Heather the Necromancer

Heather, her friends, and her hoard of minions followed the goblins along the swamp's edge. To their left was a towering cliff face that marked the beginning of the mountains. To their right, the fetid black marshes obscured as always in mist. The gap between the marsh ended, and cliffs began narrowed as the chief and his warriors led the way. The rumbling sound they head in the distance grew louder until the swamp finally cut across their path, going all the way to the base of the cliff.

They returned to the mist, walking down another muddy trail surrounded by stagnant water. Ahead the rumbling became louder as they arrived at yet another bridge. This one went to a single gigantic stone rising out of the waters. There was a second bridge on the other side of the stone carrying them across to the far the side. The waters below moved swiftly as the rumble raged on someplace to their left. Once on the far shore, the goblins began to creep, holding up spears as they made their way toward the cliffs.

“Why did they slow down?” Heather asked.

“We're near the caves I told you about,” Legeis replied. “Which means we're also near those wolves. Whatever they want you to see must be in the caves.”

“It’s supposed to be some kind of egg,” she replied with little certainty. “They say I stole it from the dragon knights and hid it with the goblins.”

“So, you were coming here anyway, good thing we ran into each other.”

Heather shook her head, wondering how anything good was going to come from this. The mists began to clear as the goblins crept forward, and finally, they could see the cliffs. It was a near sheer face, with a thin ledge about halfway up. A waterfall fell down the left side into a frothing lake making the rumble they heard and filling the air with an icy chill. There were three cave openings on the cliff, one a large tunnel four meters wide at ground level, Another roughly the same size about halfway up, and a third smaller opening near the top.

The goblins eyed the cave on the ground with suspicion as the chief approached Heather. “Hide their,” he said and pointed to the middle cave. “Must go, see egg.”

“Up there?” Heather asked as she looked at the sheer face.

“How are we going to get up there?” Quinny asked.

“We might have to climb,” Frank replied. “Unless it connects with the lower cave.”

Legeis looked up and scratched an ear. “It might, but I have never been very deep inside. It’s crawling with those wolves, and they don’t take kindly to intruders.”

“And the wizard lives in the top cave?” Heather asked.

“Yeah, I have seen him fly out of it several times,” Legeis said. “I have never seen the rogue though, for all I know, he moved on.”

“I expected there to be golems guarding this,” Heather said with a smirk.

Frank came to stand beside her looking up at the cave as she spoke. “He probably keeps most of them around the city to harass the queen. I bet there are some inside guarding his private rooms.”

“Should we try to climb, or look in the lower cave for a way up?” Quinny asked.

“I could fly up and look inside,” Breanne offered as she floated nearby.

“I want to see this for myself,” Heather said and turned to the spider by her feet. “Fancy a climb?”

Webster bounced, and she bent down to whisper, pointing to the cave as he bobbed again. He then skittered off, heading for the cliffs, avoiding going near the lower tunnel.

“What is he doing?” Frank asked.

“He’s a jumping spider,” Heather replied. “He’s is going to jump.”

As they watched Webster leaped over three meters, landing on a small ledge, then climbing the wall a few a meter before leaping again to another ledge. He worked his way up in small jumps and short climbs until he was near the upper cave.

“Now it's my turn,” Heather said as she turned to the ghoul knight. She handed him her scythe and looked him directly in the eyes. “You stay here.” She waited to see him nod, then reached into a pouch and took out the small figurine of the bird. “Hold this for me a second,” she said and put it in Frank's hand while still holding it.

He jumped when she uttered the command word and instantly became a crow, flying off to join Webster above as goblins gasped and pointed, muttering Hathlisora. They watched as she flew to the lip just as Webster crawled over it, the two standing just inside the entrance.

“How is she going to change back?” Quinny asked as Frank looked at the small figurine now in the shape of a woman. They all jumped when the figurine suddenly vanished a poof of smoke.

