The twin moonslight illuminates the borderlands with a baleful glow. It is here, in the borderlands between the great Kingdoms, that wars are always fought, even more for the secret wars in which some find themselves.
Autumn is just beginning to fall across the northland, bringing with it a chill, especially in the northern land of Tol Nedra. In a clearing in the dark woodlands we see two figures. One is a tall Reith dressed in black, sitting on log, sharpening his longsword with a whetstone. The other is a massive Urag, slouching against the bole of a tree, warming himself at the fire.
It has been some weeks since Kane and Thragga left the court of King Henrick in As Sedrai. The new King was generous with his favors, and gave them men and equipment to help set up a base of operations in the north, just over the As River. They have claimed the old watch tower on the Angharan border that he promised them. Things have been quiet since then.
So you were surprised to receive a secret message, born on a raven messenger, in the Hunter code, asking you to rendezvous with other Hunters at the farm of Taggart, an old warrior, and former Hunter injured decades ago. You have hurried north into the borderlands of Tol Nedra. You know the way well, as you have visited the farm many times.
Thragga says, "I can't wait till we get to the farm, Kane. Been too long since I had one of Irian's apple pies!" Irian is Taggart's wife, an aging yet still lovely Reith.
Kane says, "Can't you ever think of anything but your stomach?"
The Urag thinks on that a minute. "No." he decides. "It's why I got along with that little Nimyr fellow. That lad knew how to eat!"
When Khom-Bei was recruited into the Hunters, his trainer and mentor was a man named Taggart. Taggart was a former Hunter himself who was injured in battle and retired to the quiet life of a farmer. However, he has been an active part of the conspiracy. Khom-Bei was therefore pleased and surprised to find a message for him, in Hunter's code, borne on raven's wing, asking him to come to a meeting at Taggart's farm about an important matter.
Taggart's farm is in the borderlands between Ress and Tol Nedra. He is headed there now, travelling by moonslight, on the way to his farm, when he spots a campfire on the trail in the woods ahead of him.
A small figure steps into the edge of the firelight and clears his throat.
Kane says, "I'm more concerned about why we have been summoned than about where my next meal is coming from. By the way, there is some dried sausage and onions in my saddle bag."
Khom-Bei says, "Will you share your fire with another traveler?"
Kane grabs up his sword and jumps to his feet, startled by the new comer.
Thragga turns and reaches for the saddle bag at Kane's feet when the small figure enters the campfire. He rolls to his feet, seizing up his massive axe. "Stranger!" he hisses to Kane. In the cursed land of Tol Nedra, strangers are unwelcome.
Khom-Bei steps forward slightly and spreads his hands to show that they are empty. "I am not armed."
Seeing it is only their old friend Khom-Bei, Kane relaxes. "Khom-Bei, of course join us!"
Thragga roars with delight, "Northerling!" he rushes forward, arms wide, to embrace his friend.
Kane says, "Have you also been summoned?"
Khom-Bei steps into the embrace offered by the big Urag, barely standing taller than Thragga's waist. "Yes, Kane. Taggart sent for me also."
Thragga laughs and sets the little man down. "Rugash smiles on us!" he tells Khom-Bei, referring to the Urag god.
Kane says, "Join us at the fire, my friend. Are you hungry?"
Stepping forward to greet Kane more formally, Khom-bei pulls a brace of four freshly skinned rabbits from under his cloak. "I though Thragga might like a little snack."
Kane says, "Perhaps he will even save us some as well."
Thragga rubs his green hands together. "Northerling! That's damn orcish of you!" He seizes the rabbits and squats by the fire, then sets to work spitting them for roasting.
Kane stands and offers Khom-Bei his hand.
Khom-Bei grasps Kane's hand firmly, looking up at the big Reith. "You look tired, Kane."
Kane says, "We have been at war in the not-too-distant past. It always has that effect on me. Sit, friend, and let us talk of why these summons have been sent far and wide."
Thragga is too busy to comment, licking his lips and preparing the coneys for dinner.
Khom-Bei says, "The fight will not leave us lonely for long, friend. Not in this life. I fear that Taggart has a new battle for us."
