Two weeks passed as Volodar took the initiative and laid out the plans to his subordinates. “Hunter, I task you with the security of the tower. I don’t ever want to be ambushed again.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “You can take a few of my subordinates to support you in this task. If you find anything that can be of use, report it back to me. More than anything else, do not get caught out. I can replace the skeletons easily, but I refuse to lose one of my strongest members.”

  Volodar grabbed his chin as he continued to lecture the newcomer about his task. Hunter bowed deeply once more and set off with a few skeletons into the surrounding forests. It didn’t take long before Volodar was back to his studies, sighing deeply at times.

  Adelia watched on as Volodar flipped through his pages and leaned back onto his chair, “Does something trouble you, my lord?”

  “There isn’t much information on defensive magics that originate through death magic. It’s uncharted territory, but I’m certain of its applications. It can be defensive in nature.”

  Volodar grabbed some bone shards and looked at them before speaking, “I do not know how many more times I can tempt fate. Flesh is elastic and bone is certainly sturdy. I will have to experiment with this more in the future.”

  “You can do it.” Adelia stated as if it was a matter of fact.

  “I think you’re right, but we will work on taking care of your village’s issue at the moment. Its name was Tamarak, correct?”

  “That is correct.”

  “What happened to Tamarak?”

  “Bandits,” Adelia started, “the nobles didn’t care about the town as long as the taxes get collected and money flows.”

  “I see.”

  A long silence fell over the room as Volodar stood up and placed his books into a satchel. “We’re leaving today, I’ve studied all that I can stomach on offensive dark arts. It’s time for some field practice.”

  Volodar reached the hatch and placed a hand on it, pausing for a moment. “Adelia, I trust you have good judgment. Who should I bring on this trip? I certainly can’t bring everyone as the tower needs to be safeguarded.”

  Adelia gave a slight smile, “I believe that Lucas is perfect to watch over the tower in our absence. Sir Lucas is strong and is fast.”

  Volodar gave it some thought before agreeing, “The idea does have some merit, so be it.”

  Meeting up with Lucas, he gave a bow as he greeted Volodar. “My lord, you look like you are leaving.”

  “I am, I will go to Tamarak and procure more corpses. However, I need you to stay behind and defend the tower.”

  Lucas’ face twitched as he spoke, “Master Volodar, you can’t possibly be serious. You need me, what if you were to be injured? Anyone else could watch over this tower.”

  “No, Lucas, you will watch the tower. That is my final decision, do not question it again.”

  Lucas’ frown turns into a scowl as he looks past Volodar and sees Adelia following behind him with her hands interlaced, smiling towards Lucas.

  “Sir Lucas,” Adelia spoke, “there is no worry as I will watch over the master should he need anything. Hunter will be more than enough when it comes to conflict.”

  As Adelia spoke and looked into the eyes of Lucas, she could feel goosebumps as a hatred she rarely felt targeted her. It was as if a feral beast was baring its fangs towards her, even though Lucas simply looked at her.

  Hunter was walking back to the tower with his entourage in tow. They were carrying the corpses of some wolves as they walked towards Volodar. “My lord,” Hunter’s coarse voice perked up, “we found wolves during our excursion and got half a dozen of them from the pack.”

  Volodar grabbed one of the wolves, examining the wounds that it sustained in the conflict. “This is good, Hunter. I was looking to bolster our forces before we left as I am heading towards Tamarak.” Wiping his hands on a cloth, he continued, “You will be joining me alongside your group.”

  Hunter kneeled, “Of course, we are ready.”

  The wolves were placed on the ground as Volodar performed his ritual once more, having the flesh of the wolves turn black and melt downwards as only bones remain. The skeletal wolves then rose to the feet and waited.

  “Raising animals is a much easier task at least,” Volodar mused. “Should make for easier scouting.” The party left the safety of the tower’s domain as they took the weeklong trek back into the woods toward Tamarak. Hunter would take the skeletal wolves and a few supporting skeletons as he would make expeditions to find what the terrain was like. With Hunter’s skillset, the path was easy to follow.

  “Adelia,” Volodar asked, “how many bandits do you think is controlling Tamarak at the moment?”

  “It all happened so fast, but I think there were a gang of at least twenty to thirty when this all started. They threatened us for tribute many times before they attacked.” Adelia took deep breaths as she continued. “It was only when we had nothing left to give that they took our lives instead, thinking we held out on them.” An air of silence fell over the party as they continued to walk.

  Volodar grabbed the arm of Hunter as the group carried ahead and whispered, “Give me their leader alive, I want him alive.”

  Hunter nodded, “He’s tough, but it will be done.” Soon they arrived at the spot Adelia had been a few months prior.

