We did not find any horses, or carts. Which was not too surprising, there was no proper road. It would have been hard to get a wagon to their camp. What we did find were five pack mules though.

“Do you think they had wagons elsewhere? Maybe a second camp at the edge of the forest?” Cassie wondered.

“It’s a possibility, I suppose.” I said.

“Two camps would increase their risk of being discovered.” Helena pointed out.

“Well, if there are more, the army can go look for them.” Skadi said.

“Technically, we are the army.” I countered.

“We are only students.” Skadi responded.

“It’s getting dark. We should return to our camp soon.” Helena said.

“I will order my zombies to pack up the camp. The mules can’t carry everything.”

The family we had rescued watched the undead warily. Helena tried to calm and reassure them. We would take them with us to our camp. Tomorrow they could return home.

We did not have time to search everything. I just hoped the zombies managed to grab the important things. What I did collect personally was the skeleton of the dead mage. Nyx’ attack had destroyed all the flesh, leaving some interesting blackened bones behind. I made sure they were secured on one of the mules. I also watched Nyx carefully. She eyed those bones hungrily.

“Do you think you can turn that mage into something good?” Helena asked as I attached the bag with the skeleton to the mule.

“Hopefully. I might have to look into a better spell to raise skeletons. I am not sure if I just want to animate him normally and add a water element.”

“An undead mage would be cool.” Cassie said. “Sadly you can’t make them throw fireballs. Hm. You should work on ice explosions.”

“Ice explosions?” I asked.

“Anything can explode if you try hard enough!” She said with a grin.

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“Sure. Anyway, creating a true mage would require a tier three undead.” I said.

“So? Surely you have enough mana for that.” Skadi said as she joined us.

“It’s not the mana. The spell is complex. Further, a tier three is sentient. They would fight me. And I would be enslaving them…” I pointed out.

“Hm. Would it be the same mage? He did try to kill you. It would be a fitting punishment.” Helena argued.

“Well, it depends. You can bring back someone who died as an undead. But that topic has not been covered much, yet. So I don’t know all the specifics. You can also create a new creature, based on the corpse you use.” I explained. Also, I was still conflicted about controlling a sentient undead. Technically I could control Nyx. I just had not really used that power. And she could not talk, despite being intelligent. Or she refused to talk.

“If you create a new sentient creature you would be a mom!” Cassie noted.

“Uhm, I suppose…” That was not the most appealing thought.

“You know, Frank can use some magic and he is not sentient.” Helena said.

“Well, he is not a true mage. You can create a tier two undead with magical abilities. But their power will be limited. A true mage could learn additional spells and would have a core. I suppose I could create a skeleton that can use one or two spells, or something.” I scratched my head.

“An army of skeletons who can throw an ice knife would be impressive. You should work on a ranged division.” Helena suggested.

“Ranged division? I don’t have an army! Well, I have some zombies. I really need to learn how to turn them into skeletons…”

“You don’t have an army… yet. Muahahaha” Helena laughed.

The family we had rescued looked at us.

“You are scaring them.” I pointed out.

“It just means her evil laugh is working.” Cassie said.

Skadi nodded. “You have to admit she is quite good at it.”

After everything was packed up we started our return trip. The light was dwindling, thankfully we had found some torches. The family was using one, as were Helena and Cassie. Skadi and myself had better eyesight, we were fine, for now.

There was something comforting about walking through the night, surrounded by undead. Maybe it was a necromancer thing. The rescued family certainly seemed less pleased. They jumped at every strange noise and kept looking over their shoulders.

Regardless, we arrived at our camp without incident. We offered the family a tent we had looted, which they gratefully accepted. We also shared our supplies. While it was late, they were clearly hungry and needed food. So did we. We could have all shared a meal but they seemed uncomfortable in our presence.

“Did we find their food stores? Did they have anything good?” Helena asked.

“They had crackers.” Skadi said.

We looked at her in horror.

“And some fancy meat. Probably for the mage.” She said with a smile. “I loaded it on one of the mules.”

“It is late, we should cook something quickly. And get some ale.” I added.

“We certainly deserve a drink. How are you feeling, Koyuki?” Helena asked.

“Still a bit sore. It should be fine by morning.” I replied.

“That mana circulation technique sure helps with recovery.” Cassie said.

“It is a great thing.” Skadi agreed.

“Back to the food, any suggestions?” I asked.

“We could just have some sausages and maybe cobs of corn as a side. We can grill those quickly over a fire. Goes well with beer.” Skadi suggested.

“Sounds great, I will get the food.” Helena offered.

Despite it being dark already we spent some time drinking and celebrating our victory. We had defeated a mage supported by a lot of fighters. We had discovered a lot of seeds. Which was important, probably. We had even freed some people. I was certainly tipsy by the time I crawled into my tent. Nyx buried herself in my tail. I listened to her purr as I fell asleep.