Lucan dropped into the dark and smelly tunnel. He thought he would never need to smell rotten flesh again, but he had to find Nikka.
Pulling down his mask, he felt grateful that he never washed it. The familiar smell of his own mouth was somewhat better than the foul stench. He made his way towards the new base under Riverstead.
Soon, he came to a gateway. The zombies, clad with armor and spear in hand, came closer. More closed in from the sides and surrounded Lucan. He fluently drew a circle on the ground with his sword and held up his wither skeleton. The eyes of the zombies glowed white and they backed off. Lucan passed through.
Inside, he found very much the same scene as Mount Tempus. Pits of skeletons, spiders, creepers, and most numerous of all, zombies, are everywhere in a large cavern. It seems that the Necromancers aren't short of labor. Lucan put away his sword and approached the center altar, where he blended in with the rest of the underlings.
"How's your shift last night?" He overheard one say. Lucan slowed his pace to listen.
"Eh, pretty boring if you ask me." Answered his companion. "I don't know how long it'il be 'fore I get to see the sunlight again. I'm sick of zombies. I'm telling ya, if our Lord didn't promise us riches at the end of our endeavors, I wouldn't bother with all this spider crap."
"Oh, I think I know how we can have some fun." Said the first. He took out a pair of flint and steel. "Shall we go ka-booming? Might as well speed up the Capital tunnel."
"Great idea! Been wanting to blow up some of those. You sure we won't get in trouble though?"
"Nah, His Lordship must have bigger things to worry about. Le's go." The two ran off to the creeper crater.
Capital tunnel? Lucan pondered the possibility of it meaning Felora. He decided to find out for sure. Feeling the walls, he sneaked up the stairs in a tower to the highest floor. Halfway, Lucan heard voices approaching, and ducked into a closet.
"We should be able to march straight to Felora in about two weeks, my lord." Came someone's voice. Lucan had heard him before, but he couldn't put a name on it. Then, he remembered the only Necromancer that had spoken to him, Xaria he was called. Lucan found a small hole in the door and peeked out. Two men were approaching down the corridor. Both wore robes and masks. One had a black robe with a red skeleton. The other, a purple robe with a white skeleton. In addition to the attire, he carried a staff in his hand, the same rib-and-skull staff Lucan had seen held by the Necrolord. So, Xaria got promoted. Last time Lucan saw him, his skeleton was white like his.
"Good, good." Rasped the one in purple, evidently the Necrolord. "Ready our…children and move out ass…sssoon ass… we can."
"Yes, my lord. Should we use the creepers to speed up…" They turned a corner and disappeared out of sight.
In the closet, Lucan was thinking fast. If he could somehow sneak into that tunnel and cause a little cave-in, that would be great. But on the other hand, he might not survive. He must get back to Fort Zuka and tell that big dunderhead.
"So how'd you become a Chronicler anyway?" Alec asked over the dinner table. The food was flavorless as usual, and his taste buds were so numbed by now that he wouldn't tell the difference if he ate the sweetest cake in the world.
"Hm?" Nitsuke looked up from her book as well as her bowl of the equally tasteless porridge across from him. She preferred the end of the long bench, so Alec always sat with her. In case of, well, a sudden Necromancer attack. With Lucan nowhere to be found, Kiyoshi temporarily charged him with keeping the Chronicler safe. "Oh. I uh- well I guess I used to read a lot growing up," she chuckled, "Still do." She held up her book which she was reading with one hand. The pages seemed to infuse her with the power that Alec could not fathom, empowering her to gulp down the goo like a hungry cat.
Nitsuke swallowed. "I parteecularly adored the ones where the protagonist, zat's the main character," she explained at Alec's puzzled expression, "go on such amazing adventeurs. Then as I grew up, I began to realize I could be the one writing zese books, documenting my own adventures. But my family wanted otherwise." Her ears' tips fell. "They wanted me to go to university, get a desk job as an editor or somesing, and get mawwied." She steadied herself. "Ze only way I could please my family and still go on adventures was to become a Chronicler."
