"Paul, save me!" Fiona screamed as the dead hands pawed at her body.

I tried to reach out to her but the hands tried to grab me as well. Their sickly skin was cold as ice as they tried to get purchase on my arms. I pulled my hands back from their icy grasp with a shudder.

"I can't," I moaned, backing away from the dead. I recognized every face as someone I had slain in battle.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled at the horde of wraiths.

"Never!" they replied in unison. Only Fiona's pleas for rescue broke the endlessly repeated word.

I curled up in a ball on top of my pedestal, the creatures unable to get to me from here, and I just sobbed.

I jerked awake, covered in a cold sweat.

The nightmares were getting worse. I was lucky if I managed three hours of sleep a night between Sharla's treatment and the nightmares. The lack of sleep was starting to make me jumpy and that wasn't good. I needed to try and find something to help me deal with this problem before I went full Durden.

It was a good thing I knew a chemist, I didn't know what skills she had but perhaps she could make me something that would help me sleep. I would bring it up when we met later in the week.

She had finally picked a time to get Sheila alone so we could modify her collar. If everything went to plan we would have a new member for the revolt. 'Baby steps,' I had to remind myself.

I sat up on my bedroll and moved into a lotus position to meditate. It was one of the things Old Man Trumbo taught me but it hadn't seemed very relevant at the time. I certainly wasn't ever in a position to meditate for an extended period. Since I couldn't sleep, now seemed like a good time to reacquaint myself.

I was started awake by Sharla calling for me. 'Shit,' somehow I had managed to fall asleep.

'Oh god, now she was going to punish me later.'

I got up and hurried to her, dallying wouldn't make my punishment any less severe.

"Yes, mistress?"

"Paul, what have I told you about making me look for you?"

"I'm sorry mistress, would you like to carry out the punishment now?"

"I'll do it when I return tonight... Actually, I want you to stand on one foot until I return, that should warm you up."

"Yes, mistress," I said, immediately lifting one leg and standing there.

She let out a huff of breath as she exited the apartment.

As soon as I heard the door shut and lock I lowered my leg. I made sure to note my exact position in the room. It wouldn't do to be busted by negligence or forgetting which foot I had up.

While it wasn't the most comfortable position, I decided to start my rune crafting sitting in front of the entry door. This way I would hear well in advance, Sharla or anyone for that matter coming.

I pulled one of the Alavantium plates from my ring. I also pulled out one of the armor crafting books. I flipped through the pages until I found illustrations of what I wanted. It helped me figure out a few of the mistakes I made in my previous armor.

I didn't count the armor I made for Sharla. Even though hers turned out to be of high quality. Her's was just a leather doublet with some inlaid plates at important spots, the arms studded with small triangular rivets. I added no runic enchantment to the item. She still took great joy in using those spiked rivets to slap me around if I failed to follow her instructions to the letter. She would always remark on how well the item held up, while I bled on the ground from her abuse.

I pulled myself out of those thoughts. She would get hers eventually.

I went back to laying out my intended design on the Trubar hide. When I was finished I expected the armor to look like a simple padded gambeson. It wouldn't be as easy to move in as my current armor or the one I would make from the Wyvern hide but it would do well to protect me from the cold winter to come. Leaves were already starting to fall, even this far south so winter was not too far away. So far the weather seemed to not have changed much, despite the rending so we could expect a bitterly cold winter here in Chicago.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

I stepped back, examining the plates I had laid out all over the piece of leather. None were attached yet, but it gave me a good idea of how the piece would look once complete. This Trubar hide jerkin had short arms on it, that would extend to my elbows, unlike my other armor that was sleeveless. It also extended well past my waist, almost to my knees. I had purchased enough extra plates to add a semi-circle of metal to the outside of each half sleeve. Below the waist, I would leave un-plated.

It was time for the hard part, carving. Because of the purpose of this armor, I decided I wanted to include some sort of runes for defense against cold. Most Celtic knot patterns were continuous. In some situations, a design like that would be fine. I decided to try something different with this one. I created three circles, looping a continuous line over and under to link them together like chainmail.

