The sun was coming down as Yofandel closed his shop.
Greeting the various villagers along the way, he headed for "The Portcullis" to have a quick dinner, maybe a beer, and chat a bit with Harth.
The inn was relaxed as ever, not many had arrived to drink yet, and today there were no new travellers, it seemed.
The elf sat down at a free table
'Can't seem to leave me alone for one day, eh pointy ears?'
'So it seems'
'Boring day, huh?'
'How can you tell?'
'Your banter isn't on point'
'Can't hide a thing from you'
'I'd be impressed if you managed to keep a secret from me, we've known eachother for... how long now?'
'Thirty years, give or take'
'Man, time sure flies past. So, what can I get ya?'
Whenever Harth had no customers to serve, he sat down with Yofandel, watching him eat and teasing him from time to time.
'By the by, have you seen Nicole today?'
'Sure did, she was at my shop this morning, why?'
'So, get this, she, Nosh and Gareth went out for an expedition today'
'That's an odd group'
'Exactly! Apparently Nosh had found something in the swamps, down North'
'Doesn't explain Gareth going there, was he out of herbs or something?'
'Apparently that something is magical. Truth is, nobody is concerned 'cause, well, you know Nosh, but when they departed, he asked for his magical stuff'
'That's a rare one, when was the last time he did?'
'Never! He stashed those two things away when he arrived, and this was the first time he asked for them. Thank the Gods I still knew where the key was'
'You're sure he wasn't just trying to impress the lady?'
'I thought so as well, but when I handed him the key, he had a strange look on him'
'And I assume they haven't returned'
'Not yet'
'Do you want me to meet them on the road?'
'Better safe than sorry'
'... Alright. But you owe me one'
After he had finished eating, the elf went to his house, and took a few items for the journey.
"This is probably an useless trip, might as well bring my hunting gear" he thought, grabbing a bow, his knife and some arrows.
The sun had gone down and the moon was a quarter, but thankfully there were few clouds in the sky. Still, the elf decided to bring his lantern as well, just to be sure.
The mountain road that connected Gama to Lannsport was eerie at night, especially in the parts where it cut though a forest.
Yofandel was checking every sound, and investigating each shadow, in the hope of finding some prey, but there was nothing to be found.
He had a feeling that something was off, but he brushed it away, saying it was just bad luck.
Just as he was cursing his luck, his eyes catched a glint of light in the distance, just beside the road.
He hid himself, carefully approaching.
Bandits were rare in these parts, but being cautious always paid off.
Getting closer, he noticed that the light was coming from a lantern, and it was being held by Nicole.
He approached the girl, who jumped and screamed at his sight
'Easy, easy, it's me'
She was crying, and just now the elf noticed the state she was in: dirty, clearly exhausted, her clothes torn in multiple places, but at least she didn't look wounded or hurt, although she was limping.
'Yofandel?'
Her voice was barely a whisper
'What happened to the others?'
'The others? The others... they...'
She fell to her knees, letting the lantern fall as well, hands in her hair, screaming.
The elf immediatly rushed to her, trying to soothe her, but it was no use.
It took a short while for Nicole to calm down, and after then she collapsed, unconscious. Yofandel searched briefly the area for traces of the others, but he couldn't move too far from the girl, and was unable to find a single thing.
But he did sense something watching him, in the darkness. A presence.
Nicole woke up in the morning, and was immediatly relieved in seeing the cieling of her room.
"Must have been a bad dream, that's all"
She tried climbing out of her bed, but her right ankle was hurting badly.
Then she realized, it had been no dream at all. Reliving the events of the day before, she started screaming,
Her father, Janus, rushed in the room, almost bashing down the door in the process, and comforted his child
'Easy now, dear, easy'
'Father... I...'
'I'm here, don't worry, everything will be alright'
'I... I must tell you...'
'Don't force yourself, Nicole, try and rest now'
'No, I must!'
In the end, she managed to tell the entire story to her father, who immediatly called for a council meeting, leaving the maid with his daughter.
'I regret to inform you all that we are in great danger'
Janus Orman addressed the rest of the council, letting his gaze rest on each one of the other 7 members before continuing.
'This night, Nicole, Nosh and Gareth went to check a tower that magically appeared in the middle of the swamps. There, they found an army of undead-'
Petra, the Head Huntress interrupted him
'Is that so? Last year, due to an "army" of goblins, me and the others had to avoid the whole west side of the forest for weeks. You know better than I do how much it costed us'
Tobias, the one chosen as the representative for all farmers, seemed to agree with her
'I can assure you all that this time the danger is very real. My daughter was the only one that survived the encounter, and she speaks of a being of incredible power, who is controlling that army'
Ray, the city priest raised his voice
'That is simply impossible, we all know that the undead are born of the regret of a soul, and cannot be controlled. Many mages have attempted it, but they all failed, never to become more than bedtime stories'
'Are you saying that my daughter lied? That Nosh got killed by mere undead?'
There was murmuring in the meeting room, and Janus waited for it to die down before continuing
'This creature intends to attack our city in just a few days'
Chaos exploded as everyone voiced their thoughts at the same time.
Janus sighed. Then he raised his voice over the noise, his tone now stern and commanding.
'Silence! We have to keep calm'
'But what about our houses?'
'What about our fields?'
They cried in response
'This is our town and we're not abandoning it! Those who want to flee, leave this room and flee, the rest will fight with me'
Nobody dared to move, so he continued
'Good. First thing we need are informations on the enemy, Petra, coordinate the hunters to scout the area around the town, I don't want a single leaf moving without me knowing'
His sudden tone silenced the room, and the lead Huntress could do nothing else but nod
'We then need weapons, Mark, go to Yofandel and have him produce as many weapons as he can, then assign him some people to help him, and provide him with any materials he needs'
The merchant tried to voice his thoughts, but Janus continued before he had the chanc
'For training, Harth, you've been in the Royal Army, please take care of instructing everyone. I want everyone able to tell which is the business end of a spear by the end of the day'
Harth saluted in confirmation
'Tobias, gather all the farmers, they will go to Harth for training. And have them bring their pitchforks as well'
He addressed Arma, the only builder in town
'Arma, I need you to check the city walls, let me know which sides are weaker, then try and make sure we can at least walk on the damn thing safely. Pick a few farmers to help you as well'
Towering over the rest of the members, Arma gave her thumbs up to the Mayor
'Ray, I need you to pen a letter to the capital, inform them of the situation, have them send us help, then search Gareth's laboratory for anything userful. You know a bit of alchemy as well, don't you?
Archibald, you make sure that message arrives safely.
Now go!'
They all dispersed, and left Janus reminiscing about his own days in the army.
'Did I do a good job, Captain?'
he said softly to nobody in particular, gazing out of the window
He had other thoughts as well, thoughts so scary he couldn't even voice them
"Will it be enough?"
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Will they obey me?"
He wondered for a bit if his Captain had these thoughts as well, then decided it was time he did something as well.
Map in hand, he started studying the streets, battle plans forming in his mind.