Chapter 131: Old Friends


    Brother Faerbar walked through the snow without issue for the first several days of his trip. It was a long road to the north, though, and he doubted very much that he would make it to the heart of the maelstrom that only he could see without being noticed.


    Such a thing would be impossible. Even now, in the height of the shattered daylight that the world was forced to endure, he could sense the darkness building and flowing. He was miles to the northeast of the ruins of Siddrimar, in the very hearnd of the kingdom. It was a ce that had known peace for centuries.


    Despite that, the taint here was worse than it had been on the banks of the Oroza even before theyd purged the foul under temple.


    Brother Faerbar sighed at that memory and at his foolishness. Hed know that the waters of the mighty river had turned to poison, spiritually speaking, but hed never stopped to wonder who had been the one to poison it, and now everyone who had fought beside him in that dank ce was dead.


    He didnt me himself for any of that, though. Such a thing would dishonor their memories. Instead, he would honor their memories by fighting until he joined them in death.


    The Temr had no idea whether the hallowed halls of the world after still remained or if he could even find his way to them, given that his God was nothing but dust now. Still, he contemted those thoughts until he fell asleep next to the embers of his small fires.


    That peace didntst forever. When he was near the halfway point of his trip, Brother Faerbar could feel the shadows beginning to stir as something finally noticed him.


    He was not afraid, though. The Temr had spent a lifetime warring against the dark, and though some small part of him whispered that the candle of his life was beginning to gutter and that he would soon reach the end.


    He ignored that, just like he ignored the flickering shadows that hid amongst the trees and the dead-eyed ravens that watched him from a distance as his armored feet crunched through the ice and snow. Two days after the darkness started to watch him, there were only a handful of ravens and crows that circled him at a safe distance, but by the third day, there were hundreds as he slowly marched north. Brother Faerbar ignored them all since hecked a bow, and they were well out of reach of his sword.


    <em>Let them watch,</em> he thought bitterly. <em>Let it see its dooming. </em>


    The darkness would either face him now in some hurried ambush, or it would face him on the battlefield with an army at his back. Brother Faerbar hoped for both.


    Two nightster, the first ambush came, deceitfully, while he was slumbering next to the dying embers of his cookfire. Unbeknownst to him, six vicious wraiths had spent thest few days pursuing him, and even while he slumbered, they waited amongst the roots and branches of distant trees for midnight.


    When the world was at its darkest, the wraiths swarmed him as one from every direction. Despite the speed with which they flew through the night and the vicious-looking weapons they wielded, they made no noise. Each of them found their target, and together, they tried to skewer him in half a dozen ces at once while he slumbered through the assault.


    If theyd wielded steel instead of pure solidified darkness, then the des that didnt nce off his armor might have wounded him. Instead, the weapons made of pure glossy ck umbra managed to scratch his skin. Then, before they could plunge deeper into something vital, they evaporated from the brief burst of light that issued from his wounds, cauterizing them instantly shut.


    It wasnt even the pain from such an attack that woke him up. It was the hideous death cries as those faint bursts of holy light dissolved his attackers into little bursts of foul ck smoke. Brother Faerbar was on his feet in an instant after that, though he did not draw his sword yet. Not until he understood where the next attack woulde from.


    Farbear cursed his age as he looked into the dark with his burning eyes. The younger versions of himself would have heard the ambush well before theyd approached him. His hearing wasnt the best either, though, and he only heard the rush of wind from the shadow dragon at thest possible moment as the thing above him dived toward him.


    The Temrs sword was out and just starting to glow as the shadow dragon roared its inhuman fury and vomited forth a torrent of shadows. The deep purple mes cast no light on any of the surrounding trees. Instead, they barrel toward the man as a sizzling wall of death.


    Demon! Brother Faerbar roared, meeting the death sentence with a burst of light.


    It never had a chance. Despite the chill as the darkfire almost reaches him, it vanishes in an instant. The dragon that was behind it isnt so lucky.


    Even as it opened its rotting maw wide to rip the Temrs head off, he pivoted to the side, and before the monstrosity could pull up, Brother Faebars sword was there running along its rusted, scaly nk. For the first dozen fee, it found no purchase and made only a storm of sparks, but then it slipped into a gap between the scales and cut a huge rent that separated skin from bone and made the near wing p limply as some vital tendons became unmoored.


    The Temr had no idea if the thing had nned toe around for another pass before, but that was impossible. Instead, it crashed into a nearby tree, and then, even as he ran toward it, the monstrosity limped off into the sky.


    Face me, you coward! Brother Faerbar shouted, shaking a fist at the sky.


    It didnt, though, and it was only as it disappeared into the night that he noted just how much damage those dark mes had done to the surrounding area. The surrounding snow had meltedpletely despite theck of heat, but beneath that, the vegetation had been scourged to nothing. The trees werent spared either. All the nearby trunks were gone or eroded so badly that theyd toppled over in the direction of the st.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere.


    Brother Faerbar didnt sleep the rest of that night or on any of the other nights as he made his way north. After that, he only napped briefly for the period when three of the four suns were in the sky. Hed expected that the skeletons and zombies his enemy would send after him would be something that he could hear and seeing, but hed been wrong.


    Still, the crows never left him now. They haunted each night like a red-eyed constetion, and on some evenings, they outshined even the stars themselves.


