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The next few days were relatively uneventful for both parties, although the truce between Leoric and Darkstorm was far from easy. Most of the Darkling Lords could not see the logic behind Darkstorm's decision to join forces with Leoric, but they were too used to obeying orders to question it. Mortdredd, needless to say, was prepared to go along with Darkstorm no matter what grandiose scheme he came up with. But there were certain members of Darkstorm's camp who felt otherwise . . .
"I'm telling you, Lexor, I've had it!" Reekon muttered after another day spent on the trail of Bogavus. "Darkstorm claims we'll be rewarded handsomely for this mission - but with what?! All I know is that we're supposed to lead the Spectral Knights into some trap."
"Aye," Lexor said bitterly. On the surface, he and Mortdredd were very much alike, always fawning round Darkstorm and telling him what an honour it was to serve him, but, unlike Darkstorm's chief lackey, Lexor felt no real loyalty to his leader. Instead, he looked for every opportunity to undermine Darkstorm's authority and stir his fellows into rebellion - and it now looked like another chance was presenting itself.
"Reekon," Lexor whispered, "what if the two of us . . . went AWOL? Cleared off and took the Dagger Assault with us?"
"Oh yes? And where did you plan on going?" As usual, Lexor had been so wrapped up in his underhanded plans that he had neglected to make sure Darkstorm was out of earshot.
"N - nowhere, Darkstorm," Lexor stammered, flinching as he stared into his commander's ruthless eyes. "N - nowhere at all!"
"That's good to hear," Darkstorm said in his deceptively gentle voice. "And, since you don't plan on going anywhere, you can take a double shift on watch tonight. Reekon, you too - I will not tolerate insubordination!"
A groan arose from both Darkling Lords, but Darkstorm ignored it and stationed himself where he could easily see Leoric's group, who were camped a little way from the Darkling Lords. Soon, he reminded himself, soon, Leoric and the others would walk right into his trap . . .
Bogavus too faced no major incidents - until his party entered the Forest of the Strangle Vines.
At first, it appeared to be an ordinary forest, if considerably spookier than most. But it soon became horribly clear that the trees harboured a secret, a secret so deadly that no life stirred in the undergrowth and no birds could be heard in the trees. It was as if the only living things for miles around were the twenty slaves and their escorts.
As they neared the heart of the Forest, Pallenne spotted a human skeleton, still partly clothed, lying almost directly in their path. It had evidently been there for some time - its garments had been reduced to a few rags, making it difficult to tell if the person had been male or female - and another, more recent, corpse dangled from a tree like a grotesque marionette. The latter's bulging eyes stared sightlessly as it swayed in the breeze and all the slaves had to fight to contain their revulsion.
"Who - who were they?" Pallenne breathed, terrified by what she had seen. "And what could have killed them?"
"I don't know," Feryl told her, ducking as he passed under a low branch. "But if anyone - anything - attacks us, we'll . . . Ow!"
A Vine as thick as a sapling whipped out and struck the young knight full on the chest, causing him to sit down abruptly from the impact and bringing the column of slaves crashing to a halt. Brother Vurus promptly ran over to investigate the cause of the delay, uncoiling his strap in anticipation of giving Feryl a severe whipping.
More Vines snaked out from the undergrowth and started wrapping themselves round slaves and slavers alike. Brother Vurus was their first victim; before he had time to realise what was happening, a deadly tendril was winding its way round his neck as he vainly struggled to get to his dagger. Pandemonium broke out as the entire group came under attack from their botanical foes - unable to outrun the Vines, all any of them could do was hold them back as long as possible.
Two Vines coiled round Feryl's ankles, immobilising him while a third slithered round his neck and began to choke the life out of him. Only Galadria, holding back one of the Vines with her manacles as she tried to shield Yilly, noticed his desperate plight.
"Feryl!" she shouted. "Stay calm - every move you make tightens the noose!"
But Feryl was already beyond struggling. The only thing he was aware of was the knowledge that the end was near, that he was facing the one foe no knight could vanquish. His last sight before blacking out was a hazy image of Arzon and Dagan trying to shield him from further attack . . .
Bogavus, meanwhile, had avoided the worst of the Vines and knew they were in a dangerous situation. He knew he shouldn't have brought the slaves into this forest, but the delay caused by the escape attempt had cost him time and this just happened to be a short-cut to the Lost Shrine. Even so, he could not afford to lose any of the slaves when they were so near - only a few days' journey from - their destination. He stepped forward and raised his hand.
