The next morning, I woke up and checked on our prisoners, still gagged and surrounded by the volunteers. They didn’t look like they slept all that much. I guess they didn’t feel comfortable being surrounded and watched all hours of the night by the undead. Then again, there were very few people who would be comfortable with that. With them being sleep deprived it might make it easier for me to get a painless confession out of them. The smoother this next step goes, the better.

I decided to take a moment to look through the belongings of the priests, see if there was anything incriminating there. The packs that they carried were well made and worn by use. Each of them held a symbol of their order emblazoned on the front flap. Most of it was travel supplies, fire starting tools, food, the usual stuff. What was interesting though, was the glass vials filled with several different liquid substances of different opacities. If I had to make an educated guess, these probably were the poisons and diseases that were extracted and bottled for deployment. Not knowing how contagious each of these were, I elected not to open them and risk exposure.

Other than that, there was a map with the targeted village marked on it. Not exactly a very condemning piece of evidence, but every little bit helped. What I was really hoping for was the threat of another round with a specter to make the priest I had first interrogated last night more willing to talk. I felt like I needed much more time to prepare for this, but the reality of the situation was that even if I had all the time in the world, I probably wouldn’t be able to get a much better situation to work with than this.

Welp, day’s not going to wait for me. Let’s get this over with.

My pocket god, apparently sensing my apprehension, decided to give me a few words of encouragement as well. Relax. Just speak to them with clarity and confidence in your words and they will believe you.

You sound rather convinced of that for someone who has spent the last thousand years in a box.

That is true. I am willing to admit that it has been some time since I have made an address to many people, however, the core principles never change. If they feel that you truly believe what it is you come to them with, then they too shall believe in it. Humans are perceptive in that way.

I let out a slight huff of amusement. That another one of your little gifts to us?

No, that one is all you. Because you don’t have centuries to work with, you chose to work with each other instead. Your capacity for empathy and cooperation well exceeds that of any other race in this world.

I wasn’t completely convinced of that, but I suppose it was true on some level. Whatever the case may be, their words did help me focus myself and stop worrying so much about my level of readiness. I had the guilty party, I had the support of a god, and I had the voices of the dead to back me up in this. If it came down to it, I could always call upon one of the witnesses around me to testify against them, all it would take was their willingness to allow me to set up the ritual.

When I moved back to the other, my presence was noted by everyone. A brief glance from the volunteers before returning to watch the prisoners, and a blatant stare from the priests who watched my every move. Their eyes were bloodshot, almost hollow from stress and exhaustion, one more than the other. While the one priest I had simply talked to looked at me with apprehension, the other that I let the specters have a go at clearly was afraid.

Handing off the packs to some of the volunteers, I turned my attention to two priests sitting on the ground. The look I gave them was one of passive contempt. I kneeled and got face to face with them. A bit of silence was had between us as I let the tension grow for a moment before breaking it.

“This is what’s going to happen. We’re all going to take a little walk down to the village where you two are going to confess what you were planning to do.” Both of their brows dropped in response to that. It seemed there was still some defiance left in the two of them. “If you find that objectionable, then I can always let more of my friends here have some personal time with you. Maybe they would be willing to talk to you two, maybe three at a time.”

One paled, the other looked confused but worried. I decided to drive the point home. Turning to the more confused one, I explained exactly what I meant by that. “You see the way your friend here is reacting? See how he’s sweating, hyperventilating?” As I said that, the panicking priest tried to get himself under control again to not lend credence to my words, but it had almost the opposite effect. “He was introduced to a few of my friends last night, I'm sure you heard a little of that.” I changed my posture to a more threatening one, leaning in and over them a little. “He only met them one at a time, and he was screaming loud enough for you to hear him through a gag. Imagine double that pain, or triple. But you can avoid that simply by cooperating. You’ll be held prisoner, but I will make a personal promise that you won’t be tortured or harmed in any way.”

They appeared to be considering my words, glancing at each other as if they were seeking some sort of agreement. Whether that agreement was to cooperate or not I did not know, but I would just have to hope that the threat of that much pain would at least break one of them.

Now that the situation was clear to everyone, the pair were grabbed and forced to stand by some of the volunteers who then began to lead them. It was time to introduce ourselves to the local population and hope they didn’t just chase us off with pitchforks the moment we came into view. In fact, once we got to the edge of the woods, I addressed that concern to the volunteers.

