[TLQ-B2] 19. Dread (Patreon)

XIX

Dread

Bridges connected the different outcroppings of land to each other. The journey to the platform closest to the caste was uneventful…yet nerve wracking. More than once, Malakai and the two frostguards paused on the crossing and clung to the ropes when a ‘strong’ wind caused their bridge to tremble.

When they finally arrived, both frostguards collapsed onto their butts.

Malakai, on his knees, looked up. The fort was more domineering up close. It sent a shiver down his spine.

‘How am I going to get up there?’

Better question: How was he going to get in? A foreboding layer of frost entombed the entire fort. Thinking of frost made him think of the Warden. She was a necromancer and a frostmancer, wasn’t she? Her undead were the same.

‘It’s worth a try.’

He fished out Wraith’s shard. The servant snapped into existence.

Drake and Michael jerked at the sudden appearance of the undead, but only that. Both were old hands at experiencing the Warden’s powers.

Malakai tapped Wraith on the shoulder and made the undead picked him up.

“You two wait here for me,” Malakai said.

Michael saluted. “You got it boss.”

“Give us a sign if ya end up dead, will ya?” Drake grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

Malakai chuckled. Then he spurred Wraith into motion.

The undead leapt from their platform, his ever-present cloak billowing in the wind. Halfway through their leap was when Malakai realised he’d never tested what he was about to do.

His gaze whirled towards the glowing lake. ‘It’s just water, right? Nothing will happen if we fall inside—’

Something moved right beneath the surface.

—Malakai banished all thoughts of the water from his mind and placed his palm on Wraith’s back. Instead of verbally transferring his command, he did what he’d done with the rat and thought hard of what he wanted Wraith to do.

Wraith didn’t jerk like the rat had done, but his response was immediate. Power wafted from his physique in waves and buffeted Malakai’s hair. A frozen layer thick as a finger shaped underneath Wraith’s feet. The plate cracked and shattered the instant their combined weight touched the surface. However, that instant was all Wraith needed to launch them higher into the sky.

Malakai sighed. That could’ve been a silly death.

Though Wraith leapt with the force of six grown men, they still needed dozens of jumps to make it to the fort.

‘Head to the top of the wall.’

They landed on the frozen dome a few jumps later. They were suspended over the courtyard.

‘Looks regular.’ He wasn’t sure if he’d expected rows upon rows of skulls and corpses or something else, but the courtyard was empty. Strangely, though, the entrance to the keep was ajar—

His sight flicked to the right…and narrowed. Had that been a moving shadow?

Nothing moved again, though.

Malakai was no fool to think his senses could pick up on everything. He went over the soldiers available to him one more time. Durak and Tina could defend him, while Radi and Wraith made up his offence. Yes. By all measurements, he was prepared for whatever could be hiding in here. Moreover, given the aura of death hanging around this fort, it should belong to the Warden.

Would another undead really hurt him? The chance was low.

Malakai tapped Wraith on the back. ‘Breakthrough.’

Long, thin fingers formed at the end of Wraith’s arm touched the frost.

‘Moment of truth.’ If Wraith couldn’t get through, the only remaining option was Tina. Malakai doubted the mage would be able to open a way if Wraith couldn’t though.

So he watched with abated breath as deceased digits pressed on the frost. Saying the ice melted underneath his touch was too grandiose a description. More accurate, was that it spread and moved out the way. A hole big enough for them to fall through opened. Wraith plunged inside without needing further instruction. The undead shaped a single platform to break their fall, then they were on solid ground again.

Light cascading from above dampened, making Malakai look up. Frost closed around the hole.

‘I hope that opens again when we try to leave.’ Half his mind was set on jumping back up to check, but the other half told him it was a waste of time. He’d find out when trying to leave.

Wraith stopped princess carrying him and put him down. Malakai immediately summoned the full array of his forces. Durak, Tina, Radi, and a few unnamed undead stepped into the world. Standing in the centre of the squadron of dead beings, inside an ancient fort permeated with death, a multitude of doubts and questions raced through Malakai’s mind.

Why had he come here? What was he hoping to find? He should’ve turned back and searched for the Warden instead. Then he would’ve at least been able to figure out why she wasn’t responding.

His breath exited as mist. He allowed the weight of death to settle on his shoulders…then commanded his squad forwards. Plate and leather groaned. The dead stalked forward without a word. This fort was three times the size of Castle Frostmouth. Because of that, the emptiness reverberated through the ears and invaded the skull.

Malakai tightened the formation and followed the pulse in his stomach. He had Radi check the entrance into the keep with one of her ghouls first. The beast slipped inside the gap. Contrary to Malakai’s fear, no magical enchantments activated upon its entry. That didn’t mean the keep was safe. Just that it didn’t respond to the dead. Malakai, however, despite his newfound powers, was no undead.

Durak was the second to go in. Wraith brought up their rear, Tina and Radi stayed in the centre with him. His gloves tightened around the handle of his blade as they broke through the stale air within the keep, which carried the force and cold of a blizzard.

