"How is he still alive?" Dirik barked.

A question that was on Meera's mind as well, and others, she was sure. But she didn't have long to think on it as the Summoner turned his head towards Meera, as did all the undead.

The Summoner pointed to her. "You first. Rip her apart limb from limb."

Meera looked at all the undead and gulped. They all went mad. Started hollering for her blood and rushed her at once. Meera was about to shoot into the air, but a shield wall surrounded all the Wardens, who were back-to-back now.

"Well, boys and girls, it's time to fully let loose," Melas snarled.

"Anyone else feels like something is wrong here," Dirik said. "How is he alive? Shouldn't that Summoner be dead?"

"We'll worry about that later." Tekton swung his two blades in the air, which had leveled up considerably since she last saw them.

[Numheia's Justice – Level 237]

[Numheia's Judgment – Level 278]

"I could always take on—" Meera never got to finish her sentence as the undead attacked. She groaned and rose to meet them head-on.

She shot Mirror Shard Barrage in a sweeping motion, killing many and injuring quite a few. It was funny how many of them were fodder, even to her. Their training had paid off in droves. She saw the werewolf that she had Dirik had killed earlier.

He howled, and Meera heard wolves answer his call in the distance. But a small pack of wolves wouldn't have mattered. Not to the Wardens, who were unleashing such carnage that they left only rotten body parts in their wake.

Dirik took care of the queen. He kept a protective hand around her and threw dark slashes, one after another. The queen herself was basically out of it. Given what she must've endured in the last few days, Meera couldn't blame her. The blood had dried in her hands, but still, the two holes remained where they had nailed her to the tree. How she was alive was a thing of mystery.

The werewolf, whom Meera had called Barky, came for her. Meera took off three level 2 chakrams and launched them his way, powered by Mirror Wing. They were just streaks of light. To Barky's credit, he ducked the first one, but the second and third ones were too fast for him.

The second one took off the top of his head, and the third, after some adjustment, wedged itself in his neck, right where the stitches were.

"Aw, you're going to have to get new stitches," Meera mused.

"You bit—"

She flicked a hand and took off his head. "Now, you really shouldn't have used that word, Barky. You have to sleep and rethink your vocabulary."

Meera went to kill the other undead, but none were too difficult. This went on for another hour, at least, or it indeed felt like an hour.

"This horde is endless," Lexa claimed, and she was not wrong. "This is getting annoying. It's like I'm blasting a bunch of children."

She wasn't wrong. Even Meera was getting tired of the nonsensical and endless slaughter.

"Should we get out of here?" Meera asked. "Anyone fancy a trip on Meera Airlines again?"

"What in blazes is an Airlines?" Tekton retorted.

Before Meera could respond, three undead fell on her, but Zona's arrows took care of them quickly. Meera nodded to the archer, thanking her for her assistance.

"Bring that woman back here at any cost," the Summoner said. "We must finish the ritual and bring back master."

At first, Meera thought they were talking about her, but it soon dawned that he was motioning towards the queen. It had always struck her odd why the undead and the Heart of Doromar had captured her. But if they wanted her, then Meera had to do everything in her power to keep the queen safe.

"They're going after the queen!" Meera shouted.

The next instant the undead were grouping around Dirik and the queen. Dirik held his own, but when it looked like he would be overwhelmed, Pallas came to his rescue. A large shield formed over the horde and crushed a number of them. The sound of bones cracking and breaking filled the night.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Meera cringed inwardly as she knew the feeling of being crushed. But she doubted these undead felt any pain. The Summoner did not like this, not at all.

He raised his arms high in the air and started chanting. The crushed body parts of his minions rose off the ground and shot towards the Shade and his queen.

Pallas formed a massive tower shield in front of them. The body parts hit the shield and pinged off it but could do nothing more. Zona and Lexa turned their attention toward the Summoner, who was still chanting.

Zona launched her arrows, and Lexa launched a massive thunderbolt that ripped through many undead to reach their master. Many undead formed a shield to protect their master.

Meera's chakrams cut down any undead that came within five meters of her. All the while, she tried to think how these undead were still kicking, why the Summoner wasn't dead now that the Heart of Doromar was no more.

"Can someone cover me?" Meera shouted.

"I'm coming!" Melas landed beside her. He was covered in dark blood and grime. "What are you planning?"

"I'm just going to check my notifications real quick."

"What? Now?"

"Please. It'll only take a moment."

"Fine, but be quick."

"Thanks," Meera said.

