My left arm slumped uselessly to my side and the first thing I did was reach for my sword. It was missing. Then I remembered I stored it away.
The second it appeared in my hand another bout of unbearable pain hit me and my right arm was on the floor. It still clutched the sword.
Unlike when I was a shambler it didn't catch fire. Wights were made of tougher stuff, however, blood was spraying from both sides of me.
My power surged as I expanded it. The thousand or so shamblers we had were gone. Did they release them? One by one the Hexed began to log in giving me brief breaks in the fog of war. It was brief because the second they came back from being logged out they were immediately killed.
Every single one of them had seven or more Enlightened soldiers on them in seconds.
Then I realized they brought everyone. Thousands of Enlightened were here.
A grave has been destroyed.
A grave has been destroyed.
A grave has been destroyed.
Koffer circled in front of me, a wicked grin on his face.
My health was wavering dramatically. I stumbled barely able to keep my eyes open.
Azerail! Raccoon called to me.
Lily in her sparkling armor, walked into view from behind a building. Dangling in her grip was a struggling Riley.
As I sank to my knees someone gripped the back of my dress hoisting me back up.
My bleeding slowed to a halt as their hidden timers and my enhanced healing took over. I could feel the large gaping wound on my left begin to mend. My ribcage and a bit of skin were the only things holding it together.
Lily approached and I noticed someone trailing behind her.
It was a shambler with half his face missing. He moved up to her side.
What the hell?
“Thank you, Shay,” Lilly said.
Part of me hoped he was just an obnoxious kid streaming for fun. Was he the spy all along? I immediately removed him from the guild.
Another small barrage of notifications flew by my HUD.
Your Lich King is under attack.
Your Lich King is under attack.
Your Lich King is under attack.
When the King died the graveyard would fall which would mean we couldn't respawn there anymore. The closest available spot to spawn was the swamps.
Raccoon stopped struggling leaned forward and bit into Lily's gloved hand.
“Ow, you little shit,” she said as she slammed the baby raccoon to the ground.
I heard something crack and gasped.
His little arm was bent the wrong way. He pushed himself to his feet favoring the injury.
Before he could dart away Lily stepped on his tail, pulled out her sword and skewered him through the back of his neck.
Pink bubbles formed at the edges of his mouth before he stopped breathing.
“Bitch!” I screeched.
I'm okay, but this— this is weird, I've never died before, Raccoon said.
Lily didn't bother to respond to my insult, instead, she stared at my wounds. “You can see its arm stitching itself together. Freaky.”
“I'm not an it! I'll eat your face and destroy everything you love!” I snapped and tried to escape the grasp of whoever was holding me. They were extremely strong and my struggle was futile.
Your Lich King is under attack.
Your Lich King is under attack.
Your Lich King has been defeated.
Then a Zone wide notification flashed.
A Hexed spawn point has been destroyed.
“Fuck you!” I screamed.
Lily turned to Koffer who shrugged. “It's got such a foul mouth.”
I activated Drain and could feel a trickle of energy seeping into me. It would take all night to fully absorb the man holding me up at this rate. Unless I could touch him. If I could only— I had an idea.
Instead of trying to break free, I let gravity do the work for me. My legs went limp and I guided my fall so I would land to my left.
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Their grip slipped and everything went as planned. When I hit the ground my wounded arm was forced back into place by the impact. It quickly set itself and I could feel my hand again.
Then something unexpected happened. Well, partially unexpected.
The guard grabbed me by the neck and hoisted me to my feet. What was unexpected was the loud snap that came from my spine.
Everything went numb and the world darkened.
“What did you do Palick?” Koffer yelled.
Lily walked forward and as my world faded to black she said, “Good luck with the three thousand soldiers on their way to the swamp.”
I was ejected from Inethiel’s corpse. It was suspended in the air. Even if the person who had killed me dropped the corpse it would stay where it was.
A quick observation of my surroundings showed hundreds of dead Hexed milling around aimlessly.
“Hey,” someone at my feet said.
It was Raccoon sitting next to Inethiel.
“Let's go,” I said as I kneeled.
He shook his little head. “We have to talk about…” He glanced around at the now-staring people. We have to talk about the Chronofield and that thing in there.
We can talk about it on the way, we have a long run to get back, I replied.
He climbed up my arm to my shoulder. Okay.
“Everyone!” I yelled. “Follow me to the swamp!”
