Maybe it was the siege talking, the endless nights of fending off wolves and worse, but his plan had been defensive. Wait for Elrick’s lich to break down the door, and hack him to pieces as he tried to come through. And then run.  He’d thought Lady Ireena was in agreement, particularly after her whispered comment about the wine cellars.<br/><br/>And then she’d forced the door open and run.<br/><br/>“Wait!” Andrei shouted, the cry frighteningly loud in the dark house. Even as he spoke he darted after her, boot heels thudding loudly on hardwood and then mutely on carpet.  Despite her lead he caught up with her in a matter of moments, hurtling through Stygian gloom towards the stairs.<br/><br/>Behind them, he could hear the corpse rise. Hear it follow, calling after them in a hollow parody of Elrick’s voice. Andrei sheathed his sword and snatched up a long spear as they reached the top of the stairs and raced down, down into the cellars, pausing only to bar the door as they fled towards the secret panel guarding the secrets of the tunnel.<br/><br/>The door shook under heavy blows, the sound of an axe splintering wood. “A moment,” he gasped, as Ireena opened the park. “I have a plan. Well, an idea. I may be out of plans.”<br/><br/>Hefting the spear, he watched the door. It was heavy and solid, and if Elrick’s lich retained any sense than it would try to chop enough of a hole to reach through. No more. Shifting his grip on the ash shaft, he waited. Sure enough, splinters flew as the axe head broke through. Again. Again. Soon, a hole a hands-breadth wife had been chewed on the door.<br/><br/>Andrei struck through the hole, driving all his weight and strength into the blow.  Half the length of the spear shot through, meeting some resistance in dead human flesh as the barbed head tore through the dead man beyond.  He twisted and jerked back, feeling the door thud as Elrick’s chest thudded into it, and he released the shaft.<br/><br/>“With luck,” he said, drawing his sword and retreating towards the secret tunnel, “the head is jammed in his ribs. It won’t kill a dead man, but it’ll make getting through the door more difficult.”