Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 17

Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After Lady Shalltear departed to attend to other business, Ludmila left the village, walking out onto an isolated part of the northern flats to practice with the new glaive. She was in no way so giddy at the prospect of the wonderful new weapon that she absolutely had to try it out right away – she was just taking her liege’s advice to distance herself from the current situation. Her reasons were entirely reasonable.

It took her over an hour to gain a cursory feel for the weapon. The different shape and weight of the blade compared to her usual spear altered its balance and handling, but time and training would allow her to adapt to its use. The point of the glaive remained in line with the haft of the weapon, allowing her to perform the same attacks as she could with a spear, but the curved edge of the long blade also facilitated arcing slashes and cuts. When used in that fashion, the polearm flowed gracefully from one form to the next – or at least it probably would once she got used to it.

As Ludmila continued to practice, distant figures appeared on the sandbar that led north. Their images shimmered through the waves of heat rising off of the valley floor. She unequipped her weapon before they came too close. At the head of a long column of Death Knights were two young women that she thought were around Liane or Florine’s age: dressed in somewhat matching black-and-white garb. One had long pink hair with green eyes that matched her scarf. Her face bore no real expression. The second had purple hair and red eyes; her face was similarly expressionless.

The two women were quite lovely in appearance, contrasting with the two lines of Death Knights marching behind them. At regular intervals, she could see an Elder Lich flying above the column. They came to a stop before her, and the pink-haired woman spoke.

“Ah – Woodlouse.”

Ludmila furrowed her brow.

“Eh?” The other woman said, “That’s the Woodlouse?”

“Mm.”

Why were they calling her that? The name tickled her memory, but she couldn’t quite recall where the appellation was from…

“Delivery,” the pink-haired woman said.

“Delivery~” the purple-haired woman repeated.

“Erm…yes,” Ludmila said, “thank you. Was this everything Lord Cocytus intended to send over?”

There appeared to be 40 Death Knights total in the column, with an Elder Lich per set of ten: the ‘standard formation’ listed in the booklet Lord Cocytus gave to her, minus Death Warriors. With 24 Squire Zombies per Death Knight, she would still have a massive surplus of corpses for the section of the Goblin army that she intended to clear out that night.

“More tomorrow,” the pink-haired woman said. “Not enough?”

“If all goes well,” Ludmila replied, “I’ll be going through perhaps 15,000 Goblinoids tonight. The forces you have delivered are more than adequate, but it’s a lot of potential Squire Zombies that will just end up as Zombies or corpses.”

The pink-haired woman frowned at her words.

“Hehh…” the purple-haired woman said. “As expected of Lady Shalltear’s vassal: this whole river’s going to be red with blood by the time you’re done!”

Was that even possible? Her words painted an image that was more suited to some fantastical tale. The land in the upper reaches was so parched that any blood would probably be soaked up by the ground.

“I will go ahead and work with this group,” Ludmila said. “I am not sure if he is satisfied with just this number, but please let Lord Cocytus know that there will be plenty of potential Squire Zombies available…”

Her voice trailed off as the pink-haired woman walked past her. Ludmila turned to follow her movement, and found that she was walking towards a Krkonoše grazing moss from the damp stones along the riverbank.

“Oh…”

The Krkonoše raised its head and bleated at the woman, who held up her gloved hands while making grasping motions.

?Don’t hurt her, she’s one of His Majesty’s servants.?

The fluffy Demihuman cast a dubious three-eyed look in Ludmila’s direction. By the time it turned its attention back to the advancing woman, it was too late. She picked up the bleating Krkonoše and started to thoroughly cuddle it, rubbing her face into its side.

“?Fly?.”

It started to rise into the air, but the woman only continued to cling tightly onto it, wrapping her legs around its body. Together, they slowly rose into the air and over the river.

“Hey!” The purple-haired woman said, “Gimme back my little sister!”

“No,” the pink-haired woman said, “you’re the little sister.”

“Muu…”

The pink-haired woman looked down on her sister with a smug look as she continued floating away. In a flurry of motion, a thick white strand of…something shot out from the purple-haired woman and stuck onto the floating woman’s leg.

