IABD 49: The Hermits' Houses

The stench hit Matthias first; stinking worse than the smell of several privies, a rotting wound and decay, clinging to his nostrils, making his nose and eyes water. Yet, the assault to his senses did not end there; it went deeper—through his flesh—reaching down to his soul.

Even his spirit gagged at the foul odour.

“Ugh, that smell!” Bregindoure grumbled, holding his nose. “It smells like filth and bile had a child together.”

“Smells like a dead animal boiled and stuffed with pig dung.” Dagma also covered her nose.

“Smells like death and violation.” Matthias set his jaw. “I do not like this place.”

The siblings fell silent as they entered the courtyard.

Matthias raised his sword and hammer, his tendril slithering from his shadow at his side. Its tip swept through the air, bobbing like a serpent’s head, hungry for prey.

To his left loomed Bregindoure; his jaw set and his face stern with simmering berserker rage. He held his shield in front of him and his mace above his head, ready to strike down any nasty smelling ghouls that came near.

Dagma followed her brothers; the young Life Enforcement practitioner and warrior-in-training gripped her spear, scanning the ruins in the courtyard.

At a distance trailed Beggahasta, gripping Tallis, ready to step in if needed.

“The hermit houses are on the other side of the abbey.” Bregindoure nodded, eyes fixed ahead. “Wish we had landed over there.”

Matthias shook his head. “Better we circle the abbey and clear the courtyard; we don’t want to miss any hiding ghouls, looking to slide their claws into our backs when we reach the hermit houses.”

“Fair point, brother.”

The giants and young warrior circled the abbey’s main building, keeping close to the ruined outer walls; Matthias’ eyes examined the shattered windows for any sign of movement. From time to time, he thought he saw a shadow darting past one of the panes of broken glass in the chapel.

“There might be movement there,” he announced, focusing his intent on moving as quietly as he could. His heavy boots hardly made a sound as he glided along the cobblestones, picking his way past the puddles. He kept careful watch on the fractured catapult stones and rubble, mindful that ghouls might be lurking behind them.

“Where?” Bregindoure asked, looking up at the abbey. “At the windows?”

“Yeah,” Matthias said.

“I see nothing...” his brother whispered, though his grip instantly tightened on his mace. His shield rose a little higher as well.

“Where are all the insects?” Dagma whispered. “I haven’t seen or heard a single fly, even though it stinks like rot around here.”

“I have a feeling they avoid this place,” Matthias said. “I have a feeling most sensible living things do.”

“That says something about us,” Bregindoure said.

The Stonebreaker siblings circled the abbey, keeping close to the shattered outer wall. They passed the kitchen and refectory—noticing foul odours coming from both that turned their stomachs—as they made their way toward the rear of the abbey.

As they continued scouring the area, it struck Matthias how massive the complex actually was; it was going to take them several minutes to cross the courtyard at a walk, even with his long strides. He wondered just how extensive the ruins below the abbey were, and just how many ghouls lived down there. The thought was unsettling.

They finally reached the houses of hermitage.

Matthias cursed. “Most of these are ruined.”

Several had been cracked open by trebuchet stones, while others were blackened by fire, reduced to stone husks of what they once were.

“There’s a few that look intact,” Bregindoure noted buildings near the end of the cluster of hermit houses. “We can check those.”

“Yeah,” Matthias said. “Maybe that army didn’t destroy them before the ghouls got them...or maybe that warlord and his advisors used them. Who knows. Let’s just hope ghouls aren’t using them now.”

The Stonebreaker siblings quickened their pace, moving across the courtyard. Matthias watched the ruined houses carefully, noticing nothing stirring as they approached each one.

At last, they came to the nearest intact hermit’s house. It was a squat, stone building—a single level—with a walled garden on its right side. No glass remained in its windows, and the shutters had long rotted away.

Time, wind and rain had weathered the stone and moldered the wood, but the home seemed unvandalized.

It would have been almost welcoming...

...except for the bones.

Hundreds of bones—both animal and humanoid—were strewn before the entrance, as though the monk’s house had become the den of some ravenous beast. An evil scent wafted from inside, making Matthias’ skin creep.

“I’ll lead,” he said, eyes narrowing at the size of the entrance. “You’ll have to squeeze through the doorway, Breg. Maybe it's better if you stay back a bit.”

