The world went still and a sense of unease filled the space. My teammates were still processing what happened in those few moments. All four stared down at the groaning corpse. My body thrashing wildly against the restraints. The thick fibers cutting into the skin revealed discolored muscle. Globs of congealing blood oozed down the face and pooled along the floor. My clothes were torn and stained with grime. Even my skin was pale and sickly, nearly three shades paler than normal. It was then I saw the murder weapon. A sharpened bone spike skewered the brain. The calcified weapon had been removed and left a 1 inch hole right above my temple. But even with the horror of my corpse before me; there was this faint connection. A longing to re-enter and act as if nothing happened. However the fundamental laws of death prevented it.

“I’m so sorry, I…I tried Ryland. I did” Selman was ghostly white.

His body was inflicted with tremors as he overused the divine power. The half-elf couldn’t even move without the assistance of Mors. While Mors had seen many companions perish, it never got any easier. He helped the cleric get to his feet and tried to get him walking.

“You did your best, none of us were prepared for this” He softly spoke.

In his mind he tried to replay the scene. Each time coming up with a different scenario that could have saved their friend. So many things he could have done, but he didn’t. Just another death to haunt him while he slept. As the two stumbled towards the entrance, they passed the bloodied ax of their leader. Lux didn’t even flinch as spikes of bone impaled his muscles. He forced back the pain and swiftly decapitated the spellcaster. It had taken Mors a few hours to remove, clean, and heal the wounds. Yet, even the injuries didn’t stop his rage.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGGGGGGH

Lux had been screaming nearly all night. We all handled grief differently but his was the most dramatic.

“Lux calm down you will reopen the wounds” Mors tried to reason with the man but it was pointless.

Instead, Lux continued to punch a nearby tree. Limbs had fallen all around him and flying bark cut his face. His knuckles were dripping with blood as the skin tore. Between the raging shouts, he began sobbing. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he blamed his failures for Ry’s death. It was the first time he gathered a team and he wanted them to grow together. Yet only a few months into adventuring and one was gone.

Mors felt the pain of failure, he could only hope that Lux would come out better. The fighter turned back and helped Selman sit along the wall. After feeding the cleric some water, the holy man spoke.

“I don’t know what I did. Nobody has performed a successful resurrection before. I gave up so much to help but it did nothing. . Why didn’t Onir stop me? Does he enjoy watching us struggle? I…I should have listened. I shouldn’t have dabbled in death. I just wanted to save one man but I only made a monster.” His eyes were deadened.

Mors just sat and listened, what could you say to a man who questioned his faith? Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some dullvine and packed it into a pipe. It was a curious plant that deadens the nerves. Calmly taking a few puffs, he let the drug addle the mind. It was a crutch to help through the tough times, but if he wasn’t the strong one who would be?

As I watched my teammates grieve, I tried everything to communicate. I was screaming, jumping, punching, and more. Yet nothing worked, my ethereal body was invisible to their eyes. I wanted to spar with Lux, I wanted to debate with Selman, I wanted to learn about nature with Mor. I just wanted to let them know it was ok and we could fix this. This wasn’t fair, this wasn’t right. I couldn’t even cry, my ghostly form devoid of the most sensations.

“DAMMIT” I was pacing, I just needed to get their attention.

“He wouldn’t want this” My head snapped as Mors spoke.

The inebriated fighter grabbed his sword and walked back to the cave. No this wasn’t good, if he killed off my body I don’t think I’d be able to fix this. I ran forward and tried to grab him, but he just walked right through me. His sword dragged along the rock, tracing his path in the stone. I needed to reason with him, but he couldn’t hear. As he approached my body, I watched as the corpse tried to lash out. The restraints snapping taught and holding it down. Mors slowly raised his sword for the finishing blow. The metal arcing down in one smooth motion towards the zombie’s neck. But the kill never came. Instead, it bounced off a flickering wall of light. Mors turned back and saw the cleric panting.

“No, let somebody else handle it. I can’t see a friend die twice” Selman turned and stumbled back.

Mors ran after him, ducking his shoulder under the arm and helping the cleric walk. While it didn’t feel right, it was only a single zombie. Without the necromancer around, it couldn’t do much harm.

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I watched in sorrow as the three said their final goodbyes. Each placing a trinket on the ground, a little memorial for their adventuring companion. With a sendoff prayer, they turned and hiked back to the village. They would get in contact with my family and inform them of my passing. Just another casualty in this risky world. Never knowing that I was still here and longing to go with them. I sat in silence as the sun set and the torch slowly faded. With my friends gone..it was just my body and me.