Heather uttered the command word for her skill of recalling and summoned the statue to herself. It appeared on the floor beside her, and she quickly put a foot on it, cawing the command word. Back in her proper form, she picked it up and took a moment to wave to the others to make sure they knew she was alright, then turned to the cave.

“Shall we go see about this egg?” she asked Webster. The spider waved limbs in the air as she put hands to her hips and frowned at him. “Where am I supposed to find a spider figurine, and what's wrong with the bird one?” He waved his arms again, and she shook her head. “Are you jealous that I can fly?”

Webster made a squeaking huff, and she bent down to pet him. “I will always need a spider to help me. Now common, I am too afraid to go in alone. I need you to keep me company and give me strength.” She smiled at how he bounced up and skittered ahead, excited to be useful. She quickly put on her undead sight as the cave darkened and blinked to see the world in washed-out colors.

The tunnel went straight back before turning to the right a minute in. Heather crept along with Webster wishing she could have brought more of her minions. It wasn't a matter of choice, how was she going to get them up here after all? Right now, she focused on following the trail and learning the truth. If anything dangerous turned up, she would seal the tunnel with plants, pick Webster up, and run. She paused to bend down and touch the floor, discovering a layer of frost. A deepening cold filled the air with the crispness of a winters day. The tunnel turned going another fifty meters into a surprising change of environment. All the surfaces were covered in snow and ice, with icicles hanging down like stalactites. The cave was illuminated by a soft white light emanating from the ice on the floor halfway in. The cold became worse, now biting at her skin and causing her to shiver in its unpleasant touch.

Heather stood at the edge of the snow pondering her options. It was already too cold for her summer dress, how much colder might it get deeper in? She thought of asking Breanne to look ahead for her; after all, the undead players didn't feel the cold.

“I am so dumb,” Heather mumbled as she remembered her guise of undeath spell. She quickly pulled up her panel and looked it over. The spell would make her undead for its duration, giving her all the base powers undead had, including the resistance to cold. “Well, that helps me, but what do I do about you?” she asked while looking down at Webster. He waived his front limbs in the air, and she tilted her head. “Really, you have any resistance I have?” He continued to wave his arms, and she shrugged. “Alright, but if you feel the cold, you tell me right away. I don't want you getting sick.”

She smiled and looked over the spell, then cast it on herself. The world became very different as her senses changed. Suddenly she felt nothing, no heat, no cold, no sense of dry or wet. It was just a sensation of presence with a gnawing feeling to her left. She looked down and realized she could see a faint halo of light around Webster, a glow that indicated he was alive. “Breanne said she could see these,” Heather said as she reached down to touch the light. “Do I look different?”

Webster beat his arms, and she smiled. “What do you mean I was already too pale? Do you know how hard it is to find time to sun?” He waved his arms, and she brushed him off. “If you want to complain about my tan, then you can find me a tanning salon.” She stepped forward into the tunnel with Webster silently stalking along from behind.

The cave's icy walls captured and scattered the light, creating a sort of glittering effect that denied shadows a place to lurk. As Heather approached the light source, she looked down to see a flat sheet of blue ice. Something below was giving off a glow, and it radiated up, bathing the room in its brilliance.

“I hope the egg isn't down there,” she said as she bent over to run her hand along the surface. “I will have to get Frank up here to dig it out.” She tested the ice carefully with a foot, and it held firm like stone. With gentle steps, she crossed it quickly, heading into the back half of the cave. Here she discovered it bent to the right again and followed it around a dark corner.

Carefully they crept to the bend and started around the cave beginning to head down a slope. The footing was difficult, forcing her to take small steps to avoid falling. The tunnel then twisted back to the right heading under the previous passage. She rounded the next corner to look into a room bathed in light. The walls, floor, and ceiling were sheets of ice forming a large round chamber. At the far end was a pillar of more ice, and resting on it was something that glowed brightly, bathing in the room in its radiance. Before it was another object that was a metallic blue, and the size of a large watermelon, it sat anchored in the ice, giving off a slight mist from its skin.

