The Divided Knight - Chapter Thirteen

The hills grew steeper and the weather cooler as they drew closer to the foot of the Ivory Spires. All day they had been on the lookout, watching the countryside for any sign of imminent attack by one of Atraxos's Abominations, but, thus far, they had seen nothing, though there was a sense of tension in the air that hadn't been there before. Zoe felt that tension as a part of herself – it called to her cleric's powers, making them sing and recoil in equal parts, warning her that undead creatures were close at hand. The tension did something to her new abilities, as well, though it was hard for her to define exactly what. Whatever it had done, though, she knew she was more ready to face Abominations than she ever had been. Which doesn't mean I'm really ready to, she mused. No one can ever be truly ready to face something like that.

“I think I see something up ahead,” Thaddeus said, stopping to point. “On the crest of the next hill.”

Zoe looked, and saw what seemed to be the ruins of a house. From this distance – more than a mile – it was hard to make out too many details about the ruin, but, as soon as she saw it, Zoe felt her blood run cold. That ruin was not supposed to be there. It was too close to the road they were on, and, even from here, it looked too new. Any ruins here in the eastern marches should have been made of stone, like the watchtower they had camped in the night before, but the ruined house she looked at, now, had been constructed of wood.

“Is that a house?” Thaddeus asked.

“What's left of one,” Zoe said. “And it isn't supposed to be there.”

“Aylander says the same thing. He says there are powerful enchantments surrounding it.” Thaddeus looked at her. “Can we go around it?”

Zoe shook her head. “I don't think so. Something tells me it'll move with us.”

“What do you think put it there?”

“An Abomination. Something they used to call a Lich. And it probably isn't alone.”

They stood there for a moment, looking out at the top of the next hill. It was getting late in the afternoon, their shadows stretching out before them. Only a few hours of daylight remained and, once the sun set, the powers of the Abomination that had put the ruined house in their path would grow. Right now, though, if they made an all-out charge and held nothing back, they had something of an advantage. Not exactly how I was taught to deal with the undead, Zoe thought. But what other choice do we have?

Summon me, Healer, Aylander suddenly said to her. Like you did back in the abbey. I may have no true physical form, but, when you called me forth, before, I felt I still had control of many of my former abilities as a Sword Priest. And those abilities will prove invaluable in a fight like this.

Zoe spoke the words and Aylander, his form wraith-like and ephemeral, appeared beside them. The Eltaran spirit's eyes were aglow, shining like sapphires, and Zoe could feel just how strong he was. As she looked, Aylander smiled at her, and there was something dangerous about that smile – he'd been looking forward to this, and was going to enjoy what was about to happen.

Thaddeus, who had shown no surprise at all when Zoe summoned Aylander, drew his sword. “We charge?” he asked.

Zoe nodded. “We charge.”

They started to run, racing down the hill they were on and into the dip that separated it from the next. As soon as they set foot into the dip, skeletal forms carrying spears and swords emerged from the earth. Thaddeus slashed at the one nearest to him, cutting it in two and sending splinters of bone flying. Zoe lashed out with her power, pulses of radiant energy emerging from her outstretched hands, the energy blasting apart every skeletal warrior that it touched. Aylander's spirit swirled around them, and, the skeletons he found lit up like torches, turning to ash in seconds.

The first wave dealt with, they continued on, fighting as they moved, but then, when they reached the foot of the next hill, they were brought to a sudden, painful halt – a magical barrier had been laid across their path, and they ran into it so hard they were thrown back, Zoe's breath puffing out of her in an “Oof!” as she hit the ground. Not even Aylander was able to get through the barrier, and, as she laid on the ground, trying to get her breath back, Zoe felt it as he was forced back into Thaddeus's sword. I'm not going to be able to summon him, again. The Lich did something to my spell.

“You fought bravely,” a menacing, raspy voice said from somewhere above them. “Very bravely, indeed. Your bravery, however, does nothing to lessen your foolishness. And, now, you are mine.”

