Forest Kingdom Trilogy 3 - Down Among the Dead Men

his right hand and drew Wolfsbane from its scabbard.
    The sword came free in a rush, the great length of blade glowing a bitter yellow in the gloom. The guards stopped their advance and stirred uneasily. Even without knowing what the sword was, they could feel a presence in the cavern that hadn’t been there before. Something had awakened that should have been left to sleep forever, and it was hungry. Hammer chuckled softly, and the hunger was reflected in his laughter. He stepped forward, sword at the ready, and the guards dropped automatically into their fighting positions. They were six to one, six fully armed guards against a proven traitor and coward. They raised their swords, and the slaughter began.
    Hammer gutted the first guard with a sideways sweep of the longsword, and spun to decapitate a second guard before the first hit the ground. The headless body managed another couple of steps before it realized it was dead and fell limply to the ground. Blood gushed across the cavern floor. Two guards leapt at Hammer together, their swords seeking his heart. Wolfsbane twisted in Hammer’s hands, and he blocked both blows with almost contemptuous ease. He swung the sword up and down again in a movement almost too fast to follow. The nearest guard lifted his blade to parry the blow. Wolfsbane sheared clean through the steel blade and buried itself in the guard’s head, cleaving his skull to the jawbone. Hammer jerked the longsword clear of the falling body and spun around to face the three remaining guards. For a moment they stood very still, shocked at the sudden easy deaths of their companions, and then, as one, they threw themselves at Hammer. Wolfsbane’s sickly light glowed brightly as it cut through flesh and bone and steel alike, and as quickly as that the last three guards were dead.
    Hammer stood over the dead bodies, and watched expressionlessly as they quickly decayed and fell apart into dust. Within seconds, nothing remained but a few pieces of rusting armor and a slowly dispersing stench of corruption. Hammer tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry.
Wolf’s Bane. Bane, that which causes ruin and decay
. It was just as he remembered from the Demon War, when Wolfsbane had cut a deadly path through the demon horde, and left nothing to show of its passing save a few moidering bones. Hammer looked down at the longsword glowing in the air before him. The hilt felt unpleasantly warm in his hand, and there was something sickening about the horrid yellow light that pulsed within the blade. It was like looking at the source of all the death and corruption in the world, and knowing it to be alive and aware and hungry. And then Hammer looked at the hand holding the sword, and felt a scream build in his throat.
    The flesh of his hand was diseased and rotten. Dark patches spread across his skin, which cracked and fell apart to reveal the wet red muscles beneath. Maggots writhed in his flesh as the decay spread, fraying the blackening muscles and tendons and uncovering the discolored bones. Hammer shook his head slowly, watching in horror as the corruption spread remorselessly up his arm.
    No! This didn’t happen!
    Hammer tried to throw the Infernal Device away, and found he couldn’t. The rotting claw wrapped around the sword hilt wouldn’t release its grip. Hammer staggered unsteadily over to the stream, some inane thought about washing himself clean jerking unsteadily through his mind. At the water’s edge he looked down and saw his reflection staring back. A rotting corpse stood at the water’s edge, holding a sword that shone like the sun. The lich had no face left, and the gleaming teeth were bared in a mocking grin. The bony jaw gaped wide as Hammer finally screamed.
    They’re still watching me. They look excited but embarrassed, like someone caught watching a freak in a carnival sideshow. Not so surprising, really. That’s all I am to them. A genuine hero, on display. Watch him walk and talk, almost like a normal human being. See him perform his entertaining little tricks with a bow and arrow. See him hit the target again and again, and pretend you can see excitement in his eyes instead of boredom. Come and see the hero, but don’t get too close. After all, he’s not a normal man, not really. Just another freak in the sideshow
.
    Edmond Wilde filled his mug and gulped the thick, sugary wine. It was far too sweet for his taste, but it was potent, and he’d settle for that. He looked around