“Throw it up, Child! Throw up!”
“Spit, Lord Vandal! Spit it out!” Zulan was currently holding him upside down by the legs and shaking him around, while Lefdia was continually slapping him on the back. But Vandal had other things on his mind.
“I can’t, I mean, I really, absorbed, it, ah, hello, there.” As Vandal was still being shaken up and down, his upside-down eyes saw a horde of ghosts appear. Probably because the seal had been broken.
Phantoms. These were like the spirits that Vandal, undead, and Mediums could see, capable of only manifesting a spectral image. Phantoms may not have a physical body, but they were dead people who had turned into actual monsters.
They were Rank 2, and while almost all physical attacks were unable to affect them, they didn’t have physical means of attacking either. However, many of them did keep their personalities or memories from when they were alive to a pretty large degree.
“Who are you?” Zulan asked. “From Duke Heartner’s house? But no, what’s this terrifying but somehow reassuring presence . . .?”
“Look at the giantling and that hand. They are undead.”
“What are undead doing here? They have broken the barrier? We have been freed?”
The phantoms—semi-transparent with a wispy outline and missing their bodies from below the knees—were muttering amongst themselves. They didn’t appear to be hostile, but they did appear to be scared of something.
“Oh! Princess Lebia, are you here? It’s me, Zulan from Talosheim!” Zulan unthinkingly let go of Vandal’s legs and then started to shout toward the phantoms. Eleonora caught Vandal without missing a beat, as he saw a female phantom with long hair down to her waist emerge from among the horde. “Princess Lebia!”
“Zulan. I remember you. A scout and warrior; the best among our people with a short sword.”
Princess Lebia and Zulan hadn’t been close, or even really had much contact, but in Talosheim, there had only been a population of around five thousand and a lax hierarchy; an excellent warrior would have opportunities to meet with a princess. Zulan was a scout, rare for giantlings, so that had probably helped him to stick in her memory.
“You remained in Talosheim with Zandia and the others and fought bravely to the end. What are you doing here, pray tell? Ah, but now that you are here, you have joined us as prisoners, I fear. We will never be able to return to the goddess, never able to have our vengeance on this mortal plane, forced to wander here for eternity—”
“Excuse me, I broke the barrier,” Vandal piped up.
“Yes, unless that double barrier is ever somehow brought down—” Lebia paused. “Sorry, you did what?”
“I broke it. My apologies for my rudeness, Princess. I am Vandal, the current king of Talosheim.” Vandal gave his greeting while still being held upside down by Eleonora.
Princess Lebia proceeded to listen to Vandal’s explanation and then look at Lefdia. “I’m sorry to say, but just from the left hand I can’t really confirm if this is my sister,” she said.
“I understand completely,” Vandal assured her. “What about this rock salt?” The left hand of her sister had not been sufficient proof. However, the rock salt they had carried in from Garan Valley in Talosheim couldn’t be found anywhere else, so that served as enough proof for the princess to believe what Vandal was telling her.
He breathed a sigh of relief. If she hadn’t believed him, things would have been much more difficult.
“I see,” the princess said. “Those who remained in Talosheim made a brave account of themselves. You have my heartfelt thanks for showing your guidance to Borkz and the others and protecting the nation of my forebears. In comparison, I did little to protect my own wards . . .”
“That wasn’t your fault, Princess!” Zulan proclaimed heatedly. “The duke betrayed you! He’s the bad guy here!”
When Lebia arrived from Talosheim, with her small retinue of guards and other countrypeople, they were welcomed to Heartner not only by its people but by the duke himself. However, when the duke presented a feast to welcome the giantlings, the food was laced with poison. The princess and her companions had believed Duke Heartner’s house to be their allies, and none of them suspected a thing as they ate the tainted food. Upon realizing the truth, they did attempt to fight back, but the duke’s knights and magicians captured them. They killed her guards on the spot, framed Princess Lebia for attempting to kill the duke and burnt her at the stake. They then buried her body inside the barrier in this crypt.
“I know most of what has happened since, from the people interred here after me,” Lebia continued. “The knights and magicians who killed us were also buried here to keep them quiet.”
The duke at the time certainly knew how to pull off some shady stuff. It sounded like the information passed to Vandal by Mother Milan in Niakki was coming from someone who had managed to avoid the fate of being trapped here and then wandered as a spirit after their death.
“Shall we discuss what to do next?” Vandal suggested.
“Very well,” Lebia agreed. “I know this isn’t my place, as one already departed from your mortal world, but you are the ruler of Talosheim now. Please, continue to lead my people. Thank you.” Lebia gave a deep bow.
Every single movement she made was so elegant, so refined, it was hard to believe she didn’t have a physical body. At the same time, there wasn’t a hint of pride or arrogance in her. She was regal and lovely, the epitome of the word “princess.” Of course, being a giantling, she was still around seven feet tall, even missing the bottom of her legs. Her outline was blurry, too, but Vandal was sure she had been very attractive in life.