When dwarves decided to do something, they didn’t mess around or have excessive bureaucracy to navigate. They were like boulders rolling downhill, not stopping until they reached their destination. Velena exemplified this aspect of their people, and before I could even get my feet back under me after this strange situation, she had already ordered several murders of crows to be sent out.

Each one of those crows contained a letter bound for the multitude of dwarven cities, strongholds, churches, or even where their population simply represented a majority in a town. They detailed everything that she had learned about what the followers of light had been doing and contained her personal stamp so there was no argument about the validity of the claims. There were orders attached with the information as well, commands to prepare for war while staying relatively quiet about it. This would give us a few days to get ready before a more public document was released.

On my side, we had started packing up everything that we needed for a continued campaign. Food, weapons, clothing, supplies for making camps, all of it was loaded into carts, onto horses, or simply carried on the backs of soldiers.

While this was going on, I had a few personal tasks to attend to. We were going on the war path again, and we had accumulated too many prisoners to drag along with us. At this point there was nothing we could do other than cut them loose, but I would at least try to turn that to our advantage.

The priests that had been pulled out of the church as well as the ones that we had taken with us from the village were all dumped into the local jailhouse which was now practically bursting at the seams. I walked into the building to see all the robed individuals occupying the various cells. Some of them were sitting, others leaning against the walls, and a few were pacing around what little space still existed in the cramped area.

All of them noticed my entrance and were now paying close attention, probably wondering what their fate might be. I’m sure it came as a surprise when I ordered the cells opened and all of them shuffled out. There were many nervous and confused faces amongst the prisoners as they were escorted outside and down the streets of the town.

I was bringing them back to the destroyed church, figuring it would have the most impact for this discussion. Upon entering what had effectively been many of these priest’s home for years and seeing it torn apart, they naturally reacted with visceral shock. Eventually, the surprise from seeing the state of the building subsided, and they all began to take notice of the one piece of furniture still intact, a table that I had placed here beforehand.

Upon the table was a selection of evidence I had taken from the larger pile that I thought would be sufficient for this. “Some of you don’t know why this is happening, some of you do. You’re all here now so I can get everyone on the same page.” I gestured to the pile of papers. “I assume that most of you know how to read?”

There were a few nervous nods amongst the crowd, but no one said anything about not being able to. “Good, because these papers that you see before you were all taken from the cellar of this very building. They all contain information of crimes committed by your church’s leaders against humanity. Read them, and you will know exactly why we are here.”

Some of them seemed rather hesitant to step forward and see what I had prepared for them, but there were a few that seemed more curious than their fellows. Several of the priests approached the table and started reading the documents arranged before them. I also spied a few of the familiar faces from the village who apparently wished to find out more about what their organization had been doing behind everyone’s back.

I didn’t bother to direct or guide them in any way, simply allowing them to read and figure things out at their own pace. As the first group of priests continued to read and dig through the piles of papers, more and more of the lingering members started to make their way up as well. It was funny, in a way, to see the realization sinking in and inspiring almost the exact same look in every one of them.

After the information had effectively spread to the whole group, I addressed them once more. “Now you see why this has happened, and why it must continue to happen. From this point forward you all will have a few choices to make. You can forsake your duties as a member of the followers and live as an ordinary person, in which case you will be largely ignored in what is to come. You may also choose to persist in your service and render aid to your people’s armies out of some misguided sense of duty. For this you will be considered an enemy if encountered again and will be treated as such. Lastly, you can spread this knowledge of your leaders' wrongdoings, allowing justice to find those who it is intended for. The choice is yours. You are all free to go, and I hope that you choose wisely.”

With that, the guards and I left the priests in the ruins of their old life. Perhaps we would never see them again, and I hoped that would be the case, but I had a feeling that there would be at least a few of them that chose to fight against us in some way. There would be no second chances for them.

