I mindlessly tapped my fingers on my tree stump seat. My legs were crossed and Spoolie bobbed up and down from atop my knee.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Spoolie said as his little eyes tried to stay in one place as he dipped and swayed.

He'd gotten bored of the view from my shoulder and asked to be placed on my knee. “Still want to be on my knee?”

I think I'm gonna be sick, he said.

Suddenly his head lowered and it felt as if a cat was licking me. “What are you doing?”

A green water droplet icon popped up on my HUD next to the shell then immediately disappeared. Was he biting me? “The dead are immune to poison.”

Not Kumo's though, I thought.

Despite having my Undead Domination skill on practically all morning, I wasn’t picking up on everyone's thoughts like I was back in town. Was there a threshold in the skills rank that gave me more control of it? Perhaps it was the massive amount of undead in the area.

I paused my movement, unstuck Spoolie from my leg, and placed them back on my shoulder. After that, I wiped the residue from my knee with my dress.

Raccoon was still stuck on the other side. He hadn’t moved since we left the encampment. We’d passed Coal and were waiting about ten minutes from Iron.

The names these idiots gave their settlements were the worst I'd seen. Steel and Copper were the two closest after this one.

Our camp’s position was far enough away and at just the right angle for the fog to overtake both Coal and Iron. If the Enlightened did come to reinforce Iron they would have a hard—

I’m there, came Molly’s voice.

I closed my eyes mentally preparing myself for what I was about to do then thought to her, Remember, don’t look at your hands.

I won’t, she replied.

When I focused on her a few seconds later I was seeing through her eyes.

It was hard to make out anything through the fog. The settlement wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Where is it? I asked.

Molly flew forward and a huge bubble appeared out of nowhere. She was so fast, it felt like she was sprinting.

The area she was rushing toward was the protected part of the settlement. Enlightened graveyards made a safe zone that was supposed to safeguard the town’s people from assaults like ours.

Mistbloom hadn’t begun to spawn in the fog yet so depending on the Enlightened’s stock of the flower it would determine if they decided to use their mages. We’d had a small meeting in Lieutenant Chat before leaving and decided to take their graveyard first.

I had my own plans.

Coal’s houses were much more spread out than this one and not all of them were shielded. I wasn’t even sure how the system determined if they were a part of the settlement. Either way, they were gone now.

Molly reached the bubble and launched herself into the air.

Though I couldn’t see through it I could see a reflection of us flying into the air. My stomach lurched and I severed the connection.

Where’d you go? Molly asked.

She might not have read my profile thoroughly and I know she didn't have a Zix to remind her. I'm not good with heights.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Sorr— holy bits! she said.

My leg began to swing furiously again. What is it?

You're not going to believe this, Molly said.

***

A FEW HOURS EARLIER.

“You’re really going to send all of them?” Lily asked.

Koffer nodded. “The ones that volunteered.”

“How many are there?” Lily asked while shaking her head.

“Four hundred. One of them lives there so they helped rally the rest of them,” Koffer said.

Lily got up and leaned against a metal tent pole. “Will that be enough?”

“It should be. The Hexed have three hundred people and most of them are newbies.” Koffer leaned back in his chair. “There’s only been one release of zombies since then so it could have inflated their numbers to what, four hundred?”

Lilly shook her head, “Send a thousand soldiers too.”

“Lily… Splitting our forces like that—”

“I don’t care! Send the men!” she screamed.

Koffer placed a hand on his forehead. “There are eight spawns in the east, and at least one more now because of whatever she is doing in the west. If we send—”

“Koffer, if she takes that town they will never forgive us!” Lily yelled.

Lewis shuffled his feet. They’d been at it for a while now and he was getting tired of it. He had to admit Lily seemed to have a good understanding of what Azerail was doing. It had to be more than just her spy. Perhaps she was—

A metal mug flew across the room. “Damnit Koffer, why won't you listen to me!”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Do you even understand the implications of what you're asking? The resources it would take? Sending our troops into that fog would take up nearly all of our…”

Lily stood there, arms crossed under her breasts. “If we take them out now while they are still weak—”

“But what if they aren't weak! What if they found it?” Koffer retorted.

Lewis wasn't sure what they were talking about. He wasn't as invested in the plot as they were. Both of them were streaming again so who knew if they were serious.

“You mean the South?” Lewis asked. He'd been a part of the early explorations of the area and knew exactly what was down there. They'd done their best to keep it a secret. He was surprised the undead hadn't discovered it.

When Callam, a reputable cartographer, released the map no one had questioned him because his work was pristine.

It just so happened that Koffer and Lewis were Callam’s early exploration assistants. After Callam moved away the two of them devised a plan to organize a defense against the onslaught of the undead. They also happened to take liberties with the map’s content before distributing it to the masses.

Koffers eyes went wide and scowled at him.

Shit, Lewis thought

***

“How is a snail going to help in battle?” Raziel asked.

Spoolie turned, taking forever to face him. Tell him to look.

“Look,” I said while gesturing at Spoolie.

