Terry W. Ervin (22 page)

“We’re here to gather intelligence,” she said. “Flank Hawk, what do you think it might be?”

I was surprised she directed the question to me. “A forgotten weapons stash.” I looked around. “Maybe a hide hole.”

“This is the right country for wights,” said Shaws. “Seems too remote for ghouls.”

“It appears that the door hasn’t been opened in many years,” said Enchanter Jonas. “It could have been taken over by ghouls. They’re not intelligent enough to build.”

“Not ghouls,” said Shaws. “Goblins eat their dead. No corpses for ghouls to feed on. Any other ideas?”

After a moment of silence Wizard Seelain shrugged. “Other than a hermit or wilderness healer.”

“The goblin patrol passed going south before I took the watch from Flank Hawk. If we’re going to investigate it, and if it is a hide hole.”

“Wait,” I said, thinking about the goblin patrols in the area. “It could be an escape route from a fortress somewhere above.”

Everyone nodded.

“Still,” said Shaws, “that makes it even more urgent. If we’re sitting on a potential enemy anthill, we’d better find out sooner rather than later.”

“Right,” said Wizard Seelain. “The infiltration squad may return tonight. It’d give us time to communicate our move to the alternate site, allowing them a chance to adjust their plans.”

“Flank Hawk,” said Shaws, “stand ready. Wizard, over there.” He pointed behind the fallen pine. Then he pointed to a spot twenty feet to the right of the door. “Enchanter.”

Enchanter Jonas drew his rapier and hurried to his spot. I looked over my shoulder at Wizard Seelain before standing between the pine saplings with spear ready.

Shaws ran his dagger between the door and the stone frame, digging out moss and grit. Then he reached for the rusted ring set in the door’s left side. He nodded once to each of us, and pulled. It withstood Shaws’ first tug but not the second.

In the doorway stood a zombie, with two more right behind. I charged, cursing myself for not salting my spear.

“Wait!” ordered Shaws. He’d drawn his sword, and waved it in front of the motionless zombies. “Dormant.”

I looked closer. The zombies appeared to be in good condition for animated corpses but their remnant clothing and armor were rotted tatters. Even the expected stench of decaying flesh didn’t emanate from them. I inhaled deeply. The all too familiar odor of death was there, barely.

Shaws waved the enchanter over. “How far back can you see?”

Wizard Seelain moved up to stand beside me while Enchanter Jonas mumbled an incantation. He stepped forward and peered in, then tried to look around the foremost zombies. “Lift me up,” he said.

I stood next to the opening, ready to thrust my spear into any zombie that moved. Shaws lifted the enchanter so that he could see beyond the foremost zombies.

“It appears to be a straight shaft. Slopes upward.” He paused. “I’d estimate seventy-five to eighty zombies in there.” He squinted and looked once more. “You can set me down.”

The enchanter pinched his forehead just above his eyebrows. “I’m not an expert in necromancy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if every one was a souled zombie.”

That surprised me. Every time I’d battled zombies, only a handful of souled zombies were sprinkled among the hundreds, except for in the panzers. Souled ones could think and respond without a necromancer’s direction.

Shaws examined the foremost zombies one more time before closing the door. “I agree. Mundane zombies would’ve decayed to mummified skeletons by now.”

“I know the captured soul works to maintain the animating magic,” said Wizard Seelain. “But you speak as if you know how long they’ve been here.”

“The insignia on the uniform of the third zombie back,” Shaws explained. “The head of a long-fanged tiger. Worn by followers of the Rogue Duchess Andraim.”

Wizard Seelain nodded. “She was defeated by the Order of the Sun-Fox at the Battle of Silver Valley.”

“Routed,” said Shaws. “She and the remnants of her army perished during the siege of Tremont Keep well over a century ago.” Shaws frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ve got a suspicion that concerns me greatly.”

“What is it?” asked Seelain.

“It may be nothing,” said Shaws, staring back at the door. “Flank Hawk, watch the road. Wizard and Enchanter, stay in camp. I’ll return no later than one hour after noon.”

