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‘No,’ said Kalikos ‘‘Tis an aerial bombardment.’

Another tremor arrived, as if to accentuate the reaper’s words.

“How do you know that?” said Loren.

‘There is much being spoken of, if one has the patience to listen,’ said Kalikos.

Loren frowned. “That... doesn’t answer my question.”

“We have our own lines of communication,” said Caster. “I’m afraid telling you any more than that would not be a kindness on our part. Some knowledge comes with strings attached, you see.”

The chamber shook again, this time with much more violent force, making Loren stumble. Entire boulders broke free from the walls and plunged into the pool below, splashing water all the way up to Loren’s feet.

The trembling slowed but didn’t stop, and the continuous groaning of the cave was more than a little unsettling.

“It appears we’ve dawdled too long, already. Let’s get the hell out of here, shall we?” And without waiting, the small man bounded over the ledge and cannonballed into the water with Kalikos in pursuit.

Loren just followed.


Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Two: ‘Hark! O, dictator of the Empty...!’
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It had been another long day. Covered in dirt and grime, rotten flesh and blackened blood, he wiped his forehead and took a long, deep breath before finally taking a seat on the nearest tree stump. It was wide enough to fit ten men, at least. He rolled his shoulders as he looked around another time.

Felled trees of gargantuan proportions littered the horizon, splintered apart or wholly uprooted--or simply sliced clean through like the one he was currently sitting on.

The Jaskadan Forest wasn’t looking too good, anymore. This portion of it. There was still plenty more left to go, though, east of here and north, as well. These rotting bastards were lucky the Ardoran continent was so vast.

Among the fallen trees lay also his fallen opponents. It took quite a bit for them to stay down. They weren’t like normal servants--that was for certain. While they didn’t appear to regenerate much at all, each one had the durability of a hundred-year-old servant, at a minimum.

Fire had seemed effective at first, but they appeared to have adapted, somehow. Freezing them never worked at all. Perhaps their rotten brains weren’t even functional to begin with. Plus, they could move without need of their muscles, too, so the fight would continue long after a typical servant’s body would have been rendered totally immobile.