The Tattooed Woman Pt. 05

THE TATTOOED WOMAN

Thought I'd try something a little different.

I borrowed heavily from some of the concepts to be found in stories by EstebanMamono so I offer a shout out and big thanks to him.

Please comment on the story, I'm curious to learn what you think.

Chapter 5: Blood and Fire

The Dark Elves slipped through the darkness like wraiths. Clad in mail and leather, wielding blades of darkened steel and with their hoods drawn over their silver hair, they were all but shadows. Azure scouted the way as usual, and she may as well have been a ghost for all the noise she made. She flitted between the trees like a wisp, moving silently as she approached the ivy-covered outer bastion of the walled structure that was their objective.

The buildings appeared to form an old chapel or temple complex of some kind, perchance an old priory or monastic grange. The walls were of crumbling stone and those windows she could see were dark apertures secured with rusted iron bars.

The place was situated high up on the side of a glen, and all but hidden by deep woods of pine, birch, and rowan. The remains of a rough track led towards the crumbling walls and a ramshackle gate.

To one side there looked to be an orchard, with neat rows of apple, pear and even some plum trees, and there were plentiful bushes of gooseberries and raspberries, but Azure's keen eyes spotted a few misgiving signs, for the fruit appeared to be unpicked, and left rotting.

Nearer the walls was a herb garden and a sizeable allotment of potatoes, turnips, peas and other vegetables, but again, the place looked untended of late and as she moved closer she felt her hackles rising. The woman plucked a piece of grass and idly picked her teeth as she watched and considered. It was too quiet she mused, and she was uncomfortably certain the chill she felt running down her spine was not entirely due to the cold weather.

The canny Dark Elf slid closer to the gate, once it would have been a sturdy wooden barrier, with hefty-looking iron hinges, but the wood was old, and rotten in places, but her keen eyes noted that there were a few signs that some effort had been made at upkeep and the hinges had at least been greased, with pig fat from the smell. She slithered silently over the gate and dropped nimbly to the ground; landing poised in a half-crouch, with blade at the ready as she peered about.

She saw she was in a short passage that passed under the building above her, and ahead she could see that it opened out into what looked like a cloister of sorts, a square courtyard, open to the sky and surrounded by buildings and a walkway that was lined along this side by a series of decorative arches. She had seen similar architecture before while raiding other human settlements. She shivered, it was cold here, and an eerie mist hung low about the place.

Azure shook her head and grinned as she took in the silence, the mist and the foreboding atmosphere, "Well, this isn't creepy at all."

Turning, she eased aside the bar that secured the gate and swung it ajar, before leaning out to wave back towards the thick woods. Figures rose from the undergrowth and emerged from the gloom under the trees, moving swiftly to join her.

Ashunara nodded to the scout, flashing her a flashed her a wicked grin as she whispered, "Skilfully done Azure, as always."

The Captain turned to her companions, "Tallis, you and two of the Orcs will remain here. We know not what we're going to run into inside this fucking place and this is our way out, so you hold this gate girl. I want nothing creeping in here behind us, understand?"

The young Dark-Elf looked slightly downcast at being left behind until Ashunara gripped her shoulder, "I'm relying on you Tallis! Hold this ground for us, you hear?"

Looking into the steady eyes of her Captain the younger woman gave a fierce grin and whispered, "None shall pass."

"Good girl."

Nyx thumped her on the shoulder as she slid by, "Watch our backs, lass."

Tallis nodded as the others filed past. Two of the Orcs remained by her, one nocking a viciously barbed arrow into the recurved horn bow it carried while the other gripped its axe, fixed its hide-covered shield in place and gave the girl and cheerful grin. Together the three merged with the shadows by the gate to wait.

Looking about the cloister Ashunara could see that the main chapel building was to her left. She saw there were chimneys atop the wing directly opposite her position and so guessed that to be the kitchens and refectory. The wing to her right was probably the infirmary, while the dormitory probably ran across the top of the gate, above where she was crouched. The place was silent, no smoke wafted from the chimneys and no lamp or candlelight could be seen through the windows.

Nyx grimaced and her tone was as dry as a desert, "Quiet as the grave, obviously nothing at all to worry about, clearly abandoned."

Ashunara grinned, "Yea right, clearly nothing to worry about at all. I mean, what could possibly go wrong in a place this cheerful?"

