I didn’t sleep that night. Not just because I was busy preparing for what I had in mind, but because I simply couldn’t, not after what happened. The long hours before sunrise I spent working, reading through my spell book and preparing the many rituals that I intended to use in the future.
That attack had been a wakeup call for me. Before, we had to fight, we had to take risks, but things had turned out in our favor. We had never encountered an actual army until this point, and we had lost despite successfully defending ourselves. Looking back on it, we had outnumbered them, yet still we lost a significant number of people to that surprise attack by what seemed to be their fastest forces. There could be no holding back, no limiting ourselves when so much was at stake.
The grisly materials that I had been using were made even more so when you considered that some of them were from humans. I didn’t have enough animal bones left in my supply for the scale of magic that I was planning. It felt strange holding the charred remains of the soldiers who were destroyed by the elves magic, and some part of me recognized that this was a moral boundary of some sort, but I figured that the soldiers wouldn’t mind, and might in fact enjoy the idea that even after they are gone, they can still do something to help.
So, I carved, sheared, and chipped away at the skeletal remains for hours on end. I was so absorbed in my task that I didn’t even realize how long I had been at it until the entrance to my tent opened and the captain walked in. After he completed a quick salute, he gave me a report on my order.
“Sir, the troops you requested are ready. I ensured that their skills matched what you asked for.”
I could see behind him that the sun was starting to come up, casting its orange glow on the horizon. Wearily pinching the bridge of my nose, I started to pack up while replying. “Thank you, captain, I’ll be out in just a few minutes.”
Taking the dismissal for what it was, the captain gave another salute then exited the tent, leaving me to gather my supplies in peace. Tying up the bones in bundles and hanging them on my pack, I put all the necessities for travel in the bag as orderly as I could. Once I had the bag on my back, the voice of my pocket god filled my thoughts.
I know what you’re planning to do. They said simply.
I figured you would. Are you going to stop me? The question carried a slight challenge to it, even though I knew how that would end if they did decide to interfere.
There was a pause for a second before the reply came. No. It will certainly help our cause and perhaps even help the locals in some way. However, if you go through with it, then you may inspire fear in others.
That was something I was already aware of, but I didn’t see it in the same way they did. They should fear me, because I'm here to collect on the debt they owe for all the lives they have taken.
A small sigh came from them. Do not lose yourself in this. The connection faded again, marking the end of the conversation.
I dismissed the warning as just an offhand comment. I was the same as I always was, just more determined. The conversation was largely put out of my mind as I exited the tent to find the troops that were waiting for me.
The assortment of men that waited for me were a mix of both the living and the dead, though leaning more towards the dead. They had been outfitted with new equipment and each of them packed supplies of their own, even if they themselves did not need it. Besides the soldiers, Malery was present to say farewell.
I had asked her to take charge of what was left of the army while I was away. They would be moving more inland to prevent something like this from potentially happening again. Not only did we still need time to get our equipment problem fixed, but now that war was declared, the dwarves would need to spread the news and rally their people to the fight.
Malery stepped towards me, her eyes quickly looking at all the bones I had attached to my pack before returning to my face. “Samuel, I don’t know exactly what you are planning to do, but I can venture an educated guess at it.” She scanned my reactions for a hint that she was right. When I didn’t give her anything, she continued with a small sigh. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Please, stay safe.”
I nodded to her. “Thank you, Malery, though I think you should save most of the worry for yourself. This army will still be the main target, so I hope that the plan to relocate will at least make it more difficult for them to attack. Keep an eye out and keep your wits about you. I’ll be back.”
She shot me a small smile. “Best of luck, Samuel.” With that, she turned and made her way back into the camp to fulfill her role as temporary leader.
Now I directed my attention back to the fifty soldiers I had summoned. They stood in a roughly square formation, spears in hand, leather armor and metal helmets fresh from the dwarf's stockpile. I stood in front of them, more confident and self-assured than I had been just a few days ago.
