Chapter 126: A Trail of Bodies
“The story is practically written there, in the corpses of the fallen,” Simon told Kell, gesturing widely to the beheaded bodies of the fallen.
“I mean, yeah, I see that,” the younger warrior said, pretending like he had some clue about what it was Simon was talking about. “But it’s not like it's enough to tell us what’s really going on, is it?”
“I disagree,” Simon answered with a shake of his head. “You can see these trappers here are freshest, and then these farmers and traders are at least a couple weeks older. That tells me that it spread to the villages along the main road before circling back into the wilderness, which was a stroke of luck. If they’d kept going south—”
“But what does that have to do with the warriors?” Kell asked in frustration. “They’re practically skeletonized. Are you saying those came first?”
“Logically, yes,” Simon nodded.
“But how do ye’ know they weren’t like.. Dug up and reanimated by evil magics?” Garth asked, joining their little conversation while everyone else got busy stacking bodies or stacking firewood.
“I kind of think they were… in a sense,” Simon said, trying not to give away too much about his own magical insights. “I mean, I have no idea how this stuff works. I’ve heard the same stories you have, but I know armor, and this stuff is ancient. Look at it. It’s not just rusted through. The designs are all wrong. It’s something that your grandfather’s grandfather might have worn.”
Both men nodded at that, and finally, Kell said, “So it started with them and then spread to the northern villages before going back into the forests? Are you saying this came from the north of the pass, or…”
“Nah, not that far north,” Garth said with a shake of his head. “The style is all wrong. I’d wager someone dug this up from the old barrow mounds. Maybe it’s not even a warlock. Maybe it’s just treasure hunters who woke up some ancient curse or somesuch.”