Kane says, "As always we must keep the faith and fight the restless dead. What have you heard?"
Thragga sits back against the tree, while the coneys roast. He turns them from time to time.
Khom-Bei says, "I have heard nothing, Kane. But the Dark Ones still walk the land instead of resting under it. I cannot allow that which offends my ancestors to continue without a fight."
Thragga tells the small man, "We stopped them in Anghara, Northerling. Cut their clean heads off! And we got this out of it!" He tosses Khom-Bei the pendant from around his neck, with the badge of a Constable of Anghara.
Kane says, "The King of Anghara knows of our fight and supports it."
Khom-Bei catches the heavy badge and smiles. "I'm sure that it will frighten the Dark Ones back into their holes, Thragga. But allies are always welcome, even those with their own troubles.""
Thragga falls into Urag boasting mode. "I myself slew many of them with my axe. The fight was terrible! The battle was glorious! Victory was with us! Rugash himself presided over the slaughter, although Kane thinks it was mortal skill that helped us that day. Hah! Mortal skill!" He always becomes more religious around Khom-Bei the shaman.
Kane says, "It seems the Vorghol Lords chose the losing side in the battle for Anghara."
Khom-Bei says, "The omens are good, but I am still wary."
The Urag passes Kane and Khom-Bei a spitted, barely roasted rabbit each, still dripping with blood and juices, fur singed in the Urag style. "Yes! They chose to mess with Kane and me! That is the losing side!"
Kane says, "Their scheming has no end." He rips the singed fur from his rabbit and sets it over the fire to roast a bit more.
"Say a prayer for us, Khom-Bei!" Thragga urges. Thragga has a devout streak he usually conceals, but at home he was quite the student of the Powers and their ways.
Khom-Bei lays down his rabbit and stand, spreading his hands to the sky. "Spirits watch over us and guide our steps along the path to the world that waits at the end of our days. We thank you for this food and for this company."
Thragga bows his head reverently.
Sitting again, Khom-Bei takes the still smoking rabbit, breaks it cleanly in half with a practiced ease and begins devouring the meat with a ferocity that matches the big Urag.
Thragga grins at Khom-Bei and jams smoking hunks of rabbit into his fanged maw. "You should have been born Urag, Northerling."
Kane produces a wine skin and hands it to Khom-Bei. "Here, I had to hide this from Thragga, or it would have been long gone." Seeing his rabbit is more to his liking now, Kane removes it from the fire and eats.
Snaring the wineskin from Kane, Khom-Bei laughs loudly. "My mother always said that I ate like an Urag." Khom-Bei squirts a great mouthful of wine from the skin and tosses it back to Kane, wine leaking from the corners of his mouth.
Kane takes a long swig, then hands the skin to Thragga.
Thragga claps Khom-Bei on the back and snorts, "Do you fart like one?" Roaring with laughter, the Urag lets one massive seismic disturbance rip to the heavens, the thunder seeming to echo about the darkened forest. He seizes the wine skin from Kane, drinks then passes it back.
Kane says, "Surely that must have woken the dead and undead!"
Laughing even louder, Khom-Bei retorts, "No, my father broke me of that!"
Kane finishes up his rabbit and throws the bones into the fire, "So Khom-Bei, what have you been up to?"
Khom-Bei says, "I am as always, Kane. I follow the will of the world and the guidance of my forefathers."
The night passes in friendly companionship, and you all sleep well, sated with fresh meat and good wine. You fall asleep reminiscing about battles won and old friends lost.
At sunrise, you plan to set out for the last leg of the trip. The farm is one day's ride to the north, and if you hurry, you will reach there before nightfall.
In the morning, Khom-Bei gathers up the remains of the rabbits and walks to the edge of the woods where he kneels and places them gently under a small bush. "Thank you, little brothers, for the nourishment you give. Run quickly to the fields of your ancestors and eat sweet grasses forever."
Kane saddles his horse and gets ready to go.
Thragga looks about like he's expecting the bones to get up and hop away.
Kane says, "Shall we be off then, it is still a day's hard ride from here?"