“So, this is my egg?” Heather asked as they approached. Webster beat his arms, and she glared down at him with a huff. “How should I know what's inside it? I didn't lay it.” She listened to his follow up comments and shook her head. “I know spiders lay eggs, but humans don't.” She looked around again as she reconsidered her comment. “Actually, for all I know, they are delivered by storks in this world.” She looked at Webster again and shook her head. “Babies, I mean, not eggs. Yes, I know birds lay eggs too, it was just a figure of speech.”

Webster tapped at the egg as Heather turned her attention to the object giving off the light. It looked like an elongated shard of glass of bright blue that shimmered in the glow it produced. It rested on a stone pedestal encased in ice nearly as blue as itself. The air around it seemed to shimmer, and it too was producing a white mist.

“Ok, so now what?” Heather asked, looking about. “Am I supposed to sit on it and hatch it?” Webster made a small jump landing on the ice and sliding across the room. She smiled as he made another one and slid back, playing like a child. “I guess you have no idea either.” She turned back to the egg and decided to run a hand over its shell, feeling a slightly bumpy texture.

“Heather?” Breanne's voice called out from down the tunnel.

“I am down here,” Heather called back, turning away from the egg. A moment later, Breanne floated around the corner as Webster slid to her feet.

“You have been gone too long, Frank is terribly worried about you,” she said as the spider bumped into her.

Heather shook her head and stepped aside so Breanne could see the egg clearly. “The rumors of my stealing eggs seem to be true.”

Breanne squinted and floated closer, coming right up to it to examine it. “It is an egg, but what’s inside it?”

Heather laughed. “Webster wanted to know the same thing. He seems to think I laid it.”

Breanne smirked at that and looked up at the glowing shard. “What is that?”

“Another mystery,” Heather replied. “I think it’s the source of the ice. Maybe it’s meant to keep the egg fresh?”

“Why so you can make an omelet latter?” Breanne asked. “What purpose does deep freezing a giant egg do?”

“I don’t have any answers,” Heather said with a toss of her arms. “I don't’ know what to think about any of this.”

“Hmm,” Breanne said as she considered the egg. “The goblins only wanted you to see the egg was safe. There is no reason to make a decision about it right now.”

“But this egg is important to me, or to Hathlisora,” Heather argued. “I was hoping that seeing it would make sense somehow, but now I am more confused.”

“Maybe now that you have seen it, the goblins will tell you more,” Breanne offered. “They seem to know an awful lot about Hathlisora.”

Heather folded her arms and sighed. “I am supposed to see this egg and remember something, but I have never seen it before in my life.” She paused to look down at the bracelet on her arm. “And yet, I am sure this bracelet is mine.”

Breanne looked to the bracelet as Heather held it up and turned her wrist around slowly. “Perhaps we are missing something.”

“I don’t know what,” Heather said. “It’s an egg with a magic cold crystal keeping it in deep freeze.”

“Maybe we're supposed to thaw it out,” Breanne suggested.

Heather considered that option and shook her head. “Until I know more, I don't think it's wise to touch it.”

“Then we are done here?” Breanne asked.

Heather nodded and turned away. “Common Webster, let's not keep the others waiting.” He made one last jump across the floor and followed them out of the cave. At the lip, Heather transformed into a raven again and flew down as Breanne carried the statue. Webster jumped down, trailing a fine silk line as Heather changed back and reported what she found.

“So, where do we go next?” Frank asked.

“Nowhere,” Heather replied. “It’s just an egg.”

“No,” the goblin chief interrupted. “Not just egg. Must return mother.”

Heather looked at him with a sideways glance and shook her head. “What, mother?”

The chief cleared his throat and pointed to the north. “Mother go long journey. Hathlisora hide, keep safe till egg need go home.”