“No, brother,” Bregindoure disagreed. “It would be better if I went first.”

“No, you haven’t had any fight training yet, and the ceiling height might be too low for you. Best if I go in first.”

“...fine,” Bregindoure grunted.

“Dagma, stay close to us,” Matthias warned.

“I will,” she promised.

Taking a deep breath, the young greatfolk inched toward the door; it was gloomy inside, the building had few openings for windows.

Swallowing, he stepped into a living room that made him gag.

The wooden furniture was surprisingly intact, but filth was all around the interior, strewn across the floor. Below the tall ceiling, scattered bone, bits of what looked to be drying flesh, and soiled clothing were clumped together in piles. Heaps of filth filled each corner, and bone crunched under his boots.

His skin crawled.

His heart was pounding.

The miasma of death hovered, as though waiting to smother him.

He took a step inside.

A nearby pile exploded.

Everything seemed to slow.

Matthias could see fragments of bone and pieces of filth fly past his face.

Something emerged from the pile, a creature both hideous and stomach churning. At one time, it likely would have looked like a woman, but now, its body was bone thin—pale grey skin stretched—taut against shriveled muscle. Greasy, straw-like hair drooped in patches along its skull, and thin lips were pulled back in a death grimace. Every visible tooth had been transformed, forming sharp yellow and black needles, its hands were elongated like twisted claws.

Blank, dead eyes fixed on its prey.

With a gurgling screech, it swung those claws at Matthias.

The young greatfolk brought up his sword, blocking the monster’s blurring strike; the blade sliced into its hand, yet no blood ran from the wound. It swung with its other arm, Matthias whipped his shadow-tendril up, grabbing the emaciated arm and twisting it.

It surprised him, still surging forward, not immobilised by pain, the undead thing merely snapped at his throat.

His hammer struck, hitting its face and cracking skull bones.

It slowed but kept coming. Matthias knocked its left arm aside with his sword, raising the blade to slash through its neck.

“Above you!” Bregindoure shouted from the doorway.

Matthias looked up.

A pair of ghouls were dropping from the rafters, claws spread, fangs dripping. He jumped back; his shadow-tendril swung the screaming undead thing it was still holding into the two monsters plunging from above.

All three ghouls collided in a tangle of bony limbs and scrabbling claws, sprawling on the ground. They tried scrambling to their feet as Bregindoure squeezed through the doorway, rising to his full height beneath the tall ceiling.

He raised his mace, it came down, the flanged bludgeon crushed two ghouls’ chests with an impact that sounded more like an explosion than a blow. Both creatures’ chests splattered, turning into a black and grey paste. The third ghoul was still fighting to stand, looking to attack Matthias when a swift slash from his sword struck its head from its shoulders.

With foul liquid pouring from the wound, the corpse stumbled about senselessly, and the young greatfolk brought his hammer down in a blurring arc, cracking its collar bone and crushing its torso. With a twitch, the undead dropped, lying still.  

As it fell, screeches suddenly erupted in the hermit house.

A wave of ghouls flooded through other entrances into the living room, pouring from deeper inside the house. The monstrosities crawled over each other, long tongues lashing between grinning lips. Some skittered across the walls or along the ceiling like titanic, undead spiders.

Their stench hit Matthias in a wave.

He clenched his teeth, fighting down bile.

Bregindoure raised his shield. “I’ll guard your side, cut them down, brother!”

“Gladly!” Matthias said between clenched teeth.

He raised his sword and hammer.

The shadow-tendril lashed at his side.

And the horde leapt.

The world became a blur of thrashing forms, slashing claws and snapping fangs. From all sides, the ghouls tried pulling the young greatfolk down, but Matthias’ weapons cleaved through them, driven by the blood of giants and the Divine Breath coursing through him.

His sword sheared limbs, severed heads and slashed torsos. His hammer smashed bodies into grey pulp, crushing them like paste. The shadow-tendril whipped at their legs, twisting knees, coiling around limbs, even crushing leg bones, wringing them like wet rags.

Still, they kept coming.

Matthias swore under his breath; this was much different from fighting gnoles. These ghouls threw themselves at him with no care for survival, hardly pausing, and never stopping.

If he cut off a limb, they’d claw at him with the other.

If he hacked off a leg, they’d crawl at him to bite his legs.