The closest rune I could find was the one that stood for comfort. It would have to do until I learned more runes. I added to that a rune that stood for spring, figuring it couldn't hurt in the central circle. I added the three runes I used on my old armor, protection, strength, and power.

The last circle consisted of the rune for magic and protection. Last I added Odin's illusionary rune to the binding rope holding all three. This would keep anyone from discerning my methods unless they stole the item from me, or I sold it. The design faded away on the scrap plate I used as a test. I inspected the piece.

I ended up having to rework the first runic circle a few times until I got a combination of runes that worked. I ended up going with fire and comfort. I had skipped using the fire rune, thinking it had more to do with actual flame. I didn't want to be bathed in flames. Turns out the rune was a lot more flexible than I first realized. I was happy with the results and got to work recreating my design on the actual metal I was going to use.

I could speed the process along by making a stamp but I wanted the best results I could possibly get. This was going to be my trump card armor for the time being. At least until I got time to work the Mithril plates. After five plates I had to try something to speed this along. I carved out a stamp for just the knot design. I stamped the design on one scrap plate and added the runes by hand. Then I compared it to my earlier test.

They had the same values. I sighed with relief. This would save me dozens of hours of work. I stamped all one hundred plates. I had to resharpen the stamp after every twenty or, but even still, it was so much faster. I was glad the design only acted as containers for the runes and didn't affect the overall strength.

I had to keep my finished pieces separate or I forgot which ones had been completed. The finished ones looked just as ordinary as the unfinished ones when the design was hidden. The only way to tell was to hold them or use identify. They gave off a slight magical vibration when held, almost impossible to detect unless you knew what to look for. I wasn't surprised. Each piece in and of itself was weak. Only when they were all combined did they produce the desired strength.

I finished my twenty-eighth piece when I heard footsteps. I quickly swiped everything into my ring and hurried back to my place on the floor. My improved memory told me exactly where and how to stand. I even had the added benefit of looking tired.

I finished getting into position as the lock on the door clicked.

Sharla walked in, not bothering to spare me a glance as she headed towards the kitchen. Since she returned I was able to put my foot back down. I moved towards the door and shut it. Deciding it was best to remain there unless she called.

She returned from the kitchen after finishing her meal.

"Paul, head down to the patrol captain and inform him you are available for duty."

"Yes, mistress," I replied, bowing before I turned to exit the apartment.

I had heard the rumors. The Triad was pushing back against our forces, now that the Sons of Autumn had left the Chicago metro area. This was causing our forces to be spread thin, and while I didn't want the Black Dragon to win this war, I needed them to remain intact for just a bit longer. Otherwise, they would just pull back and regroup as the Sons' had. I wanted them all to fall, even if I didn't think the Triad was much better.

As I stepped outside, the brisk air of mid-fall hit me. They called it the windy city for a reason. I donned my armor, putting my ratty old sweatshirt over it to keep the cold at bay. A puff of vapor clung to the air as I let out a sigh. I liked the early fall and the colors but I hated winter. I cast Elemental Defense and it seemed to help.

I made my way down to the patrol building to sign in. I didn't have to follow Sharla's orders anymore but I couldn't risk her finding out I skipped out on patrol duty. That would be a dead giveaway that something was amiss. Best just to get it over with.

I was assigned to a group I had worked with, in the past. We knew each other's fighting styles to some extent. The patrol turned out to be boring. We just rushed from one hot spot to another, never seeming to get there before the Triad pulled their forces back. We tried to force a battle but their forces dug into prepared positions and threw spells at us. The overall commander of this force pulled us back after three hours.

There I sat, looking out through a broken window. It was one of our forward outposts. The enemy knew where we were but they were staying behind their fortifications. This is why I hated fighting the Triad. Sure they were smart but they were also cowards. They only ever engaged if they could bring overwhelming force to the fight. It forced the Black Dragon into an untenable position unless they changed tactics.

If it was up to me I would sneak in a force of assassins and decapitate their command structure. Thankfully it wasn't and I wasn't about to offer up any helpful solutions. If the fighting went on like this it should last long enough for me to carry out my plan. I expected winter to put a hold on most of the fighting.