Aftermath

For long hours we paced the walls, staring outwards and downwards. Our imaginations created false alarms that had weapons out and bows drawn taught before that deafening silence reasserted its hold and the soldiers stood down.

Among my fellows, we spoke in hushed, confused tones, for the silence was not just a lack of sound, but a new feeling on the waves of the aether. For days, I, like the other priests, had felt the power of the dead citadels flowing forward, our prayers holding it back for a while to buy time before it surged in to waken the fallen. This time, there was nothing. The aether was quiet, and without the force that had been moving at the edges of our prayers and pushing inwards, the dead stayed dead.

Commander Vikerius finally called the end of hostilities but was less than happy to see me when I pushed into his chambers while the fortress breathed a sigh of relief shifting from arms to supply status.

“Commander” I spoke with some urgency, but between the bustle of renewed energy amonth the troops hurrying by and the fortress commander’s dislike of my cult, I was initially ignored. “Commander.” I repeated with a more forceful tone. “The risen dead do not simply give up. As much as I am grateful for the respite, we cannot simply assume this is over.”

“Appears they did, Lockith” Vikerius’ responded flatly without looking up, still staring at a map of the valley while half listening to damage reports coming in from couriers across the massive fort “after a siege of this length even you cannot make me ungrateful.” He looked haggard. We all did. His armor was stained with sweat, blood, and ichor, his hair matted to his skull and eyes sunken from weeks of short shift sleeping between constant assault from outside.

“Your gratitude is not my concern.” I kept my voice even, low but forceful. “The powers fueling this onslaught vanished, they were not beaten. Something has changed and until we know what it is, we are still vulnerable.”

“And what would you have me do, priest?” The commander slumped in his chair, finally eying me like one of the undead he’d thrown from the walls. “Send out an expedition? Use what few rested forces I have to counterattack when not a single soldier in these walls has had a good meal in weeks?”

“Citadel Xythul lies four days inside the valley. It was the last beacon for the aether cry that started this siege. While there may be no imperial cohort that can assemble, we may be able to call on the local lords and some of the forces for experienced champions among their ranks that could at least scout the place and get us some answers.”

“Is it not enough for you that the killing has stopped? Does your faith require yet more bloodshed?” I felt the dwarven paladin’s ego before Gothdred stepped into the chamber and snapped his comment.

“My faith requires that this kind of abomination against natural death be ended forever.” I inclined my head to the ancient dwarf, deliberately locking my sightless eye on his grim features.

“Then give it time.” He folded heavy arms across his broad armored chest. “You speak of adventures past our gates when our eyelids rest heavier than the stones of the floors on which we tred.”

“We don’t HAVE time….M’lord…” I growled through clenched teeth. “...with all due respect, commanders, this is my area of expertise and why my cult was asked to help. It is not in the way of the undead to change their minds or cease their attacks when they are committed. If on the verge of a victory - as we all knew they were - they cease their siege then whatever weakness has arisen is being plumbed and purged as we catch our breath. If we do not exploit it now, we may never see the chance to do so.”

Vikarius cast a glance at the dwarf whose steel grey eyes remained locked on me.

“He has a point, old friend.” Vikarius sighed, rubbing his temples. “The wars against evils of this kind always ended with the destruction of a relic or creature from beyond enslaving them to a darker will. I can think of no battle against the risen that ceased another way.”

“Our strongest veterans lie dead or exhausted. You would call on home defense forces for such a thing?”

“I am no warrior.” I spoke carefully. “from whence we call them or whatever force is their current station is beyond my knowledge or expertise. What I do know is that the people of the highlands and surrounding lands owe us a debt. If the fortress had fallen, their families, communities, and lands would have faced a worse fate than death. That fate yet may await them if the doors of Xythul remain shut and its depths darkened to our vision while we celebrate what may be a very temporary peace. To cure this plague, we must find the rotten heart of it and purge it completely. Call on them for this one last push so we can truly end this war.”

Vikarius stared at me, a familiar disgust across his features as he weighed the idea. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, running one hand across his scalp before blinking away the encroaching fatigue. “My responsibility is the defense of this fortress, not the investigation or even elimination of the undead threat. The Emerald Legion handles such things.” He paused, wetting his lips before continuing. “But the opportunity is here and now. So I will give you authority … and responsibility … to contact the local lords for this excursion. This is your problem, priest, and you will be accountable for its results. Volunteers only. I will not conscript anyone from a region that has already lost so much.”

“I understand.” I nodded, slowly, panic filtering through my head as I tried to figure out how to even approach the often traditional and suspicious leaders of the racial communities as a priest of death. I had hoped the paladins would inspire local heros, but instead it would be my dusk gray robes and black star emblem that would be begging for help in the name of a quiet death. He motioned to a scribe, quickly drawing up the edict that would give me the necessary authority to seek audience, and clutching the paper, I turned and made my way outside.

This was going to be harder than I thought.