Black wizards - Douglas Niles [77]
"Then we escape. You are to change upon my signal. When you have done so, I will follow. We must then return to the grove with all possible haste!"
Genna turned to the south, and Robyn followed her teacher's gaze. Gradually, through the widely spaced trunks of the oaks that spread away from the base of the hill, they began to see the vanguard of the horrible force. A few zombies, shuffling mindlessly forward, appeared among the trees.
"Why?" Robyn whispered. "Why are they doing this?"
For once, her teacher had no answer.
Robyn's horror gradually turned to anger. She wanted to destroy the unnatural creatures, wiping them from the face of Gwynneth. She clenched her staff and gritted her teeth as they drew closer.
"Protect yourself, dear" said Genna quietly. The great druid cast a simple spell upon herself, and Robyn did the same. The minor spell, called barkskin, toughened their natural skin without changing its appearance or flexibility. They hoped it would be unnecessary, for they did not intend to get close enough to the enemy for the claws of the zombies to strike them, but it seemed a wise precaution.
"Here," added the teacher, handing acorns to Robyn. "I have enchanted these – you have but to throw them."
The acorns felt warm in Robyn's hand, and the knowledge that she held a potent weapon steadied her nerves.
The monsters had now reached the base of the hill and started to creep among the boulders, shuffling up the slope. Genna stared at them, and for a moment Robyn saw vehemence flashing in the Great Druid's eyes. The woman blinked slowly, and her face became a mask of concentration.
Several dozen zombies now moved up the hill, clumsily tripping and climbing to their feet. The creatures' smell preceded them, and Genna reached into a pocket to draw forth some crushed herbs. She rubbed some of the fragrant mixture upon her nose and upper lip and handed the rest to Robyn. The young druid did the same and realized that the odor became unnoticeable.
She was shocked at the visible difference between these zombies – dead for a year – and the sight of Acorn's undead body. She had thought nothing could be more horrible than the man's broken neck and limply hanging head. But now she saw the gruesome colors – black, gray, even green – on the flesh of the attackers. Occasional patches of bone showed through gaps in rotten flesh – a forehead here, or jawbone there. Most were missing their eyes and ears, and many had lost limbs to the battle that had killed them, if not the decay that had followed their deaths.
A number of bodies followed, but these had no flesh whatsoever; they were simply walking skeletons. From a distance Robyn thought the skeletons looked even more unnatural than the animated corpses.
She realized that these humans had been dead for a long time, and suddenly she knew where they came from. She could see the long blond hair and coarse beards of Northmen, and thought she knew the stockier bodies of her own Ffolk. Memories of the Darkwalker War assailed her, especially the part she had played in the battle at Freeman's Down. And from that field, she knew, came this army, tragic warriors doomed to fight yet another battle, this time on the side of the enemy.
The monsters must have sensed the druids on the hilltop, for they quickened their pace, closing on the rounded summit instead of continuing their straight northward march. She wondered whether they had been commanded or if they simply sought, by instinct, to attack the humans that stood in their path.
Robyn wanted to shake Genna or scream at her, anything to force the Great Druid into action. But she dared not disturb her teacher's concentration.
The nearest zombie was no more than twenty feet away when Genna finally barked a single, sharp command. The ground itself seemed to shudder from the order, and Robyn saw huge boulders twist and roll from their places.
Dozens, then hundreds, of the great rocks sprang with a life of their own from the dry earth, erupting with explosive power to bound and thump down the hill into the midst