Betrayal

The giant had moved like an avalanche through the undead and Balar had followed axe in hand dispatching that the Jotun left in his wake. For a moment it seemed the battle was done when Erik grasped the Necromancer in those huge fist of his but no, it could never be that simple.

As Erik stumbled back from the Necromancers defense Balar raced in to defend the giant who was hacking and coughing on the ashen cloud. He saw the death of Amdir and then the crushing blow from Dyvia which ended the fury of the wolf, but he could do little more than fend of the advances of the dead as they clawed their way towards himself and Erik.

***

Tiella followed the dark witch Caligari, blade drawn. She only half trusted the woman and her eldritch blade would do for the Necromancer or the witch should she turn traitor. However, the urging of her heart told her that it would not be so. There was a driving will behind the woman that she found herself drawn to. The scene unfolded before them the Jotun reeling back the Necromancer snapping the neck of the woman Amdir. Such a casual act.

She watched as Caligari conjured her spells and advanced through the hall she followed and guarded the woman's back. In truth little help was required other than to dispatched the ensorcelled dead that were turned by Calis spells. Each thrust drew power from the dead and she gasped in horror at the feel of it. The magics used by the Necromancer and the witch were unlike anything she ever felt and she was losing herself to their touch. She hardly noticed the snarling charge of Naurfast and the brief and bloody actions of their Dwarven companion. All she could feel was the power running through the dagger and into her body, snaking into her mind.

There came a sharp pressure on the back of her neck and her eyes snapped upwards to become fixed on those of the Necromancer. She was borrowing his power, feeding herself on his eldritch touch. The witch had stopped momentarily and was speaking to the Dyvia. Tiella did not hear the words, her heart was pounding and her ears fulled with the rush of her own blood and the hum if magic. The elven dagger was glowing with an ethereal green light in her hand and at his silent urging she raised it and plunged towards the back of Caligari, releasing a pulse of death magic as she did so in an attempt to break through her wards.

***

Jorrick had not moved. He stood and watched the events unfold before him as if he were turning the pages of a book. He could see it all so clearly now, what must be. He made no move to draw weapons or to defend himself from the dead. Majvoc stood at his side screaming obscenities at the warrior as he did his best to fend them off. Miles fought at his side also his blade a silver blur which cut down their enemies as quick as they could charge in.

He walked forward as if in a dream, watching the Amdir and then her wolf fall. Watching his companions fight. Almost unthinking he drew his blade to dispatch a tall draugr thay strayed into his path. The act was almost casual.

Something pulled at his consciousness then, a tear in the flow of fate. A weakness in the unfolding of events that could bring all crashing to the ground. He saw Tiella using her blade to draw power from the dead, it pulsed through her and touched her mind and...

"Cali watch out!" he screamed as Tiella lunged towards the back of the witch.