Zombie Mage (10 page)

“There he is! Grab ‘im!” one of them shouted.

Not particularly in the mood to make friends, Olligh
pushed open a door to his left and hurried inside.  The key was still in the
lock so he turned it with a satisfying clunk and looked around.  He appeared to
be in a small study.  A large desk, littered with books, stood at the far end
of the room and next to it was a skeleton hanging from the ceiling by a metal
hook.   Behind the desk was a window with closed shutters; a sure way to escape
and continue his search to find his wife.  Not believing his good fortune, he
rushed forward to open the shutters, spurred on by a heavy thud and angry cries
from behind.  He didn’t think it would take the peasants very long to break
down the door.

Olligh fumbled with the catch on the shutters and
flung them open, happy to be greeted by a familiar scene.  He spotted Ekelton
village square and, more importantly, it appeared deserted.  Glad he now knew
where he was, he scrambled through the opening anxious to escape the angry
mob.  Halfway outside, someone grabbed him by his neck and he felt a heavy blow
to the side of his head.  Alas for poor Olligh, all went dark again but, this
time, it wasn't the cosmos claiming him.

* * * *

Olligh opened one of his eyes.  His head throbbed and his throat felt
red raw.  Unable to focus properly, he decided to shut his eye and wait a bit
longer.  A cool breeze touched his face, calming his senses, and a crow cawed
nearby.  For a moment, he felt quite light-headed and relaxed until he
remembered his botched escape attempt.  Both eyes flicked open and he glanced
around sharply.  He noticed thatched roofs and treetops in the distance.
Wondering where he was, he peered down and realised that he was still in the
village.  This time though, he was peering down at the ground rather than
standing on it.  A sudden, horrible thought assailed him.  Looking up confirmed
his suspicions; he noticed a stretch of rope and wooden gallows.  Olligh
groaned.  No wonder he had trouble swallowing.  The peasants had decided to
hang him.

“Mister! Are you awake?”

Olligh peered down and noticed a little girl sitting
next to the wooden platform. “You are awake!” she continued.  “I’ll go and get
Doctor Sykes.  I’ve got to tell him if you move.”

The girl stood and ran through the village square and
into a side alley.  Olligh rolled his eyes.  He didn’t particularly wish to
spend more time getting to know Doctor Sykes.  The man was obviously insane and
Olligh wondered if he really was a doctor of medicine or merely an enthusiastic
collector of unusual body parts. He had to escape so he reached for the rope
above his head and focused on the cosmic energies.

Zoldack!

Nothing happened.  Olligh cursed, trying to remember
the words of power.

Lithis Zoldack!

His hand tingled and shimmered faintly but nothing
more occurred.   Returning his gaze to the ground, he spotted the little girl
returning out from the alleyway, followed by an anxious looking Doctor Sykes. 
Worse still, he could feel the cosmic energies beginning to dissipate.  Olligh
returned his attention to the rope and continued to focus on the task at hand.

Slarvano Zoldack!

A crack of blue fire shot from his hand and, within
seconds, a bright flame appeared; it began to burn through the rope.  Olligh
breathed a sigh of relief and tried to concentrate on maintaining the familiar
pressure in his head.

“Ah, so you’re still alive!” Doctor Sykes called. “I’m
going to climb up there and help cut you down but, in return for saving your
life, I’ll of course expect you to allow me to conduct a few medical tests on
you.”

Olligh wasn’t really paying much attention to the
doctor.   He watched the flame take hold, willing it to burn quickly.

“So,” continued the doctor, “are you agreeable?  Do
nod if you want my help.  If not, I’ll leave you to hang and I guarantee it
won’t be a pleasant experience. We’ve got some rather hungry crows flying
around the village and I’m sure they’ll enjoy feeding on your eyeballs.”

Olligh watched as the magical flame burned quickly
through the remaining few threads and the rope snapped.  He fell to the ground
and landed on top of the surprised doctor, knocking him straight over. The
little girl screamed.