The Captain gestured off to the right, "Nyx, take Azure and two Orcs and sweep that building, I'll take Lashelle and the other two through the refectory over there. If all goes well, we'll meet by the door of the main chapel in a few minutes and go in together."

Nyx nodded, "Aye, Sir."

Ashunara ran her eyes over everyone, "Remember, any of you bastards gets killed without my permission and I'll shove my boot up your arse. Let's go."

Nyx grinned, "Just your boot? Cos you never know, sounds like that might be fun."

"Fuck off Nyx."

"Beg pardon?"

"Sorry, I meant fuck off Sergeant."

"Fair enough. Come on Azure, let's show this toffee-nosed officer how it's done."

The scout grinned and quietly laid a hand on Lashelle's shoulder as she slid by, "Be lucky."

Captain Ashunara watched as the two Dark Elves slid across the cloister, followed by a pair of axe-carrying Orcs, who loped after them like two hungry wolves.

Turning to Lashelle, she indicated across the cloister towards an arched doorway that looked like a kitchen entrance. The woman nodded and followed as the Captain drifted from her position in the shadows to glide across the courtyard. The two Orcs she had kept with her followed like faithful hounds.

Ashunara found the door to the kitchen ajar and slipped silently inside. The interior was as dark as pitch and the ovens cold. Her elven eyes had little trouble piercing the gloom and she saw shelves holding myriad pots, pans and other crockery, as well as hooks holding various cleavers, carving knives, ladles and spoons. A butter churn stood in one corner near a door that led into a sizeable pantry. The place reeked of decay and a quick glance into the large cauldron hung over the range revealed the rotting remnants of some form of half-eaten broth. The scummy liquid had turned green, it was covered with a layer of fatty grease, and it gave off a stomach-turning stench.

Meanwhile, Lashelle sidled across to the brick-lined cold store where she saw various joints and sides of ham and beef hanging from meat hooks, along with...

"Captain, we have a body here."

Lashell's urgent whisper brought Ashunara to her side and she cautiously crouched to examine the corpse. It looked to be a large middle-aged woman, lying sprawled on the floor at the back of the frigid chamber clutching a meat cleaver in one podgy fist. Her face and limbs were bloated and blue, and her head hung at an unnatural angle.

"Strangled, and neck snapped, whoever did this is strong. Look at the marks on the wall, her attacker held her off the ground as she was strangled and those marks were made by her heels I'd say."

Lashelle nodded at the cleaver, "Looks like blood on the blade Captain, and the nails on her other hand are broken, she didn't go down without a fight."

Ashunara nodded thoughtfully and looked up at her companion with a sigh, "For all the good it did her. Still, better to go down swinging, least that way you can look your ancestors in the eye when you get off the ferry."

Other doors led through to a large buttery where flour and foodstuffs had been stored, along with a supply of candles and oil, as well as a few barrels of salted pork, sacks of potatoes, onions and turnips, a small keg of salt, an open barrel of apples and a keg of cider. Between the kitchen and this larger store was a set of sturdy wooden stairs that looked to lead upwards to the floor above.

Lashelle nodded upwards, "I should think these probably lead up to the refectory itself."

The Captain nodded in agreement and pointed for an Orc to take up position by the kitchen door before she slowly, and silently climbed the stairs.

The Refectory was an abattoir, with a half-dozen dead women lying sprawled across benches, or on the wooden floor. Cups, bowls, and wooden spoons were scattered about the sturdy tables along with plates of long-hardened mouldering bread. The women wore simple woollen garments comprising a long-sleeved dress, tied at the waist with a rope belt, with a brown hooded scapular worn atop like an apron of sorts. The clothing looked plain but warm enough, clean and well-kept.

Lashelle knelt at the nearest body, examining the woman's bloated face and swollen tongue. She glanced back at Ashunara, "No signs of lesions or plague-sores Captain. If I was to guess, I'd say these poor wretches were poisoned."

Looking about, the Captain spotted a couple of dead rats on the floor next to a chunk of bread, and another on a table by a toppled bowl, and she nodded in agreement, "Looks that way. Might explain the stench coming off that cauldron of soup downstairs," she pointed about the tables, "See the burned candles? It gets dark early this far north, so I'd guess they were probably killed at supper before vespers I think."

