It had to be around one AM judging by where the moons sat in the sky, after the shriek I heard familiar voices echoing through the hallways.
“Dig in your heels men, don't let them get to the young master or Finde!” - I heard one of the guards shout, echoing down my hallway.
Jumping out of bed I quickly rushed to get dressed so that I could investigate the commotion. As I approached my door, a well of fear and anxiety rose from my stomach into my throat. Just as my fingers reached the doorknob, it swung open making me nearly jump out of my skin. Standing in the doorway was Finde, panting as if she had just run a mile, her eyes and face painted a clear picture of the terror echoing in her mind.
“Raffin we have to get out of here now, there's a bunch of weird monsters attacking the house.” - She sputtered, head darting from side to side keeping a lookout for something.
Under most circumstances I would suspect this to be some sort of weird prank being played on me by Finde, however after all the time we've spent together over the years, simply by looking into her eyes, and from the way she was acting, I could tell right away she wasn't joking. Just as the realization of the kind of danger we were in hit me, we heard another shriek from the right, this time much louder than the first. Surprised by the blood curdling noise, both of our heads whipped towards the almost defining sound. Standing about twelve feet down the hall, the figure of a man stood in shadow, only vaguely visible by the candlelight that adorned the halls. The figure seemed as though it could barely hold up its own weight, slumped to one side favoring one leg over the other for support. Its eye sockets were sunken in with no eyeball to be found, however in its place shined an eerie green light that shocked me to my core, letting me know immediately what kind of “monster” we were dealing with.
“Undead.” - I whispered in shock trying to not alert it to our presence as I dragged Finde behind the door to try and give her some cover.
“Un-what?” - Finde tried to whisper, although it came out as more of a small shout as she began shivering in fear.
“Quiet. They can hear just as well as you and I can, if not better. Come on, let's try and climb out my window, I know a spell that will help us get down safely,” - Turning around slowly so as not to alert the zombie, we dashed for the window on the opposite side of the room. As I threw open the window, the fox that Mr.Rabbit first turned jumped onto the windowsill blocking or exit whilst snarling at us preparing for an attack. Perplexed at its change of heart I held out a hand trying to comfort it.
“It’s me Mr.Fox, don’t you remember,” - without letting me finish my thought, it tore into my hand with its teeth, drawing blood, making me fall in shock, and scream out in pain. Reacting without thought, my other palm raised in defense, before I knew what I was doing I let out a stream of fire like I had many times before, incinerating what was left of the poor creature. Whilst in shock at what just happened, the scent of burnt rotten flesh wafting in the air made my stomach turn and my head ache. Without turning on my deadeye, I noticed a new light lift from the remains of the fox, shining gold unlike before, floating in place without taking off into the sky. Mind fuzzy and eyes unable to adjust, I could barely make out an outline of what looked like a woman permeating from the light.
“Raffin please snap out of it, please we have to go,” - Finde pleaded, tears welling in her eyes as she attempted to break me from my stupor, pulling on my arm. Shaking the fog from my mind I quickly stood up, the severity of the situation registering once more. Looking out the window and down the side I saw a hoard of ravenous animals all clawing at the side of the wall attempting to do as the fox did and make their way to me and Finde.
“They’re all waiting for us at the bottom, come one we’ll have to try and sneak down the hallway past the other one,” - I said, trying to formulate a plan as I shut the window tight attempting to keep anymore from creeping in. As I turned around to head towards the door, I noticed Finde frozen in fear sitting on the ground, in the doorway was the human zombie staring directly at both of us. Eyes shifting from person to person, the monster stood silent and motionless. Finally after what felt like an eternity it let out another blood curdling shriek and broke out in a sprint towards us both causing both Finde and I to scream in kind. This time frozen in fear, I did not, or could not conjure another spell falling to the ground once again. Right before it reached us I heard a voice from behind it in the doorway.
“Mother of the elder moon, grant me the power to vanquish this evil creature and return its soul to the embrace or scrutiny of the gods. In her name burn!” - Just as the voice had finished speaking, in a bright white flame, this zombie too was reduced to ash, a bright golden light floating from its body in place as well. In the doorway stood one of the maids that worked under Celye, eyes bright and smile soft, she spoke to us in a gentle yet urgent tone.
“Come now down the hall towards the front door, someone is waiting there to escort you two to safety,” - she expressed, ushering us out the door. Thanking her as we ran, we bolted down the hall, redirected at several junctions as soldiers and maids alike fought off an increasing horde of undead monsters, many of which I recognised as my accidental creations. I saw viscora fly, monster and man cut down, and everytime one of the brave men or women I came to love fell, they would join the rank of the attackers. It made me sick to my stomach. As we finally approached the exit, I could make out a large shadow of a man brandishing a heavy ax, eviscerating every monster that came across it until they all lay at its feet thoroughly defeated.
“Dad! Thank the gods.” - Finde bellowed, tears now streaming down her face as she jumped at Amos, landing in his arms as he turned around.