“Everyone, before we continue, I need to make one thing clear. If it comes down to it, and they don’t care to hear what we have to say and turn violent, we leave. Don’t fight them as that is antithetical to our goal here. Understand?” Some general nods of agreement were given, which was good enough for me to proceed, albeit with a deep breath to calm myself before stepping out into the open.

The trip to the village didn’t take too long with the first of the buildings on the outskirts coming into sight just a few minutes after we left the cover of the woods. It was more of a farmhouse than anything as it was connected to a medium-sized plot of land that was currently being harvested for its crops. The workers who were currently in the fields appeared to be part of a singular family unit consisting of five people, all working age at least.

Our group went unnoticed by the workers for a moment before one looked up from the soil they were working with and immediately yelled out at the others. All eyes turned on us and were quickly filled with panic. I attempted to mitigate it somewhat, holding up my hands in a calming gesture towards them.

“Hold on, we-” I don’t think they even heard a single word as they took off running towards the village center, probably to warn the rest of their friends about us. Well, damn, that’s not good.

What did you expect? My pocket god chimed in. A parade?

That got a little chuckle out of me as I shook my head. No, I figured this would be about what we could expect, but I was hoping that I would at least get to say a few words before they started to panic.

What’s done it done, just try to make the most of it.

Yeah, that’s the idea.

Well, when we got to the center of the village, we would either find the populace in hiding or up in arms. Frankly I was hoping for the former because then I could attempt to speak with them on an individual level without risking violence breaking out. I was half right as it turned out.

What I saw when we arrived near the center of the village was group of men armed with tools and looking somewhere between scared and determined. This was obviously not the entire population of the village, but their numbers were still more than my group. The worst thing you could do in the face of anyone, or anything for that matter, is to approach when they’re scared. I stopped at a healthy distance from those across from us, my retinue coming to halt right on my heels.

The looks from the group across from us were generally that of confusion. I suppose this behavior isn’t exactly typical of your average undead, or at least the stories that are told of them. From what I’ve seen, the undead that aren’t feral generally try to avoid getting too close to civilization if they can help it. They understand their situation, and while that keeps them safe for the most part, it also weighs heavily on the mind, and can drive them towards the edge of sanity. It’s kind of shocking how much humans need interaction to function.

My mind was wandering, and I refocused myself on the situation before me, which at its most basic explanation was trying to find a way to deliver my message without being impaled or hacked into pieces. The villagers were tense, ready for a fight that might start at a moment's notice. I had to start somewhere with them, so I decided that maybe a brief conversation would help to lower their guard.

I raised both my hands part way to show that I didn’t mean any harm. “Hello everyone.” Those two words had an effect that I wasn’t expecting. Several of the villagers recoiled, all of them had a look of shock on their faces. They apparently did not realize that I was still alive.

“You’re not dead?” One of them asked, astonished.

I looked down at myself for a moment in mock observation. “Last I checked no.” My attempt at humor didn’t create the levity that I had hoped for.

The man who had been talking to me was now desperately gesturing for me to move. “Get away from them then! Are you blind?”

Again, I tried to placate them a bit. “Woah, woah, easy. There’s no danger here, they’re peaceful and with me.”

He looked astounded. “With you? I...” His eyes wandered around my group for a moment, as if he was finally seeing that none of us were acting aggressively. “What is going on right now?!”

I didn’t fail to notice that his grip tightened around his improvised weapon, but I ignored that and continued to talk to him. “Listen, this might be a lot for you to take in all at once, but the undead aren’t all the mindless monsters that you’ve been told. Many of them are still capable of thought and logic. While that in and of itself would be a topic that I would probably need a day to talk to you about, I unfortunately must direct the conversation away from it and onto another subject, one that is more pressing to your current safety.”

A few of them shrank away from my ominous statement. I quickly supplemented it. “Not from me, but also not from anything you likely expected either.” I turned a gestured for the priests to be brought forth.

The two of them were pushed to the front of the group and then made to kneel. Murmurs and whispers flowed freely from the group opposite us as they saw the religious symbols and robes denoting their service to the Lord of Light. I could see that many of them were shocked, a few were outraged.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Someone shouted from the crowd.