"What the Hell do you think happened here? Did the cook just go mad or something?"

Ashunara pursed her lips thoughtfully, "I think that might be the cook downstairs in the cold store. Looked like she was strangled while flailing away with that cleaver, which makes me think the killer wore decent armour, or..."

"There was more than one of them," finished Lashelle.

"Maybe both. Mayhap we should go see how Nyx is getting on. I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."

Downstairs they found Nyx and Azura entering the kitchen, and the looks on their faces spoke volumes.

"What did you find, Nyx?"

The sergeant met her eye and sniffed at the stench in the kitchen as she spoke, "T'is the infirmary as you surmised Captain. There are a half-dozen cots, all occupied, mostly by women, but a couple of children as well, all dead, they had the look of plague about them, but I'd say they died of poisoning. There were bowls of some broth mayhap, and spoons on tables by their side or tipped and spilt on the floor. There was a room off the infirmary where we found another woman, a barber-surgeon I would think, or some kind of healer anyway. She'd also been poisoned, but in the back, there was an apothecary store. The door had been forced and I found another woman within, she looked like her head had been beaten in."

The Captain turned to Azura, "Anything to add?"

The scout looked thoughtful, "Not much Captain, I'd guess the poison to be some kind of Hemlock concoction by the smell, and it looked like they died of asphyxiation, which is the sort of death I'd expect with Hemlock. There was a supply of such herbs as that and Wolfsbane in the apothecary store which is unsurprising as both have medicinal properties. I'd guess they've been dead more than two days, but less than a week for the corpses show some bloating but little mortification, and the rigor of death has passed from their limbs."

Nyx pursed her lips, "Captain, there seems little to be gained for us here, mayhap we should depart. We've surely enough troubles of our own without borrowing more. This place is hardly filling me with good cheer, and I doubt you want to scavenge supplies here."

Ashunara favoured the woman with a grim smile and nodded, "Well Sergeant, on reflection it does seem a tad unwise to replenish food supplies at a place where everyone was poisoned."

The Captain considered, "I think you're probably right Nyx, I doubt there's much in the way of booty to be found here. We'll finish the sweep and begone away from this place. I don't know what happened here, but it stinks of devilry and mischief to me."

Going to the kitchen door Ashunara peered out towards the bleak stone walls of the church itself. It was a sizeable building that loomed across one side of the cloister. It was two stories tall with a bell tower set off towards one end and shuttered windows placed high up on the walls. She pointed with her sword towards the door into the church that was off the cloister.

"I would think there'd be another entrance to that place from the dormitory, but I'm not so keen to split us up completely. Nyx, you and I will brave that door," she thumped one of the Orcs on the arm, "with a couple of these bad boys to back us up. Azure, you, Lashelle and two Orcs will hold that door when we go in. If we get in trouble, I'll call on you, but if you hear sounds of fighting then use your initiative. Remember though, if we have to flee, we're likely going to need that door, understood?"

"Aye, Captain, we won't let you down."

Ashunara grinned, "Well, you never have so far lass. Remember though, and this is vital. If I get killed in there, it's all Nyx's fault, right?"

There was quiet laughter as the Sergeant rolled her eyes as she readied her blade, "Respectfully Captain, eat shit."

The group moved across the cloister through the wisps of low mist to reach the temple entrance and Ashunara paused to draw a breath before she pushed one side of the double door open and slipped into the gloom beyond.

The Dark Elf had seen human temples and places of worship before, and the construction of this chapel seemed little different from those she remembered. Perhaps a little older, perhaps a little poorer, but otherwise much the same. The chamber was long, with a high vaulted ceiling, held aloft by thick wooden beams. Like the ceiling, the walls were plastered but while the ceiling had been decorated with paintings of the stars and heavens, the walls were engraved with images of the myriad demigods and other divine beings worshipped by the Humans.

The group had entered the nave of the temple, and Ashunara saw the neat rows of pews, as well as alcoves containing shrines along the walls. Above, a horos depicting the major astrological symbols hung from beneath the tower.

Nyx slid alongside her and pointed with her sword at the bodies lying sprawled on or about the pews. There looked to be at least a half dozen, all women and all dressed in the sample simple fashion she had already seen.

The Sergeant scratched one of her pointed ears, "They look poisoned, same as the others. Mayhap the poison took longer to work, and they came in here to pray to their gods for aid?"