Small spikes slowly sprouted from his shell. My shell is indestructible, at least that's what it says.

“Those little things will probably break off the second someone touches them.” Raziel joked.

I shook my head. “He’s poisonous.”

“You can throw him like a shuriken!” Molly said as she swooped by.

“He got woozy from just being bounced around, I doubt he'll be okay if I throw him,” I said.

Molly had made it back and caught up with us. The majority of our forces were with us. We were using the technique Rufus had suggested. I found I could control around four hundred shamblers at once. With how often I was using my skill it was growing in power steadily.

I’d appointed a total of twenty-five lieutenants before I couldn’t add any more. With each of them able to control forty shamblers they could direct a total of one thousand. We’d left three people behind to cause chaos by unsticking them from the swamp and releasing them. The sheer number of them in that place was nearly unfathomable.

Raziel still refused to be a part of my cohort even though it would mean he wouldn’t have to keep resisting my control. He’d been with us the whole time but I wasn’t going to count him out as the spy. Any of the people here could be talking to the enemy out of the game. It was beginning to eat at me.

“Was he in his shell? I bet if he goes inside the nausea won’t be as bad.” Morgue’n suggested.

Ooo, let's try that, put me in your palm, Spoolie suggested.

I loved his enthusiasm and pulled him off my slimed-over shoulder. Then I placed him on my hand. The green poison symbol kept popping up and disappearing. If this worked he could be a big help.

He tucked himself inside his shell and I tossed him up into the air and caught him. I had to move my hand from Raccoon to pull Spoolie from my palm. The spikes were like the prickly little burs that got stuck in your socks when you ran through a field.

Raccoon still hadn’t moved or made contact with me since the Mausoleum. I was getting worried. Losing another Zix would be painful and despite his standoffishness, I liked him.

Spoolie emerged from his shell flipping soft side down. Did you do it?

That answered that. “You didn’t feel anything?”

Nope, he said.

“Guess I have a snail ninja star,” I quipped.

Spoolie stared at me. That’s not all I can do.

I raised an eyebrow. “What else can you do?

I can also give you a—

Raccoon picked that moment to sit up and look around.

—shield, Spoolie continued.

“Hey bud, have a good nap?” I asked.

He unstuck his claws from my dress, made eye contact with me, and said, Hi.

That was different, he didn’t usually look at me like that. I felt seen by him for the first time in a long time. It made me smile.

A wave of relief pushed its way through me. It had to be tough being a newly-born sentient creature.

It-it is hard, Raccoon said.

I smiled. Don't worry, let's play around some, maybe you'll like fighting.

The only problem was that I wasn't sure I was even going to be fighting any time soon. Not with what was on the other side of that bubble.

If we picked up the pace too much we would end up leaving a big chunk of shamblers behind so the march we were on was slow going.

Raccoon sat on his haunches and closed his eyes.

Did you see Kevin's with us again? I asked while lifting Spoolie so he could see him.

Without looking up, Raccoon nodded.

Who's that? Spoolie asked.

I smiled. That's Riley, Molly's bonded pet.

Raccoon looked at me then and smiled. It was half-hearted but it was a start.

Then out of nowhere he stood up and nuzzled up next to my neck and hugged it.

I hesitantly gave him a little scratch.

“When can we stream again?” a voice I vaguely recognized asked.

One of the newer human-controlled shamblers had stepped forward. I'd seen him before. “Where do I know you from?”

He grinned. “I'm Shay Poppy!”

“Is that supposed to mean something?” I asked still unsure who he was.

Movement from Spoolie tickled my palm. “That's the kid who streamed your emotion-sharing video.”

Raccoon pushed away from my neck. “I can hear you.”

Spoolie’s eye stalks shot up from their normally drooping position. “I can hear you too! Let's be pet buddies!”

“Can we-can we do that?” Raccoon asked.

I ran my fingers through his hair. That's the best part about this Raccoon, you can do anything you want here. It's just a big game.

Yeah, but there's limitations, he replied.

I gave him a little scratch which he leaned into. That's the best part, winning despite the limits.

Win? What are you winning? he asked.

Then I saw it, the bubble. I remembered our plan and visualized it while sharing it with everyone. That's the best part, Raccoon. It can be anything you want. It feels even better when you earn it.

He was quiet after that. Everyone was.

We all knew what was coming next.

As we reached the wobbly reflective surface Molly swooped past me and snatched up Raccoon.

I placed Spoolie on my slimy shoulder.

Three ghosts flew in from the edges of the bubble's surface and came directly to me.

“They have no reinforcements,” the first one reported.

Take your places, everyone, I shared.

Raziel stepped next to me, his armor appearing on his body piece by piece. “I'm coming with you.”

That wasn't the plan but convincing him to change his mind when he had it made up was difficult and I didn't want to fight.

A sensation of wind passing by my face spread through me as I placed my controlled subset of shamblers where I wanted them.

It didn't take more than ten minutes for everyone to take their places.

I stepped through the bubble Raziel following close behind.

We would face them alone.

***