I awoke suddenly. Something was wrong…

“Meow.” Nyx complained from inside my tail. Apparently I jerked too much and disturbed her rest. But that was not important now.

Why did I wake up? I was still a bit groggy. I suppose we did drink quite a bit before bed. No. Stop getting sidetracked! Focus!

Then I noticed it. One of my zombies was damaged. Something had happened. Oh no! We forgot to post any guards! All of us just went to sleep.

I grabbed my sword and woke Helena.

“Hm? Is it still night?” She asked sleepily.

“One of my undead was damaged.” I told her.

She blinked, then nodded and grabbed her spear. We left the tent together. Nyx seemed surprisingly unconcerned. Usually she was good at detecting threats. But she did follow us.

The fire had burned out. With nobody being awake that was not too surprising. At least the sky was clear and the moon provided some illumination. That should help Helena. She woke Cassie and Skadi while I kept watch.

So far there was no sign of an attacker. But the damaged undead came from the direction of a bush. Interestingly, it was not entirely destroyed, just damaged. Maybe they fled? Maybe it was simply an animal?

“If there is a fight, Cassie will provide the light.” Skadi said.

I could see Cassie grin as she grabbed a vial.

“My undead was damaged over there.” I pointed towards a bush at the edge of the forest.

“That is a good position for a scout. Maybe you scared them off.” Skadi observed.

“Let’s approach it carefully. Where are your other undead?” Helena asked.

“The goblins are next to the supply wagon. Frank is here. The zombies are patrolling in a wide circle.” You could see them shuffling around. I kept them a bit farther away because of the smell. Also they would provide an early warning system, in theory.

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“Let Frank check the bush first.” Helena suggested.

“Good idea. I will pull 5 more zombies towards us. They can be the vanguard.” I said.

Together we approached the bush. I prepared a water shield. There could be someone waiting. And we did not have time to put on our armour.

Frank charged in…

Nothing happened. We followed and I could finally get a good look at the damaged zombie. His foot was caught in a trap…

“This is our trap.” Skadi observed.

The zombie’s foot had been crushed by the metal arms. He was stuck.

“That trap is scary. It really crushed the foot when it closed.” Cassie noted.

“So… I might have woken you up for nothing.” I said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“It’s fine. It could have been an enemy.” Cassie said.

“Yes. I will gladly accept a few false alarms if it stops us from being ambushed at night.” Helena agreed.

“And we forgot to post a guard.” Skadi added.

“One question though, why was the zombie in this bush?” Helena asked.

“Uhh… I don’t know. They are supposed to walk around a bit and patrol. I did not order them specifically to check a bush.” I said. “Do you think it caught something here?”

“It is a possibility.” Helena said. “Can you see any tracks? It’s too dark for me.”

“I see prints but I think they are ours.” Skadi said.

While we were busy observing the area Nyx was sniffing the zombie. Then she bit into the trapped foot. The zombie collapsed as his leg was severed. Nyx started chewing the leg, which was still stuck in the trap.

“I think she would be more agitated if there was an enemy nearby.” I said while watching Nyx chew.

“Let’s go back and get the fire started again. We should still have some wood.” Skadi suggested.

We went back and settled down around the fire. Cassie ignited it with her magic.

“So, what time is it?” Helena asked, while yawning.

“About four.” Skadi answered after checking her watch.

“Are we going to post a guard now?” I asked. “Or are we all staying awake?”

“Would be unfair if only one person stays awake. And maybe the zombie did scare someone off. It might be better for all of us to keep watch.” Cassie said.

“It’s fine, I can keep watch. I woke all of you up.” I offered.

“You did the right thing.” Helena assured me.

In the end we all sat around the fire. It was nice and cosy. We talked some more at first, then fell into a comfortable silence.

I awoke, again. Damn, I had fallen asleep by the fire. It was mostly gone by now but the sun was already rising. I yawned. My friends were all here. It looked like we all slept by the fire. Having a hard day, followed by staying up late drinking, did make you sleepy. Certainly not an ideal condition for guard duty.

I stretched and looked around. It was peaceful. I had no further trouble with my zombies. The family we had rescued was still in their tent. Time to get cleaned up and make some coffee. The others began to stir as I moved around.

“Did you keep watch?” Helena asked as she got up.

“No…” I admitted.

“We all fell asleep again.” Skadi stated.

“What we need is an energy potion for guard duty. Something like coffee, but better.” Cassie mused as she rubbed her eyes.

“There is nothing better than coffee.” I said.

“But if there were? Imagine a magical coffee! Or something like that.” She replied.

“Hm.” I pondered that. “I suppose magical coffee does sound interesting. But for now the regular will do.” Then I sniffed myself. “And a bath.”