It was still dark when I awoke suddenly. I looked around the dark room, wondering what had made me rise so quickly. It was nothing in the room. All of my sisters, our companions, and the swords were fine. The Swords were also curious as to my start. I got out of bed and went to the window. Leo was still sound asleep beneath us. I was starting to get a bit angry. Calming myself, I put my hand to the window glass and asked to see the thing that woke me. The window fogged, then cleared to show the palace. The image moved to inside it. There, a corpse with a crown and regal attire stormed about, knocking over decaying furniture, scattering items, and shouting obscenities. Now, I understood. The lich had returned home to find every spirit and his two cronies gone. Even though he didn't breathe, he was panting. The sanctification of the palace and the loss of the spirits was weakening him. In desperation, he began pulling the magic out of the building to sustain himself. The palace was starting to fall in around him. It was that vibration, a slight tremor, that had woken me. With one last curse, he vanished and allowed the building to collapse completely. I dismissed the image with thanks and returned to bed. Set, half asleep, lazily entwined his tail around one leg.
As the sun rose, I inspected the growing barb on his tail. Without the tail for reference, it looked like a fang or tusk. Lightly feeling at the base, a drip of something clear formed on the very end. I touched my finger to it. It didn't burn me, but it had an oily quality and very hard to wipe all of it off. Finding a glass, I "milked" Set's tail. I gathered a couple of ounces of a greenish yellow liquid. It had no smell. Fearful it might be poison, I did not taste it. It coated the inside of the glass, sliding slowly down the slick glass. Even touching it, I received no insight into what it was or why Set would produce such. I covered the glass and waited for the others to wake.
The rest woke on their own. I felt that the leprechauns believed we needed to sleep, rest, and prepare to take on the lich. When Lisa was up, I asked her to look at the stuff in the glass. She examined it intently, turning it this way and that.
"Nothing, not a thing. What is it? Where did you get it?" Lisa asked.
I told her and showed her, Set still being sound asleep. The rest joined us. Set woke up with all of us examining his tail. He tried to give us a look, but his baby face just would not allow him to make a truly stern face.
"Why are you all poking at my tail? Is there something wrong?"
He jerked his tail out of our hands and looked it over. Getting down on the floor with him, I asked him about the barb and liquid. I squeezed out a bit. He thought for a bit, pulling on the racial dragon knowledge they all shared.
"This is only a part of it. I can add other parts that do things to make people like dragons," he explained.
Getting a bowl, he ejected more liquid, but this was opaque and darker green. From this, we received impressions. This would give a person of any race the skin of a dragon. Lisa told us that, without the clear part, the liquid would petrify any who used it. Set got another bowl, filling it this time with a whitish-blue liquid. This could freeze a small pond or something of similar size. Again, Lisa warned that the added part was deadly alone. We emptied small bottles and filled them with the liquids, marking them to prevent confusion. Set told us he could make others, but we told him it was not necessary. We went to the kitchen and made breakfast.
Fionn found us as we were cleaning up.
"There you are. You have about five hundred leprechauns volunteered to go with you to destroy the lich."
"We appreciate their enthusiasm, but the lich's device is almost a week's walk north. We cannot transport them all," I told him.
Fionn understood and left. In the kitchen, we began discussing how to get back to Sim's place and the battlefield. I knew I could take two others through kirlan besides myself and Vanity. Set could also take two or three others besides himself. We did not want to ask Leo with his wing only recently mended. We went outside to see if Leo or Fionn had any ideas. We found both talking to a group of shabbily armed leprechaun volunteers, trying to convince them their help, while appreciated, was not needed. We walked up and told them how far the battlefield was and what was guarding his device. The volunteers got the idea and decided to stay in Bainne. After they left, Leo asked about our travel plans. We told him we did not expect him to fly us there.
"Thank you for not assuming that I would fly you all there. I can, however, aid in your travel. I have been to Castle Day and, therefore, can reach it through kirlan. Sim does not know me. My last visit was when the castle was still level. I can take those Kayla and Set cannot."
We worked out that Set would take our companions. Lisa and Gretta would go with me. The rest would go with Leo. We agreed to appear out of sight of Castle Day and Sim. With that decided, we got our gear, said our good-byes, and met back with Leo. Mentally "seeing" the same spot,we focused and slid through kirlan.
As hoped, we appeared near each other. Castle Day's remaining upright tower was barely visible above the trees. We approached as close as we dared. We could sense Sim inside alone, but something was different. I felt almost repulsed by him and the building. Anna told us why.
"The lich visited Sim after collapsing the palace. He punished Sim for housing us, feeding us, and not killing us at the first opportunity. He drained Sim of energy to sustain himself. He told Sim he would not drain the battlefield to keep it strong. He left orders to kill us on sight."
Poor Sim. He did not choose this servitude. His only hope of freedom was our success. We crept around the castle, making sure Sim did not see us so we did not have to hurt him. Being able to feel him, as the only occupant, made that task easier. We left it behind as we entered the surrounding woods.
When we stopped for a break and lunch, we all felt out to our fullest. That punch-in-the-stomach feeling was creeping upon me. I could tell Sarah was also beginning to feel it. We plodded along, the feeling growing stronger. Finally, we broke through the trees to an open meadow, treeless even without tending or cultivation. Here, it was all I could do just to keep walking. Sheer willpower kept Sarah and I moving towards the center of this area.
Dead center, another feeling overpowered the first. This one was pure evil and below ground. We pointed to the spot and Leo began digging up large chunks of dirt. His claws scraping something made us all jump. He unearthed a metal chest slightly larger than a human head. A cloak of evil waved around it.
Lisa observed, "This is too easy. Surely he would defend this better."