“No, thank you,” Olligh replied.  “I’ve no need of
your services today but perhaps some other time we can have a get together. 
Thanks ever so much for cushioning my fall though.”

With that, he staggered to his feet and headed out of
the village square, leaving a bewildered and seriously winded doctor behind.

“I’ll get you for this!” yelled Doctor Sykes, waving
his fist. “You just wait.”

Olligh smiled, delighted to be free from Ekelton
village once again.

Veldrigg’s eyes flicked open.  A bright light was shining above him. 
It wasn’t the same light that he was expecting – he much preferred the green
light from the gods; the one that consumed him and took him to different
places.  On this occasion he wondered why the gods had abandoned him.  He’d
done exactly as he was asked and more, even to the point of actually enjoying
the violent destruction he wrought on his victims.  What more could the gods
ever want from him? Anyway, regardless of these thoughts, Veldrigg had far more
pressing things on his mind.  He wondered where he was and, more importantly,
why his stomach didn’t ache with hunger.  Normally, he had an insatiable
appetite that was difficult to control.  Even after tearing the flesh from
countless victims and swallowing it greedily he normally still felt the urge
for more. It generally took a lot of eating to numb the pain in his stomach.

Turning his gaze from the light he looked around the
room trying to determine his whereabouts.  The first thing he noticed was that
he was lying on a metal table.  The second thing he noticed was his stomach and
intestines hanging from a hook on the ceiling directly above him.  They were
definitely his.  Peering down at his naked body he realised that he had been
sliced open from neck to waist.  Surgical instruments were scattered on an
adjoining shelf.  Both the instruments and the body parts were still fresh with
blood.  Whoever had done this to him would soon be returning.  Veldrigg was
happy to wait.  It looked as though the gods were giving him a second chance after
all.

Thankfully he didn’t have long to wait.  Veldrigg
heard voices and a door open nearby.   He shut his eyes and pretended to be
dead.  To be honest, he couldn’t see much anyway.  His eyes had deteriorated so
badly that everything continued to be one big blur.

“Welcome to our latest finding,” a man announced.  “As
students you will find this a most insightful and rewarding experience.”

Veldrigg could hear people murmuring and the odd gasp.

“Oh, man!” someone said.

“Gross!” said a woman.

“This cadaver is quite intriguing,” continued the man.
“Jones – what is the first thing you notice that draws your attention?”

“Urm,” Jones responded. “Well it’s definitely a man.”

To this remark, a few people chuckled quietly in the
background.

“Indeed, but that isn’t going to help you pass your
exam now, is it Jones?”

“Urm, no, I guess not, Professor.”

“Anyone else?”

“He stinks like a bloated pig,” a woman said.

“Another completely useless observation,” the
professor remarked. “I expected a little more from you, Gillespie. Would any of
my more astute students wish to comment?”

The students shuffled closer, peering at his body. 
Veldrigg continued to play dead, waiting for someone to get within grabbing
distance.

“He’s been dead a fair while, Professor,” another
student commented. “The tissues have a dark discolouration indicating an
advanced stage of post-mortem degradation and the subcutaneous tissue is
blistered and swollen.”

“Indeed, Stephens.  It’s good to see that at least one
of you will be passing the practical exam next year.”

“Thank you, Professor.  I reckon if you open his skull
you’ll probably find that his brain is one mushy mess as well.”

“Indeed.  I’ve yet to open his skull but we can
certainly do that soon.”

“Cool,” Jones said.

The professor coughed loudly. “So, would any of you be
able to explain why this cadaver was walking around just four hours ago?”

The room went quiet.

“Four hours ago?” Stephens remarked.

“Yes.  No doubt you will all have watched the news
about the so called zombie that was terrorising a local supermarket.”

“Wow, is this the dude?” Jones asked.

“Indeed so.  They brought him here for an
examination.  Our team here is well regarded and they wanted quick answers.”

Everyone stepped closer to Veldrigg.  The room was now
filled with excited chatter.

“So, what do you think, Professor?” Gillespie said.
“Is there any scientific or logical way that this stinky corpse might have been
walking?”

