A Dream of Empire Ch. 002

The peasant's worries were hushed, for the moment, and an older man standing by the door to the large house answered Talos after clearing the phlegm from his throat.

"'Fraid you pay it no mind, sir," the old farmer spoke gravelly. "'Tis just a bit o' misfortune hittin' our peaceful town, is all."

Talos nodded, bringing an open hand to his chest. "Sure. Name's Talos, and I have both seen and resolved my fair share of misfortune." He turned slightly, warmly introducing his party with an outstreched hand. "These are my companions, the sorceress Alanna from Catriona, and the minstrel Emmanuel from Tardia."

"Colwin. Elderman o' Featherton," the aging peasant replied.

Talos turned back towards him. "Well met. Tell me, Colwin, what troubles the fair town of Featherton on this otherwise fine day?"

Colwin cleared his throat, spitting onto the wooden slats beside him. "Well, one o' our town's millers just up an' disappeared this morn, an' there's been no sign o' him. We've sent out the search parties, o'course. But had no luck I'm 'fraid."

We should help them find him, Alanna thought to Talos. She had, for a moment, wanted to shy away from her sympathetic soul, if only so she could enjoy her vacation with Talos. Yet, the enchantress was nearly incapable of not supporting those who needed it, a tendency that was just as true out here on the edge of civilization as it was in the city of Catriona.

"We'd like to assist in the search," Talos explained. "Tell us, Colwin, where was the miller last seen? Who did he last talk to?"

"Well, by 'is mill o'course," Colwin replied. A woman in a tattered dress stepped forward, bringing a hand to her chest.

"'e spoke to me last, m'lord. 'e's my husband," she said tearfully. Talos' brows rose in feigned sympathy, but he interrogated her almost immediately.

"Tell me, had he been acting funnily in recent days? Sneaking off at night, perchance?"

Talos!

The woman shook her head. "No, m'lord. Everythin' was as normal as could be. 'e was just going out to saw the logs, same as all other days." Talos nodded.

Colwin, the Elderman, spoke next. "In fact, we wouldn't even seen't it as a problem, had not two other's also gone missin' in the past fortnight."

Emmanuel spoke up as soon as there was a lull in conversation. "And what of reward, my good lord?" he asked in tune, not noticing Alanna's haste glare in his direction.

Colwin shifted once on his feet, glancing briefly towards the worried eyes of the townsfolk. "I, uh, would need'ta collect one, y'see. We're not shittin' gold out 'ere in Featherton."

"Pay him no mind and nothing, Colwin," Alanna replied warmly. "We'd be happy to help you find him, for no reward."

A portly man standing off to the side, wearing a somewhat-tattered long-sleeved shirt and pants, spoke up. "I run the inn just around the bend," he said, pointing behind himself. "You three are welcome to food and board, if it pleases you."

Alanna smiled sweetly, nodding towards him. "That would be very much appreciated, sir. Thank you."

Talos turned towards the miller's wife. "We'll need to check around the mill, look for tracks, clues. Can you lead us there?"

The offer was accepted by the woodmiller's wife, and the trio followed her down the dusty road through town as the summer sun was setting on their backs. The mill was across the river, and the ground around the old wooden structure was grassless. This was ideal for Talos, knowing he could pick up fresh prints simply in the dirt.

He nodded towards the miller's wife when they arrived. "Thank you. Please, don't visit the logging hut today or tomorrow. It will be easier to pick up his trail that way." He turned towards his companions behind him, but looked only at Emmanuel. "We'll remain on horseback, to keep the scene clear."

-=-=-

Talos eventually picked up the fresh trail of the missing woodmiller, and followed the tracks for a good mile until realizing they would continue on into the woods. This didn't seem a particularly strange action for a woodcutter to perform, but Talos knew that the footprints would be impossible to follow in the hastily waning sunlight.

He did note that there did not seem to be a struggle, as the footsteps of the man missing seemed nothing out of the ordinary. At sunfall, Talos told his companions that they should all head for the inn and pick up the trail in the morning when it'd be easier to follow. Alanna and Emmanuel had been particularly useless for the venture, only offering quips and encouragement as Talos worked, as they otherwise had no experience with the hunter's deed.

The trio eventually settled around a table at the only inn in Featherton, drinking freely-offered ale before retiring to their freely-offered rooms. They spoke of the missing woodmiller, and the possibilities which may had befallen him.

