Riley ran, the wind streaming across her and turning her sweat cold. The evening sun lit the road. Launching herself over a fallen tree, she ran toward the distant capital. In the corner of her eye, she saw Nicole. Her father and Althea raced ahead.

Ivan jogged alongside, occasionally looking at the group of knights who followed. Riley sniffed the air and grimaced. There are undead here. Rage filled her in a cold fury.

Roger frowned and gestured. “Let us go in. We’ll sneak by the undead.”

Riley slowed and watched them race ahead. Jogging toward the city, she saw a lumbering form jerk across the grounds. The undead paused and charged, its stitched-together body jerking wildly.

Gods, they stitched the corpses of people together. Her eyes watered, and she let the emotion wash into her purifier class.

Pulling out her lute, she began strumming the cords. Like a swarm of ants, undead poured toward them and started to burn. The wings on Riley’s back returned and turned into a vibrant blue, casting shadows around her.

With the magic storming around her, Riley willed her blades to attack the charging horde. Undead tripped and burned. The knights formed a barricade around her. Fire rippled out into the mass, igniting and spreading through the horde of rotting and decaying flesh.

A bolt of crackling green magic ripped across the sky, and Riley felt her skill trigger automatically. Purple lightning crackled forward, snuffing it out.

[You have killed a level 276 human necromancer and gained 552 experience.]

Riley willed it away, focusing on the undead in front of her. Dad, please tell me that you found them.

~~~

Roger tracked the spell and raced toward the palace. A scream rippled through the air, and Althea shot past him, launching herself over the wall in a single bound.

Following her path, Roger did the same, slamming his feet onto the stone and flying through the air. With his cloak fluttering around him, he soared over the castle walls.

Undead lumbered through the courtyard below. Roger triggered his skill and became nothing more than flowing smoke. He flew through the air and entered a window, reforming inside.

Pulling out the enchanted void knife, he walked up to the door and sniffed. Gods, that’s foul. The scent of blood and decay filled the air. An undead gurgled, and someone screamed.

Locking onto the sound, he ripped the door open and darted down the hall.

Descending a group of stairs, he paused and studied the horde of undead that filled the halls. Chanting filled the air, and the ground rumbled. Condemnation.

He scanned the halls for Althea, and the smell of smoke hit. Is she burning this entire place down? Not caring to argue, Roger stepped backward. A scream filled the air, and a massive wave of purple lightning crackled through the building.

Undead everywhere dropped, and Roger sprinted, racing down the messy halls and smashing the door open with a bang.

A throne room full of corpses greeted him. The necromancers surrounded a stone table that had a dozen people bleeding all over it.

Triggering Bloodbath, time slowed, and he shot into the room. The head of a nearby necromancer exploded, slowly spraying blood into the air.

One slowly spun, and Roger decapitated them, sending their head looping through the air. Spinning, he slammed his blade forward. The blade flared purple and sunk into the necromancer’s skull.

Stepping to the next, he slashed, sending a spray of blood across the room. The woman at the end hissed something, and the surrounding undead began to rise.

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Dashing forward, he sunk the blade into another skull. A wall of bone slammed into him, sending him flying backward. An undead grabbed his leg, and Althea fired another arrow. It zipped through the air, ripping through the wall and sinking into the woman’s skull.

“Die!” she hissed. Black gathered around her.

Roger grimaced. “Riley! Void!” he shouted with his mind and dove toward the door.

An undead grabbed his leg and slammed him into the ground. Fluttering into smoke, the world was bathed in black, and magic ripped into him, clawing at his insides. Gods, this is going to hurt.

Scrambling for his potion, he felt teeth sink into his leg. Pain racked his body, blood burst out of his flesh as the spell rippled through him. He gasped. Gods, watch over her.

Crackling purple lightning surged through the room. Undead dropped. The black vanished, and Roger felt his vision fading. It’s surprisingly warm. He reached for his bag and grabbed a potion. Pulling it out, he looked at the inert fluid, and realization slammed into him. The void magic.

Looking up, he saw Althea covered in blood. Gods, I messed this one up. Dropping back down, he felt that strange warmth growing. It feels like Riley.

