The Pillar of Enera

[Book II Chapter 83 part 1] ROSE: Changeling in the Dead Forest

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Rose gave Dawn a light kick in the rear, “Time to wake up.”

Her sister sat up with a groggy grumpy expression. “Was that necessary?”

“It was.” Rose hadn’t forgotten their nasty encounter with the horned undead from yesterday. She’d defended Dawn at the time, but, seeing her contently sleeping this morning, she couldn’t resist. “I called your name, but you didn’t respond.” This wasn’t a lie, but it would have been more accurate to say ‘whispered’. The mild embellishment was worth the slight headache.

They assembled in the courtyard of the small fort where they’d spent the ‘night’. Rose glanced up at the glowing full moon overhead. It hadn’t moved since they’d defeated the undead drake and left the burning city.

“Everyone prepared?” Zentrias

“We are.” Cindy answered, her teammates besides her. Dressed in simple robes over bulging muscles was Lonar, a monk, and by his side was Natali, a kunoichi from the hidden village of Tempest. Finally, leaning against a wall was Noor, a Samurai. Rose hadn’t spoken to them much, but they could handle themselves in a fight.

All around the fort were dead trees spreading out as far as could be seen. Before they’d even entered this lifeless forest, a decomposing bear charged at them and was promptly dispatched. Carrion undeads, which possessed animal corpses, were nuisances, about as threatening as ghouls. The real dangers were the far off eyes studying them.

Rose disliked the inugami and varcolacs that infested these wood. It was unpleasant killing undead in the shape of dogs and wolves. Worse was the way they hunted in packs. The canines had learned they were no match individually and were following them from a distance, their numbers growing, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. The sensation of being stalked was unnerving.

As a chill ran down her back, Rose paused midstep. A split second later, grimsteel tore through the space her head would’ve been, the shockwave tugging at her hair. She turned and grimaced at the arrow embedded in a small crater.

“That way.” Natali pointed from atop a branch. “There’s two this time. We should pick up the pace.” She added as an arrow pierced her body, which poofed into a swirl of leaves. She reappeared on the ground ahead of them. From what Rose could tell, the tempest shinobi had unusually large number of substitutions available and took advantage of them to get around.

As they raced forward, Rose kept her eyes on the distant ramparts. The undead archers sniped at every opportunity and were a test of foresight more than anything. If their line of sight was broken, they’d rain down arrows over a broad area. A single mistake could be fatal.

When they had first encountered a fort, they’d rushed over to engage archers only to discover two black knights standing guard by the gates. From then on, they’d given wide birth to any fortifications, enduring the potshots. This was easier said than done in a forest with no canopy. The danger didn’t end once they were out of visual range either, since the archers send out carrion crows as spotters. Rose summoned two phoenixes to burn those circling above them.

“Keep your eyes open.” Zentrias directed.

In addition to dark knights and archers, each fort had between one and five abysmal shinobis. These were undead which had taken up the guise of ninjas, adopting all their tricks. They’d leave and hunt down enemies they caught sight of.

“At our four o’clock,” Lonar shouted, swatting down a wave of shurikens with his bare hands. “Three of them.” In exchange for never wielding a weapon, monks benefited from strengthened martial arts. Lonar could harden his extremities to the point they could deflect most blades. In hand to hand combat, without external magic, Lonar even had an edge over Dawn. Because of course she had to challenge him to a sparing match last night.

“My turn to shine.” Noor smiled, grabbing his sheathed sword. “Knock them off balance and I’ll finish them off.”

You say that like its easy, Rose griped. The black-clothed figures were leaping between the trees, pelting them with grimsteel projectiles. The glowing blue in their hollow eye sockets was the only sign of their true nature.

One of them made hand signs, and ten unarmed skeletons appeared from a black magic circle on the ground. Another grew giant bat wings, taking to the air in a gale. The last divided himself into seven dark shadows which charged at them. These guys and their flashy techniques… Naturally, every one of them could use substitutions too, which made attacking them risky since they could teleport anywhere.

Fortunately, they had a weakness. While they’d heal rapidly from most wounds like normal undead, severing their heads would kill them instantly. According to Carol, this was the cost of the sin of narcissism.

While Carol’s marionettes dealt with the skeletons, Rose and Cindy targeted its summoner. The shinobi evaded as explosive fireballs smashed into trees until a bolt of lightning struck him midair. Before it could recover from the brief paralyzation, an invisible blade lopped off its head.

There was a deafening boom. Zentrias had planted both hands in the ground and caused a huge area to erupt violently, sending the shadow clones flying. All seven had their necks slashed in two.

“Here is the last one.” A shinobi with broken wings fell from the sky to be decapitated. Dawn descended gracefully in its wake, her beautiful wings on full display.

Ignoring her sister, Rose watched Noor return his blade to its scabbard. The opposite of Lonar, this samurai fought exclusively with his sword, leveraging his air affinity to slice anything in sight. In essence, his sword skills are a type of magecraft reinforced by his specialization.

Several hours later, they paused for a short break. As Rose rested against tree, a faint, hair-raising noise emerged from deeper in the dead forest. It sounded like the cry of a bird, howl of a wolf, and the roar of a lion mixed together. They all looked in the direction it had come from.

