Elysium's Multiverse

Chapter 130

Chapter 130

The trees had begun to turn from vibrant green to a dark gray and many of them losing their leaves entirely or illuminating deathly teal light. The grass had gone from a healthy look to a gray-silver, and unnerving fogs blocked their sight even though it was midday. Though the accumulation of dark clouds in the sky that seemed to settle in ever-more without signs of leaving any time soon didn’t help their vision problems either - and it’d been this way for the past ten miles.

Despite the sightings of skeletal undead wolves or pitch-black deer with ghostly outlines that’d mutated into unholy versions of their previous selves, the very small trade caravan traveling northwards through the last stretch of forest was in hopeful spirits. The guard unit at the front was hacking and slashing away, creating pathways through the underbrush for the other men and women - mostly being merchants that were using mules for carrying luggage.

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Cade was one of these merchants. As a younger and adventurous man he’d been far more excited than most about the prospect of the worlds merging than most. He saw it as an opportunity for growth, rather than an opportunity to be feared, and he’d been among the first to volunteer for his uncle’s quest to depart from the town of Bradshire westwards, across the plains to seek out trading partners with the undead of this ‘Brightsville’ rumors talked of. Some people called his uncle stupid for even attempting it, being fearful that he and his caravan would be turned into corpses and used as fodder to create even more of the unliving, but these were desperate times and the war with the elves was cutting food back drastically. If they didn’t get more of it, their people would starve - and his uncle had a bleeding heart. Both Cade and his uncle felt that this was not only an opportunity to become rich, but was also a civic duty to keep their people fed.

So they’d begun their journey with whatever goods they’d had. They’d carried various textiles, pottery, basic weapons and armor, as well as some minor totems. They’d even brought along carts of corpses from the war effort, courtesy of a captain in the army they knew that’d urged them to keep the bodies as a gift to increase chances of success. Now that all the Kingdom of Dawn had been mix-and-matched across the new landscape, or at least what was left of their kingdom after half of the cities and towns had likely been sent to the opposite side of their new world Panu, new pathways had to be carved out, mapped and routed. Not only that but the natural resources supplied by each of the settlements left in Dawn were now vastly different from how they’d been before, trading partners from other kingdoms were now long gone, and the people of Dawn had monster problems to deal with.

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Regardless, Cade was excited and smiled while brushing his hands through his short black hair. With his other hand he kept his donkey Horus close by, making sure to lead it on by giving the grumpy animal occasional carrots so it wouldn’t just refuse to keep moving. The reason Cade was excited was news from a runner who’d caught up to their caravan not even an hour ago.

More specifically, it was news that Allie Thane of the Thane Necropolis had sent word: she was going to meet with Theodore Munchamp, Court Wizard to the king, for official negotiations. This was a huge deal, not only for their kingdom - but it also meant their little voyage northwards was a lot more likely to be met with positive interactions rather than outright hostility. The risk had just dropped off.

Contact had been made with the Thane Necropolis north of the forest and adjacent plains just days ago, or so said some of the hunters from Maringrad. The future negotiations were now being celebrated as a potential victory in the rumors across their remnant kingdom, and the feeling had been a warm and welcome one. No doubt it was being pushed as a measure to keep moral high by the nobles and the king himself, but it was a much needed thing. Perhaps, just maybe, the Kingdom of Dawn wouldn’t be so isolated any more. Even help from the undead was a very welcome thing, because they could use the help from anybody at this point.

He sighed, thinking silently to himself about how his last relationship with Alexa hadn’t worked out. That cheating bitch had gone behind his back and slept with his best friend, or the man who he’d used to call a best friend anyways. It was one of the reasons he’d come aside from the money - to get his mind off things, and if Cade could get rich by trading while doing it then great. Better yet, if he could find himself a hot undead girlfriend… that’d make Alexa jealous beyond Cade’s wildest dreams.

He snickered at the very thought of it. How sweet a vengeance that would be.

Twigs cracked underfoot and sweat dripped down his chin, splattering against his linen shirt when the voice of his uncle called out at the front of the column. “HALT!”

The caravan came to a dead stop, with donkeys braying and the men in the back trying to look over the shoulders of those in front to see what was going on up ahead.