Alec hadn't considered at all what his family wanted him to do. His father was a corporal and his mother a nurse. It seemed so straightforward that he should join the army as well. And with him becoming Kiyoshi's second in command as a lieutenant, he had more than surpassed his family's expectations. But perhaps not for Nitsuke.
"Becoming a Chronicler is a big commitment, I imagine." He remarked as he stuffed a spoonful of food into his mouth.
"Certainly, but it's not zat impactful. I've grown used to it." Nitsuke replied cheerily. "In order to record history wis minimal bias we have to make a few sacrifices: a family, most hobbies, a normal life."
A normal life? Sometimes Alec wondered how he would look like if he had a family of his own, but the duties in the barracks gave little time to think of much else, even without the looming war.
"And you were fine with that?" He asked.
"I've always been a bit… entroverted anyway." Nitsuke finished her meal and set the bowl and spoon down beside her. "Besides, living solo has, well, its perks." She winked. "And the work I'm doing may live foreveur. Did they make the Captain of the Guard give up a normal life as well?"
"No, Captain Kiyoshi made his choice to live without family." Alec seemed to recall that Kiyoshi had some warm feelings for the Captain of Hydraphel on that prolonged mission a few years back. What was her name? "Although, he wouldn't be here at all if his grandfather did the same."
"What do you mean?" Nitsuke had taken out her notebook and pen. Is she even on the job at this hour?
"Well, from what the Captain told me," Alec began, "His grandfather was the Captain of the Guard before him, and if his father had not died during a battle, he would have been too. Obviously they expected Kiyoshi to become the next and be married with someone of equal wealth and power. But being the Captain is challenging work, and with the increasing attacks from the Undead and now the Necromancer war, he felt that he just couldn't keep up with everything." He paused. "I don't think that involves his family much, more like military duties. He gave up a normal life so he could focus on one thing: protecting Felden." He waited till Nitsuke finished her scribbling. "If the Necromancers beat us here at Ferndale and make it to Felora, He'll be the first Captain who allowed our capital city to fall under siege. He, we, cannot and will not let that happen." With that, he pushed his bowl away.
"Well, I'll escort you back to your quarters, then I guess I'll see you around. I have guard duty tonight." He took their bowls and headed to the collection.
"Okay, but please tell me," Nitsuke caught up, notebook still in hand, "Do you have a special little lady in mind? Surely you didn't give up a personal life as well?"
The evening was breezy and light. Alec brushed off a leaf off his head. It was his shift at the gates and he was glad he could get away from that Chronicler for a while. Besides questions about the Captain, the barracks, the battles, Nitsuke was constantly nagging him and sometimes her questions were too…personal. "How did you feel when you attacked Mount Tempus?" "What was your childhood like?" "What is it like serving under Captain Kiyoshi?" And the fact that he just told her a whole bunch of things during dinner didn't make him feel better. To be honest, he's just tired of standing guard for that Chronicler. When Lucan gets back from wherever he went, he's gonna…
Something rustled up ahead. Alec instantly snapped to attention. "Who goes there?" He shouted. The thing got closer and closer, heading right towards the gate. A Necromancer jumped out, and Alec braced for a hoard of Undead, But instead, the Necromancer made straight for the soldier, who held his ground.
"Alec, it's me!" Lucan yelled, pulling off his mask.
"Lucan! Where've you been? Kiyoshi's going to kill you! I'm" He pointed to himself, "gonna kil…"
"Listen! I don't have time to argue about what rules I've broken or what sort of trouble I'm in." Lucan panted. "The Necromancers aren't attacking Ferndale! They're heading straight to the capital, and they're almost there."
Alec put down his spear. "How do you even know this? Lucan, I have to take you in! Kiyoshi needs to hear this from you." He grabbed Lucan by the arm.
"I can't," Lucan shook him off. "Not until I get Nikka back. If you want to stop me, you're going to have to kill me. Which I'd prefer if you didn't." Lucan pulled away.
"I see. So you are into Felinas." Alec teased. "Alright, go chase tails in those tunnels. I'll report." He winked.
"Thanks. I'll get back as soon as I'm able. Good luck with your Chronicler!" Lucan pulled down his mask and dived back into the woods.
