Rautar and Joseph
Leira opened the door slowly, wishing Joseph could stay longer. The longing in his eyes told her Joseph wished the same. Standing in the doorway, they embraced each other as she stood on her toes to kiss him gently.
"Come back safe, love." the beautiful blonde elven maiden cooed in his ear. Joseph nodded, his face wearing a crooked smile. Rautar stood in the hall, watching the two and waiting for his friend. Leira gave him a friendly wave.
"Hello Rautar!" she called, and turned to head back into her room. Rautar returned the wave and tilted his head to study the fine curves of Leira's backside as she went inside. As the door closed his head snapped back up, and he looked to Joseph, throwing his arms open in an inquisitive gesture.
"Did she ******** ya?!" he asked excitedly. Joseph's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping immediately at the sheer audacity of the question.
"WHAT?!" he asked in disbelief.
"Ah, forget it, you're no fun." Rautar muttered and followed Joseph as he started down the necropolis hall to the stables. "So, what's the story tonight? Why are we stuck on patrol? We being punished for something?"
"No, nothing like that. There's just been some heavy activity near the woods lately, living folks, human of course. Boss wants some of us big dogs looking after the more green soldiers. A couple of our skeletons didn't come home yesterday, Corell and Wallins. Found them with skulls crushed this morning, and the arrows stuck in their shields were human variety." Joseph explained.
"What, did they piss 'em off?" asked Rautar, flexing his fingerbones, warming them up for spellcasting.
"Nah, I've done patrol with those two before, nice guys. Not the type to start brawls. What with all the demon activity lately the live-humans are getting a bit jumpy. You know how it is, the s**t hits the fan and the Undead are always the first blamed. In any case, it's a damn shame to lose those two guys." Joseph said shaking his head. As the two entered the stables they heard the echoing neighs of the nightmares, the skeletal horses. As they mounted their steeds they were joined by two skeletal archers and a half-rotten zombie in chainmail wielding a claymore. Their patrol put together, the five headed off into the night, out into the wide fields surrounding the necropolis.
As usual, the fields were clear and quiet, with only the occasional animal and a few Undead, some enjoying the night air, some entertaining dates and so on. Joseph made sure to warn each of the recent slayings and to be on their guard. As the night went on, the conversation quickly turned to the most common small talk amongst Undead who didn't know each other.
"So, how did you guys die?" asked the claymore-wielding zombie.
"Funny thing, actually," said the first archer, a skeleton wearing a brown leather cap, "I was with this girl, drow, long white hair and a great body, and we were about to get it on, right? So we sneak into this barn, and all excited I jump backwards into this big pile of hay! And wouldn't you know it? Big old pitchfork, buried under the pile! It goes RIGHT through my back and out my chest, boom, dead!"
"Hahaha! Oh man, that sucks!" chuckled Rautar.
"Heh! Yeah, but still, last thing I ever saw was that drow babe's naked rack! Definitely not the worst thing for your last living view, yeah?" said the skeleton, smiling wryly. They all shared a laugh and agreed.
"How about you?" asked the zombie to the other archer, a skeleton in a red tunic.
"Me? I got robbed a few too many times so I went out and got me this guard dog. The guy who sold it to me, he says the dog's the best killer they got. So I buy him, get him home, he's fine the whole way. The second the leash comes off... First thing he goes for is me! Took my throat right out, you believe that?" he said, shaking his head.
"Oh man! Hahaha! Hey, at least you got your money's worth, didn't ya? He was the best killer in the business, alright!" joked Rautar.
"Oh, yeah, he was, but the guy ALSO told me he knew to recognize his master! Well, let me tell you, after I was brought back I went down there and got my damned money back! That learned him not to scam people, seeing a skeleton come in looking for a refund, let me tell you!" he finished.
"I'll bet!" said the zombie. "As for me, you see this dent in my head? A heavy wooden sign on a shop in Cothos fell two stories, the sharp edge of it caught me right on the noggin. I dunno, I guess the rope holding it got worn out or something. You wanna hear the funny thing? The sign was for a shop that sold coffins!" he said, finishing with a quirky grin.
"Right place at the right time, man! Did they get you a box from there?" asked the capped archer.
"Nah, my brother got me a pine one back by his place. Cheaper, but still not terrible." said the zombie shrugging.
Joseph kept quiet. This topic wasn't one of his favorites, but everyone already knew the story of his death, the vampires stabbing him, leaving him to die as they butchered his daughter. They all knew better than to pry him for details, more out of respect than from fear. His thoughts brought him unwillingly back to that time. Rautar piped in then, telling his own story about how he was cast, alive, into Hell and how he had actually died IN Hell, unlike others who went there upon death, and how he was granted his powers. The others laughed along with Rautar, but to Joseph they all sounded so far away. And as Rautar enjoyed being in the spotlight yet again, Joseph quietly said a prayer for his daughter.
---------------------------
This concludes the first snippet of my stories I'll be adding on here, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I know this one wasn't exactly 'action-packed' as it usually is, but in this case I wanted to start this off by focusing more on the characters themselves and their personalities than just action. Once again, I hoped you enjoyed it, and feel free to leave me comments if you'd like.
Community Member