Published at 22nd of October 2023 9:42 am

Book 3: Chapter 15

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Dodging past a heavy strike, Captain Fernek could feel the wind stirring over his head as the greater undead's fist whistled past his ear. His sword hacked towards the monster's leg, aiming for a wound he had already created. However, he was forced to abandon the strike at the last moment, jumping backward as a bony spine stabbed towards his side. His breath came in great gasps as he tried to find secure footing, but the grass had been trampled into mud and soaked by rain, causing him to slip and slide precariously.

Unable to maintain his balance, he fell to one knee as another of the flesh golems loomed over him. A sense of despair filled his heart as he lifted his sword to try to block the strike, the blow that was coming. He caught sight of the faint glimmer of silver that surrounded his arms. The armor that had been so bright at first was now a mere suggestion of itself, and he knew that even if he managed to block this blow, the next one would kill him. He had fought for over forty-five minutes, but was now too exhausted to move, unable to muster the energy needed to escape back to the gate. He had no idea what was keeping him here, as his reason kept screaming at him to flee. But there was something in his heart that wouldn't let him, a deep, driving compulsion that kept him here, struggling in this hopeless battle.

Behind him, the gate still stood, though many of the guards and a few of the citizens had fallen to the claws and teeth of the zombies. Their companions didn't waver, standing firm in the face of the onrushing horde. There had been no reinforcement, and the strength of the defenders was starting to dwindle. All Captain Fernek could do was keep the greater undead at bay, but now he was done. Mustering the dregs of his strength, he let out a shout and lunged forward, hoping to at least deal some damage before he was defeated. Just when he was bracing to take the greater undead's blow, he heard another loud shout, and a silver flash ripped through the monster's fist, throwing it off course. His sword stabbed deep into the unprotected side of the flesh golem, and he had the wherewithal to rip it free, stumbling to the side so he didn't get crushed under the bulk of the monster.

The bolt that had torn through the flesh golem's hand carried fire with it, burning its way up the creature's arm towards its chest. Thrashing violently, the flesh golem was clearly in tremendous pain, and with a roar gripped its arm at the shoulder and tore it off its body completely, spewing black blood everywhere. Still stumbling, Captain Fernek tried to summon the last dregs of energy from his soul spark to block the spray of blood, but at the last moment his soul spark sputtered and dimmed completely. He was out of energy. Just before the spray of blood splattered all over him, a large figure stepped in the way, blocking the spray with a shield. A heavy hand grabbed the back of his jacket, and in the next moment Captain Fernek found himself flying through the air and tumbling into the mud a dozen feet away. A large man in heavy armor with a shield and a sword stood where he had been a moment before. Captain Fernek didn't recognize him in the confusion, but a moment later a woman with a bow helped him to his feet.

"Get back to the gate," she said. "We'll handle it from here."

Captain Fernek stumbled back toward the gate and the woman turned and loosed another arrow, its tip gleaming with bright light. This one landed in the flesh golem's throat, carving a deep hole that burst into silver flames.

"I've got this one. Deal with the other one,” Helger yelled toward Maximus, who had just landed a strike that nearly severed the flesh golem's leg.

"Got it," he said, turning and charging toward the spike-covered, greater undead.

He slammed into the creature with his shield, snapping two of the bony blades that extended from its arms and chopping down with his glowing sword. In the distance, Leff sent another bolt screaming through the air to hit the other flesh golem in the shoulder.

"These blessed weapons work a treat," he shouted, rapidly reloading his crossbow.

Maximus, who had just shoved the blade of his sword through the chest of the spiked greater undead, kicked the monster's burning body to the side.

"That they do," he said. "This would be a real pain without them. Did you see where that necromancer went?"

Leff, who was scanning the battlefield, gestured north.

"They're starting to shift north again. Do we have anybody up there to stop them?"

Looking, ending the life of the greater undead with another slash that removed its head, Maximus shrugged.

"Not that I know of. Anyone know where we're going next?"