Heather let out an exasperated sigh. “Where is this home?”

“Not know, Hathlisora know.”

“More proof that I am not her because I have no idea where that is,” Heather said as she turned to see Quinny staring at her. “What?”

Quinny came closer and looked into her eyes. “Why is your skin colorless and your eyes all sunken and dark? You look like a zombie.”

“Oh, the cave is frozen over and super cold. I used my guise of undeath to avoid freezing.”

“So, you're undead now?” Quinny asked cheerfully.

“Only while the spell lasts,” Heather corrected. “We haven’t become sisters or anything.”

“We may as well be, I already wear your clothes,” Quinny pointed out.

Heather shrugged and looked back to the cliffs. “Why don’t we move on to the wizard while I think about what to do with the egg.”

“Must take egg home,” the goblin chief insisted. “You must return.”

“Why?” Heather asked, throwing open her hands. “Why would I take it home?”

Umtha stepped passed him and came to Heather’s side and tapped the bracelet. “You find your way, send lost ones home.”

“Umtha, what does that mean?” Heather asked.

“You will remember,” Umtha replied.

Heather sighed and looked back to the cave. “Alright, were going to find the wizard, recover the queens stone, and discover how he is making Golems. Then I will figure out what to do with the egg. Is everybody happy?”

Nobody offered a complaint, so she went to the ghoul knight and took her scythe from him. “Then let's explore the lower cave and pray there is a way into his lair inside.”

“Be ready to fight, it's crawling with wolves,” Legeis said.

Heather nodded and moved on, leading the way with her ghoul knight. At the tunnel entrance, she turned to the zombie alligator and ordered it and a dozen skeletons to lead. She followed them in with her ghoul knight and the others, keeping heavily armed skeletons in the rear. The goblins waited outside with the palanquin and the remaining undead, watching as the party vanished into the cave.

The lower tunnel was damp and smelled of carrion. Heather doused the ghoul knight in perfume to help mask the stench, desperate for clean air. A minute later, they were at an intersection with tunnels to the left, right, and straight ahead. Strange growling was coming from the left, while the sound of flowing water came from the right.

“Where now?” Heather asked.

“This is as far in as I have ever been,” Legeis admitted. “The wolves are to the left.”

She peered down the dark tunnel to the left, the undead sight allowing her to see. It was just a natural tunnel carved by water that went down and to the left. The passage to the right went off for a long way, but straight ahead, it went uphill slightly. She decided to go straight, hoping the upward slope would lead higher and eventually into the wizard's lair. She set the alligator to watch the left tunnel and sent a pack of skeletons ahead. No sooner had they gone a dozen paces than the lead four vanished when the floor shifted with a rumble. A pit opened beneath their feet, dropping them down a shaft that ended in sharp spikes.

“A trap!” Quinny said as the rumbling died away.

Heather leaned over the edge to see the shattered remained of the skeletons ten meters below and thanked her luck she hadn’t decided to lead.

“This must be a way in,” Legeis said in excitement.

“How can you be so sure?” Frank asked.

“No point in trapping a tunnel that doesn’t go anywhere important,” Legeis replied.

“That does make sense,” Heather said with a nod. “But our path this way is blocked. Unless you think you can jump a four-meter gap.”

“There is probably a way to reset it, but I bet it’s on the other side,” Legeis offered.

“Breanne or I can fly over and look for something,” Heather offered when a low growl echoed down the tunnel. They looked to the left to see a large wolf-like creature. It had the body of a wolf, but with leathery skin instead of fur. Down its back was a series of jagged spines ending in a long thick tail crowned by sharp spikes.

“It must have heard the pit,” Frank said as the beast hunched down and snarled with long fangs.

“Alligator, get him!” Heather yelled and sent the gator into battle. The two beasts closed on one another as Heather fired rotting bolts to assist. The wolf ducked down and lashed its tail forward, sending a hail of spines in their direction.