"Retreat!" he commanded the Vines, which promptly began uncoiling themselves form their victims and retreated back into the trees ready to ambush the next band of unwary travellers. The wizard smiled with satisfaction as he neutralised the threat of the Vines - for the time being at least.
"That spell won't hold for long," he told the rest of his party. "Run for it - and don't stop until I do!"
For the slaves, it was difficult going; the chain hampered their movements and the fact that Feryl had to be helped by Arzon and Dagan added to the difficulty. But they all knew that, unless they got out of the forest fast, they would not be able to escape at all and it was Galadria who took charge of co-ordinating the group's movements.
"Keep in line and carry the chain between you!" she ordered. "And be careful not to trip or fall - if that happens, we've had it!"
Presently, Bogavus was satisfied that they were safely out of range of the Vines and gave the order to halt. Turel tethered the slaves to a tree while the rest of the slaver-monks struggled to get their breath back after their desperate flight from danger.
"Did we all make it?" asked Bogavus when Turel returned to the slaver-monks' camp. "Has everyone been accounted for?"
"Aye - all but Vurus," Turel replied. "He was already gone when you cast your spell."
Bogavus narrowed his eyes, in part grateful that the Vines had finished off his incompetant slaver. Ever since his dagger had been used to undo several sets of slave manacles, Brother Vurus had been decidedly out of favour where Bogavus was concerned. Sometimes, the wizard had wondered why he hadn't executed him there and then to give the rest of his followers a reminder of how he dealt with bunglers.
"Good - what about the slaves?" he asked after dismissing the news of Vurus' death.
"They're all alive, including Feryl - I made sure he was when I tethered them," Turel explained. "What were those things anyway?"
"The Strangle Vines," Bogavus replied without looking up. But, even though Turel asked him several times, he refused to elaborate any further.
The first thing Feryl was aware of was the seemingly distant voices of his friends as he caught vague snatches of their conversation.
"Lucky we got out when we did," came Arzon's voice from somewhere to the left.
"I thought he'd had it for sure." That was Galadria, coming from the same direction but a little further away.
"Take it easy, Feryl," Dagan said as he examined his friend's neck. To his relief, there didn't seem to be any serious injuries and Feryl was breathing normally. "You're lucky to be . . ." Dagan broke off as he noticed Feryl starting to stir slightly and watched carefully while the young knight regained his senses.
"What's going on?" Feryl asked, struggling to sit up. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of sheer helplessness he had felt as the Vine began to crush his neck. "Those Vines - I thought I was done for . . ."
"We were all in trouble until Bogavus called them off," replied Fletchen. "But you'd already passed out and there wasn't time to wake you - we had to escape . . ." She paused and stared back at the deadly forest as if she was expecting one of the Vines to come snaking out of the trees in search of the victims it had been cheated of. "I just wish I knew what those things were," she added at length.
Arzon sighed and looked down at the ground - had this encounter happened under normal circumstances, the first thing he would have done was to consult the Bearer of Knowledge to try and find out what the Vines were and why they had attacked. But, as things stood right now, he had to rely on his own memory and so many strange and exotic things had emerged since the coming of the Age of Magic that it was difficult to keep track of them all.
"I think they might have been Strangle Vines," he told his friends. "I read about them in a book on magical plants and apparently they lie in wait for passing travellers and . . ."
"Strangle them," Pallenne added, her distaste obvious in her tone of voice. "Anyway, let's hope that's the last we'll see of that place."
Leoric and his party had no choice but to risk the Forest of the Strangle Vines; a map drawn up by Tartha the Prophetess showed it was on the most direct route to the Lost Shrine. Mortdredd and Cindarr had flown on ahead in the Sky-Claw, leaving the others either riding in the Dagger Assault or walking alongside. But, although those riding included two Spectral Knights, tensions remained high.
Towards mid-morning, Cryotek, who was among those walking, drew level with Leoric, one of the two Spectral Knights on board the Dagger Assault.
"Do you trust any of this mob?" asked Cryotek, gesturing round at the five Darkling Lords.
"No - but at least this will get us to the Lost Shrine quicker," Leoric replied. "Actually, it's not Darkling Lords that concern me right now, it's Strangle Vines - if Bogavus brought the slaves through here . . ." He left the sentence unfinished so that Cryotek could draw the inference himself.
