The Broken Sword

Another ward screamed its warning to her. Elvanshalee gasped in amazement. How had he sent off the third ward without defeating the second one? It was impossible! It was...

"I see you've done well for yourself."

Elvanshalee's head snapped around, looking to the doorway into her tower. The final ward she sensed being defeated was not in the desert, it was in her very tower. Her eyes widened as she looked upon the trespasser.

"What?! But... you're..."

"Not anymore I'm not," he said with a crooked smile. "You've been a very naughty girl, Elvanshalee, and I'm here to punish you."

Elvanshalee rose off her couch fluidly, arms in front of her defensively. "I'm no foolish little girl anymore," she warned. "I'll not be so easily tamed."

The man laughed, a sinister and mocking sound. Without further preamble he sent his own magic against her, countered just in time by her own. Elvanshalee felt the strength within him and understood instantly that she would not win. The best she could do was buy time. Time for her children to escape. Time for Bobo to do what he needed to do, even though she had been unable to help him.

Elvanshalee threw herself into her magic more deeply than ever before. Unlike the elves of ancient times, she had understood the restraint necessary to keep the magic from gaining control of her. Now she removed those restraints. She opened the floodgates and bathed in the elemental powers she had acquired. She could not win, but maybe, just maybe, she could take him with her.

*****

A light lit up the sky to the west. The orcs cowered, ducking under the barely felt shockwave that passed over them. Regnar and Vanya, both bloodied time and again, stared into the distance at the column of flame that filled the pre-dawn sky. Both felt something inside of them crumble at that moment. It was not a magical or a spiritual thing, but rather a bond that told them that Elvanshalee was no more.

Vanya felt tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Grief tried to overwhelm her, but her gaze fell upon a nearby orc that was staring to the west as well. Suddenly filled with rage, Vanya stood up from where she had been knocked to one knee and picked up her dropped hand and a half sword. She lashed out at the orc, crumpling him to the ground. A roaring sound reached her ears, and she realized as she lashed out again and again that it was Regnar. Then she felt the strain in her own throat and lungs and she knew that she was screaming as well.

The orcs that survived their initial assault routed, fleeing from the two as they stalked out anything close enough to hunt down and destroy. In minutes Regnar and Vanya stood alone on top of the mound, breathing heavily and streaked with blood.

*****

Bobo stepped out of the room, holding the hilt of the sword in front of him in mid-air with his otherworldly magic. It was the correct one, as well, rather than the expert imitation that had rested upon the top of the now overturned stone plinth. He walked back through the dead cavern and saw his body laying on the stone floor, awaiting his return.

Above it floated several shades of those who had sensed a spiritless body and sought to use it for their own purposes. Bobo scowled and hurried back. He let the hilt fall to the ground beside his body and then laid down upon it, merging spirit with flesh.

Bobo's eyes opened and he gasped as racking pains shot through his body. He shuddered with each attempt to draw in breath, until at long last he was able to breath unimpeded. His joints were sore and his body was cold to the touch. Yet inside he felt as though he burned with a fever. He looked around saw that the shades had left him, robbed of their prize as they were.

He stood up slowly, carefully balancing his wayward legs. He gaze up the passage and nearly groaned at the thought of the long uphill walk. Then he remembered that he could return to Thoragloorin at any time, he had the magical disk in his pouch.

Bobo debated for a long moment, knowing that young as he was, Regnar stood little chance surviving the entire orc tribe. Vanya as well, in spite of her amazing abilities and strengths, would surely have perished. Bobo reached into his pouch and pulled it out, tapping his twin barreled arm against it in preparation for breaking it.

Sighing, Bobo pocketed it and began the climb. He had to see if they were still there. There was no chance that they had survived, but he had to see for himself to be sure. He picked up his pace and hoped that the exercise would warm his body up and get his blood flowing enough to make him feel alive again.

*****

Bobo emerged from the tunnel and immediately saw the bloom of energy in the west. He stopped, stunned, and turned the east. The sun was brightening the eastern sky by this time, further adding to his confusion. He looked back to the west and was at a loss to explain it.

