Hello, Everyone!
Last time, Mary died.
I’m kidding, I’m kidding!
Or am I?
Well…
After not accepting Kloth’s offer, the trio and Tesaya got into a fight with him. They held their own pretty well, the Paladin even sent out a flare to warn Myth Adofhaer about the coming danger. Seeing that, Kloth summoned his own army. All the graves in the cemetery burst open and through them, a horde of zombies erupted. But even though they were greatly outnumbered, our heroes concentrated their efforts on neutralizing Kloth. He saw that and used an awful weapon – the soul of an elven maiden turned into a Banshee. Her scream pierced the night, and Mary found her heart too weak to take it.
She fell to the ground and breathed what seemed like her last breath.
There wasn't any pain. There was just darkness and numbness. And cold.
It was so cold!
Mary was sure she must be at home, in Frinkeltong. It was probably winter, that’s why she was freezing. She was lying in the coach downstairs, with the fireplace still not lit. Why wasn’t it lit? She gave out a disgruntled murmur, but it didn’t sound right. It was like an entirely foreign language.
*She shivered and felt a warm light on the right side of her face. Oh, it was about time, this had to be Bramble who was lighting the fire.
She opened her eyes to thank him…*
… and they fell on Bruno.
The cleric was hunched over her, his eyes burning with Holy fire. His left hand was hovering over Mary, enveloped in healing light. His right was pinning an Undead to the ground. It was gurgling and chewing on something fleshy. Mary felt pain in the right side of her neck and raised her hand to check it out.
Bruno shook his head.
"...deal with this later," he said and swung his hammer at the undead, smashing its head into pieces. “Now, we have to fight.”
Mary stumbled up, head spinning, and, while trying to come to her senses, heard Kloth’s voice.
“I get tired of you, dwarf,” he hollered. “It’s time to end you.”
He raised his staff and began a spell but Mary wouldn’t let him finish. ‘Fight now’, Bruno had said. She extended her finger in the entity’s direction and cast a Counterspell. The dragon skull’s eyes blinked out momentarily and Kloth growled in frustration.
That gave Mary a moment to take in her surroundings.
She was lying in a pool of blood, but had neither the time, nor the constitution to think where it had come from. The red eyes of the undead blinked all around her. They were still chanting, as if their words were keeping the ritual active. Somewhere in the far distance, sounds of combat were coming in – Myth Adofhaer was fighting back.
Her neck was still pulsing with pain.
Tesaya was close by. Drenched in her own blood, she was cutting down enemy after enemy. Her teeth were bared and she was snarling like a beast, but looked tired and hurt. A little bit away from her, Aurum sent out a healing word in her direction but didn’t do anything else. He was scanning the battlefield as if he was waiting for something.
Or someone.
The moment Dorina Dwendel emerged from the ground and tried to thrust her stiletto in Tesaya’s back, he rang Mosrael. Dorina screamed. The bell had hurt her. She took her head in her hands and sank back into the earth.
“Strike when you’re being struck,” the bard said, repeating Granny Gretel’s words.
Just then, Kloth hollered in pain. Bruno’s spiritual hammer had landed another blow on his form. It was beginning to fall apart now. In its depths, a humanoid figure started to show through.
Some of the undead around the mausoleum crumbled without being struck. Was the spell weakening?
“No!” Kloth cried out. “Not yet!”
The mouth of the bone staff opened and Mary recoiled in fear, expecting another screaming soul. However, this time it didn’t have the opportunity. Kloth held it up by the throat and sunk his teeth into its light. Pain and agony flared on the soul's face and it was syphoned away into Kloth's form. His exterior densed and darkened once more. He'd healed himself.
This was two. Two souls horribly tortured and lost. What if those were the elven girls Kloth had said were still alive? If they had lost two, there were two they could still save.
The remaining undead lashed at Mary and her friends. She saw Aurum get bitten and, while worrying about him, didn’t manage to evade a bite herself. An animated corpse closed its jaws around her arm but then Tesaya passed by like a hurricane and took it out before it could do anything more. The Paladin's face was contorted and animalistic, and electric charges ran on the surface of her armour.
In the distance, the voice of Tiriel Elaire barked commands and a sphere of light shone a ray through the battlefield, destroying all enemies in its path. The smell of burnt flesh blew in and hit Mary's senses.
But the elves were too far away to help. And if Mary and her companions didn't stop Kloth, the Undead would still continue rising and fighting.
Mary took a glance at the bone staff. It was the source of all the necrotic energy. She concentrated, aimed and released her Eldritch Blast. The staff flew out from Kloth's hand and thumped on the ground.
She didn't waste time. She ran and grabbed it, and used her second Blast to push Kloth away from herself.
"No!" he screamed. "She's waiting for me!"
He rushed towards Mary but suddenly paused and gave out a frustrated grunt. The melody Aurum had weaved at the beginning of the fight had formed a net and was holding him back and away from her.
"Hey, Mary!" she heard her friend's voice. "That was awesome! Keep up the good work!"
She felt his words ring with magic and smiled. She was alive. She was strong. She was going to get this staff away from Kloth and end his horrible spell once and for all!
Sudden pain pierced her chest.
Slowly, she looked down. The tip of Dorina Dwendel's stiletto was sticking out from her bloodied shirt.
Mary wheezed and coughed, blood spouting out of her mouth, and, for the second time this evening, she fell.
Oh, no! Not again! Poor Mary! Even Aurum hasn’t fallen unconscious twice in the same fight! That’s gotta leave some marks.
If she survives, that is.
Do you think she will? This is D&D, anything is possible. If Mary dies, we might get to have another PC joining the crew! That’s gotta be exciting, right?
Well… Let’s find out what happens in our next episode!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.