I ran through buildings repeating my call.
Molly flew next to me as I dashed past everyone in our camp's direction.
“What happened?” Molly asked.
“That asshole Shay Poppy was a spy,” I said.
Molly gasped. “Really? What a dick!”
Perhaps his numbers were dipping from the VRVs he'd been posting and he wanted something else to give his stream a boost.
Streaming wasn't my thing so I wasn't sure why he would do it.
We didn't tire in the dead realm so we could go full speed to get there but it was still far away.
Would Lily retaliate against the neutrals and destroy Iron on the way? Or did she split her forces early sending them directly to the swamp?
That’s what I would have done. I didn't have anything against the neutrals but I seriously hoped Lily and Koffer decided on the two-birds one stone approach.
What is that thing in the Chronofield? Raccoon asked.
Raccoon yelped as I jumped over a large rock. I think it's a clone of me.
Yeah but why can't I see it in your memory? he asked.
Molly sped by grabbing Raccoon from my shoulder and hugged him. “Thank you so much Riley!”
What did he do for her?
“I’m sure the doctors will figure out how to reconfigure them with that paper,” Raccoon said.
What are you two talking about? I asked.
Raccoon shook his head. Don’t change the subject. Share the memory with me.
Ferret said that I disappeared when I went into the Chronofield so when I was upset that morning I—
I know that part, what happened when you went inside? he asked.
“If they actually work,” Molly said. “That means I can—”
Raccoon nodded furiously. “It does.”
The memory? Raccoon pressed.
I sighed. Fine. Then I remembered the day I dove into the Chronofield and shared it with him.
That's it? Where did it come from? he asked.
I don't know. I was really upset and lost it for a bit. It was just there, I explained.
With your permission I'd like to study it, he said. I won't be able to help you out here but I think we should still be able to communicate, Raccoon said.
Don't hurt it or anything but feel free to examine it all you want, I replied. Just remember I need you tomorrow morning for something.
Raccoon nodded from Molly's arms. That's a nice idea, I'm sure Kevin will like it.
Kevin did agree to go with me tomorrow morning. I just hoped my lieutenants could hold out without me while we went to the hospital.
An idea sprung into my mind. Maybe, just maybe my men would only need to guide the dead, not command them.
Either way, I had a lot of work to do.
***
It took a little over an hour to make it back. I didn't want to have to keep on the Hexed or guide them to the camp so I left that to Molly. She happily complied.
During my run, I didn't receive any new notifications. I hoped that meant they hadn't found the camp yet.
We were located on a small plateau but the Enlightened didn't have people who could fly.
Technically, their mages could summon a flying familiar to scout ahead but it had a very short range.
I ran down the stairs into the mausoleum where our Lich King awaited. Two ghosts had made it there before me.
One was Morgue’n, who smiled at me and said, “Let's whoop their asses!” before disappearing.
The other ghost waved at me and also vanished, leaving me alone, with the King.
When I stood before him he asked. “Would you like to walk amongst the living once again?”
“Yes, allow me to be reborn,” I replied.
“Granted, my subject,” he said and the world immediately shifted.
There was normally a timer. Maybe since I was forced to use a part of my health pool it was faster? There were perks to being a leader.
Morgue’n was waiting for me when I arrived.
“Scout the area, Lily said three thousand soldiers are coming,” I commanded.
He saluted. “Yes, my queen!” Then flew outside.
The other ghost stared at me expectantly.
“Do the same and I'll keep an eye on you, I have work to do,” I said.
She nodded and rushed off.
We had people here on shifts pulling shamblers from the swamp.
I released my Undead Domination ability and stumbled to the ground. My energy levels were too low.
“Damn resurrection sickness,” I complained.
See anything out there Morgue’n? I asked in lieutenant chat.
Nothing in camp, he replied.
I rushed up the stairs and bee-lined it to the ramp leading into the swamp.
A short jog North West and I came across the two people on shambler duty. They saluted me.
“What have the numbers been like?” I asked.
The two glanced at each other. “Couple hundred an hour.”
“We're going to pick up the pace. I want you two to concentrate on cleaning while I bring them out, okay?” I asked.
They nodded.
There were still five minutes left on my sickness. “You two know what happened yet?”
“Nope,” one replied.
I explained everything to them and they seemed to understand the urgency of our situation.
After the timer was up it took a few minutes after that to fully recover. Only then did we get to work.
***