale face utterly unrecognizable, but the werewolf was repaid with a sudden two-zombie rush that pushed him back and onto the ground.
Niku tore away from Silveredge once her last enemy had been destroyed, and Silveredge- after making sure that all of the fallen were indeed dead- took off after him. Past Smokedog, who was successfully defending himself against the two zombies who had attacked him, both discovered Darelove sprawled forward, with a mage of some sort curling his fingers above her body. Silveredge moved her chain up her arms for a moment, then reached out her hand toward Darelove, silently willing the mage's magic to stop. The magic worker looked up and saw her at once, stepping over Darelove's body with the obvious desire to take control of the meddling hag. Silveredge prepared an icy spell, but was surprised to watch Vhalan rip past her and toward the mage- apparently unarmed. He leaped forward, and in midair, his lean, muscular form stretched and melted down into that of a perfectly white dire wolf. Niku, terrified by the transformation, shot back away from the area and toward Silveredge at once.
After a split second of simply staring at what she knew was Vhalan, Silveredge rushed forward, put her arms under Darelove's arms and dragged her backward. When she was satisfied with her distance, she grabbed up a stick and drew a circle around herself, the cowering hound and the unconscious archer. Smokedog, managing to overcome his attackers, crossed into the circle and knelt to support Darelove's upper body on his lap. Silveredge had just enough time to will a ward into place before a frustrated male cry rose up. She looked up, and seeing only Vhalan kneeling on the ground, at first wondered if he had been beaten. Behind her, Smokedog had also looked up, and began to growl.
"You and your lessons! You let this happen," Smokedog accused, his Common unwieldy in his werewolf form.
Vhalan rolled his shoulders, picked up his head, and turned his gaze over his shoulder with a fierce hiss. Moonlight, beaming victoriously over the few low trees that dared to stand in its way, seemed to set the vampire's red-tainted eyes on fire in his gaunt face.
At that moment, Silveredge trembled within herself, knowing that her tutor had not fed during the journey. "Oh no," she barely whispered. It would be foolish, at this point, to attempt to remind him of the way he had recently admonished her to retain her control over herself. Silveredge shook her mind clear of the previous ward she'd put up, choosing to replace it with a ward against undead. As she briefly closed her eyes to will the ward into taking hold, Smokedog continued.
"Hiss, hiss, huh? Come face me," the werewolf growled, laying Darelove down gently. "When I get through with you, you're gonna wish you'd stayed dead the first time."
Vhalan was too far beyond the bounds of his reason to even reply verbally. His eyes jumped between Darelove's shifting body and Silveredge as though he were unsure of which victim to claim. The pause was thankfully unlike him, and his student took full advantage.
"Is my lord tired?" she began, scooting herself in front of Smokedog and bowing her head. Pulling her braided hair to one side, she purposely exposed her neck. "Here is his lamb... ready to do all required of her. Let... let calm fill him." She breathed deeply with her folded hands pressed tightly against her thighs, forcing herself to push fear as far away from her spirit as possible. Niku, concerned but terrified, pranced just behind her, barely inside the protective circle.
"Calm," Vhalan echoed in a choked voice that sounded as though something solid had accidentally gone down his windpipe.
"Yes, my lord," Silveredge managed. "The- ah- serenity of the Nameless Goddess be upon you."
"Here a true packmate lies in pain, and you can speak of serenity?" Smokedog roared, standing up. "Calm? Here's to that!" The werewolf took off too quickly for Silveredge to react to him, but Niku bounded out of the circle and slammed himself into the backs of Smokedog's knees, causing him to stumble. Silveredge didn't waste any time, getting her chain into her arms and up to speed rapidly as she moved toward the confrontation. Desperate to keep Smokedog from attacking, she devoted every iota of attention to slinging her chain out and to wrap his legs up tightly. Only when she succeeded, bringing the werewolf to the ground, did she realize that she had left Darelove completely unprotected. She looked up from the furious Smokedog to note with horror that Vhalan had disappeared from view. Abandoning her chain, she whirled around and ran back toward Darelove, only to see Vhalan reappear just beyond the fallen archer.
Silveredge wasted no time in imagining a solid ball of ice in her right hand- it appeared quickly, and she slung it at the vampire's chest, catching him squarely in the breastbone. Unaffected by the cold but disrupted by the impact of the ice ball itself, Vhalan allowed his upper body to crumple inward, and took a few steps backward before he sat down on his behind with a graceless thump. In a few running steps, Silveredge was between himself and Darelove, but stubbornly put her back to her tutor in spite of the cold dread that ran through her. Farther away, Niku barked happily, then picked up Silveredge's chain in his mouth to drag it back to her.
"That... thing," Vhalan breathed raggedly. "Miserable curr."
"I am certain that Niku will apologize, my lord," Silveredge responded very quietly, looking at Darelove's bruises carefully. "These appear necrotic- it is more than obvious that our presence has been noted, and is disagreeable to those that reside here."
"I... don't... mean the hound," Vhalan scoffed bitterly, laying down on his back to look at the sky.
"Get away from her," Smokedog demanded as he trotted up. "The vampire trying to bite her, the dog coming after me-"
Darelove's eyes shifted under their lids, and Silveredge leaned down to gently blow air across them. Before long, the archer squinted in response to the passing breeze.
"Still with us," the Shadar-kai confirmed quietly.
"You're to blame," the vampire responded slowly. Smokedog glowered, certain that the comment had been for him. "Finish the job, lamb. Use your weeds- quickly."