Thaddeus had pulled himself to his feet. Zoe could see he was still winded from the fall, and blood streamed down his face from a broken nose, but he stared defiantly ahead of him and said, “Yours, creature? Yours? I don't think so.”

The Lich laughed, a sound that reminded Zoe of the rustle of dry leaves. “So, the half-man speaks. Tell me, brave one, where is the rest of you? Dining on your soul will leave me unsatisfied without his, as well.”

Zoe pushed herself to her feet. Her chest hurt, and her nose had been bloodied, as well, but her powers were starting to take effect as she used them on herself, and, even now, her pain was fading. Staring across the magical barrier – which was visible, now, outlined by a thin, shimmering nimbus of green energy – she was met by the sight of a skeleton dressed in tattered mage robes. The skeleton held an ash staff in its right hand and dim, blue light shone from its eye sockets. It was indeed a Lich, and all Liches were powerful to one degree or another, but this one, she sensed, was comparatively weak.

“Dining on his soul?” Zoe said. “Will your master allow that?”

The Lich looked at her and, when it did, seemed to flinch backward slightly. “You know nothing of my master, cleric!” it said, trying to sound defiant. “Nothing!”

“I know he scares you. For that matter, I know I scare you, too.”

“You are nothing but a lowly cleric, woman. How could you possibly scare me?”

Without thinking, Zoe raised her hand, slashing it from side to side in the shape of an X. There was a crack like thunder and, all at once, the magical barrier disappeared. “I offer you a choice, Lich,” Zoe said, suddenly certain that she could do what she was about to propose. “Surrender yourself to me, and I will see that you are freed. No more will you be at your master's beck and call, and your soul will no longer be tied to this world. Where it goes once it has been freed is not up to me – not even I can influence the will of the Gods Above – but it will be free.”

The Lich had retreated up the hill from them. It couldn't make itself vanish, however, as it was as bound to the enchantments surrounding the ruined house as the ruined house was. “What if I refuse?” it asked.

Zoe gestured at Thaddeus, who, as if on cue, raised his sword. “Then I give you to him. You know there is no room for you in the Scourger he carries. If he kills you with it, your soul will be obliterated.”

The Lich stood silently for a moment, considering. “Either way, I am damned.” It raised its staff, pointing it at Zoe, and, as she watched, the end started to glow.

“Thaddeus!”

Thaddeus leaped between Zoe and the Lich, swinging his sword to deflect the ball of fire it hurled at her. Then he charged up the hill, swinging his sword in arcs that deflected everything the retreating Lich threw at him. Zoe followed behind, throwing pulses of radiance that staggered the Lich and slowly made it start to fall apart. And then Thaddeus swung his sword one last time, taking off the Lich's head. The air was rent by a single, agonized wail, and the Lich's body collapsed in a clatter of falling bones. The bones turned to dust the instant they hit the ground, which was then scattered by a sudden gust of wind.

After a few moments of silence, Thaddeus sheathed his sword and faced her. “Could you have done it?” he asked. “Could you have freed the Lich's soul from Atraxos's control?”

“I think so,” Zoe said.

“I've heard the stories, you know,” Thaddeus said. “About how clerics are supposed to be able to fight undead even better than mages can. But I've never heard anything about a cleric being able to free their souls.”

“Normal clerics can't. They either destroy undead, or cause them to flee.” Zoe forced a smile – she was exhausted and in dire need of some serious sleep. “I think we've already established I'm not a normal cleric, anymore, though.”

“You look exhausted,” Thaddeus said.

Zoe laughed. “You look like you were in a tavern brawl.”

Zoe almost collapsed, then, but Thaddeus moved fast enough to catch her. After that, she was vaguely aware of Thaddeus carrying her, and then laying her down on the ground. A little while later, she thought she felt the warmth of a fire, but she wasn't sure. Sleep – deep, peaceful, and dreamless – enveloped her, then, and she knew no more until the next morning.