“Thank the gods yer both safe, I don't know what I'd have done if I lost either of ya” - Amos proclaimed scooping me up into the hug alongside his daughter, his bushy beard scratching my face, although I didn't really mind in that moment, it somehow helping me feel safe. As the moment passed, a deep anxiety began growing in my mind. After debating for a moment on whether or not I wanted the answer, I summoned my courage and asked Amos a question.
“Amos, I'm happy to see you but…do you know where Celye and my parents are?” - I tried to express quickly. With a big smile Amos lifted us both up onto his shoulders.
“Don’t worry squirt, Celye is a master cleric she won't fall to some run of the mill undead. And yer parents have been tracking the bastard doing this for years now, they are currently keeping the city safe that's why I’m here, to get both of ya to safety.” - After reassuring us Amos kicked open the front door in an attempt to carry us to someplace safe. Looking out into the night however, stood a horde, possibly hundreds in number, a mixture of man, women, and beast alike, all shambling over burnt and battered ground from the city towards us. Amo’s eyes grew narrow as he placed both Finde and I back down behind him, forming a wall between them and us. Reaching to his side he pulled a shortsword off his belt and handed it to Finde.
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“Aye sweetie, if some of them make it past me, you know what to do.” - He said, speaking in a soft, stern voice, laying a hand on Findes shoulder for reassurance. For a moment Finde’s eyes grew wide, anxiety and terror welling, until something clicked and her eyes grew to match her fathers, stern and ready for combat. Wishing I had not forgotten my staff in my room in all the commotion I readied myself in the stance that Amos had taught me many years ago.
“I admire yer spirit squirt, but ya dont need to fight without a weapon. Hold out yer hand and think real hard about that staff, yer dad added a little extra kick to yer present.” - doing as he said I closed my eyes and pictured the staff in its entirety. The metal that made up the shaft, the cloth wrapped around the center, the claws gripping at the air, all echoed through my mind. As soon as the thought concluded, I heard glass shatter from above and around the house, flying at a breakneck speed, the staff flew into my palm, presumably busting through my bedroom window on its way to me.
“Aye, there ya go. Yer gonna play clean up, undead have a nasty habit of reforming themselves, so yer gonna turn em to ash before that happens alright squirt,” - I replied with a determined nod. Loosening his shoulder by rotating it in place for a warm up, Amos brandished his ax. As the
hoard closed in on us he smiled one last time at us both before readying himself.
“Stand back you two, it’s been a god’s age since I’ve done this. Don't know if I’ll still be able to control myself like I used tah.” - Hunched over, as if prepared to grapple, Amos let out a ferocious war cry that echoed for miles. His face contorted to show a visceral unshakable rage, whilst his eyes started to glow an intense crimson red. His body began growing to almost twice its size, muscles bursting out of the armor, throwing it like shrapnel. Already an impressive size before, he now towered over us, exuding an aura similar to a great beast ready to tear apart its prey. Flabbergasted at the sight I had just beheld, I stole a quick glance at Finde to see if she had an explanation.
“It’s dad’s berserker rage, now I know we have nothing to worry about.” - Finde expressed, confidence now beaming off of her, a complete 180 from before. Brandishing her sword and I readying my staff we prepared ourselves a good distance behind Amos. With a shriek of their own, the army of the undead broke into a sprint leading Amos to barrel into the fray. Evey swing of his ax cleaving one or more of the vile undead into pieces scattering them across the battlefield. While Amos made them immobile, Focusing my magic at the end of my staff intensifying my flames even further I incinerated the remains, un-allowing them to reassemble for a follow up attack. As the fight raged on and viscora flew through the air and the smell of the rotten blood that soaked the ground below us began to permeate, more and more seemed to arrive, creating what seemed like endless wave after wave of marching undead. Starting to be overwhelmed more and more, many began slipping past the battle line, sprinting towards Finde and I. Unsurprisingly to me Finde held her ground, cleaving the zombies with power and precision echoing her fathers. As more and more made it our way, Finde’s hairpiece began to glow, the crescent moon beaming with a soft white light that enveloped her body and sword, it glowing especially instantly. With every new cut and cleave, a white flame would burn the undead where they stood, reducing even the most powerful of them to ash.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” - I shouted over the intensity of battle, curiosity gripping me even now.
“My hair clip was a gift from my ma and pa on my thirteenth, you think you’re the only one to get a fancy weapon on your birthday?” - She replied without missing a single cut.
For a while we repled the monsters with ease, but as time moved forward and the battle raged on, I became fatigued, every breath heavy burning in my chest. Arms and legs failing to support the weight. Worried, I caught a glance over at Finde to see how she was fairing. The light now dimming from her, her breath was also labored as she continued the fight, swipes and cleaves becoming inaccurate and sloppy.
“We may have to figure out a new plan, I’m starting to run out of mana and there is no end to these bastards” - I expressed loudly between labored breaths, desperate to find a way out of the situation.