What amazed him more was the bodies that lay about the top of the hill. Dead orcs were everywhere, well over two score of them. He shook his head in amazement, convinced that Regnar's and Vanya's last moments were truly worthy of remembrance in song. Then he turned enough to see them standing near the edge of the hill. Bobo's eyes widened in amazement a third time in as many minutes.

"Remind me to never make you angry," Bobo said good-naturedly as he walked up to them.

The look that both directed to him silenced him instantly. It was sadness and anger, mixed together. Under the circumstances it was easy for Bobo to ignore the fact that Vanya's leathers were torn so badly as to be reduced to scraps. Her right breast hung free, scored and bloody by three furrows running down it vertically, and her leather leggings had been reduced to little more than shorts.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"My mother is dead," Vanya responded thickly.

Bobo looked to the west, suddenly understanding. It had been her final strike against whatever had attacked her. He admired her at the end, in spite of their heated argument.

"She died well, I think," the Prince offered as a consolation.

Vanya nodded, turning back with Regnar to stare into the west for a long moment. Bobo nervously looked down the hill, seeing many orcs doing their best to hide from them. Whatever had happened up here had scared the normally ferocious tribal warriors. Bobo shuddered to think of what it might have been.

"Now what?" Vanya asked finally. "Did you get it?"

Bobo patted a sack that hung from his side. "Aye, it's here. I'm for Thoragloorin now, and for what happens when the sword and hilt are reunited."

"We're coming with you," Vanya said. Regnar nodded once beside her.

Bobo opened and closed his mouth. "The way is fraught with peril. We can be there in hours, but to walk the way I do you might see things that you might wish you had not seen."

"We've nothing left here, Bobo, now we want to find out what my mother was willing to sacrifice her life to protect."

Bobo nodded, he could appreciate that. They were involved and they did deserve that much, if not more. "And the orcs?" Bobo asked, nodding down the hill.

Regnar smiled viciously. He turned and roared, sending several unseen but well heard orcs scurrying for cover.

"They'll not bother us anymore, I think," Vanya replied.

"You think wrong," Bobo said dryly. Behind them some of the dead orcs were beginning to rise.

"What are you..." Vanya trailed off, following Bobo's gaze.

"As I told your mother, the dead do not stay dead anymore. We must hurry!" Bobo said and pulled the disc from his pocket. "Hold hands...er, talons."

Regnar was in a foul mood such that he did not even snort his displeasure at Bobo's weak attempt at humor. Instead he wrapped one scaled fist around Bobo's barrels, while Bobo tossed the disc onto the ground between the three of them. Vanya took his right hand in hers and after he summoned forth the energy from within him and also gathered up that which was swirling around them from the deaths of the battle, he crumbled it with the heel of his boot.

All three of them were immediately plunged into darkness. Vanya's grip tightened on his arm, as did Regnar. Both were possessed of superior night vision, a courtesy of their specific racial heritages, and to be blinded so suddenly was a unique experience for them.

"Relax, some, you are safe with me. In time you will be able to see things, dimly though, as though through a veil," Bobo counseled. "We must away quickly, and take care to not look about you if you can. You might see things that the living are not meant to see."

Bobo knew what he was talking about. His mother had taken him on a few spirit walks when she had been training him. They traveled in the realm of the dead, but they were alive. For them it was safe, if disturbing, for they were protected by the very power they wielded over the dead. Bobo hoped that he could extend his protection over Regnar and Vanya, otherwise the two of them could be injured. Or worse.

But of equal of greater concern were the sights. Bobo had seen many things, and his experience was limited. The dead that did not rest, far more abundant now than before, would seek them out. Normally the living did not see the dead, though Bobocateya was special in the that respect. Normally the dead did not try to harass the living, for they were unable to hold onto the world of the living for long. Now all manner of beings were running amok, anxious for a chance to upset or injure the living.

All around him they could see spirits hovering over the bodies of the orcs. Fighting with one another to reinhabit them so that they could taste the living world again, even though a body animated thusly would not be alive in the truest sense. Some of the spirits looked at them, but they had witnessed the necromantic powers Bobo had called upon and they understood that to interfere with him would spell their eternal doom.

"What are you doing?"

