Estela swiftly led them up a set of damaged stairs to a higher level. Relma had missed these before, they'd been hidden behind a shattered pillar. As they climbed, she glanced out a window. There she saw the shambling monsters moving through the ruins. Ajax walked behind, sniffing the air. Relma was between them, helping Wrynncurth up the stairs.

"Why are we going this way?" asked Jomas.

"I saw a fountain on the higher levels that are working," said Estela. "Don't ask me how. There was only one way into that area, and it's up a staircase. One man could hold off an army for hours.

"We'll rotate defenders and have two people on watch. One in front and one on support." Turning around a corner, she rushed into a large room that looked like it had once been used for prayers. Sure enough, there was a fountain springing out clear water.

Relma realized how thirsty she was and moved forward to drink from it.

"You want us to go into a dead end?" asked Ajax.

"We're trapped, either way, Ajax," said Estela. "And this room has a fountain. Now, at least they can only come at us from one direction."

"Yes, and we can't break out," said Ajax.

No one responded to that.

"Ajax, you're on the first watch," said Estela. "You'll kill those things as they come, and rotate with Jomas in an hour. Then I'll take your place.

"Relma tend to Wrynncurth, and anyone who gets hurt.

"Wrynncurth, take an inventory of our supplies and try to ration them to last as long as possible." As she did, Estela threw off her pack, and Relma did the same. Jomas and the others followed suit, except Ajax, who didn't have a pack.

"One of them was taken down by a spear throw and killed by a cyclops," said Wrynncurth. "The other I've already sent away. If I'm killed here, I imagine I can possess the chap."

"Good," said Estela. "Go out abroad and see if you can find us help. We'll hold here until then."

Ajax peered up from the threshold of the door. Outside, Relma could hear the shambling of feet walking into the cathedral. She wondered if Alchara had released her defenses or hadn't been able to maintain them. In the air, Relma sensed a sort of power still here.

Perhaps Alchara had decided it wasn't worth the effort to save an enemy.

"Estela, what is your plan here?" asked Ajax.

"What does any Lord under siege plan?" asked Estela, flourishing her sword. "To break the enemy army.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were scouting for my father?"

"I'm scouting for Relma; King Tyus can be food for my pack for all I care," said Ajax. "And for the record, he wants to invade."

"What?" said Relma. "But why?"

"Why do you think? His son died in the wars here, and he wants a permenant end to them," said Ajax.

"Why would a father want to do that now?" asked Estela. "It's not a smart move."

"He's beginning to think that we stand a chance of winning," said Ajax. "And I've been sent all over the place mapping things. Arengeth is trying to reign him in, but someone brought in all the satyrs. We've got a huge army and nothing to do with it."

"Do you think we could find some kind of target?" asked Relma, beginning to hear Wrynncurth's wounds. They were deep, and working at them was difficult. "Maybe one no one will mind being destroyed."

And then the undead came up the stairs toward them. Ajax howled as they climbed, and some of them fell dead. Others shrank back before more pushed forward. Ajax howled again, and once again, they broke. So it began, the undead amassing in greater numbers on the stairs until some were falling off.

Soon they were nearing Ajax.

"This is not what I expected to be doing when I started this quest," said Ajax.

And then he howled and went berserk, charging forward to slash and tear at the monster. The creatures were ripped and shredded, falling back. Those that lay hands on Ajax lost them shortly thereafter. Soon he'd sent them falling back, and a wall of bodies lay upon the stairs.

Yet more were scaling up over it even now.

"What are you doing?!" said Estela. "We're supposed to be holding our position, not sallying forth!"

"I'm an aggressive fighter," said Ajax, having several scratch marks on him. "You demonstrate the technique if you want to tell me what to do." And he stalked away from the entrance, Estela quickly taking his place. Even as she did, she cleaved down an undead, then another, then another.

Ajax moved over to Relma and kneeled down. "Just heal me quickly; I need to stand by for my turn.

"Adrian, any news?"

"None yet," said Wrynncurth. "My golems cannot speak directly, sad to say, so I shall have to write my message. It is now very near one of the palaces. I'll try to communicate with them." Relma finished a major wound and moved on to another. "...Hmm."

"What?" asked Relma.

"Oh, my golem is dead," said Wrynncurth. "Someone just put a spear through them. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.

"How are things, Estela, old girl!"

"I'm busy!" snapped Estela, hacking down more of them.

Relma quickly healed Ajax; his wounds weren't serious. It seemed to her that killing these undead was not really a life or death struggle. Rather, it was more of a prolonged and dangerous bout of hacking wood. They made no attempt to defend themselves and could only come one at a time. So all you had to do was hack them down repeatedly.

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And Estela did just that.

It went on and on, and soon she began to tire. Switching with Jomas, Relma then healed her scratches. She watched as Jomas pulverized the undead with strikes. His expression never seemed to change for anything. Soon, he began to tire and switched with Ajax, who Estela let burrow his spare sword.

Ajax then took to hacking them down one by one as they came. And all the while, they waited under siege, drinking water. And Relma realized this was never going to work. Sooner or later, someone would make a mistake, and everything would start all over again. But what power could they call on to fix this?

