"Were did he go?" The revenant asked, he was indeed such an undead.

I had heard of his kind but had never met one. They were created when a vengeful spirit repossessed their corpse and existed to facilitate that vengeance. To be honest, I should have expected this, given the cruelties this army had inflicted upon the land.

Even with my own and Sig's interventions, innocents still died. I lamented that he was another casualty in this god's forsaken conflict. We all knew that death loomed over us, it was part of a sellsword's life. But even with that, his death struck me harsher than I had ever expected.

Vengeance was all that occupied my thoughts, Sven's brutal death was all I needed, at least for now. "I can sense him, he went in that direction?" I pointed north, deeper into the forest.

I wondered where he was going, but that didn't matter since he would be dead once I found him. My undead companion in vengeance, nodded in affirmation and followed behind.

We ducked and weaved through the forest, he was keeping up well, despite being a typical undead. Being tireless makes for a useful trait when chasing down an enemy. We made full use of this undead feature and made impressive time.

We arrived at a clearing, the scent of that wretch was so very near. I could even hear his whiny voice, he was yelling at someone, which is typical for him.

"Open the coffin now!" Sven commanded, probably to some human toady.

We could hear a loud bang as something heavy landed on the ground. What followed was a piercing howl, similar to a wounded animal. It was more akin to a screech and was female, which again followed another scream, this one a male.

"Master save me!" The man begged, getting silence as a reply.

I gestured to the revenant to remain silent as we both crept forward. Hiding behind a tree, I peeked out from the side and detected several people. Sven was standing beside a coffin, imperious as ever, tapping his foot impatiently. The human I had sensed was on the ground, a female figure crouched over him.

I recognised her, it was Jessica, fully transformed and feeding. It was likely she was caught in a blood rage and would be coming down soon. I looked back to the revenant and told him her situation.

"That vampire is a friend, turned against her will, I will take care of her, please don't harm her." I hoped he would agree and thankfully he did.

"Come on Jessica, finish him off. We need to go!" Sven demanded impatiently.

The newly created vampire moaned, and her head rose from the still-living man. I could see her face, covered in the man's blood, she was horrified and afraid. "What's happening?" She asked, her eyes still glassy.

Eventually, they cleared and she could now acknowledge the world around her. She turned to Sven and his smug smile. Before he could speak. she leapt at him, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You bastard!" She clawed, bit and punched.

But given the power disparity, he easily repelled her. Knocking her back, he angrily retorted. "I have given you a gift, be thankful!" He said, raising a hand to strike her.

Unable to simply watch, I sped forward and caught his arm mid-strike. He turned his head, anger now directed at me. "Get your hands off..." He trailed off with a yelp of pain.

I looked down and found Jessica's foot longed in his crotch. The woman just kicked him in the jewels, I smiled despite myself and the vampire fell back in pain.

"Nice." I grinned at Jessica and she smiled back, the blood on her face was oddly appealing.

I shook my head, wondering where that came from. But now wasn't the time to wonder, I had to exact a price in blood from this bastard.

"Hi Sven, long time no see." I glared down at him, finding pleasure in his pain.

"It wasn't my fault, I was dying!" He pleaded, trying to excuse himself.

I ignored his pleading and struck down with Edmunds's axe, severing his left foot. He screamed in pain and I savoured his suffering like a fine wine.

"You think I care for an excuse!" I shouted, letting loose all the pent-up anger.

I wanted to start cutting, but if I went all out, I would probably kill him and end his suffering. Instead I looked to my new companions. Jessica was angry, she was ready to start kicking him in the groin and not stop until he split in half.

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The Revenant, I had since learned was named Samuel, was very eager to take revenge on this man. But vengeance took time and unfortunately, we didn't have much time.

"I would very much like to peel your skin and slice you apart slowly, but I am short on time. So I think I'll take my frustration out on you and then leave you to the lady and gentlemen." I gestured to Jessica and Samuel, the two undead eager to exact their gory revenge.

"You can't do this!" The pathetic creature with the face of Sven screamed.

"For Sig, I can and I will." Once I uttered those words, I went to work.

With the axe, I began dismembering the prone vampire, first his legs, then his hands and then his arms. With glee I took the sharpened tool to every joint, severing them without any attempt at finesse. It was messy and brutal.

Jessica and Samuel didn't turn away, the two watched casually. Jessica did eventually turn back to the man she fed on, her hunger still plaguing her thoughts, and she drained the rest of him.

I could sense her trepidation, but the thirst has a way of pushing such feelings to the side. She descended upon the man, taking his life and feeding her own, unholy existence.

