After their brief conversation with Henry, Emmer returned to his home in haste and Ludo followed close behind. He had yet to say a word to him about everything that was going on as they passed through the porch and the front door. Emmer rushed inside and disappeared into one of the rooms.
“Figured out what he might be planning?” Ben asked.
I can’t say. But you saw the way he reacted to the mention of ghouls?
Such was the impact the mere mention of those things had that Ludo could not help but worry. Whatever these ghouls were, there was nothing Ludo wanted more than to avoid them at all cost.
“So you’re leaving then?” Ben asked.
No, I would rather stay here.
“And let Emmer and the others deal with it? What if they need your help? Are you going to let them die?”
No, but—
“You can’t stay idle like that.”
I want to help! But I don’t think I would do anything useful because I don’t remember anything.
“Heh, you say that. But you haven’t even begun to live again. And I bet that ability of yours might come in handy for Emmer and his crew.”
Before Ludo could say anything else, Emmer joined him once again, clad in plated and with extra saddle under his arm.
“Follow me,” he said.
They returned outside, and were met by a group of men, no more than thirteen and their horses. They wore armor similar to Emmer, who greeted them openly.
“Gentleman,” he shouted. “I believe you have heard the news! A great danger threatens this place once more."
The men looked at each other and drowned themselves in whispers. Emmer looked back at Ludo and then back to his men.
“This is why I have called upon you once more. Will you aid me at preserving our homes and families?”
The men roared and some even raised their weapons. The fear and uncertainty seemed to dissipate with a faint ray of hope. Emmer told Henry to head forward with the rest before turning back to Ludo
“Your turn.”
They walked to the side of Emmer’s home where a small stable with four horses was located. It was small and somewhat ran down but the horses inside were all in pristine condition. Ludo could only wonder what use they were to Emmer as the latter disappeared into one of the stalls with the extra saddle, throwing a pair of boots at Ludo which had been stored inside.
“Put those on. You don’t want to slip off the stirrups,” Emmer said, while tightening the saddle on the horses back.
After a quick change, Ludo found himself standing beside the horse Emmer prepared for him. Tall, with a gleaming auburn hide, it was a magnificent sight.
“Listen,” Emmer said, snapping Ludo’s attention back to him. “Put your foot on the stirrup and then swing your other leg around the horse.”
Ludo looked at the piece of metal and carefully stepped on it. The horse sighed and shook a little. Pulling his feet away, Ludo looked back at the horse with doubt and fear.
“Don’t be scared,” Emmer said. “A horse will sense it and will distrust you forever. Approach it as a friend.”
“As a friend…"
Ludo repeated, and placed his foot on the stirrup once more. Emmer held the horse by its reins and Ludo lifted himself upwards in a single move. The horse whined and huffed but it did not try to push him off and slowly sank into the saddle. Emmer then let go of the horse.
“Don’t sing praises yet. You still need to learn how to move.”
Emmer got on his own horse at a hurried pace and trotted to Ludo’s side.
“I’ll keep it brief because we are in a hurry. There are three things you need to know: pay attention to the road, the reins, and your horse.”
With that, and a few clumsy steps, Ludo somehow managed to keep a safe pace until the two of them regrouped with the rest of Emmer’s party. Old and young and some with less human features. All armed to the teeth. The sight was quite a fright for Ludo as all he had to his name was the second hand steel sword Emmer had given him. Henry kept staring down at Ludo, which added more pressure to the already uneasy scene.
“Why is he going?” Henry asked.
“I figured it would be for the best if he learns on the job,” Emmer replied.
“Isn’t that the madman that appeared from the woods?” another man—not that old, compared to Ludo—exclaimed. “What if he guided the ghouls to us?”
Emmer looked back at Ludo and then back at his own men.
“If that were the case why haven’t they attacked us first?”
“Maybe because they want us away so they can kill our wives and children first!” another man replied, causing the others to roar in agreement. For a moment, Ludo felt as if he was about to be killed.
“I doubt this,” Emmer stated calmly, and the tone of his voice alone was enough to shut down the rowdy protests. “I have been with this young man for half a month already, and not a single one of his actions paints him in any suspicious way.”
“You have him under you because he reminds you of him,” the same young man from earlier yelled from the back. The older members all looked at him with clear disgust and disbelief and even Emmer was taken back with this sudden answer. Ludo had no idea what had just happened but based on the growing frown on Emmer’s face, it was enough to scare him into quietness before he could speak.
“Quiet boy,” Emmer said with the same solemn tone as before but with a clear tinge of anger. “Consider yourself lucky that you’re Henry’s only child or else I would have been very severe on you for that comment.” He then looked at Henry who was half hiding his face away from the embarrassment.
“As for the older faces here,” Emmer continued. “Have we not been comrades in arms for decades at this point? Who was the one that lead you to victory against the treacherous city of Nela? Or against the armies of the tyrant marshal? Who stayed by your side breaking bread during the darkest hours or celebrating the great triumphs?
The older men in the group looked at each other and murmured amongst themselves.
“Just as we trusted each other all those years back, I implore you to trust me now. Believe me when I say that this young man means no harm to us as well as trust me that we will infect the ghoul’s armor, weapons, and spirits with fear and death!”