*ding!*

[You have killed 18 Undead from Level 128 – Level 185]

*ding!*

[You have killed Undead Werewolf – Level 258]

*ding!*

[Congratulation. The Shadow Image has gained 7 levels and reached Level 297. You have been awarded 21 stat points]

That was it. The rest were about her levels and the skills she had stolen. There was no notification for the killing of the Heart. But she was looking at the two pieces of the blackened heart. It didn't beat or give off its red pulsating light. Meera's heart began to thunder. This could only mean one thing—it was still alive. Her eyes snapped to the Summoner.

Meera gasped. "The spirit of Doromar is in the Summoner…"

"What?" Melas, who was about to rip an undead in half, paused.

Meera picked up her chakrams using Mirror Wing and was about to start spinning them when Pallas appeared beside her, carrying Brison with him on a floating shield. The others showed up a moment later.

"Dome!" Pallas clapped his hands together, and a dome covered them all. Outside, the undead were pounding on it and screaming like banshees, trying to get in.

Even the queen was here. Dirik set her down carefully. "Are you okay…Your Majesty?"

Meera squinted at him. His voice sounded slightly different. The others might not have caught it, but Meera, with her advanced hearing, definitely did.

"I'm fine, son. Go. I need to catch my breath."

Dirik nodded and came to join them. "So, what is this about, the spirit?"

"I just checked my notifications, and I don't have a notification that states that I killed the Heart of Doromar," Meera said.

"What?" Several Wardens cried at the same time.

Meera nodded. "Also, isn't it odd that we killed the necromancer, but all his undead are still alive and kicking."

"Aye," Brison said. "In almost all instances when a necromancer dies, so do their creations."

"So, it could only mean one thing—that summoner is where the spirit of Doromar resides."

"But that still doesn't answer what Doromar wanted with the queen?" Dirik asked the question of the hour.

All heads turned to the queen. It was a strange sight, seeing a woman so faded. She looked like she had reached the end of her life. Hair white as the snow, skin pale as alabaster, even her eyes had grown hazy. But still the woman had fought back for her freedom.

"He wanted to take me over," Nisaya said between breaths. "They tortured me…" A tear dripped from her eye. “Pain…so much pain…but I never gave in."

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for all you were put through," Dirik said. "I promise I'll get you to safety soon."

"This is bad," Brison said. "If the queen had given in. We would've had a catastrophe on our hands. Could you imagine a Mistweaver as powerful as her in the hands of that bastard?"

It wasn't like Brison to be so angry. She chalked it up to everything Doromar must've done in life. After all, he was their goddess' biggest failure.

"What do we do now?" Pallas asked his brother.

"If he can change bodies, then he will not be easy to trap and kill," Melas said, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.

"We must get the queen out of here," Dirik said. "If there is anyone who can protect her, it is my former master, the Shadowsteel Warlord."

"Are you mad?" Tekton cried. "How will we even get her there?"

"He and the king are at Tearsfell Prison," Meera said. "It's where she's meant to be, and if we remove her from this place, then maybe we can get them off our back for now and come back to deal with this Doromar later. You all saw how fast he jumped from his Heart to the Summoner."

"The paradigm's changed," Brison said. "If Doromar can jump from one undead body to the next. We'll never be able to kill him here amid his army."

Tekton stepped forward. "Then what do you propose? We run? Wardens never run from a fight."

"You all will live to fight another day, or you give Doromar five new powerful bodies," Meera said. "You all will run out of Mana and Health long before they will run out of the undead. Would any of you like to be his next host?

The pounding on the dome became more frantic and then stopped.

"They're coming…" Nisaya said.

Meera took off a chakram for each of them and hurriedly tossed it to them. "There's no time to think. I'll get you all out of here."

"I'm not going to retreat." Tekton dropped his chakram. "Wardens don't retreat. Melas, tell her."

Melas didn't have time to say anything as a withered, rotten arm burst out of the ground, followed by the rest. The skin and muscle had peeled off half his face, and an eye socket was filled with dirt.

He was not the only one that came out of the ground. Another arm burst out of the ground, and then a wolf's snout biting and growling.

"Pallas, drop the dome," Melas commanded. "Meera, get us out of here."

"On it." Meera flicked a finger, and the chakram at Tekton's feet flew into his hands. He huffed and begrudgingly took hold of the chakram. Dirik put an arm around the queen and held her tightly.

Pallas nodded to Meera and dropped the dome. When Meera saw the stars above, she blasted off into the sky, taking all others with her. They flew over the treetops to the city walls.

"Follow them! Get the queen back!" roared the Summoner.

The undead growled and ran after the fleeing Wardens.