The donkey Cade was leading nipped at his ass and the young man swore, swatting the donkey’s nose and causing it to headbutt him into a nearby tree with other men snickering at him as he picked himself up.

“Gods damned unappreciative animal…” Cade muttered, clutching his bleeding nose and trying to nurse his wounded pride by not giving the other men the satisfaction of recognizing their laughter. He swat an insect that landed on his brown linen shirt and grumbled to himself, trying to get a better look ahead, but nodded in silence when the caravan started moving forward again.

This time though the pace was much slower, and Cade her whispers from further up the line as he trudged through the fog. “What’s the deal? Why have we slowed?”

He wasn’t answered, but he got the answer himself when he came into the clearing where his uncle and all the others were lining up in a row. They were all facing another group of people not far off, and Cade’s heart froze in terror when he saw a dead man hanging from the branch of a tree in the dark forest ahead.

The man had once been a high elf, no doubt about it, and he wore thick luxurious plate armor with silver and gold trimmings along green metal. A long green cape flapped out behind him when a gust of wind struck his position. He had dead, sapphire eyes, a handsome complexion and held a longbow crafted out of willow with inlaid mithril that was draped around his neck along with the noose. His body was just hanging there, silently staring at them with cold unblinking eyes - blonde hair flowing out behind him with a confident expression.

The warrior was just as physically perfect as he’d remembered their kind to be, but lacked the typical scantily clad outfits their woodland counterparts had. This elf had no doubt been a city-dweller.

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But what scared Cade the most, was the way the others started pointing out other bodies further to the left and right - with more and more elves being spotted hanging from other trees until the fog made it impossible to see into the beyond.

Crows made from shadow flew overhead, landing on a nearby branch and called out with a squawking sound that made the people of their caravan jump. Then the sound of crunching leaves and twigs started to echo through the forest, first it was only a couple - then it was dozens - and then it became hundreds.

Cade watched, partially in horror and partially awestruck, legs quivering to run back to his donkey to keep the animal from running away. He held the reins, not sure if they should flee or stay put, while his comrades stood just as awestruck as he did.

That was when they made their appearance from beyond the mists.

Hundreds of shambling skeletons, ghouls with milky white eyes, flesh golems having enormous muscular frames devoid of skin, and backline black-robed casters came into eyesight through the fog.

A pair of red eyes stared at their caravan curiously from a woman at the front. Those eyes continued to walk forward, and it was apparent by the way the other undead oriented themselves to her position and the quality of her gear that this person was their commander.

And when she took off her bone mask, Cade’s breath caught in his throat. She was medium height for a young woman in her early twenties, with long silky brown hair and perfectly set features not even having a single blemish to them. She had high cheekbones and a well defined, feminine nose, along with moderately curved hips and breasts. Though looking at her compelled him with a sense of urgent fear to run, her extreme beauty made him want to stay. She was perfectly symmetrical, pale white skin glistening in the shimmering mist while neon and black magics lit up across her fingertips - and she wore a devilish smile while approaching their caravan’s front at a slow pace.

Despite all that Cade knew of vampires and undead, he kept drilling the idea that this is exactly what they’d come for. They wanted to make trade relations with their neighbors, and they’d even just been saved by these people, so there was no reason to panic.

There was no… no reason to panic…

His uncle obviously felt the same way, because when his dark-haired uncle spoke and began to stroke his mustache - Cade could tell that the man was both nervous and eager. His uncle never stroked his mustache unless he was optimistic or in good spirits about something, but the way his knees almost buckled gave away just how on edge he was too.

“Hello there!” Cade’s uncle, a man by the name of Gibry, called out with a wave and a smile. He stepped forward and bowed, letting his velvet red shirt that was far too baggy for his own good flap in the light breeze “We… We weren’t expecting to find you this far south yet…”

The woman narrowed her eyes, then gestured to the elf corpse hanging from a branch above her. “Yes, well if we hadn’t been here - you’d all be dead. They were waiting in ambush.”

There was a long, awkward silence as her words registered with the men of the trading caravan - who shifted uneasily while muttering to each other.

Cade’s uncle cleared his throat nervously. “Ahem. I see… We were being hunted? We are merchants from Bradshire, and came looking for your people after tales from the capital started circulating. Are you a captain or some ranking officer of the Thane Necropolis, by chance?”

