Chapter 42 - Feudal Oath

Gideon watched as his army poured themselves into the work of building his fortress. The walls were coming up quickly, now that the skeletons had better direction. Hiring on Brian West was perhaps the smartest decision he’d made so far. The man worked almost as hard as the undead, and didn’t shy away from giving them directions. Once Gideon told the work-crew undead to obey Brian’s orders, they snapped to the work as he commanded.

But as well as things were going now, it was time for him to make his next moves. Already, scouting parties of his undead troops were bringing back supplies from different places around the city. He’d sent a squad of undead to acquire canned and dry food from a nearby grocery store, along with all the bottled water they could bring back. Eventually he was going to need to find ways to grow fresh food to support himself and any other humans he had working for him, but for the time being, they weren’t going to run out.

He went down to the wall, where Brian was hard at work. “I could use a few moments of your time.”

“Sure, boss. What’s up?” Brian replied.

“I need to leave the base for a while. There are things I need to do which I can’t just send undead to handle for me,” Gideon told him. “I’ll only be gone a day, perhaps two. Think you can hold down the fort while I’m away?”

Brian blinked, surprised, but nodded. “I can, yeah. Are you leaving some of your minions behind to help guard, though? I don’t know if I can hold off an attack solo.”

“Yes, I’ll be leaving enough troops to keep the place secure, and to continue assisting you in building up the walls. You have the plans we worked out together, so implementing them shouldn’t be a major problem,” Gideon replied.

“Yup, can definitely do that,” Brian replied. “Thanks again, for taking us in. My kids are safe. That means everything to me. You need me to do something, you say the word. I’m your man.”

Your man. Like a feudal oath, that was. Like he was pledging his allegiance, his loyalty. Was that what the world was returning to? The powerful would protect the weak, and in return be given their fealty? There were worse systems, certainly. But the weight of that was heavy on Gideon’s shoulders. He hadn’t intended to go around saving people, and yet, there he was, taking in Brian and his family.

Perhaps that was the way things would have to shift, given this new world. Already Gideon was so much stronger than any single person could have been before the Event. Sure, people had forms of power in the days before. They had wealth, which they could use to buy influence. That wasn’t the same as real power, though. Gideon could kill a man by staring at him and casting a single spell. His Harm spell was strong enough that it would one-shot a tier one monster, so he was fairly sure it would do the same to a human without any crystals.

That was power. He wanted more of it, now.

“Excellent. Continue the good work, Brian,” Gideon told him. “I’ll be back soon, with more supplies, more crystals, and a larger army. Once I’ve returned, we’ll begin working toward next stages.”

“What will those look like, sir?” Brian asked.

Gideon laughed. “I’m still figuring it out myself. I wasn’t expecting to take on you and your family, and that’s turned out well, so I am okay with playing things by ear a little bit. We might need to bring in a few more people. Carefully selected, of course, but having some more help might be useful as we grow. The undead will keep us safe and handle most of the more menial labor, but having more real people around would be good, too.”

“I can see that,” Brian replied. “If I run across any candidates, you want me to talk to them?”

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Gideon considered it a moment, but then shook his head. “I don’t want you to do anything that could put your family at risk while I’m gone. You let someone in, they could do harm before you could stop them. If you see someone who looks honest and might be useful, give them a meal and tell them to stay in a nearby house. They can wait there until I return to vet them.”

“Thanks for thinking of me, boss. I appreciate how much you look out for my family.”

Gideon gave him a smile. “I thought it was going to be annoying, keeping other people besides myself safe. Instead, I find the prospect appealing. Your children are wonderful. I wish my own child had survived to play with them.”

“I’m sorry, sir. Wish she had, too,” Brian replied. “We’re very grateful.”

“I know you are,” Gideon said, clapping Brian on the back. “And I’m glad to have you. If you see others like yourself, have them wait nearby. I’ll vet them when I return. Meanwhile, keep those walls rising. They’re the crux of our defenses. With them, we’ll be a much harder target to attack.”

“You think we’re going to see major attacks,” Brian said. It wasn’t a question, not really.

Gideon nodded. “I do. This Event, whatever it was? It hasn’t gone away. We have to assume this is the new normal, and probably will be forever. The old order is gone. Destroyed. That sort of power vacuum always causes trouble. Whether it’s the monsters, groups of humans, or both, eventually I’m sure we’ll come under attack. That’s why I want us to become as strong as possible while we have breathing room.”

“I’ll make it happen, sir.”

“I know you will,” Gideon replied.

Then he walked off to ready the band of troops he was bringing with him. Gideon was headed to Lakeview Cemetery. The one he’d fought so hard to capture was one of the largest in the city, but Lakeview was another very large graveyard. There ought to be as many undead there as there were at St. Joseph’s. He would go there and work his way through the undead, capturing ever more crystals. With luck, he could double his power, maybe even find out what tier six looked like. He’d already reached tier five with multiple spells, and was closing on it with others.

Magical Stones

Point 1: Black Stone (Tier 5) - Animate Dead

Point 1, Outer Ring: Black Stone (Tier 4) - Animate Dead

Point 2: Black Stone (Tier 5) - Control Undead

Point 2, Outer Ring: Black Stone (Tier 2) - Control Undead

Point 3: Black Stone (Tier 5) - Harm

Point 3, Outer Ring: Black Stone (Tier 2) - Curse

Point 4: Black Stone (Tier 4) - Drain Life

Point 5: Clear Stone (Tier 4) - Will

He was fairly confident that once he ranked the Animate Dead spell up to a second tier five, the two stones would merge and become a single tier six spell. Once that happened, Gideon intended to begin ranking yet another Animate Dead spell in the outer ring slot. The more units he could control, the stronger he was.

At present, he could Animate twenty-four tier one units, and Control eighteen more. He had Animate maxed out, but only had fourteen skeletons under his Control; he’d lost a few in a quick skirmish with goblins earlier in the day. They were becoming an increasing annoyance, and would need dealing with sooner rather than later.

That still left him with thirty-eight undead under his command, since he’d Animated entirely tier one minions, rather than opting for stronger ones. At the moment he needed extra hands most. More undead allowed him to send out more scouting and supply runs, while still continuing work on the wall. More hands working on the wall meant it would go up all the sooner.

He would take the undead he Controlled with him, Gideon decided, and leave the Animated ones behind. With a mental nudge, he ordered the Animated skeletons to remain at the base, not venturing further than fifty feet outside the walls. They should defend against attackers, protect Brian and his family, and obey Brian’s orders around construction and—he decided, after a brief hesitation—defense, at least until Gideon returned.

No, he needed to take one Animated undead with him—his horse. He wanted to be mounted for this trip. It wouldn’t get him where he was going much faster, since he’d still be locked to the pace of his skeletons. But it would leave him fresher, should they run into trouble, and would also allow him a quick getaway if they encountered something he couldn’t handle.

Twenty-three undead should still be enough to keep Brian’s family safe, and give him the work crew he needed to continue his efforts. The other fourteen skeletons plus his horse ought to be strong enough to keep Gideon safe on his travels. Thus decided, he gathered the troops, mounted his horse, and rode out through the front gate with a wave to Brian.

He’d return in a day or two with even greater strength. Nor was this the last graveyard in the area. Gideon Carver would get to all of them, in due time, and suck the power from each spot, growing stronger as he did. By the time he was done, no one would be able to contest his domain.