The Throne of the Gods

The tomb was very old, its ancient occupants forgotten. The ruins of the cemetery that surrounded the mausoleum were a short walk down the hill from an aged temple. When the temple had flourished, the mausoleum was where the clerics would inter their dead, and the adjoining cemetery was for those of the faith, but not of the cloth. Vines and moss had overgrown much of the crypt, but it stood resolute against the ravages of time that had spoiled the cemetery. The old spells of protection still warded the sepulcher and had kept out all would be grave robbers. If a building could, this one would be proud. On this night, however, a figure danced into the cemetery. She touched the headstones, singing softly, as she made her way toward the tomb. Behind her the ground trembled, rents appeared in the earth, and skeletal hands grasped toward the starry night. When the woman reached the mausoleum, she had a following of many skeletons, tatters of aged clothing clung to their disturbingly yellowed bones. Blue light materialized about the ancient crypt as she approached. Her song changed in pitch and four of the trailing skeletons came forward and walked into the light. The light flared as the skeletons entered and faded out completely as their bones disintegrated. With the wards gone the woman danced her way to the door of the crypt, her song was soft and sweet. The sounds of stone grating against stone could be heard even before she pushed the ancient doors open. Twenty dead priests stood within the mausoleum, even though there had been closer to a hundred interred within the sepulcher. Most had either turned to so much dust or had protections against the dark magic that had pulled the others from their graves. The woman took her troop of undead and marched them off into the woods. A cloaked figure watched from a nearby rise. It stood, arrogant in its power, uncaring if it was seen. For a week now it had watched as the woman ‘liberated’ the dead from various plots across the kingdom. She was skilled, quite mad, of course, but skilled none the less. She would join its army as a general, it had decided, but first she must join the ranks of the undead. Few accepted the calling at first, the depth of her madness would determine her willingness. That didn"t really matter though, it had been determined, her army would join, willing or not.