Crypts & Fiends: Book 3 - The Haunted Hills

A hidden gateway to some other realm has been opened, leading to an invasion by so-called fiends. A group of adventurers has joined together to attempt to stop the menace, led by an occultist who can raise the dead as mindless zombie warriors. One of those he returns is unique in that it talks and at times seems to have a mind of its own as it joins them on their perilous quest. Their journey to find the source will lead them into the heart of the ruined Old Country, the region of their ancestors destroyed by a mighty cataclysm unleashed by the occupants long ago for reasons unknown. A detour into an ancient crypt reveals an obnoxious sleeping lich prince with a speech impediment who awakens and joins the cause. The border town up ahead is under siege by the monsters and they break their way in due to the misguided efforts of the lich, their transportation being wrecked in the process, which leads to a delay in their departure and a seemingly endless quest for nails to repair their vehicle. That night the occultist slips away from the rest of the group to hold a secret rendezvous.

In the third book the group attempts to break out of the besieged town, discover the fate of the army fort, engage in several titanic battles with the fiends, and encounter a mysterious fat man who might hold the key to the appearance of the creatures.