“What was that?” Rose asked Carol.

“I’m not sure…” Carol frowned. “I have a suspicion, but it can’t be right.”

“In any case, we are avoiding whatever made that.” Zentrias declared.

As they readied to leave, Natali called out from atop tree. “Something’s coming this way.”

Rose tensed up, fearing the worse, but it turned out to be three armored figures moving at high speed. Paladins from the White Mountain. The trio turned their way. One carried a body-shaped bag slumped over his shoulder.

“Greetings.” Zentrias called out. “You appear to be going the wrong way. Are you retreating?”

“We are.” Said their leader, glancing back regretfully. “We lost our youngest member, which means we must give up.” Because of the difficulty, the task of escaping an undead dungeon was streamlined. Each sanctified ground has a teleportation array to return to the entrance.

“Could you tell us how this happened?” Zentrias asked anxiously. Paladins were experts in battling the undead. They needed information on whatever had slain one of them.

“We ran into a changeling.” The leader answered, shacking his head. “Although it was an opponent we could’ve handled, she panicked…”

“What happened to the changeling?” Carol asked. “Did you finish it off?”

The leader sighed, “The White Mountain didn’t want to risk losing two of us, so we were under strict orders. As soon as Eldra died, we cast a sealing spell and fled.”

“We left the changeling eight miles that way.” He pointed. “Use that as you will.”

“Thank you.” Zentrias bowed. “Now, please excuse us. We must move in case it’s headed this way.”

“One last thing.” The leader called out after them. “If you meet up with the Knights of Oranda, tell Valrie I’m sorry we couldn’t make it.”

“Will do!” Zentrias affirmed.

Carol spoke up as they sped away, “I’ll describe changelings for those unfamiliar with them. They’re exceedingly rare breed that appear in places with a lot of carrion undead. I initially though one might be the boss of this floor, but I was wrong.”

“When at rest, a changeling resembles a man completely hidden under a cowled robe. They attack by turning into beasts. For example, transforming a hand into the head of a lion to bite. Zombiefied creatures, in part or in whole, can emerge from any surface of their bodies. The animals released this way may resemble carrion undead, but they aren’t genuine reanimated corpses. Rather, they’re grudges given physical form like other undead, which means they’re much stronger.”

“Changeling are an immortal level threat, albeit a weaker one. Because they can strike out simultaneously from every direction, they’re impossible to completely defend against up close. It’s best to engage them at a distance, which is tough as their shapeshifting allows them to move swiftly and unpredictably.”

“Their sin is beastiality. While not stupid, they can’t understand speech and come into existence with no knowledge of human civilization. Even opening a door can present a challenge to them, although they learn fast.”

“Finally, Because of their primal nature, they’re particularly vulnerable to fire. We’ll be counting on you, Rose, if we run into one.” I’ll do my best. While she didn’t seek the spotlight like her sister, she wouldn’t shy away either.

Rose noticed Dawn approaching Carol and decided to listen in.

“I understand specialized undead adopt atypical behavior, but why do you call them ‘sins’?” Dawn asked.

“Despite being intelligent, undead have no distinct identities and are incapable of empathy.” Carol explained. “This is because they are constantly connected to the Abyss, and that ocean of hatred prevents the development of a sense of self. It’s also why normal undead all share an all-consuming focus on eradicating life. However, certain undead are allowed to deviate from this mindset to specialize and gain strength, better serving their purpose. Since the traits adopted to do so compromise their effectiveness as a killers, they’re regarded as sins by the Abyss.”

“I see…” Dawn muttered, then frowned. “Hold on. How do we know the Abyss’s opinion about anything?”

“We learned it from one of the undead that can speak.” Carol answered quietly.

Before Dawn could press for more, an unsettling sight came into view beyond the trees. It appeared to be mound of flesh. and Rose noted countless animal parts. How many hundreds would be needed for a pile that big?

“That must be its birthplace.” Carol declared. “This phenomenon happens once the number of carrion undead grows high enough. They all gather together and tear each other apart. When the massacre ends, a changeling comes out.”

As they neared the mound of flesh, a group of people came into view on the other side. Among them was Stannis Gilron. Those in league with Torak’s disciples… Looks like we caught up.

“I count eleven.” Zentrias observed. “They’ve lost a member.”

“Must have been a reaper.” Cindy added. “That’s the only undead Stannis wouldn’t have been able to deal with.”

They stopped, and both parties stared at each other. Then the women in Xarst’s robes ——Alana Mason, if I recall—— smiled and raised her arm high. Intense channeling was felt as her hand shone with a dark light.

“What are you doing?” Stannis demanded.

“Eliminating the competition.” Alana answered. “Any objections?”

Stannis grimaced, “Fine, but you’ll offer up your life if this backfires later.”

“Alright.” Alana released her magic. An ethereal siren assaulted their senses, almost drowning out intelligent thought in all present. After a few seconds, it mercifully ended. As everyone recovered, the unnatural cry/howl/roar they’d heard early rang out again, this time much closer.

(continued in part 2)