Chapter 54 - Wrath and Reward

Gideon rode back toward his castle, an army at his back. He’d never felt so strong, so in control. He wished more than anything that his wife was still here to see this, because if she were still alive, he had no doubt he could keep her safe. His daughter, too.

He’d done it. Reached tier six, with his Animate Dead spell. It had taken clearing two additional cemeteries, but the second one did the job. Not only had he won his way to tier six, he had a second Animate up to tier four, and scores of unused stones as well, including a variety of new ones he’d never seen before.

The trip had been more than worth it. There was a risk, of course. It was always going to be a risk, going out into this changed world. But the rewards had proven to be more than worth it.

Things were clearly going well at the base, too. West had been as good as his word. Even at a distance, Gideon saw the walls standing tall around his new home. They weren’t quite what he’d pictured, but they certainly looked strong enough, and he trusted the man had done all he could to make them sturdy. After all, those walls shielded West’s family, too. His kids would shelter behind them from the outside world. He’d put everything he had into making them solid.

He rode up to the front of the building, where Brian had a set of gates mostly installed. They were clearly still a work in progress, with wooden beams blocking the way for the time being where a door would eventually sit.

Brian West was already there, helping undead move those beams out of the path. “We saw you coming and got to work clearing you a path! Be just a moment or two.”

“Well done, Brian,” Carver said. “You’ve gotten more accomplished than I imagined possible.”

“Well, there’s a lot more to come. But it’s a good start, yeah. I have the wall base in place all around the main building. All that’s left is to get it up to its full height. Ideally we want ramparts, too, where your guys can fight off attackers. But that will take even more time.”

“Time is something we can spare some measure of,” Gideon replied. “Now, did you find anyone else, anyone you trusted?”

Brian hauled one of the last beams away, finally opening the pathway through. “I did. Two of my guys, from the old business. I’ve had them camp out in what’s left of the building you’re tearing down. It’s still inside the wall, but it’s not in your personal building. Thought that would be better, until you returned.”

“You did well. Have they joined you in the work yet?”

Brian nodded. “Yup. Were out here working with me all day. No complaints there. How was your trip? I couldn’t help noticing you had more skeletons with you coming back than you left with. I take it things went well?”

“They did,” Gideon replied, sliding from his saddle. He’d spent enough time sitting in it the past two days that he was sore. That would fade with practice and experience, but for now, he wanted to stand. “I tackled two nearby graveyards, killing the undead in both. A great many new crystals. In fact, I have some gifts!”

“Sir?” Brian asked.

Gideon pulled a largish shard of crystal from his pocket. “This is a tier three Strength stone. With it, you will be able to do this work even more effectively, and if you need to defend yourself it will help with that, as well.”

Brian hesitated, then reached out and took the stone from his hand. It sank immediately into his palm, and a smile crossed his face. “Wow. That feels amazing. I…I’m so strong now!”

He reached over to one of the heavy wooden beams and lifted it one-handed, without strain. “That’s incredible! Thank you, sir.”

“That is not all,” Gideon said, smiling. He pulled out two more clear stones. These were smaller, but they were still obviously magical crystals. “These are both Stamina stones. They increase one’s ability to resist damage, survive injury or illness, and heal faster as well. They’re only tier one stones, mind; not as powerful as your Strength crystal. But I thought you might appreciate your wife and daughter having these. Their odds of surviving any hardship which comes up increase with these.”

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West choked up a little as he took the crystals from Gideon’s hand. “Thank you again, Mr. Carver. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. Anything that helps my family stay alive is a gift.”

“Family is important. These were dropped by the monsters I killed, but I cannot use them myself, at least not right now,” Gideon said. “It didn’t feel right to hoard them when they could help you and yours.”

If it stopped West from facing the same tragedy he had, then it was more than worth it. The man had proven himself to be true. He’d earned the reward in recognition of that.

“Now, why don’t you introduce me to these other people you brought in?” Gideon added. “I’d like to meet them both. Once that building is fully torn down, we’ll want to consolidate everyone in the main structure. To do that, we need to trust them fully.”