~~~

Riley ran, her anger and auras blazing like the wings on her shoulders. Just hold on. Pouring mana into her healing aura, she desperately tried stabilizing the two distant life forms who were racked with pain.

Undead surged toward her. Her blazing aura ripped into them. Limbs decayed and dropped. The group of knights knocked aside the tougher undead, slamming them into the ground and letting the aura handle it.

“Condemnation, slow down, Riley!” Ivan shouted.

“They’re hurt!” Riley snarled back, debating where to spend her mana. She looked at the dimming amount and considered using Ambush.

“I’ve got them,” a knight shouted. “Lady Riley, stop!” He vanished in a burst of green.

Riley slowed. Please get them. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she screamed out her frustrations. Purple lightning crackled through the field, dropping the undead and leaving mangled bodies everywhere.

The screaming didn’t stop. The tether to both of them remained, a constant reminder of the pain they were in. Please.

Letting out a long breath, Riley looked out at the mess. Undead were everywhere. They surged toward the knights. “I’m out of mana,” she whispered.

“We’re retreating,” Ivan barked. “Trust him.” He grabbed Riley and headed back toward the forest.

Riley sobbed quietly and resumed playing her lute, letting her auras build in strength. Please be enough.

~~~

Roger looked down at the reforming flesh. An arm reached out and poured red liquid down his throat. Coughing, he looked up and saw a knight walking across the room.

The knight poured a potion into Althea’s throat and sent a burst of healing into her. Sitting up, he looked at her bloody body. Gods, not again.

Althea coughed up blood. Green light flooded through her, and Roger grimaced as pain rippled through him. Am I poisoned or something? Forcing himself to stand, he opened his smuggler’s cache and downed a clear potion, feeling it ripple through his blood.

The strange drain on him faded, and he walked to the knight, handing him another.

The knight took it and poured it into Althea’s throat. Roger watched and waited, looking at his empty stamina. How many undead are left?

Althea coughed and sat up. A burst of green flooded from her eyes, and her wounds closed. Staggering, she looked at Roger and sent another burst of green magic into him.

“Thank you.” Roger’s hands flickered. “The undead?”

“Many. Lady Riley is low on mana,” the knight signed back.

Roger frowned. “I can’t make the run like this.”

“Me neither. Come, let’s hole up somewhere.” Althea hobbled to the hall and headed for the stairs.

Roger followed her with a long breath. “Riley, be safe, please.”

~~~

Riley looked out at the undead. Her lute sat silent, and Nicole plucked her off the ground. Jogging silently with the other knights, they broke free of the undead and crept into the distant forest.

Looking up, Riley wiped off her tears and looked up. Nicole had a pained look on her face. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“They’re alright,” Riley whispered. “I can feel them.”

Nicole looked down, relief spreading across her face. “Really?”

“Yes. They’re okay now, but there are a lot of undead.” Riley turned back toward the capital.

“We’re lighting it up as soon as they are out,” a knight said, shaking her head. “There are no people alive in that disaster.”

Riley swallowed and searched her connection. Pain and anguish flooded through her. The entire city? They killed all of them, including the few that were left. She felt like vomiting. Tears rolled down her cheeks once more.

“What?” Nicole whispered.

“She’s right. The city’s empty except for three.”

The knight nodded. “That’s why it burns. You’ll be our safety for anything that gets close.”

Nicole propped Riley up with a grimace. “It’ll be alright.”

“No, it won’t. They may be inept, but they have the idea now,” Riley whispered. She grimaced and shook her head. The royals go next. She followed the group to a small hovel where rangers began making fortifications.

Nicole turned and searched the woods for any threats. Riley stood there, a numb feeling creeping through her. Why are people like this? With a long breath, she shoved the emotion down and searched for threats.