“Look out,” Frank cried as the spines came racing in. Heather folded her arms, bringing up her plant shield just in time as points went through the leaves nearly to her face. She dropped the protection to see the alligator had the wolf by a leg, but the wolf was chewing up its back. She ordered the ghoul knight to help, and Frank and Quinny joined him. Together they overpowered the wolf bringing it down only to hear more growls from within as more appeared from around the tunnel.

The tunnel was choked with grave blight as Heather, Breanne, and Legeis hurled spells and bombs into the flood of spinned wolves that came around the corner. She sent in all but the explosive skeletons, and the tunnel became a wild fray of howling wolves and undead hoards.

A moment later, four wolves were dead, but there were easily twice that many remaining. Heather took up her scythe and dashed in cutting a wolf down before it cold decapitate her ghoul knight. She fought while healing her friends and minions, but skeletons were rapidly depleting the plants lasting only slightly longer.

“How many of these things are there?” Heather yelled as she slashed at another, adding to the dozen already dead.

“This must be some kind of spawning lair,” Frank replied as he tore a spine from his shoulder. Quinny called up zombies to plug holes, and they held the line keeping the wolves inside the grave blight for extra damage. Just as they were about to tip the odds, a dozen more rushed around the corner, and Heather called a retreat. She left her skeletons in the fray to stall the wolves and called up grasping hands to hold them in place. Everybody else fled down the tunnel to the crossroads listening to the savage battle behind them. As Heather arrived, she looked to a skeleton with a black casing in his rib cage and ordered it to attack.

Legeis went wide-eyed as the skeleton ran in. “This is too confined a space!” he yelled. “Everybody run for the entrance!”

The didn't have to be told twice and ran down the tunnel as fast as they could. A moment later, a deafening boom shook the tunnel, dust, and debris blowing past them in a shock wave.

“Were alive?” Heather asked as the cloud began to clear,

“Speak for yourself,” Quinny said with a smirk and looked to her shoulder full of spines.

“Well, that was a disaster,” Heather sighed as she helped pull spines out of Quinny. “I never expected there to be a small army of them.”

“I have never seen more than four of them,” Legeis added. “But that doesn't mean there weren't more inside. I suppose they have a lair down that tunnel, and they come out in small numbers to hunt.”

“Do you think it’s safe to go back?” Breanne asked as she waved the dust from her face.

“It could be, or it could be collapsed,” Legeis replied. “Those demo skeletons pack a punch.”

“That boom was loud. I bet they heard that across the swamp,” Frank said.

“I bet the wizard heard it,” Legeis replied. “If he wasn’t aware somebody was here, he is now.”

“What choice did we have?” Heather asked as she peered into the dust-choked tunnel. “It was that or seal off the tunnel with vines.”

“What was wrong with that option?” Frank asked.

Heather huffed and straightened her dress. “I want to see what they are guarding.”

“If that bomb collapsed the tunnel, you won't be seeing it anyway,” Frank pointed out.

Heather sighed as she realized he was right. Still, it was a big tunnel, and the explosion had space to spread out. She led the way with Frank at her side, arriving at the crossroads. The tunnel was choked with dust causing Webster to cough as Frank took the lead. As they crept down the tunnel, they saw a shape moving in the smoke. It floundered on the floor, barely able to walk as the alligator hobbled on one leg, using its tail to push itself along.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Heather cried and ran to its side, casting mend the dead to restore it's blasted and burned body.

“Poor thing?” Legeis asked, looking at Frank.

“Heather cares about her minions, even the skeletons. She hates it when they suffer.”

“It’s undead, it can’t suffer,” Legeis argued.

“Tell that to Heather,” Breanne said.

“She just blew up a dozen skeletons, but is upset over the zombie?”

“Heather knows they are the strength of her power, and has to sacrifice them to succeed, but if she can save them, she will,” Breanne countered.