"Could it have been elves, Talos? I'd wager those bastards would be most eager to slash down a man who slashes down their forests."

Talos shook his head, setting his glass of ale down onto the table. "Nah. Elves haven't lived here in ages, ever since the Inquisition cleared the region three-hundred years ago. This isn't Tardia, Emmanuel."

"And abducting a miller for ransom seems rather pointless as well," Alanna deduced with a nod. "Although, the tracks did lead into the forests. Perhaps he's just enjoying a nice stroll in the woods?"

"Could be wolves," Talos said pessimistically.

"Or even bears!" Emmanuel added boisterously.

"No, not bears," Talos sighed. "They wouldn't range this far from the mountains."

Emmanuel huffed, performing an exaggerated backhand slap in the air between himself and Talos. "Are you always this argumentative?"

"Only when I'm right," Talos smirked, raising his mug to his lips. Alanna wrapped her arm in his, snuggling against him with a grin.

"And he's usually right," she agreed sweetly. Talos drained his ale, slamming the mug onto the table.

Talos grinned towards Alanna, who bit her lip playfully as they shared an intimate, brief, and silent conversation. The sorceress soon began to play with herself through her clothes under the table, and projected her pleasure onto her lover. The pair rose from the table soon afterwards, Alanna giggling delightedly.

"Well, time for me to explore what's under the maid's skirt," Talos explained to the nodding bard. "See you on the 'morrow, Emmanuel."

"Bed her well, Talos. Bed her well."

-=-=-

The trio met in the hall of the inn the following morning, just after sunrise. Each member was eager to continue the hunt for the missing woodmiller, and all had woken early. Talos and Emmanuel were unchanged from the day before, which was no particular surprise.

Alanna, being the sorceress that she was, had changed from her sultry skirt and corset from yesterday into proper travel attire. She instead wore her favored long-sleeved brown leather jacket, under which she wore a red collared shirt, both unbuttoned to the top of her breasts. She also had on a set of high-quality brown leather pants, and a lightweight set of red gloves on her hands. Her clothing was tight enough to display her many curves, but loose enough to not impede her movement.

The trio had picked up the trail of the miller a mile from town once more, and traveled for another hour into the woods beyond the village. The sun shone brightly through the trees as they journeyed on horseback, the canopy of the thin birches that dominated the forest decidedly not dominating the clear blue sky.

Talos' eyes were fixated on light, almost undetectable footprints on the forest floor, while Alanna and Emmanuel conversed with one another behind him to stave off boredom.

Emmanuel was just explaining to Alanna how loud her raucous moans were from the night before, even demonstrating to her once or twice, as Talos silently hunted the missing man. The bard was waving his arms wildly about as he spoke, being the flamboyant man that he was.

"You cannot be serious," Alanna retorted with a deep blush.

"Oh but I am, my rowdy sorceress," Emmanuel said. "I promise the entire town of Featherton is now well aware of your enjoyment of his manhood."

Alanna giggled nervously. "There's... no way, Emmanuel. I'm not that loud."

Emmanuel brought a tapping finger to his chin, mocking the enchantress. "Hmm. Perhaps I was dreaming of you, then? Screaming that he ruined your womanhood? Pleading for his seed?"

"Okay, okay," Alanna conceded, mentally promising that she would limit herself in the future. If she could remember to, that is. She decided to change the subject, having been completely embarassed.

"So, what brought you out this far anyway?" Alanna asked hastily. "If you wished to sing, shouldn't you be in Catriona?"

Emmanuel noticed the deflection of conversation, but answered her warmly. "Why, inspiration my clamorous maid! Have I not already said as much?"

Alanna nodded, swiveling her gaze around mockingly, and spying nothing but trees and grass. "You have said as much. But what possibly exists out here that is so inspirational?"

"Why, the Horseshoe Waterfall of course! We're even headed in the correct direction!" Emmanuel explained boisterously, before realizing that the fact might be relevant. "Oh! Talos?"

"Yeah?" Talos replied deeply, about three ticks quieter than the bard. He didn't bother looking in Emmanuel's direction.

"Could the miller have been traveling to the waterfall? We are pointed that way, after all."

"Without telling his wife?" Talos asked plainly. Emmanuel groaned with disgust.