  Unceremoniously, they walked through the path until the hamlet of Tamarak started to come into view. The screams that were previously held with the thick plumes of smoke no longer afflicted the hamlet. Hunter stealthily made his way to the tree line and looked towards Volodar, “Orders?”

  Adelia chimed in, “My lord, I could be of use to you. If you would let me, I could warn those who were inside to not resist the dead and could vouch for you.”

  “Listen,” Hunter said, “I appreciate your help and all. However, that could get you killed, and the master doesn’t want that.”

  “Please, Volodar. Let me do this for my parents. Just give me a few hours and you can launch the attack.”

  Volodar looked towards Adelia and then back to Hunter. Hunter gave a wink in response. “Okay,” Volodar responded, “you have two hours to warn who you can. Afterwards, I will go in with my forces.”

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  Adelia grabbed Volodar’s hand and placed it to her head bowing, “Thank you. Thank you so much.” As she started to make her way to the hamlet.

  Once she was a hundred feet away, Volodar looked to Hunter. “Follow her, be her shadow. If anyone touches her in a malicious manner, kill them. I will be going in with my forces in two hours, do not fail me.”

  Hunter nodded as he crept up to the hamlet with his bow in tow. Volodar looked towards his skeletons that he remained with. Counting the new wolves that were added, he amassed around twenty skeletons ready.

  Volodar looked to the wolves, “I’ve come a long way from the faithful four that I made.” The skeletons had martial weapons and some even wore ill-fitting armor that was adjusted with the help of Adelia. “She told me that these are her people and if they accept me, then they will be my people this night. Do not harm the villagers, no matter what their choice may be.”

  What was once a bright path started to dim as the sun made its way down. Volodar glanced up, “Perhaps I should just wait until night. You all wouldn’t have problems seeing, but the bandits sure would.”

  Affirmative signals came from the skeletons as they waited a bit longer for the night to cover their entrance. Lights could be seen in the hamlet as some of the homes lit up for the night. Volodar casted a spell as shadows floated from his hands and up to his eyes. The dark surroundings of a forest became grayscale as he could see in the darkness except for color.

  Volodar waved for his minions as he went into the town. There appeared to be one to two dozen houses and a building that looked larger than the rest. Men wearing leather like the brigands of the past were walking the street talking loudly as they went. There were six of them now and they appeared to be drunk as their gait refused to remain consistent.

  Volodar pointed towards the six men as skeletons rushed forth. Screams of terror erupted from the men as they flailed back at the skeletons. This small hamlet became alive in the middle of the night as men poured from the homes and clashed with the force of undead.

  “Three bones,” Volodar whispered, “that’ll do.” He lifted his hands and shot bone arrows from his hands into some of the unoccupied bandits. Other bandits wielded blunt weapons that would crash into the skulls of the skeletons before them. Others with swords and spears struggled as they cried out for their allies to help.

  A man charging Volodar closed the gap with ten feet left before a black ray struck his body and he felt his legs wobble with a jelly-like consistency as he hit the floor, motionless. It didn’t take long as the fight was over as quickly as it started. Destroyed skeletons and corpses of the brigands lined the crossroads that was the center of this hamlet.

  Hunter stepped out of the largest house, dragging someone alongside him. Behind him, Adelia followed out towards Volodar.

  “Master Volodar,” Hunter said, “the filth before you is the man who led this gang.”

  The man was an overweight fellow with slicked back, receding hair. He screamed the entire way of being dragged before landing at Volodar’s feet. Crying, the man asked, “What do you want? Money? I have money, all you had to do was ask!”

  Volodar sat in silence, staring at the man without saying a thing. Adelia went to Volodar’s side and greeted him, “The hamlet is yours, my lord.”

  The carnage that befell this hamlet was maddening. There couldn’t have been more than a hundred villagers at this location when they first took over. Why did they need such a force to overpower villagers. “The choice is yours,” Volodar spoke plainly. “You will talk to me without crying and tell me what happened. You can also stand up and leave if you wish.”

  The man looked back at Volodar, clearly confused. “I have money. I – “

  Hunter growled at him, “That’s lord Volodar, speak with respect.”

  “Sir Volodar, please. We simply controlled the crossroads with a toll. That’s it, we didn’t do anything else.”

  Adelia sheepishly grabbed the raiment of Volodar, looking into the eyes of the man before her. “He did awful things to the people; they told me what he did. He’s disgusting. He’ll do it again if he has the chance.”

  Volodar raised his hands, “Give me a second, the man chose his option. He wishes to talk.” He gestured for the man to continue talking.

  The man waved his arms frantically, “Seriously. We don’t have an affiliation with any lord. Please, you can have it all. Just let me go.”

  Volodar looked displeased as he repeats, “I did tell you that there were two options. Go ahead and take the second option.”