“I hear ya, but even dad’s struggling at this point, and if we turn around we’ll just be trapped inside the house, best we can do is hold off until someone can give us some back up” - she replied back, fire still burning in her eyes as she removed another undeads body from it’s torso.
Core somewhat rattled by her remark about Amos, between bouts with my own foes, I attempted to catch glimpses of the wild berserker. Ax now broken in two laying on the ground, Amos was ripping every new zombie apart by hand. Smashing one head first into the ground crushing its skull while
holding another by the throat high into the air. Wounds all over his body from bite and claw marks, he refused to slow down no matter how much blood he had lost, letting out a battle cry for every new foe he vanquished. But soon he began to slow, even his energy waning. Continuing on slowly each punch, kick, and even grapple began to slow or miss its mark as more and more piled on him eventually leading him to fall to the ground. In a panic I summoned as much mana as I could and launched a fireball at the pile of undead pushing him to the ground, with a thunderous explosion I was able to free him from their clutches but he remained laying in the grass exhausted.
“Come on Amos, you have to get up, please remember the most important rule for a fight that you taught me, you can do it can’t you!”- I yelled desperately, trying to inspire the living mountain to rise to his feet again. Chuckling to himself, Amos planted one hand in the dirt to support himself ready to climb back onto his feet.
“Aye lad, no matter how many times you get knocked down, always get back up one more ti,”- before he could finish, body halfway off the ground as he picked himself up. A rabbit, the first undead I had ever seen let alone created, jumped at his neck, and tore a hole straight through the front of his throat. Collapsing to the cold ground once more Amos eyes began to whiten as his mouth pulled with blood that he ultimately ended up coughing out.
“Amos!”
“Dad!” - Finde and I cried in unison, tears streaming from our faces, as the hoard began stepping over him on their way to us. Anger and pain enveloping my every thought, I dug deep and drew as much mana as I possibly could contemplating and wishing there was a way I could create a barrier between them and us. As my thoughts raced and cinders from my earlier spells surrounded me with warmth an idea formed. By trying to combine the aspects of wall and fire, I could try one more spell in a latch ditch effort to keep Finde and I safe. Somehow the spell worked and a wall of burning flame rose between us and them, incinerating every creature who attempted to get through. In a fit of grief and rage Finde approached me and slapped me across the face.
“Why couldn't you do that earlier, dad wouldn't have to be dead right now if you used that spell in the first place!”- She screamed through the tears and snot pouring from her face, holding me by the collar of my robe, eyes full of pain and regret.
“I…I’m sorry I didn't even know I could do that, I was desperate and it just kinda…happened.” - I pleaded with her, my face now equally a mess. Sensing the sincerity in my voice Finde dropped me from her grasp before dropping to her knees in shock.
“He’s Amos the living mountain, he's supposed to be undefeatable. How could I lose him to a bunch of damn zombies, it's not fair” - She sobbed angrily, as the flames danced high illuminating everything in a hellish orange light.
Processing it myself I peered through the flame to the other side at the remains of Amos' body. Still teetering between life and death he smiled at us and mouthed, take her and go, before shutting his eyes and drifting off into oblivion. Setting my grief aside for the moment I laid a hand on Findes shoulder.
“Come on, we have to get going. I don’t know how long that fire is going to last. We can't let his death be for nothing ,”- I expressed as calmly as I could, choking back tears. Shocked at first, but then realizing what I meant rose to her feet shaking her head ready to go.
“Our best chance is to go back inside and bar ourselves in somewhere until help can arrive, I don't know how long mom and your parents are going to be defending the city but hopefully it won't be to long… otherwise we’ll be joining pa soon,” - Finde expressed, plan formulating in her mind from the adrenaline rush.
“Come on, we’ll use my Dad’s study. It’s just beyond the stairs in the foyer, we can use the stairs as choke points if we have to.” - I added on, my own mind racing. With a knowing nod between us we bolted back inside, dashing past the corpses of many a zombie, and man and women I had come to appreciate alike, mowing down the odd undead that had survived the push back as we made our way up the stairs and behind the large wooden doors to my father’s study. Lined from wall to wall with bookshelves full of old tombs my dad had collected with a large wooden desk in the middle, the room was windowless, the only source of light being an enchanted chandelier that swung overhead as the battle shook the house, making the shadows move and dance across the room. Attempting to bar the door we pushed over one of the large bookshelves near the door preventing it from opening. With a moment of reprieve we both slumped down onto our knees, finally taking in what had happened. Finde was the first to begin crying.
“I can’t believe he's gone, he was my hero, my dad…I’ll never be able to see him again.”- She balled to herself, face in her palms as the sadness overtook her. Unable to come up with any comforting words, attempting to hold back the waterfall of tears I had been building up myself I laid one arm across her shoulder hugging her from the side. Unable to think of any words that could offer anything even close to comfort I muttered the only phrase that felt appropriate in the moment.
“I’m sorry.”