The wagon rumbled slowly, its wooden wheels creaking rhythmically over the uneven path. The horse, a sturdy draft animal purchased in Stonehorn Crossing, plodded steadily forward, pulling their wealth and supplies towards the Spinebride Mountains.
Inside the wagon, Manicia and Mina were hunched over a small, intricately carved wooden chessboard, the last piece they hadn’t displayed at the stalls. They had sohow understood what Rook had been saying at the marketplace, the chess movents and rules now ingrained in their minds.
Manicia cursed, a low, frustrated growl, after losing for the fifth ti. "Ugh, damn this ga! How are you so good, Mina?" She slamd a small, clawed fist lightly on the board, making the pieces jump.
Mina chuckled, a soft, knowing sound. "You keep using your queen like a bull, Manicia. And you take my bait easily. That’s why. Every ga, from the start, with no queen, it’s basically hard for you to dominate the center." Mina moved a pawn, her eyes twinkling.
Manicia scoffed, picking up her fallen queen. "But the queen is ! I’m supposed to dominate the battlefield!"
Mina chuckled again. "It’s a ga of wits and tactics, not just brute force."
Orkesh, perched on the driver’s seat, listening to their bickering, grinned. "Alright, my turn, Manicia. You steer the horse. I’ll beat Mina this ti."
Manicia, still fuming from her losses, grabbed the reins from Orkesh. "Good! I’m gonna get so air and rack my brains on how I’m going to beat her next ti." She hopped down from the wagon, walking alongside it, her brow furrowed in thought.
Orkesh smirked, taking the reins. "I’m going to beat you this ti, Mina. Just watch."
Mina leaned back, a confident smile on her face. "Go on ahead, then."
Orkesh looked around, then frowned slightly. "Where’s Rook, anyway? He was here a mont ago."
Manicia, walking beside the wagon, waved a dismissive hand. "He said he was going to clear the area for so bandits. Make sure the path is safe."
Orkesh’s eyes widened slightly. " I never knew undead were that efficient. It’s scarily proactive." He sat down on the opposite of Mina.
Mina, her eyes thoughtful, added, "Since when are undead that efficient? Did you ever see other dungeons with undead doing things initiatively? Every story, every adventurer’s tale, says they’re mindless creatures, only moving when their master commands."
Orkesh rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yeah, now that I think about it, it is pretty weird. I’ve heard that adventuring parties from guilds did say that the undead are mindless creatures, that the only one controlling them is the Lich. But it feels weird coming from the dungeon we’re living in, especially our new boss, that Lich."
Manicia, still walking, scoffed. "I’m surprised he hasn’t killed us yet, or turned us into more of his bony servants."
Mina shivered, despite the warm air. "It’s like... like one of those stories from the Demon King’s era, but... different."
Orkesh snorted, a dismissive sound. "Nah, that’s just a piece of history, Mina. A story for campfires. It’s been ten thousand years since the Demon King’s army was slain, and with it, the independence of our ancestors, the beastkins."
Mina tilted her head. "Did you read a lot of history books, Orkesh?"
"Just a few," Orkesh replied, a wry grin. "Books I ’acquired’ that were supposed to be burned down. Most of it is about how the Demon King beca the Demon King. You see, humans, a long ti ago, encroached and took over a large territory of the Beastkin Valley. All of the beastkins were enslaved or killed, because the human religions said that only they were chosen by their gods, and all other races were inferior or a manifestation of a demon."
Manicia scoffed, a bitter sound. "The fact you say that doesn’t feel like history. Nothing’s changed at all. Humans still feel like that."
"Anyway," Orkesh continued, ignoring her interjection, "so that’s when the Demon King, Mizzlajo, gathered the beastkins, and fought for the freedom of Beastkin Valley."
"Doesn’t it say that it involved the Chaos Dragon?" Manicia asked, her eyes wide with renewed interest.
"Yeah, that’s right!" Orkesh nodded, warming to his story. "That was how the Demon King beca powerful. He made a pact with the Chaos Dragon. We don’t know if that’s really true, but who cares, it makes for good stories! But anyway, the Demon King, with his closest subordinates, was granted power from the Chaos Dragon. That was how the Demon King successfully took over the Beastkin Valley and pushed the humans back to the other side of the mountains."
Manicia’s eyes glead. "Tell us again about that Lich King, Orkesh! I love this part!"
Orkesh chuckled. "Okay, okay, here cos the part. While the Demon King and the human army fought against one another, there was this... encroaching entity that beca more powerful as more death ca in. It was the Lich King, the strongest cataclysm to ever occur.
The undead army marched against the living and got even stronger with more deaths." Orkesh paused for dramatic effect. "It was at that saving grace that both factions allied with each other, for the first ti, to push back the undead into the North. Both the strongest Human Emperor, Arthur, and Demon King Mizzlajo, with their armies, drove back the Lich King to his crypt.
With the Lich King’s last resort, a strike so powerful, that it ripped the skies apart and the mountains that split the human and beastkin valley, into two separate continents away from each other. Peace had co from both factions. Though I don’t know the rest of the story, but I heard both kings lived after the battle, and we don’t know if any of it is true, but it aligns with the fact that humans and us beastkins have our own continents and living ’peacefully’ away from each other."
Manicia nodded, satisfied with the tale. "Ahhh... your story is missing a part, though. The Lich King didn’t die. He survived and splits his own continent away deep into the North, hence why we always see the Spinebride Mountain looking like it was cut cleanly in half. But... but do you think this Lich is alive?" She gestured back towards the dungeon.
Orkesh scoffed, a dismissive wave of his hand. "Even if he was indeed alive, since he was an undead, I bet he’s freezing his balls off deep under the ice. He’d have to wait for the north to go warm, to escape from there."
Mina, who had been quietly playing chess against Orkesh, leaned forward. "While you’re talking, I’ve already beaten you."
Orkesh looked down at the board. His king was trapped, cornered after he had moved his queen’s pawn, and Mina had taken advantage, using her queen for a swift checkmate. "Ahhhhhh... you’re cheating! That’s not fair! This ga is not valid!" he protested, his voice rising in frustration.
While they were bickering, a figure from a distance away peered through the dense foliage. I must follow them, the figure thought, their mind racing. I finally found the clue to my grandfather’s pendant. This wagon... it leads to answers. The figure squinted, trying to make out the occupants. Hmm... where’s the undead? There are only three of them in that wagon. The figure took a step forward, their gaze fixed on the wagon, not noticing the silent, cloaked presence that had materialized directly behind them.
The figure turned, a sudden chill prickling their skin. They saw Rook. Then, darkness.
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