(continued from Ch 11, Shadows of the Dead)

The Chronicles of Rapina
Chapter 12, Shadows of the Dead 


It was three or four in the morning when there came a scratching on the tent flap accompanied by the dim glow of an oil lantern turned down low, and the whisper of Logan's voice. "Sir, we have a problem."

"Nay, again? Come in an' tell me about it."

"We've lost the Southeast watch post, sir," Logan said opening the tent flap. Suddenly Logan dropped the lantern he was carrying and lurched to catch it in mid air before it spilled. The light flickered and shadows danced but Logan caught the lantern before it hit the floor. "Aai! Jus' had the mother 'o chills, been having 'em off and on since we checked the post."

"Didn't we double the guard ta tha Southeast?" the captain asked while getting out of bed and fetching his robe?

Rapina held the covers to her neck with one hand while she got her sheathed crystal light pendant from the bed post and slipped it on over her neck with the other. She hoped whatever was attacking would stick to picking off guard posts as it had last night, but she felt a foreboding presence and feared that would not be so. As soon as Logan left, Rapina thought maybe she would get up, but right now, she was not wearing even a stitch of clothing.

"Aye, an' had we not we'd 'ave never heard the single scream that marked the passin' o' the men," Logan said.

"Did ye re- iiiiee! aaa! ssss!, I got yer aaaa! oooh! rrrr! chills! Damn it what's aaaaiiiuuuooou! gonin' on? The captain grimaced and cringed this way and that as chills struck him.

Rapina could hear yelling outside the tent in the direction of the water that was only about two or three score paces away.

When the guards at the Northeast guard post had mysteriously disappeared with only a scream to mark their passing, Logan had sent a man to rouse the pirates early. Someone had gotten past the sentries, and Logan did not want the men killed in their sleep. ---

The sylvan elf splashed cool water onto his face. He stood there for a few minutes basking in the invigorating feeling of cleanliness. Doanthalas opened his eyes and stared at the stars. They twinkled, as they seemed to dance in the heavens. It felt as if they were beckoning the tattooed elf to come dance with them in the sky. Some of the burden lifted from his heart as his spirits soared for a moment. A moment later they came crashing down as his thoughts turned to the recent encounter with the skeletons. Although his body was clean of the dirt and bone fragments from the fight his soul still felt tainted. Something was dreadfully wrong if the dead walked this island.

Doanthalas seemed to be lost in thought again. Drake noticed that the elf would frequently stop whatever he was doing and stare at some fixed spot somewhere in the distance. The muscles in his face would move in such a manner that his facial tattoos seemed to come alive. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but Drake was getting used to the strange elf and his ways. In spite of the fact that Doanthalas did not engage in conversation often Drake was taking a liking to him.

"So...Doanthalas....what's it like being the only elf around so many humans? Doesn't it make you uncomfortable?"

The only reply the elf made was a slight shaking of his head. There was no way to describe to Drake the horrors he had borne witness to. The battle with the skeletons had been a walk in the park compared to some of the battles he had fought. Living with humans was far preferable to being the slave of fiends so grotesque that their faces haunted Doanthalas' reverie every night.

Seeing that nothing more was forthcoming from Doanthalas Drake continued, "I know we're not supposed to talk about it, but..." He looked from side to side and whispered. "Do you think there are more of them up there? There's got to be. When we found the other...er...body and those skeletons... well... I don't think it was them that dragged the body away. What do you think?"

Doanthalas dunked his head under the water and then threw his head back spraying water into the air as his long hair whipped backwards. He fixed his emerald eyes on Drake and spoke in the clear methodical manner he always did, "When the dead walk the earth the living must rise up and put their spirits to rest. Otherwise the living are doomed to join the dead in their tormented walking..."

Had anyone else said those same words Drake would have dismissed them as being drunk or crazy or both. However, Doanthalas said it with such utter conviction that there was no doubting his words. The young man fell silent and looked off in the distance towards the cliffs. A feeling of dread was fast descending upon him. All Drake wanted to do was get off the island as fast as possible. The noise made by some of the other pirates bathing a little further down distracted him. The other pirates still didn't trust Doanthalas enough to linger too close to him. This annoyed Drake, but what annoyed him more was the sight of Edgar and Kent talking in hushed tones and looking in his direction.

"He's a demon I tell ya. Look at him! You're right for not trusting him! He's a danger to us all. That story about shadow men or whatever he called them was made up. We both know it was him who killed the two guards.