From where he sat on the Dreamer's Throne, Garrett did his best to figure out the answer to that question for himself. The flow of the fight had fallen into a steady rhythm, and he was deploying the teams of Awakened to maximum effect, sending them to wherever the greater undead were being created. The enemy clearly had not expected such stiff resistance, and the large majority of their forces had fallen before making it out of the graveyard. From what Garrett could tell, almost all of the Grave Walkers who still carried the necromancer’s curse had been transformed already, and the Klein Family Awakened had cut them down. Many of the remaining Grave Walkers, driven into fury by the sight of their comrades being corrupted, had thrown themselves into the fight with such determination that they were actually driving back the zombie horde from the walls.

The challenge was that there were more zombies amassing every moment, and at least a dozen necromancers had been spotted, mixed in among the zombie horde. Garrett's greatest concern was that those necromancers would move out of the graveyard into the general population, where they would undoubtedly cause havoc. He had a few teams trying to hunt them down, but most of the time, by the time the Awakened he deployed could get there, the necromancers had faded away, hiding among their shambling minions.

After nudging Maximus and the others north to continue following the necromancer, Garrett turned his attention underground. While the assault in the city was by no means over, they had stemmed the tide for now, and the necromancers seemed to have shifted their focus underground. The crypt system that ran under the royal graveyard was extensive, with tunnels that stretched underneath the walls and out into the heart of the district. Many of those tunnels Garrett knew well, as they fell under the control of the flower ghouls. And now, through the flowers he had planted, he was able to watch as the zombies began to creep through the tunnels.

Unlike the zombies in the city above, who rushed forward in an enraged state, fearing nothing and giving no thought they caused, the zombies below ground took a quieter approach. Shepherded by necromancers, who led the way through the dark tunnels, these zombies shuffled along in silence, intending to catch the defenders above off guard when they emerged through the sewers into the streets of the district. Unbeknownst to them, however, Garrett was prepared. As one of the necromancers led his undead charges through a long, narrow passage, a faint glimmer of light appeared above their heads as a five-petaled flower peeked out of the ground.

On the ceiling, an invisible cloud of mental energy began to spread, settling like pollen in the passage. It took a few moments for it to affect the zombies walking below, but it wasn't long until the first of the zombies' eyes turned red and it entered an enraged state. Carefully monitoring the situation, Garrett saw the change and a wicked smile spread across his face. Earlier, he had not been sure if the flower ghoul's mental influence would be able to affect the zombies, but seeing that it worked, he committed his forces to the plan.

All over the underground world, in the tunnels, flowers appeared, burrowing out silently from the dirt and forming thick clouds of mental energy as Garrett used the beautiful bewitchment ability. The zombies who were affected began to grow agitated, but because most of them were toward the middle of the pack, the necromancers who were guiding them didn't notice until it was too late. When one zombie lunged over and attacked its companion, sinking teeth deep into the other zombie's throat, the peace in the tunnel devolved quickly. More and more zombies, affected by the attacks and influenced by the Beautiful Bewitchment enrage ability, began to turn on one another, lashing out in fury.

Noticing something was wrong, the necromancer at the head of the group turned and tried to take control of the situation, flooding the area with mental pressure. This gave Garrett the opportunity to examine the necromancer closely. Most of the necromancers he had encountered so far were lighting stage Awakened, and though many of them had changed their bodies drastically, giving themselves increased strength and speed and other abilities, the majority seemed to focus on mental energy, much like Garrett did. Their strength and mental energy allowed them to control the zombies.

And now, as the necromancer fought to calm the enraged creatures, Garrett sensed an opportunity. A dozen flower ghouls, who had been lurking in a small side passage, rapidly dug their way through the dirt, launching themselves on the startled necromancer. A magical energy shield quickly deployed, but was just as quickly broken as the flower ghouls assaulted the necromancer with sharp claws and blasts of their own paralyzing screeches.