Ashunara shrugged noncommittally, "Maybe."

At the farthest end of the chamber, the Captain saw the decorated templon wall that separated the main temple from the sanctuary and altar chamber beyond. The doors that penetrated the templon were decorated with images and carvings depicting the heroic deeds of some human demigod and Ashunara gestured towards them, "Any idea who that's meant to be Nyx?"

"Might be Typhonos, wasn't he the guy who killed off the dragons? Well according to the humans that is."

The younger Dark-Elf shrugged, "I thought Typhonos was a dragon? Didn't the dragons all vanish during the Morrigan's War?"

Nyx shrugged, "No bloody idea then, I'm a soldier, not a damned scholar. That was millennia ago. I know I'm old, but I'm not that fucking old."

Ashunara grinned, "You can be a right grumpy bastard sometimes Nyx."

The Sergeant moved to the doors ahead of her, "Must be the company I keep Captain. You ready?"

"Let's do this."

The veteran drew back a booted foot and slammed it into the door. The engraved wood shattered and flew open. The chamber beyond was illuminated by numerous candelabras and revealed a scene that Ashunara would not easily forget.

A tall human swaddled in a voluminous garment was crouched over the altar table where a diminutive figure lay unmoving. The human was bald, with a hooked nose and a broad mouth that was turned up in a ghoulish smile of greeting. His robe, if such it was, seemed to ooze darkness while his demented grin leeched the very warmth from the air. The creature bore a heavy iron rod in his left hand while his right appeared to be buried in the innards of the poor creature laid out across the altar and Ashunara saw a ghastly wisp-like miasma seemingly being drawn from the laid-out form through the flesh of the man's hand and into his body.

The man's eyes were large and dark, like a pit, but in their depths, they glittered with a malicious hunger and the end of the iron rod he bore began to smoulder and glow.

"Welcome Captain, so good of you to joi..."

Whatever other gibbering the creature was about to spout was lost as Ashunara stepped forward and without the slightest hesitation, she buried her sword hilt-deep into his guts, tearing upward with the razor-edged blade to split him open nigh from crotch to eyebrow.

The creature folded over her blade with a grunt, and loops of shadowy innards splashed out onto the stone floor.

Nyx moved forward, "Who the fuck was that idiot?"

"No idea, but I definitely didn't like the look of hi..."

The man, or creature, jerked upright and backhanded the Captain hard enough to hurl her through the air. She crashed into the wall and spilled to the floor with a clatter, head reeling, blood pouring from her smashed lips and nose, and sword falling from numb fingers.

With a mad cackle of high-pitched laughter, the cowled figure stabbed at Nyx with the glowing end of the iron rod it wielded but the canny soldier dodged nimbly away from the first thrust and batted aside the second with her sword, sliding to the side as she tried to draw the creature away from the fallen Captain.

With a roar, an Orc bellowed a war cry and swung its axe in a vicious horizontal arc, burying the blade under one of the creature's outstretched arms and into its ribs with enough force to rip a great gash in its torso and knock it sideways. The thing just laughed and with an ululating scream stamped its foot on the stone floor. The stone slab broke with a deafening crack and the violent sound echoed about the place. Dark shadows writhed from the walls engulfing the chamber like a cloud of ink and sounds became muted and strangely distant.

Azure heard as the sounds of combat erupted at the far end of the temple but the templon wall hid all save flickering shadows that spoke of violent movement. She looked to Lashelle and the two Orcs with her who stood poised, clutching sword and axe. "What do you think Lash..."

An Orcish warcry echoed about the temple followed by a great cackling scream of rage and a crack like thunder so loud that the building shook and dust fell from the overhead beams.

Lashelle looked on in stunned amazement as a great crack split the stone floor, "What the fuc..."

Her look of amazement turned to one of utter horror as the bodies scattered about the pews suddenly began to jerk and twitch. As the Dark-Elf watched, the corpses pulled themselves to their feet and looked about, those nearest the sounds of combat began to shamble towards the noise, but the others turned to stare at Lashelle, and her companions, their yellow eyes glowing with hunger and malice. Drool spilled from their mouths as they hissed and growled, cackling, mewing and gibbering like demented as they pushed aside the wooden pews and reaching out with clawed hands as they moved to reach her.