"I just hope all our friends escaped if they were attacked," remarked Cryotek. "Especially Galadria . . ."
"I feel the same about Fletchen," Leoric told him, hoping that his worst fears would not be realised, that the search for his captive friends would not end with the discovery of their corpses. "Anyway . . ."
"Look! Look over there!"
Lexor's shout cut off further conversation as everyone turned to see the body of Brother Vurus propped against a tree, his face contorted and his neck bruised, a sure sign of death from strangulation. A more grotesque sight than Vurus' bulging eyes staring out but seeing nothing as his cold fingers grasped the hilt of his dagger was hard to imagine and there were few on Prysmos who would want to witness this. But the Darkling Lord had been trying Cryotek's patience all day, and this was the last straw.
"What are you shouting about?" he demanded impatiently, striding over to the cowardly knight.
Lexor, his hand trembling visibly despite obvious attempts to control it, pointed to the dead slaver-monk and the other bodies - the ones which Pallenne had seen. "D - dead bodies!" he stammered. "It's a warning - we've got to go back!"
Cryotek responded by prodding Vurus's body with the tip of his Power Staff, causing it to topple over. "Dead bodies never harmed anyone," he said dismissively. "Now stow the doom-mongering and . . ."
Before Cryotek had chance to react, a Strangle Vine weaved its way up his Power Staff and wrenched it from his grasp. At the sight of the deadly constricting plant, Lexor - never a brave fighter at the best of times - gave way to panic and, with an anguished yell, made a dash for the trees. But he hadn't gone far before Darkstorm pounced and hauled him back, glaring angrily at the knight he had come to see as his least reliable minion.
"Don't go running off anywhere, fool!" he spat. "We're under attack - so use your Power Staff to protect us!"
As much as Lexor was afraid of the Strangle Vines, he was more afraid of Darkstorm and pulled out his Staff ready to activate it.
"The arrows turn, the swords rebel
May nothing pierce this mortal shell!"
he chanted, holding the Staff at arm's length. Within seconds, a humanoid figure was hovering above the group projecting a forcefield over them, a barrier inpenetrable by either magical or physical attack. Every time a Strangle Vine tried to claim a victim, it was instantly repelled by the energy field around the Dagger Assault and those nearby. But the effect only lasted for a few seconds and, when the Power of Invulnerability wore off, the Vines renewed their deadly work.
Virulina sliced at one of the Vines with the vicious-looking knife she used for weaponry, only to find that it regrew instantly no matter how many times she hacked at it. "These - things - are - everywhere!" she gasped as she backed away, her weapon still drawn. Unfortunately, she moved a little too quickly and failed to notice the Vine that was winding itself round her ankle - until it pitched her over onto her back. In the process, she dropped her weapon . . .
Leoric wrenched himself away from the Vine which restrained his arm and sized up the situation. They were sitting targets - the Vines seemed to have an intelligence of their own, enough to enable them to outguess their victims. Unless . . .
"Try your Power Staff, Darkstorm!" he shouted.
Loath as Darkstorm was to act on any suggestion from a Spectral Knight, he could see no other choice if he and the rest of the Darkling Lords were to get out of this. Holding the Staff at arm's length, he recited the rhyme which activated it:
"By what creeps, what crawls, by what does not,
Let all that grows recede and rot."
Within moments, a strange winged animal was flying around searching out Strangle Vines, which instantly withered and died as it touched them. One by one, the menacing Vines were reduced to mould, completing in seconds a process of decay that would normally have taken several weeks and ensuring that these at least would not menace any more travellers. And, even though some tried to attack Darkstorm's Demon of Decay as if it was any other creature, a Power Staff entity was not the same as a living organism . . .
As the last of the Strangle Vines wilted under Darkstorm's Power of Decay, Leoric began to marshall the group together.
"All right - if you've dropped a weapon or a Power Staff, grab it and get on the Dagger Assault!" he ordered after casting around to make sure no Vines were still lurking nearby. "Reekon, full speed ahead until we get out of this place - we can't take the chance that those things won't attack again!"
"What next?" he thought out loud as, with Reekon driving the Dagger Assault at full throttle, the group made their escape from the Forest of the Strangle Vines. It was a place none of them ever wanted to set foot in again if they could avoid it.
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