Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 25

After the battle wound down and the Cloudkill spells ran their course, Ludmila joined her forces on the ground to survey the results up close. The western third of the field was littered with blackened corpses; victims that had been overtaken and succumbed to the deadly magic that she had ordered.

Cloudkill was one of the few spells that she found suitable for large battlefields in the Elder Liches' repertoire. Even so, she had to come up with an effective way to deploy them, having a large number cast in tandem to create a deadly moving barrier. As it was described to her by Nonna, the spell was a noxious cloud that instantly killed those below Level 10. Below level 19, there was still a chance for it to be fatal, and continued exposure would cause adverse effects to one's health. Anything stronger would still be subjected to its debilitating effects, but, at that point, it mostly came down to the potency of the caster versus the resistance of the individual.

Being immune to poison made one immune to the spell, so it was an effective battlefield tool when one's army was one hundred per cent Undead. Remaining high above the battlefield on Nonna's shoulders, Ludmila was similarly out of the area of effect.

As she picked her way eastward, fewer corpses showed the effects of Cloudkill, and the work of her Undead forces left pieces of Demihumans scattered everywhere. It was a strange reminder of the arbitrary nature of magic: those who had died of the spell had turned as black as charcoal, while those who had died to every other cause had not – even though the poisonous mist washed over them after the fact.

While the spell certainly seemed convenient, she noted other details that made her question its use. Dead rodents and snakes could be seen occasionally, as well as bats and birds. Coming across a rotting log, Ludmila drew her axe out of curiosity. After peeling back the pieces of bark and chopping out a section of wood, she grimaced. The spell was indiscriminate: anything susceptible to the poisonous mist was affected, enemies or otherwise.

Her earlier testing of the spell had been conducted high in the rocky passes where her Zombies were stationed, so she had not been aware of the fact at the time. In the future, she would have to carefully consider the implications of its use.

"Baroness Zahradnik," one of the Elder Lich commanders called out to her from the southwest, "The survivors await."

Survivors…?

With both sides having fully committed themselves to battle, she wasn't about to attempt something foolish like ordering potentially harmful measures to preserve enemy numbers, but she did leave several other orders standing. Amongst them were her instructions to leave the enemy commanders unscathed, if possible. She found a small group of well-equipped, dangerous-looking Hobgoblins seated near the centre of the field. Four Death Knights stood watch over them. Nonna appeared to be making a study of their possessions.

As Ludmila approached, they turned their attention towards her, faces expressing clear disbelief.

"Good morning," Ludmila said. "I am Baroness Ludmila Zahradnik, Warden of the Vale. Five days ago, a contingent of your soldiers crossed over into the sovereign territory of the Sorcerous Kingdom, attacking the official that asked for them to declare their business. The individuals taken in for questioning revealed to us your intent to invade our nation."

A large Hobgoblin in the midst of the group jumped to her feet and bulled her way forward. Ludmila called her glaive into her hand, but it was unnecessary: a Death Knight smoothly stepped in and bashed the Hobgoblin across the face with its shield. The Demihuman took several more wobbly steps before tumbling into a heap.

"General!"

"General!"

"General!"

The other Hobgoblins rose to their feet, voices raised in concern.

I guess I do not have to figure out who their leader is.

The Hobgoblin General sent a baleful glare at Ludmila from where her cheek was pressed against the dirt.

"You Undead bitch!" Flecks of spittle sprayed into the air, "I knew it wasn't just some damn Elder Lich doing this!"

One of the Elder Lich commanders looked at the Hobgoblin General, then at Ludmila.

Don't look at me – I never claim to be Undead…

"The fact of the matter is that you have come with the resolve to invade the Sorcerous Kingdom," Ludmila looked pointedly across the field, "and this is the result. I am curious, however: why would you think to bring such a huge army into our quiet corner of the wilderness?"

The Hobgoblin General froze at her question, then a chuckle rose from its throat.

"I do not think I said anything funny," Ludmila frowned.

"This isn't the end…" The Hobgoblin General said.

Ludmila was not particularly well versed in romantic literature, but even she understood the ominous line as painfully cliché.

"I realize that more of your army remains in the basin–"

"No!" The Hobgoblin General shouted, "You realize nothing! I'll accept that I was bested by a superior force, but the last laugh will be mine. Your evil will be destroyed by a greater evil – he will come for you, you Undead monster…"

Ludmila furrowed her brow and looked over towards Nonna.

"Did the ones from the other day yield any information related to this?" She asked.

"The interrogation revealed nothing relevant to exterminating these invaders," the Elder Lich answered.

The Hobgoblin let out a guffaw. Ludmila wracked her head, trying to make sense out of its cryptic words.

"Evil…does this have anything to do with the 'evil star' that has fallen in the west?"

The laughter stopped.

"Evil star?" The Hobgoblin General snorted, "Which cryptic asshole told you that? Well, no matter. No amount of preparation will save you. These 'soldiers' of yours are nothing, too. Hell is right behind us, Undead – your 'Sorcerous Kingdom' will burn like everything else."

