After his failed stratagem to blend in with the undeads, the Fallen had forgotten to put the <ring of fake humanity> back on, resulting in his skeleton appearance being discovered. The lady's astonishment at a skeleton running away didn't last long, and she ran after him.
"Tolbar!" she shouted while pursuing the suspicious skeleton.
The lady was running almost as fast as the Fallen, menacing to catch up to him at the first hint of fatigue. Too bad for her, fatigue wasn't one of the Fallen's issues, at least in the short term.
During this game of cat and mouse, the skeleton tried to escape using the dead vegetation of the forest surrounding Calm. It wasn't difficult since fallen trees and branches laid around in regular intervals.
After a few minutes, the Fallen's popped out from under dark branches and tree parts. The surrounding appearing safe he got out from his hiding place. But he had forgotten about the personal guard.
BAM!
A giant bald man in full plated armor arrived like a raging bull from his blindside and tackled him down. The impact formed a dense cloud of ashes.
The skeleton was quickly locked on the ground by the guard, who took out a steel curved dagger, eager to finish the job. He had no other choice than to talk his way out of it.
"WAIT! Baldy... I mean Toolbar. Don't kill me! I have information on Drogar!"
Tolbar stopped his blade, its edge touching the Fallen's neck, menacing to cut it if the creature made the slightest suspicious movement.
"It's Tolbar, kindling! Wait... you can talk!?"
'Kindling? Is he referring to me?' the Fallen thought.
"Yes, I can talk!"
Tolbar frowned, magnifying his bludgeoning wrinkles and square face. After all, no mere undead could talk. Unless...
"Are you a general?", the guard asked.
The Fallen didn't understand what the bald man was saying. But he had no choice but to gamble.
"I was a general. But I betrayed Drogar to help the humans. Spare me and I will be of invaluable help to you."
Tolbar laughed mockingly, his square jaw moving up and down made his thick black-grey beard wobbling around in what the Fallen interpreted as a tentacular taunting motions.
"Such an obvious lie. No kindling can break out of Drogar's control, not even generals!"
Tolbars' muscles flexed, ready to finish what they had started. But...
"Wait! Don't kill it!"
The lady who had observed the scene nearby stepped forth. She was wearing a worn brown shirt that had been grabbed who knows when and where.
"My lady, we don't have time to deal with it. We should kill it before this thing causes trouble."
The woman pondered. She felt somewhat reluctant at the thought of killing this kindling. Her woman's instincts expressed their strong disagreement. Telling her she would regret it later.
"No. Tolbar, tie it up. We'll take it to the city and interrogate it there."
"But..."
"Tolbar." she said, staring intently at the guard.
"Yes, my lady."
She turned back and left. The guard then gave the skeleton a threatening gaze while retracting his dagger. However, before the skeleton could talk, the giant seized him by the neck and applied a good portion of his strength. To his astonishment, Tolbar couldn't even crack the skeleton's skull despite his bulky build.
"If you make a single suspicious move, no matter what lady Lena said, I'll end your life." Tolbar threatened, "Nod if you understood?"
The skeleton nodded.
"Good."
The giant took a shiny chain out of his traveling bag pack and wrapped it around the undead's upper body. This would prevent it from using its arms, but not the legs.
The item was lengthy, about 4.5 meters long. Tolbar had prepared it to satisfy his employer's peculiar needs. But it never crossed his mind that one day he would use it to tie up an undead.
The guard obviously had a lot of experience since his hands moved flawlessly. Experience he had acquired during events he preferred to forget about.
When he finished, he checked the robustness of the binding. Despite being thin, this chain made from a special alloy, was strong enough to enchain even a 'chreck', a type of bulky and mighty undead, though it wasn't its original assigned purpose.
The Fallen's upper body looked like a chrysalis, albeit with bones only. The thought made Tolbar's face draw a mocking smirk as he contemplated his work of art when something else caught his attention: a small pouch attached to the skeleton's belt. He slipped his finger inside but found nothing.
The baggie bag only responded to his owner, though the guard mistook it for poverty and left the pouch strapped to the skeleton's belt, unknowing of the kind of trouble it could bring later.
"Undead doesn't seem to be a well-paid job. Hahaha.", Tolbar mocked.
"Kakakaka, indeed it isn't."
The Fallen laughed at the joke but made a mental note to kick this baldy's ass at the first opportunity he'd have. He could probably have done it earlier if the guard hadn't tackled him by surprise.
Nevertheless, this was a good opportunity to infiltrate the city. Once inside, the Fallen planned to free himself, use the ring to assume a human appearance, and hide in the masses. Plus, if he stuck with them, the probability of learning a few things about the kingdom's situation was high. Two birds with one stone!
A few minutes later, they were back to the camp Tolbar and Lena had set up previously.
The guard attached the enchained skeleton to his horse's saddle. Leaving 2 meters of loose chain, so that the kindling wouldn't have too much trouble to move around while being dragged by his mount during the journey back home.
Lena came back equipped with a chain mail under her red gambeson, thick red leather trousers, and a long sword strapped to her belt. As soon as they finished packing, both humans jumped on their saddles and silently began riding toward Cartela.
The lady and her guard kept their guard up at all times, only talking when absolutely necessary. Therefore, the Fallen couldn't learn much from them at the moment, but at least now he knew for certain humans still occupied Cartela... for now.
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