I wanted a further explanation but it wasn’t my place to question Shaws, and for some reason neither the enchanter nor Wizard Seelain did either. Shaws took a drink from his canteen before trotting south along the base of the hill.

Shaws returned two hours later, tired and with a concerned look on his face. We sat in camp and waited for him to catch his breath.

“I ranged south,” he finally said after taking a long drink from my canteen. “Found five other doors like the one you found, Flank Hawk. Except these were better concealed. And if I wasn’t looking I’d have missed them.” He shook his head. “How many remain fully buried is impossible to say.”

“What does it mean,” I asked.

“Well,” said Wizard Seelain, “it explains why the enemy established his panzer construction so far south, away from his stronghold.”

“The unexpected coal and iron deposits found in this region definitely influenced the enemy’s decision,” said Enchanter Jonas. “Still, the fuels for the battlewagons aren’t found here.”

“He’s been planning this a long time,” Shaws said to our huddled group. “I don’t know the answer about fuels. Many have questioned the wisdom in placing such a strategic city so far from his powerbase.”

“Now we know the answer,” said Wizard Seelain. “Any assault, at least using this road, would be vulnerable to flank and rear attack by hordes of souled zombies.”

“This concerns me,” said Shaws, staring at the trampled weeds under his feet.

“You’ve probably only found a fraction of the hide holes sheltering dormant zombies,” I said. “That means the enemy’s attacks disrupting crop planting year after year were just harassing to weaken us. All the while he built his strength.” Everyone nodded. “But that doesn’t explain the road we’re watching. I’ve seen the ruts and gouges panzers make. I don’t think they travel on it.”

“I only saw one road,” said Enchanter Jonas. “Maybe they go north, to the enemy’s center of power and gather there?”

“We’ll know more when the infiltration squad returns,” said Shaws. “Wizard, can you scribe what I’ve found and summon a minor elemental to deliver it to Prince Reveron?”

She nodded, and turned to get her satchel when a deep, distant echoing call sounded. We looked about, trying to gauge the direction of its origin. It continued, getting closer.

“Cover,” said Shaws. “Get everything out of sight, under the firs. Flank Hawk, with me.”

I followed him to the secondary watch area, under a tall white pine that was crowded by several smaller ones. A tangled screen of brown weeds from last fall with green shoots overtaking them stood between us and the road.

The rumbling, rhythmic call came closer. Shaws removed his helmet and placed his ear to the ground. I’d heard of scouts doing that to detect nearby cavalry formations.

“Impact tremors,” he whispered. “It’s a mountain giant.” He looked worried. “Hurry. Tell the wizard and enchanter to remain hidden. Under no circumstances move or cast any spell. None, clear? Then get back here.”

I ran and found Wizard Seelain and Enchanter Jonas lying flat on their stomachs under the largest fir tree. I relayed Shaws’ message, double checked the camp for stray equipment, and hurried back.

When I returned, Shaws held an unwound string leading into the weeds. I wanted to ask, but he placed a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. I pointed to my crossbow, and he nodded, so I cocked it and set a quarrel to fire. I didn’t think it would do any good against a giant. A giant! My instincts cried for me to run, get away from the road. But our back was to a hill. I gritted my teeth, looked at my spear laying to my right and Shaws to my left.

I detected a cadence to the bellowing as it closed. I followed Shaws’ silent example and laid flat under the tree cover, behind the weeds.

With each step I felt the increasing vibration through the ground. Mixed with the giant’s song came a grinding rumble. I tried to remember all the stories Old Lowell told us about giants. Mostly that they were enormous, foul tempered, and fearless. And their sense of smell rivaled the best tracking hound, even mudhounds.

We’d been directed to avoid anything that would give us an exotic scent. Why didn’t anybody warn me about mountain giants? Shaws looked worried, rhythmically licking his lips. Each protrusion of his tongue and passing over his lips matched the giant’s song.

