Highmax Continues His Journey in the Land of the Old Homes
It seemed like years since we left the fields near the Dark Tower, as Toady One called it, but he said it was only a couple days. I couldn’t tell since the day was dark and the night was just as dark. We left Perrin behind in the cave to his madness, despite us asking him to come with us. We kept on until we reached what appeared to be a small hamlet. There was only one thing; it was quiet and appeared deserted. Toady tells me it used to be full of life until the world was “broken” as he claimed. We passed about for a few minutes when I noticed that several shadows loomed over us every now and then. I kept a hand on my sword just in case.
We walked into what appeared to be a shop and we settled down to rest awhile. I took second watch, and not long before Toady would awake, I saw a shadow passing by not far from us. I left Toady’s side and stalked the shadow, quietly and quickly. I got about two feet behind him before he spun around and threw a dagger at me. I deflected it with my blade and I tackled him and held him down, blade pointed at his throat. He put his hands to his sides in surrender and flailed about.
“I give! I give! Just leave me alone! I won’t steal!”
The voice sounded too familiar…
“You… You’re Tal Denber… What are YOU doing here?”
I eased only a little so I could see his face. He looked like hell but he was Tal Denber alright… Sleazy bastard seemed to notice who I was.
“You’re that Highmax kid, right? Well I’ll be damned, you’re still around? Thought you became Capybara chow.”
He snickered at this and got off of him and pulled him off the ground.
“I’m looking for other fourmites that are damned here. Seen anyone else?”
He shook his head as we walked towards the shop.
“You’re the only living things I’ve seen in a long time. I kept here because of the goods I found here. I got a whole stash not far from here. I must say, there are a lot of weapon shops here. If only those damn laptops had lulz…”
I realized that our issue back then was we couldn’t work those things before but I recall we made lulz back at the old fortress.
“Tal, how about you come with us?”
He looked at me and laughed as if I said the funniest thing ever.
“Me? Join up with YOU? Oh god, tell me another joke.”
I smacked the back of his head with my pommel.
“Ok… You’re not joking. What’re you planning to do if you find more fourmites anyway?”
“We’re going to kill Ur. He holds this “Dark Tower” as Toady One calls it and its surrounded with many undead. I’m going to need the largest army to come forward since Glidesnarls.”
He took a few steps back and shook his head.
“Glidesnarls was a MASSACRE, not a war. You think it’ll be so easy?”
I gave him a look that asked him to test me.
“…Alright… I’ll come along, but I get all the goodies they hold there! And I won’t be on the front lines!”
“I’m fine with that. We need someone to build all of our camps for us.”
I laughed as Tal realized he just got the short end of the stick he was hoping to give away.
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Tal Denber kept up with Toady and I for quite some time, but he kept fiddling with his daggers due to nerves. Toady took an exceptional two handed steel sword from Tal’s hoard of weapons and the like, despite Tal’s protests. We kept on east this time, and we came across a plain that seemed to have hills that gradually slope upwards. We marched for a long time until the steepness of the hills prevented us from going, so we turned south. There, after an hour or two of walking, we saw another necromancer tower not that far away. I thought that perhaps we could raid the place and perhaps burn the books and whatnot that were there. We marched onwards towards it, despite Tal’s bickering about it “going into the lion’s den”.
By the time we arrived, Toady unsheathed his blade as did I, and we came in catiously as Tal Denber watched our backs. We advanced slowly inside and saw ashes everywhere. I kept my blade in hand but didn’t ready for an attack; the place looked as if it was not only abandoned, but ransacked. We searched about a bit and saw destroyed tomes, burnt bones and clothes. There was an altar on an upper floor that was destroyed by fire. We kept going up and up until we saw a gasping figure huddled in the corner. I walked towards it and it heard me. He pulled out a sword himself and disappeared. Suddenly I felt his blade cut deep into my side. Tal ran out of the room, looking for something to find the enemy. Toady grabbed a handful of ash and threw it into the air, showing us where the enemy was. I slashed at it and our blades clashed. Whoever this was, they must’ve been good with the blade. Though I could not see his blade, I kept on the attack, striking where I thought was an opening but I couldn’t hit them. Just then, a burnt table came flying towards him; Tal seemed to have found something to help us. I jumped on the table as the figure roared and came back into normal view.
“Haxxor scum... What are you doing here?” I said as I brought my blade towards his throat.
“Fourmite pigs… Do you not see fear incarnate? I am the great Haxxor Threadromancer! I am the beast that haunts your dreams! The creature that makes boogeymen tremble! The very gods fear me!”
