The banshee howled. Only it wasn’t just a sound based attack. Her voice dripped with soul magic. The effect was a resonance that scraped against any living soul with all the ease of steel wool on flesh. The kinetic strength of the attack forced him back as he tried to summon his aura to block the attack.

Glass shattered around him as the decibel levels exceeded stress tolerances. One pump exploded, and the entire fuel station detonated next to Akamori. The blast hurled abandoned vehicles skidding across asphalt and into store fronts. More undead began lumbering free of damaged buildings, now that obstacles no longer prevented them from seeking more flesh.

The more undead Akamori saw, the more the fire inside him raged. The more he seethed and felt his power surge. The cost in lives. The waste. The fire inside him roared to an inferno, stoked by a forge fueled by the pain of what had happened to him and his people, now playing out here. Not again.

“NOT EVER AGAIN!” He roared. His own voice infused with raw air magic and fire mimicking a dragon’s breath attack played out through the sound. The Banshee reeled, flying back and away as the zombies and revenants surged for Akamori, attracted by the lure of living energy and flesh. Akamori flexed his entire body and soul, and his flesh ignited with radiant fire again.

The work of dismantling the undead and spirits that poured out of the fort’s infrastructure was grisly work. Work he lost himself. He needed to blow off some steam and work some things out. Fortunately for him, he had plenty of faces to smash. Unfortunately for the undead, he was in a very generous mood and was giving out hands and feet to all available.

He’d whittled down most of the squishy opponents when a massive tree trunk sized club smashed him in the back and he went flying again. The world spun like he was inside a washing unit. He slammed hard into a wall and flopped down into a heap, upside down with a grunt. While he may have been immortal, possessed a high pain tolerance, and require divine levels of damage to risk death, that blow still hurt. Why?

In the distance, he saw an Orc holding an unusual club. It glowed with the same divinity that he and Thanaton did. Slowly, painfully, he rolled over and pushed himself back up. His body ached as though he’d been run over by the Cadaver Crasher. He did his best to mask the shaking in his legs and arms.

Another divine weapon… How interesting. Thanaton purred eagerly.

“I am Scourge and I’ve been summoned to destroy you godling.”

“Yeah, well, take a number and wait in line.”

More melodious chuckling from the necromancer just beyond actual hearing. Akamori’s eyes shifted towards the laughter. The Orc strode forward into the street. Glass and metal crunched under massive feet. Its dark olive skin lit briefly in periods as it passed by small fires and the few working lights left in the fort. It stopped conspicuously short of Thanaton’s reach, even with a good lunge. So, the big guy knew who he was fighting.

“So. Scrub was it? Who sent you?”

The Orc smirked. “I’m unpermitted to speak his name, but he’s given me this divine artifact to use against you. Maul, the first hammer.”

“Scuff and Mark. Got it. Scuff mark. Skidmark? That works better, I think.” Akamori said, as though speaking to someone Scourge couldn’t see. Scourge grabbed a handful of metal on a nearby vehicle and lifted it like a shield.

“I’m going to scrape the meat from your bones and drink the marrow. Then I’m going to do the same for your friends over there. This world is ours. It’s souls, ours to consume. You’ve lost godling.”

Akamori glanced down at Thanaton for a moment. There was a time he would have needed the blade to take this clown. But now? He felt like he had enough power on his own.

Use it . Thanaton said in an almost encouraging voice. The blade yanked itself free of his grip and levitated next to him. A spectator.

“Alright. Let’s dance.”

The orc rushed forward, more strength than raw speed, and brought its massive weapon around. The weapon slammed into Akamori. The impact set him pinwheeling gracelessly through the air. He smashed to a stop in on base dry cleaners, clothes and hangers erupted everywhere like a laundry grenade just went off.

Akamori needed more than a few moments to recover as he blinked away the stars in his vision. A meaty hand the size of an engine black wrapped python sized fingers around his body and hurled him through a wall. He crashed hard into the ground as debris threatened to bury him. Thanaton glared at Akamori’s lackluster performance with contempt.

Scourge casually swept his hammer through the pile of wood, cement, and glass like a broom through dust. He paused deathly still when he saw no sign of Akamori at the bottom of the pile, before quickly turning left and right rapidly. A fist bathed in radiant fire struck Scourge in the back. The blow staggered him as he wheeled around to see nothing.

The massive orc was so preoccupied with tracking the last attack he’d all but missed the faint shimmer of reality as Akamori’s fist struck his jaw so hard it began an almost cartoonish spin as he bounced multiple times down the street, flattening bodies and vehicles alike. Scourge’s jaw burned like he’d leaned a little too close to the sun. Clamoring back to his feet, he gave Maul an experimental swing.

A flurry of blows sizzled out of thin air and drilled into this torso in rapid succession. The force of impact drove the air from Scourge’s lungs, eliciting a pained gasp as the massive green brute fell to his knees. The divine hammer Maul was brought around with all the strength Scourge could muster, effectively swatting aside half a building and hover car.

Scourge recognized he was tactically ill equipped for this kind of fight and cast a few quick barriers and ward spells to slow down and blunt his opponent’s attacks. But Akamori’s strikes just didn’t care. The protective wards discolored and cracked one by one. With the last layer left, Maul streaked a wide arc in front of Scourge. The orc smirked as the strike connected and flung Akamori through 4 buildings down the block. Glass, dust, and debris blew out of windows and doors.