Impaling them through the chest, crushing their bones and bursting their flesh slowed them little; only severing their heads from their necks, destroying their skulls or battering their bodies to pulp broke their will enough to keep them down.

They were strong---stronger than most men—and without a doubt, faster than the gnoles.

It was taking all of Matthias' efforts to keep them at bay.

Even then, at times, claws and needlelike fangs slipped through his guard to scrape across his chainmail. The creatures were so tenacious and ferocious that eventually, he might have been overwhelmed...if he had been alone.

But, he was not alone.

Bregindoure stood at his side, guarding him with his broad shield raised, forming an immovable wall that slowed the ghouls. The giant baited the creatures, letting them come close enough to slam into his shield’s surface, then shoving them back with his full strength.

The force sent ghouls reeling, flying into walls, splattering like insects.

Soon, the undead were falling in twitching heaps at Matthias’ and Bregindoure’s feet yet still determined to crawl forward and snap at the brothers’ legs.

That was where Dagma came in.

The young Life Enforcement practitioner joined them, spearing fallen ghouls through the head, aiming for eyes and grimacing maws. She quickly found that her spear tip deflected off their skulls, and without hesitating, she dropped that weapon and drew her sword, raising it above her head in a two-handed grip.

Shielded by her brothers, she brought the blade down on the ghouls' necks, shearing heads from necks and ending the creatures with quick, clean strokes.

They twitched for a breath or two then stopped moving.

Soon the tide of monsters thinned as the Stonebreaker siblings cut them down and—as quickly as it began—the storm of attacks ended. The panting warriors stood among a pile of ghoul corpses; the hermitage now empty.

“Well,” Matthias began saying. “I—”

His words were cut off by an ear-splitting screech.

“Outside!” Bregindoure cried.

The trio rushed from the house and into the courtyard...abruptly coming to a dead stop. Beggahasta was already there.

“Oh no,” Dagma whispered.

Feet drummed on wet stone.

Screams filled the air.

A grey tide flowed.

Ghouls poured from the other hermit houses and the abbey, screeching and wailing. Most were man sized, though some were no bigger than a child.

Some towered above the rest; resembling trolls and ogres, looming above the rest of the horde—even taller than Bregindoure—loping toward their prey with tremendous strides.

“There’s so many of them!” Bregindoure cried, lifting his shield. “It’s like we poked a hornet’s nest!”

His words, however, hardly reached Matthias.

The miasma was stronger.

His eyes were drawn to the entrance nearest to the abbey’s main structure.

He braced himself...

Surveying the scene from the shadows of the abbey’s doorway, a ghoul, unlike the rest, stood. Its hair appeared groomed, thick, and bearing the sheen of life. Its body was clean and free of filth.

While the other undead wore the tattered, age-ruined rags of their past lives, this creature was sheathed in fine armour that would have suited an Evalmeran knight.

It watched Matthias...from unnatural sight; the flesh above the bridge of its nose was a red mass, scarred, as though burned by flame. The symbol of a staring eye was carved into the centre of its forehead.

It grinned, needlelike teeth sparkling white, and pointed an ancient sword at the Stonebreaker siblings. The blade emanated a prismatic steam, like an oily substance caught in the summer sun.

Its lips parted.

“A feeeeeeast...” it hissed in the northland tongue.

###

Author's Note

And so we meet the ghouls. So when I first conceived of this, the scene was very different. VERY different. It took place at night, the siblings were much less powerful and I hadn't figured what I wanted to do with the abbey yet.

Now, it has changed quite a bit lol, and quite a few of those changes are already in this chapter.

I had a lot of fun desgining the ghoul at the end, by the way.

Oh!

And Mant06 talked about whether this was inspired by Redwall.

So here's a funny story.

It was and it wasn't.

I am going to save the full story for after book one, but IABD is kinda years in the making. It takes place in my oldest setting with a lot of development over time. Different things came into this story over a period of years.

Windstone abbey has existed since around 2013-2014. Matthias had a different name originally, and only got the name Matthias last year. Then the story of Windstone Abbey was heavily modified from the original version of how it fell in the old lore.

Essentially, years apart I ended up creating a GIANT Redwall reference ENTIRELY by accident lmao.

Not surprising tho. I have never read Redwall...but I did watch several seasons of the cartoon as a kid which strongly influenced what Fantasy is to me. So it's not surprising that the reference snuck in, haha.

Cya tomorrow!