I didn’t address that person directly, but instead talked to the crowd as a whole. “These men were sent here to poison you, spread disease through your village so they could experiment on you.” There was a mixed reaction from that news, prompting me to bring out the next bit of physical evidence that I possessed.

Retrieving the travel packs, I presented them to the crowd. “These are their packs. Inside there are vials that contain the contagious substances that they planned on releasing on you as well as a map that has your village marked as the intended target.” As I talked about each subject, I removed it from the pack for them to see. A few of them now turned very critical looks onto the priests, but there were still many who were not convinced.

“How do we know that you’re not the one who brought this into our home?” One of them asked.

I expected a question like this and had a plan to answer it. However, it was not a foolproof plan and relied on their level of trust, and or interest, in the current situation. “I can establish my credibility as well as that of my words if you would be willing to allow me a chance to use some magic.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Magic? Is there a spell to detect lies or something?” The question was asked in a more curious than critical tone.

“Honestly, I don’t know, but if there was it wouldn’t be under my particular skill set. My magic is more... strange, I suppose, but it is something that only we humans are capable of. To start, has someone here lost a member of their family and would like a chance to speak with them again?”

That stunned almost every single one of them as they stared at me with wide eyes. “You... you’re saying that you intend to speak with the dead?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” I genuinely asked. “I mean, technically you could speak with the dead right now if you wished.” I gestured to the volunteers behind me. “The only issue is that they aren’t very capable of saying anything back in their current condition. What I intend to do is call upon the souls of those who have departed and establish a direct form of communication with the heart of a person's very being. Now, would any of you like to speak with someone who had departed from this world?”

Nervous shuffling went around the crowd as no one seemed too eager to volunteer themselves for magic that they had never heard of. I was a little worried that no one would be willing to come forward, but then, one man gently nudged his way through the crowd to stand at the front of it. He was middle-aged, with shaggy brown hair that connected to a beard. He looked like how I would describe someone who was tired, exhausted really, with some dark circles under his eyes and an apathetic gaze. Something else of note was that a wisp was hovering rather close to him. I didn’t notice it before due to him being near the back and the density of the little souls in the area. Why this one seemed to favor him I did not know.

“You can talk to the dead?” He asked.

I nodded at his question. “Yes, and so can you given the right ritual is used.”

A glimmer of interest, and maybe hope touched his features. “I would like that.” The simple statement was tinged with emotion that was just barely hinted in his words.

“Alright. To start, I need a solid surface to work with, a table preferably.”

“I can get that.” Immediately he turned and left the area, leaving all of us to simply wait in an awkward silence as the living and dead stared at each other from across the short gap of space between us. Eventually, he returned with a small rectangular table about a meter in length.

It was set down on the ground between the two groups with me and the man the only people standing by it. While I started to prepare for the ritual, I talked to the man.

“So, who do you wish to talk to?” I saw his eyes cast downwards for a moment before returning to meet mine.

“My wife. She passed some years ago. A strange malady afflicted her, making her progressively weaker until...”

“I see.” I interjected myself to spare him from having to say it out loud. I knew how painful it was to talk about the loss of those closest to you. Again, the wisp that had been following the man moved closer, practically alighting upon his shoulder. This act made me realize something, and I found a soft smile forming on my face.

“You loved each other very much, didn’t you?”

“She was everything to me. I’ve felt lost ever since.”

I nodded in a sympathetic fashion. “Hopefully this will help both of you find peace.” My wording garnered a slightly questioning look from him, but he didn’t say anything. I adjusted the ritual slightly from the standard one that is used to summon a soul to our location to a much more simplified version. It was, after all, much easier to perform this spell with the soul we wished to talk to already present.

The circle was constructed and ready for use. The man, seeing that I was done, decided to ask another question. “How does this work then?”

“It’s simple really. This circle will allow her to manifest in a ghostly manner, after which, you may say whatever you wish to one another.” I held out my hand towards the wisp floating around him. “My lady, might I ask that you leave his side for just a moment?”

The man looked confused, turning his head to look around where I was gesturing, unable to see that his wife never truly left him. The wisp did as I requested and floated over to my hand where I directed it towards the circle. Placing her in the center, I then moved my hands to either side of the construct and focused on using the magic. The runes started to glow a moment later, getting a few gasps from the crowd and a wide-eyed look from the husband.