Scourge took too long to push himself forward. The damage the red-haired warrior did to him already having an effect. A hurricane force wall of air slammed into him, throwing cars, bodies, and debris from buildings with it. The eight foot tall orc swung his massive hammer from side to side, casually destroying a car, and a large chunk of wall, holding his ground. The gale calmed, and before Scourge, there was just a bald landscape. Akamori had literally scraped half a block free of the ground and blown it at Scourge.

“I believe now might be an opportune time to parlay.” Scourge said.

Akamori appeared before him in a blur, as if instantly teleporting or moving so fast his eyes didn’t register the movement. He floated before Scourge with his arms folded, eyes narrowed, and a studious expression on his face.

“Speak and make it quick.”

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“I have no loyalty to the Sauridius. They are simply my employer. However, I am not a fool, and know better than to kid myself into thinking I can take a superior opponent.”

“What’s your proposal?”

“Make me a better offer, and you’ll have my hammer.”

His weapon drips with divinity. This is no coincidence. Loathe as I am to suggest it. Taking him up on his offer may be the best tactical solution , Thanaton suggested.

“Bahumet? Frank? What do you guys think?” Akamori said.

Scourge glanced around, looking for whoever Akamori was speaking with. His large green brow creased curiously.

The first blade counsels wisely. We lose nothing by doing so. And might gain another asset. This is a battle of attrition. One we may not match alone.

Bahumet’s words were like gravel purred on by a dragon, and cut to the point.

Frank’s black form shimmered next to him. A faceless being made of pure darkness with red eyes. He wore a ragged black cloak and his body ended at the waist like a specter. Long talons finished each digit of his hands. He looked a lot like when he was summoned to co-attack with Akamori. What Akamori had subconsciously come to think of as Frank’s battle form.

“ Like the other two said. What do we have to lose? I wouldn’t be here now if I didn’t make a deal with you. ”

Akamori nodded. All valid and fair points. He finally returned his focus back to the massive Orc in front of him. Akamori was floating, so they were evenly matched height wise, even though Akamori’s feet missed the ground by two feet easily. He extended a hand against his better judgement.

“Deal. What’s your price?”

Scourge’s expression flashed from disbelief to relief. “We can discuss that later when I’m certain I’ll be able to collect my payment.”

A shift rippled in the surrounding air. An unspoken command that pulsed out through the aether like a small tremor on the surface of the water. Akamori could almost make out its words, but it was gone too fast before he could know for sure. An instant later and he didn’t need to know any longer. A horde of spectral green souls glared at them. Anger dripped in the air as a hundred auras bled together in one malevolent mass, with Akamori and Scourge at the center. The ring of ghosts all pressed in slowly.

“What do we do?” Scourge asked, his grip tightening on his hammer.

“We fight.” Akamori paused contemplatively, then add. “Also, we link up with the squad. Don’t want them taking you out as friendly fire.”

Scourge grunted his approval. Akamori gave the massive orc a once over.

“How fast are ya?”

“Fast enough.”

“Good. Keep up when it happens.”

Akamori held his hands forward and a blinding golden white light formed in his hands as motes of magic flowed into a growing orb. Akamori fired off his sun beam and turned a large chunk of the ghosts to ash, along with the buildings, bodies, and abandoned cars behind them.

“That’s our way out. Let’s go.”

The tension of the stalemate broke as Akamori and Scourge sprang out. The noose of ghosts slammed shut. The two warriors making it out just as it closed. Scourge grunting with each thunderous crash of his feet in a mad dash for freedom and life. Akamori then detonated an astral landmine he’d cast behind them to buy time. The ground and light erupted into the air in a column of fire and light.

Again, the melodious chuckling that teased at Akamori’s senses…no, not his ears, his soul.

“You can destroy as many of them as ya like, lad. It’ll never be enough.”

Akamori put a palm on Scourge’s back and kicked off the air as though it were a solid wall. A thunderclap issued as they shot through the air at the speed of a hyper sonic bullet. At the last possible instant, Akamori stabbed his feet into the ground like plows. The sudden deceleration brought the two to a halt right next to the squad.

Everyone paused to study the curious entrance the newcomers had made. Akamori gave the spirits and his squad alike an awkward wave. “Uh, hey.”

“Eltee?” Sirsir said, trying to keep his jaw off the ground. And failing.

“Sarge. This big fella is Scourge. He’s an orc with a divine hammer. He’s agreed to help us out. Make sure no one hurts him.”

Sirsir nodded dumbly. Akamori clapped his hands together and strode around the squad to study the scene behind them. A few stone golems lay in piles near a hole they’d been digging in the mountain’s side. He squinted at the mess and turned back to Sirsir.

“Were they trying to tunnel through an air ventilation duct?”

Sirsir nodded silently before finally answering. “Yeah.”

Akamori nodded again and turned back to study the torn apart area. He gestured for Scourge to join him and pointed at the debris strewn area.

“Whatcha think. Is this a good spot?”

“To breach? I would,” Scourge said before studying the ghosts who were still watching with slight confusion painted unilaterally across their features. “But if this is your way in, you’re gonna wanna make it fast.”

Akamori nodded as if Scourge had just said the most common knowledge thing he’d ever heard, clapped the big man on his hubcap sized biceps and strode back a few paces to join Sirsir.

“Right. Well. We’re gonna go in now. Okay?”

“Yeah.” Sirsir said again in that I have no clue what’s happening, but I’m not questioning it either voice.

Akamori clapped the dust from his hands and rubbed them together.

“Great. I’ll make the door.”

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