Storm of the Dead - Lisa Smedman [21]
"What-" Cavatina stopped herself before asking the question. As a Darksong Knight, her training had focused on hunting demons, and only to a lesser degree on the undead. She was loath to reveal her ignorance by asking about the creature. She nodded at the severed head. "She knew your name: Kвras."
He nodded.
"Why?"
"I was one of her consorts. Briefly."
"Until you learned who she served?"
"Until I killed her."
"Ah," Cavatina said, suddenly understanding. "She's a revenant."
"Yes."
That made sense. The Crones' thirst for vengeance was unquenchable. Their goddess dictated that any slight, no matter how small, must be avenged. A fatal bolt in the back from the crossbow of a consort would rank right at the top of the list. Kiaransalee herself must have lifted it from the grave.
Cavatina used her sword to flick the robe away from what remained of the Crone's feet. They were mere stubs, the toes and front of each foot long since worn away. "Looks like she walked a long way."
Kвras nodded. "All the way from Maerimydra."
Cavatina looked up. "Were you there-in Maerimydra? When it fell to Kiaransalee's cultists?"
"Yes. And before that, when the army of Kurgoth Hellspawn overran the cavern."
Cavatina stared at Kвras with a fresh respect. Whatever else he might be, he was a survivor. Kurgoth's army of goblins, bugbears, and ogres had laid waste to the Underdark city of Maerimydra during Lolth's Silence. According to the stories, its streets had been filled with thousands of corpses after the army had sacked it. A bountiful harvest for the Crones who'd ruled what remained of the city afterward.
"Did you see Kurgoth yourself?"
"No, shadows be praised."
"That's… fortunate," Cavatina said. A lie-she would have loved to have crossed swords with a fire giant who was reputed to be half fiend. She supposed, however, there had been plenty of other adversaries wandering the streets of Maerimydra after the city's fall. She wondered if the Crone they'd just battled was the only one of Kiaransalee's worshipers Kвras had killed.
She glanced around at the moonlit forest. "Do you expect more of them? More revenants?"
"No." He dumped more wood on the corpse. "The moon rat only mentioned this one." Over his shoulder, he added, "Do you know a prayer that can raise fire?"
"No."
He sighed then unfastened the straps that held the crossbow to his forearm and detached the bow from the rest of the mechanism. Then he reached for a stick.
Cavatina sheathed her sword and watched Kвras twist the bowstring around the stick. He carved a hole in a dried scrap of wood and set one end of the stick in it, and added some dried moss. Then, holding the top of the stick loosely, he sawed the bow back and forth, twirling the stick rapidly in place. Eventually the base of it smoldered. A moment later, tiny flames crackled through the dried moss. Kвras blew them to life, gradually adding tinder. Soon, he had a fire.
The flames licked at the undead priestess's robe, charring it. Then the body itself burst into flame. It burned rapidly and with great heat, melting away like a candle. Kвras rolled the head into the fire. A smell like burning leather filled the air.
Cavatina moved closer to Kвras as the Crone's head was consumed. The Nightshadow stared at it without emotion as the flames danced across its desiccated flesh. She wondered if the Crone had been beautiful when still alive-whether Kвras had loved the woman, once. Then she remembered that they did things differently in the Underdark. Females simply "took" males when they wanted them. If it had been like that, little wonder Kвras betrayed no emotion.
Cavatina was curious to hear how the undead hordes of Kiaransalee had been driven from the city, and even more interested in hearing about Kurgoth Hellspawn. She turned to ask Kвras about the city's fall and recapture.
He was gone.
CHAPTER 3
The Month of Marpenoth
The Year of the Haunting (1377 DR)
Q'arlynd stood beside the workbench where his scrolls and spell ingredients were