(Continued from Ch 31, The Shadows of Wizardry)

The Chronicles of Rapina
Chapter 32, Yieraun Castle


The expression on Heinrich Li'Yieraun's ruddy face made it clear he was not happy. He had recently returned from the pirate camp where Red Jack had slipped through his fingers a moment before Heinrich's trap had closed on him, and that had been only the beginning. The last battle had been very costly in terms of lives. By the time Nordula was brought up to start dispelling the darkness, the skeletons and ghouls had killed many men and terrified even the Li'Yieraun stalwarts. When at last the camp was cleared of darkness and some order had been restored to the Li'Yieraun ranks it was discovered that the pirates had somehow escaped in the darkness. Search parties had been sent out to find them, but to no avail. A few of the search parties failed to return at all. To make matters even worse, while Nordula was dispelling darkness and helping to rally the troops, someone had ransacked his tent and had stolen everything he had that was not currently on his person.

Dawn brought relief from the attacks of the stealthy ghouls, and the illusive shadow that had been blamed for killing several men. Nordula had tried to send a few of the wounded back to Castle Yeiraun to now avail. It had become evident then that something had happened to the magic kettle in Nordula's laboratory. The mage had only a few scrolls and a book of emergency spells on his person to study. After taking a period during the day to rest and study, Nordula had been able to teleport again, but he had needed to go with each small group that he teleported. The first group back had included Heinrich and a few of the best swordsmen among his men. What they had come back to was an embarrassment. Heinrich did not yet know the details, but he knew there had been a break-in while he and most of his men were out attempting to defeat the pirates.

A group of stewards and guards were assembled before him for questioning. "First of all, where is sergeant Deinzen? I left him in charge of the remaining men of the garrison."



"M'Lord, " Gatekeeper Danzig said. "He and three others were let out of a cell in the castle jail by members of the town garrison fetched by Steward Kriegs at Lady Li'Yieraun's request. Unfortunately, the town garrison's assault on the intruders went awry. They had a mage, and he had filled the castle with magical darkness. The same stealthy carrion creatures that had immobilized the guards walking the outer wall earlier stalked the darkness. Soon the creatures had paralyzed all but a few of the town guards. 

Deinzen and the men from the wall, including myself, had snapped out of our paralysis by this time but did not attempt to defeat the mage within the darkness of the castle. When the shadows started growing in the courtyard and around the gate we fired arrows, but we were firing blind. Deinzen organized several mounted groups to pursue the thieves. Deinzen and the other three men from the barracks formed one of the groups, but they never returned. Everyone else is accounted for, M'lord. No one was killed, we were all just paralyzed and injured slightly by the scratches of the creatures, and one of gate guards suffered a nasty rap to the back of his head.

"What you are telling me, is this mage and his servitors simply walked into my castle and you were powerless to stop him!" Heinrich Li'Yieraun fumed. "Steward what items were stolen?"


"M'Lord, the thefts seem to have been limited to those items missing from Nordula's chambers and laboratory."

"No thefts? No deaths? How kindly of this necromancer only to prey upon my mage!" Li'Yieraun's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Did anyone even see him?"

"M'Lord, I saw him," Private Duntz said. 

"How did you accomplish this feat, private?" Count Li'Yieraun asked.

"M'Lord as you see, I am a town guardsman. During the assult we attempted to wend our way through the magic darkness to find the mage. My sergeant thought, being a mage, the intruder would go to Nordula's quarters so we went there. We encountered skeletons at the entrance but I slipped by them. I saw the mage and some of his human skeletons and huge draft horse skeletons in the library stealing books. I could not defeat him so I ran when he started casting a spell. I was paralyzed by the scratch of a creature shortly after seeing the mage."

"What did the mage look like, private?" Li'Yieraun asked.

"M'Lord he looked like a skeleton wearing rich black robes. His voice was like I would imagine a dead man's would be, parched and hoarse," Private Duntz said.

"The man responsible for letting that creature into my castle will hang! Perhaps that is why sergeant Deinzen did not return. As of now, the sergeant and his group are wanted men. Someone will answer for this travesty!"

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This ends, Yieraun Castle, chapter 32 of The Chronicles of Rapina.
The story continues in chapter 33, A Deed of No Importance.

Copyright 2001 by Rapina