“Other than by strings, we’re still unsure.  We’re
hoping to learn more once we get inside his head.  It may be some form of
neurological anomaly that we’ve never witnessed before.”

With that, the professor tapped Veldrigg’s skull. 
This was the moment that Veldrigg had been waiting for.  He immediately opened
his eyes and grabbed the professor’s arm, yanking him over the post-mortem
table towards him.  Before the professor could react, Veldrigg savagely ripped
his neck open, spraying the astonished students with fresh blood.

The room was now a mass of screams and terror. 
Veldrigg threw the limp professor to the floor and attempted to get off the
table.  With his feet firmly on the ground, he lurched forward attempting to
grab whatever demon got in his way.  With his sharp nails, he clawed someone’s
face and thrust them against the wall, cracking their skull open with the force
of the blow.  To his left he grabbed someone’s hand and pulled it towards his
mouth, biting it with intense fury.  Unfortunately, this also caused one of his
few remaining teeth to fall out and it was now stuck in the victim’s hand. Although
this didn’t hurt him, he was rather annoyed that the demon dared to retain one
of his fine teeth.

“My tooth!” Veldrigg screamed.  “Give tooth back!”

In his rage, he didn’t notice someone sneak up behind
him.  They whacked him on the head with a fire extinguisher.  Veldrigg wobbled
a bit but kept his footing and turned to face the demon that dared to try and
best him.  It was in the guise of a girl and she was weak, pathetic and
screaming with terror.  Veldrigg laughed and wiped the streaming blood from his
wound.  As punishment for her assault he would enjoy ripping her head off from
her scrawny shoulders. He roared and reached out to grab her but in response
she released the handle on the extinguisher and sprayed him with vile foam.

“Give me that,” a man asked.

Veldrigg felt something smash against his head, not
once but three times.  He crumpled to the floor in the wet, soggy mess,
defeated once again by the demons.  Although embarrassed at his failure, and
the loss of a good tooth, he knew the gods were pleased with him for trying.  A
green mist was forming around him and the room was spinning faster and faster. 
His last thought was why there was more blood than foam on the floor.

Crossing over the bridge that led out from Ekelton Village, a sudden
recollection struck Olligh.  It was a hazy, but familiar, feeling which urged
him to take an alternative route instead of continuing along the forest track. 
He climbed down the river bank and followed the river until he spotted what he
was looking for.  On a hilltop overlooking the river and village stood an
impressive manor house with a large tower by its side.  Olligh smiled.  He was
glad to finally be drawn to something familiar and welcoming in these dark
times.  He realised, without a doubt, that this was his home.  For a while he
stood gazing at his house, desperately trying to cling to any memories that
dared to surface.  He remembered carrying Lara, his wife, through the doorway
into their new home and her cry of laughter when he pulled a muscle in his back
and dropped her to the floor.  He could also clearly visualise the dining hall
and the oak table where they would sit and share stories and drink wine
together while they ate.  He willed for more of these memories to emerge, frustrated
by the barrier that continued to cloud his mind.  At least he now knew he'd led
a partly blessed life and shared it with a beautiful, loving woman but, still,
this wasn't enough.  He wanted to know everything - every little detail and, in
particular, what had gone wrong and why.  

Curiosity got the better of him and he began walking
up the hill towards the house.  He wondered if it would be empty or if another
family member had claimed it.  Olligh stopped momentarily.  He wasn't even sure
if he had children.  What if his son or daughter came to the door and he had to
face them?  He wondered how they'd react and if they'd recognise him.  He shook
his head, disregarding the thought and continued up the hill.  It was too late
to turn back now.  He gazed at the tower, squinting with the glare of the sun
which shone lazily above it.  Strangely he couldn't remember anything about the
tower but he hoped that, once inside, more memories would come flooding back. 
He reached the great double doors to his house and tried the handle but,
although it turned, the door remained locked.  Olligh froze, certain he could
hear someone shuffling about from behind the door.