Chapter 9: Illumination

Finaly...we entered the part of the forest and a bit of marshland where the source of the dark magic resided...How did I know this?
Apart from the thick mist hanging low and the dead trees that seemed to be looking down on us with an eerie glare, I felt a dark power throbbing before me. I was heavily drawn towards it.
I finaly understood what the Ogres meant what they were saying with 'dead meat'. The dark negative aura, dead trees and the last clue: dead meat. "Steel yourselves, brethren! There be undead lurking around!"
Inmediately I saw my fellow Elves readying themselves, focusing on what could jump out of the mist any moment.

And then we heared it...a soft heavy breathing coming from our two o'clock and the rattling of armour on our ten. Quickly I ordered the Ellyrian Reavers to cover the right flank with the Shadow Warriors and thin out the expected skeletons. I kept Sealandir close to counter attack an expected ambush. Then we saw them creeping close on our left flank: ghouls. We fired a salvo of arrows but they didn't buckle, they were undead and knew no fear.
The skeletons came into our sight and I began casting a Burning Gaze in an attempt to thin them out. it proved to be succesfull. Mist dispersed infront of us for a bit and we heard a cackle of a maniac on top of somekind of an old ruined building. "HA HA HAHAHA hee hee! Look at what seemed to be!" a Necromancer, and powerfull one at that. He flicked his hands and we heard some gutteral speach coming from him. It formed a sickening green wind that blew towards the remaining skeletons and out of a sudden more skeletons apeared from whirling bones connecting eachother. "Hehehe ho ho! Onwards my skeletons still go!" Damn it...that Necromancer hardly broke a sweat. I have to take him out.

"Keep firing, my brethren! I will take care of this evil..." A plan began to farm in my head, I smiled and prayed "I hope my magic won't fail me now" then I began chanting the sacred words and it worked.
A magical net of light formed above the skeletons and droped down on them, rooting them in place. The Net of Amyntok always was effective againts the sluggish troops of undead. Then I began chanting the next spell with a threatening stare at the Necromancer, who seemed to be having a disturbing look on his face.
"No no no! I will not let this mansion go!" I gave in to his humorous rhyming way of talking "Yes yes yes. Whatever you want, I couldn't care less!" and with the last words spoken I gazed at him and shot a burning light from out of my eyes and vanquished the Necromancer.

When he died, the undead army began to crumble. "Let us enter that ruined building" I said.
"But General, the ghouls and skeletons are still out there? It's not safe yet!" the new Lothern Champion replied. "Then might I suggest you take care of them while I investigate this power that I am drawn too"
I ran out of the Lothern Sea Guard unit and entered the so called mansion while the Champion yelled after me.
The next few moments were a bit of a haze. I entered the building and it felt...familiar somehow. I saw a working table with some magic scrolls, I picked a few up and tried to identify them but was distracted by a faint blue glowing light shining in the corner of my eye. I turned to look and saw it quickly disapear up the stairs. I heard the firing of arrows stopped and the marching orders of my troops to station outside the building "A new but smart champion" I smiled and ran up the stairs. On top of the stairs I saw a single door, warded with death magic but luckily I am a mage of Vaul, there is no magic that can not be broken.
I cast a minor Vaul's Unmaking spell and the runes disappeared. Through the door I entered a seemingly common room but a lingering warpstone magic, worse than I have seen outside, it looked like something was keeping the magic inside the room and harnessed it in keeping something else inside and then I saw it...
A cage shining with warpstone green metal bars keeping a large bright blue essence from breaking out. The essence felt...friendly. I saw a small flickering blue essence that already got my eye, circling around the cage as if waiting for me to set it free and I did. Again the words of Vaul were spoken but the bars didn't buckle so I focused more on the magic until the bars finaly shattered and freed the blue essence. Quickly it flew thrrough a second door, slightly disapointed of the mystery it left behind I heard the unholy shriek of a woman outside.