Khom-Bei mounts his pony and gathers the reins. "Come on, Thragga, Irian won't hold dinner forever."
Thragga frowns. "Urag do not ride." He races along behind the two of you as you move out.
These borderlands are sparsely inhabited, but in the glory days of Tol Nedra, a century past, these pine woods north of the River As were busy with travellers from all across the Seven Kingdoms. During the day, a storm blows up from the east, an autumn gale that promises rain and heavy winds by the time the sun sets. You hurry along, hoping to find shelter at Taggart's farm before the storm breaks out, but even now a strong breeze rattles the pines and shakes loose the oak leaves of fall.
Thragga jogs along tirelessly, talking about food, wrapped in his cloak. "And when we get there, I will ask Irian to cook me a duck. I love ducks."
Khom-Bei says, "I'm sure that the ducks are already in hiding, Thragga."
Kane says, "Is there any type of food you don't love? You've already emptied my saddle bag!"
Thragga asks, "Uh…What saddle bag?" He tries not to mention that he ate Kane's actual bag about three hours ago. Leather is so tasty.
Khom-Bei pulls a pair of wild apples from beneath his cloak and tosses one to each of his companions. "That's why I never use saddlebags, Kane."
You have stayed off the main road, moving as Hunters do, by secret byways. By dusk, the wind is blowing steadily, and howling down from the hillsides. It's early evening and just darkening when you crest the last ridge and spot the farm laid out before you. A shallow, broad creek bisects the farm north to south. Towards the south stands the main compound, a longhouse and barn surrounded by a low picket fence that you helped Taggart build some summers back. A windmill spins quietly in the distance, just past the cornfield. The scene looks peaceful and welcoming, with harvest season close at hand, and candle lights burn in the longhouse windows.
Thragga asks Kane, chewing the apple and looking down on the calm scene, "Think Verraine will be there?" Verraine is Taggart's daughter, a Hunter in her own right. It's been some years, but by now she'd be about 20. "I think that gal is sweet on me, don't you?"
Khom-Bei says, "You should keep it in your pants, Thragga, Verraine's just as likely to cut it off."
Kane says, "Aye Thragga, I think she dreams of your big green smile every night." He stirs his horse to a brisk canter.
Khom-Bei kicks his pony into a quick trot to keep up with Kane.
The Urag beams a fanged smile as he trots along behind you.
As you approach the longhouse, the breeze has become a gale, with howling winds sending dark clouds juddering across the sky. The twin moons are just beginning to rise.
Thragga strolls up to the picket fence and unlatches the gate. "Taggart! We've come! Set the table for three more, Khom-Bei is with us too!"
The front door of the longhouse slaps fitfully in its frame. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. The house seems very still. Thragga, just inside the gate, grins, rubbing his hands. "I can smell dinner, Kane!" he says, happily.
Kane is not happy about something and suddenly kicks his horse into a rapid gallop, up to the gate, and then dismounts.
As Kane spurs his horse forward, Khom-bei leaps from his pony and raises his arms to the sky. Concentrating for a few seconds he raises his voice above the howl of the wind. "Great Father, expose the Dark Ones to my sight!"
Thragga frowns. "Oh," he says, finally getting it. He turns back to the house, slipping his axe from his back. "I don't smell anyone inside." he hisses.
Khom-Bei holds his position and focuses on the house intently. He senses a strong presence recently in the house…A Vorghol presence.
Kane says, "Thagga, see if you can pickup Taggart's scent." He draws his sword as he heads for the house.
Thragga scents the air. "I can't smell for shit in this wind, Kane!" He races to the front porch of the longhouse, axe in hand, and stands with his back to the wall by the front door.
Khom-Bei says, "Kane, wait."
Kane looks back to Khom-Bei and holds for a moment. "What is it Khom-Bei?"
Khom-Bei says, "There were Dark Ones here, Vorghol, but they are gone now."
Thragga jerks a thumb towards the door and glances towards Kane, as if to ask, Should I break in now?
Khom-Bei grasps his war hammer and nods to Kane. "We must enter."
Kane walks up to the door and pushes the door in.
