Vuroth's Tear: Even the Gods Cry

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Helto was a small city directly west of Travidon. An entirely self sufficient home to no more than a few thousand people. Most were farmers, butchers and craftsmen with a few people who volunteered in their spare time as soldiers to keep the streets safe and as crime free as possible. Helto was relatively poor but the people were happy.

The warning bell rang, danger was on its way. The men of the city readied themselves but they weren't fast enough. The undead swarmed through the streets, killing everyone in their paths. Archers shot arrows from afar but their efforts were in vain, it didn't even phase the creatures.

A group of men rushed forward with swords drawn, slashing and hacking at the husks before being overpowered by the unstoppable force of the swarm. The injured and dead husks bled their smoke blood, filling the air with a blinding darkness, making it nearly impossible for the people to fight or run.

The smoke had a life to it, infecting the dead men that littered the ground and jolting them back to life as husks, adding to the plague of evil that terrorized Helto. Those who still lived weren't safe from the cursed smoke, it forced its way down the throats of all who tried to run or hide. It was indiscriminate, women and children too were writhing on the ground as they were infected with Tola's magic, their eyes filled with blackness as they convulsed on the ground.

Helto fell silent. The city had fallen and become void of life in less than an hour. Corpses sprang to their feet along with men, women and children with solid black eyes. The entire population of the city cleared out and left to spread Tola's curse across the kingdom.

Kass stood leaning over the side of the ship, getting sick while the lounging crew made their comments and jokes about the savage looking woodsman, that he had no place being on a boat. Velana came up the stairs and heard them joking, She grabbed the closest one and pinned him to the weathered wood of the deck. A growl escaped her throat and the man started to scream when he saw the shimmer in her eyes.

"Velana!" Aven grabbed her shoulders and struggled against her rage and strength to pull her away. He saw her claws had grown out and dug unto the flesh of the man's neck, "Vel, enough!"

Her grip loosened and Aven pulled her away. The crew pulled the man to his feet and they all hurried below deck.

"What the hell was that all about?" He asked her while she suppressed her anger.

She looked at Kass, watching her over his shoulder between dry heaves, "I came up on deck and was hit by a wave of his emotions. He is miserable from the sea sickness and you may not be able to understand but I felt his fear. He is scared, Aven, he has never been on a boat and those men were making jokes about kicking him overboard while he was sick," She stood and looked at Kass, "I know he seems strong and physically, he is, but emotionally... people scare him."

Aven looked at Kass and couldn't believe he didn't realize it sooner. He could see the panic in the mutes eyes when he stared back at them. Aven told Velana to sit for a minute and then went over to stand with Kass.

"Sea sickness is rough," He spoke casually as he looked out to sea, "lots of people have a remedy that they swear by but everyone is different," He looked at Kass and grinned while he rifled through his pockets until he pulled out a rolled leaf, "Donovan gave me this, chew on it and it should help. I've got some things to take care of but I'll tell Vel to keep you company" He patted Kass on the back when he left.

Aven went to Cap's quarters and slammed the door open. The old man sat at his desk, drinking from a bottle. He looked at Aven with a frown, "Don't you know how to knock?"

Aven closed the space and slammed his hand down on the desk, "The next time your crew harasses my friend, I will toss them into the water, piece by piece."

Cap was intimidated by Aven and sat there with drunken fear on his face, "I'm sorry, they get fidgety at sea. They are just hazing the new members, it's like a right of passage, that is all"

"I don't care, my men aren't your crew nor do we wish to make friends with your men. If one of them causes another problem for any of my people, he can swim to shore," Without offering a moment for Cap to respond, Aven turned and stormed out the door.

Cap stared at the open door and put the bottle to his lips. He took a long drink and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Dravis stood outside the walls of Syrdania, grinning at the men in armor that stood in formation in front of him. Word had spread through the city and surrounding towns and villages. Every able bodied man came to join his cause, to fight the evil that overtook Travidon.

Every day they trained, those who were masters with a sword taught others who weren't. Dravis taught them how to kill the husks, that severing their head or burning them was the only way to slay the creatures.

Now Dravis stood in front of them with a sense of pride, already his army was large enough that they had to set up tents outside the city. Every day more men showed up for the cause. He needed more men, but soon he and his thousands of men would be on their way to the capital to take it back, and to kill Tola.

A man approached him, "Sir, a messenger rode in with news." He handed Dravis a sealed letter.

Dravis cracked the wax seal and opened the letter. As he read, his eyes grew wider and when he was done, he crumpled the letter on his fist, "Dammit!" He recomposed himself when he realized some of the men heard him shout and stared at him. He didn't want the men to worry, he calmly turned to his messenger, "Where is the man who brought this?"

"I figured you may want to talk to him so I sent him to your quarters, sir," The man said with a slight bow.

Dravis looked again at his army before heading to the tent that he used as his private quarters. He stepped inside and saw a dirty man staring back at him, "Would you like to explain this?" Dravis threw the crumpled letter at the man.

"I'm sorry sir, I am just the messenger," He responded with a scowl.

Dravis rubbed his temples with his fingers, "Have you seen all the men we have outside? We need those supplies," he slammed his fists on the table in front of him, "these men are fighting to save this kingdom, they cannot do that on an empty stomach, we can't fight without weapons!"

"Sir, I agree with you, I told Lord Haverton how I feel about his choice, he told me to tell you to look somewhere else," The messenger looked at the ground.

"There is nowhere else, I can't look to the north, it's too risky to depend on supplies from cities that can at any moment, be attacked. South, there is Ravdian, which doesn't have enough food to feed its people let alone an army of half this size. Silera is the only option and you are telling me that they won't help," Dravis sat in the poorly constructed chair at his table.

"Sir, Lord Haverton wasn't happy with my expression of my opinion. He told me not to return," He straightened and looked directly at Dravis, " I would like to offer you my services. I may not be a fighter but my skill as a messenger could be of use to you and my horse is one of the fastest in the kingdom."

Dravis scratched at the growing beard on his chin, "What's your name?"

"Andrew, sir, Andrew Carson," He said with pride.

Donovan stood and slowly walked around the messenger, "Well, Andrew, if you are going to be my messenger, you need to instil confidence. Talk to the guard outside and tell him I said to get you cleaned up and a clean change of clothes. When you are done, return to me."

"Yes, sir, thank you," He smiled and started for the door, "where will I be heading?"

"Oh, you're going back to Silera," Dravis smiled, "and I'm coming with you."