Once the light of the circle had reached a zenith, the soul started to change shape, expanding and slowly forming into a more recognizable human shape. The husband simply stared, breathing slightly heavier than he had been up to this moment as the soul of his wife was now visible to the untrained eye. After a minute, she took her final shape. The feminine form of the glowing smokey human shaped wisp stopped at about the waist, but everything above that was undoubtably a person.

Everyone on the villager's side stared in stunned silence, and it was the soul of his wife that was the first to say anything. “Jason.” The name echoed out in an ethereal manner, but the voice was apparently recognized.

The husband's breath hitched. “Maria, is it really you?”

“Yes, I am here, I've always been here.”

Jason looked at a loss for words, mouth opening and closing a few times before he could eventually get something out. “This... this isn’t a trick, is it?” His gaze fell on me for a moment. “You’re not just conjuring this up, lying?”

“Ask her something then, something that only the two of you would know.” I challenged him.

He looked to be considering for a moment before his brow dropped. With a heavy swallow, he asked her his question. “What was the last thing I ever said to you?”

A heavy pause happened before she responded. “You said that you would join me soon, and I, horrified, told you ‘Don’t you dare’.” Jason now had tears openly rolling down his face. “Because if you showed your face to me before you had lived a full life, I would beat you alive again.”

Jason’s breath came in shuddering waves as he started sobbing and wiping his eyes to try and clear away the tears that continued to flow. When he did talk, his voice was strained as he fought to get words out between sobs. “I... I’m sorry. I didn’t... I couldn’t do anything. I just... sat there while you-”

“Jason, stop!” The firm command halted his words in his throat, forcing him to swallow them back down. “Neither of us could do anything, it was out of our control. You can’t keep blaming yourself for it.”

“But I-”

“No buts! I don’t blame you for anything my love.” A ghostly hand stretched out towards his face, resting just on the surface. She couldn’t actually touch him, but the gesture was what was important. His hand came up to try and match hers, but it just passed through one another. He looked a little crestfallen at that, but still satisfied with the moment as a whole.

“I love you my dear, and I always will.” He whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“And I you.” She replied. “When this is over, I think I'll move on, to the other side. I will wait for you there, but don’t you dare rush to meet me. Take your time, enjoy what you can here. We will have all the time in the world to be together afterwards.”

“I will my dear, I promise.”

She simply nodded her ghostly head at him before turning to me. “I’m ready now.”

I gave a slight dip of my own head to acknowledge that and disrupted the integrity of the circle. Her human form quickly disappeared, shrinking back down into the invisible orb. Cupping my hands underneath her soul, I gave her the rest she deserved.

“Be at peace and return to the calm twilight at the end of all things.” With that, her soul coalesced into its perfect peaceful form and ascended into the air before disappearing.

“She’s gone?” Jason asked in a voice slightly above a whisper.

“Not gone, just waiting somewhere else for you, comfortable and well looked after.”

The man nodded and wiped his eyes a bit. “Thank you.” He turned a moved slowly back to the rest of his village. A few of them greeted him with some gentle hands on his shoulders, trying to comfort the man who must have been emotionally exhausted.

I hoped that I truly did help him find peace of mind, but now I had to turn back to the matter at hand. My credibility probably improved a bit from this showing, at least I would come off as more important than just some wandering vagrant insane enough to associate with the undead. Now that I had accomplished that at the very least, I could begin with the real reason I was here.

“Now you know that I speak with the dead, and they are my witnesses in this matter. We may call upon them if you wish, but it would be more of a formality at this point. These men are guilty of murder, attempted or otherwise, and their order is complicit in this.”

I went over to the priest that was worked on last night, figuring he would be more willing to cooperate. Removing his gag, I gave him a simple order. “Confess.”

He hesitated, casting a warry gaze between the people of the village and myself. Maybe he was more worried about the punishment he might receive from his superiors than what he would receive from me. I had simple remedy for that line of thought. All it took was for me to lift an outstretched hand to the sky. There wasn’t even a wisp in that general area, but he still sucked in a gasp of air.

“Wait! I... I...” He began before another interruption happened. His friend started making a lot of noise at him through the gag. I quickly made a gesture with my hands for him to be taken away, and several volunteers grabbed him and dragged him towards the edge of town again, muffled complaints continuing until he moved out of hearing range.

“Continue.” I stated.

“I...” He looked at me one more time, and I met his gaze with a steely stare of my own until he finally broke. “I... was ordered to come here and distribute contaminants into the local food supply to test the spread and treatment of food borne illnesses.”

