Three days ago...
Barrett and his famed privateers sailed into Boreal's Harbor and the great raider leapt off his ship with a spring in his step (both literally and metaphorically). He found the streets deserted. Word was that a small undead horde had been terrorizing the city of late. Sure enough shriveled forms began to shamble out from the warehouses and drainage tunnels.
"Form up!" Barrett yelled to his marines, and then he whispered to himself, "this time will be different."
No sooner had he said it then a fierce gale swept in from the sea. There was something strange about the breeze, it made Barrett's neck tingle and there was some faint smell he could not name but instinctively knew was wrong.
"Damn it, he muttered"
Crossbows twanged, bolts flew. With such a fierce wind blowing their first volley felled only four revenants. Their second volley did no better.
"Come on! Send those rotters back to their graves!" Barrett bellowed.
As the ghouls closed in aiming became easier. The Marine's third volley took down over a dozen foes. The survivors clambering over their remains, closing fast.
"Reload, faster!" Barrett ordered.
Drawing back their crossbow-strings one last time the marines loosed their last volley, then slung crossbows over their backs and drew their cutlasses. Barrett drew a blade of his own and moved to the front of the line.
"Those beasts are the last thing standing between us and the treasure! CHARGE!"
Blades cleaved into skulls, and slashed through limbs. The undead fought like wild beasts, leaping on their prey, raking the faces and necks of their enemies with razor sharp claws. For all the carnage the undead were losing, badly. For every marine they brought down two of their number returned to their natural state of still death.
"Victory!" Barrett cried prematurely, turning to his men. He saw their faces turn ashen and their fierce battle scowls melt into expressions of shear terror. Barrett turned back to where the undead had been. In the midst of the field stood a towering figure clad in black armor, wielding a great-sword. The being wore no helm revealing his gaunt face. Shrunken lips peeled back over ivory teeth and blackness filled the sockets where his eyes should have been with only pinpoints of white light in the center of the void.
The undead champion turned his blade so the hilt pointed up, revealing a violet gemstone in the pommel. A pale light glimmered in the talisman and a blast of wind shot towards the group. Barrett raised his buckler instinctively. The spell drained the heat from his bones, and even the sun seemed to dim. Barrett heard his men shouting in terror, their cries getting farther and farther away.
"Get back here you cowards!" he yelled over his shoulder, "WE HAVE HIM JUST STAND YOUR GROUND!"
It was no use. Barrett turned to find the champion had closed to within striking distance.
"You think I need them to flay an ugly sod like you?" Barrett taunted.
The lich was silent. He swung his blade and Barrett ducked beneath it. He launched himself forward, rolled and cut the champion's achilles tendon. The ghoul stumbled but remained upright. He swung again. This time Barrett caught the blade with his buckler and redirected it into the ground. He landed another hit on the revenants wrist, severing the left hand. One handed he tried to fight on, but he could scarcely lift his blade above the knees. Barrett side stepped a low jab and severed the undead's other hand.
"Enough games," Barrett mocked.
The champion just stared blankly. Barrett swung his cutlass, severing the undead's head at the neck. Without warning the body burst into a cloud of dust that reeked of grave dirt.
Coughing Barrett turned to search for his men. In the haze he spotted a figure with a crossbow drawn. Barrett waved.
"It's me, hold your fire!" he ordered.
"Oh I know it is," said a bitter voice.
As the dust settled Barrett could see that the man wore a drab grey cloak over rusted mail. He carried a battered crossbow with dry cracked wood and rusted metal fixtures.
"It's been a long time my lord,"
To be continued...