"But did you see her, Talos? I wouldn't tell her where I was headed either, I'll tell you that much," the bard emphatically explained. Talos didn't bother responding to the jest at all except with a shaken head, and the silence made Emmanuel nervous. He turned towards Alanna once more. "You saw her, right?"

"You're revolting, sir," Alanna chided him with mock anger, forcing the bard to huff indignantly. She briefly wondered if this waterfall was the great secret that Talos had wanted to show her out here at the edge of the county. She couldn't help herself from scanning his current thoughts, finding nothing but the task at hand when she did. Alanna decided to retreat before delving deeper. A surprise it should remain.

Not a minute later did Talos will his horse to slow, then hopped from the saddle impatiently. He knelt over the prints of his mark in the soft dirt, noticing the tracks of several others converging on it's location.

"Uh oh," Talos muttered. Emmanuel dismounted as well, ambling over to the man kneeling. Talos pointed to the tracks. "Signs of a struggle. Looks like he was indeed attacked, just here. And not by wolves, either."

"By men?" the bard asked succinctly, a rare thing really. Talos nodded, his eyes following the new prints. The abductors appeared to have assaulted the miller in close combat, which was not too much a surprise to Talos. What did surprise him was the fact that many appeared to walk with a strange limp, shifting the dirt between steps as they shambled through the undergrowth.

"Talos! In front!" Alanna warned with a shout, pointing towards a nearby tree. Talos rose from his crouch, unslinging his loaded crossbow in an instant.

He spied four men ambling towards him with arms outstreched, their deep groans carrying on the wind. Talos tried to warn the four, no, six attackers to stop their leisurely advance.

"Halt, or you will be killed!"

Talos only gave them three seconds to comply. Failing to do so, Talos lined his bow up with the nearest man, squeezing the trigger softly. The bolt was flung from the bow with an enthusiastic twang, and struck the man straight in the heart.

... Who still advanced towards him. Talos pursed his lips with confusion, dropping his crossbow in the dirt and unsheathing the glowing sword on his belt. Emmanuel drew a pair of intricate daggers which had been sheathed on his back.

Uhh... Alanna? Talos asked telepathically, hoping she would understand what was happening better than he. The six drew closer, and were now within thirty feet of the pair of men. Talos smacked his horse Meadow on the rump, hard enough to force her to whinny and retreat.

Alanna looked over the six shamblers, instantly recalling a lesson from the College regarding enthrallment and necromancy. She had been asleep for half the class, but had remembered enough.

"They're thralls! Zombies!" she shouted to the pair of men on foot. She wouldn't dismount, having no weapons of her own. Alanna instead retreated to a safe distance, charming Meadow to stop running as she did.

"Zombies?! My gods," Emmanuel exclaimed worriedly. He had thought them to just be rumors to scare children into proper behavior. Talos had heard the same stories growing up, and knew to avoid being touched by the shamblers whatsoever, lest he turn into one.

Sever their heads, Alanna expanded for Talos, the sorceress having recalled the enthrallment stemmed from one infusing a corpse's eyes.

"Go for their heads," Talos quickly explained to the man beside him, hoping the bard wouldn't have to fight at all. Emmanuel wore no armor, and was likely useless in a fight.

"Right," Emmanuel replied with thumping heart.

Talos strode towards the closing shamblers, not wanting to be caught betwixt all six. His divine blade sang through the air as he slashed horizontally through the neck of one zombie, before spinning and dispatching another with his momentum.

Talos side-stepped away from the next, the soul-trapped thrall shifting slowly towards the swordsman's new position. He brought his blade level to the zombie's neck, slashing horizontally once more as he looked forward, to sever head from body. The putrefied corpse crashed to the ground as Talos strode towards the next, performing a pirouette to simply cleave through it.

"Ahh! Help!" he heard a womanly bard shout to his right. Talos turned towards the noise, finding Emmanuel's knives solidly stuck within a zombie's face as he tried to push it away. He rushed towards him, absentmindedly dispatching the next shambler with a deft, singing swing as he advanced.

The zombie atop Emmanuel bit into the man's shoulder, a spurt of blood flying from the wound. Talos swept through the zombie's legs with singing blade, then cleaved it's head with a two-handed strike when it had fallen flat with the ground.

Emmanuel fell to his knees clutching his shoulder, his clothes stained with his own blood.

"Ahh! It got me!" the bard cried. Talos stepped towards him, sword still bloodied and unsheathed as he glanced around the clearing to ensure he had dispatched them all. He grimaced nervously, knowing what would come next for the hapless bard.

