Chapter 28

Captain Meralco the mink, Vic the lemming, Medina the water buffalo, Camia the parrot, Earl the beaver and the remaining two water buffalo men approached the glass coffin at the center of the room. Inside was the decayed and emaciated body of a jackal woman. Her body was twisted as if in agony, her eyes were closed and she grinned in a rictus of agony. She wore a dress that had visibly faded and rotted and her arms were wrapped around her body as if she was shivering in the cold.

“Oh Nadia!” Medina cried as she looked into the glass coffin. “What has he done to you?”

Then, much to the horror of those looking in from the outside, the jackal woman’s eyes snapped wide open, revealing milky eyes that stared hard at them.

+++

Kiana the spider had climbed up the ceiling of the basement and the bone giant tried smashing at her with its arms comprised of multiple skeletons. It pounded hard and tore holes in the flooring above, bringing in more mist into the already foggy basement. The remaining lemmings tried desperately to find the dropped Candle of Protection but with the rampaging bone giant smashing and crushing all in its wake, they were more than hesitant to get too close to where their comrade fell.

Zenny the tiger fought well, managing to avoid getting stomped on by the undead horror but even she was beginning to tire and could barely see in the thickening fog.

After managing to reload his pistol, Prince Gaius the lion shot the bone giant which only dislodged a skull and a few bones from one of its shoulders. It was very clearly not going to stop just because of a few shots fired from his pistol. He had to leap away from the monster as it continued to roar and thrash above him as it would most certainly crush him if it caught him.

Having run out of ammunition, Cindy the skunk resorted to throwing fireworks at the bone giant and was successful in dislodging bones from its body and angering it further. The occasional explosion from her fireworks lit the ever-darkening basement briefly and only revealed how trapped they were. Still Cindy dug through her pockets for more fireworks to use against the enormous skeletal beast and threw them at it whenever she could.

McGrath the scorpion and Zobel the rat did their best to distract the monstrosity but it was clear that they only provided little help in the long run. The bone giant was simply too big, too powerful and too resilient to be effectively killed by anything any of them had. Add to that the fact that the room was being quickly enveloped in dense fog and it was clear that the monster had the upper hand in their struggle.

+++

“Medina?” the corpse of the jackal woman croaked. “Medina, is that you?”

“Yes Nadia,” Medina said. “It is I. I am here. I have brought help.”

“Oh,” the corpse very disturbingly tried to smile. “Thank goodness.”

+++

The doors to the basement burst open and Prince Gaius’ heart sank. That meant that the other undead were probably pouring in from above. He tried not to think too much of what could happen next and focused on reloading his pistol so he could use it again.

Then the mist parted around them and the familiar sound of chanting filled the cellar.

It was Father Stanwick the badger, Sanchez the dog and those that came with them.

“Sanchez!” Zobel said as he dove aside to avoid being crushed by one of the bone giant’s enormous legs. “Help us out.”

And that they did.

+++

“Thank you,” said the corpse of Nadia Belford. “Thank the Redeemer that you’ve come.”

“We’ll get you out!” Medina said, opening the glass coffin. “We’ll help!”

“No,” said the corpse. “Please, if you must help, please help my daughter Wendy!”

+++

Sanchez the dog, Fr. Stanwick and the lemmings and buffaloes that came with them were quick to join the fray.

As the priest descended, he began to chant louder, dispelling more and more of the fog so that the others could see it better. Their group also had their own lanterns and Candle of Protection which they used banish more of the mists that surrounded them. Now they could all see the thing more clearly and they fought it with even more ferocity.

+++

“Joseph!” Nadia Belford said in her raspy corpse-voice. “Joseph took Wendy with him when he left Karlaca!”

“Nadia?” Beryl asked. “Is your daughter still alive. Is she still alive like us? Or is she like you now?”

“My Wendy is alive,” Nadia answered. “I was merely his experiment. My husband just wanted to know the effects of undeath so he used me as his test subject. Oh, how I suffered for him! If I could only get my hands around that man’s neck!”

Vic shivered at the idea of an undead woman like Nadia strangling him.

“Then let us get you out!” Medina said, once again prying at the glass coffin. “Help us find your husband!”

“No Medina,” Nadia said. “You must destroy me!”

+++

Fr. Stanwick’s prayers almost dispelled the fog completely but it was clear that they were still at a disadvantage against the bone giant. They simply did not have enough energy and ammunition to keep fighting it and destroy enough of its body. Fr. Stanwick considered calling for divine intervention to disintegrate the monster but that would allow the mist to reform, blinding them again.

But then several small things fell unto the creature below which exploded, causing parts of the monster to scatter everywhere. Then, bolts of fire rained down from above, setting parts of the bone giant ablaze. To forms descended from the holes the bone giant made earlier. One was avian and dressed in a bright red hood and cloak while the other was long and serpentine with a white coat.

It was Sienna the owl and Zane the cobra. Next, the doors to the cellar swung open again and a crocodile and a bat entered, followed quickly by a hare and a tortoise carrying a small cannon. More people came through the open doorway and more people came in armed with muskets.

+++

“Destroy me Medina,” Nadia said. “End the awful curse of this place!”

“But...” Medina trailed off.

