The dusk had only just given way to full night when the Dawn Rider and her motley band of warriors reached the passage they had cleared the night before. They were an interesting group to travel with - Katla, easily the smallest and yet the best armed; Bjarth, a bear of a man who wore little armor and carried a massive double-headed axe; Sven, tall but slight, armed with a brace of daggers about his waist; and the last addition to their company, Annar, a hooded, masked youth who bore with him only a staff. Together, they crouched in the dark forest, each alert for any sign of the dead, as Katla and Aiden crawled forward to be sure there was no revenant waiting for them.
And then there was Aiden, armed only with the sword, his bow and arrows left back at the settlement, as it was unlikely they'd be needed - but what a sword it was. Unlike anything the tribe had ever seen before, finely crafted with mysterious sigils engraved on the blade - made with a special purpose in mind and that purpose was defeating evil. He wore no special armor but his ragged coat, except for the bracers Sigrun had given him, still fastened to each arm, marking him as Katla's claim.
Keeping still in the deep shadow of the trees, Katla studied the dark passage into the mountain. Away from the Mountain-Hawk Hold, she was a little more open, but somehow even more fierce; the undisputed leader of her hunting party, despite being the only woman. Aiden had seen all three sides of her personality now, but this was the part of her that had earned her legend-mark. This was the Dawn Rider. "If that revenant lived, this place would be crawling with dead," she murmured, her voice almost lost in the sigh of the trees. "That blade of yours is a legend-sword."
Aiden had turned even more quiet and focused since leaving the mountain-hold. He knew it was up to him to kill the demon, and hence, free his sister, but he had no way of knowing how many dead they'd have to go through before they reached their goal and he didn't want to have the blood of Katla's people on his hands. Still, somehow he knew the Goddess had led him to them or vice versa. He would never have been able to defeat all the dead on his own. "We don't know what?s inside yet," he whispered back.
"Corpses and ghouls, mostly," she told him, tilting her head back to let out a low, haunting whistle that did not seem out of place in the dark landscape around them. "Revenants further in. They'll be trying to corrupt your sister into an abomination - we'll have to retrieve her first. Annar can reverse the corruption so long as her heart is still beating."
"We need to focus on the revenants. Once we get rid of them, the rest of the dead will disperse," he reasoned. Though his main goal was to rescue his sister, it was his sworn duty to defeat the demon that had claimed the Heart of the mountain for its own. If he succeeded in defeating it, then the tribe and the lowlanders would be freed of its reign and be able to once again live in peace, even if it cost him his life.
"Once you get rid of them," she pointed out archly. "Only you can kill them. We can take care of the ghouls and corpses, but all we can do to a revenant is destroy the body it inhabits. With luck, there won't be more than two that we have to get past." She glanced up as the rest of their party joined them, moving quietly through the trees.
"Bloody hell," Bjarth murmured in awe. "It's really dead."
That was what Aiden was looking for, but these weren't his people and it wasn't up to him to give the orders. He needed to hear her say it, before he could tell the others what to do. "Don't let the quiet fool you," he murmured back, moving to take the lead. "Stay close and don't make a sound. Once they know we're here, they'll stop at nothing to defeat us." He slowly drew the blade from his back before moving quietly forward, not making a sound.
Katla nodded, pausing just long enough to tell her men what she expected them to do. They had to keep Aiden alive - nothing else mattered. The words "Shadow-Walker" brought a low curse from Sven, but nothing more was said. If nothing else, they trusted the Dawn Rider, and if she said Aiden was not a danger to them, then he was not a danger. Weapons were loosened from their sheaths and belts as they crept forward at Aiden's back. None of them were expecting to live through the night, but they were determined to take the dead with them when they went.
It wasn't so much Aiden who was leading the way as it was the sword - or more accurately, Aiden was being led by the sword, feeling his way through the tunnels and passages, almost as though he and the sword were connected in some way. He could feel his sister's presence somewhere inside and knew she still lived, and though dimmed, it was toward the light of her spirit the sword led.