"You must end me before I turn, Talos," Emmanuel pleaded, clenching his eyes shut with dread. Talos nodded with a frown, raising his sword in agreement. He spoke solemnly to the doomed soul lying on the forest floor.

"I'm sorry, Emmanuel," Talos said genuinely. "Is there anything you left unfinished?" Talos gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, and twisted it towards the man's neck.

"Oh... oh, so much, Talos. So much indeed," Emmanuel whimpered. "But none of it will matter where I am going, I'm afraid. Let's... just get on with it."

"Wait! What in the gods names are you doing?!" Alanna cried, urging her horse to canter towards them. Talos turned his head towards the sorceress, shrugging his shoulders sadly.

"Emmanuel was bitten, Alanna. It's only a matter of time before he turns into one of them."

"Childish superstition! Ridiculous nonsense!" the enchantress shouted emphatically, shaking her head. She swung off from her horse with haste, running towards the downed bard. She glared at Talos, then knelt beside Emmanuel.

"But Alanna-"

"But nothing! Zombies are only created through magical enthrallment, not... not through bites! Morons!"

"Oh," Talos smirked, relief washing through his heart as he lowered his sword. He glanced towards the sobbing man in the grass. "Hey Em, good news."

Alanna sighed, shaking her head. "Shut up, Talos. Emmanuel, take off your shirt and hold still," she commanded, the bard's face shifting from dread, to eminent relief, to confusion in a matter of moments.

"Alanna, my sweet maid, now's not the time for-"

"So I can restore you, you idiot!" Alanna declared, her voice rising once again when she sensed the bard's incorrect assumption. Emmanuel hastily removed his shirt, while Talos scanned their surroundings with sword unsheathed, ensuring there were no remaining attackers. Alanna calmed herself with a deep breath, then looked over the injured man on the forest floor as she read her lover's mind.

"There might be more, Talos. And the sorceress who enthralled them must be close," Alanna explained, recalling what she had remembered from her studies of the art of necromancy. The College of Catriona had banned the disturbing branch of restoration magic almost half a century ago, but the art was still practiced in private, as well as in other magical colleges of the Empire such as the one in Redstone.

"How close?" Talos asked, squinting as his gaze jumped from tree to tree.

"One, maybe two miles at most," Alanna answered confidently. She grimaced as Emmanuel's chest and arm were revealed. Alanna was certainly glad she had studied anti-viral and anti-venom spells recently, having been reminded to do so last year.

"Doesn't look bad at all, Emmanuel," she reassured him calmly, removing one of her gloves to bring a naked hand to the wound.

"It looks horrible!" the bard cried.

"Shh," Alanna hushed him, shutting her eyes as she cast a middling spell to both seal his burst vessels, as well as regenerate the man's torn skin. Talos rode up beside them after a silent minute, a fire present in his eyes.

"Nothing nearby. I'm going to do a quick sweep of the area," he said, wishing that his elven lover were here with him now. Casiama would have been capable of picking up any noises in a five-mile radius, her hearing far superior to that of a human's. The one responsible for the ambush would likely be dead already had she been here.

"Okay. Be safe," Alanna said softly with a quick glance towards him. "Oh, Talos?"

"Yeah?"

"Bandages?" she asked calmly. Talos leaned towards his saddlebags, opening a pack and tossing a roll of white cotton towards the sorceress. He then urged Meadow into a canter.

"Be right back," Talos promised her.

-=-=-

Talos returned to his companions half an hour later, having performed a successful reconnaissance of their surroundings. The man had found an ancient elven cairn not a mile from where the ambush had occured, which marked that a crypt laid underneath. Talos shared the discovery with Alanna, who agreed it seemed like an obvious lair for a necromantic sorceress.

Emmanuel was already looking like his old self, now redressed and bandaged as he ate a piece of jerky surrounded by the rotting corpses of half-a-dozen zombies. Talos found the idea of eating dried meat repulsive at that time, yet the thought seemingly hadn't come to the bard's mind. Talos decided not to mention it, yet Alanna agreed with him telepathically that it was, indeed, disgusting.

The trio soon made their way towards the elven tomb, the sun already well past noon as their horses trod carefully through the undergrowth. The mood had definitely soured, knowing that there would likely be more zombies to slay, as well as a potentially powerful sorceress, once they entered the crypts.