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"He has accoranted

"We should not e or appearance," the Beaver said

"He seeks no knowledge," the Crone murmured "No divination is required What say you, Kattituyok?"

The proud face who had spoken first answered in a booued us for many summers The youth has naood omen"

"He may not return," the Dancer said "He should leave us tokens"

"The sword and the shield," the Hunter said

"And the ," the Crone added "The tower and the fish"

"Won’t I need ht?" Seth asked

"Your sword and shield are well crafted fro beyond the Alder Door," Kattituyok said "Leave behind the requested ites if I succeed?" Seth verified

"Purge the evil lurking beyond the Alder Door," the Crone said, "and you may depart in peace with Vasilis and the rest of your items"

"I say the same," the Hunter stated

"I say the sahed

"Do you accept?" Kattituyok asked

"I accept," Seth said, unbuckling his sword belt

"The pact iswords made the stump vibrate

Seth set down his sword and shield Then he fished out the onyx tower and the agate leviathan He set the ite open near the bottoht of the wall The Crone’s withered face filled the center of the door

"Can I go?" Seth asked

"Away," Kattituyok said "Good hunting"

Seth climbed down from the stump and walked to the doorway, conscious of thehis movements Cold air wafted fronited spontaneously Stepping through the door, Seth pocketed his flashlight and picked up the torch Behind hi shut with the finality of a coffin lid

The crude, rounded corridor sloped gradually doard No bea The air grew colder as Seth progressed, and he held the torch close for war Dead He was unsure what exactly to expect, but he iht be like the revenant He lacked a sword, but perhaps the fiery torch would serve him better The Sisters had told hi Dead only if he reainst him, and tried to prepare his mind to resist the more natural variety

The corridor stretched onward, deeper and colder He walked briskly, partly to stay war hiular roo Despite the great width and length of the rooave it a claustrophobic feel, like a sprawling baseical fear, although, as expected, he felt no paralysis

As the light from his torch revealed the scene, the hair stood up on Seth’s aroose pi corpses filled the expansive room And not just any corpses They were bony and dry, as if their ancient remains had been mummified What meat remained on their discolored bones looked like black jerky What skin survived looked brown and stretched and utterly dehydrated Evenly spaced, the cadavers stood upright, arms at their sides, like an army at attention Rank upon rank of e himself not to react with fear He had told himself that noand continue onward After all, if the Standing Dead only preyed on fear, he didn’t need to fret about them He just needed to maintain control of his emotions

But despite his intentions, Seth felt his control slipping The sight of the torchlit bodies surprised hiined This was how corpses looked when they had been buried in the desert for centuries They should not be standing in orderly rows and coluan to twitch The asp, and a few of theh the entire assee Doubt fully awakened inside of Seth He becaainst the dirt floor Desiccated arms reached toward him

His rip? Was it being alone? Was it self-doubt? Was it the thought of walking through the undead crowd? Was it the cold? Was it the low ceiling? The quantity of corpses? The inhumanity of their appearance? The way their joints creaked when they h to start the combination of all these factors?

Perhaps he had been too overconfident, too assured that his iical fear would prevent natural fear Like anyone, he still got scared

He realized that he couldn’t hear theirthe undead For some reason, these were silent That had helped then

Entire rows of mummified bodies shuffled toward hiy liga Was he about to die? What about his family? Who would save them? Would they ever learn he had perished because he was afraid?

Shame blosso that cowardice had killed hie was supposed to be his best attribute!

How could he change his feelings? When he had nightmares, the experience was alorst when he was alone If there was ever a friend in his dream, somebody to protect, the fear lost potency At this rasped for him, he needed soled to surandparents

What came was the memory of Coulter He saw his friend pinned under a bea his last breaths Coulter, who had saved hiical fear had frozen theer felt alone There was no way he was going to let Coulter down He had prorily The corpses paused "I’m not afraid anymore! You just startled me" As he said the words, he realized they were true Apparently the Standing Dead could sense it as well None of theot to be the shabbiest dead people I’ve ever seen," Seth accused He strode forward, passing between the un corpses "You’re what’s left after the vultures give up You make zombies look healthy If you want to scare people, you better pool your funds and rent a wraith or so fun of the Dead didn’t seem to mind He saw them with new eyes, pathetic puppets without wills of their own Slaves to his mood, unable to harm him if he simply refused Decrepit, frail, pathetic He hurried past them, too full of purpose and new confidence to leave room for doubt

A black door stood at the back of the room It had no knob, no keyhole When he pressed on it with his free hand, the door swung inward

The torch went out i, the next not a spark re to keep his courage steady, Seth stepped into the room and closed the door, relieved to have a barrier between hi Dead He dropped the torch and pulled the flashlight froht came out

"Why have you intruded on my privacy?" a weary, male voice rasped from further in the rooe to pass the Standing Dead," the voice said "Especially after you initially lost your co compared to me I could slay you with a word"

"Who are you?" Seth asked again

"I am one of the undead," the voice answered "Aren’t you supposed to be a shadow charhts?"