There was one last thing to do, and frankly I would have been happier not doing it, but it was a personal request from Velena. She had asked about the condition of the former bishop, and once I had explained his peculiar situation, she immediately asked me to let him go. I argued with her a lot, but she pressed upon me how keeping an undead slave would be a bad image if anyone found out. The story would be that he was interrogated, and then executed for his crimes.

I wasn’t happy, but she had a point that I begrudgingly acknowledged. So, I went to the private residence of Corvin where I had sat his slowly rotting body that he was trapped in. It was the safest place to keep him as no one was allowed in except the occasional servant, and they were an on-demand service.

Corvin was sitting in his bedroom, motionless as I last ordered him not to move. Looking upon the slimy bastard once again, I held nothing but contempt for him, and I was sure the feeling was mutual if his glare was anything to go by. I walked right up to him, unheeding of his death stare as I stood over him and looked down upon this miserable sack of flesh.

“So, it seems that our time together has finally come to an end.” He looked puzzled, maybe slightly worried about that implication. “You should be thankful. Velena is much more lenient and generous than I would have been had I been allowed to do away with you as I saw fit. Frankly you deserve nothing less than to be left motionless in the woods for the beasts to feast on your body while you can do nothing but watch as it happens. But again, you are lucky, so very, very lucky, and you get to pass on.”

There was some relief in his eyes, but that quickly turned to shock when I yanked out my sword and drove it into his heart. That wouldn’t kill him since it wasn’t beating in the first place, but still, being impaled creates a visceral reaction whether it is effective or not. I could imagine that internally he was panicking a bit from seeing the sword in his chest, and that brought me some manner or pleasure as I leaned in close to his face.

“My only regret is that you didn’t feel more pain before you went.” I placed my palm upon his chest. “But I suppose I could give you a little bit as a parting gift.” With that I started to pull on his soul, only I wasn’t being efficient about it. I was purposefully twisting, stretching, tearing, and squeezing, making sure that the whole process was as uncomfortable for him as I possibly could make it.

His body twitched and convulsed despite my orders still being in place, showing just how much this must have been affecting him. I could only imagine the feeling of agony that must come with having your soul pulled into unnatural shapes. After about a solid minute of this I finally yanked my hand away, ripping his soul from his body that slumped over limp and lifeless.

I held his soul in my hand as it quivered and reeled from the treatment I just gave it. My face scrunched up in a sneer as I looked at the thing like it was the most disgusting object I had ever held. Keeping in line with that feeling, I threw his soul away like so much trash, watching as I disappeared into nothingness.

There was no satisfaction, I wasn't happy with this outcome. As I wrenched my sword out of the body and cleaned the stagnant blood off on Corvin’s old robes, I could feel concern start to come from the connection with my pocket god.

Samuel...

What? My tone was agitated and even a little bit hostile. It was seemingly ignored as they continued with only a simple word.

Breathe. My brow dropped in annoyed confusion, but they only said it again. Breathe.

Not knowing what else to make of the request, I simply did as they asked, taking a forceful breath in and out through my nose. Keep going. They said, and I did so, taking a few more breaths that slowly became less forceful with each inhale. Slowly I felt my shoulders begin to slump as the tension that I wasn’t even aware of exited my body.

Feeling better?

Yeah. I said with a sigh.

There was a moment of quiet that was allowed to persist before they decided to speak again. Don’t lose yourself in volatile emotions.

I know. It felt like they wanted to say something else, but apparently elected not to and allowed the conversation to fade out.

We were done here. The body would be handed over to anyone who cared enough to do something about it. It was time to leave this city and begin our march towards the dwarven territories.

Our destination would be a fortress town on the edge of their territory. Once there, Velena would provide our forces with arms and armor, as much as she could spare to get us into fighting shape. This meant more marching, and more waiting, but I could deal with that so long as we were gaining strength in that time.

The army was ready to move, and the dwarves headed the path as we journeyed. We had to make some adjustments to the way we traveled to prevent panic as we moved through the countryside. I would be glad for the days ahead if only for the fact that we would no longer have to take so many extra pains to prevent discovery.