Kent looked at Drake and Doanthalas bathing in the distance. The elf seemed to be oblivious of his watchful gaze, but Drake noticed Kent watching them. The young man averted his eyes and turned to talk to Edgar. "What do you care Edgar? You don't give a damn about anyone in the camp except for maybe Trevor."

Edgar scowled and grabbed Kent roughly by the arm. "That's not true and you know it! You and Drake were like brothers to me until we ended up here. As soon as we were here you both turned your backs on me! Sure I started a lot of trouble myself...I don't deny it. I like trouble! But, not once did you or Drake stand up for me. When that pirate beat me down you and Drake just stood there like cowards! At least Trevor cared enough to see that I was okay. And not once did you check up on me to see how I was coming along. Not once. I've been watching you and Drake every step of the way." He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and stared at Kent.

The young man lowered his eyes. He knew there was some truth to Edgar's words. Some of the facts had been distorted, but the meaning remained unchanged. "You're right...Edgar. I'm sorry. I've been so wrapped up in what I've been doing that I have totally neglected you."

"Don't worry about it too much runt. Drake obviously isn't. Look at him over there being all buddy buddy with that damnable elf." He hissed the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "There's been nothing but trouble since the elf was released from his cage."

"Yeah, but do you think he's the cause of it all?" Kent asked.

"Hell yeah! And the question is what are we going to do about it..."

Kent was about to respond when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. It was like his flesh was being ripped open. He tried to scream, but his body went rigid as all his muscles tightened. His eyes darted around in terror as his mind tried to come to grips with what had just happened.

Edgar saw Kent's body jerk suddenly and his eyes looking about wildly, but Edgar did not know how to react. He was not sure what was going on until he saw the hideous face of Kent's attacker rise from the water. In his moment of terror and surprise, Edgar backpedaled onto land falling backwards into the water twice in the process. He grabbed his sword and leapt back into the water with a loud cry.

By this time a few of the other pirates knew something was amiss. They had heard Edgar's cry and also witnessed another of their number being dragged under the water. Chaos erupted as more of the hideous creatures emerged from the water. Pirates scrambled for their weapons as the creatures advanced. The creatures skin had a pale sickly color to it and their teeth were long and pointy. Long tongues twisted like serpents in their mouths and their wild eyes scanned the camp. Any clothing they wore was in tatters.

Drake turned as he heard Edgar's scream and started to run in that direction. An iron grip on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to shake off the hand only to come face to face with the sylvan elf.

"Death comes to the foolish more swiftly than to the prepared...man. Arm yourself my friend." Doanthalas released his grip and raced onto the land. He knew that the enemy they faced was more dangerous than the pirates realized. These creatures were familiar to the elf; he had seen and fought them before, but back then he had been better prepared. He scooped up his sword as well as Drake's. When Drake was close enough he tossed him his sword and then raced off to engage the ghouls.

Edgar tried to position himself so that he could attack the ghoul without harming Kent, but the ghoul seemed to sense this and kept moving so that Kent was constantly between it and Edgar. "Hang on Kent!" Edgar shouted. "I'll get you out of this." As he said those words, another ghoul emerged from the water beside him. He turned and swung at it with all his might. The creature jumped back well out of the way of the wild swing.

Drake saw the creature with Kent start to drag him under the water. Drake Hoped he would get there in time to save Kent. Doanthalas' strong legs were carrying him to the battle more quickly than Drake could manage, but that did not matter. Drake could only think of helping his friend.

The sylvan elf raised his sword to attack as he closed on the two ghouls engaged with Kent and Edgar. He was going to help Kent, but the ghoul on Edgar succeeded in slashing its claws across the young man's chest. Doanthalas saw Edgar go rigid and knew that the ghoul would devour him if he did not do something fast. Drake would have to help Kent. The tattooed elf brought his sword down swiftly slicing the ghoul's arm off neatly at the shoulder.

The fight taking place in front of him didn't register at all. The only thing that Edgar could see was the ghoul dragging Kent under and Drake struggling feebly to stop it.

"Let him go!" Drake screamed as he sank his sword into the ghouls back. The ghoul didn't even flinch. It just kept walking further out into the water dragging Kent with it. Drake hacked at it some more and knocked off big chunks of flesh, but the ghoul just turned and swatted him with its meaty hand. Drake only felt the sting of the blow for a moment. His muscles tightened immediately as the claws on the ghouls' hand scraped his face. He could do nothing to stop his fall as he fell backwards into the water. The sounds of battle faded as the water enveloped him. Try as he might, he could not will his muscles to move. "Gods! I'm going to drown!", he thought. Fear gripped him as surely as the paralysis had.

