The Council wanted blood.

I could see it on their faces.

Helru was sweating and trying to keep herself calm. She was sitting by herself, which I guess was understandable since the people who usually sat with her were all dead. Well, not everyone. Gili was now the one sitting next to her. The guard captain must have put on every bit of armor she had because it looked like she couldn’t move in it.

Lewiu was mad and covered in even more dirt than I’d seen on him so far. It almost looked like he was just a walking ball of mud. Wearing the biggest frown of all of them.

Felge looked concerned and had taken a seat nearest to the door. He wasn’t wearing his usual fancy clothes . If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was getting ready for a trip.

Fyga was the only one of the assistants here. And unlike the others she appeared to be surprisingly calm.

“I need answers from ya!” Gili slammed her hands on the table. “The blind one got the whole Wranglers killed, then kidnapped poor little Eveth and threatened to throw one of my guards off the wall. How am I supposed to keep the peace around here when…”

Master James cleared his throat and her rant stopped.

“I have very distressing news.” The Bokor looked at all of them. “Master Byler has discovered that there are two Touched in a mine just North of here with almost a hundred Zombies that plan to attack here at daybreak.”

I studied their reactions, but they all looked shocked. Felge slid off of his seat. I was able to beat him to the door.

“Mister Felge, where do you think you’re going?” Master James kept his voice very level, but I could hear the irritation in it.

The gray haired merchant slowly turned around, “If this place is about to be overrun by Zombies then I’m getting out while the getting’s good.”

“How do we even know if the kid is telling the truth.” Lewiu pointed at me, “He goes out this morning with all our Wranglers and comes back with only one of them nearly dead!” He looked at the rest of the people inside. “Then he tells us a story about a bunch of Zombies coming, except we can't verify it because he went and got all the Wranglers killed!” He pointed at Master Bran, “How do we know that YOU aren’t trying to steal our mine!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

All of the dirt on Felge got blown away as a sharp gust of wind hit the Miner. Master James’s marks flared and the dirt packed around the man’s feet, locking him in place. Gili let out a squeak as the joints in her armor fused. Lewiu got yanked back into his chair by some invisible force.

Master James dispelled the magic and his runes dulled.

“I assure you.” The Bokor made sure to have eye contact with each of them, “If I wanted to take this place, I wouldn’t need any help and even all your Wranglers wouldn’t budge the odds in your favor, so please, don’t insult my colleague again.”

He called me a colleague. I smiled a little.

“Now. These zombies are real and they are coming and that’s not even the worst part. I have just received word that the Bokor are sending an extermination squad here. With that many Zombies the Council believes it to be impossible for us to not be instantly overrun and doesn’t want the Zombie population to rise by that much, so when they get here, they are going to incinerate every living thing in Gher.”

Thankfully, that got all of their attention. I saw genuine shock on all of their faces. Either the Touched was a very good actor or they hadn’t been told this part.

“So we are going to move everyone out of here tonight. All we have are the town guards to protect the caravan, so I will be going with them. Master Byler and Master Val are going to stay behind and guard our rear.” He looked over the room. “I know one of you is a Touched and that your goal is to destroy the mine because the crystal inoculates humans against turning into Zombies. If enough humans take the solution, then Zombies will eventually cease to be simply because you’ll have no way to reproduce, so…” He focused on Lewui, “Get your men out of the mine and we will start heading out.”

He looked at Fyga, who had recovered surprisingly fast from all the news, “Fyga, where is Narder?”

“He’s sick.” Her voice was flat.

“Would you take us to him?” Master James got up.

“Wait!.” Gili pulled the face shield on her helmet back, “We have questions!”

“I’ll ask one first.” Master James looked at the room, “Would you like to ask your questions now and get turned into Zombies or sit on them until we get to a new town and ask them then when you’re safe?”

Looks were exchanged, but no one said a word.

“Great!” The Bokor clapped his hands, “Fyga, if you would.”

I fell into step behind the two of them. That had been surprisingly easy. Now if the rest of the evening could be just as smooth we’d be good.