Suspenseful minute after suspenseful minute passes, with each of the six Mistwalkers glaring at the wall of fog ahead, always expecting the undead monster to emerge from it with the speed and ferocity of a demon bursting from the gates of the fiery underworld. Beads of sweat moisten their foreheads, and the tiny hairs on their neck stand to a point. Their slow, measured paces start to defy their perception of time, as each stride starts to feel longer and longer. Kellar begins to grow anxious, not just of the possible beast ahead, but at the suspense itself of anticipating the battle. Royd tightens his grip around his axe, which he has been holding to chest with one hand since discovering the footprints. Atticus and Veros, the two stoic warriors up front, keep their narrowed eyes ahead, refusing to blink, as if the undead would appear in the split second it takes for their eyelids to close and reopen. After a rather short journey that feels like hours, an ambiguous shadow becomes visible beyond the veil of the mist.
“The fuck's that?” Kellar asks in a shaky whisper.
“Let's get closer.” Veros responds with equally low volume, and urges his horse forward.
They tread with the most caution they've been able to muster since departing Zenith Gate, practically too tense to even breathe. As they draw nearer to the indistinct silhouette at an almost snail-like pace, the fog begins to clear, the shape becomes visible and distinguishable: an extremely broad back of a massive man kneeling down and hunched over, facing away from the group. Its size is noticeably immense despite not even standing. The shine of gold and white armor reflects the little light reaching the giant beast, though the radiance of the armor itself has been fairly dulled by the dirt, grime, and blood – recently obtained – that's been collected over who knows how long. Intricate patterns can be seen on the cuirass and pauldrons, and remnants of the ripped cape bares some complex embroidery. The armor is incredibly tight on the monster's huge frame, indicating that he wasn't always that large. Its muscles swell painfully under the pressure.
Closer to the ground, its large, bare feet can be seen. Presumably it removed its boots due to them impeding its movement after its alien growth spurt. The undead's skin is greenish and grey, clearly necrotic, as all the wandering corpses are. Finally, its halberd, clasped in his right hand, is positioned upright, standing on the end of its shaft. It's about seven feet long, end to end. The axe blade is much larger and thicker than that of a normal halberd, with the usual hooked blade on back side of the axe. The spiked metal tip makes up about a foot and a half of its total length. Overall, it's an adequate weapon for thrusting and cleaving at both short and medium ranges if one can handle its weight. Why holy knights of the monastery would require such a frightening-looking weapon is beyond anyone's guess.
“Galliford's beard, that is one hideous monstrosity.” Royd utters. “What's he kneeling for?”
“He looks like...” Veros begins to answer. “He looks like he's kneeling as a monastery knight would normally do when in the presence of someone higher than them.”
“Is someone in front of him?” Kellar inquires, trying to shift his weight to try and look around the beast's frame.
“I doubt it.” Veros answers. “But he's certainly preoccupied. He hasn't noticed us.”
“His feet.” Royd points at the undead's exposed lower legs. “Those prints did belong to him.”
“Good.” The captain responds. “Just as we hoped. We can use that to our advantage.”
“Can't we just sneak around him if he's so busy?” Kellar offers one last desperate suggestion to avoid a confrontation.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The giant undead finally budges, and pulls itself to its feet. Now that's it's standing, it's much easier to determine its size, and it is quite certainly over eight feet in height. In fact, it's likely closer to nine. It turns around to face the group, who are still on the very edge of the visible range allowed by the dense mist. Its ghoulish, decomposing face is mostly obscured by its helmet, and every time it exhales, a repulsive, strained groan is let out.
“It's time.” Veros announces. “Remember the plan. Erik and Zyra stay back, the rest of us dismount. Atticus and I will keep his attention. Royd and Kellar stay behind him and wait for a chance to strike. Let's go.”
After his short refresher of the previously discussed battle plan, Veros and Atticus dismount their horses and prepare for a fight with sword and shield in hand. Royd and Kellar soon follow, but keep a fair distance behind them, so as to not interfere with the other duo's part of maintaining the monster's aggression on them. The nameless behemoth soon matches their eagerness to fight by taking several steps forward and grasping its halberd in an aggressive stance with the intent to kill. Atticus and Veros ready their shields as they proceed forward, bringing them up to their chests to cover their torsos and part of their face. They show no intent on striking first.
Once the two warriors are about seven feet in front of the monster, at the very peak of its halberd's reach, they stop pressing forward, and slowly start to strafe to the side, always keeping the faces of their shield pointed at the giant undead, who is beginning to grow agitated. It swings its head back and forth between the two Mistwalkers, trying to keep both in its field of view. It snarls disgustingly as it clasps its weapon with dire intent to swing. Royd and Kellar are still a ways back, not yet joining the stand-off until the monster's back faces them. Atticus and Veros's slow strafing continues they're on opposite sides of the undead's position. It grows increasingly impatient with their lack of offense, and decides suddenly to take the initiative by turning to the knight and thrusting the spiked point of its halberd at him. Atticus, instead of taking the force of the thrust head-on, angles his shield to redirect the momentum to the right. Despite that, the strength of the thrust still diminishes his balance momentarily, and the beast follows up with a short-range swing of the axe blade, meant to catch Atticus if he had closed the distance after the deflection. Despite being undead, it still maintains a level of competency in a fight. The knight promptly regains his balance and shouts to his comrades.
“Be wary of his thrusts!” He announces. “They can knock you off your feet even if you block them!”
His teammates quietly take the advice to heart, and Atticus and Veros continue their redirection of the big corpse's attention away from the others. They eventually make their way around to the northern side of the small section of road they're on, allowing the monster's back to face the others.
“Alright, let's advance.” Royd tells Kellar and quietly proceeds forward. Kellar doesn't give any verbal acknowledgment, instead sighing and shaking his head before following his burly companion anyway. They stop their advance about ten feet away from the undead, remembering to stay just beyond the reach of its halberd. The huge cadaver notices them, but can't decide whether to focus on them or the shielded fighters closer to it. It eventually stares at Royd and Kellar for moment, cuing Veros to feint a rush-in.
“Hey!” He screams, taking several aggressive steps forward.
The undead brute quickly turns with a forceful horizontal swing of the halberd, simultaneously letting out an inhuman war cry. Veros angles his shield to redirect the swing's momentum, but just as with Atticus, the sheer velocity of the weapon still causes him to lose his footing, practically making him fall backwards entirely. Royd takes the opportunity to try and strike, lifting his axe above his head, but the undead reacts too quickly, making a defensive maneuver of stepping back while taking a another swing at Royd. The burly Mistwalker throws himself back, scarcely escaping the touch of the sharp spike at the end of the halberd.
“Bastard's pretty fast for his size.” Royd can't help but voice his frustration aloud.
The team finds themselves in a slight bind, as the towering undead knight is both incredibly strong, and much faster than they assumed it'd be. The gruesome monstrosity continues to posture itself by carefully keeping an eye on all parties and constantly taking small steps in every direction, making it hard to gauge what action it'll commit to next. It's difficult for any of the fighters to close in, especially considering the great reach the beast has thanks to its giant weapon.