That…that didn’t come out from under her skirts, did it?

“Let go of my little sister!” The purple woman shouted up at the floating Krkonoše.

No, your sister is obviously the one that is not letting go.

“You’re the little sister.”

“Ei!”

The purple-haired woman dug in her heels and started pulling, and the poor Krkonoše slowly started floating back. After several moments, there was a click and the pink-haired woman’s leg fell off at the knee. It snapped back with the strand and hit the purple-haired woman full in the chest.

“Ough!”

The woman was knocked flat onto her back. Ludmila thought she saw her face shift out of place, but it was back to normal when she blinked. The pink-haired sister continued staring down smugly at her sibling as she floated away, with no discernable signs of distress over her lost leg.

“There,” she said. “Have a little of your big sister.”

Ludmila went over to the woman on the gravel, looking down worriedly. She wasn’t sure if she was worried over her being injured or the fact that a person’s leg had just popped off right in front of her. There wasn’t even the slightest trace of blood from the leg, and she couldn’t make anything out from the purple-haired woman’s expressionless face.

“Are you alright, miss, erm…”

“Gah!” The woman sat up with a shout, “I hope you don’t want this back any time soon!”

She brandished the leg and shook it in the direction of her sister, who was quickly turning into a dot against the cliffs on the other side of the river. The woman stuffed the leg into a hole in the air that looked identical to how Lady Shalltear accessed her inventory before standing up and dusting herself off.

“Hah,” she let out a breath. “That was a long walk. So hungry…”

The woman raised her hand, concealed by her long sleeve, to rub her stomach as if famished. She looked up at Ludmila.

“Woodlouse.”

“Why do you two call me that?” Ludmila asked.

“Woodlouse is Woodlouse,” she answered as if it were self-evident. “I’m hungry, Woodlouse. Urgh, that name is making me even hungrier…”

After a time observing the two, they were decidedly not Human. She wasn’t sure if she even had anything that would serve as food.

“What do you eat?”

“Meat.”

Ludmila reached into her Infinite Haversack and offered the woman a strip of venison. Rather than sticking it into her mouth, she held it up under her chin. The strip of meat disappeared to the sound of messy nibbling. Flecks of meat fell onto her apron. After she finished, the woman brushed it off and looked up at Ludmila again.

“Hungry.”

“Is there any sort of meat that you prefer?” Ludmila wasn’t sure if she wanted to know.

“Hm…any sort of meat is fine, but…do you have any men?”

Men? Was she speaking metaphorically? Probably not. She wasn’t referring to Humans, was she? Maybe any male would work.

“We have the dead from the battle late last night,” Ludmila told her. “There should be a few hundred to choose from, if that works for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Ludmila nodded. “I am heading up that way right now, if you would like to come with us.”

“Wai~” The woman threw up her hands with a cheer, “Meat~ Meat~ Man~ Meat~”

She kept singing her disconcerting little tune, and Ludmila kept looking around to see if anyone took notice. They went south with the procession of Undead forces and, as they approached the pier, she cleared her throat.

“Welcome to Warden’s Vale, by the way,” she said. “I am Ludmila Zahradnik.”

“Oh, you’re welcoming me? I don’t get that often…I’m Entoma, by the way.”

“Entoma…the same Entoma in Corelyn County when we were transferring the harvest? Does that make your sister Shizu?”

“Hehe, that’s right~”

“I see,” Ludmila said. “In that case, I am pleased to finally meet you, Miss Entoma. Please send my regards to Miss Shizu the next time you see her as well.”

“Sure~”

They continued on their way, up into the passes and to the slope where the corpses from the previous night’s attack were being temporarily stored. Entoma skipped forward lightly through the rows of Goblinoid bodies.

“Oh~” She said, “So many, so many~ I can pick any one I like?”

“Please feel free to choose, Miss Entoma,” Ludmila replied. “We are stripping them of their armour and weapons, but, after that, I am not even sure what we are going to do with all of them.”

“We usually drop off spare corpses at Lord Cocytus’ place,” Entoma told her. “Even the Humans that die are moved there after they’re done with their funeral stuff.”