I grabbed his arm and snapped it with ease. Haxxors DID have more brittle bones then us Fourmites. He let out a scream of pain which brought joy to my heart after that incident during my first reign as overseer.
“I’ve dealt with your kind before. You Haxxor Threadromancers give me a pain in my arse. I’m going to makei t easy on you…”
He laughed in my face.
“Fool! You cannot kill me! Anything that dies here comes back within moments!”
I grinned at the challenge. “Is that so?”
I grabbed the broken arm and waved it around as to give him a signal. His confidence left his body as he let out a scream of fear. I let my magic flow again as light filled the room and I made ever bone in his body break within seconds of eachother. It sounded like a bundle of twigs being snapped one after another very slowly. Only his neck and parts of the spine remained, making sure he lived still.
“You may be revived right away, but that doesn’t mean I can’t destroy your body before I do so.”
I grabbed his body and threw it off the balcony before releasing a great ball of fire that coated his body for a second or two. All bones that protruded out of his body would be soldered in place, and all wounds would close, but his body would be disfigured… A fitting end to the world’s greatest abomination…
We walked out and marched east again. The slope was less steep then before. But to the south, we heard what sounded like thunder. I looked at Tal and Toady and they heard it as well. Then we began to run. In haste, we looked for cover but the thundering began to get closer and closer. We kept on, never slowing until we saw a brownish white group of riders coming towards us. I stopped running and turned to face them; I saw they were fourmites, like we were. Toady took the hint and stopped as well, as did Tal. I stood firm and they surrounded us. They were all clad in pelts, and they rode on reindeer. That seemed familiar, but I could not recognize it… Then one came up before us and dismounted. He, unlike the others, was clad in armor and pelts, and he seemed to be the leader.
“We meet again, Lord Highmax, Swords Enthusiast, Guardian of Necrothreat. It is good to see you after many long years.”
He took off his helmet and I stood dumbfounded; Mastacheese stood before me, alive and well. I dropped to one knee and lowered my head. Another fourmite in pelts came out and held Mastacheese’s hand.
“Mastacheese, it is an honor to see you again.” I stood up and extended my hand. “Any amongst your numbers from Necrothreat?” He nodded. “Esther and I found eachother rather quickly. Jenny is with us and hangs back most of the time. She seems to miss Sprin very much however. She takes care of us and our wounds a little less painfully then Sprin did. And with less chainsaws.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get so many reindeer for a unit this size?” He grinned at me as I said this and said proudly: “Wife issues new mandate: construct reindeer farm” I burst in laughter at this as did everyone else. Even Esther herself laughed a bit.
“What news do you bring from the north, Lord Highmax? We will make camp and talk. I see Toady One the Great and Tal Denber Machinebend are amongst your company, which means we have much to talk about.”
Hours passed and we told Mastacheese, Esther and Jenny the situation and our plan to rally the fourmites. Mastacheese looked puzzled but smiled a bit after I ended our story. “Well, I can say one thing; my reindeer cavalry stand ready for you to command. We have some spare reindeer for you three to ride. We were going to ride to Necrothreat to reclaim it, but we saw the tower along the way light up in the sky. We then saw movement, so we chased it down, and we found you three. I won’t ask much, but I pray that was a Threadromancer?” I nodded. “Good thing; they seem to stay dead here unlike us. How many more fourmites do you think we’ll need before we march?”
I thought for a second, and then I realized even with this large force, we’re rather useless. One hundred against a hundred thousand was suicide. Then it came to me. “We need more, but if I can rally the overseers we find, perhaps we can stand a chance! You may not be the only one here with an army at their beck and call. Any idea where to start?”
Mastacheese stopped for a second to eat some of the reindeer cheese that he brought us. “Well… Theres a fortress to the south and east more. We can get there in less then a week if we walked, maybe three days tops riding?” I nodded and bit down on a piece of cheese. One thing I still admire about this guy; he makes some DAMN good masterwork cheese. “We ride there after a good rest. Any signs that someone would be there?”
Mastacheese looked up and let out another small grin. “Some others say there’s a very large community there that worships a fourmite that fights with no weapon and can kill leigons by himself. I think I may know who is there, but I don’t know for certain. In fact, I cannot remember his name… But enough talk. Let us rest and be ready to leave when we’re fully rested.”
I nodded after I got up and grabbed a small bedroll over by the back center. We have the beginnings of an army, but not enough.
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Topic: Necrothreat II - A Fort Cursed by the Gods! (Read 472086 times)