"Where am I?!"
Cuthbert yelped, dropping the spear as he stumbled backward and shuffled a few paces away from the troglodyte that lay in front of him, staring. There was no expression on the Troglodytes featureless face.
Just blood dripping down from the few gashes on its warty face . The creature's body was covered in gashes, but it showed no sign of pain. The majority of the cuts lay over layers of mud that Shakti wore like a shawl over its back.
"What's going on here? Stay back you monster, where are you taking me?!!"
The Troglodyte continued to stare back at Cuthbert but started to get itself up while growling quietly in its throat.
"Take you? Shakti follow human.", the Troglodyte struggled to form the words between growls.
Cuthbert scanned his surroundings, heart pounding.
'I was just in my cell… eating my meal… before—'
His mind went blank. He tried, desperately, to recall how he had gotten here.
'Before you met me, Cuthbert' A voice whispered somewhere in his thoughts. Cuthbert barely noticed it.
Even under thick cloud cover, he could make out a clearing in the woods.
Although it was close to midnight, being outside was brighter than the inside of his cell. Rubble littered the ground for what he took to be rocks but noticed stone columns on the ground as well. Ancient symbols sketched under the moss covered pillars.
A sudden rush of the night's events came back to him.
A flash of the shadowman in his cell.
The back of Sir Christian as they rode off from the camp.
And the yells of men as they fought off foreign entities.
"Did you attack the camp?"
The clouds covering the moon passed and lit the portion of the clearing where the Troglodyte was standing. The light exposed the sharp teeth of the trog as it formed a grin.
"Yesss", it hissed in proudly.
Anger started to swell up inside of Cuthbert but before he could continue his questioning the sound of a snapping twig caught both of their attentions. Behind the troglodyte a group came into the clearing. The troglodyte lifted it's spear from the ground and turned to face the new arrivals. Cuthbert got up in excitement expecting to see soldiers coming to his rescue.
"Please help! It's me, Cuthbert, take me back to camp.", He started to make his way towards them when the troggs spear landed in front of him. Cuthbert was taken aback.
"Look. No human.", the trog spat out before reaching for his spear pole again.
The first one in the group walked into the moonlight exposing a skeletal face with a permanent smile on its face.
"Wh-wh- what's going on here?" Cuthbert couldn't believe that there was a pack of skeletons walking towards him let alone holding weapons.
The weapons from the Sol Soldiers.
"This can't be happening."
"Let Shakti fight", The trog was still facing the warriors again with spear in hand. The creature didn't move from its spot but growled with anticipation. As if it was fighting the urge to move from its position. Cuthbert could see its hands shaking as it tightened its grip. The skeletons continued their march forward passing right past the troglodyte and towards Cuthbert.
"Are they not your minions!? Where did they come fr--"
The skeleton in front pointed the stolen sword at Cuthbert's face while the two others pulled him up by the arms and pinned him to a tree. The leading skeleton stood there with the sword point a few inches from his face with no intention of moving it away.
"Get off me!"
In seconds the sword point dropped as the legs of the two of the skeletons gave way to the force of the trog sweeping his spear under the two. Cuthbert stared helplessly as the trog went about piercing the skull of the remaining skeleton holding him by the arm, its skull fragments rained over the cowerting man.
The trog finished the other two in turn with a toothy grin as they tried getting up. The forest clearing lit up as the clouds in the night sky raced past the full moon.
From the darkness, more skeleton warriors emerged from the woods walking awkwardly. Their hollow sockets flickered in the moonlight, their broken bodies moving like marionettes– with unnatural precision. Some with swords and shields while others with arrows notched ready to shoot straight at the trog and Cuthbert. None stepped into the clearing as the noise of a horse trotting towards them got louder until the horse and its rider appeared in the moonlight of the clearing.
"I must admit this was more of a resistance than I expected Cuthbert.", A pale faced rider spoke with amusement as he made his way closer to Cuthbert. The trog made sure to put itself in between Cuthbert and the rider. The rider let out a hearty cackle at the site of a lonely trog getting in the way of him and his militia of skeletons.
Without any prompt or command arrows flew past the horsemen towards the two. The trog couldn't see the arrows but moved itself over the shocked Cuthbert with its back towards the archers. Most of the arrows couldn't even pierce the muddy shell that covered the trog's skin let alone actually reach it. The disadvantage of skeleton warriors was the lack of muscle– the lack of power.
"Enough of this Cuthbert!" The nameless rider's irritation could be heard in his voice, "You've already agreed to the pact with Ap' Ollyon We must be on our way.", the nameless rider extended his hand and waved Cuthbert towards him. "I'd rather not bring you back as a corpse, how our Lord does appreciate when his subjects come to him in pristine condition. But that doesn't mean he won't accept you with a bit of flesh missing from your body." The small hand gesture suddenly brought on a throbbing pain to the front of Cuthberts forehead that slowly became a deeper pain throughout his whole head. A similar symbol appeared on Cuthberts forehead, pulsing with the same dull eerie green glow of that of the Death Knight's eyes.
'Gwhahaha, stop resisting Cuthbert. I've settled myself here with you. Go with him and accept that you're mine already. Gwhahaha.' The voice slithered through his skull like a worm burrowing into flesh. Cuthbert staggered, hands gripping his temples, nails digging deep.
Cuthbert panicked as he recalled how he accepted the dark presence once already in his cell. It hadn't felt like a choice. Not then. Not now.
The laughter crescendoed. Pain pulsed, searing, unbearable—
His nails scraped bone.
"Gahhhh, Get out of my mind! I will never serve you!"Cuthbert yelled as he clutched his hands over his head.
'In MY mind you're mine forever.'
"Someone please come save me…AHHHHH! Make the pain stop!" Blood trickled down his face as Cuthbert dug his nails deeper into his scalp.
Still the pain pulsed.
Still a chorus of cruel laughter inside his skull as he tried to find relief from the pain beckoning him to release his grip on his sanity.
He almost did.
With no hesitation the trog swung the spear around it and clubbed Cuthbert over his head and turned to face the undead. Cuthbert fell over. The thud of his body introduced a deadly silence over those that remained. The forest held its breath.
"Sigh… I don't suppose you'll be handing him over without a fight."
The troglodyte lowered its spear, pointing it at the skeletal horde.
Shaktis excitement grew as it met the newcomers with a toothy grin.