As the torch flickered out, the cave took on a faint glow. While not as bright as before, it wasn’t pure darkness either. I guess better night vision was a benefit of being dead. It was a strange vision; a magical, blue glow that permeated the space. I slowly scouted the cave, venturing into the various nooks and crannies. My mind wandered as I traveled in silence. However; the further I got, the harder it was to move. A tug at my very essence that soon halted my journey. Pausing, I scanned the region for the source.

“There” I muttered

A faint, flickering golden thread. The gossamer string tracing my journey through the darkness. I knew what it was the instant I saw it, but I still had to confirm. Following the lifestring back, it brought me directly to my corpse. As I stared at my restrained body, I was filled with anger. The memories flooding back at once. A rageful scream left my throat as I vented the pent up feelings. I had trained for years, gotten into worse fights than this. All of it taken away from a single D tier spell. A lucky shot intermixed with my carelessness. I went to punch the wall only for my hand to glide through.

“WHY” I couldn’t even break anything.

We were on our way up. We were gaining levels, we were constantly hired for new jobs, even becoming local heroes to some townsfolk. Yet it was all gone because of a single mistake. One stupid mistake and I threw it all away. As I worked through the range of emotions, my head started to clear and I noticed something off.

My body was watching me. Those red eyes staring directly into mine. It had to be a coincidence right? Zombies were driven by a basic instinct to feed, they had no complex thoughts. I decided to pace around the room and the eyes still followed. It wasn’t clean movements; the head jerked and twitched as it tried to track, but it could see me. A smile crossed my face, maybe I could use this to my advantage.

I sat down and pondered how I could free my body. It must have been a few hours of brainstorming before a strange sensation appeared. An unnerving hunger pushing out all other forms of thoughts and feelings. I tried to fight it…I was dead. Dead guys don’t need to eat right? Then it hit me, the zombie. Zombies needed fresh flesh to stay animated. If they didn’t replace the rotting sections, they would fall apart. This was bad. This was very bad. If that lifestring was what I thought, it means if one of us dies the other goes too. I had to figure out how to feed the corpse or I was going to perish alongside him.

The intense urge for flesh had the zombie flailing. He could see a pile of meat nearby and desperately fought to get it. It was a vile mound of bloody viscera, a congealed mess of organs, hair, and bone. But to a zombie that was a delightful treat. Pushing down my disgust, I went to grab some of the slop. My hands phased right through it. This was such bullshit! Why couldn’t I have come back as a lich or something physical? What did the stories say about ghosts though? I don’t think anyone has actually encountered a ghost…ever. While the “hard” undead were rampant in death zones…ghosts were just stories. As I paced around, I realized the zombie had stopped and was just looking at me with contempt.

“Don’t look at me like that! I’m trying” I yelled out at the judgmental zombie.

Did I really give that kind of attitude when I was alive? Did he just roll those eyes at me? No, I must be seeing things. Getting back down, I tried to use my entire body and push the flesh towards my corpse…but nothing worked. However, I noticed a reanimated rat rush out from within. How long was that guy in there?

“Shoo SHOO!” I tried to kick it but the creature dodged.

Wait, that meant the rat could see me. Could all undead see me? I went to kick again and once again, it avoided my foot. As the beast and I fought, I glanced over and saw the zombie staring. Even though it was another reanimated creature, the rat was looking like a fine meal. An idea came to head and I began to stomp and drag my foot. The rat scooted back trying to avoid it. Not giving it time to recover, I continued to harass the creature forcing it back further until

CRUNCH

My body bit down. The squeaks intensified as the beast thrashed in the zombie’s jaw. Yet, it took a long time to die. Each bite sent another chunk down to the awaiting gut. The flesh torn and the bones pulverized by the strong jaw. Each sickening gulp seemed to lessen that overall hunger until the rat was fully devoured. As the crunching sounds faded, My body had a creepy grin on its face, the rat’s tail hanging from the busted lips. It slowly slurped up the last bit like a piece of spaghetti and the hunger subsided. At least that was one problem solved.

-Skills Gained-

[Passive - Sense Undead - Tiny]

[Active - Undead Suggestion -Tiny]

That skill echoed in my head, skull, ghost guts? Not really sure what to call it now. I focused on the passive and turned it on. A strong tingling crept through my nerves and I turned. All throughout the cave I could feel the various critters. A dozen or so rats skittering through the walls in search of food. It was time to work, focusing on the closet. I tested out my second skill.

[Undead Suggestion - Tiny]

“Bring the meat to my body!” I demanded.

The rat perked up, then ignored it and went back to feasting on the corpse pile. Of course it couldn’t be this easy.