Their trek was tense and almost painful in places for the band at his back. This place had once been the jewel of their people, but it had been the first to fall to the demons who ruled over the dead. They passed dark doorways from which came the groans of the dead, the sickening shuffle of rotting limbs that thankfully did not come any closer. Yet as they approached the deeper hallways, Katla laid a hand against Aiden's back, pulling him to a stop.
"This is where we take point," she murmured to him. "There's no way to avoid them from here on in. Bjarth will guard your back."
Aiden came to a halt, nodding his understanding. He would have gladly led the way into battle, but he needed to stand by and let them clear the way so that he could engage both revenant and demon. "Fight well and may the Lady be with you," he told the others in his party, knowing he could very well have brought them to their deaths.
"Father brace your sword arm, lowlander," Sven answered him, slipping ahead to lead the way. As the only rogue of their number, he was better able to scout ahead as Katla followed, Annar at her back. Bjarth nodded to Aiden, hefting his big axe.
"If this is my time, let me go," the big man murmured as they followed. "Let the Lady bear my soul to the Mother; let the Father welcome me to his embrace."
Aiden wasn't sure if the big man was warning him not to try to be a hero and save them all or if he was simply murmuring a prayer to his gods, but either way, Aiden knew they were all going to be tested this night and each would do well to prayer their gods were with them. Aiden knew there was much more at stake here than his sister's life; it was up to them to cleanse the mountain and free it from the darkness that had held it in its grasp for far too long. Falling into step behind Katla, he tightened his grip on the sword, which was glowing with a silvery light, like moonlight on a cloudless night.
Sven melted into the darkness ahead of them, moving on silent feet amid the debris of generations of misuse and neglect. In front of Aiden, Katla squared her shoulders, her fingers rippling on the haft of her axe, bracing her round shield as she went. This was it. A moment later, a soft hoot echoed through the darkness from ahead, and she grinned a wild grin. Letting out a grim howl, she and Annar plunged into that darkness, and abruptly it was illuminated with sparks as the hooded boy erupted with magic. So that was why she had insisted on bringing him along. The boy was an augur in training; if nothing else, his spells would illuminate the enemy they were fighting.
And then there was Aiden, armed only with the sword, his bow and arrows left back at the settlement, as it was unlikely they'd be needed - but what a sword it was. Unlike anything the tribe had ever seen before, finely crafted with mysterious sigils engraved on the blade - made with a special purpose in mind and that purpose was defeating evil. He wore no special armor but his ragged coat, except for the bracers Sigrun had given him, still fastened to each arm, marking him as Katla's claim.
Keeping still in the deep shadow of the trees, Katla studied the dark passage into the mountain. Away from the Mountain-Hawk Hold, she was a little more open, but somehow even more fierce; the undisputed leader of her hunting party, despite being the only woman. Aiden had seen all three sides of her personality now, but this was the part of her that had earned her legend-mark. This was the Dawn Rider. "If that revenant lived, this place would be crawling with dead," she murmured, her voice almost lost in the sigh of the trees. "That blade of yours is a legend-sword."
Aiden had turned even more quiet and focused since leaving the mountain-hold. He knew it was up to him to kill the demon, and hence, free his sister, but he had no way of knowing how many dead they'd have to go through before they reached their goal and he didn't want to have the blood of Katla's people on his hands. Still, somehow he knew the Goddess had led him to them or vice versa. He would never have been able to defeat all the dead on his own. "We don't know what?s inside yet," he whispered back.
"Corpses and ghouls, mostly," she told him, tilting her head back to let out a low, haunting whistle that did not seem out of place in the dark landscape around them. "Revenants further in. They'll be trying to corrupt your sister into an abomination - we'll have to retrieve her first. Annar can reverse the corruption so long as her heart is still beating."