Of course.

"Alchara," whispered Relma, so Wrynncurth couldn't hear. "I'm sure you have plenty of reason to dislike me for my heritage. And Wrynncurth for his. But if tales are told of how we annihilated an entire army of undead with aid from your temple. You'll come out of it looking pretty well."

And so the drudgery continued.

On it stretched, and light coming through holes in the roof grew dimmer. The rotation of combat continued, and soon there were corpses filling the stairs. As one fell, others fell off the stairs into the room below. And still on came the walking dead.

"How many did you see out there?" asked Relma, who had nearly finished healing Wrynncurth.

"More than we could kill with swords, I wager," said Wrynncurth. "Still, if anyone falls, I could breathe acid into them. "There must be thousands upon thousands of them out there."

"No sign of them letting up," mused Relma.

"Afraid not," said Wrynncurth. "Though they might have been running out of bodies just beyond the cathedral."

"Estela, this isn't going to work," said Relma. "We could hold out for a while here, but sooner or later we're going to make a mistake."

"Not to judge, Relma, old girl, but we don't seem to have much in the way of alternatives," said Wrynncurth.

Relma looked up at the ceiling. "What about up?"

"Hmm?" said Wrynncurth.

"Could you melt through the roof up there?" asked Relma.

"I suppose I could, and I'm tall enough to bring you lot up," mused Wrynncurth. "What say you, chaps? Up for a rooftop escape?"

"Just do it!" snapped Estela.

"Jolly good then, step back," said Wrynncurth, rising up.

Breathing out, he shot a thin line of acid onto the wall above. Moving it quickly, he halted the spray. Soon there was a hissing, and the ceiling fell inward. The ground shook as it collapsed over the floor. It landed, leaving a ramp leading into the roof above.

"That'll do," said Wrynncurth. "Estela, you' scale up first, then Relma, then Ajax, and Jomas last of all. Quick now, while we can.

"Ajax, do some howling, would you?"

"Whatever you say," said Ajax, who had been standing by.

Then Ajax howled, and the undead scrambled backward. The walls of bodies shifted and fell backward. Estela sheathed her sword and scaled upwards, slipping on the rocks once. Then Wrynncurth turned to Relma. "Come on, up, up quick. Relma, you next."

Relma nodded and tried for it. She was careful to snatch up her pack while she did so and Estela's too. She'd left it behind.

Pulling herself up on hands and knees, she looked down and saw the undead kept at bay, for now. Moving further, Estela offered a hand, and she took it. Hauling herself up, she looked down at Wrynncurth. "Right, I'm up."

Jomas came next as Ajax was gradually forced backward. Finally, just as Jomas reached the roof, Wrynncurth snatched Ajax and surged upwards. Landing on the roof, Relma looked around. She was standing upon a tiled roof, and all around her was the city. And every building was alive with the walking dead.

As the undead tried to scale after them, Jomas struck the ramp with his hammer. The stone splintered and broke, before collapsing downward.

"Well, we've made it into the roof," said Estela, shivering in a gust. "They won't be getting up here easily, now what?"

"They can't have covered the entire city," mused Ajax. "Probably only most of it. Wrynncurth, could you ferry us over to that structure over there?"

Wrynncurth looked over to a tower near the outskirts. "I would, but I'm mighty tired at the moment. Carrying all of you, one at a time seems beyond my abilities. I need a bit to rest. And anyway, we can't afford to get separated."

"I believe that I can be of some help with that, cursed one," said a voice.

Relma looked up and saw the very image of the statue of Alchara, now in the flesh. Her hair flowed around her with radiant beauty. Wrynncurth snarled in hatred and moved forward. "Alchara.

"What cursed fate brought you to this place?"

"I might say the same for you," noted Alchara. "Given that you've caved in the roof of my cathedral."

"We don't have time for this," said Estela. "Why are you here, and what does it have to do with us?"

"I thought I might offer to reactivate some of the spellwork on this city to assist you," said Alchara with a shrug. "As an act of goodwill. I can create a bridge of light that can lead to the far side of this city. From there, you can escape.

"The undead are focused mostly in this part of the city. Move swiftly enough, and you may escape."

"You have nothing we need, bitch," snarled Wrynncurth.

"Do you have an alternative?" asked Alchara flatly. "Or would you prefer to die by the hand of the undead?"

"You misunderstand me," said Wrynncurth. "I am perfectly capable of saving myself and several others." Then, surging forward, he snatched Relma and Estela in his talons. He leaped off the roof, wings beating. Soon, they were dangling in midair, trying to reorient herself. The wind howl through her hair, and it was cold. The scent of death was in it.

"Wrynncurth, what are you doing?!" said Estela. "Ajax and Jomas are still back there!"

"I'll go back for them after I drop you off, old girl," said Wrynncurth.

Wrynncurth shot over the trees and descended into them, landing down. Dropping Estela and Relma, he lay down for a moment.

"Wrynncurth, are you sure about this?" asked Estela. "Her help could have-"

"It's principle, old girl," said Wrynncurth. "If I accept help from her, then I must forgive and forget what was done to my people that I shall not do.

