NBB3 - Epilogue

"Did you hear that Sumil has lowered the prices for specific patterns again?" Gousius, a lean, fiery-red undead, asked.

He didn't wait for an answer but grabbed a chunk of meat and began chewing on it.

"'Course I did! It proves what I said before: she is a much better leader than Drys ever was," a wide-shouldered, heavily muscled undead replied.

Nous, you braindead fool," Gousius whispered. "Do you want to get us into trouble?" He fearfully looked around, but either none of the other undead had heard, or they didn't care.

"Bah. Don't be so fearful," Nous said. "None here would dare bother us. Besides, everyone knows it's true! Just look around! Not even taking into account the cheaper patterns, we haven't had a lethargic outbreak in what…  fifty years? By Skull, I barely recall the last one! There are even rumors that fewer undead are changing than before. What more do you want?"

Gousius frowned as he swallowed another bite of steaming white Wyrm meat. "Well, those locked crypts were a great idea, that's true," he finally said before looking up worriedly. "But Drys is a friend of Solus…"

Nous's mouth fell open, the piece of meat halfway to his mouth, forgotten. "Solus? Since when do you believe in myths?" 

"Will you be quiet already, you fool? Someone's bound to hear you if you keep this up, and there's gonna be trouble!"

"Trouble. Right," Nous said, but he did lower his voice. "Who do you know who has even seen him or claims to? Those poorly-evolved bone pukes in the wasteland? Who would believe them? They are the ones that said there are Red Wyrms, which caused that wild Wyrm chase ten years ago."

Gousius seemed about to say something, but Nous interrupted him with a snort.

"A mysterious, all-powerful undead that saved us from mysterious Kaot Lords in the sky? Sounds like nonsense to me!"

"You weren't there! I've told you, the AI-lings of the tower speak of cracks in the sky-" Gousius began, but Nous interrupted him again.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't wanna hear it again. My ears might start bleeding if I hear you talk of those shut-ins again. Soon you'll tell me you believe those fools around the statue too. That those flashes that used to cover the night sky were, in fact, Solus, fighting monsters!"

Gousius glared at him. Then his shoulders lowered, and he absently looked at the final piece of meat. "I don't know. Those rumors had to have come from-"

"Bah!" Nous shouted, slamming his fists on the table.

A dozen undead looked over, falling quiet, but quickly averted their eyes when they saw who had caused the disruption.

"Enough of your fantasies. Let's just see if we can get another mission. I've only got twenty or so mana-orbs left," Nous snapped.

"Fine," Gousius said with a shake of his head. He knew from the tiny, barely hidden smirk that Nous wasn't half as angry as he seemed to be. "Just believe what you want. So, another portal mission to that yellow desert world, then?"

Nous nodded, poking the other's arm with his long, black-nailed finger. A tiny burst of sparks erupted before settling back into the skin.

"'Course! You are worth as much as a third-level evolved there! Who besides us can go into a rift and come back with a bag of uncleansed mana-orbs without a full expedition party?"

"Laron, Norg, Oytach, Bilderbin, Greshna, Liaoran," Gousius stated as he began counting off, raising a finger each time he called out a name.

"Damnit, you know what I mean! Normal ones, like us!" Nous snapped as he pushed himself up. "Whatever, funny guy, let's get out there. Perhaps we get lucky and get a mana-core. I'd hate to turn lethargic in a few years."

"That won't happen for many years yet! Why do you gotta be so negative? Besides, mana-cores don't grow from Whitebone trees," Gousius said with a weary sigh and a shake of his head. "We likely won't find one, but if it makes you feel better…"

"Who's the negative one now?" Nous said with a laugh.

As the two moved out of the small eatery, many undead seemed to relax. A relieved laugh came from some, but none said anything. Nous was a notoriously angry undead.

Neither they nor the two who had just left saw the massive gray-skinned behemoth staring at them through a thin layer of crystal that separated them from the second floor. To them, it was just a beautiful shiny green roof: one of the things that separated the ancient inn from the many others.

"It annoys me how they think of Drys," Norg snarled. The green shards protruded from his flesh and pulsated with his agitation.

"There is nothing you can do about it," a low rumbling voice said.

Behind Norg, Oytach stretched his massive legs. Just above his eyes, a dull red sphere in his forehead flashed twice as he smiled wickedly.

"Unless you want to let me try it my way."

"What? And have you massacre half of the undead we so painstakingly gathered?" Norg shook his head. "No, it's better they get the chance to grow as we did. It's been quiet for so long... who knows when something horrible will happen again?"

Norg sat down in the other chair, staring at the table filled with Wyrm meat. "Get back here, Solus. We need you," he muttered as he leaned back in a chair that groaned under his bulk.

Oytach shook his head. "Always with Solus! Why do you still think he will come back? We've not heard anything from him or Tirella since the sky began to change. It's been what, close to a hundred years already? By Skull, the first-wave lethargic have crumbled in the catacombs!"

Norg noticeably shivered when Oytach used Skull's name, then shrugged, staring numbly at his feet.

As Norg had watched the undead, he had been unaware of a tiny brown-and-green woman hovering near him, staring at him intently.

"You aren't the only one who wants him back, Norg," Tirella muttered, her eyes dull and unfocused.

She knew he couldn't hear her, but speaking to him was barely a conscious action. It was a habit she had taken up over the years to deal with the loneliness. 

"Get some rest. You will need it for what is to come," she whispered, taking one more look at him. For a moment her eyes sharpened.

"Soon I'll have gathered the energy to take over a body, so I can warn you of the upcoming troubles," she said with a frown. "The first of many, I fear."

Then, with a sigh, she shot up through the ceiling, the rock, and the building, appearing above it faster than they would have been able to see. As she continued flying up, the vast expanse of Skulltown unfolded below her. Its chaotic, white-bone outer areas sprawled into the hills, while the gray heart of stone seemed to have become smaller each time she came to check on the city.

"It looks like we've survived the first century," she muttered, staring at a spot to the side and far below the city. "You just dream. I'll make sure there will be something left when you wake. Somehow."

Her frown deepened with uncertainty, and she shot away, leaving behind the bustling city of undead.