The older men now cheered on Emmer and all doubts subsided. Ludo just kept watching Emmer in awe as the man had completely shifted the spirits of the group with just words. However, Emmer did not linger to revel in his own victory. They needed to move.
They soon entered the thickets near the hamlet in formation. Emmer and Ludo rode comfortably in the middle while Henry rode at the rear, catching any stragglers. After Emmer’s speech, the morale was high in group, especially with the younger ones of Ludo’s age. Ludo, on the other hand, felt quite distant to everyone around him and he struggled to keep his horse walking straight. He tried calling for Ben to not feel as lonely, but the voice was nowhere to be heard.
“Something’s bothering you,” Emmer said.
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“Yes. I’m not sure if I should be here.”
Emmer laughed. “That’s natural, I felt the same on my very first campaign.”
“But I can barely hold a sword in combat, let alone ride a horse.”
“Yet you are still doing better than most of us did at the beginning. You think too little of yourself. For a ‘starter’ as you like to label yourself, you have learned well and fast in just under a month,” Emmer then fell into a quick but noticeable silence. “You must have been a soldier before you lost your memories, or maybe even a squire.”
“Not a very good one if I let something steal my memories from me.”
“Even the best of us can’t fight against something we can’t see.”
The group descended into a dell. The road had almost been consumed by overgrowth and roots. Deer and hinds ran back and forth with no fear of the platoon. It was clear no one had gone through this area in a long time as they rode through.
“Are we going to find them here?” one man asked.
“Not sure. These areas around the hamlet are the least traveled, so here we begin our search. ”
“Henry told us that these monsters could be ghouls. Is that true?” another asked.
“I fear that may be the truth, but don’t worry. These monsters can be felled.”
The formation continued their march and left the dell after a thorough search and returned to more civilized country. They passed by various houses along the byways, where they were greeted by homely greetings in some areas and by unwelcoming gazes in others as they strode along. Nonetheless they continued, now uphill.
“There was something I wanted to ask you,” Ludo told Emmer.
“Go ahead.”
“Was everything in your speech in the hamlet true?”
Emmer nodded. Ludo was struck with further awe at the man he was talking to. He wanted to ask so many questions and he could not decide on which one to start with.
“Who was this marshal?” Ludo spurted out.
“A very evil Felissian.”
“And what happened to him?”
Emmer looked at Ludo with a smile, “That is a story for a calmer time.”
“It is what it is…” a familiar voice from within said with slight disappointment. “I was incredibly invested already.”
Ben! Since when did you come back?
“I never left. I wanted to help you out sooner but you were doing well by yourself.”
Thanks, I guess… but how come you can disappear like that?
“What do you mean? And don’t worry. With Emmer and myself, you are in safe hands.”
Before Ludo could point out the fact that he had no hands (or anything resembling a body), Emmer yelled out orders which ended their conversation. He realized that the platoon arrived at the top of the hill. From there, Ludo could see smoke rising above the trees in a particular site. Taking a closer look, he realized they were the chimneys of various houses at the hamlet which from that distance, looked like a minuscule circle of clarity within the engulfing forest that surrounded her.
“We’ll rest here before returning home,” Emmer said loudly and the men dismounted from their horses with a relieved sigh. Some immediately sat on the ground to eat, others stretched their legs while a few disappeared into the forest to relieve themselves. But Ludo had other plans in mind. He walked a fair distance away and leaned on a tree.
“Are you planning to test out your little special ability right here!?” Ben asked.
“Sure, this is as good a place as any, with help just a scream away.”
Ludo closed his eyes and concentrated, then opened them again to see no change. Glancing back to see if anyone had seen him, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second time. A sense of anticipation began to grow within him.
“Be very certain on what you want.” Ben chimed in and Ludo repeated Ben’s words over and over in his head.
I want to see!
Feeling a slight throb in the back of his head, he opened his eyes to a changed world. Most, if not all of it was surrounded by strange blobs and the wind was no longer naked to his eyes as streaks of greens, purples and magentas danced untroubled amongst the clouds above. He was not sure what any of this meant, but he could not dismiss it as nothing important. Looking at his hands, he realized he himself was surrounded by a large mass of color. He could not make any sense of of it at the moment. Now that he had an idea on how to trigger his ability, he needed to learn how to shut it down.
Closing his eyes yet again, he concentrated the best he could with the increasingly loud bellows of the men a short distance away. He clenched his fists and repeated another sentence loudly on his head.
I want to see no more!
Ludo opened his eyes and saw that everything had returned to normal—if such a word could properly describe it—and returned to the group where he spent the remainder of the time in an awkward silence, not fitting in with the rest. Thankfully for him, Emmer called off their rest not long after and their journey back to the hamlet began. While marching quietly through a silent road, a sudden fog rose from the ground as dusk began settle in. The horses turned rowdy and a dreadful atmosphere crashed down upon the group who tried to keep the peace. It was all for naught as the horses whined and trashed around. During this frenzied hysteria, Ludo felt a strange buzzing coming from the back of his head.
“That’s trouble…” Ben said, worryingly.