"We need to focus on the revenants. Once we get rid of them, the rest of the dead will disperse," he reasoned. Though his main goal was to rescue his sister, it was his sworn duty to defeat the demon that had claimed the Heart of the mountain for its own. If he succeeded in defeating it, then the tribe and the lowlanders would be freed of its reign and be able to once again live in peace, even if it cost him his life.
"Once you get rid of them," she pointed out archly. "Only you can kill them. We can take care of the ghouls and corpses, but all we can do to a revenant is destroy the body it inhabits. With luck, there won't be more than two that we have to get past." She glanced up as the rest of their party joined them, moving quietly through the trees.
"Bloody hell," Bjarth murmured in awe. "It's really dead."
That was what Aiden was looking for, but these weren't his people and it wasn't up to him to give the orders. He needed to hear her say it, before he could tell the others what to do. "Don't let the quiet fool you," he murmured back, moving to take the lead. "Stay close and don't make a sound. Once they know we're here, they'll stop at nothing to defeat us." He slowly drew the blade from his back before moving quietly forward, not making a sound.
Katla nodded, pausing just long enough to tell her men what she expected them to do. They had to keep Aiden alive - nothing else mattered. The words "Shadow-Walker" brought a low curse from Sven, but nothing more was said. If nothing else, they trusted the Dawn Rider, and if she said Aiden was not a danger to them, then he was not a danger. Weapons were loosened from their sheaths and belts as they crept forward at Aiden's back. None of them were expecting to live through the night, but they were determined to take the dead with them when they went.
It wasn't so much Aiden who was leading the way as it was the sword - or more accurately, Aiden was being led by the sword, feeling his way through the tunnels and passages, almost as though he and the sword were connected in some way. He could feel his sister's presence somewhere inside and knew she still lived, and though dimmed, it was toward the light of her spirit the sword led.
Their trek was tense and almost painful in places for the band at his back. This place had once been the jewel of their people, but it had been the first to fall to the demons who ruled over the dead. They passed dark doorways from which came the groans of the dead, the sickening shuffle of rotting limbs that thankfully did not come any closer. Yet as they approached the deeper hallways, Katla laid a hand against Aiden's back, pulling him to a stop.
"This is where we take point," she murmured to him. "There's no way to avoid them from here on in. Bjarth will guard your back."
Aiden came to a halt, nodding his understanding. He would have gladly led the way into battle, but he needed to stand by and let them clear the way so that he could engage both revenant and demon. "Fight well and may the Lady be with you," he told the others in his party, knowing he could very well have brought them to their deaths.
"Father brace your sword arm, lowlander," Sven answered him, slipping ahead to lead the way. As the only rogue of their number, he was better able to scout ahead as Katla followed, Annar at her back. Bjarth nodded to Aiden, hefting his big axe.
"If this is my time, let me go," the big man murmured as they followed. "Let the Lady bear my soul to the Mother; let the Father welcome me to his embrace."
Aiden wasn't sure if the big man was warning him not to try to be a hero and save them all or if he was simply murmuring a prayer to his gods, but either way, Aiden knew they were all going to be tested this night and each would do well to prayer their gods were with them. Aiden knew there was much more at stake here than his sister's life; it was up to them to cleanse the mountain and free it from the darkness that had held it in its grasp for far too long. Falling into step behind Katla, he tightened his grip on the sword, which was glowing with a silvery light, like moonlight on a cloudless night.
Sven melted into the darkness ahead of them, moving on silent feet amid the debris of generations of misuse and neglect. In front of Aiden, Katla squared her shoulders, her fingers rippling on the haft of her axe, bracing her round shield as she went. This was it. A moment later, a soft hoot echoed through the darkness from ahead, and she grinned a wild grin. Letting out a grim howl, she and Annar plunged into that darkness, and abruptly it was illuminated with sparks as the hooded boy erupted with magic. So that was why she had insisted on bringing him along. The boy was an augur in training; if nothing else, his spells would illuminate the enemy they were fighting.