Dimitryi/MihaisPrelude
Mihai's Prelude, Part One
The sentry stood and stared into the tall grass. The moon and the river breeze caused the grass on the rolling hillside to dance with shadows. Looking into the shifting patches of moonlight and darkness made him uneasy, but he ignored the discomfort. The fields and low hills surrounding the tributary were not a place to lose focus. Human bandits and hobgoblins were common menaces, but recent times had also seen packs of the walking dead, or worse. Bandits were not a terrible risk to a Guild caravan like the one camped a thousand paces behind the sentry, but the dead or fae were unlikely to consider the butcher's bill they'd pay for an assault.
Still, the sentry was more wary than usual. The caravan had picked up a young woman on the road the previous night. She seemed harmless enough, but she made the senty uneasy. After all, what sort of woman traveled these roads alone? Something was not right; the sentry expected trouble, and sure enough trouble was coming.
Something was moving, coming towards the camp from the river. The sentry stood between the camp and whatever it was that approached, but he knew his position was well camoflaged. It was far too soon for him to break cover just yet. What approached might just be a coyote or wild dog, to be ignored. Such scavengers would not approach the sentinel lights or torches ringing the camp. The sentry would not even break cover for a more serious threat - a lone hobgoblin or a pack of omen dogs. The caravan guards were well equipped to handle such threats. No, he would stay and watch for more serious dangers - hobgoblin warbands, or a platoon of zombies from the shadowlands to the south.
He had barely even noticed the motion, at first. It had seemed just another shadow among thousands of its kin - but then he noticed that it did not always move in accordance with the wind. This shadow moved with purpose, towards the camp. The sentry had monitored its approach, but it seemed to stop moving a hundred yards away from his position. No matter. The sentry was a veteran, and was confident he could outwait whatever lurked in the tall grass.
Mihai crouched a half dozen feet behind the prone sentry. The man had done an admirable job of camoflage and, perhaps more impressively, had noted Mihai's initial approach from the river. He had not anticipated such competence. Guild caravans were typically well guarded, but tended to rely on a visible show of strength rather than guile.
Mihai ran his thumb along the weighted end of the satin black chain wrapped around his forearm. It would not be difficult to crush the man's temple from where he crouched, or to wrap the chain around his neck and crush his windpipe to eliminate the risk of alarm. The muscles in his shoulders tensed as he dropped a length of chain silently into his palm.
Mihai, wait.Dimitryi/I> The words were unspoken, but sounded like a soft breeze through pines. <I>There is no need to harm this man.Dimitryi/I>
<I>Damnation, SimuDimitryi/B>Dimitryi/I> thought Mihai. <B><I>He saw me approach. If he gives alarm, she will flee. It could take weeks to find her again, and what horrors might she inflict in that time?Dimitryi/I>Dimitryi/B>
<I>And if she kills a man before we find her again, how is that worse than you killing this sentry now? There is no need for violence yet. I will speak to him.Dimitryi/I>
With considerable effort Mihai masked his response, and gritted his teeth. Simu was a friend, maybe the last he had in the world. But he seemed to have no sense of the greater good. What was one man's life weighed against the elimination of the abomination that had infiltrated the caravan? Still, he silently rewrapped the chain around his forearm and waited.
<I>Subtle as a kick in the head,Dimitryi/I> Simu thought to himself as he glided towards the prone sentry. Simu preferred to think of himself as an unusual ancestor spirit, not a ghost. Sure, he was dead. Sure, Mihai was a friend and not a descendant. But still. Mihai needed him, needed his guidance. And so he postponed his trip along destiny's wheel to stay among the living a bit longer. Anyway, ghosts were the hateful dead. The only thing Simu hated was Mihai's tendency towards solving every problem with a thrown knife or stranglehold. Ah, but now, to work. Simu forged a limited link to the sentry's mind.
<I>Mortal, heed my words.Dimitryi/I>
The sentry froze. He heard the words, but knew no sound was made.
<I>Fear not, mortal. I will not harm you. Indeed, I have come to warn you. Do not speak or move suddenly and you will remain unhurt.Dimitryi/I>
The sentry nodded his head to show his understanding. Clearly he was being addressed by whatever it was he had spotted in the tall grass - almost certainly a spirit of some kind. Almost imperceptibly he began to reach into his jerkin to pull out a brass whistle. Should the spirit charge, he could still sound the alarm before it reached him.
<I>The woman in your camp is not what she seems.Dimitryi/I>
The sentry's hand froze.
<I>She is a grave threat to you and your employers. She is of the walking dead, one who sustains her presence outside of the Shadowlands by consuming the flesh of the living.Dimitryi/I>
The sentry involuntarily jerked, one hand going to his whistle.
<I>Remain still!Dimitryi/I> Simu waited a moment, half expecting Mihai's chain to come whistling out of the darkness. When it did not, Simu silently thanked the Celestial Dragon of Mercy for Mihai's uncharacteristic restraint.
<I>Remain still, mortal. I am... I am N'ajaa, a spirit of this plain. I will send my servant to deal with this threat, but you must not interfere! Nod if you understand.Dimitryi/I>
The sentry's heart pounded. A ghoul in the camp, and this spirit asked him to do nothing?
"Spirit," he whispered. "I mean no offense, but you are unknown to me. How am I to trust the unknown?"
<I>Because, mortal, if I were not worthy of such trust you would be dead.Dimitryi/I>
<I>Stand up, Mihai.Dimitryi/I>
<I><B>Very well, Simu. But if this man so much as draws a deep breath, I will kill him.Dimitryi/B>Dimitryi/I>
Mihai could hear Simu's mental sigh. <I>I know, Mihai. I know.Dimitryi/I>
<I>Look over your shoulder, mortal.Dimitryi/I>
Slowly, to avoid disturbing his camoflage, the sentry turned. His heart filled with ice as a tall figure rose out of the grass. It wore the shape of a man, dressed in a high-collared black and gray vest. The figures limbs were wrapped in black and gray strips of cloth, and its face was covered from below the eyes with a black silk veil. It was difficult to discern any features in the dark, except its eyes, which caught the moonlight. The eyes were inhuman, turquoise and purple, and held only the promise of death.
<I>This is my servant. As long as you do not interfere, he will not harm you. He will dispatch the ghoul.Dimitryi/I>
"I... I will not interfere."
<I>A fine choice...Dimitryi/I>
As the sentry stared, the faceless man loped into the shadows towards the camp, and disappeared.