“A necromancer that cares about mindless undead?” Legeis said as the alligator was healed. “She really isn’t playing by the rules.”

“That is why she is so good at it,” Breanne replied with an approving smile.

A moment later, the alligator stood on all four restored limbs, and Heather walked ahead with it and the ghoul knight to inspect the tunnel. “Oh gross!” she groaned as she found parts of blasted wolves. The tunnel widened out a little, and she saw the scene of carnage. Bones and bloody bits were strewn about, and parts of the wall had crumbled into rubble. The other half of the passage was still open, and she carefully slipped through. Frank and Quinny joined her as they entered into a large natural cave.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling in clusters around the walls. The floor was relatively even but sloped away further back, going down two dark tunnels. The sound of dripping water echoed from further in as they carefully surveyed the room.

“I don’t see anymore,” Heather said, clutching her scythe.

“They probably all came running when the first ones started howling,” Frank suggested.

“Then let's search the rooms and see what we can find. I am sick of there never being any treasure,” she insisted.

They slowly spread out, searching the walls and corners. There were piles of bones from animals killed and dragged inside, and Frank found a few bits of old armor and a rusted spear. It wasn't until they made their way into a backroom that something caught their eye.

It was a tiny natural chamber with a bowl-shaped depression on the floor filled with water that dripped in from above. A few gold coins lay strewn about the lip of the pool with many more in the water.

“Finally,” Heather remarked as she began to fish out the coins. “This fantasy world is so stingy.”

“What is that in the back of the pool?” Frank asked and pointed.

Heather squinted to see what looked like a small chest half-submerged in the water. The pool was only a half meter deep, so Frank waded out and brought it back to shore. It was locked with a sturdy and somewhat rusted padlock. It took Legeis all of twenty seconds to open it with a tool he had in his pouch, and the lid came up.

Another fifty or so coins of various types lined the bottom as did a small green stone. Heather picked up the stone as it pulsed with light for a second.

“Could this be it?” Heather asked, holding it up. “Is this the queen's kingdom heart?”

“I have no idea what a kingdom heart looks like,” Frank said. “She only told us it was a small magic crystal.”

“That's exactly what this is,” Heather said, looking it over. “But why would it be here?”

Quinny looked it over and shrugged. “Maybe the wizard thought it was safer behind all those wolves.”

“Hmm,” Heather said as she turned it over. “It could be the stone, or it could be another stone. I saw something similar in that cave, a little bigger but still a crystal. I don't think we can just assume this is it.”

“It could be a fake,” Legeis added. “Put there to make you think you found it and go back.”

“Why put a fake stone here?” Heather asked?”

“It’s the first cave off the entrance,” he pointed out. “People probably think they got lucky and leave.”

“That does kind of make sense,” Heather said. “Let’s put this treasure in the packs and look down some of those other halls. Even if it is the right stone, we still need to find what Legeis is looking for.”

They agreed, scooping the coins into a pack that Heather carried as they made their way back. The arrived at the intersection and decided to avoid the pit tunnel and check the other one. Quinny summoned a pack of zombies to walk ahead of them, to set off any potential traps. As they crept along, it was clear this was a natural cave, but somebody had taken the time to level the floor. Legeis pointed out where there were pick marks from somebody doing the work to shape it. Frank added to their anxiety by pointing out that if somebody worked the tunnel, they probably trapped it.

As they walked, the sound of falling water became louder, and eventually, they reached another choice. The wide tunnel went on ahead, slowly bending to the right, while a narrower tunnel, barely wide enough for two of them to walk side by side, branched off to the right.

Breanne volunteered to look down the narrow tunnel since she could float over traps, and pass through walls. She was gone only a minute when she returned to say strange spider-like creatures inhabited the caves. They resembled goblins, but their arms and legs had two elbows bending twice. Their hands ended in short claws that they used to clamber about the stone surfaces of the cave. They had large mouths with yellow eyes and no nose to speak of. The tunnel led to a central chamber with a very uneven floor. On its far wall were three tunnels that led to deeper caves. A vote was made, and everyone wanted to pass it, so they continued down the larger tunnel and started to see light ahead.