Bobo turned, surprised at the voice he heard. Not for what it said, but for who it was.

"How dare you bring them here!" Bobo stared at Elvanshalee's spirit, as beautiful in death as she had been in life, here she had a terrible power about her as well.

"Mother!" Vanya gasped, staring at her. Regnar sought to move towards her but Bobo stepped forward quickly, pulling Vanya with him and blocking the dragon's approach.

"Do not let go of me!" Bobo hissed.

To Elvanshalee he said, "It is the only way back to Thoragloorin. Go and rest, spirit, we will reopen the realm of the dead soon so that you can be at peace."

"Enough with that nonsense, boy! You know I don't have to go even if the portal is repaired. You protect them, boy, or I'll haunt you for the rest of you life!"

Bobo smiled sadly. "I will do my best,"

"No!" Elvanshalee snarled at him. "I'll have your oath, or you're not the son of the greatest elf to ever life. No one else could have done what you did to retrieve the hilt, Bobo, you've marked yourself as special. Now earn the accident of your birth and your legacy."

Bobo nodded. "So be it, I swear it then. I shall protect them and see them through to the time that they set into the world on their own."

Elvanshalee's ethereal snarl did not fade, but she seemed somewhat mollified. She floated to Vanya and Regnar, not touching either but looking fondly at both of them. "Take care of each other as well, you're all you have left in the world. And be careful, I learned at the end that even blood is not always as thick as it should be..."

Vanya reached out for her and Elvanshalee shrank away from her quickly, she held up her hand in parting and then was gone, slinking away too fast for them to follow her. Fresh tears ran from Vanya's eyes.

"Come," Bobo said softly, "we must make haste."

They set off, each silent in introspection. They traveled across the landscape, moving far more rapidly than they could have on foot or on horseback. Even flying Regnar could not have covered the distance they did as they walked among the spirits.

Many times they were accosted by the souls of the dead, but fortunately none of them caused them any ill. Some were curious, others pleading for help for themselves or their loved ones. Only one was openly hostile, but Bobo's power held him at bay. Each step was as one hundred, allowing them to cross mountains with ease.

As they approached Thoragloorin the dead increased. Both those animating bodies and those that were formless, seeking peace. In time it became almost impossible for them to move forward without brushing against some specter or shade. Bobo halted them and frowned.

"I mark Thoragloorin nearly half a days march from here, but we will be contested every step of the way," he told them.

"We must leave the spirit world and rejoin the land of the living, else we may come in contact with the spirits and to do so would be a bad thing."

Vanya shivered at the thought of brushing up against the shadowy forms that moved about, some amorphous blobs defying gravity and others detailed souls looking much as they had when they lived. "What happens if we touch them?"

Bobo met her eyes and said, "You will experience everything they wish you too, and typically the dead want you to understand what dying felt like."

Vanya gasped, her free hand covering her mouth.

"You will not die, here, but you will suffer their death as they suffered it," he continued. "And there's more, if they can they will distract you, causing you to get lost. This world is different from yours, our bodies do not age but they do not live as well. Too long spent here will harm you, and if the dead can have their way of it, many of them will keep you here until your body has not the strength to move on."

Regnar snorted, turning to look at him. Vanya nodded and said, "that makes sense, I have felt a weight on my shoulders increasing as we walked. I feel weaker than before, and the despair of seeing all these...dead people. And the colors.. there are no bright colors here! How dismal their existence must be!"

Bobo nodded, "Yes, it is. Now you know why the orcs began to rise after you slew them, something that lusted after the world of the living could not stand it here anymore."

"So this is death?"

"Only a part of it," Bobo explained. "Normally when a person dies they move on to whichever afterlife suits them the most."

Vanya's eyes widened. "You know what happens after?"

Bobo gave her a ghost of a smile. "I died once. My mother pulled me back with her power, it's why I am the way I am."

"As for what happens after you die, that is the great secret that everyone wants to know, but it is not one I can share with you."

"But do you know?" Vanya persisted.

Bobo looked at her for a long moment before he shook his head. "Gather close and stay in contact with me, we are going to leave this realm. And be ready, when we return the dead that walk will be only too happy to attack us."

