Pantheon Online

229  Shrouded Moon Festival (Part 2)

Exile stared at Ania and the members of Fenrir with his back to the invisible dome. The lightning storm still raged overhead as more spirits crashed upon the barrier.

"These spirits should not be in this mortal realm," Exile began as he glanced at them with a solemn expression. "Although this is a problem for you mortals to solve. I have chosen to aid you in this, your time of need. I have sent Skovi to locate the gateway to the spirit world. You'll have to close it to end this nightmare."

"You should be prepared to lay down your lives for this. My power can only keep the fortress safe for so long. You must complete this task before the spirits breach my barrier. Otherwise, more innocent lives will be lost this night."

Exile nodded in satisfaction as he saw the determination on their faces. At that moment, they all heard the haunting howl of Skovi from deep within the forest outside the walls. Exile nodded to Ania, who gave the order to move out. Snow started to fall as more than two hundred members of Fenrir, Ania, and Exile crossed the barrier.

The journey was relatively easy while they were inside Eraldsfen. The lightning storm kept the worst of the spirit tide at bay. Which allowed the warriors of Fenrir to show the results of their arduous training. Exile took note of their formations and how well they worked together. Although, at times, he noticed a savagery in their attacks that he had rarely witnessed.

'They seem similar to Bjorn, just more level-headed.' Exile thought as he renewed the lightning storm miracle before they exited Eraldsfen through the gate. They heard Skovi howl again as the wolf signalled the location of the gate. Ania steered their small force in that direction as a spirit shaped liked a skeletal horse charged toward them.

Exile chose to preserve his DP and let the warriors deal with it. After all, he was unsure what they would face at the gateway and preferred to be ready for anything. A small group of Fenrir broke off to intercept the spirit. However, the skeletal turned into black smoke and flew through their defensive formation to their rear.

Two warriors screamed as the horse reformed and kicked them in the spines before letting out a ghastly neigh. Several warriors broke away from the main group to aid their comrades when they heard the snapping of their bones. The spirit horse had to kill six of them before it was finally taken down.

"Collect the coin!" Ania shouted as she checked the two warriors who had taken the spirit's first attack. She shook her said as she turned to look at Exile. "Their spines are broken. Can you save them?"

Exile frowned as he studied Ania's face. He was weighing the merits of saving two warriors against the need to preserve his DP. 'If I save them, they'll expect me to save everyone when this happens again. They'll become more reckless, and more injuries will happen.' Exile sighed as he shook his head.

Ania nodded with a sad smile. She was sure Exile could save their lives. However, she could only trust that he had his reasons for not doing so. One of the injured warriors glanced at her expression and smiled.

"Lady Ania, we knew the risks. All we can ask is that you sacrifice what life we have left to Exile. We'd only slow you down if you tried to take us with you, and I'd prefer not to give these spirits the before driving her spear through their backs to pierce their hearts. She allowed herself one last look 09:45

at the pair before rejoining Exile as the group formed up again.

satisfaction of finishing me off." The man said as the other one agreed with his statement.

A tear formed in the corner of Ania's eye as she gave a speech about their souls forever serving Exile before driving her spear through their backs to pierce their hearts. She allowed herself one last look at the pair before rejoining Exile as the group formed up again.

"I know that wasn't easy," Exile whispered to her as they entered the forest. "Even if it saddens you, you can only accept their choice and believe they are somewhere better now."

"Are they?" Ania asked with a low voice. "Somewhere better I mean."

She gazed into Exile's eyes, searching for an answer. However, he only returned her searching gaze with a smile full of warmth. Their group suffered several more attacks as they honed in on Skovi's signals. The loss of life weighed heavily on Exile's mind as the number of deaths surpassed fifty.

'More than half of our original number has already been lost. Eraldsfen should be the best prepared for something like this. How many NPCs will die before this event is over?' Exile held up a hand to halt the group as he spotted Skovi's eyes watching them from between the trees up ahead.

