She looked down to see the parting of the weeds and the impression of her feet in the ground. That was good information to know. The ranger was probably more attentive to such things than the zombies, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Asha used the same game trail that Fergus followed. Moving slowly and cautiously, she nonetheless made good time. Before she knew it Warlord's Castle loomed high above, perched over the road. Undead goblins, humans, orks, and hobgoblins stood in ranks around the castle, guarding the road and all trails. She moved down to the road, which was hard-packed earth, so they couldn't spot her disturbing weeds and brush. The guardians of the castle were packed pretty close together on the road, forcing her to slide sideways between some of them.
Warlord's Castle. Seat of the Duchy of Highcliff. Death and danger are assured, but the rewards of its conquest are power and wealth.
How are we going to fight our way through that many? she wondered. Killum has to use Gye. No other way.
The dragon had admitted that Lord Kathro was a very real danger to him. The necromancer was powerful enough to kill the dragon. Gyevikxus' death would be the end of him forever, so Killum was reluctant to "throw his dragon away" just to beat a dungeon. She didn't blame him.
The elven sorceress moved quickly and carefully through the milling zombies on the road up to the plateau. Most of them were goblins, but there were quite a few drow zombies, too. She found that odd, since the drow were so Dark they would probably follow the necromancer of their own free will.
He probably didn't bother to ask.
That spoke of arrogance on the necromancer's part. It worried her that he might have good cause to be so arrogant and dismissive of those who might support him. Or maybe he didn't trust free-willed people and wanted absolute control over everyone.
He's probably a megalomaniac gamer with a god complex.
He could also be one of the designers or programmers. Such a person could artificially grant themselves enormous powers, starting out at level 1000 with every known spell as part of their arsenal. She could only imagine how much mana such a player could possess. After all, it was their game and they made the rules.
A semi-circle of tall, muscular drow warriors defended the gate. All wore the elaborate, heavy armor of their warrior caste. Their long, white hair was pulled up into topknots, and they each carried a long curved sword on their hip and a stabbing spear in their hand. All but one was undead. The sole living drow was a female in armor designed for sexiness rather than function.
Petriana. Drow Sorceress (Lvl 21). -7 Dark. PK: 1.
The drow sorceress had a cobalt blue crystal glittering in the middle of her dark gray-skinned forehead. She stood arms akimbo, armed with nothing but a pair of Drow swords on her back and a whole lot of arrogance. Her knee-length white hair was pulled back into a ponytail. For a drow, Asha thought her quite attractive.
As she passed between two drow warriors, Asha noticed the drow sorceress's eyes turn her way. She froze, heart thundering in her ears. The drow's eyes only lingered on her a second, before moving away.
I must be careful with her. She might've noticed some disturbance caused by my invisibility. To be invisible meant light was bent around her. It might take a spellcaster to notice something like that.
Asha ducked low, and moved with extra caution. She slowly passed the drow sorceress, giving her foe a wide berth, and headed for the gate. Her heartbeat returned to normal by the time she passed into the castle.
Warlock's Castle's gate was a formidable structure. It was twice the size of the curtain wall's other towers. She estimated it fifty feet tall, two round towers with a portcullis and iron-bound gates between them. There was a tunnel to pass through, with murder holes above. The tunnel was wide and tall enough for two mounted knights to pass through side-by-side. The ground was cobbled.
She exited the fifty-foot long entrance tunnel to find an almost empty inner ward. The walls encircled a massive keep, which looked like a mini castle within the castle. It had a huge central square keep, with fortified wings surrounding it. On the inside of the surrounding walls were stables, barracks, smithies, and other necessary shops all castles needed. They were all empty as best she could tell, except for one of the stables. The farrier's shop appeared abandoned, though.
"Lord Kathro's undead horde has no need of such things as sleep and food."
The sorceress found the open door into the gatehouse. She entered cautiously, found the mechanism to raise and lower the portcullis, and figured out a way to jam it that wasn't immediately obvious. They weren't going to close it before she and her friends entered.
"How clever," a deep feminine voice whispered into her ear.
Asha's left wrist was seized and twisted up behind her back. Another hand grabbed the back of her head and slammed her forehead against the wall. The sorceress's knees buckled.
"Uggh!"
Black and white exploded behind her eyes. Asha felt all strength bleed out of her limbs, and she struggled to stay conscious. Her captor gave her arm a savage twist.
"Aaaiieee."
"Elfmaid players make the best playthings, Asha," her captor purred into her ear, before kissing her cheek. She forced Asha to cry out again with another brutal twist of her arm. "And I love hurting pretty little things like you way too much."
Slanting a look back, she discovered the drow sorceress from the gate.
"You saw me?"
"I saw you. I have several different Sight spells," Petriana said. "Tell me, are you the elf sorceress Asha that hung out with Killum and Fergus?"
"Yes. Why?"
Petriana nuzzled her ear before kissing it. "Because you killed me in the previous realm. Now I'll get my pound of flesh."
Asha sighed gustily. What was wrong with all these players holding grudges? She didn't sit around hoping to capture someone who might've wronged her. Hell, there'd been players who had her number and always defeated her, but she barely remembered their names. The sorceress just moved on and avoided them. Life was too short to spend time hating someone so thoroughly.
"Mercy. I give up. You win," Asha begged. "Please don't hurt me."
Her face burned. Humiliating herself was a tactic, but a shameful one. She could only do it because none of her friends were around. And if her plan worked, Petriana wouldn't remember it either.
The drow sorceress laughed. "You are so pathetic. I knew you'd grovel and beg if I ever got the drop on you."
Supreme confidence distracted the drow. Asha felt Petriana's hold loosen a tiny bit. Hopefully, that would prove enough. So the sorceress bowed her head to reinforce the drow's feelings of triumph and invincibility.
"You're right," Asha gasped out. Her eyes narrowed, and she ever so stealthily prepared to move. "I'm still very weak in this new world. You are so much more powerful. I have no choice but to submit."
The drow's grip on her left arm loosened a bit more. The elfmaid considered what spell to use. There was really only one.