"I said get away," Smokedog demanded, reaching forward to grab Silveredge's hands. He pushed her backward, toward Vhalan, who ground his teeth instantly. Niku growled protectively, but Smokedog simply picked Darelove up- waking her up in the process. "You're all- something ain't right with you. Hound ain't got no business defending undead against the living. Ain't natural. We're going back."
"No," Darelove muttered, barely able to be heard.
"If you will take her," Vhalan began, still looking up at the sky, "check for disease."
"You're full of it, Bats," Smokedog retorted. "If there was gonna be sickness, I'd've smelled it first. You might get a little furry when the mood takes you, but I was born and raised natural. You can go-"
"I want to finish," Darelove managed, her voice stronger.
"I only saw bruises, but infection is possible- perhaps we should all go back," Silveredge suggested gently.
"No," Darelove insisted, trying to sit up out of Smokedog's arms. "I want to finish this. Let me stand."
Vhalan rolled over and got to his feet with a sigh. "I am confident in your ability to hold your own, lamb. I will return."
"As you say," Silveredge answered patiently, dropping her gaze. Niku, not convinced that Vhalan's separation and free wandering was a good idea, began to whine his discontent. The Shadar-kai tried to quiet the hound discreetly, but couldn't manage.
"Will I explain myself to a puppy?" Vhalan asked, only half serious. Pulling the sewn crest of Yrel-Ades out of his waistpouch, the pale skinned creature knelt and held it out. "Take his scent, you bit of tat, and follow it. You have two hours." The hound bounded up to him, buried his face in the crest, picked up his head, and took off. Folding the crest up and tucking it back into the pouch, Vhalan disappeared from view. Silveredge wordlessly turned to begin trotting after the hound.
"Dare, we can-" Smokedog began as the smaller female wriggled her way out of his arms.
"Let's do this," she replied, searching around to recover her bow and quiver. "I don't want to go back and say, 'We saw shamblers and I ran away.' Can't give Sir Fangs the pleasure."
"These three aren't right, I tell you," the werewolf argued, looking after the running hound. "No living animal is supposed to prefer blood suckers over natural pack mates."
"Maybe they are their own pack," Darelove shrugged, fitting her quiver back over her head and jumping slightly as it touched one of her bruises. "Let's just see this through- for our clan. c'mon, Deadriver promised the old man."
The moon had reached its highest point by the time the hound sat down, panting. Vhalan reappeared a short distance behind him, and Silveredge was the first of the three to make it to the slight dune that looked down upon a tumbled fortress. The ground around it seemed blighted, and the edifice itself- carved of a grey, mottled rock that was wholly unfamiliar to the area- looked frightfully out of place. A vibration of chilly energy brushed over the Shadar-kai, who allowed a concerned frown to cross her face.
"That's not real," she breathed.
"Your senses are sharpening," Vhalan agreed. "And the image hasn't fooled your son, either- yet, Svaentok is there."
The fortress disappeared into mist, and shamblers suddenly pulled themselves from the ground where it had just stood.
"We must have been very close before, then, to be attacked like that," Silveredge sighed, sitting down on the ground. "But whatever archmage is responsible will simply take Svaentok away from us when we are discovered."
Darelove and Smokedog arrived at last, as Vhalan shook his head in disagreement. Darelove had a noticeable limp, and Smokedog's face seemed snarled into a permanent scowl.
"It stood, plain and unmoving, until you arrived," the tutor argued. "Whoever is in charge is not responding properly to all possible threats."
"Shall my lord and Niku go alone, then?" Silveredge asked, truly concerned.
"The Firebird mortals can go back, as the male wished," Vhalan sniffed. "A lame archer is more a liability than a help, and it is foolhardy to send her back alone."
"Shall I also return?"
Vhalan laughed bitterly. "I cannot teach you self-respect. How much do you think Svaentok will want to fight me, once he is freed?"
"None of us are going anywhere until your missing packmate gets found," Darelove whispered fiercely, getting the impression that she was being watched. "Smokedog'll carry me if it shakes down to that. But as many of those shamblers caught my arrows as bit your chains, and I ain't going back just to shrug and say 'I'm sorry' to the old man."
Vhalan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his lips firming and thinning considerably. "You reek of coming fever. Take your own puppy and go back."
"How many times do I gotta tell you, Sir Fangs?" Darelove crabbed, crossing her arms. "I'm not your pet. Now, what's the plan?"
"The smell of fever may be attractive to those searching for more bodies and souls to do their will," Silveredge suggested quietly.
"No," Vhalan replied, his voice sharp.
"That makes sense," Darelove encouraged. "If we can draw them out, we can take them down on our terms, instead of trying to march on the place."
"Absolutely not," Vhalan repeated, glaring at Darelove. "It is unreasonable to abandon a living creature in the lap of the unliving with the ridiculous intention of setting a sentient trap-"
"It ain't abandonment if the bait's asking for it," Darelove retorted.
Vhalan sighed bitterly, then moved away from the group. Silveredge patted the side of her leg to grab Niku's attention, then wisely walked behind the vampire.
"Once, my lord was a man of faith," she began carefully. "It is unfortunate that it was wasted on companions that did not protect and a god that did not guide."
"I am still a man of faith, lamb," Vhalan replied with a strange buoyancy that chilled Silveredge. "I believe wholeheartedly that the female will go down to her death and the male will abhor me for the rest of his days. Let us see whether the Nameless Goddess and I agree or no."
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