The great wolf softly padded toward them before licking the palm of Exile's hand. Skovi let out a low whimper as he turned to face the direction from which he had come.

"Master, there is a gateway made of black stone in a clearing up ahead. It shimmers with a black light inside its frame. I'm certain it is the gateway you are looking for." Skovi paused as he sniffed the air. "But master, there's something wrong with the air around it. It smells like hundreds of rotting corpses are over there."

Exile frowned as he listened to Skovi's report. 'Hm, if Skovi is smelling corpses then I assume we should prepare for some kind of undead attack. Something more substantial than spirits anyway.' Exile sighed as he guessed they would have to fight a zombie swarm.

"You heard him," Exile said to the group at large. "You should prepare yourselves for a harsh fight. I suspect the spirits will possess corpses buried here. You'll have to defend yourselves."

Ania's expression turned grim as Exile walked in the direction Skovi had pointed out. Before long, a large clearing opened up before them as the stench of death invaded their nostrils.

"What is this place?" Ania asked as she choked on the smell. "All the nearby trees are rotting! Our hunters would have mentioned this. I don't believe they've never crossed through this area!"

"It's likely it's only become like this because of the Shrouded Moon. Something must have happened here long ago, which has attracted the spirits to this area." Exile frowned as he gave his vague explanation to sound like he knew the answer. His eyes wandered to the gateway in the centre of the clearing. 'How do we even close it?'

He had hoped that by seeing it, the answer would be obvious. However, nothing came to mind as he stared at it. 'Could it be as simple as wiping out a wave of enemies that will appear when we approach it?' He studied the clearing carefully to make sure he had not missed anything. 'There's nothing else.' He sighed dejectedly, as he gave the order for their group to enter the clearing.

As soon as they all entered the clearing, a shining black dome with swirling smoke created a barrier around the area. Exile cursed as he spun on the spot to study it. He could feel a divine power behind that event, which made his heart race in his chest!

'Is there something here that can threaten me?' Exile's eyes narrowed as blue foxfire flames lit up around the perimeter of the barrier.

Loud groans erupted from the ground around them, as hands belonging to the undead burst through the ground. The warriors roared as they moved to cut off the hands before they could claw their way out of their graves. Exile watched as their weapons pierced the body parts as they appeared. The more he watched, the more he became certain those weapons would have been useless without his miracle empowering their wielders.

"Draugar!" Ania roared the head of one of the corpses became visible. Two deathly blue globes stared back at her from the corpse's eye sockets as she shouted her warning.

The warriors around Exile shouted to cut off their heads and to do the same to anyone who fell to the draugar horde. Exile caught enough of their warnings to each other to understand they believed that anyone killed by a draugr would become one of their kind. However, even during that moment, Exile's eyes shone with greed.

The warriors were getting fired up at the idea of treasure, as that type of undead usually guarded their wealth. Ania screamed at the warriors to stay focused as she deflected an axe wielded by the draugr she was facing. Exile quickly counted the draugar rising from their graves with a grimace on his face.

He kept losing count as more hands kept rising through the dirt. 'They'll outnumber us at this rate!' Exile cursed as he studied the draugar's equipment. 'It's old but seems to be sturdy. These aren't normal warriors who were buried here.'

His mind raced as he concluded that the location had to be linked to some kind of hidden lore. Screams filled the air as the draugar started to overwhelm the living with their numbers. Ania fired off lightning bolts to clear the area around her while Skovi came to the rescue of many injured warriors. His healing breath saved a number of them, but Exile noticed black lines appearing on their skin!

'Shit! They spread some kind of infection that Skovi can't heal!' Exile decided the situation was getting out of control and activated another lightning storm miracle in that area!

"No!" Exile screamed in disbelief as the black dome prevented his Miracle from coming to the aid of everyone trapped inside...

Guess you'll have to wait til tomorrow for the conclusion of our Halloween special lol. Oh yeah, and a note for celebration. Haven't missed a day since the start of October which marked my full return to writing!

Antihero