“Please Medina,” Nadia went on. “My husband has gone mad! He has become obsessed with undeath! He is now bent on finding Admiral Sebastian and learning all that he can from the archlich!”

“He’s what?” Beryl asked. “You’re telling me that Count Belford is looking for Admiral Sebastian?”

“Look to his notes,” Nadia pointed at the table with all the notebooks and papers at the side of the chamber with a shaky, skeletal hand. “You will find it all in there. He has written there all that he knows of the undead pirate and how he may achieve undeath himself. Joseph has recorded everything. Every minute detail of how to create undead and transform oneself into one.”

“Does he know how to find Admiral Sebastian?” Beryl said as she looked over the notebooks on the table. “Will we learn of his whereabouts?”

“Yes,” Nadia said. “With those, you may find my husband and, if you follow him, he will likely lead you to Admiral Sebastian. He is obsessed with the old lizard, you see. He will stop at nothing to discover the archlich’s secrets, including and especially his immortality. All that I ask is that you save my daughter from him. Take her back and tell her what her father had done to her mother. Tell her everything.”

+++

“FIRE!” shouted Khayyam the crocodile once they had a clear line-of-fire towards the bone giant.

“Fire!” repeated Prince Gaius as he fired his own pistol at the undead horror.

“Fire!” yelled Cindy as she tossed her last remaining firework at the goliath made of skeletons.

The crewmen with muskets all fired at the bone giant as Gustaf the tortoise and Karl the rabbit blasted away with their cannon. Sienna the owl attacked the bone giant with a more potent fire spell, expanding her bolts of fire into a large ball of flame. Zane the cobra tossed a bomb at the monster that immediately sizzled and began eating away at the bones of the creature when it struck.

The combined force of the attacks knocked bones out of the undead horror’s body and finally, it toppled to the ground, its body dividing in half.

Those gathered around the monster were about to cheer in triumph but then something started happening.

The bones that had been knocked free from the bone giant began shaking again as if there was an earthquake. Soon the bones began to fly in the air once again and filled in the gaps of the two masses of bones. Then, after all the bones on the floor had gone, two new bone giants clambered on disproportionate feet.

“Not again,” Zobel the rat said. “You gotta be kidding!”

+++

“Now, please do as I ask,” Nadia said. “Please, destroy me.”

“But why?” Medina said. “There must be some other way.”

“No, my friend,” the corpse-jackal said. “There is no other way. I would want to help you but through me my husband has already too many awful things. I have felt and witnessed many who have died within Belford Mansion. Those who were unfortunate enough to find themselves within its walls have rarely escaped. Through me, the curse of the house has spread through Karlaca in the form of the mist. I have seen how it has taken the people and turned them into zombies. I have seen how the mist reanimated the dead, trapping unfortunate souls within their own decaying bodies or imprisoned within the mist and slowly forgetting everything they had ever known and loved. I am what powers the curse and to end it, you must destroy me.”

Medina the water buffalo only looked away.

“Please, I am just so tired,” Nadia Belford said. “I am so tired of being here. Of being trapped in this coffin. Of being trapped in this rotted husk of a body. I am so cold but I know that nothing will warm me now even if I am set on fire. Please, end it.”

“No,” the water buffalo said. “I can’t.”

But then Beryl put a hand on the other woman’s shoulder.

“I will do it,” said Beryl and drew her pistol-sword. “Will this be enough?”

“Yes,” Nadia said. “That will do.”

The corpse-jackal pointed a gnarled finger at her forehead.

“Aim here,” Nadia said and again attempted a smile that only made Vic’s skin crawl. “But please find my daughter. I do not know what her father has told her and I don’t know what she has done but I assure you that she is a good girl. Her father has taken her with him, corrupting her mind with his own ambitions of eternal life. Please take her back from him. Take her back so that she can live a better life. The life of a necromancer is not for my dear Wendy. Please, I beg you.”

“I will,” Beryl said, pointing her pistol sword at Nadia Belford. “I promise.”

+++

As a gun was fired somewhere on the upper floors, the group in the cellar prepared for the worst. Their combined attacks worked to a degree but it was clear they needed even greater firepower if they hoped to destroy the bone giants. What they had on hand was clearly not enough.

They tried to reload as fast as they could while McGrath, Zobel, Cindy, Kiana and Zenny tried to distract the enormous monsters that were trying to stomp on them like vermin.

Prince Gaius was trying to reload his pistol, carefully pouring in gunpowder into the barrel with shaky hands. Zane was trying to prepare another acid bomb as it did damage the monster couldn’t easily repair but had to rummage through his rucksack because he didn’t dare take his eyes off the monster. Sienna had expended a lot of energy in her last fireball attack and took deep breaths just to be able prepare firebolts.

But then, just as the bone giants bore down on them, they suddenly stopped and bones began to fall and scatter from their enormous forms. Bones rained all around them as the bone giants began to fall apart. It was clear that whatever force animated them was gone now.

The mist too began to part, revealing the cellar fully. Whatever power it had was fading too as they could hear corpses and skeletons above fall over. It was over, the curse had been lifted from Belford Mansion.

Yvonne the fruit bat raised her head cautiously.

“Is it over?” she asked. “For real this time?”