"Explain," Ludmila demanded.

The Hobgoblin General started to laugh again. Ludmila resisted the urge to use her glaive in an attempt to loosen its tongue. There were people who could do this elsewhere – she had to return and compose her report to Lord Cocytus before Entoma and Shizu arrived with the next contingent of army trainees.

After arranging for the interrogation of the Hobgoblin General and the rest of the captured officers, she ordered the Elder Lich commanders to start cleaning up the field. Once she set some Shadow Demons to ambush any incoming couriers or supply trains coming from the west, Ludmila hurried back to the harbour.

Along the way, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the Katze River. Nearer to the battlefield, it had become discoloured – turned bright red by the tens of thousands of Demihumans slain along its banks. To her great relief, it faded somewhat as more and more streams and small rivers joined it along its course. By the time the river ran by the harbour, it was only suspiciously dark…or so she thought.

On the pier, Chief Esess stood looking out over the water with several other Lizardmen. They froze upon noticing her approach, and she could swear that one of them pushed the chieftain forward. She greeted him with as much friendliness as she could muster.

"Good morning, Chief Esess."

"Good morning, Lady Zahradnik."

"Is something the matter?" She asked.

"Ah, hm…yes," the Lizardman Chieftain answered. "The river has changed – the smell and taste of the waters have become strange…"

So much for hoping that no one would notice.

"The change should be temporary," Ludmila said. "Give it a day or two and it should be gone."

"What is it, if I may ask?" Chief Esess asked, "Is it something bad? Will it happen again? My people are concerned."

"Rather than something bad," Ludmila smiled, "I would say it is good news. The main army of the forces threatening us to the south was defeated last night. The river is stained with the blood of over 30,000 Demihumans. As for whether it will happen again, I will carry out my duty as often as duty demands."

As she tried to convey a sense of confidence to the Lizardman Chief, he stopped blinking and his tail went rigid. Ludmila leaned forward and waved her hand in front of his snout, and he flinched backwards. She still couldn't figure out many of the stranger aspects of her Lizardmen subjects.

"At any rate," she continued, "try to refrain from using the river water until the blood has washed by. I will have barrels of well water delivered from the villages if you wish."

"Ah, hm, yes…thank you, my lady."

The Lizardman Chief returned to the pier, gesturing with his arms as he relayed her explanation. They reacted in the same manner as their chief, save for one who fell into the river. Over the course of her exposure to the Demihuman race, she had come to learn that they were not very good on dry land. Even the ones that had moved to E-Rantel resided in the Demihuman quarter, where a small lake had been made to accommodate them.

Her mind started to wander towards her delayed development plans before she caught herself. She had no time to linger. Ludmila turned and walked up the village trail, returning to her manor.

"Welcome back, my lady," Lluluvien greeted her as she entered, "and congratulations."

Ludmila's gaze went to the map in the back of the manor. It had already been updated with the changes that had occurred overnight.

"Thank you, Lluluvien," she replied. "Please prepare some tea – I have a lot of work ahead of me this morning."

A Skeleton stirred from the wall of the hall and made its way into the back to pick up the kettle from where it hung over the fireplace. Ludmila took a seat at her desk, trying to figure out how to best structure her report. After several hours, and with about thirty minutes left until the next scheduled delivery, she thought she had come up with something appropriately comprehensive and coherent.

She went down to the flats to prepare for the exchange. Entoma and Shizu arrived exactly on time with the next contingent of troops.

"Delivery."

"Delivery~"

The two sisters were attired in the same garb as always: vaguely maid-like uniforms that might have come from some exotic place. After a few days, she decided that Entoma was wearing some sort of mask, while Shizu's face was half-hidden behind her mottled green scarf and large black eyepatch.

"Thank you, Miss Entoma, Miss Shizu. Here is the night's report."

The two sisters stared down at the thick stack of papers. Entoma was the first to move, dashing by and disappearing around the hill.

"Ah."

"Miss Entoma is always so excited about getting more food," Ludmila said. "I apologize for leaving you with all the paperwork again, Miss Shizu."

Shizu received the stack of papers and seemed to weigh them in her hand before she started flipping through the pages.

"It's ok," she said in her flat voice, "this is important work, after all."

The flipping stopped at a certain page near the beginning, and Shizu's eye roamed back and forth over its content. After a minute, she looked back up at Ludmila, silently running her gaze up and down her figure. Ludmila shifted slightly under her scrutiny.

"Erm…Miss Shizu?"

"Weapon," Shizu said.

"Pardon me?"

"Weapon…do you use one?"

Shizu reached into her inventory, retrieving a variety of weapons. Axes, swords, daggers…they all looked both magical and highly valuable. Ludmila grew curious about how many would come out, but she didn't want to waste Shizu's time.

"I use a spear," Ludmila said.