“We’re going on a little hunting trip, but hopefully after the first few days, you won’t have to do much of the hunting anymore.” A few of them exchanged confused glances with one another before I continued. “I assume that you are all prepared to spend some time in the wilderness, because we will not be returning to the main force until we have completed our objective. Is that understood?”
“Yes Sir!” They all answered readily. At least the new volunteers either had the good sense, or the basic training required to follow orders.
“Good. Now, let’s get moving. We have a lot of work to do.” They might not have understood why we were doing this, but they trusted me enough to know that there was a reason behind it. For that, I was grateful.
We began our journey into the wilds, marching two people wide down the trails and paths that lead through the woods. The trackers were told to keep an eye out for any signs that creatures had moved through this area, animal or monster. It would be hours before we found a hint about the movement of wild creatures in the area.
I was rather impressed by the skills of a practiced hunter. The man could pick out a few broken branches of a bush and follow the nearly invisible path of destruction for miles. However, as we got closer to our quarry, the signs became more muddled as the movements of creatures in the area increased and went in multiple directions. At this point, I figured it would help if I called on the expertise of the only one who could track better than the man in this situation.
“Lilith, come here.” From my shadow emerged the giant hound, who sat at attention and with a slight wag of her tail while she waited for my order. The soldiers around me all backed up several steps at her emergence. She had been kept largely a secret as I figured having her for emergencies would be useful, but at this point I was done with secrets and limitations.
I stepped up and gave her a few scratches behind the ear that she seemed to enjoy immensely. “Good girl. Now, we are tracking some animals through the area and need your help finding them. Sniff them out for us.”
She got off her haunches and immediately put her nose to work, sniffing all over the area in a large circle as she picked out the freshest scent from the intermingling smells. Lilith perked up after finding a strong smell and began to trot off in a new direction. I followed along immediately, and the soldiers followed my lead, though with a little more hesitance due to her existence still being somewhat of a surprise to them.
The hunt continued for another half hour before we came upon our targets for the evening. It appeared we had been following a group of monsters to their burrow. They were razor fiends, a monster the size of a medium dog with a back full of sharp quills that would flare out when they were threatened. While alone they weren’t much of a threat to people, when they got together in groups they would raid and destroy farmlands, consuming animals, crops, and sometimes even an unlucky person who was overwhelmed. They really weren’t picky.
Right now, there were three outside of a burrow, one soaking up the sun, two either play fighting, or establishing dominance. There would be more inside the burrow, but if we all came out and threatened them, they would see the numbers disadvantage and disappear back into their den. We would have to lay a trap if we wanted to get the most out of this.
A discussion was had with my troops, one that they were not very enthusiastic about. We needed a few of them to act as bait to draw them out. It was a job that no one really wanted, so it was down to them to draw straws until a few losers were found. The unlucky four, three dead one living, grumbled as they were given the job of monster bait, a title that would probably stick amongst their peers for quite some time.
The bait would aggravate the razor fiends and get the nest to come charging out to defend their homes. While these monsters weren’t particularly fast, they could still keep up with a human and were dangerous with their quills, claws and teeth if you weren’t careful. After drawing their ire, they would be led to a small gully we had passed through on the way here.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
We had the plan, now we just needed to execute it. Once everyone was in position, the soldiers who were serving as bait went off to kick the nest. Things were quiet for a little while after they left, but then the distant sounds of shouting echoed through the woods.
From the tree line emerged the four men, running for their lives as thirty angry razor fiends chased after them. As soon as the fiends entered the narrow straight, the signal was given, and the soldiers descended on them from every angle.
The beasts panicked for a moment as they suddenly found themselves surrounded. They broke off in many different directions, trying to find an escape route but finding that difficult with the landscape working against them. While the men attacked them with spears, I was preparing for the aftermath.
From my supply of bones that I had spent hours carving, I pulled a long thigh bone that was covered in mystical carvings from the deepest recesses of my spell book. Directing my focus on the catalyst, the runes started to glow a pale blue as the effects of the magic took hold on the area around me. I wouldn’t know for sure if it worked until the first monster was killed, and that didn’t take long.