Frantic, the necromancer unleashed his own transformation, his body starting to twist and morph. But before he could complete it, the flower ghouls were on him, their saw-toothed petals wrapping around his body, tearing it apart, while their claws ripped into his skin. Despite the fierce regeneration his body possessed, it was impossible for him to survive under the assault, and soon he fell, his skull carved open by the flower ghouls' long nails.

This caused the undead in the tunnel to be freed from his control, and they began fighting all the more fiercely, leaving a few flower ghouls to monitor the situation and pull the bodies of the fallen undead out to be recycled. Garrett had the necromancer's corpse dragged to the closest nest stone while he turned his attention to another spot in the tunnels.

Though the tactic he was using was largely successful, there were places where it failed. Anywhere where the necromancers were a little bit stronger, their mental influence on the zombies was too powerful to be breached by the beautiful bewitchment ability. Here, Garrett had to settle for more old-fashioned methods. He sent waves of flower ghouls to ambush and attack the necromancers. Sometimes he was successful, but more often than not, the necromancers would quickly retreat into the throngs of undead, sending waves of zombies forward to fight against the flower ghouls.

Watching as the fights continued, Garrett found in one spot particularly his flower ghouls were suffering quite badly. The zombies under this particular necromancer's control were stronger and faster than typical zombies, and their bodies carried a strange calcification that helped block the flower ghouls' claws.

Curious, Garrett focused more attention here and quickly realized what was going on. The necromancer had strengthened her zombies. He recognized the energy signature, the feeling she gave, and quickly identified her as the necromancer that he had encountered in the small hand mirror. Given such a distance between them, she had no idea that Garrett was watching her through the flower ghouls.

As she continued to send her minions forward, Garrett struck upon a fun idea and concentrated his power. He was currently using Observe the Dream to monitor the fight, and it took but a thought to cast Illusory Dream, causing a figure to form among the flower ghouls.

Sensing the accumulation of mental energy, the necromancer stared sharply down the passage as a man stepped out from behind the corner. He was dressed strangely in a coat and vest, the likes of which she had never seen. A funny hat sat on his head, round on top, with a small brim around it. But what caught her attention was the mask on his face, whose flower motif seemed to echo the flower heads of the ghouls she faced.

Walking forward, as if he were out on a casual stroll, the man snapped his fingers, and the flower ghouls stopped their advance. Sensing that he wanted to talk, and curious about this man who got in her way, the necromancer lifted her staff, and chanted a short phrase, causing all of the zombies to fall back around her. Controlling the illusion, Garrett stepped forward and lifted his hat, tipping it slightly.

"My name is Geller," he said with a small smile, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Is it?" she hissed, clearly suspicious of this man who had just appeared in the middle of the tunnel.

"Why are you getting in our way?" she demanded, staring at Garrett through narrowed eyes.

"In your way?" he asked, his voice sounding surprised. "You come stomping through my territory with a horde of undead, and you expect me to simply clear the way? I don't think so."

A deep frown flickered across the necromancer's face, and her eyes turned to the flower ghouls that surrounded Garrett. After a moment of silence, her frown turned into a sneer, and she lifted her staff.

"Are you one of the minions of the Klein family?"

Shaking his head, Garrett walked forward, causing her to take a wary step back. He stopped when he was about 20 feet away, and held up his empty hands, as if saying that he meant no harm.

"I'm no one's minion," he said, his tone clearly amused. "What about you? I can only assume that you're one of the Dark Hand and a servant of Agma-Yoth."

A hiss escaped the necromancer's lips at the sound of her master's name, and she quickly made a sign.

"Do not profane the master's name with your lips," she said, her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare. "Remove yourself from our way, or you will be treated as an enemy."

Shaking his head, Garrett jerked a thumb at the flower ghouls.

"It's unlikely that you're going to be able to get through them," he said, "even if I step aside. And if I don't, then your ill-fated mission will end right here. Rather than treat me as an enemy, why not see if we can come to some sort of agreement? You undoubtedly have much of value to offer, while I have exactly what you need, the ability to access the surface through these tunnels. Shall we parley?"

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