Bobo turned around so that they were facing each other in a circle again. He reached out, pulling in the dark energies that abounded in the pseudo-underworld and fashioned them as his mother had taught him. Finally he let them go, a vortex of soundless energy forming with them at its center and then disappearing completely.

It was as though they had been muffled and suffocating and then suddenly freed. Sights, sounds, feeling, and colors assaulted them. Vanya and Regnar both stumbled and fell, overcome with the sensations as well as trying to deal with the aching weakness in their bodies. Bobo stood ready, drawing his cutlass and watching a few shambling bodies in various states of decomposition that came towards them.

Vanya rose shakily to her feet and reached to unlimber her bow. Bobo waved his hand at her, making her pause. "Arrows are all but worthless, they do not live as you or I. To stop these things they must be hacked and torn apart, or have their head or spine severed."

Regnar roared and spat out a powerful bolt of static electricity. It tore into the closest of the undead zombies, making it dance and erupt into flames.

"That works too," Bobo admitted. "Now hurry, we must run to Thoragloorin, there will be many more between us and there for they seek out my mother."

"Why?" Vanya asked, drawing her sword and falling in beside the Prince as he began to run. Regnar thudded easily along beside them, his four legs able to match their pace without concern.

"She's was the last one to touch the portal. Some blame her for it, others believe she is the only one that can restore it."

"Is she?" Vanya asked.

"I hope so," Bobo responded, angling away from where a zombie shambled towards them.

Dodging single undead proved easy for them, for they moved far more swiftly. The spirits that returned not only proved to be awkward in trying to control an unfamiliar body, but the bodies themselves were in various states of decay, some being little more than skeletons and others missing limbs or various parts that were normally required for a body to be ambulatory.

A few times they encountered groups of undead, and as they neared Thoragloorin it became more and more common. These they avoided when they could, though the dead seemed to sense the living and usually came after them, and a few others they had to fight their way through. Bobo was amazed as they did this, for both Regnar and Vanya fought with a strength and a ferocity that humbled him. Vanya, in particular, seemed possessed of the ability to endure beyond what an elf should be able to, regardless of gender.

Vanya's aura as she fought confused him as well, for as before, it seemed to coil with something serpentine and powerful. He began to grow mildly suspicious of her. Not of her actions or intentions, but rather of her very nature. He wondered what inhumane experiments Elvanshalee may have unwittingly, or perhaps consciously, conducted upon her.

"It's beautiful," Vanya said, hardly winded by their repeated skirmishes. The dead fought without skill or tact, making them easy opponents, but the sheer number that they had fought through thus far was beginning to try them.

Or at least it was beginning to tire Bobo. He glanced up to see that Vanya was referring to the gate of Thoragloorin. They were within 300 yards of it, but between them and the gates were hundreds of zombies, some of which were turning to face them.

"Any bright ideas, Prince?" Vanya asked, swinging her sword vigorously to clean the ichor off from it.

Bobo stared at her, thinking for a moment that he had heard her mother's voice come from her mouth. He shook his head, searching for an option. Finally he stumbled upon one.

"Stand within the circle!" Bobo ordered, drawing a line in the dirt around them, connecting the ends. It was far from a perfect circle, but it would do, he hoped, for temporary protection.

Bobo reached up into the air with his good hand and swirled it around, causing an unseen vortex to slowly form. The energies from the dead souls that he alone could sense was being pulled to him, robbing them of their power over the living as well as giving him the energy he needed. Having enough gathered around his hand at last, he looked at Vanya and Regnar.

"To create the circle I need blood, and a fair amount of it. Choose quickly, it will be our only chance!"

Vanya and Regnar looked to one another, then Vanya began to step forward. Regnar wrapped his hand around her ankle and pulled, tripping her and causing her to fall to the ground. The dragon walked over her, taking care not to step on her as he did so, and held out one scaled forearm to Bobo.

"Cut yourself, deeply," Bobo commanded. Regnar bit into his own arm, sinking his fangs deep through the armored scales and into the flesh. Blood flowed and fell from the wound.

"Trace the circle with your blood," Bobo told him. "Just let it fall onto it, I will do the rest as it falls."