Of course, the duel ended in the most messy way it could. The younger knight had died on the spot, while the older got their arm severed and stomach cut open. Taking into account an equipped armor, it was not a trivial task to undress him to treat the wounds. In such a state, no one was bothered to listen to his “overheard” information about new threats from magic illness. The personal guards were busy in an attempt to save their master’s life. The rest were hastily gathering everything from the camp, loading belongings and useful items in backpacks or carts. One of the latter was occupied by injured Sir Henry, who, despite his injury, was still commanding with a loud and clear voice.
“Move your lazy asses! I want to get to the nearest village by the night. Faster, you, stupid donkeys!”
Robert had no other option, but to obey the given order, helping the soldiers to quicken the process. It didn’t take long before they finished, and a march followed. Soon the knight had fallen asleep, but everyone still kept moving, pushing his cart forward without stopping. Despite stomach rumbling, which sounded from time to time in different parts of the group, nobody was brave enough to suggest a stop for food. Robert was also hungry, but he thought it was a good way to stress himself, thus using the Adaptation ability to fullness. The bigger problem was the religious lunatic, whose mumbling tired everyone even more than non-stop walking with the addition of quite noticeable weights on them. This fanatic got his face punched hard by one of the surviving sergeants after the former coughed his saliva on the soldier’s armor. That still didn’t stop him from his religious speeches but lowered the volume to a tolerable level.
They continued to walk even when the surroundings turned dark. The trampled road was going through a sparse forest with rare bushes and plants. The light from two moons was enough to see everything, not giving the ability to use low visibility as a reason for a rest. A few personal soldiers of Sir Henry, who acted more like servants with swords, tried to stabilize him, but it was clear that without proper treatment it would be a dead case for sure. The longer it went the more talks began to spread about tiredness, the absence of the ability to help the knight, the need of eating and even shitting. One even tried to appeal to different sides but was quickly stopped by others. Still, the situation started to get really serious soon, so one of the older warriors made an attempt to calm everyone:
“Listen up, fellow soldiers! I understand everyone’s exhaustion and hunger. I am with you in this, walking and not riding on the cart. I would trade a lot for proper sleep after a huge meal with a mug of beer. Better two or even three. However, if we want to live, we need Sir Henry alive. Just think about it – what nobles will do with us if they find us without a knight after the mage’s revolt? They will be branded as deserters or even traitors. Nobody will listen to us. And I don’t want to hide for years, especially now, when we don’t know what mages will do next or the scale of revolt. That’s why we need to…” his words were interrupted by a heavy cough and the same strange, patterned glow on his exposed skin. It lasted just for several seconds but was enough to worsen the mood of everyone as it wasn’t the second case of showing this symptom. At least the third part of the group looked like caught this magic disease.
“This is another good reason for us to hurry up. It is definitely not a common cold…”
“That is the doing of those evil bastards! The deathly magic plague, which they caused upon us! I am sure only God has the ability to…” The madman’s shout created a small commotion.
“Oh, shut the fuck up this idiot! We need just to hurry and get to the nearest village. Teo told me it had to be two hours from us. Maybe three. He got some supplies from there before the battle personally… We save Sir Henry first and help him get to his feet. When we will unite with the noble’s force to suppress the revolt, I am sure the knights will already have a solution or medicine for this odd cough. Hiding in the forest definitely will not help. Only our own actions can save us, so I will not ask who is with me. I will just continue my way for possible salvation, and I propose to follow me.”
Ending his statement, the warrior turned around with visible determination and started to walk. It took everyone a few seconds to process before someone followed. The one immediately turned into several and later a whole group was walking together as before, but this time without complaints. The atmosphere became heavier in front of the possibility of losing a life from an unknown plague, but nobody wanted to give up. Most of the conversations died out. However, still, Robert still managed to hear a fictional story about one soldier’s adventures and a heated discussion about the proper way to watch over the flock of sheep. Of course, the mumbling of lunatics and regular coughs from surrounding soldiers also didn’t disappear. At least the road was safe and hadn’t brought any mishaps.
The long-awaited village met them with a creepy silence. It had a short palisade around the settlement, but it was barely up to the heights of the chest and meant for protection against wild animals, not armed humans. There were no visible lights, which was easily explained by routine – most residents followed the cycle of day and night, not willing to spend valuable resources to light up their surroundings. Together with the fact that it was the middle of the night, way past midnight, everyone had to be asleep. Still, such motionless silence under two moons and with the addition of knowing about magic illness created a tense and anxious atmosphere. A few, including Robert, even put their hands on the weapon’s handles to feel the ability to defend themselves from the unknown.
“Hey, we are soldiers from both Dukes in temporary alliance. Our leader, Sir Henry, was injured and needs medical treatment! I ask you for help. Be sure, it will be rewarded by other knights once they hear it!”
A loud shout sounded across the border of the village, but nothing happened. Nobody rushed from the houses. There was no sign of any movement either. Just the same emptiness on narrow gaps between the buildings.
“Let’s move in and check everything. Maybe residents just hid after the discovery of their village’s closeness to the battlefield. It would be not strange, knowing dreadful consequences for the first villages, which were caught in the war,” someone offered.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Or mages, who definitely were prepared for ambushing the fighting forces, had wiped out everyone to kill possible witnesses of their revolt,” in a second another assumption followed, made by a trembling voice by someone in the crowd. As if a dam broke, new voices with different opinions emerged.
“Damn, I don’t like it… It might be another ambush!”
“What a nonsense! You can’t blame mages whatever you want. We need to see the situation ourselves!”
“We are all doomed, fuck! Let’s get out of here right now. Better to hide in a forest for several years than to die tonight!”