Almost by instinct, Ludo’s vision changed and to his horror, he saw a plenitude of blobs of energy hidden in the weald at the edge of the road.
“An attack!!” Ludo cried out. Immediately after, Emmer and the rest of the older men turned to face the weald with spears and maces while the younger ones scrambled to their positions. Multiple things emerged from the bushes, covered in head to toe with plants to camouflage their appearance. Ludo was not sure how exactly to describe them beyond bushes with legs. Despite their ridiculous appearance, this camouflaged monsters were armed with spears and did not fear the formation as they charged at the horses, attacking anything they could reach.
Their disorganized attack should not have worked, yet the element of surprised gave them the advantage and they were quickly able to break through the group and surround a few of the soldiers. Ludo looked to his left as two horses collapsed quickly, by the quick thrusts of spears, and took the riders down with them.
“Look out!” Ben called out and Ludo saw that one of the monsters was charging straight at him with his spear aimed at his chest. By instinct, he was able to draw his sword out of his sheath and block the spear tip, which scratched his side. His horse panicked, unable to cope with all the pandemonium raging around it and ignoring Ludo’s feeble attempts at control. It bolted wildly towards the forest, taking Ludo far away from his allies.
The horse’s reckless sprint through the thickets caused Ludo to lose balance and fall to the ground, smacking his head on a nearby root. Despite the buzzing in his head, he got back to his feet quickly and was horrified to see many of these monsters rushing at his location. They stopped a few steps away from him and seemed to speak with each other by making rattle-like noises, foreign to his ears.
“If you need help—” Ben began.
“Not now, Ben!”
A monster hurled a spear at Ludo’s face for a second time. But thanks to Emmer’s training, he was able to move his head out of the way, but just barely. The monster had left itself open with his attack and Ludo capitalized on the opportunity to strike at the thing attacking him. Beyond throwing leaves randomly in every direction, it seemed that the attack had done little.
“Are they wearing armor!?” Ludo exclaimed.
He was attacked by yet another of these monsters not a second after he had said this. This time, the spear aimed at his chest. He blocked it and retaliated with a strike filled with vigor and rage. His sword stabbed right through the monster’s chest and after a little trouble, he was able to pull it out yet this had little results as the monster did not flinch nor fall. This time, many of these camouflaged monsters began to assault Ludo from every direction, overwhelming him, yet he was able to keep some sort of advantage due to the monsters’ slow and telegraphed strikes. He retaliated every time he could, striking the limbs, body and wherever their head might be but the things would not fall. Soon, Ludo began to pick up a particularly foul smell, one of rot and decay. And it was coming straight from the monsters.
Ludo continued to defend himself as the relentless monsters continued their attempt to harm him. He was getting tired and his attacks slowed and to make matters worse, the monsters did not seem to be affected by fatigue at all. Ludo tried a desperate gambit by running away towards the direction of the road but before he could put a fair distance, he was struck by something in his leg which made him stumble and fall.
A burning sensation crawled from his leg up throughout his body as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Looking at his leg, he saw a stream of blood flowing down. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as the reality of the situation kicked in.
“Pay attention!” Ben yelled and Ludo looked up to see the monsters running at him again. He knew he was done, soon to be surrounded, the only thing he could do was hope that the monsters would put him out of his misery quickly.
“It may look bad!” Ben exclaimed. “But you have no right to give up like this. The people at the road need you and do you want to die without regaining your memories!? You said it yourself, what if your family is worried sick about you!?”
Ben’s words hit Ludo like a horse. He was right. This place was not where he wanted to die and he would make sure that it wouldn’t be. Grabbing his sword, he swung it around wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs, surprising the monsters who took a few steps back. Ludo crawled away from the monsters as fast he could, blocking any incoming spears by sheer luck as the pain on his leg became increasingly unbearable by the second.
Grabbing a nearby tree, he roared as he holstered himself up. His wounded leg had lost all of its strength but that did not deter him from striking an incoming monster straight where its face ought to be. The strike had such raw strength behind it that it threw a chunk of the camouflage off the monster and Ludo, his leg too weak to hold him, lost his footing and collapsed into the ground. He looked up and immediately regretted it. Now he understood where the rotten stench was coming from as he saw the monster’s bare face looking down at him.
Ludo wanted to scream, vomit and cry because what stared back at him was not a man nor monster. But a skull with its hollow, void holes, and pieces of hair and meat that stubbornly held on. This horror was short-lived as a horse crashed into the monster, followed by others who destroyed any of these skeletons unfortunate enough to be on their way. The remaining skeletons scurried away, disappearing among the bushes and trees. Ludo looked up to see Emmer riding the horse that had just saved his life and such was the flood of relief that he could not help but smile as Emmer dismounted and crouched to his height.
“You’re wounded,” he said.
“They were d-dead!” Ludo stammered.
“Dead?”
“It was a skull… A skull was looking straight at me!”
Emmer grunted as he took a better look at Ludo’s injury.
“Was that a ghoul?” Ludo asked.
“Thankfully it was not. If it was you would be dead, either by their teeth or by my sword. Those were corpses commanded by a desecrator. A necromancer.”