Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Seven - Ashes to Ashes

The gate to the sixth floor was only half-way opened. It was one of those old-style barriers, with an interwoven mesh of steel bars across it. Huge roots crawled through the lacing, jamming it in place so that to cross, most of us would need to duck.

“Before we move on to the next area,” Momma said. “I think it would be nice to know what to expect, don’t you think?”

Most of us nodded at that, and Carrot raised her hand like an attentive schoolgirl. “I know what’s next!” she cheered.

“Please do tell,” Momma said.

“It’s the... dead lord guy,” Carrot said. “He’s actually pretty tough.”

“The draugr lord,” Peter corrected.

“That’s what I said.”

Peter shook his head. “No. It’s not the same.”

“Isn’t he dead, and a lord?” Carrot asked.

“Technically.”

Carrot’s smugness radiated off her. “Then I was close enough.”

Amaryllis stepped in with a smart question, because that’s what Amaryllis liked doing. “Could you perhaps explain the boss’ mechanisms a little more?”

Carrot nodded, then helped her explanation using big, sweeping gestures. “So, you’ve got this big tomb-thing.”

“A mausoleum,” Peter said.

“And it’s set in the ground a bit. Now, when you go in, there’s this big huge room with a platform on the end and this coffin on it. The dead lord will burst out of that thing.”

“It’s a tomb, and the dead lord is a draugr, a sort of undead,” Peter added.

“Now, when he gets to fighting, these other undead guys will come out of the sides, from all of these tombs leaning against the walls. They’re not nearly as strong though.”

Peter nodded. “More draugr. As noted, they’re not as powerful as the lord himself.”

“And to win?” Amaryllis asked.

“Kill the dead lord,” Carrot said.

“It’s more complicated than that. With every additional undead that dies, he grows a little stronger. There are a finite supply of those, though. He is agile and strong enough that killing him outright is difficult. If you do kill him, then kill the allies he summons, then he just comes back to life.”

“So it’s a battle of attrition,” I said. “You need to keep the boss busy while you get rid of the additional fighters, then you focus everything on him?”

“Yeah,” Carrot said. “He’s strong, but not offensively. He mostly gets harder to hurt over time.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Peter said. “The lord has four guardians. They could be considered side-bosses, if you want. They’re quite fearsome in their own right.”

Momma hummed. “I think a fair solution would be to allow our young friends here to take care of the weaker foes while we get rid of the boss. With all of us here, it shouldn’t be too difficult to clear the boss in a few moments.”

I nodded along. That sounded doable.

When we moved on to the other side, I made sure to stay close to my friends. I didn’t know if walking with our arms linked counted towards improving Hugging’s level, but I was willing to try.

“How are you feeling so far?” I asked Awen.

We ducked under the gate, and found ourselves in a wide open space with a few trees and one large building in the middle. It was a big square place, dug into the side of a hill and entirely made of black stones. The tomb or mausoleum or whatever, wasn’t in the greatest of shapes. Bricks were falling apart on it, and large roots dug into its sides.

“Ah? I’m doing okay,” Awen said. “It’s kind of scary, and it’s hard, but I’m growing very fast. I think this is the kind of adventuring uncle did all the time when he was younger.”

“I don’t know if he’s really an example you’d want to follow,” Amaryllis said.

“Uncle is free, and he’s very strong. Even when he wants to do things that people don’t like, he’s never stopped. And he's well-respected by some very good people,” Awen said. “He might not be perfect, but I like him very much.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I want to be like him too, when I get older.”

“I’ll be sure to keep an eye on any mustache you happen to grow,” Amaryllis said.

I booped her with my hip. “Don’t be silly. But.. if I could grow one, I’d want it to be just like Abraham’s.”

She shook her head. “I never understood the need for facial hair. It’s not something you’ll ever see on a harpy man.”

“Can harpy boys get facial hair?” I asked. “Or like, any hair on their bodies?”

“Men tend to have small feathers on their upper arms and legs,” Amaryllis said. “Otherwise, no. No hair, or facial feathers.”

I hummed and untangled my arm from hers to pat her on the head. It was strange, I’d hugged her plenty, but I never really took any time to poke at her hair...or head-feathers, I suppose. They were surprisingly dry, but the tufts near their base were very soft and fluffy, like down feathers. “Weird,” I said.

“Get your hands off my head, you moron,” she said. “You don’t know the first thing about preening and it shows.”

“Oh! Maybe you should show us? I bet it would be fun to learn. I could teach you how to braid human hair. Mine’s getting long. I keep thinking that I need a haircut, but I forget every time we’re in a city.”

“I could help,” Awen said. “I’m pretty good with styling and that kind of thing. I don’t have a skill for it, but I used to like playing with my maid’s hair.”

I grinned. “That would be great.” My hair was all bundled up in a rough ponytail at the back of my neck, which was fine for keeping it out of the way, but it was getting to be a bit much. Long hair was pretty, but a little annoying.