"Hey! I'm not…" Alec called after him. "Whatever, first things first." He went in and asked another soldier to stand in while he was gone and headed for the war room.
"I don't like this." The other soldiers in the war room looked at each other. They had no idea what their captain meant. Kiyoshi had been making them monitor the surrounding underground, probably looking for Undead. But he's so erratic these days anything could be on his mind.
"The evacuation is complete. We've fortified the perimeter, but the mines have been quiet." Kiyoshi felt his broken ear. Lucan had better not been saving his girlfriend. "Too quiet. They should have attacked by now…"
"Captain! Captain Kiyoshi!" Alec ran in. "Lucan just arrived at camp. He's been undercover with the Necromancers and says they're marching straight to Felora."
"What? Are you sure?" Kiyoshi looked in disbelief at the map. He knew about the base at Riverstead, and a project called the Capital Tunnel, but to march straight to Felora, it would take significant amount of time and resources, even for the Undead who could travel underground. It might even be a distraction the Necromancers planted. Nevertheless, Feldon cannot sustain such an attack straight to the heart.
"Positive, sir." Responded Alec. "He might be a delinquent, but I know he is not the kind of person who would lie. At least, not since he joined us."
"Then pack what you can." Kiyoshi announced to the room, his face cleared of all stormy clouds and filled with determination. "We ride for Felora immediately!"
Alec rushed into Nitsuke's quarters. "Hey, c'est impoli… Oh, Alec, is something wrong?" Nitsuke looked up from her work.
"Get your books together. I'll find you a sack." Alec said. "We're leaving for Felora."
"Ooh, our first battle!" Nitsuke yelped. Her voice was so shrill that Alec winced. "When do we departe? Oops." She had knocked one of her book stacks over.
"Erm… As soon as you are ready, I suppose." Alec headed to the kitchen to look for a used potato bag. "And let's hope it's not our last battle." He mumbled.
Lucan followed the tunnel back to the Necromancers' base. His suit itched all over, but he was used to it by now. Ever since he met Nikka, he had been dressing in these rags more often than he'd like.
On top of a small altar, Xaria led the prisoners to the Necrolord. They were chained, hands tied behind their heads, and trudged along, ready to collapse any second. Nikka stood guard with her Katanas out next to the Necrolord.
"These are the prisoners from Fort Zuka, my Lord." Lucan noticed his former warden, Marcus among the ranks. He looked disheveled and thin, much unlike his former splendid self, munching cakes in his sunny office.
The Necrolord examined the pack. As if a hound sniffing a scent, he perked up and pointed his skull staff at the former sheriff.
"Leave thissss one," he rasped, "and feed the resssst to…our children."
"Yes, my Lord." Xaria nodded. He waved and more Necromancer henchmen came forth and pushed the other prisoners into the pits. Their howls shook the base as zombies, skeletons, and spiders devoured their flesh.
"What…do you want with me?" Marcus demanded over the screams.
"Allow me to exxxxplain." The Necrolord cooed. "Firssstly you are a… sheriff… of these parts and hold valuable knowledge of the ssssurrounding area. Sssecondly, when you're not otherwise occupied… you help around the forge. We could use sssomeone with your… many talents."
Marcus backed towards one of the pits. "That'sss right. I can read your memories." The Necrolord hissed. The other Necromancers grabbed Marcus and forced him on his knees. "I'll never work for you." He writhed in their grasp.
"Oh, huh huh huh" the Necrolord cackled. "I think that you will." He raised his staff. The eyes of the skull glowed a brilliant white. Marcus shook his head, trying to get rid of something invading. Then, when he looked up again, his pupils vanished, and his eyes glowed white just like Nikka's.
Nikka! Lucan noticed her staring up at the staff too. That would explain her attacking him earlier. She must be controlled by that Necrolord. If only he could channel the Felina within her, that might break his grasp. But how? Lucan thought back to the night of the flaming tree fort, that was the most frantic he had ever seen her. An idea popped into his mind, and he smiled inwardly.
"Xaria," the Necrolord ordered, "Prepare the army. It isss time for the next assssault."
"Right away, my Lord." The Necromancer bowed out of the cavern. Lucan likewise slid into the tunnels.