Malakai gawked at the massive hall rising over their heads. It was impossibly big. Bigger than should’ve been capable given the outside structure…when he peered closer, he realised parts of the building had been crafted not from stone but from ice. The refraction was the cause for his impression.

Lower to the ground, a black and blue carpet rolled down the hall. On each side of the entrance stood the statue of a giant wielding a halberd. The weapons of the two statues crossed each other so one had to pass underneath their blades entered.

‘That’s…not pleasant.’ Which he guessed was the point.

No dust kicked up when they continued further inside.

‘Did the ice stop dust from gathering?’ But dust collected even in sealed homes. This wasn’t a product of magic but more like…‘Someone’s been cleaning the place.’

The whisper of a skitter entered his ears at the end of that thought. Malakai jerked to a stop and his gaze roved throughout the hall. Pristine walls looked back at him, showed his reflection with how perfectly they gleamed.

Malakai refocused. The hall itself, though impressive to the eyes, didn’t hold anything of real interest besides a few smaller statues (depicting only faces) of figures Malakai didn’t recognise. Three paths paved away from the centre of the hall in each cardinal direction. The gates standing at their end were tall enough for giants to walk through. Each entrance had a symbol carved onto the front. One showed the image of a dragon’s head, the other something that looked like a ring, the last a staff that had five gems floating over the head.

‘Which one to check first…’ Absentmindedly, he turned to wraith and spoke. “You think the staff entrance will hold weapons?”

The undead didn’t move an inch.

Malakai sighed and headed for the left gate—

“You search…for weapons?”

His sword cleared his scabbard and struck before the voice had finished speaking. There was nothing at the end of his strike.

He blinked. When his vision returned, a spindly, humanoid figure was sitting on tip of his blade. It was what Malakai thought an emaciated, midget goblin would look like. Its eyes were too big for its head, and elf-like ears poked out the side of its skull.

The thing flashed him a smile full sharp teeth.

Malakai swiped his blade again, and the creature jumped off, landing behind one of the statues. Impossibly fast, it skittered up the column and onto its head.

Malakai glanced at his undead. ‘Why aren’t they attacking it?’ Were they not registering it as a threat?

He turned back to the creature. “You…identify yourself.” Was it a servant of the Warden?

“Me…? Me…I’m Dret.” The thing hung off the side of the statue and dangled like a child off a grown up’s back.

The pauses between each word were strange. They were not the result of impaired speech. Neither did it have trouble pronouncing words. However, it was as if it was remembering what to say.

‘That may not be that off.’

How old was this castle? When had someone last visited this place?

“Dret,” Malakai said. “My apologies for attacking you. You startled me.”

Dret grinned. “Don’t mind.” Then it leapt from the statue to the ground. Curving like a snake, it looked back. “You?”

“Malakai Brownhammer, I serve directly under the Frost Warden.”

He kept his senses trained on the mongrel. Should it try anything untoward…

The beast’s grin didn’t vanish. “Frost…Warden?”

“The ruler of the Duchy,” Malakai said. “Though you may better recognise her as a necromancer…a descendant of the Dread Empress.”

Malakai decided to add in that last identification on a whim. The Warden had mentioned the title to him once when they’d traversed the tunnels towards Cebas. He knew it was supposed to be her ancestor but didn’t know how closely related they were.

Would the name hold any weight at all? From the way the creature’s face lit up, it did.

“She’s returned?!” it screeched as it ran up to him.

Malakai placed his sword between them and stopped it short. “Yes. Were you waiting for her?”

Dret jumped. “Waiting? Dret has guarded this castle for centuries! Kept it pristine for the Lady’s return!” He swiped his finger over a statue to show the lack of dust.

“You’re a dutiful servant—”

“And all for what!” Dret kicked the base of the statue, which hurt him more than him it.

He hopped on one foot and fell onto his bum.

Malakai frowned. Yeah, if he’d been locked up in a castle for centuries, waiting for the Warden, he’d be pissed, too. His head swivelled to regard the hall again. “You’ve been here by yourself the entire time?”

“Yes…” Dret whimpered.

Malakai frowned. He wasn’t sure how assigning housekeepers to castles worked, but if someone went through the trouble, the place must be important.

“Dret,” he said. “You’re a servant of the Dread Empress, are you not?”

“Loyal servant,” Dret specified.

“Sorry, loyal servant,” Malakai said. “Then we must prepare for the Empress’s return.”

“Return?” its tiny face scrunched up.

Malakai nodded. “She’s not here yet. That’s why I’m looking for weapons. We need to hold out until she comes back.”

Briefly, he explained the outside situation.

Dret’s humm was too guttural to leave any humane impression. “War. Important war. Need weapons.” He side-eyed Malakai. The sheen in its pupils…was calculating. Weighing scales, like how one would consider the risks and rewards of a big investment.

Malakai kept his gaze from narrowing—

“Follow me,” Dret smiled and crawled down the carpet.

—he didn’t like that look.