    Two nightster, he encountered his next serious ambush. Though the road had been entirely empty of farmers or merchants, which hadnte as a terrible surprise to the Temr given the weather and the state of the world, he eventually found someone waiting to bar his path.


    Ahead of him were a handful of death knights on skeletal monstrosities that might have been distantly rted to horses, backed by some two dozen zombies. Brother Faerbar smiled grimly at that and drew his de once more.


    Hed expected the death knights to charge immediately, but instead, they sent their zombies ahead to bog him down and waited until he was locked intobat before they charged him. That suited him fine. He wanted them all together before he showed his true power.


    The Temr had not merely whiled away his time in the manor teaching children to fight and telling them the stories of Siddrims love. Hed spent a great deal of time pondering and understanding the gift hed been given.


    Inside of him, he had a piece of his Gods very soul, and It was more than a healing light or a me that could be used to kindle that light in other people. If used correctly, it was also a raging bonfire, and that was the way he used it now.


    There is nothing to fear here, he grunted as the death knights charged toward him.


    Even as they rode down their own men in an effort to strike the killing blow that their zombies hadnt been able to aplish so far, the golden light from his eyes and his sword intensified. Momentster, the zombies nearest to him were already engulfed in a fire that was burning them from the inside out.


    Though they didnt panic per se, since they were mindless things, they did spasm and il in agony, further slowing down the knights and giving the Temr the distraction he needed to unhorse the first one. The second and third both wounded him, but his wounds were closed, and their bodies were on fire even before they finished riding past him.


    Only a few minutester, Brother Faerbar stood alone with his chest heaving amidst the ashes and the still smoldering limbs of the corpses that had once been his enemies. Now, they were little more than a stain on the road. If they had faced him with ten times that number, they might have taken him, but only because age took almost as terrible a toll as the light that burned away within him.


    Still, he would not be defeated until he reached his destination, and he resolved to make better time as he walked the empty road from deserted vige to burned-down town before the enemy could assemble such a host.


    That hammer never fell, though, for on thest night of his trip, when Brother Faerbar could see some signs of life as well as the first breaths of spring, he found only one man left to bar his way. I should have known theyd send you, the Temr said to the silhouette as soon as he figured out who it was.


    Between the winter weather and his nighttime schedule, the world had been made monochromatic for most of his trip. Now, though, standing in front of Brother Faerbar on the muddy brown road was a thing wearing the cold blue skin of his dead squire.


    It is only right I pay my respects to you before the end, the zombie croaked in a voice that was a little too rough to be human but still somehow familiar. I want to be there for you in a way that you werent for me, at the end.


    It wasnt Todd anymore. He was certain of that. No matter how well the creature was able to mimic the skin of thed he once knew, hed never believe it.


    Brother Faerbar set his jaw and drew his sword but could not quite bring him to set it aze. My squire did his utmost until the very end, he dered. He stood with Siddrim then, even as I do now. Your lies have no hold on me.


    No? the unclean spirit asked, approaching Brother Faerbar without a weapon drawn. You dont regret that you werent the one there that day? That you werent there to save either your God or your charge? There was sadness in the constructs voice, but to the Temr, it sounded more like mockery than regret.


    He was a grown man, The Temr answered. He did all anyone could ask of him.


    How would you know? the squire asked, drawing his sword as he saw his evil words failed to find their mark in his opponent. Would you like to know his final words? Would you like to know that he died like a coward?


    Brother Faerbars grip on his sword tightened. He could feel his anger rising, but he would have felt the same even if the shard of Siddrim that resided in him hadnt already revealed of the truth of those moments.


    If you wish to try to kill me, then let''s get to it, the older man grunted. I have more important things to do than to reflect on the ghosts of the past.


    Why rush to your grave? the corpseughed. The boy you knew has been reformed and enhanced. He


    The taunting spirit stopped talking as Brother Faerbar brought his sword down like a thunderbolt. It was parried by the silvered de of his opponent, but the blow sent sparks out in all directions into the darkness. It took three attempts tond the first blow, though even the holy light of his sword seemed to do little when it pierced the monstrosity that hed once counted as a friend.


    It will take more than that, old man, the zombie masquerading as his squireughed. Death is only easy the first time. Youll find that out soon enough, yourself.


    Each hateful word and each killing blow made the fire inside the Temr burn that much brighter. This zombie was more skilled than the real Todd had ever been, and it seeded in cutting deep into him twice.


    Those blows healed almost as soon as they were struck, though. It was a battle between one who could not die and another who was already dead. In a true battle of attrition, it would be the dead who would win, for they would never tire.


    Even as Brother Faerbar began to breathe hard and the weight of his sword grew more noticeable, he knew it wouldnte to that. The face of his dear friend was already beginning to crisp, and golden-white fire was leaking from most of the wounds that Brother Faerbar had delivered. The construct was well-built, which made it slow in dying. It could not survive the light any more than the darknesss other constructs, though.


    More than twenty minutes after their terrible dual started, the zombie staggered and fell to one knee. The Temrs first instinct was to surge forward and strike the killing blow, but he remembered too well the terrible explosion that another one of these terrible toys had once unleashed, so instead, he moved back and pulled the light tighter around him like a veil. The result was more than enough to shield him from the worst of the effects when the corpse of his squire detonated, littering the area with poisonous green gas and bone shrapnel.


    Brother Faerbar walked on after that. He didnt even pause for a moment to pay his respects. Why should he? Todd had died long ago; it was only his corpse that had now beenid to rest.