The cave opened into a massive chamber, the ceiling rising thirty meters to long stalactites of white stone. The floor became a series of stone bricks laid in a haphazard fashion to create a proper walkway. They were on a ledge four meters wide with a cave wall directly to their right, but to the left was a cliff face that went down ten meters to a lake of dark water. A stone bridge made of chiseled blocks spanned the lake, stretching some fifty meters across. Metal poles with glass tops glowed with a shimmering light from inside, creating a sort of street light effect. It was twenty meters from the bridge to the far wall, where a waterfall poured out of a dark opening, causing the water sound they heard. A lower tunnel at the lake's surface could barely be seen from where hey stood. It would be impossible to reach without jumping or climbing down a series of narrow steps, that went to a ledge just beneath where they were standing. Looking over the side, they could see the ledge was strewn with large bones as if a dozen giant creatures had died there. From the lower ledge, they would have to swim the lake's width, passing under the bridge to the other side to get to the tunnel. The ledge went straight on, bypassing the bridge and going around a slow bend to the left. They now had three options to continue. Follow the tunnel, cross the bridge, or swim for the lower passage.

“This has to lead to his lair,” Legeis said excitedly. “Why else would he build a bridge here?”

“The bridge is almost certainly trapped,” Breanne said as she eyed it warily.

“I can send the zombies across first,” Quinny suggested but then looked at the others. “But, are we going this way?”

Heather stood at the entrance to the bridge and looked across the lit expanse. It seemed a little too inviting, but also the most obvious path. Legeis was right, if this was here, then there must be an entrance to the lair, or perhaps this was it. “Hmm, what's to stop the wizard from building his layer in levels like mine is?”

“You mean like your tower?” Frank asked.

Heather nodded and looked over the bridge. “For all we know, this isn't a connection to the lair. It is the lair. He could have ten levels of rooms, tunnels, and halls up and down this mountain.”

“Can you do that?” Quinny asked.

Frank scratched his head and shrugged. “I don't see why not. Heather can put her tower where she wants. What's to stop her from putting it inside a mountain?”

“But that’s a dungeon class,” Quinny said. “She makes a tower outside.”

“Maybe this wizard took a dungeon builder as a secondary,” Breanne suggested.

“It could be the rogues secondary,” Frank suggested.

“Which would mean there are a lot more traps ahead,” Legeis pointed out.

Heather looked back and nodded in agreement. “We can use the zombies to set those off; let's just decided which way we want to go. Cross the bridge or follow the tunnel, I don't think anybody wants to swim across.”

“I vote for the bridge, Legeis said.

“I do, too,” Frank replied. “I think I can even see a door on the wall just beyond it.”

Heather squinted into the distance and saw something that could be a door, but it was too far away to see clearly. “Ok, let's send the zombies,” she said.

Quinny pushed them forward, urging them to cross the bridge. They waited in silence as the zombies shuffled to the halfway point, and nothing happened.

“It must be safe,” Frank suggested.

“Then let’s cross over,” Heather said and went to walk ahead.

A powerful arm blocked her way as Frank intercepted her. “No, I am the heaviest. Let me go first.”

“I am going with you then,” Breanne said as she floated over. “I will try to help if anything goes wrong.”

Frank nodded, and together they set out as the zombies continued across. Frank and Breanne were nearly to the halfway point, and the zombies almost to the other side when Heather sighed. “It's safe.” There was a loud click and a sound like grinding stone. They looked around as the cave vibrated, and then suddenly, the bridge began to move. It pivoted to the right turning over on a massive gear on each side. It rotated the bridge dumping Frank and Breanne over the side with all of the zombies. It then revolved entirely around coming back to its original position.