  The confused man scampered to his feet as he began running at a slow pace away from the hamlet. Adelia looked at Volodar with her mouth beginning to open as she was interrupted. “Hunter,” Volodar asked, “you should train the wolves a bit more. Get some practice with the pathetic man who ran from my presence.”

  Hunter laughed with his hoarse voice, “As you command, my lord.” Hunter whistled as he pulled out his bow and chased the man. Volodar remained in the hamlet looking over the casualties as screams could be heard from the nearby woods. Adelia tried to help the villagers to the best of her ability during this time.

  Seeing the carnage that lay about, Volodar mumbled to himself. Bodies of the dead brigands began to rise one by one as their flesh and organs sloughed off to the ground in a blackened mass that melted away.

  Villagers watched from the windows as Adelia whispered to him, “My lord, I know that you mean no harm. However, the villagers are terrified of you. We should speak to the elder. I told him that you were coming to save them.”

  “I see,” Volodar looked towards the large house, “I guess I should talk to them then.” The elder opened the door and it was apparent that the inside was a mess.

  “I’m sorry, sir. This place was nicer before they came.”

  “Do not worry about that. Tell me elder, what happened here.”

  The elder appeared to fight strong emotions as he spoke, “Those animals forced their way of life onto us. They conscripted the young and foolish to help them. They used to take food from us as a ‘token of appreciation’, but it wasn’t enough this time.”

  Volodar was silent as he looked out the door. Adelia spoke up, “It’s like I said, Will, Volodar is truly here to help. He doesn’t want to hurt you.” The elder looked skeptically towards Volodar.

  “It is true,” Volodar said, “the payment of mine was the satisfaction of knowing I protected what was mine. There is no need for payment. Adelia said that this was her home and as my subordinate, it is also within my domain.”

  The elder looked stunned as he just looked at Volodar. Volodar didn’t mind as he continued to speak. “I relinquish the land that Adelia’s family owned back to the hamlet. It is for the best that this happens.”

  “Wait, master Volodar,” the elder spoke quickly, “you could preside over us if you wish. The liege lord, Darius, is negligent and only uses us for taxes without providing protections.”

  Adelia shook her head fiercely, “There is no way that we could do that. Darius wouldn’t simply let the revenue fall from this settlement. Even the bandits had to pay them a sum of money each month.”

  Volodar agreed, “I do not know what to think about this. It is said in the old texts that those who ‘lay’ with a necromancer will die in the same manner as the necromancer. They were kind enough to go into detail about it. You should rethink your proposition as the elder of the village.”

  The village elder had no response to that as the room fell silent. It was only broken up by the sound of feet walking inside. “Lord,” Hunter said, “the dogs were sufficiently trained, and he is resting outside. The girl really shouldn’t look.”

  The elder seemed to tense up as Hunter entered but didn’t say a word. Volodar spoke once more, “Elder, I will come back in the future once I am ready. If you pledge your fealty to me when that time comes, I will be your new master and you will know prosperity.”

  The elder’s awkward smile appeared as he agreed to the idea, “I think we can wait till then.”

  Volodar looked towards Hunter, “I believe I have a liar to speak to.” The body of the overweight man was unsightly as it was torn to shreds. Volodar expressionless face looked at the body as he said an incantation to ask the corpse three questions. The body contorted and the head twisted to face him, it’s eyes hollowed out. “You will speak truthfully now, unlike you performed in life. Who did you work with?”

  “Many people just like me.”

  “Did you treat this hamlet with respect?”

  “No.”

  “Do you work with any lord or noble?”

  “Yes.”

  With that, the body went limp as it fell back to the ground. Volodar wiped his nose as blood slowly trickled out. “My lord,” Adelia noted, “you shouldn’t push yourself too hard tonight. We can stay for a few days. Lucas will be fine on his own.”

  Volodar breathed deeply, “I know, I just needed to know.”

  Time would pass as Volodar used his resources to clean up the hamlet in the next two days. The body of the unsightly man was burned as Volodar refused to allow him to serve in death. Skeletons perished in the fight, but the bandits now bolstered his army past his losses. Roughly thirty human skeletons now followed Volodar as he made his rounds, fixing the village’s issues.

  The undead had no appetite for human desires, and therefore, were perfect for doing the manual labor that this hamlet couldn’t do fully when occupied by bandits. After the labor was done, Adelia gave their farewells to the villagers as they made the trip back to the tower.

  Arriving once more at the spot where Adelia’s parents died, Volodar stopped for a moment. “Adelia,” he paused, “do you regret your past?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied in earnest, “I don’t want to think about the past.”

  “I see.”

  Adelia looked towards the direction of the tower with a slight smile as they walked back, “I hope that Lucas has been doing alright.”