The woman started walking forward again, only stopping twenty seconds later to stand in front of the man. She glanced around, keeping eye contact with Cade and winking at him briefly to cause him to blush - before turning back to Cade’s uncle Gibry. “Ranking officer… I suppose you could call me that.”

She smiled, giving off a perfect white gleam with fangs that gave Cade mixed emotions of both attraction and terror. “I suppose I should give you my name as well. I am Allie Thane, co-leader of the Thane Necropolis, and I have come to offer my protection to your town at the request of your kingdom.”

Gibry straightened up in surprise and brushed his fingers across his mustache again, gesturing to the guards and merchants who still held their two-dozen donkeys still and quiet other than the occasional bray. Then he abruptly realized who he was talking to, paled, and slammed to the ground in a prostrated position. Many of the others quickly did the same when they realized that she was essentially the queen of this undead faction. “My lady! I-I was not aware that you’d already agreed to terms! You’ve decided to help us?”

“Perhaps. What does it look like to you?” Allie asked, gesturing over to where her soldiers and minions were ripping bodies apart. She stepped forward, past Gibry, and continued on to where Cade was kneeling with his head bowed. She leaned down, all eyes on her, and used one slender finger to bring Cade’s chin up along with the rest of this face. She grinned and gave an amused grunt, letting her fingers trace along his left cheek and causing him to shudder. “I have not come to terms with your kingdom’s court wizard just yet… but that doesn’t mean I will allow these pointy-eared fairies to trespass on my lands. Especially when it involves caravans that I’d very much like to trade with; trade, after all, is the lifeblood of civilizations. But can I trust you? That is the question I must ask myself. Will allowing you into our borders benefit us, or will it endanger my citizens?”

She straightened and put on her mask again, turning from the surprised young man and walking back to the front of the column.

Gibry blinked rapidly with a growing smile that he immediately suppressed, trying to figure out what was going on, and cleared his throat nervously while exchanging a glance with his nephew. “We are no threat! We merely seek fortune for both our sides! My lady, if I may ask… have you heard news of our passage? Were you tracking us? Is that why you are here?”

Allie took her time to answer that.

Cade’s heart pounded in his chest, and it was all he could do not to stare at the beautiful woman who’d just grazed his cheek. He did manage a few quick glances though, but his excited smile turned into somewhat of a frown as the demeanor of the undead behind Allie stayed stoic. He was getting an odd vibe from them, a feeling of pressure or ominous foreboding like he wanted to walk away just because he was near them. He couldn’t see any of their eyes from underneath the dark hoods they wore, and they stood a little further back from the other armored skeletons up front.

The caravan guards became wary at the awkward silence between the two groups, nervously shuffling and palming the hilts of their shortswords, maces and buckler shields as they eyed the silently staring ghouls, abominations, flesh golems and skeletons on the other side who were silently evaluating the trading company

“What is your name?” The vampiric woman eventually asked.

Cade’s uncle stuttered. “G-Gibry is the name!”

She slowly tapped her bone-made boot on the forest floor.

“Gibry it is then. Yes, I have been tracking your caravan for some time now.” The woman paused, then twirled a small wand in one hand with mana flaring along its body again. “You see, Gibry, I am at somewhat of a crossroads concerning whether or not to let your people into the necropolis. We have had many problems with others in the area trying to come in and kill us, enslave us, or steal from us. Recently, many of those people have actually been of your own race.”

“We would never!” Gibry stated, aghast at the very idea of violence. He had never been a violent man to begin with, and truly was a merchant through and through. That's why he started kissing ass. “Gaining early access to your great necropolis would be a boon far beyond anything that could be gained by attacking you! The idea that we, a weak and humble group of humans, could win out or succeed in attacks against your kind is foolishness. I would not attack you merely because of past grudges between our races, the idea is absurd! Meanwhile my family grows rich if I establish trade routes with your city before others of my kingdom can jump on the opportunity, it would be madness to do anything but maintain a standing in your good graces!”

Gibry’s unashamed greed was showing through, and this in turn caused others in the caravan to wince - but got an amused chuckle from the female vampire.

Her eyes glowed a bright crimson when she turned, staring back out at them with a calculating gaze that settled on Gibry, then eventually drifted back to Cade. “Hmmm… And what price, I wonder, are you willing to pay… if I do let you in?”