This didn't make sense! (Patreon)

Dullahans weren't real; they were just a trick we elves came up with to scare lowfolk! I tried to compose a Gramarye to enable me to see who was behind this illusion, but the dullahan let out a bellowing roar and threw its flaming head at me.

Quick as lightning, Burnside darted in front of me to intercept the head. She swung her large dagger like a post-ball bat and struck the head with the flat of the blade. The head made a hollow, metallic rattling sound as it went flying back at the dullahan. The severed head smacked against the flame billowing out of the ghoulish specter’s neck stump as if the fire was a solid object, then bounced down into the dullahan’s lap as the nightmare creature flinched from the blow.

"Good job, Burnside!" I exclaimed.

"Royal bodyguard gotta guard the royal body," she grunted, still scowling at the dullahan.

The monster quickly regained its bearings and lifted its severed head to scream murderously at us. I scooped up Burnside like a sack of potatoes under my arm and grabbed Rebecca’s hand.

“We gotta run!” I yelled as I beat a hasty retreat away from the dullahan (unfortunately, away from our exit and deeper into the city.) I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but maybe the dullahan gag was based on something real! If this Unseelie monstrosity from the darkest pages of myth and legend was going to manifest itself anywhere, then the plague-haunted ruins of Albric Tor would have to be the most likely place! If my fears proved correct, then this foe was beyond my group’s abilities.

I could hear the dullahan roaring a good way behind us, but it wouldn't take long to catch up once it got moving! Our only chance was to evade! I darted suddenly down a side street with Burnside bouncing under my arm and Rebecca flailing behind me.

The dullahan roared a mad cackling laugh. Obviously it saw me make the turn. I raced pell-mell down the narrow lane, desperately looking for alleys to swerve into, and seeing none. I could hear the creature’s termite mount galloping behind me, belching out sparks and black smoke as it slowly but steadily closed the distance. I panted out a quick spell for more speed but I was only able to keep pace with the nightmare that pursued us.

The chase seemed to go on for ages. As I dashed and wove through the winding city streets hundreds, perhaps thousands, of spirits made themselves known as they materialized from street corners, shattered windows, piles of corpses, alleyways, and any available space, all wailing and screaming in an endless chorus of rage-filled madness and the gnashing of teeth. Fully articulated skeletons swiped at us from doorways as I dashed past, scanning the buildings for a place where my little group could hide. Glinting eyes buried under towering piles of broken, gnawed bones glared at us menacingly, as unseen teeth crunched loudly. I had to jump over a root-like tendril made of rotten flesh covered in screaming faces as I ran past a building bulging at the seams from the pulsating meat filling its every available space. This was insane! I never would have thought so much Netherhellish activity was possible! If all of this was happening, then I supposed the dullahan was real as well! It was like being trapped in a surreal nightmare from which there was no escape. No wonder poor Thomson was driven to madness!

My terror began to give way to despair as my legs burned, my lungs rasped, and fatigue started to set in from the marathon I had been running while carrying both Burnside and Rebecca. Up ahead I noticed a gap in the swarms of ghosts and ghouls, and made a mad dash for it. The three of us dove into an empty building and slammed the door shut.

We quickly ducked out of sight, and a few seconds later I heard the dullahan gallop past, shrieking and cackling.

"Looks like we gave him the slip," Rebecca gasped.

"That there was some mighty good sprintin, boss," Burnside remarked.

I put my head between my knees in an effort to remain conscious as I let out a shuddering sigh of exhaustion and relief. “What in Fuma’s shining land is going on?" I panted. "I expected there to be some restless spirits pitching haunts, but this is a full blown horror show!”

“Yeah, like, you said it, man,” a quavery voice bleated nearby.

"Merthy thaketh, Thlovenly," a weirdly unnatural voice mumbled in agreement.

Slowly I turned my head to look. I was simultaneously shocked and annoyed to see four familiar meddling lowfolk youths and their talking house-ant crouched in the shadows next to us.

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