The house is like someone just left it. Candles burn in the sconces. A plain repast of simple country fare, fowl and beans and black bread, has been set on the table, the food cooling. Nearby, a small table is covered with apple pies, in anticipation of Thragga's arrival. But Taggart, Irian, and their four farmhands are nowhere to be seen.
Khom-Bei steps to the table and lays his hand on one of the cooked birds. They are cool to the touch.
Kane says, "They were here not too long ago, that is for sure. Khom-Bei, is there a prayer you know to track them?"
Khom-Bei says, "The food is cool already, Kane. Perhaps, I may be able to do something." He recalls a small charm he gave to Taggart last spring, a token of the Great Father.
Kane says, "Best do whatever you can, quickly.""
Thragga crouches, nostrils working as he stares at the floor. "Vorghol..." he hisses. "Taggart, Irian. They were taken outside. If someone has harmed them, I swear nothing on Aerryt will stop me from avenging them!"
Khom-Bei steps outside the framhouse and studies the ground anxiously. "Thragga, can you find any tracks? If we can get close to them, I may be able to find our friends."
Kane looks for signs off recent passage. "Thragga which way?"
Outside, rain has begun to fall, and the wind blows your cloaks about. Thragga tries to discern a pattern in the rapidly muddying ground. "Curse it!" he roars, furious. "This rain is mucking up the tracks!"
Khom-Bei bows his head and mutters under his breath for a few seconds before raising his head, eyes closed, and turning slowly in a circle.
Khom-Bei says, "Kane, Thragga, there is something in the barn. Something that I gave to Taggart, something he would not leave behind willingly, I think."
Kane says, "Shall we go there?"
Khom-Bei says, "I think we must."
The Urag is raging now. "We shall!" Thragga bellows.
Kane heads for the barn.
Khom-Bei follows Kane and Thragga at a run.
The barn is entered via a big door on a hinge that Irian was always after Taggart to replace. It sticks in wet weather. They kept horses and pigs inside.
Thragga seizes the door and hurls it open. A lightless void gapes at you. "Taggart!" he shouts, into the darkened barn. "Irian!!"
Kane enters the barn and looks about.
Khom-Bei holds up his war hammer and calls to his ancestors. "Great Father, let the light of this world push back the darkness."
Thragga enters. He looks up into the dimness with his Urag darkvision. Then he howls, a howl of pure animal rage . Khom-Bei's hammer lights up the interior of the barn, revealing the horror within.
Dangling from the barn loft, are the brutally dismembered dead bodies of Taggart and Irian, swaying gently.
What is left of Taggart's face is contorted in agony, with his midsection sliced open, and guts dangling down. There are tooth marks on his intestines. His torn and bloody skin is in shreds and patches.
Irian's remaining eyeball spills out on her left cheek. Her long hair has been ripped out at the roots, leaving patches of bloody scalp in place. Her arms end in bloody stumps, her clothing torn to shreds.
Kane falls down to his knees and bows his head. "If only I had gotten here sooner, I could have saved them."
Khom-Bei drops his hands, the light from his hammer shadowing him against the barn walls as he moves forward slowly, tears spilling down his cheeks.
Thragga howls in fury, head raised, fists clenched, dropping his axe.
Kane says, "Do you sense the rest of them, Khom-Bei... is there a chance they are still alive?"
Khom-Bei walks to where Taggart's body hangs and reaches out to remove something from around the man's wrist. He tucks a small charm into his cloak.
From the darkened corner of the barn, a low laugh echoes at Kane's words. A laugh of pure malice. And a figure steps forward into the shadowed circle of light. A familiar face. Gwent, a Hunter like you, another of Taggart's students. You have shared wine with him, battled alongside him many times.
But this is Gwent changed by evil. Surely this is Gwent who has afflicted with the most terrible of all curses that can befall a Slayer... into the darkness.
"Alive? Not anymore, Kane." the thing that was Gwent mocks.
Khom-Bei grips his hammer tightly again. "You would be wise not to make light of this, Gwent. I would peel your skin from your body while you beg for mercy to find those responsible."
Kane lashes out at Gwent without another thought. He swings his flaming sword at the throat of the laughing Gwent.