Come to think of it, the Sorcerous Kingdom did take all corpses left by their citizens now. Funerary rites were even paid for by the treasury to secure the bodies. Lady Shalltear informed her that the corpses would then be turned into productive Undead labour or security forces like Death Knights.

“If it is possible,” Ludmila said, “could you ask Lord Cocytus if…”

Ludmila’s voice stilled as four large limbs emerged from Entoma’s back. She picked up a few Bugbear bodies and turned back to face her, tilting her head.

“Hm?”

“Um, right. If it is possible, could you ask Lord Cocytus if the storage of corpses from these battles can be arranged?”

“Sure thing~” Entoma moved forward nimbly, “I’ll see you tomorrow…can I grab a few of these every day?”

“Of course, Miss Entoma,” she replied. “Thank you for your help.”

Entoma nimbly scaled her way down the slope, disappearing into the trees below.

Ludmila continued along the rows of bodies, leading the newly arrived Undead forces to the west. They came across Nonna, who appeared to be going from corpse to corpse, taking down notes.

“I have something to report,” the Elder Lich said.

“Is it something to do with these bodies?” Ludmila asked.

“Not the bodies themselves,” Nonna answered, “but the equipment that they bear. After comparing the Hobgoblins that fought in the pass to those that were left in the encampment, I’ve discovered that those from the pass had magical items upon their person.”

Ludmila frowned at the idea that these Hobgoblins were found using magical equipment. Their fine arms and armour were already troubling enough.

“What sort of magical items?” She asked.

“These magical items are not of the same, uniform, nature as their other equipment,” Nonna said, holding out a sheet of paper. “You may peruse the findings if you wish, but the point I wanted to bring to your attention is that the Hobgoblin corpses delivered from the encampment did not possess any magical items whatsoever.”

She quickly read over the list of Nonna’s findings. Many of them appeared to be low level items, like Ring of Protection, Ring of Resistance, or other resistance and attribute-boosting accessories,but several looked unique and she had no idea of their function. The items were collected from the catalogued corpses and delivered to her manor, with notable sets being discovered on certain individuals.

“Are you suggesting that there is something like an equipment scheme within the ranks of the Goblin army?”

“Indeed,” Nonna nodded. “The anomalous strength of the forces destroyed at the pass, combined with the presence of their magical equipment, may indeed be an indication that it is ordered by some rank or status. The fact that the Hobgoblins at the camp, though also equipped with high-quality equipment, were a degree weaker than their counterparts in the pass also points to this possibility.”

If that was true, then the first battle might have been against the elites of the Goblin army, or at least a large number of their elites. Given the resilience of their prisoners against Nonna’s attempts to charm them, their General was still probably down in the basin somewhere. She would have to assume that that General would have some sort of bodyguard made up of at least a similarly strong cadre of soldiers.

Not that it mattered now. With more Undead forces flowing in to participate in training, they would have absolutely no chance. Her overall plan hadn’t changed, however – things would go faster, but what was important was that her enemies were tidied up in an efficient and controlled manner to prevent them from scattering everywhere.

“I suppose we will find out if this is true tonight,” Ludmila said. “If so, we can accelerate our plans and have life return to normal in the Vale within a week. I bet you miss compiling all those statistics already.”

“All service to His Majesty holds value,” Nonna said. “Falling behind our development schedule is untenable, however.”

Ludmila nodded in agreement. As well as things appeared to be going in the upper reaches, she wanted these Demihumans dead and gone so she could return to her domestic duties in Warden’s Vale. At this early stage in her demesne’s growth, every day felt crucial to long term development.

“Is this list just from the corpses here?” Ludmila asked. “What about the Zombified Demihumans down in our encampment?”

“They still require investigation,” Nonna replied. “The probability is high that more items will be uncovered there.”

“Then take command of these fellows here,” Ludmila told her. “Have the Elder Liches help you finish cataloging these bodies, then head down to the encampment to sort things out there. I will be headed back to the manor to see how things are developing down south…maybe I can work out a set of magic items from all these recovered ones. If you have the time later, feel free to brief the other Elder Liches on what you’ve learned so far out here. I will arrive in the evening to make our final preparations for tonight.”