"Then…"

As Shizu drew out a long spear from her inventory, Ludmila called her new glaive into her right hand. The pink-haired woman paused to stare at the weapon. All of the ones she had pulled out returned to her inventory. In their place, Shizu held a pen and stepped forward. Ludmila stepped back.

"What…what are you doing?"

"Drawing."

"Drawing? Drawing on what?"

"Weapon," Shizu said, eyeing Ludmila's glaive. "Don't worry: it's permanent."

Ludmila glanced down at her weapon, imagining fluffy animals doodled on the pristine white haft of the incalculably valuable weapon. She willed it back into her Infinite Haversack. Shizu's mouth turned down in its ever-so-subtle way.

"This is a precious weapon bestowed upon me by Lady Shalltear," Ludmila said. "I am sorry, but I cannot allow anyone to deface it."

Shizu's eye fell upon one of Ludmila's Infinite Haversacks, and a worried look came over Ludmila's face. They had been exchanging troops for the past week and, in that time, Ludmila found that the range of Shizu's visible expressions was quite limited. This was about as close to pure dissatisfaction as far as Shizu was concerned.

Was she going to try and take it? If so, Ludmila felt that she would have no choice but to let Shizu have her way with her.

"Woodlouse…Ranger…"

Ludmila blinked at Shizu's meandering words.

"A bow," Shizu asked. "Do you have one?"

"A-a bow? Yes – yes, I do."

She quickly retrieved her ash longbow before Shizu decided to do something to her. After a brief glance, Shizu's frown disappeared and she reached into her inventory and pulled out a bow. Like the other weapons she had previously produced, it appeared to be of extraordinary value – a composite bow fashioned out of what Ludmila thought to be horn and sinew from some beast.

"Have you heard of…Runecraft™?" Shizu asked her.

"Rune…apologies for my ignorance, but I have not heard of anything like that."

Shizu held out the bow.

"It's dangerous to go alone. Take this."

Ludmila was going to say that the soldiers that were just delivered would be with her, but Shizu came forward and pressed the weapon against her stomach. Ludmila's arms reflexively came up.

"This, erm…"

"Rune Bow," Shizu told her. "Made using the ancient art of Runecraft™. Exclusive magical product of the Sorcerous Kingdom."

Ludmila held up the Rune Bow, examining it closely. It certainly felt ancient. She thought she saw a series of markings on the side of the shaft.

"These are runes?" She pointed at them.

"Runes…?" Shizu tilted her head, "Oh. Mm, those are runes."

"What do they say?"

Shizu blinked up at her silently.

"Then does this weapon have a name? It looks quite old."

"Ult…uwah…"

"Ultuwah…?"

They stared at one another again. Shizu's blank expression did not change in the slightest.

"Anyways," Shizu said after several moments, "you should let many people see it."

With that, Shizu wandered off, leaving Ludmila standing alone with the Rune Bow Ultuwah. She tested the pull of the bow, finding it fairly light compared to her usual weapon.

What did she mean by letting many people see it? She still had the remaining portions of the basin to clean out. Was Shizu telling her to use the bow as often as possible against the Demihumans? Looking towards where the Sorcerer King's servant had disappeared to, Ludmila wished she had stopped her to ask for a better explanation.

She needed to keep an eye on the forces in training, but it was a well-established routine at this point. The remaining portions of the Goblin army were reported to mostly consist of poorly-equipped training camps as well. Maybe she could get some training of her own in – her bow skills had greatly fallen behind her proficiency with a polearm.

After ordering the newly arrived formations to help with the cleanup in the central valley, she returned to her manor to see if any changes had occurred over the course of the morning. Wiluvien had assumed her sister's post, and one of the Elder Liches from the farming villages was awaiting her in the hall.

"Is something the matter?" Ludmila asked.

"There have been several requests from the villagers about when it would be safe to return to work," the Elder Lich replied. "The farmers wish to return to tending the fields. Seeing the current progress in the upper reaches, I believe that it is a prudent juncture to relay their request."

Would it be safe to return to the fields? She walked over to the map. The Goblin army had been pushed back to the southern edge of the basin, and there was no sign that anything had disturbed the Zombies that she had stuffed into the passes or had scaled over the bare mountain peaks.

"You may rescind the advisory," Ludmila nodded. "But remain vigilant. The threat of tens of thousands of Demihumans flooding into the territory has passed, but we do not know whether a small group has somehow found its way in. The village security forces will be returned to their posts, but I will still need some Bone Vultures for surveillance."

The manor door shut quietly behind the Elder Lich, and Ludmila turned her attention back to the map again. Two days…or at least that was what she had thought remained before she could go back to focusing on her domestic duties. Now, the Hobgoblin General had mocked her over some doom approaching from the west – possibly the same 'evil star' that had driven the Krkonoše from their ancient homes.

"Take the Bone Vultures that were watching over the main army encampment," Ludmila told Wiluvien, "and send them to gather information in a radius of up to 100 Kilometres west from the ancient pass. We need to find out what is going on out there."