“Only God can help us, give us inner strength to overcome our fears, so we need to pray! Together, just repeat after me…”
“Listen to all! Let’s stop arguing! We need to be together in this, not oppose each other. Our leader, sir Henry, is in danger and we need to follow our plan…”
“Who the fuck has put you in charge to command us? Don’t think that just one motivational speech made everyone listen to you!”
“Crap, I want to eat… when will we finally decide something? We are wasting the time…”
Robert deeply sighed after watching this commotion for some time. Having no leader affected the decision-making in their group heavily, almost crippling them. It was Old’s knight's merit that they got here, but currently, his unconscious body couldn’t give another proper push to direct unorganized soldiers. The result was a chaotic heated discussion, which in no time might turn into a bloody one when the stress from tiredness, battles, and uncertainty would cloud someone’s mind. Taking into account that each warrior here had taken another's life at least once, there was no mental block to stop them from doing it again under the influence of emotions. That’s why Rob sighed again before jumping over the palisade and heading inside the village.
The shabby one-story building with marks from age was nearest to him. Robert spent a mere moment in doubt before kicking the front door open with a loud sound. Still, the only change in the village was short silence from the group, but nothing else. No one appeared with angry shouts, curses, or attempts to protect their property. The insides of the house gave small tips about what had happened. A few chairs were on the floor, unfinished food on the table, and marks of blood on the table. Moreover, Rob saw the broken window, which someone might use as a way of escape. However, there were no bodies or anything else. Looking at the food with hungry eyes, Robert gulped his saliva and wanted to leave, but stopped himself after a short consideration.
What the hell? Why not?
Placing the fallen chair back and dropping the backpack, Robert sat and without any remorse started to swallow already cold porridge. It was far from being tasty objectively, but currently, it made his stomach beg for more as he was moving his spoon. The fact that it was used by someone else didn’t make me even pause for a moment. After finishing one plate, he immediately switched to another.
“Hey, is everything alright? Did you find anything? You didn’t answer… Wait! What the fuck! Are you eating there, asshole, while we thought something happened to you… Hey! Stop right there and leave me that plate!” The voice from behind quickly changed his tone as Robert silently pointed to the pot near the stove. The soldier dropped any act and followed Rob’s example. Both were quite hungry, so mutual understanding formed. What followed for the next two minutes was the sound of chewing, until they were full.
“Did you find anything?” asked a nervous soldier with axe in his hands, when both finally left the house.
“Nope, it is empty. There are signs of struggle and blood spots, but no bodies. Someone ran through the window though,” calmly answered Robert.
“Yeah, we double-checked every corner and even tried to find a hidden cellar. Nothing. Very odd,” added his partner in eating, making a very serious face. It looked quite comical as his beard and mustache were in porridge. However, anxious soldiers missed that fact, directing more attention to their surroundings than to both. Rob followed his sight only to see three more groups of warriors end their check of buildings empty-handed. Maybe, not entirely as clear a look of worry was pictured on most faces.
I guess there is more blood in there…
In the end, they decided to search through the whole village to make sure there was no threat left. Still, everyone tried to be not far from each other, not willing to separate from the main group. The more they saw, the more ominous the village started to look. Most houses were indeed empty, as owners seemed to leave at least a few days ago, but other buildings were very similar to what Robert found – signs of a fight or hastily escape were clear. Nobody tried to hide or barricade themselves inside their houses as if the threat was much scarier.
By this point, everyone held the weapons in their hands. This suspense pressed their minds, making a way for their imagination to find an answer to what had happened here. However, it only made everything worse as Rob started to notice more panicked looks even from the battlefield veterans. It wasn’t strange for basically a medieval society with limited scientific knowledge, but the existence of magic created hundreds of horror stories, which often were told around bonfires to scare newbie warriors. Even Robert heard quite a few about ghosts longing for the warmth of the living, resurrected ancient mages with the single goal of revenge, or the skeleton knight in eternal search of flesh to cover its bones. He might have laughed about those stupid beliefs before his own returning to life by the hand of God, but not now. Everything was possible.
Please, no ghosts! Vampires, werewolves, demons, but not ghosts or any other fuckery without real bodies to kill… And not insects – hate them… Maybe I was too hasty – demons might be also tricky to deal with.
Robert sincerely hoped that sinister vibes, coming from the village, would turn out to be just an illusion from the mixture of tiredness, bad previous experiences, and fearful villagers, who ran away. Still, he couldn’t rule out that there was another danger, aside from the magic plague. Or the latter could be responsible for this. That’s why he kept his focus high on his surroundings, double-checking each shadow so as not to miss anything. Even if something looked like a creepy creature, Robert still spent some time studying it carefully so as not to mistake a strange tree or broken furniture for a monster or a body.
However, despite his efforts, he wasn’t the first to notice an oddity, but the soldier near him. They were both exploring the backyard of a relatively huge building, which possibly belonged to a carpenter as the whole place was packed with logs and rows of planks. Some of them were underneath a shed, but most were under an open sky. Wooden blanks made real small hills, easily reaching chin-height and obscuring the view. The yard wasn’t big and that was the reason why only two of them were here, while three warriors were checking the house.
“Hey, you, there! What are you doing there? What has happened here? Answer!” the shout made Robert turn around and finally see, with whom his fellow soldier was speaking. At first, he didn’t understand what he was looking at – the figure of an unknown person was bent over something, almost lying on it. Then Rob saw that “something” happened to be the body of a woman in a pool of blood, which made everything click in his mind.
Oh, thank God, yes! YES! It’s a zombie! Phew, just ordinary zombies… Wait! Why am I happy about it?