The ghoul had turned on Doanthalas after the loss of its arm. It pressed its attack with a cunning rivaling that of some of the best pirates in the camp. A clawed hand raked across his chest, but apart from the blood flowing from the wound, Doanthalas seemed unaffected. He swung his sword deftly and proceeded to dismember the ghoul. The severed pieces of the ghoul sank swiftly to the bottom. Doanthalas turned and lifted Drake's rigid body from the water. Luckily he was still breathing. As the elf hoisted the form of Drake from the water he scanned the area for any sign of Kent. For a moment there was no sign of him. Then a large group of bubbles broke the surface of the water off in the distance. Doanthalas knew that all hope of rescuing the boy was lost at that moment. He grabbed the rigid forms of Edgar and Drake and dragged them to shore.

What was he doing? The elf had just left Kent to die. He could have dove in after them and saved him, but he didn't. That damned elf! Tears streamed down Edgar's eyes and he would have sobbed if he had control of his body. At least Drake had tried to help.

Drake was feeling the same grief that Edgar was, although he wasn't blaming Doanthalas for Kent's fate. He knew there was nothing the elf could have done. Instead, he blamed himself for getting there too late and allowing the ghoul to paralyze him.

The elf turned quickly as a noise caught his attention. Another ghoul had crept up on him while he was dragging Drake and Edgar out of the water. He stood there weaponless trying to figure out what to do. He had left his sword a few paces back so he wouldn't accidentally stab one of the boys. Time seemed to slow down as he turned and prepared to make a dash for his sword. A combination of water and sweat rolled down his face tracing the contour of his cheek. A rivulet of blood ran down his chest as he turned and dug his feet in. The ghoul slashed at Doanthalas with its clawed hand just as a point of light caught the elf's attention. A drop of blood hung off of his chest for a split second before falling. It spattered to the ground just as a flaming arrow embedded itself into the back of the ghoul with a loud thunk-poof.

Doanthalas seemed to have a demonic look to him as the light from the flames danced across his tattooed form. The tattoos seemed to come alive and writhing and twisting around his body as he embraced the ghoul and they both burst into flames.

Arzeal nocked another flaming arrow and took aim. These arrows were special, and Arzeal had bought many of them from a tinker. They had proved invaluable against the rigging of enemy ships. Each was tipped with a glass bulb full of resinous spirits and coated with the same sort of pine tar used for torch-heads. The archer set the bulb aflame and fired. When the arrow hit, the bulb burst - splashing the target with a cloud of flaming resin. He did not want to hit Doanthalas, but that was a chance he would have to take if he wanted to save him. "Damn!" He muttered as the ghoul bowled the sylvan elf over and they both burst into flames. He would have to grieve for his friend later, for now he targeted another ghoul.

Two other ghouls had surfaced a little further down and were wreaking havoc on the few pirates that had been bathing there. One pirate fell quickly to the ghouls attack and was dragged to a watery grave like Kent had been. the other fought the remaining pirates. Had they not been gripped by sheer terror the pirates might have mounted a formidable defense and defeated the ghoul. But the ghoul managed to paralyze most of them before being driven back into the water by a combination of attacks from the remaining pirates and a flaming arrow embedded in its neck. Reinforcements arrived in time to see the last ghoul disappear beneath the surface of the water. They tended to their wounded comrades and watched as the flaming ghoul and Doanthalas struggled near Drake and Edgar.

The heat from the flame was unbearable, but the elf did not worry. He focused on the task at hand, ripping the ghoul limb from limb. He managed to maneuver the ghoul close to his discarded sword as they struggled. The ghoul had managed to inflict a few moderate wounds during the struggle, but it was clearly distracted by the fire. Doanthalas took advantage of the distraction and reached for his sword. After a few tries, he managed to grasp it. He hacked at the ghoul as they struggled. His flesh felt like it was melting off his skin, but the ghoul seemed to be in much worse shape. Its skin was blackened and had melted completely off some parts of its body. With a few agile strokes, he managed to extract himself from the flaming creature.

The group of pirates that had witnessed the struggle stared in awe as the flaming elf stood up straight and tall apparently unharmed by the fire. As the last lick of flame dissipated, they noticed for the first time that his demonic looking tattoos were glowing an unearthly shade of red.

The sudden silence was deafening to the elf. He looked up and saw fear painted across every face in the camp...including Pike who had reached the fight a little too late to help. Doanthalas stood there silently staring at the assembled crowd with his emerald eyes. They knew nothing of what he had been through...what he had gained and what he had lost. There was no way he could make them understand so he stood there in silence waiting for them to do something.