"You dispicable Elves! You ruined everything! Our base, our research everything! I will enjoy draining every ounch of your blood...oh yes, I will..." I entered the plateau where a large blood stain from the necromancer was on the floor and looked over to witness another army of ghouls and skeletons were aproaching the building from the sides. It's leader was...a she-vampire, looking dangerous as seductress from what I have read in journals. "Don't let them get the building!" I shouted at the Champion "But sir, why can't you take everything of use and leave through weak ghoul flank?" he replied. "I wasn't asking you, brother, I was ordering you, Champion! No foul unholy monster will desecrate this site and threaten our operations again! This place is the whole reason we came to this island, this place is part of our objective! Keep firing and outmanouver them, I will stall them as long as I can!"
The Champion nodded in response, looked at the Warriors and Reavers and they took off to circle around the Skeletons. He then turned his unit to fire at the ghouls while I was preparing trap for the Vampiress, another Net of Amyntok.
The ghouls were destroyed quickly by the hail of arrows from the Lothern Sea Guard and the Net was succesfully cast and was holding the Skeletons with the Vampiress in place while the Reavers and Warriors were shooting arrows into them. A couple of skeletons fell but she returned them back to their unlife state and seemed to be cursing at the golden Net.
"We all have to charge at the same time and deal with this unit! She summons more undead than we can shoot down!" the Champion ordered the troops and they followed. From the front the skeletons were charged by the Lothern Sea Guard of the Dragon's Scales. From the back they were charged by the Ellyrian Reavers of the Dragon's Swiftness, Shadow Warriors of the Dragon's Eyes and Sealandir the wyrmling dragon herself. Together they destroyed the skeletons, bit by bit. More were summoned by the vampiress and was becoming a danger in clawing her way through the entire Guard unit so the Champion sighed, looked at her and yelled "Come at me, vampire bitch! You will taste my blade first before you could ever taste my blood!" an idle challenge he thought, thinking she'd better take out the entire unit than a single guard captain. "So, you want to test your blade against me, Elf, than the stories must be true that your people will fall to pride sooner than Deamons! I will relish in your blood!"
They raced towards eachother while all the Elves including Sealandir knew exactly what the Champion was doing: sacrificing himself into buying them time to dispose of the skeletons. They stabbed, slashed and clawed through the skeletons as quickly as they could. Some with tears in their eyes, they all saw their Champion quickly perished by the terrible onslaught of the vampiress.
Then she abruptly stood up and turned around seeing the destruction of her unit, her shared lifeforce was ripped from her and they all turned to dust.

It grew silent over the woods, the fog faded away and Mimas noticed the dark throbbing power from inside the building disappearing. They buried there comrades and said their last regards, in particular the Champion.
When they were done, the marshland around them seemed to be have dried and the singing of birds could be heard again. They made a camp outside the ruined building while Mimas was inside investigating.
The building felt so familiar yet alien. He couldn't figure out what it was until he shoved a wall curtain to the side and saw a very old Elven rune carved in the stone. "By Asuryan, this rune predates the first Elven Phoenix King! Is the island that old? What has happened to the island that it disappeared for so long?" with the finding of the rune, putting a history date of before the island sank, more questions were raised then answered. Not that Mimas minded it, he grew more enthousiastic. This place was the whole reason of his expedition but he couldn't believe how important the mission was untill now! Then there was a familiar blue glow shining behind him. Mimas smiled and turned around. He was supriced at what he saw.





A blue glowing ghost of an old Elf, bearing the mark of a mighty warrior from times gone by, possibly a general.
"Thank you, brother, for finaly freeing me from the nightmare the Necromancer put me through. I don't know what happened but I will teach you what I know" he pointed at the scrolls and books "Let us start with those"







Sixth battle of the Fantasy Campaign with 500 pts High Elves vs. Kevin Perperkamp 2x 500 pts Vampire Counts: Random event.
Result: Win, Lothern Sea Guard regiment of Renown gained +1 xp and has a total of 3 xp.
Lvl 1 General: Survived, gained +2 xp with a total of 10 xp. Gained the 'Archmage' upgrade, exhanged the +1 leadership for +1 weapon skill.