Kingdoms of Corruption

5. Jotta (Greenspeake)

The morning sunlight streaming through the foliage of the canopy up above gradually brought Jotta back to consciousness. He was lying on his, next to the mouth of the cave that had caused him so much terror. The recognisable stench of death was still present, but in the swamps all around him waves of fresh air washed through the trees. The fetid water of the bogs below at the foot of the hill, no longer still, lapped at the banks. No longer did the buzz of beetles fill Jotta's ears, but the chirping of birds had returned to the forest. Bleary-eyed and with a head that hurt like the Four Hells, he struggled into a seated position.

"Finally," a voice cooed nearby. "I thought you'd never wake."

"Tatenne." Jotta's throat was dry, despite the humidity in the air. "How did you get here?"

Jotta turned his head slightly to the right, where a silver-furred she-wolf was waiting patiently by his side. She was lying on her stomach, with her front paws stretched out on the soggy grass in front of her and her tail flicking the odd insect away lazily. Her jaws did not move at all, but Jotta could hear her voice perfectly in his mind.

"Who knows?" the young she-wolf replied scathingly. "Maybe I'm not really here. Maybe you're just imagining me. After all, the real Tat wouldn't come after you all this way just to save your skinny hide. She wouldn't trek miles over hills and through ravines, fording rivers and wading through boggy swamp. Did you think I couldn't track you from a distance that even you and your half-human friends couldn't sense me following? I warned you not to come to this place."

"You said you'd have none of it. Why did you come then, Tat?"

"Oh, well it wasn't because I truly cared about you, because you're my one and only wolfkin, because I'm sworn to protect you at all times" Tat's rant continued, her telepathic voice worsening Jotta's headache. She grew serious. "There's trouble back at camp. Father's incredibly anxious about where you've gone, and there are other serious issues at the moment."

"What issues?"

"It'll be easier if Father explained himself," his wolfkin assured him. "But first, could you tell me exactly what happened down in that cave?"

The memories came back to Jotta. Of the dragon-like creature hiding in the dark. Of the pitiful wheeze of the thing that came to life in his arms. Of Aruna's abdomen being pierced and the light leaving her eyes.

"It was a disaster," Jotta sobbed. "There was some sort of monster; Aruna was killed. It's all my fault. There was never any Mausoleum, no crypts of ancient warriors, except maybe our own."

Tat cocked her head and her judging eyes seemed to soften.

"I sensed as much. You half-humans claim dominance in smell over the ordinary humans, but it is we true wolves that are the masters. This place smelt of nothing but trouble."

"But you still went in there. You rescued me. Thanks, Tat."

His wolfkin huffed. "I didn't do a thing. Soon as I reached the cave, you were already outside, unconscious but alive. No one else was around; your other companion must have run off, the coward. There was only a raven, perched right on that branch above your head there. I could sense something unnatural about it, like it emitted some sort of dark aura. It gave off no smell. It gave me a chilling, knowing gaze as I padded up to you, then it took flight."

"But then that monster is still down in that cave!" Jotta cried. "We have to get out of here! It could emerge at any moment!"

"Calm down, you fool. Use your nose. Do you still smell it in the air at all? I saw a winged beast take flight to the west soon before I arrived. It was covered in chains – not regular iron, not even skrysteel, but made of some dark material, smoking with a black mist. I can't be certain, but it looked like something was riding it."

"This day is getting weirder and weirder," Jotta said, rubbing his forehead. "Also, in the cave, just as Aruna was...you know...I stumbled onto this thing. It was a corpse, I think. Or used to be. I don't know how to say this, but...it was as if it ceased being dead as soon as I touched it, as if I caused..."

He broke off and jumped to his feet, no longer concerned about the pain in his head.

"Wait here, Tat! I need to do something," he yelled behind him as he dashed towards the cave entrance. "Oh please, let me be correct this time."

"Hey!" barked his wolfkin. "What are you doing? Will you stop running off all the time?"

Jotta's goat-hide boots slapped across the damp rock as he bolted down the tunnel. The light from outside was just enough to help him navigate through it. It looked like Tat was right. The walls of the tunnel were covered with wide claw marks. The stalactites above were even shorter than before. Something large had forced its way out recently, though it must have been struggling as it did so. As he ventured deeper into the cave again, Jotta fervently hoped it to be true.

A left. Two rights. Around a tight corner.

He reached the cavern. The two lanterns remained lit where he and Aruna had dropped them. Not slowing pace, Jotta grabbed the nearest one and manoeuvred to the far side, taking care not to touch any of the scattered corpses. Finally, he knelt down at the freshest one – Aruna's.

"Please let this work," he prayed, and placed his hands on her cold, stiff skin.

It was instant. Colour returned to Aruna's cheeks and the rigour mortis that had frozen her body into stone relinquished its hold. The ugly wound sealed up. The chest was allowed to expand, then, as if the lungs were astonished that they were flooded with air once again, quickly released everything. It came out as a gasp, too fast, because it transformed into a cough that forced the upper body to upright itself and the eyes to burst open. The diaphragm tried another attempt, resulting in another success, and soon a series of breaths were rattling through the body, in rhythm with Jotta's trembling hands. Eventually, the breaths became steady and controlled, but Jotta's hands still shook.

The resurrected wolf-girl turned her head towards Jotta, trying to make sense of his astounded face.

A wave of relief swept over Jotta. He still could not fully believe what he had just done, the miracle he had enacted. What other feats could he perform with this power? What secrets could he now extract from the deceased? How many other loved ones could save from death? He got dizzy thinking about it. No amount of reading and studying could have prepared him for this. But for now, he was just glad that he had saved even one friend.

Until he saw the message.

Smeared across the length of the cavern wall were two lines of hastily-written runes, inscribed in the alphabet of the Kulndotten. Crimson blood had been used as ink. It was dried, but otherwise quite fresh. Jotta's anxiety resurfaced as he read.

-000145, 000367. Korten Village.

Hasten. The Festered are ready to act.