Arzeal could not believe his eyes. Doanthalas was unharmed! The flames had not so much as singed a hair on his head. He was scared, that much was true. At the same time he was fascinated. He stood at the head of the group and studied the elf. He had no idea what he should do or say, but he knew that he had to say something before the frightened pirates took action.

---------------

Maybe it was instinct, or perhaps some part of Rapina's intellect had noted a discrepancy in the way the shadows had danced when Logan nearly dropped the lantern. For whatever reason, Rapina pulled the sheath from the crystal light around her neck.

Light flooded the tent; the shadows disappeared - all except three of them surrounding Captain Red Jack.

"Bastards!" the captain bellowed.

Logan drew his sword and lunged for the nearest shadow as quickly as any man could have.

Red Jack slammed into one of the shadows with his foot, which took a horrible chill. He jumped clumsily past the downed shadow and drew his blade from where it hung on the bedpost while the creature tried to regain its feet.

Rapina jumped up in bed. The covers were still in her hands and she threw them over the downed shadow as she hopped over to Red Jack's side of the bed. Jack had hung all of the weapons there. After throwing the blankets, Rapina hurriedly drew her rapier.

Logan's blade pierced the monster nearest him. Wisps of shadowy vapors erupted from the creature's chest as the sword passed through it, but the thrust did not destroy it. It turned and lunged, touching Logan's neck. Iiieee!

The captain felt weak as a baby. It was all he could do to muster an effective two-handed swing with his broadsword, but muster he did, chopping down beside the abomination's neck. The sword easily passed through the neck, shoulder and upper chest of the creature that spewed shadowy vapors with the passing blade, but the creature seemed undaunted.

The shadow was too intent on the Captain's life force to worry about the assault. It grabbed one of the captain's arms and drained, regaining some of the life force lost to its wound.

Aaaah! The creature's touch was so chill, and the pirate captain could feel his strength being drawn away from him.

Rapina swung her rapier like a baseball bat with both hands and easily chopped right through the creature's neck. A flood of shadowy vapors fountained from the creature's neck around Rapina's moving blade, but its head did not drop off.

Surprised for only an instant, the shadow tangled in the blankets fought it's way out from under the covers. Rapina heard more screams and yelling from the direction of the water.

The shadow touched Logan's upper arm. The chill was unbearable. Logan swung his sword right through the creature's chest. vapors burst out from around the blade as it sliced.

The shadow reached out and chilled the pirate captain to the bone before his opponent's blade could touch him.

Rapina reversed the direction of her swing and chopped across and down through the shadow's neck and chest.

Jack felt so weak, his swing was slowed but as his blade joined Rapina's already slicing through the creature. The creature exploded into a harmless puff of vapor.

Aaaaaa! The captain roared as the shadow that had crawled out from under the blankets Rapina had thrown over it grabbed his ankle. -

Logan went to swing his blade back through his shadow, but the creature grabbed his elbow, the horrible chill temporarily froze his joint. The pirate lieutenant sidestepped towards his captain, he could see the other creature was making a mess of him.

Now that Rapina realized the semi-ethereal nature of her foe, she abandoned the two-handed swing, snapped into a proper fencing stance and aimed her rapier at the shadow that had just touched the captain's ankle. Her blade entered the shadow's neck and sliced all the way down through its back. Vapors erupted everywhere.

The shadow sprung away from the pain lancing its back, turned and lunged to touch The captain.

The captain moaned as still more strength was torn from him. Weakly he whirled around and brought his blade through his tormenter -

Logan's shadow ducked unexpectedly and grabbed his belly as Logan took up his sword with the other hand. His swing only nicked the creature's head, but thankfully, his elbow unfroze in the few seconds the exchange took.

The mindful creature in tent on killing Jack dodged Rapina's blade.

The captain swung weakly, but connected. Vapors poured out as he cut a swath through the shadow.

The shadow's hand darted out and touched the captain's face.

Logan's shadow jumped, sucking rich life force from his victim's side and taking only a nick from his dangerous blade.

A quick lunge to the pirate captain's vitals brought another small taste of life force to Jack's shadowy foe.

The captain felt so weak he could barely stand. Only adrenaline held him up, but he was unable to muster an effective blow.

As the captain staggered, Rapina stepped in between him and the shadow and sliced a diagonal through the shadow's upper chest.

The captain staggered a few steps backward then fell when his legs failed to hold him up. All he could do is lay helplessly by and watch the battle.

Logan was chilled to the bone, the horror he was fighting was dodging too well. It touched Logan again strengthening itself, and all he was able to do was nick its side. A faster lighter weapon might have been a better choice, he thought.