He was worried. I was scared. At least when I faced the bone golem I did it with more than a single soldier and two nearby hidden spellcasters. Then, I stopped my mind from racing. I was Wizard Seelain’s personal guard. Shaws was Enchanter Jonas’. If detected, we’d sacrifice ourselves, lead the giant away. I had no illusions about our chances of slaying a giant. Suddenly, wondering if the enchanter had actually dug his latrine holes deep enough became a big concern.

The mountain giant was nearly upon us, approaching from the north. I observed the towering creature through the tree branches. It was yellow-toothed and ugly like an ogre, but without a horn. Its flat nose looked to be the size of a wheelbarrow and its legs rivaled large cottonwoods.

The giant walked, leaning forward, with thick ropes harnessed to its chest. Under the throng of ropes the giant wore a tunic made of ragged dragon pelts. A hood and gorget made from a patchwork of deer hides covered its bald head. The sturdy ropes led to a long, flatbed wagon bearing four panzers. Two ogres pushed the wagon from behind.

The giant’s song sounded like two dozen men calling into a lonely well, only deeper, and sent vibrations that would’ve rattled my teeth if they weren’t clenched. As the giant labored past us, suddenly his song stopped. He stood straight while the ogres pulled, struggling to counter the wagon’s momentum. Then he turned his head left and right, scanning the hillsides. Standing straight, the giant’s full height was greater than the bone golem by at least a man’s height. He sniffed twice before drawing in a long breath through his nose.

Shaws realized too that the giant knew we were nearby. The soldier bit his lip and slowly pulled on the string while the taller ogre called a question up to the giant.

The giant waved it off and inhaled again. This time he looked about in disgust. I smelled the skunk spray too, from the weeds in front of us.

The giant reached with both hands across the road and uprooted a sturdy pine. He lifted it over his head and slammed it down into the stand of weeds between us and the road. The tree’s impact showered us with dirt and needles before falling against the tall pine sheltering us.

The giant spit into the weeds and laughed deeply while leaning forward, taking up the slack in his ropes. He grunted and began pulling again.

About thirty yards later the mountain giant returned to his song. About two minutes later, I began to breathe again.

2,873 Years before the Reign of King Tobias of Keesee

The Lt. Colonel hung up the phone and strode across the room. He interposed himself between Dr. Mindebee and his computer monitors.

Dr. Johnston, still engrossed in the ongoing experiment, said, “Field energized and stable, portal opened. Laser ready.” He looked up to see the military officer speaking in harsh, quiet tones to the head physicist. Both men ignored Dr. Johnston as he edged closer.

“Shut it down now,” ordered the Lt. Colonel.

“Colonel Ibrahim, what kind of national emergency could involve this isolated research facility?”

“By order of the Secretary of Defense, I have been authorized to effect a cessation of this experiment. I will do it with or without your assistance.

“Thirty more seconds,” pleaded Dr. Mindebee. Without breaking eye contact with Lt. Colonel Ibrahim, the physicist motioned with his index finger to Dr. Johnston. “It will take a minimum of seven minutes forty-seven seconds to safely deactivate all systems.”

Dr. Johnston moved back to his console and began entering commands.

“You have already delayed shutdown by thirty seconds,” said Lt. Colonel Ibrahim, “and are even now jeopardizing this program’s funding.”

The low power ruby laser shot into the heart of the glowing experiment, but didn’t emerge. It was the first of a battery of tests. “Success,” Dr. Johnston murmured, casting a glance at the Lt. Colonel who’d turned his direction.

“Shut it down!” ordered the military officer.

Dr. Mindebee nodded to Dr. Johnston who then gazed at the monitors and their streams of data. He forced his fingers to comply.

Enchanter Jonas continued to wrinkle his nose and complained, “It’s been hours since the giant passed. Why are we staying so close to this skunk odor?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “We could at least move upwind.”

With zombies nearby I missed the sun’s rays. Moments earlier they fell behind the steep hills. “Should another giant pass by, or the same one return, our smell will be hidden.” I adjusted my seat behind the concealing thicket near the road, and looked back toward the hillside. “I’m more worried about the zombies in the tunnels.”