When the smoke cloud cleared, there was nothing left of the corpse except for a crater in the ground, large enough for a cave troll to hide in.
“By the Lord of Light,” Elyse murmured, her jaw slack. “That was… impressive.”
“You’re right about that!” I said, an ear-to-ear grin spread across my face. “You can start calling me the God of Thunder from now on.”
“That was no mere substitute for gray powder,” Rami said. “To produce so large an explosion with the Yengish substance would require immense quantities.”
Isu emerged from the trees, looking suitably impressed. “Ah, the corpse explosion spell. That was one of my favorites. Use it wisely, Vance. And be careful how and when you use it, too.”
I raised an eyebrow. Was this another occasion where Isu was willing to actually provide me with advice rather than snark?
“Why do you say that?” I asked, unsure of her motives.
“Don’t you notice anything about how you’re feeling now?”
“I feel great. I could blow up corpses all day!”
“You could… but you’d be dead by the time night fell.”
“What? But I feel—”
Now that the initial euphoria was wearing off, a sensation of weariness was coming over me, as if I’d just fought a grueling battle against a powerful opponent.
Isu studied my face and smiled knowingly. “I told you. The more powerful your magic is, the greater the cost. You’re not yet powerful enough to throw spells around with abandon. More souls… more followers.”
Drok came ambling back into the clearing with a dead deer slung over his shoulder. He paused and looked at the smoking crater in the ground.
“Hmm, that look like nice hole for sleep,” he observed.
Isu wrinkled her nose. “I see you’ve obtained yet another follower,” she muttered to me.
“Horned woman!” yelled Drok, his blue eyes sparkling with delight. “I can touch horns?”
In an instant, Isu’s dagger was in her right hand. “If you even think of touching me, you filthy half-wit,” she snarled, “you’ll lose a hand, or worse.”
“You probably shouldn’t touch her horns, Drok,” I said. “Or any other part of her, for that matter.”
“Don’t even breathe in my direction,” Isu hissed. “Keep him away from me, Vance, or I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
“Relax,” I said. “He’ll behave. Won’t you, Drok?”
“Drok be good,” he rumbled reluctantly. “Drok no touch no one. Drok no breathe on no one.”
“Good,” I said. “Now that’s all settled, let’s enjoy some roasted venison, courtesy of our new friend, Drok. After that, we move on. We have more soldiers to kill, a map to find, a ruined temple to explore, a goddess to resurrect, and a lordship to take back.”
“Also go to Drok’s home,” he said. “See wise woman.”
“Yeah, that as well.”
Chapter Thirteen
Everyone with me was mounted, with the exception of Talon the harpy, of course. Even Drok was riding. He’d taken a horse from the bandits. The poor beast was utterly exhausted and looked like its back was about to break. The barbarian needed something a lot more powerful than a mere horse to lug his bulk around. Perhaps I could kill a bear and raise it as a zombie? That sort of creature would be able to handle his weight. Or, even better, a cave troll, if we could find one. We weren’t near any mountains though, so that was out of the question for the moment.
Not long after we set off, we found a razed hamlet, along with the corpses of loggers and their wives. It was a similar scene to the one I’d witnessed in the village, dead men and women lying everywhere, having been cut down while trying to flee. At least there were no children this time. All the dead had been stripped of any valuables. It seemed pretty consistent with how Rollar’s thugs operated.
Not wanting to defile the dead, I didn’t raise any of the corpses. After Elyse uttered a brief prayer, we continued riding.
Atop Fang, I crested a small rise in the woods. When I looked over the top, I spotted more corpses hanging from the limbs of a large, sprawling oak tree. They’d all been hanged, that much was clear. The Sunburst symbol of the Lord of Light’s army showed on their tabards. But these weren’t members of the church’s military. At least, they weren’t current members. They were Rollar’s troops.
Elyse rode up to me and gasped. “What on earth happened here?”
“By Xayon,” Rami murmured as her horse stopped beside me.
“Who do you think did this?” Elyse asked.
Isu scowled up at the tree. “Someone with poor taste in execution methods.”
“Let’s have a look at the bodies,” I suggested. “We might find some clues.”
We approached the tree, and I cut down a corpse. It dropped to the ground, and its head burst in a spray of foul-smelling viscera. The soldier was still wearing his armor and still had his sword sheathed on his hip, as well as a dagger tucked into his belt. His coin purse was bulging with copper and silver, and a few items of women’s jewelry. His hands were tied behind his back.
I cut down another, and it was the same story: his weapons were still on him, and his purse was full of stolen gold and women’s jewelry. They must have raided more than just the corpses we’d come across earlier because the items were too expensive for mere loggers.
Was this mass execution a product of revenge? Had some of their victims pursued