One of the soldiers rammed their spear into the back of a fiend’s neck, hitting its spine and killing it instantly. I watched closely as the little soul that made up its existence left the body, but instead of vanishing into the air, it froze in place, trapped inside the web of magic that I had cast over this battle. A small smile graced my face at the success of my work. This would make it far easier to complete our objective without me worrying about time constraints.
The fight didn’t last all that long. Monster didn’t stand much of a chance against well-equipped opponents to begin with, add on to that the training of a soldier and a clear numbers advantage and you have a recipe for slaughter. In the end, we achieved a sound victory with the only injury being a small cut on the leg of someone who was a little overconfident.
I walked through the bloody ground that was left behind in the wake of the fight as the razor fiends' corpses still leaked that vital fluid. All the monster souls remained static in the air above their bodies, waiting for me to make use of them, and I did.
Moving between each of the corpses, I took hold of the souls and pushed them back into their bodies. The still bleeding bodies of these beasts twitched before slowly rising to their feet again. I gave them orders to remain passive as soon as they awoke else their instincts would take control and put them on the attack again. When all was said and done, we now had thirty razor fiends added to our numbers.
I’m certain that the soldiers I had brought with me now understood what we were doing out here. Some looked a bit uncertain, others, excited by the prospect. Whatever their opinions, they still were ready to assist in bolstering our forces.
We had our first win, now it was time for more of the same. Tracking, hunting, killing, and resurrecting. The cycle would be repeated until I was confident that we would never lose another fight like that again.
While monsters were the preferred target for us, I wasn’t about to be picky with what was added to our army. Even your everyday animals had features that allowed them to defend or attack as was needed. Herds of deer, packs of wolves, snakes, hawks, bears, anything that was even remotely dangerous to a person would meet their end and then rise again in service to my will.
With every death came another hunter to our group. The beasts would be sent out to find more prey and bring the sometimes still bleeding bodies back to me between their jaws. These groups would wear the bone charms that I made that would allow them to tether the souls of their targets for me to make use of.
Our growth exploded with every passing day as we gained more bodies and were thus able to expand our efforts. We started with acquiring only a few dozen a day, but now we had gained a few hundred. In order to sustain this rapid growth, we roamed the wilderness for miles in any direction, a wave of death upon the land that any living creature that our sights fell upon succumbed to.
The areas where we found the most success were the arachnid and insectoid nests we found. Those creatures could reproduce at rates of hundreds in just a few months, and usually required a small army of organized adventurers to eliminate over the course of a few days. We wiped them out in a single afternoon.
Watching two swarms of monsters tear each other apart was both fascinating and scary. There was no order, no focus, and no mercy. Limbs were ripped, flesh torn, bodies bisected and dissected by claws or fangs. Blood and ichor flowed in equal measure during these fights, and we inevitably lost some of the other creatures under our control, but the amount we gained sometimes tripled those numbers. After all, those under my control no longer feared pain or death.
Our mission lasted nearly two and a half weeks, a not insignificant amount of time in the grand scheme of things. It was an unfortunate reality that taking so much time was a necessity in order to accumulate the numbers I desired, especially so when you consider the time it takes to resurrect the larger groups of monsters. It may have been difficult and dangerous at times, but it was well worth it.
Satisfied with our work, it was time to return to the fold of our main army, which would prove to be a challenge in and of itself. I recalled my pocket god’s words in that people would fear us when they saw this army of beasts marching across the land. The navigators of the group poured over the maps as we plotted the best way to make it from where we were to where Malery and our army had moved.
The plotted path would take another few days to reach while minimizing our presence. Even so, it wouldn’t be easy to hide what I had done for long. The very act of moving kicked up so much dirt and dust that we could probably be spotted from miles away. Our steps were so numerous that the earth rumbled at our passing, and at this point, you could probably smell the rotting corpses of the creatures being carried on the wind. Frankly I had stopped trying to keep a count of our actual numbers due to the rapid losses and gains we had been making.