Rapina's blade hissed through the air and through the shadow's chest leaving only a puff of vapors where once the creature stood.

Logan spun and struck, but the shadow's lunge chilled him again. It seemed that every time he struck the monster, it struck him and used his energy to regain its strength.

A tune Arzeal had played during her training was singing though her head. Rapina leapt, and landed as her rapier carved an "s" in the back of Logan's shadow.


Rapina almost felt guilty attacking the creature's back, but not really, she struck again passing her blade through the shadow from shoulder to waist.

The shadow took two vicious strikes to it's back, it turned trying to touch it's victim and dodge the terrible blade from behind at the same time, but in doing both, it accomplished neither.

Logan felt so weak, but he was a fine swordsman. He took advantage of the creature's confusion and struck successfully.


Rapina saw Logan was now holding his broadsword with both hands and wavering a bit on his feet. As long as the shadow had to face two opponents at once, it would be at a disadvantage, but if Logan went down as the captain had, they were doomed. Rapina steeled herself and launched blade and body in an attempt to get between Logan and the shadow.

Rapina's jump was too late! She knocked into the creature's arm as it touched Logan.

Ahhhhh! Logan hissed as the creature nearly froze his neck and shoulders. Just for a moment, the creature paralyzed his arms with cold.

When Rapina's body hit the shadow's arm, it was already draining Logan. Rapina's lust senses tingled wrongly as she actually felt Logan's life force and just a bit of her own travel up the creature's arm. It was like a much less delicious rendition of the life force traveling down a lover's manhood. Her mind reeled, was she nothing more than a pretty shadow, draining men's strength from them? Her blade whipped through the creature's shoulder doing only a little damage but helping her get firmly between it and Logan.

The woman that had cut its back so grievously had now cut it off from its intended victim. Nevertheless, he had drank deeply of him before they parted. The shadow reached out to relieve the woman of a portion of her life energy.

Rapina gasped as the Shadow ducked her blade, grabbed her lower thigh and ripped at her life force. She felt nearly all of what little sex-magical energy she still had stored in her breasts after the skeleton battle leave her, but her strength was untouched. It was obvious that what Rapina stored was some form of life force. Rapina's rapier whipped back with a vengeance, sundering the back of the creature for bringing her such an unsettling realization.

Logan felt like a child, his sword was so heavy in his hands, but as a child he had played with wooden swords whenever he could. His weak two-handed blow cleaved through the shadow's rear end spewing vapors in its wake.

Logan watched as the shadow reached out to grab Rapina's breast. He knew why she had put herself between him and the shadow. His strength was nearly gone, but as long as both pirates were standing, the shadow would be taking double hits, and Logan meant to make this one count. He grimaced as he put every pitiful ounce of strength he had left into the blow and cleaved through the shadow's side.

The shadow sensed a rich source of life force and lunged to grasp it. Had it been any slower, it would have died from Logan's blow, but the sustenance it gained held it together just for an instant.

Rapina felt the last vestige of her stored power leave her and then the horrible chill of strength being wrenched from her. As the creature drained her, she forced herself to remember what it must feel like when a person gave more life force than she could afford.

Her rapier sung as it whipped through the shadow on a diagonal. There was a puff of vapor and the monster was no more.

Rapina rushed to see how the captain was faring. He was sprawled on his back at the foot of the bed. "Jack, are you okay?"

"I'm weak as a kitten girl, but I'm still barely alive."

Logan staggered over to the captain and Rapina and sat on the foot of the bed just above the captain.

"How are ye mate?" The captain asked.

"Nearly too weak ta stand, but alive as ye are," replied Logan.

"How about you, wench?"

"My chest feels like it's frost bit inside. My leg wasn't hit as bad, but it's not so good either. Luckily the shadow only hit me a couple of times. I'm not as weak as you guys are."

"I heard some commotion outside girl, but ye can't leave us in this condition. Go ta the flap and see what ye can see. Yell fer Drake 'an Pike or Arzeal. I need ta know what's up and I need gardin' by someone I can trust, cause I'm in no shape ta fight."

Rapina ran to the flap and opened it. She couldn't see beyond the radius of her light so she just yelled out. "ARZEAL! PIKE! DRAKE! Report to the captain's tent soon as you can!"

Just then Rapina saw arms master Hock on the outskirts of the illumination cast by her light. Rapina turned back to the captain. "How about arms master Hock?"

"Is 'e out there? Bring 'im in."
-------

This ends Shadows of the Dead, Chapter 12 of The Chronicles of Rapina.
The story continues in, Chapter 13, Night Terrors.

Copyright 2001 by Rapina