The aghast looks on the faces of the villagers were visceral. Many of them simply stood slack jawed, trying to process what they just heard. It wasn’t long, however, before the quite clearing exploded into voices of outrage. Cries of “how could you”, “you’re supposed to protect us” and some lesser voices of plain old disbelief echoed out through the village. The clamor was such that those that were still hiding inside the buildings ventured to look out at what was happening.

The priest, in what was probably a futile attempt at salvaging any amount of this situation, started making excuses. “Wait, don’t you see? Your sacrifices could save thousands of lives, tens of thousands even. It’s for the greater good!”

“You were going to kill us!”

“Have you done this before?”

“Do you even care about us at all?”

It was plain as day that they were not having it. Anger seemed to be consuming them faster than fire through a dry field. In fact, many of them were beginning to creep closer to the priest in a threatening manner. I had to stop them before it escalated out of control.

Stepping in front of the priest, I spoke a few words to the crowd. “I know your anger is justified. I lost my own village to similar treatment by these people. However, his cooperation was promised in return for not being beaten and tortured any more than I already did, so I will have to ask you to show restraint.”

I expected the outrage that was now directed at me. “Restraint? He was going to kill us!”

“Who are you to deny us justice?”

“He deserves everything that’s coming to him!”

I set my jaw firm and spoke with as much authority as I could. “Would you turn me into them? Would you make a liar out of me? Someone who uses others and then discards them like waste once I have what I want? If so, then you might as well beat me too for I will not live as such a person.” My words stilled the crowd somewhat, creating a few looks of shame.

I continued. “Do not worry though, this is not the end. Their order is the root cause of this, sickly and corrupt as it is. Such tainted weeds need to be uprooted so that the garden might thrive once more. I intend to make them pay for their transgressions, and if you would lend me your strength, we might all gain a better future.”

Some faces looked inspired, others questioning. A question rang out from the crowd. “Who are you? Why should we follow you?”

That was certainly a question that I had been contemplating myself. I had made tentative steps toward accepting it, but now I was going to take a leap into the abyss itself. Standing up straight, I projected my voice so everyone could hear me clearly.

“I am Samuel, champion of the Lord of Twilight, patron of the dead, God of humanity, and I pursue this war against all those who have stolen our futures, taken our lives, and ignored our suffering so they might live comfortably off our deaths. We were meant to be more than simple laborers, and I will show you exactly what they have stolen from us so that all will know of their evil.”

Silence reigned. They did not know what to make of my proclamation and murmured amongst themselves for a moment. Then, from their ranks, Jason emerged once more, eyes still red from the tears he had let slip not too long ago. We all watched as he came to stand before me again.

“Your god, they gave you those powers you used, right?”

“Our god, and yes, they have gifted me these abilities that I might use them to right the wrongs of the world.”

Jason nodded slightly, eyes looking a little lower in contemplation. Then, he suddenly dropped to one knee, reaching up a clasping my hand with his own while bowing his head. “I can’t claim to understand fully the ramifications of everything that you have said, but what I do know is that you have given me and my wife peace that I never could have thought possible in my life. Your... or, our, God is kind to bestow such gifts upon us. I wish to return the generosity with service. If I can help others the same way you have helped me, then that alone would make this a noble and worthwhile campaign that I would be proud to serve. You have my strength, as much as I can possibly give.”

“You are sure? This won’t be easy, and certainly not safe. Your wife might have a few choice words for you if the worst comes to pass.”

“You have already extended my life, all our lives. This is something I feel that I need to do, that I can make a difference and do something worthwhile not just for myself, but for everyone.”

Despite this situation feeling a little strange, I smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder in solidarity. Jason’s vow of service seemed to create courage and resolve in the others as more people stepped forward and kneeled before me. I could only watch in awe as one by one the villagers pledged themselves to the cause until the last individual dropped to their knees.

This was it; this was the true beginning of our war. Such a thought inspired both excitement and trepidation in me. It wouldn’t be easy, and people would undoubtedly die in the process, but it was better than continuing to live as a tool for others to use as they pleased. We will spread the word, warn all the other villages, and grow our numbers until we have the strength of arms to take back what was ours. I could already hear in the distance the phantom drums of war beating steadily in preparation for what was to come.