Zombie Mage (23 page)

“Quite.  She would've made a fine dancer at our ball. 
They say those who dance never really die."

"Hetty..." Renfer continued. "Her name
was Hetty.  That's all we could make out from her.  The poor girl, she could
only utter a word or two at a time. We had to send her to the blue sector
before her mind deteriorated further."

Gull chuckled nervously. "Oh, great. To find her,
we're going to have to go to hell."

"It won't be the first time someone's asked me to
do that," Marvin confessed.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lady
Craggy asked. "Is there anything I can do to convince you otherwise?"

Olligh stood quietly, pondering the situation, while
Renfer walked over to the shrine and grabbed a key from inside an antique pot.

"You'll be ripped to shreds," Renfer advised
as he returned to Olligh. "Unlike us, they've got an insatiable appetite.  Given
half the chance, they'll even devour each other.  If the one you seek is still
alive, I'll be amazed."

Olligh reached to accept the key from Renfer. 
"As needs must, my friend.  As needs must."

Renfer locked and bolted the blue door behind them.  The cave tunnel
continued in the distance, sloping upwards towards complete darkness.  The only
source of light was a glowing rock above the door and a cane that Lady Craggy
had kindly loaned to Olligh.

"Would you care to explain how we get out
again?" Marvin asked. "I'm sure I've misunderstood something
obvious."

"Don't worry," Olligh explained. "We
simply return here and knock on the door. If the red sector guards are on duty
they'll open up and let us in.  If not, then we'll just have to wait until
someone comes along."

"Aye," Gull said, "but I agree with
Marvin.  What if we return to the door with a few hundred mindless fiends in
hot pursuit and the guard just happens to be off duty?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun and frolics, won't it?"
Marvin said.

"Don't forget.  I'm here," Olligh continued,
"and they'll have a difficult time negating a blast of ice or a fiery
flame."

"That doesn't provide much comfort," Marvin
said. "Especially if you decide to use one of your defective shield
spells."

Olligh frowned. "Look, if anyone should be
worrying here, it should be me.  You both don't have much left to rip
apart."

"Oooh, hear him," Marvin said.

Gull grinned. "Aye, but he's got a point.  He
hasn't lost anything yet."

Olligh began walking through the cave, agitated with
the idle chatter. "I've lost more than you both realise.  As well as my
memories, I've also lost my wife.  I'd happily give both my arms and legs to
get them back.  Life feels so... empty without them."

"Oh," Gull replied. "I didn't realise. 
You never said."

Olligh managed a weak smile. "It matters not. As
you say, things could certainly be a lot worse for me than they are now.  Come,
let's head onwards.  We've got to find Hetty and I hope we're not too
late."

At the top of the slope, the cave led back outside
amongst the bushes and dead trees; their gnarled roots sunk deep into the damp
earth, an ominous reminder that even nature can be afflicted by death's touch. 
The sky was still pitch black and the cane provided minimal light for them to
see their way ahead.  To make matters worse, they had no red glowing trail or
lantern light to show them the way.  For a while Olligh struggled onward,
trying to keep to his bearings but the task was proving impossible. 
Eventually, he stopped walking and sighed loudly. "I don't think we should
go on.  If we walk any further, we'll lose track of the cave entrance and then
we'll definitely be in a bit of a pickle."

"Isn't there a way to make that light
brighter?" Gull asked. "It's fine for a few feet ahead but who knows
what's lurking in the bushes a bit further afield."

"Yeah, you're a mage," Marvin uttered.
"You should have a better light spell at your disposal.  Can't you just
wiggle your fingers and summon a lamp?"

Olligh gazed at the cane in his hand and shook his
head. "You're right - this is pathetic.  Give me a moment to think."

Gull snorted. "That's funny. You can summon magic
shields and bolts of fire but you need a moment to think of a simple light
spell."

Marvin laughed. "Yeah, that's kind of
funny."

"I'm glad you both find this amusing.  As I
mentioned earlier, I'm suffering from a temporary loss of memory and therefore
not all of my incantations spring to mind immediately."

"Yeah, sorry," Marvin replied.

In the near distance, something growled ferociously. 
Gull clenched Olligh tightly. "Did you hear that?"

"Shh," Olligh whispered. "Whatever it
is, I think it knows we're here."

"Why did Craggy face not offer you a sword
instead of a pokey cane?" Marvin asked. "Does she think a little
light show will keep the denizens of hell at bay?"

A twig cracked behind them and something groaned
loudly.

"We desperately need light," Olligh said,
handing the glowing cane to Gull. "Let me try and summon something a
little more effective."

Olligh shut his eyes and reached out to focus on the
vast energies of the cosmos. This time they appeared more distant and elusive
than usual so he intensified his concentration, straining to lure the vibrant
sparks of energy his way.  Eventually his eyes flicked open."It's no
good."

"What?" Gull asked. "What do you mean
it's no good?"

Olligh shuddered. "I can't manipulate the
cosmos.  My spells don't work here.  There's no manifestation to work
with."

"Oh, great," Marvin uttered. "Might I
take this opportunity to say it was reasonably nice knowing you both."

A mindless one leapt out from some bushes near them. 
It landed a few feet in front of them, its wild eyes darting between Gull and
Olligh.   It wiped froth from its mouth and began circling them as if
deliberating whether to pounce or not.

"Why's it not attacking?" Gull asked, his
voice trembling. "Aren't these supposed to be brain-dead?"

"Look who's talking," Marvin said.

"Quiet," Olligh said firmly. "Now isn't
the time to bicker. This creature obviously has some senses remaining.  It may
not know what it actually wants."

"Sounds like my wife, bless her," Marvin
continued.

The creature continued to circle its prey, snarling
and flaying at empty air.  The red glow from the cane touched its face,
revealing hideous features.  One of its eyes dangled limply from its socket almost
touching its blistered, swollen lips.