It was almost certain that someone must have seen our passing, but it didn’t matter anymore. I wondered how far news about the war had spread, and if any information about the nature of the human army and condition were known. We would find out soon enough.
The day finally came when we would arrive at the camp. I made the decision to leave the more monstrous creatures in a safe, but close, location. Not only because it would be difficult to have so many of them in an already occupied space, but it was also likely that they would incite a rather adverse reaction. Fear was a tool better used on one's enemies after all.
As we approached, I took notice of a few changes that had occurred while we were gone. For one thing, it appeared that the camp had grown, now containing more tents than what we had before that night when we lost so many. The guards stationed around the perimeter were also better equipped, looking like proper soldiers outfitted for war rather than the ancient warriors wielding rusted armaments from a bygone age.
Our arrival was met with a combination of awe and concern. The original group I went out with was recognized, which was why we weren’t stopped, but I could see that there were many uncomfortable faces as the larger undead predators ambled behind me through the camp. Most probably didn’t even notice the dozens of flying animals that were above the camp.
In the heart of the camp lay the tents that were designated for officers, and that was where I found Malery. Word had apparently reached her before we did, because she was out and waiting for me when we got to her. She looked happy to see me, though she did make a slightly less pleased look at the dead animals behind me.
As soon as we got within talking distance, she struck up a conversation. “Samuel, it’s good to have you back. Frankly, I do not envy you your position of having to adjudicate every problem or issue that arises.”
I gave her a small smile of my own. “That’s a shame, I would have given you that job if you liked it.” I looked around the camp for a second before returning to her. “You’ve been quite busy around here.”
“I could say the same of you.” She shot back, casting another glance behind me. “Even though I thought this was what you were planning to do, I didn’t expect you to come back with so many.”
“This is only a portion of what I managed to do. I’ve left many of them nearby but out of sight due to their more... monstrous, demeanor.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “You raised monsters?” The look on her face turned to contemplation for a second. “Monsters are a problem while they're still alive, I shudder to imagine what damage they could do with no regard to their own safety.”
“You won't have to imagine for long.” It was a rather ominous, but true statement.
Malery let out a sigh. “You know, I might have had a problem with that if I didn’t think we needed it. We’ve had volunteers coming in daily ever since the news of the war and the crimes the followers of light committed spread. Velena has been mustering her people’s strength as well, all the while using their industry to supply us with equipment. Even with all of that, I can’t say with confidence that we could outperform the other three races in a fight, particularly the orcs.”
“I’m glad you understand the situation. This was not an action that I took lightly.”
“That’s good, I would have been worried if you didn’t consider the ramification at all. But enough about what we both already know, let’s get you caught up on the things that have been happening in your absence.” She led the way to her tent where we sat down for a conversation.
I was offered something to drink, which I accepted and had a sip of before we started. She opened with a more personal question. “I didn’t want to say anything out there, but are you doing alright? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
There was no way for me to know exactly what I had looked like, but it was apparently bad enough for her to mention it. The truth was that I had not been sleeping, at least not very well, and the restless nights were spent working on more talismans and plans for eventual conflicts. I could still perform my duties despite this, and I didn’t want to worry her over something so seemingly minor.
“I’ve been getting enough sleep, it’s just a lot of work to get all this done.” She didn’t look like she believed me, but apparently decided not to push the matter too much.
It was silently agreed that we would move on, and she proceeded to explain the events of the last few weeks to me. In my absence there had been an official exchange of war declarations between the two sides with many heated words and accusations being thrown around between them. Bridges were burned and now there was no going back.
I wondered what the reaction of the people was to this. To an outside observer, this war simply happened with no cause or reason, and I imagined that information would be rather restricted in territory outside our own influence. Both sides were probably at the end of their rallying phase, so the next battle would truly be where our mettle was tested.
This would be the beginning of the end, and our fate would be decided in the next few conflicts. I knew that the night they ambushed us was only a taste of things to come. The only thing I could do now was hope that I didn’t choke on the full meal.