The Waking Dead

The Crypts

Chapter 2

As we entered the next room an unmistakable stench struck us and the sight before us chilled us to the core like the depths of the northern seas. By torchlight, we were walking betwixt two rows of seated, ancient, dead bodies. We all knew that this wasn't proper burial procedure.

All the bodies were either ocean blue as Morgan was, red as blood, or pale as death. All of them were different: some had armor, tunics, and even ancient arms and weapons. The one thing that was similar about them all was the fact that they were ancient. 'Old and smelly, just like the kinsman back home,' I thought wistfully. But all of them seemed to fit the description of a creature that we have heard about in the tales of the Old Gods.

All our lands –Eriuland, Sweoland, and Danmark– performed various procedures to bury the dead. Pins were put into the toes, the bodies were carried different directions, and sometimes the bodies were put into a sealed wall. This was so that-

"Olflek?" Thorwalda whispered, "Did you happen to see any bright green lights in your vision?"

"Thorwalda," my Irish friend whispered, "if there was the foxfire that shows a breach of the portal between the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead we would have seek it like a burning keg of Grecian fire being launched from a trebuchet."

"Ack," Thorwalda said, "dead end."

"We," I reluctantly thought aloud, "could check the sides for exits?"

"Split up?" Thorki suggested.

"No, I don't want us to do that." Thorwalda said.

"Whatever you bats," Thorki snorted, "I'm going to check the way we came."

Thorwalda whispered after him but snorted. We went separate ways, just to see how wide the room was and before we met again at the middle... I had heard something. I put my ear upon the stone wall and I frowned to the sound of screaming.

Suddenly, I jumped from a hand clasped upon my shoulder.

"Good gods Thorwalda!"

"Shake yourself, pagan; we got a job to do."

"Shield brothers!" Thorki said walking down the same aisle we came in, "I hear muttering in a hallway!"

We strode toward him brandishing our weapons. Then suddenly Thorwalda stopped and I froze as well. Thorki rushed us.

"Look, those Angles and Saxons are out there and I can't kill them all myself!"

"Was that chair empty a moment ago?!" Thorwalda asked me.

"Come! This way!" Thorki urged.

The torchlight shone orange upon the stone chair, save the black film that evidenced that something was sitting there for a LONG time. We continued on, even more eager to get out of the room. Just before we left I glanced behind us. My eyes widened and I was unsure if what I beheld was indeed real or no. Before me was a bony, ashen and pale man; an ancient Roman helm atop his once bushy locks. The figure barred its spiked teeth at me and I spied a gladius or Sword of Mars in his hands amidst the shadows.

Then Thorwalda grabbed my collar and yanked me along. We followed Thorki, who also had his weapons drawn and we came into a dimly lit hallway. Somewhere at the other end was muttering in a language that we didn't recognize. We crept closer, torches held low so as not to raise too much alarm. I almost thought it to be some Druid casting incantations but the voice almost sounded familiar...

"Sebastian Thorgvaldsson?" Thorwalda said, "Is that you?"

"Thorwalda?" Sebastian poked his robed head around the corner, "Thank God! He answered my prayers!"

"Abbot," Thorki said, "what are you doing here?"

Sebastian was a young blonde-haired youth of a priest. A prodigy, knowing several languages and amongst these talents was the unique talent of deciphering not only Latin, Greek, and Hebrew but of Old Norse. He usually stayed in the back of the war party, uttering encouragement and keeping the morale high.

"I-I was praying."

"Latin?" Thorwalda asked, his voice thick with accent.

"Y-yes," he whispered.

"Why are you whispering? Is there other people here?" I asked.

"I-I thought I heard your shield brother's screams."

"I thought I heard something as well." I said.

"Well," Thorki said, "we need to get out of here. If they are killing our shield brothers, the crop of Thorwalda's mercenaries, then Harold's surprise attack has been a success."

"I don't think it's that Thorki," Sebastian said, "I didn't hear any of the Saxon's speech. Nay, I haven't the faintest idea of what's going on within this grave."

Sebastian sighed, relieved that we found him, "I pray you, may I borrow a torch? I think I have found a rune here and I was going to try and decipher it."

I gave him my torch and he said,

"There might be a pass that way. I will run after you if the Anglo-Saxons come around alright?"

"No problem," Thorwalda said, "you be careful now alright?"

"Aye, God be with you brothers."

We continued onward and came to wooden doors. Barred with a plank on our side, there were two high window-like holes to allow air and light into the room we were about to enter, too high to look in. Torches were lit about everywhere.

I felt uneasy; the room likely has life on the other side. I almost felt sure of it and if it were another sitting place of the dead well... I'd be dead wrong.

"I don't like this," Thorki said.

"Neither do I." Our leader agreed.

We positioned ourselves to be ready to barge into the room after we removed the plank. Thorwalda nodded a countdown and on the third nod we barged in and brandished our weapons with a shout only to be greeted with more dead bodies. They were neatly lined up in sitting or upright positions and it didn't require much examination to see how they died... but those descriptions may not be necessary. One thing, however was certain, that these bodies were incredibly fresh, not even killed an hour ago. It was a bloody mess and all the bodies which were Anglo-Saxons and William's men had one or several bite wounds.

"Oh, dear Lord," Thorki said as he hit his knees and performed the sign of the cross, "commit them to purgatory."

We turned about in investigation and I stopped,

"Guys!" They came to me and saw what I was looking at. They stopped and Thorwalda said,

"God help us."

"Is this what I think it is?!" I said.

Before us... were lines of empty stone chairs...

The chairs were the same as the ones we saw earlier! Save for the part that all the ancient dead bodies, but as I took another few steps closer I spied stains from an person sitting on the chair for a millennia or so. I paced back and forth, shaken like the sea after floes of ice collapse into the sea. If the dead walk then this is-

"Calm down Olflek! We need to stay calm!"

"I thought I saw one, Thorki! Back at the other area!"

"Calm." Thorwalda said, "Down!"

"Let's go back to Sebastian," Thorki said, "perhaps he can say some words to help our brothers pass through purgatory."