Heather ran to the side to see Breanne holding Frank by the wrist just above the water's surface. The zombies splashed about near the other end, and suddenly one of them vanished.

“There is something in the water,” Quinny said as another zombie was pulled under.

Breanne, get him to the lower ledge!” Heather shouted. “Hurry, there is something in the water!”

Breanne looked back in time to see the water disturb a few dozen meters away. She struggled to lift Frank higher, and she towed him across the lake his toes just above the black liquid. Heather looked to her undead and tried to think what to do. The explosive skeletons would be useless, the Ghoul knight even more so, but the alligator? She told the beast to follow her and ran down the narrow steps to meet them at the lower ledge. Breanne was just passed the bridge when a serpent-like head rose from the water and bit Frank, swallowing up his legs in its massive jaws.

“Frank!” Heather yelled as she arrived at the ledge. Frank was yanked out of Breanne's grasp, vanishing below the waters in a splash. Breanne fluttered around, trying to see where he was as Heather arrived at the ledge full of bones. “I will send my alligator in to find him,” Heather yelled.

“That thing has to be twice the size of your alligator,” Breanne bellowed. Suddenly the surface broke, and Frank came up. He was free and struggling to swim as Breanne flew to grab hold of him. The beast reappeared and snapped at his side, carrying him away from rescue as Heather panicked.

“What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?” she repeated from the side and then looked around. “Wait?” she cried as she looked at all the bones, her undead sight showing a strange glow. “This is a graveyard!”

“What good will that do?” Legeis called from above.

Heather turned to the alligator and smiled. “I upgraded howl from the grave.”

A rumbling roar filled the air causing Breanne to turn about as a second beast raced across the water. It had red glowing eyes and a long flat reptilian body with a crazed woman in a yellow dress riding on it's back. The alligator was now nearly twice it's original size, and the beast with Frank in its mouth noticed the massive jaws too late.

It roared in pain, spitting Frank out in the effort and turned about to lash at the new assailant. Heather got off a good swing with her scythe when the serpents head came to near, cutting a swath across its face. The alligator locked its jaws on the lower neck, and the two began to struggle to tear one another apart.

“Get Frank to shore,” Heather shouted as Breanne fished him from the water, pulling with all her might to get him to the ledge. Heather tried to sink her scythe into the beast, but it thrashed wildly, causing her to stumble. She threw a dozen rotting bolts instead, desperate to kill the monster. The alligator began to rock violently, and Heather nearly lost her footing and fell into the water. She reached into her pouch and pulled the bird figurine out, speaking the magic word. The figuring dropped into the water as she flew as fast as she could to avoid the enormous waves the two beasts were creating. Heather arrived a the ledge just as Breanne pulled a limp Frank to the shore. Quinny and Legeis helped pull him over as Heather summoned the statue to where she landed and changed back.

“Frank! Please don’t be real dead!” she cried and ran to his motionless body. One leg was completely missing, another gone below the knee. He was cut wide open all down one side showing a gruesome image of undead organs. She fell at his side and went into mend the dead casting the heal as quickly as she could.

“Be careful,” Breanne urged. “You have used a lot of magic in the last few hours.”

“Frank is hurt!” Heather cried as she cast the spell again. The wound on his side began to close, and the flesh of his legs became like putty, stretching and reforming as she cast the spell a third time.

“I am not sure your alligator is going to win,” Legeis said as he watched the monsters battle. “We might need to get off this ledge.”

“We move when Frank can stand,” Heather cried and cast mend the dead again.

His lower legs began to reform, and a foot started to take shape. She cast again, feeling a draining sensation as she demanded more power to heal her friend.

“Heather!” Quinny yelled. “You need to stop!”

Heather looked back with tears in her eyes as Frank finally moved a hand. His eyes opened, and he looked up in alarm.

“Heather?” he said in a worried tone. “Why are you glowing blue?”