“They’re at the back of the lot, working on the wall over there,” Brian said. Shouting from that direction got both their attention. “Weird. Ryan is running this way. Something’s up, sir.”

Gideon didn’t hesitate. He mounted his undead horse, sending mental commands to the undead nearby. They formed ranks in front of him. By the time the man was near enough for them to hear his shouting, Gideon’s legion was ready to move.

“Rats! There’s rat creatures! They’re attacking the wall! Brian, we need reinforcements back there or…” The man, Ryan, skidded to a half, realizing Brian wasn’t the only living person out there. “Oh, shit, is that..?”

Wet nodded. “That’s Mr. Carver. He’s back from his trip. Now, what’s going on?”

Ryan was panting, but was in good enough shape he still managed to get his words out. “Rat creatures. Like rats and people got mushed together. Stand on two legs, carry spears and shit, and they’re attacking the east wall in force. The skeletons there are fighting back, but they’re having a tough time.”

“Then we shall reinforce them,” Gideon said. He pulsed a mental command to all the nearby undead. They marched forward, moving with speed toward the other side of the compound where the attack was.

What sort of creatures were these? He’d seen goblins, giant spiders, zombies, skeletons, and much more, but nothing like what Ryan had described. It would be interesting to see what they were up against this time. The Event changed the world, but those changes didn’t appear to be static. Whatever happened was still happening; the alterations were ongoing. New monsters continued to spawn, often more dangerous than those which had been around before.

He rode behind his troops. There was no sense being on the front line, not when he had mindless minions willing to fight and die to defend him. He pushed them into a swift march, and they responded, almost reaching a jogging pace as they crossed the open ground.

When he was close enough to see what was going on, Carver still didn’t know what to make of it. Ryan’s description was accurate. These creatures were some sort of man and rat hybrid. They stood on two legs with rat faces and claws. They carried spears, but had sharp teeth as well. They were tier two, also—much more deadly than the goblins they’d been facing. The rats had already slain half of the undead minding the wall, and were doing a number on the remaining ones.

But no longer. First, Carver cast Grave Dust, a damage over time spell that hit a wide area. He wasn’t sure if he’d gotten all of the enemy forces, but he’d tagged at least a good chunk of them. That spell was tier three now, which might be enough to take down the tier two monsters all by itself, but he wasn’t waiting for that. He ordered his undead forward.

The skeleton warriors that made up his front rank crashed into the tier two rat-men. With their shields and clubs, they were a deadly strike force. But the enemy was also tier two, and they held their own well enough—at least until Carver’s second rank entered the fray.

That rear row was made up of spell casters.

Carver didn’t have as many skeleton mages as he did skeleton warriors, but he’d taken the time to make ten of them. The first ones he’d made were instrumental in taking down the second cemetery, so he’d added still more to his force. If he didn’t still need a shield wall Carver would’ve been tempted to spin up even more of the things.

Each of the undead mages cast, sending rays of black fire into the enemy ranks. It was a Harm spell, he was pretty sure. The damage they did was substantially more than his Drain Life could manage, that much was sure. Each caster that landed its Harm killed a rat-man. Like clockwork, eight of the enemy troops went down, one after another.

For a moment it looked like the rats would break, would run fleeing into the ruins of the city around them. But there was a roar from behind them, and another score of rats joined the battle from the ruins. The new additions raced across the open ground, leaping over debris and dashing around obstacles in their haste to rescue their brethren.

“Hold the wall,” Carver ordered his skeletons. He sent a mental command to his undead mages to take a step back, but to continue casting. He knew his shield wall would have to give ground under an assault of that weight, and he wanted them to have room to do so.

One step was all he was willing to give them though. No more than that. This was his home! Anyone who dared attack it would die. He’d make certain of that.

The rat reinforcements crashed into the battle lines, adding chaos to an already unruly mess. Carver’s line remained solid. They gave the one step he allowed and then stopped there, holding the enemy back. His undead mages cast again, and another collection of rat-men died.

All of them would die. Anyone who attacked him would fall. He’d make certain of it. He’d reward those who served him well, and those who didn’t would face his wrath.