"Hey, could this be Hetty?" Gull asked.
"Perhaps that's why she's not attacking."

"Most unlikely," Olligh replied, shuffling
backwards away from the creature.

"I concur," Marvin said. "It's a man. 
His Adam's apple is actually the size of an apple."

 "I've got it!" Olligh said, noticing the
cane in Gull's hand. "It's wary of the red light.  Look - it can't keep
its eyes off it."

Gull waved the cane at all angles, watching to see how
the creature reacted. "I'm not too sure.  His working eye might be
watching the light it but the one dangling is definitely staring at me."

From the darkness, desolate groans could be heard and
more of the mindless creatures shambled from the undergrowth towards them. They
squirmed with excitement as the light touched their faces, drawn to it like a
moth to flame.

"Erm, what now?" Marvin asked. "Might I
suggest a hasty retreat?"

Olligh glanced back, trying to remember the direction
to the cave entrance but something blocked his view.  He shivered with dread. 
Somebody was standing in his way - somebody extremely tall, its body now
pressed against his.  He peered up and noticed it was a rather fetching woman
wearing a mud splattered night gown.  The red glow from the cane touched her
face which, although unassumingly soft and gentle, had wide frown lines and
piercing eyes.

"Give cane!" she yelled, her voice somewhat
gritty.

Gull turned his head and gaped at the woman.  He
shrieked and lunged at her with the cane but it had little effect.

"Cane!" she roared again, knocking Gull's
hand away.

"Give her the cane!" Olligh yelled.
"She's asking reasonably nicely, rather than just grabbing it, so just
give it to her before she rips your head off."

Gull reached out tentatively with the cane, his hand
visibly shaking.

"No!" she yelled, shaking her head and
pointing at the mindless ones. "Them cane!"

"W-what?" Gull asked. "What's she
talking about?"

“I think she wants you to cane them,” Marvin said,
bemused. “She’s a bit kinky to say the least.”

Olligh dodged a grasping hand from one of the mindless
ones.  "Quickly! Give it to one of them!"

Gull returned his gaze to the mindless ones and held
the cane out for them.  The nearest corpse snatched it from him and held it up
to the sky, groaning and gazing at it as though it was an object of extreme pleasure. 
The remaining creatures joined in a huddle, reaching out for the cane,
portraying a mindless orgy of pure delight.  Olligh returned his gaze to the
woman, a look of concern on his face.

"Are you Hetty?" he asked.

The woman nodded gruffly. "Yes, Hetty."

"Did she say Yeti?" Marvin asked.

Olligh covered Marvin's mouth with his hand and smiled
faintly at Hetty. "I must apologise for my friend, here.  He's a bit
excitable."

Hetty shrugged, obviously unimpressed with his
antics.  Marvin tried to continue speaking but Olligh's hand kept his mouth
firmly shut.

"Hetty, are you from Ekelton or near to it?"

Hetty paused, eyeing Olligh suspiciously.

"Hetty, Ekelton," she said, nodding.

Olligh sighed with relief. "Good, good."

Marvin mumbled something unintelligible.

"Hetty," Olligh continued. "We're going
back there.  Would you like to come with us?"

Hetty nodded enthusiastically and grabbed Olligh by
the waist, hugging him tightly, almost lifting him off the ground.

"She's crushing my arm!" Gull yelled.
"Can you tell her to stop now?"

Suddenly, everything went darker and an eerie silence
cloaked the area. Olligh managed to break free from Hetty and turned to look at
the mindless ones.  All he could see in the gloom was the outline of one of
them with a faint red glow below its neck.

"Oh, great.  We've got a swallower," Marvin
uttered.

Olligh shook his head in disbelief. "You've got
to be jesting with me?"

"Nope, he's not," Gull said.  "The
cane's definitely been thrust into its mouth."

The moaning recommenced as the mindless ones began
shuffling through the undergrowth, searching for something else to spark their
interest.

"We need to get out of here, quickly,"
Olligh said. "With no red light, it’s probably now dinner time and we’ll
be the main course."

Somebody grabbed Olligh's waist and lifted him off the
ground.  It was Hetty.

"Hetty help," she said.  "Hetty know
way."

The long legged Walker lurched forward, carrying
Olligh with ease through the wild grass and bushes.  Gull was nearly touching
the ground so he clung tightly to Olligh's neck, desperate to not be knocked
off by a stray branch or boulder.  The moans and groans from the mindless ones
were soon left far behind and Hetty managed to return everyone safely to the
network of caves.  The glowing rock above the blue sector door was a welcome
relief when it came into view.

"Thank you, Hetty," Olligh said. "Thank
you ever so much."

"Yeah, thanks," Marvin said. "Craggy
face was right. You do have good legs."

Hetty leaned forward, rubbing her thighs.  She looked
tired and strained.  Gull reached out and patted her back.  "We couldn't
have done it without you, Hetty.  Well, I couldn't anyway, considering I have
no legs."

Olligh booted the door a few times, hoping for a guard
to be on duty.  Luckily for him, a familiar voice called out from behind the
door.

"Who's there?" Renfer yelled.  "Is that
you, Olligh?"

"Yes, it's me.  I've returned and thankfully in
one piece."

"One moment, I'll open the door for you."

After a moments silence the key was turned in the lock
and the door slowly opened.  Renfer peered through the gap, a glimmer of
intrigue in his eyes.  Noticing Hetty behind them, his eyes widened.
"What? Are you insane?  You can't bring her back here."

"Wait a moment," Olligh said. "I
distinctly recall Lady Craggy giving us her blessing to find Hetty."

"Yes, but we never expected you to actually find
her."

"If it's any consolation," Gull said.
"We didn't actually find her.  She found us."