We agreed and kept on guard. Leo attempted to pry it open, but not even his strong claws could open it. He even tried biting it, but it stayed sealed shut. He held it out, a look of defeat on his scaly face. I wanted nothing to do with it. Callie took it and began turning it over and over. Her puzzled look changed to happiness.
"I got it! There is a puzzle lock. Watch out for the lich. I'm going to open it."
We encircled Callie as she began sliding, twisting, flipping, and moving pieces of the chest. She had been at it several minutes when the empty meadow became full of ghostly soldiers. We were sandwiched between two large spectral armies. We encouraged Callie to continue on the chest. One soldier from each side, generals from their appearance, rode toward us on ghostly horses. When they reached the center where we stood, we were ignored. They spoke to each other in a language we did not know. From their tone, gestures, and faces, they were probably threatening each other. Daylight made watching the exchange a bit difficult. Those in shadow were much easier to see. The uniforms were ancient. Their weapons were archaic. The generals, finishing their argument, galloped back to their respective formations. Callie was still working on the chest. Anna and Alice were telling us about the two sides. The generals were brothers. They each claimed to be the heir to the dead king who had no sons or daughters. They both said that he bequeathed the kingdom to him. This divided the army. This battle was to be the decider. The victor or survivor would be the next king. Little did they know, an heir had been found. The late king had dallied with an unmarried noblewoman. Just after the two generals had left, she confessed who her child's father was. A messenger was sent to turn the generals back, but he was delayed and did not reach this field until after the battle. The surviving general lay dying in his tent as he was told the news. With his dying breath, he cursed all who had fought this useless battle to never know the peace of the grave until their new king forgave them. So, every night afterwards, their spirits fight an unnecessary battle that no one can win.
From our spot, we watched the ghost armies charge at each other and "kill" one another. We were untouched and ignored. They kept at it as the sun set.
Callie squealed when the last part moved and the chest opened. By the fading light, we read the ritual that turned the Baaloc into a lich and the "contract", written in blood, that bound his soul to the last item, a large heart-shaped gem that slowly pulsed.
"NO!" roared a voice from nowhere and everywhere.
The ghost soldiers ignored the noise and the lich as he appeared before us.
"This is impossible! That chest cannot be opened, especially by some mongrel bitch like you. What power assisted you? What god revealed my secret?" he asked, his gaze sweeping over us all.
We did not answer, but drew our swords. The truth struck him hard. He looked around at soldiers "dying" and groaned.
"Useless, utterly useless! They were why I buried it here. They are so locked into this event, they can do nothing else!"
"Death curse," I told him, "One of the generals cursed them with his last breath."
The lich stepped back, then began cursing himself for not seeing it before. When he finished, he focused back on us.
"So, 'Sisters', what now? None of you, even this dumb dragon, has the power to defeat me. Even with the chest open, the ritual, contract, and gem cannot be destroyed."
Mentally checking with Callie, she did not see anything protecting them or any reason simply burning them would not destroy them. Pulling the parchment out, we asked Leo to do the honor. He set them alight easily. The lich screamed as they became ash. The gem heart beat rapidly as the lich recoiled, shocked that his "indestructible" items burnt so easily. While he was distracted, we all looked at the gem heart for any means of destroying it. This item, it seemed, was true to the lich's word. We could detect no weak spot nor vulnerability. The lich overcame his shock and demanded we hand over the gem. We refused.
"Lich, this holds your soul, correct?" I asked.
"Yes, and you will give it to me this instant!" he ordered.
"No, we have promised that another shall receive it, an event long overdue," I told him.
He stammered, trying to think of who else was entitled to his soul. I held the gem as high as I could over my head.
"Death! Here is the last soul! As promised, we give it to you!"
In the darkening sky, the dark cloud appeared and descended. To my eyes, the same regal woman emerged. I handed the gem to her. She inspected it while the lich shuffled between trying to run and regaining his soul. Death turned to him.
"Greamorre Kerrleon Lealkin, you have denied me my due for too long and kept other souls from their rest. I have a special torment for you. And this, your soul gem, shall play a part in it. You tried so hard to avoid me. Now, you shall be with me for all time."
Around the gem heart, an elegant necklace appeared. At its completion, Death slipped it on. The lich seemed horrified. Death admired her new accessory before facing the lich again.
"Body and mind separated from the soul, disgusting. If it were up to me, that ritual would be removed from all memory. Alas, that is not my domain. Your mind shall rejoin your soul and your body shall fall to dust," she said and pointed at the lich.
His physical scream turned into a mental one as his consciousness was pulled into the gem heart and his body crumbled before us. Inside the gem, his mind beat against its prison. Death chuckled.
"Ladies, you kept your promise. Lich, vampire, and demon-blood now reside with me. When it comes time, I will make your transitions as painless as possible, even yours Mars-in-Leo-with-Gemini-rising. A peaceful end to your days."
We thanked her. Sarah mentioned the soldiers surrounding us. Death sighed and told us the general's curse was binding and could only be undone by the conditions he set. We asked how since his king was, also, long dead. She told us that if someone who had jurisdiction over this land proclaimed himself king and forgave their foolishness, it may be enough. We thanked her again and she entered the dark cloud and vanished into the night.
The punch-in-the-stomach feeling returned in full force, causing Sarah and I to nearly fall to our knees. Leo enveloped us all and transported us away from the field. Sarah and I regained our breath as the others made camp. Castle Day was blocked from us by the forest, but close enough to sense Sim's release from the lich's control. He was considering abandoning the castle and finding "real work" in one of the nearby settlements.
By the firelight, we wrote to Snathdubh's Magistrate, the leader of Coille, and Fionn in Bainne to let them know the lich was gone forever. Leo kept the puzzle box as a "mental exercise" , after Callie closed it and set it back to the starting point. We settled in to sleep as we pondered how to release the spirits of those armies so they, too, could finally rest.
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