Those few days of travel were grueling to say the least, but we made it to the town. While most of this town's population was soldiers who were at least informed of the situation, there wasn’t enough room for everyone to have a place to stay, or even stand in some cases, so we would have to stay outside the walls and camp out near the fortress at the edge of a forest. It was probably a lot safer for everyone involved as well as preventing a fresh wave of tension from forming in this new alliance.

Velena made an effort to familiarize her forces with my own, encouraging interactions and keeping a steady line of communication up. We received the first few deliveries of weapons within a day, getting a cart full of spears and a few brand-new swords for the officers. I was getting measured for armor as well, practically being attacked by some very direct dwarves who measured my every inch so they could get me some real protection.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Our camp was constructed quickly with the needs of the living being seen to first before some basic shelter for the undead was made. Liliana wished to lead that effort as her desire to render aid to others was still a driving motivation of hers. Malery was negotiating with Velena quite frequently, her previous job as a saleswoman making her more comfortable in such a situation than I would be. Those two women seemed to be of a similar mind and got along well with one another.

The camp was no place for the ladies to sleep, so Velena had invited them to stay with her in the keep. I was a little nervous about them being separated from me in such a drastic way, but forcing them to sleep on the ground or, at best, in a cot just so I wouldn’t have to worry wasn’t fair to them. Still, I had a few wisps tag along with them just to make sure nothing went wrong.

We were there for two days, receiving a steady stream of supplies and watching as more dwarves came to the fortress in response to their champion’s summons. Things were going well, but plans have a habit of encountering problems that you couldn’t possibly predict.

One night, I was preparing to turn in and get some rest after a full day of discussions with Velena and organizing the distribution of the supplies, but I was interrupted when no less than a dozen wisps came flying into my tent. I blinked in surprise at all the flashing lights that darted around my vision. It was difficult to make sense of what they were trying to tell me. There was a general sense of panic and danger from them, which immediately made me concerned and drove me to step outside with my sword.

More shock came when I saw that all around the camp the wisps were going crazy. Those that could perceive them were also very confused and worried. The captain even came running up to me with wisps harassing him as well.

“Sir!” He popped a quick salute which I dismissed just as fast.

“Captain, do you know what’s going on.”

“No sir, I can’t understand what their saying and they’re all trying to get the message across at the same time.”

I looked around, trying to find some clue that could help me piece together what had the wisps in a frenzy. It was then that I noticed the swarm was flowing into the camp from a particular direction. Following the lead, I marched over to that edge of the camp along with a few soldiers who decided to follow me.

When I arrived, I could only stare out into the cold darkness of the night, trying to discern what the cause of this commotion was. As I continued to try and pierce the veil of shadow that the waning moon had let linger over the land, something caught my attention. There was a noise, a dull and distant rumble that reached my ear. I cocked my head to the side to try and listen more closely. The sound was steady for a second, but then it got louder, and then louder still.

My eyes widened and my blood went cold. “TO ARMS! ENEMY ATTACK!” I charged back into the camp screaming those words multiple times as I went. Panic quickly took hold as people scrambled out of their tents, grabbing weapons, shields and even what little armor they could. We didn’t have enough time.

The darkness yelled out a bloodthirsty battle cry as a stampede of cavalry came crashing into the camp. Armored knights riding upon their horses lashed out with spears, swords and light magic. I watched as soldiers were cut down, broken, or turned to dust with silent screams on their faces. Everywhere I looked there was destruction, and that was before the other half of our camp erupted into flames.

Pillars of fire sprung into existence, engulfing tents and people alike. “Damnit, what now?!” I yelled in frustration.

“Sir Samuel!” I turned to see one of our living soldiers, bloodied but still in one piece, running my way. Choosing to meet him half-way, I moved in his direction to receive the message sooner. “Sir, orcs and goblins have attacked the east side of the camp!”

