Nightmare Crusade

Chapter 2 - The Return

Deep within the dense Foreverdark Woods, Fenter Darkmire is holding a congregation in a small, abandoned church. Inside, men and women dressed in grey robes line the crooked pews. Their leader stands before them at a podium with the Grand Marshal at his right side.

"I believe it's perfectly crystal-clear why I gathered all of you into our church," Fenter starts, "Two nights ago we attempted to politely ask the Kalicrussians if we could have a few weapons, in hoping to acquire the Revenantial Blade. Instead, we ended up burning the entire village to the ground and slaughtering all the villagers. On any other occasion, this would be perfectly fine. However, we still do not have the Revenantial Blade, nor do we know how the villagers knew of our plan before we even arrived."

Fenter's tense vocals echo across the brittle, wooden walls of the church. His followers listen closely.

"I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that we might have a traitor among us who warned the villagers of our intentions."

The dissenters perk up at the sound of the indirect accusation and start whispering amongst themselves.

"Shut up!" Fenter yells, silencing them instantly. "...This should come as no surprise. Everyone here has their identity hidden. So naturally, it would be impossible to investigate this further and single someone out. Not to worry though, I have a flawless plan to extract this traitor."

The Grand Marshal looks over to Fenter in anticipation. Fenter clears his throat.

"Uhhh..." Fenter takes a deep breath, "Raise your hand if you're a spy!"

His eyes dart around the church in an expective fashion, only to be met with a room of silence. Not a single one of them raises their hand.

"Hmm... this may be harder than I thought," Fenter whispers. "Well, in other news we're going to war with Nelvernia tomorrow."

Once again, the cultists are in a frenzy of disbelief at the words of their leader.

"Yeah sorry to spring this up on you in such short notice, but we wouldn't want to give our traitor enough time to warn them, now would we?"

One of the dissenters speak up, "But Fenter! Nelvernia is the most powerful kingdom in all the land! They practically control this region!"

"Yeah come on Fenter," one in the back-row states, "We can't do this without the Revenantial Blade."

"This sucks!" another objects.

"False," Fenter proclaims, "We don't need that sword."

"What?" the grand marshal turns and asks.

Fenter glares at his right-hand man from the corners of his hate-filled eyes. After an awkward silence, the grand marshal gets the message and turns away.

"So," Fenter continues, "our original plan was to use that sword, which was forged by first generation necromancers, to sweep that kingdom to the grave. Now we have a new plan." Fenter points towards the ceiling. "You see, I never fail. I just adapt. I've already made an alliance with the Axe-Knights. Their king has agreed to help us kill off a common enemy. So, go home. Get ready for war. But remember, not a word to anyone about our meetings." Fenter's expression grows angry. "You know what I do with traitors."

Another prolonged silence devilishly caresses the room.

"K, bye!" Fenter hollers abruptly while waving joyously. "I expect to see you all here again tomorrow morning."

The Grand Marshal bites back his uncertainty, unsure of his leader's thought process.

***

"Oh dear... What have you done?" a familiar whisper intrudes from the void.