“I should teach you some bun braids,” Carrot said as she moved over to our side. We were still trekking over to the mausoleum, but we were mostly taking our time. “You need to braid your hair so it doesn’t pull at your ears.”

“Oh, I hadn’t really thought of that,” I said.

“If we’re all quite done talking about our hair,” Peter said. “We should form up before entering.”

“I don’t know,” Carrot said. “I could go on for quite a while. Heck, we should do something about your hair, Peter. The messy look kinda works for you, but I think you would be a lot more handsome if you tried using a comb one of these days.”

“Touch me, and you’ll regret it,” Peter said.

“Children.” Surprisingly, it was Buster who spoke, not Momma. The big one-and-a-half-eared bun pointed to the mausoleum. “Pay attention, please.”

“Buster’s right, let’s form up,” Momma said. “Us elders will take the lead and focus on the boss. Carrot, Peter, that leaves two sub-bosses for each of you, but I don’t think they all show up at the same time. Little ones, spread out, but not too much, and take out the weaker foes before they can become a hindrance, alright?”

I nodded and I saw my friends doing the same. We prepped our gear and got ready to fight. Awen had it hardest of all since she carried two weapons that couldn’t be used at the same time. She hung her crossbow away for this fight though and swung her hammer around to limber up her arm.

Amaryllis twirled her dagger and let loose a few sparks, and Bastion just placed a hand on his hilt while looking cool.

“We’re ready,” I said.

“Wonderful.”

The doors to the mausoleum were large stone things, closed in with a pair of big, wrought-iron handles in the middle. The entire thing was covered in carvings. I could only just make out the words ‘Ashes to Ashes’ engraved into the stone.

Buster pushed them open and we walked into a little antechamber with a big metal bowl in the middle, and two more doors at the end of the room.

“It’s on the other side of those,” Carrot said. She snapped her fingers and flicked some fire into the bowl. It lit up, and from below, a line of fire darted out of the bowl and down a track that led into a hole in the wall opposite. “And now we’ll have light.”

We moved over to the right-most door, and Buster shoved it open.

The room was as big around as a hockey rink, minus any room for seating, with a ceiling reaching way up above and held there by big pillars. The sides had little alcoves, where standing coffins lined the walls.

In the middle was a raised section—a dias—with steps all around it on which sat five coffins. Four stood on big, ornate racks, and the fifth was laying down in pride of place atop a golden platform.

Sconces came whooshing to life as lines of fire burned across the room, each one leading back to a hole in the wall next to the entrance. A line of fuses to turn everything on? Neat.

Banners hung from the ceiling, with images of skulls and what looked like stylized ghosts on them. The words ‘dust to dust’ were woven into the images.

“The boss will pop up as soon as we set foot near that coffin of his,” Carrot said. “We need to grab that to open the next gate.” The bun pointed ahead and to something atop the coffin.

I squinted, and could only just make out a statue in the darkness behind. Around its neck, glinting in the poor light, was a key.

Our footsteps were only little tips and taps, but they still felt loud in the cavernous room as we advanced towards the platform. My friends and I stopped before the steps and fanned out a little bit, all of us eyeing the coffins by the sides while the buns moved on ahead.

The near-silence was broken by a floor-shuddering boom.

I eeped and jumped a little while turning to face the front of the room where the big coffin in the middle was still shuddering from the aftereffects of a huge blow.

Another boom, and the coffin’s cover jumped up a little while a cascade of dust slipped down its sides.

With a grinding squeal of stone rubbing against stone, the lid of the draugr lord’s casket slid to the side and then crashed to the ground with a shudder that I felt in my legs.

Bony, near-skeletal hands, partially covered in rust-covered mail, grabbed at the edge of the box, and with a tug, they hauled the undead lord upright. In the poor lighting, I couldn’t make out every detail, but he was pale-skinned and deathly, with a grin filled with uneven teeth and armour that was part rust, and part beautifully crafted armour.

The draugr lord roared, a blast of sound that shook dust from the ceiling and knocked my ears back.

And then Carrot sped over to his side faster than I could blink and punched him hard in the face.

The casket exploded in a shower of stone and the draugr’s corpse went flying out the back. “Enough with the posturing,” Carrot said. “I’ve got things to do tonight!”

The two tombs next to the draugr lord’s burst open, unveiling two more undead, one in rotting robes, the other in dried leather armour.

All around the room, caskets started to open and the undead began crawling out.

I set my feet and inspected one of the first that caught my eye.

Servant of the Draugr Lord of Newbinning, level 13

A bit higher levelled than I was, but I had a type advantage. And a higher level just meant more experience points for me. “Do your best everyone!” I called out.

“Oh? Thank goodness you said that, I intended to do my worst,” Amaryllis snarked.

I snorted even as she let loose a volley of lightning and the fight began in earnest.

***