“What?!” The other three races had learned of us somehow and had organized an attack against us. The coincidence between our arrival in dwarven territory and this attack once again made me consider that it was all just a trick, but certain things didn’t make sense. For one thing, the attack could have happened while we were still in transit to the fortress, and two, there was no need to provide us with weapons if the intent was to kill us.

My thoughts on the situation were interrupted by the sound of a deep war horn coming from the dwarven stronghold. They must have finally taken notice of the attack, but I didn’t know when, or if, they would move to assist. Whatever the case may have been, we couldn’t just sit here and get pummeled into the dirt.

“Captain, we need a response ten minutes ago. Give our people a fighting chance.” He nodded and went sprinting off into the camp. “Everyone else, collect as many stragglers as you can and get them back to the safety of the main force.” They recognized the command and then went off to collect those who had been scattered by the cavalry's initial charge. “Wisps, to me!”

My summons of all the souls that had been swarming through the camp brought the little lights to my side. We needed every person we had fighting, whether they had physical bodies or not. I grabbed hold of a group of wisps and started to encourage their darker emotions to emerge. Considering the situation we were in, that was an easy enough task.

The specters that emerged from the black fog the hailed their creation were as terrifying as the last time I had seen them. That was good. “Do what you can to slow down the enemy.” With their orders received, they flew through the camp, hovering just slightly off the ground as they passed through every physical obstacle in their path. I created several more groups of specters, drastically thinning the cloud of souls as they took a more tangible form.

Now that I had done all I could to add to our forces, I readied my weapon and charged into the thick of the chaos to help wherever I could. It was hard to make sense of anything as the air itself felt like it was being choked. I dipped between the tents, passing by bodies and scorched bones of former soldiers who got caught in a magical attack. Knowing what that magic did to people only made me angrier as I stalked the tent rows.

Just then, a knight noticed me and spurred his horse into a charge, lowering his spear for an attack. I braced myself, trying to think of which direction to dodge when he got close and how I was going to fight this. Turns out I didn’t need to dodge as a specter came flying through a tent, and with a ghostly screech plunged itself into the side of the horse.

The horse, feeling the pain that the specter brought with its presence panicked and reared up, causing the rider to lose their balance and fall from its back. Not wasting the opportunity, I dashed up to where the knight lay stunned on the ground and introduced his head to the heel of my boot before thrusting the tip of my sword into his neck. Death was quick, but not instant as he gargled blood and weakly struggled for a second before falling still.

Barely pausing after that brief encounter, I took towards where the sounds of fighting were the loudest. Along the way I only saw more dead soldiers, too many to quickly count. We didn’t expect this attack, weren’t prepared for it, and the price of that mistake was laid out along my path as I navigated this trail of corpses.

The smoke from the fires clawed at my throat as the sounds of metal clanging together grew louder. When I finally encountered the main battle, I was glad to see that the captain had at least managed to get a good portion of our forces organized and defending themselves. Any time the cavalry attempted to attack they were met with a wall of spears that forced them back, and the infantry of the orcs and goblins was clashing with our own lines. All the while specters flew around, spreading pain and fear in equal measure to distract the enemy.

They were holding but being pressed from two sides was no easy situation to navigate. I leapt into action, rushing the line that was being pressed by the infantry. My initial strike from the side caught an orc who was busy fighting into our lines off guard. With a thrust, my sword sunk into his side, causing a roar of pain to escape him. Seeing their chance, the soldier who was fighting the orc also lashed out with a spear, sinking the tip of the weapon into our target's chest. The orc collapsed after that, if not dead, then dying.

My presence was noted by the enemies at that point, and they started taking swings at me, forcing me to merge with the other forces in our formation as we desperately tried to fight them off. Despite all the effort we made, our off-balance start and the fact that they were more prepared meant that we were losing ground bit by bit. Every time an orc swung his hammer, someone had a broken bone, every time there was a flash of light, a soldier was reduced to ash.

