‘Why was he scared of fire, then?’ Solus asked.
‘Probably because he was a normal ogre until not long ago. All living beings are naturally afraid of fire. He had yet to realize that with no vitals and with light magic at his disposal, fire is a small threat for a water based creature like he was.’
“Stop wasting time. You strong, master can use you.” Lith turned toward the source of the voice, yet neither Life Vision nor mana sense showed anything. At least not until a hunched figure literally emerged from the shadows.
The creature didn’t resemble anything Lith had ever seen before, nor was it listed in any of the bestiaries he possessed. It was a small humanoid, barely 1.3 meters (4’3″) tall, with pale grey skin and thick grizzled hair.
Judging by his appearance and his voice, he seemed to be a male. He had small pointed ears, pitch black eyes, and was wearing a mage’s robe. Despite his jagged teeth and the claws at the end of his limbs, it didn’t look menacing.
The creature’s life force was slightly better than the average adult man, while his blood core was almost completely black. Lith didn’t underestimate him and silently weaved more spells in case looks were proverbially deceiving.
‘How the heck did he escape our senses?’ Solus kept an eye on all the remaining shadows of the corridor, in case the creature was just a distraction.
Lith had no answer to offer. His senses were all focused on his surroundings, since things were getting weirder by the second. The corpses of the ogres he had just killed turned into smoke and dived into the ground, closely followed by the undead life force which had restored the dryad-ogre’s ancient might.
“Tell me who you are, what is happening here, and what you mean, wasting time.” Either the creature really was harmless or wanted to manipulate him, at least he seemed to be willing to communicate.
“Me Ratpack.” The creature shrugged. “War is happening, but fighters waste time, just like you. None can die. We banished from death thanks to master’s power.”
Lith stared at Ratpack, waiting for him to continue his explanation, but the creature just stared back in annoyance.
“You deaf? Stop wasting time. Soon Caliel and Draga will be back. With reinforcements! You soldier.” Ratpack pointed his grey finger to Lith’s uniform.
“You act like one and obey!” His voice was deep and rough. It was filled with an underserved pride which annoyed Lith almost as the vague answers he had just received.
“I obey no one.” Lith replied while using spirit magic to lift the creature off the ground and slam him against a well lighted wall. Choking an undead was useless, if not to prove a point.
“If you want my help, you’d better give me a good reason. Start by making sense, otherwise…” Lith’s threat was interrupted by Ratpack turning into a puff of smoke. It lasted only one second, but it was enough to escape from spirit magic’s grasp and reach the nearest shadow.
“No, you don’t!” Lith snarled. He extended his arm to direct his tendrils of mana toward their target, who turned once again ethereal the moment Ratpack touched the edge of the shade.
“Only master can harm Ratpack. Even Yozmogh and Dann’Kah, even their armies couldn’t catch Ratpack. Obey or die!”
Lith didn’t reply, redirecting the mana from spirit to darkness magic. He had learned a couple of things while fighting Thrud Griffon, it was time to put them to the test. Lith’s shadow came to life as two blazing yellow eyes appeared on its face.
The shadow’s extended right arm stretched along the floor until it reached Ratpack’s hiding place. Neither Lith nor Solus liked how his darkness magic infused shade resembled more his demonic life form rather than his human one.
The shadow’s hand rummaged for a while before retracting. The elongated arm was coiled around the small undead like a snake. Ratpack screamed in surprise as soon as he felt something touching him.
His master’s Coward’s Mantle was supposed to protect him from any harm, yet the Ranger had been able to ignore its protection. To make matters worse, Ratpack could feel his strength getting slowly sapped.
Not even undeath could ward off darkness magic.
“Are you ready to talk?” Lith said while pointing the Gatekeeper at Ratpack’s throat. The creature’s eyes were filled with fear, which made him nod like a parrot having a seizure.
“Then explain things properly.” Lith snorted.
“Me has many names. Squirm, Plague, Worm. Ratpack is master’s favourite because he says me very annoying…”
“He is right, dammit! I don’t care for your names. Tell me what’s happening here.”
“Servants rebelled against master and took master prisoner. After that, they fight each other. Two great leaders emerge. Dann’Kah the orc shaman and Yozmogh the Balor. All servants join one or the other, forming two armies. They fight for…” Ratpack stopped, not knowing how to explain.
“For?”
“Freedom. And also for power.” Ratpack clapped his hands, congratulating to himself for being so precise. Unluckily, Lith didn’t share his enthusiasm.
“What freedom? If your master is already being held prisoner, they can just walk away. What power are you talking about?”
“They can’t leave.” Ratpack nervously licked his lips, revealing such a black tongue that it resembled a slimy piece of charcoal.
“Master made them like him. They have no freedom. As for power, it’s the master’s, but they found a way to use it. To make them pretty again. Like- Caliel and Draga! Yes, like them.” The creature nodded again like crazy, feeling someone was approaching.
“What do you want me to do, exactly?” Lith dilated his nostrils in annoyance. He didn’t know whether to find more bothersome Ratpack’s ramblings or the idea of monsters like a Balor regaining their full powers.
“Follow me to master. Master explains better. You free him, he stops servants.” Hurried footsteps were perfectly audible and quickly approaching, yet the Ranger didn’t seem to care.
“Why would I? If your master has already been defeated once by his servants, they can do it again. They have even robbed him of his power. What use do I have for him?”
“Yes, he’s weak, but he still strong. You can’t defeat all master’s servants alone. Enough talk, we run now!” The ogre-dryad and the orc-elf appeared from a corner, running at full speed closely followed by several members of their own kin.
Lith raised the index and middle fingers of his right hand, unleashing the tier four spell Death Zone. A black cloud comprised of darkness element filled the corridor in front of them the moment the monsters were halfway through.
No matter the direction they turned to, all of them died after taking a few steps.
“What were you saying?” Lith’s eyes were blazing with blue mana which deeply contrasted with his shadow’s burning yellow eyes. It was still seemingly alive and moving around on its own, even though its main body was standing still.
Ratpack shivered in fear, wondering how powerful humans had become during the decades he and his master had spent in isolation.
“You- too strong! Why you struggle earlier if you can just…” Ratpack stuttered so much that he preferred to slam his fist onto his palm to stress his point.