"I should not have had cordial tea with her, let alone put myself in her debt.

"This should be far enough. Stay here."

And he shot off in a blur, flying up over the city. As they did, Estela and Relma got behind a tree, watching as undead began to wander over the edge toward them. Perhaps by some spell of Alchara, the wards flared to life, and the scattered few were burned apart.

"...The undead are coming this way. Who is directing them?" asked Estela. "They can't just be mindless."

"I don't know," mused Relma, "but I hope Wrynncurth, Jomas, and Ajax get here soon."

Wrynncurth came back, carrying Jomas as he did. He landed and collapse to his haunches, drawing out his pipe and lighting it.

"Wrynncurth, are you alright?" asked Relma.

"Fine enough," said Wrynncurth. "No word on where Ajax is, though. He wasn't on the roof when I got there."

"I'm here," said Ajax, emerging from the trees. "As soon as Wrynncurth took you off the roof, the undead changed tactics and went after you. I used the confusion to slip away."

"What about Jomas?" asked Relma. "You left him?"

"Yeah," said Ajax. "Why wouldn't I? Wrynncurth was coming back for him. He couldn't have made it out by stealth, and the dragon said he couldn't carry all of us. So I took things into my own paws."

"Should we find a place to hide and rest there?" asked Jomas.

"We can rest when we're dead," said Estela, "assuming there are no necromancers around. Come quick, into the trees.

"Does anyone have the packs?"

"I um, I was wearing mine," said Relma. "And I have yours, Estela."

No one else said anything. Ajax shrugged.

"Damn it," said Estela. "No matter, as Ronald would say, better short rations than short a head."

"Wise words," said Wrynncurth.

Together they moved on into the woods, even as the undead began to come after them. Relma felt very tired, and everyone else looked worse. Ajax kept sniffing at the air. "Why do you think Alchara manifested there in these ruins?" asked Relma suddenly.

"Who knows or cares?" snapped Ajax.

"It could be relevant to our plans," said Estela. "Even if we aren't accepting her help, we should know."

"Well, if I were to hazard a guess, I should say that she likely has a great deal of innate power. One drives out the undead," said Wrynncurth. "Alchara is a manifestation of nature's harmony. No doubt, the whore sensed my presence and let the undead in.

"She'd love to see me dissected; I'll tell you that."

"Well, why would she offer to help us then?" asked Relma.

"Because it would give her power over you, Relma," said Estela. "If she saved you, you would owe her something. If ever you came into your inheritance in full, that kind of debt is a powerful thing.

"She'd need only to save you from a problem she herself created."

"There's no proof of that," scoffed Ajax. "For all we know, Alchara's power was weakening. She probably couldn't afford to confront whatever will broke in here."

"Are you really coming to that butcher's defense, Ajax old boy?" asked Wrynncurth, voice slightly disapproving.

"No," said Ajax, giving him a flat. "I'm saying there might not anything to defend her for. Alchara hasn't been a significant player in ages.

"Besides, if you had the chance to sick an army of zombies on her and didn't know Relma, you would have done the same thing."

Wrynncurth shrugged. "...I jolly well should not have. Zombies are an inefficient tool, all quantity without any quality. They're clumsy and might well eat someone who isn't my enemy.

"That kind of weapon is bad business.

"Either way, I suppose it isn't worth chatting on the subject. Alchara has nothing on us, and we are free."

"For how long?" asked Estela. "Undead don't need to rest. Even if we move faster than them, they'll catch up in the night."

"Oh sure enough, but their handlers do," said Wrynncurth. "Intelligent undead must sleep now and then, even if they don't close their eyes. Minds need rest now and then, you know, even if they are in corpses.

"We need only outrun them."

"I have a better plan," said Ajax, before howling into the air. The sound rang throughout the wood, and Estela looked up in horror.

"You'll draw them right too us!" said Estela.

"We'll draw something closer first," said Ajax, as out of the shadows came many wolves. "Here are my kin."

"What did you do?" asked Relma.

"I'm setting up a spell of sorts," said Ajax. "These ones will encircle the main column of the undead. You'll rest here, for now, I've got work to do."

Then Ajax disappeared with his kind.

And they waited.

Howls occasionally echoed throughout the wood, met with the moans of the dead. They seemed to bounce off the trees over and over again. Relma, Estela, and Jomas ate their rations and waited. Little by little, Ajax returned, looking very pleased with himself.

"We must have destroyed thousands of their spells," said Ajax. "We shattered their enchantments, and I even got a look at their handlers!"

"Handlers? What do you mean?" asked Estela.

"He was a cyclops, a huge one with an eye of bright green," said Ajax. "With him were a number of dwarves. The wolves here call him Akar.

"Anyway, I coordinated with the other wolves and began mass howling. Their voices meshed with mine and took on some of the power.

"We need not worry about those undead for a while; I'll tell you. They're trying to run the opposite direction.

"Now come on, let's not stick around here anymore."

"I hate zombies," muttered Jomas.

"I think we all agree with that," said Wrynncurth.

No one argued.

Relma, however, made a mental note to rebuild this place someday. She'd like to see it restored to what it once was.