Nightmare of the Lost: Part 7

Ogre Bridge

Two burly fighters came barreling at them at a much greater speed than the past undead encountered. BaRuhk scanned the tree line around for the archer and found her high in the branches of a far off tree. She had a longbow with plenty of reach. They noticed the rogue when he darted out of the shadows and tried to stab Missy. She danced away, out of his reach and laughed as if this were a simple outing in town. 

Together, the adventurers began the fight. Missy used her powers to create problems for the rogue and the archer while BaRuhk, Brick and Ramiel took up hand to hand combat with the rogue and two fighters. Sukra stayed a ways back with Missy and helped heal the group when they were injured by the opposing undead. What seemed like a lengthy fight probably lasted no more than five minutes. At first it seemed that they would lose the fight. The undead could take injuries and not falter. They had no stamina so it could not run out. The power of the necromancy kept these creatures going long after they should. 

BaRuhk tried to use his magic but found that the unexpected consequences made it as hard for them as the undead. He decided to keep using his weapons and eventually they managed to take out the assailants. They were almost at the top of the mountain and nothing would stop them from getting their daughter’s soul back. With a resounded thwack, BaRuhk finished off the final undead by lopping off its head. After burning the remains the group kept moving, trudging ahead. 

The  five adventurers reached the top of the mountain and found themselves facing a large gorge between them and the next peak where the spire was located. It was much taller so the shorter peak was used as a way to reach the spire more easily. Another bridge awaited them, this one made of stone. The stone was old and crumbling in places. Large sections of it had already broken off and lay in the distance below, shattered over the ground. 

Across the bridge waited a hulking mass of body. It was an undead ogre. Its shadow covered half the bridge. A low moaning growl emanated from its lips. As it began to cross the bridge, something came over Brick. With a sonorous war cry he rushed to meet the ogre. When they reached the middle of the bridge, Brick did not stop. He leaped at the ogre landing right on top of it. As the ogre flailed, trying to attack and get brick off at the same time, the bridge groaned under the weight of both. 

Not wanting to break the bridge with their own weight kept them from helping as Brick recklessly attacked the beast. The ogre was not able to check his balance or tell where he was on the bridge so when they fell over the side it was more of a surprise that it had taken that long for them to fall. The remaining group members rushed to the bridge as the ogre fell with Brick on top. It seemed to take ages for them to hit the ground and when they did there was a terrible thump sound that carried up to them. 

They checked below for signs of life, wanting to see if Brick had survived by some miracle or stroke of luck. Alas, Brick lay unmoving on the packed dirt road below. They were about to give up when they saw movement. The ogre was undead and so was still trying to get up to where it was supposed to be. Its legs were damaged beyond repair as it had landed right on them so it could only drag itself slowly up the path to the spire. Brick lay unmoving as well and the group was about to give up on signs of life and move on when he twitched. 

He moved again and again but by that time the group had come to a horrifying realization that Brick was being reanimated by the necromancer’s power. Brick’s body was damaged but he still had use of most of his limbs. His undead body propped itself up with jerking motions until it was standing. The face shot up to stare at them and, with a low laugh, the body began to shamble forward. Thank the gods that it had a broken leg and arms, otherwise their former companion could have caught up to them pretty quick. As it was, his broken body was no faster than the legless ogre clawing its way up the mountain. 

It was far from the ideal situation and they were all disheartened by the turn of events. They had lost a comrade, companion and friend. With a grim new understanding of their situation they continued up the path to the spire. A pair of large metal doors loomed in the distance ahead and they knew they were close to their quarry. They also all now knew something else. Something they did not want to talk about quite yet but could not ignore forever. Each member moved with quick and silent motions, thinking the same thing. 

Now they knew that if they died here, their bodies would be taken by Necromancer and converted into more undead fodder to protect his castle and territory. His blight would be able to spread across the land indiscriminately. They would be swallowed in horror and unable to do anything to stop it. Their new group of four instead of five walked up to the epicenter of their nightmare to meet their success or their end.