Our position would inevitably collapse at the rate things were going, but then another war horn sounded off, this one much closer. More yelling joined the chorus of voices that were already crying out in exertion from the heat of combat. Then, from between the rows of tents and over the destroyed portions of the camp came the dwarves, charging into the fray, weapons gleaming in the light of the fires and bodies covered completely in thick armor that looked like they were carrying around their own body weight in metal.

They crashed into the enemy, metaphorically and literally sweeping their feet out from under them. The relief was felt almost immediately as the pressure they were putting on our lines was diverted elsewhere. With their two-pronged surprise attack effectively neutered, whatever momentum they had died as their own formations started to crumble.

When it became clear that this battle could no longer be won, they began a full retreat, running back into the safety of the night. We gave chase for as far as we dared, picking off what stragglers fell behind. As the last of the enemy disappeared into the night there was a cry of triumph from the camp defenders. I did not join them.

For the next hour after the attack, we put out the fires that were threatening to consume what little was left of the camp. I walked through the smoke and ruins, watching as bodies were moved and charred bones collected. Numbness suffocated my senses, making me feel as if I was walking through a dream as the silhouettes of people walked all around me.

Then, I froze as I came across a body I recognized. It was Jason, the man from the village who came forward to speak with his departed wife. His face was covered in mud and his torso was stained with blood from a gut wound that had apparently been fatal.

Slowly, I kneeled next to him and placed a hand on his chest as if to confirm that he was in fact dead. His heart lay still, his face remarkably calm despite the night that we had all endured. Perhaps death did not scare him, in fact, I knew it didn’t. I closed my eyes as my face contorted slightly.

“I’m sorry, I hope your wife goes easy on you.” I spoke softly, personally. “May you forever be at peace and return to the calm twilight at the end of all things.” This whole night had played out like a bad dream, and I was trapped in it.

Even in the midst of all of this, someone still had need to call out to me. “Samuel!” I lifted my gaze to see Malery and Liliana making their way through the wreckage of the camp. Standing up, I met them part way over as they both seemed relieved to see me but concerned over the aftermath around them.

Malery looked around in stunned disbelief before asking a question that had an obvious answer to it. “What happened?”

My eyes drifted downwards to the ground as my fists clenched tightly. “They declared war on us, before we could on them.”

Sadness took over her features for a second before it was replaced by frustration. “How? How did they find us?”

I could only shake my head in answer. There was no way to know for sure. Perhaps they had spies in that town, maybe they managed to get a message out same as the dwarves, or possibly we had finally drawn the eyes of the other gods onto us with our actions. Whatever the reason, we had taken a serious blow.

My own emotions that had been stunned by the events of the night had finally managed to rouse themselves, and it was mostly anger. Lifting my head, I stood up straight and set my expression into a steely visage before marching off.

“Samuel?”

“Sir?” Malery and Liliana said at nearly the same time before quickly falling in behind me.

I stalked through the camp, hunting for a single person, the captain, and I found him helping with moving the bodies. “Captain!” I said in a commanding voice.

Whether out of surprise of trained response the man responded near instantly by spinning around and entering an at attention position. “Yes sir!”

Satisfied that he was listening, I gave my orders. “Get me fifty men who are good at either hunting, tracking, or navigating the wilderness. I want them ready to leave at first light.”

He looked slightly puzzled but did not question my order as he saluted. “Yes sir, I will have them ready for you at the specified time.” With that, he left the task he was previously working on to fulfill my orders.

I had to get ready too, there was a lot that I needed to pack. Malery and Liliana, who were present through all of that and still following me, voiced their confusion. “Samuel, what are you planning? You can’t go hunting down the attackers, not with just fifty men.” Malery said, obviously concerned that I was planning to do something foolhardy

“I’m not.” I replied curtly, which only added to her confusion.

“Then, what are you planning?” Liliana picked up the question that Malery undoubtedly wished to ask.

I paused my march for a second to look back at them. My eyes held conviction, my face an impassive stone. “I’m going to make some reinforcements.”