I could hear sobs as the truth of what she had done became all too real. I will admit, that I did the same, killing in a war is far too different, than taking a life for mere food.

Eventually, she came to and returned to our side. We glared down at the dismembered vampire each of us with our grievances.

"You bloody peasents, I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!" He screamed with all the rage a torso with severed stumps could muster.

His screaming was short-lived, Samuel reached over and violently plucked his tongue from his mouth. All he could do now was gurgle and spit blood.

"This is for all the people you killed, friends, families and people I loved!" Samuel screamed, his boiling emotions erupting.

As if drawn by his zeal each of us gave voice to our hatred. "For Sigfried, you will suffer!" I spoke aloud the rage in my heart.

"For the life you stole from me!" Jessica voiced her and all three of us were resolved to do what needed to be done.

What followed was bloody, brutal, violent and sadistic. Each of us took turns tearing him apart, destroying his body and possibly even his soul. By the time we finished, there wasn't much left of him. I don't know if vampires could come back from this, but I rather doubted it.

"I need to get back, I need to find the captain." I told the pair as they attempted to clean themselves of the blood and gore.

"I need to return to, there are many others that deserve my wrath." Samuel spoke with such certainty and confidence. I had no doubt he would be a spirit of vengeance for all that deserved his wrath.

"If you can, please spare Edmund and my men. We didn't participate in the village attacks. In fact, Sig, my friend, warned the other villages to escape." I desperately hoped my words would reach him, enough to stay in his hand.

He closed his eyes and nodded. "May your friend rest in peace. I will honour his memory and spare your friends." He declared quite dramatically before walking away, without another word.

"Well that was dramatic." Jessica said, tilting her head with a smile.

"Yeah, guy needs to relax, but I suppose dying horribly makes someone a bit high-strung." I commented, wondering if I would end up like that eventually.

That was a problem for the future me, I am the present me, so I would deal with the here and now. "What are you going to do?" I asked Jessica, my words seemed to pull her from a daze.

"Not sure, I'm a vampire now so I could try being a vampire prostitute?" She suggested, but I could sense she wasn't serious. "But I was thinking of getting out of the game, so I'll stick with you handsome." She grinned, patting me on the cheek.

"Well, come along beautiful, to a life of bloodshed," I said in a sing-song voice as we left for camp.

We reached our destination quickly and found the place nearly abandoned, with only a few shambling undead lingering. I wondered what happened to the rest of the horde. I shuddered at the thought of that many undead spreading across the countryside.

"Erik over here!" Edmund called us over, he was surrounded by what remained of the mercenary band.

We arrived and I finally noticed the prone form he had clutched in his embrace. It was the captain, passed out and with a distinct bite wound on his neck.

"Erik, what's wrong with him?" Edmund asked worry clear on his face.

"Ghoulism, some damn bloodsucker bit him and left him alive to turn." I spat those words as if they were poisonous.

This was not good, we didn't have a healer as I'm pretty sure I saw the camp thaumaturge shambling around, very dead. So the captain would turn and live the horrific life as a ghoul.

I wondered if it would be better to put him out of his misery now. But the thought of killing the man who had led us for years was an act I couldn't bear.

"What's happening?" Jessica asked, sensing the sombre mood.

"He is infected and the camps thaumaturge is dead." I explained, wanting those words to be false.

"The castle has one, Wildhold has a healer." Edmund suggested but it was impossible.

"You mean the castle we have been trying to seige. I doubt they would want to help us."

There was no way they would even want to deal with us, the enemy that likely killed several of their people. I sighed, realising that it was our only card to play.

"Perhaps I can offer a solution." The voice of an elderly man spoke from the side.

We all collectively turned to the voice, finding an elderly man in a thick wizardly robe, wielding an obsidian staff. He was the centre of a collection of undead, slowly converging.

I initially thought to warn him, but realised the man was a necromancer. With that in mind, I was on my guard.

"Who are you?" I questioned, subtly reaching for my sword.

"I am Lord Belus, necromancer of Wildhold and I have come to offer you a deal, Erik." The necromancer offered and I will admit, I was intrigued.

"How do you know my name?" I queried, concerned.

The necromancer chuckled. "Let's just say, a little girl named Emily, spoke highly of your capacity for mercy." He explained and the light of realisation dawned on me.

The necromancer grinned as several undead converged, unlike the soulless corpses, these had the light of intelligence in their eyes. Samuel was included among their number.

"What kind of deal?" I queried, hoping and praying to all the gods I knew of, that there was a way out of this nightmare.