Hello, Everyone!
How are you doing? I’m tired but pretty well, thank you for asking :)
Last time, on their way towards Pamagos, our favorite adventuring trio turned out at the right place and time to stop an attack from some undead creatures on a village named Pritley. They defeated all the foes but not in time to prevent the death of one of the villagers, as well as a considerable chunk of the nearby wheat fields which got burnt by the Flaming Skull that seemingly led the assault.
At the end of it all, they called for Granny Gretel (the creepy old owner of ‘The Hut’) and she helped putting down the fire.
“It’s an interesting place you’ve led me to, children,” Granny Gretel croaked when she was done. She studied them over her long pointy nose.
They were sitting on the ground, trying to catch their breath and make sense of the whole situation. The air was filled with the scent of burnt wheat from the field, as well as some exotic herbs – an aroma specific to the owner of ‘The Hut’.
"So, what happened here?" Granny Gretel asked. "What caused the fire?"
They showed her the blackened dead skull on the ground and she gasped with delight. Almost quicker than they could see, she leaned over, picked it up and hid it into the folds of her clothes.
“It's a good thing you called me,” she murmured. "A very good thing indeed."
Mary didn’t like that. Who knows what nefarious purpose the skull was going to fulfill in that mysterious woman’s hands. But she had to admit, Aurum’s quick thinking had saved the day. They wouldn’t have been able to extinguish the fire all on their own.
"Anything else I can do for my favourite children?" Granny Gretel turned to them, gleaming with cheerfulness.
“Well, what about our previous requests?” Bruno asked. “My armour still clanks with every movement.”
“Oh, dear!” Granny Gretel clasped her long fingers. “I’m afraid I haven’t been able to find something for you yet, Bruno Airhammer! But!” she turned towards Mary. “I have some information about the person you seek.”
The old lady paused which made Mary hold her breath. Was she finally going to be able to find Lord Dwendel’s daughter?
“She’s undetectable,” Granny Gretel said.
“What?”
“Yes. She’s either dead, or hidden through magic, or is entirely on another Plane of existence.”
Mary frowned. She felt disappointed but her mind was already thinking up more ways to try and find Dorina. ‘Other planes of existence’ included the Feywild. She could ask Gillean. Plus, she still hadn’t checked in with the Bearers about that magical finding spell of theirs. There was hope.
“Can you tell us more about the skull you just took?” Aurum asked.
“What skull?” Granny Gretel smiled innocently. She laughed at his frown and continued: “Oh, that skull. It’s an undead creature. When an arsonist dies and is risen with necromancy, their soul is manifesting as a that thing.”
“So it was a person and not a device?” Mary said.
“An ex-person.” The old lady chuckled.
"It was summoned, along with several more undead," Bruno said.
They led Granny Gretel to the hill where they saw the cloaked figure. It was empty now, but on the ground where the stranger had sunk in, a small black puddle lay. It was filled with a thick oily substance, dully reflecting the moonlight.
“What’s that?” Mary said, poking it with a stick.
Bruno knelt down and began identifying the liquid.
“It's the result of a magical effect of some kind," he said after a minute or so. "It can be used as a component for heightening the effect of necromantic spells.”
"Oh! Like my Toll the Dead!" Mary said.
She took out a small vial and diligently filled it with the substance.
"Well, if there is nothing else I can do for you, children," Granny Gretel said, "then I must be off. Don't be strangers!"
And before they could say something, she started walking away, hunched over her walking stick.
Mary, Bruno and Aurum went back to the village. It was still bustling with people, even though the fire had already been put out. Everybody was still awake and hanging around in small groups. They kept on thanking the trio for protecting their village and called them ‘saviors’.
Mary didn’t feel like a savior. A woman was dead because she wasn’t fast enough--or brave enough--to run to her aid when it was most important.
While her friends were checking to see if they could do anything more to help, Mary asked for the victim’s house. When she got there, the body had already been covered. There were some villagers gathered around, talking quietly among themselves and trying to console the woman’s family.
A man--her husband--was sitting on the stairs, his back slumped with grief. He looked in front of himself with empty eyes, as if too overwhelmed to do anything else. In his arms, he was clutching two crying children.
“I’m sorry,” Mary whispered, standing in front of him. “I’m sorry I was too late.”
He didn’t pay her any attention. She asked the bystanders whether there was anyone who would take care of him and the children. They assured her that the family had relatives living close by and they would help them in their grief.
When Mary and her friends returned to their abandoned camp (the villagers had offered them to stay in one of the houses but they’d refused), she didn’t want to talk much. She sat by the newly lit campfire and took out her “Legends, Myths and the Magic Throughout”. She stared at a page without reading, her eyes slowly filling up with tears.
“Hey,” Bruno said and sat next to her.
“Hey.” She tried to blink the tears away.
“What’s the matter?”
“We couldn’t save her. I was too scared, too cautious…” She sniffed. “I didn’t get there in time.”
“It’s not your fault,” Bruno said. “You had to protect yourself first, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to fight." He sighed and continued. "You know, these things will happen. When you’re adventuring, people get hurt. But they can also be saved. We saved a lot of lives today. Think about that.”
He patted her arm and stood up.
Bruno is such a wonderful friend! And Granny – such a creepy old hag! I hope you liked this chapter, it was a short but impactful one.
See you next time when we finally reach Pamagos and are in for a big surprise!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)