Karvas, the ever so intelligent undead held his flamy breath as he sat at the tall bushes in an ambush, the humans he had anticipated to hunt set up camp at a nearby group of trees, the fire of their campfire burned bright, and Karvas sensed every spark that the burning embers produced. Karvas smiled, a new information had been revealed, he can sense anything that lives right as long as they have been heated up above 50°, it was something that he assumed belonged to both the undead and the fire elementals, either that, or an ability that belonged to both somehow got mixed and this was the result. Either way, Karvas was happy.
For he now possessed the perfect tool to hunt.
Plans were running through his head, summer was 2 cycles away and the heat produced by the surrounding environment during that time - Judging by the memories of every single living being that assimilated within him - is at the right temperature when it comes to hunting people down, not only due to the fact that he would be able to see and sense every single living creature, bar the nobles and royalty whom live within houses that cooldown during the summer, but also, he would be, according to trusted information- be able to conjure [Fireballs] so powerful they can incenirate Hob-Goblins with only three casts.
And that's the interesting part, if he could make a [Fireball] powerful from heat that comes from the environment, who's to say that he won't be able to control a naturally occuring fire? Let's say... he burns the entire forest, what kind of fireball would he be able to cast in such an environment? how about inside a volcano? how about if he increases the heat his body produces? These are all questions that, more or less, should be answered by some simple fire that he could easily start anywhere.
Ashes escaped the skeleton's mouth as he realized that the campfire within his lair could have been used as something related to such matters. He tried to find the words within his vocabulary, but his non-existent vocal cords did not allow such sounds to be uttered, only one name came out of his mouth and that was- "Karvas..."
Midnight.
The campfire grew dim, the once bright burn of the inferno becoming naught but a few embers. The people that had set up the encampment had already slept and for Karvas, this was the perfect time to strike. There were a few people keeping watch and ever so slightly did they all lower their guard, he had waited for the moon to reach the epicenter of the sky before he finally deemed it that was the time to strike. And finally, after biding his time for more than a few painful hours, Karvas finally stood up, the cold midnight air that surrounded the thick underbrush becoming hot as it escaped the heated bush the skeleton was hiding in.
Red streaks formed on Karvas' body as it started heating up, the charred black bones slowly turning into molten calcium, a few minutes pass and like burning charcoal, the once black bones became hot orange, heat iminating from the very things that made Karvas who he was and in truth- This was the real Karvas-
- A skeleton warrior filled with burning rage of more than 3 people, burned alive by the man whom they trusted and the one who killed him, Thrice. adding the thought of them mixing and ending up together without their consent and you have the most rage filled undead that had been naturally born for the past 7 years. It was the four-armed skeleton warrior known as- "Karvas..."
was the name that the undead muttered as he got near the camp, his iminating heat starting to be felt by the sleeping men, with some starting to rouse their eyes and move their nose, the one whom decided to stay watch was getting drowsy but when a sudden glare reached his back- his eyes shot back open.
Turning around, he saw an undead, one that fit the description of something that he had been warned about- Hob-Goblin skull situated atop it's upper shoulders, skeletal arms larger than a 16 year old's legs were connected to said shoulders, below it was another set, smaller than the one's above but extremely dexterous, - what seemed to have been impossible, two right arms put at the sides of the body should be something more akin to a disabled object, especially when it comes to the thumbs. But, for things no longer restrained by flesh, they looked normal. Something that belonged to any five-fingered organism out there. - But that wasn't the most scariest feature, it was the fact that - "it's over 10 feet tall." was the last thing the man muttered before a sword pierced his skull. The dexterous arm that belonged to the human Karvas easily doing such an impossible throw.
Warm blood soaked the blood, causing the furnace within Karvas' skull to burn even further
The skeleton approached the now darkened camp further and with the sleeping humans unaware of the danger that was approaching them, the intelligence of the undead enabling a sneak attack- the ambush? Was quite easy, each human died slowly as the sword pierced their neck, some even dying due to choking from the heat that the skeleton produced. After every camp was killed, Karvas thought he was done but-
he felt a painful burn towards his back, the undead looked towards the direction where the sudden surge of searing heat had come from- a priest, no older than 19 stood their, the robes he wore were white, stained by the green grass he had been lying on for the past few hours, fear was evident on the young teen's face but, resolve was starting to overtake it. Who can blame him? infront of a 10-foot tall flaming skeleton that looked like it had just gotten out of a furnace's burner, this priest looked obselete. Karvas grinned, the red-hot swords that melded with his fingers spinning as he did,
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the priest took a step back as karvas took one forward, he prepared to run and-
CRACK!
he felt a shockwave of pain phase through his entire body as he recoiled back, gaining his senses, right beside him was a stout man wielding a mace, he was on the same alignment as the priest that Karvas first encountered, a worshipper known as a paladin. The holy aura that surrounded the man was able to compete against Karvas' own decaying presence, with the tides getting turned to Karvas' side thanks to his [Burn].
The paladin readied his mace, the sharpened edges on all it's four sides glistening from the light that suddenly enveloped the weapon. Karvas felt fear as he saw the yellowish-white light that had emerged, then his fear was eaten by the rage of going back to death, mana surged within, causing the flames that surrounded his body started to become enraged, the once molten charcoal esque bones becoming an inferno of flame that threatened to turn every obstacle that dare to obstruct it to ashes-
Karvas no longer had the will to resist the rage, his vision became bloodshot red.
The two worshippers turned pale as the undead glared at them, the flames within his skull now an uncontrollable fire that made the bone structure look like a volcano, over taken by feral instincts, Karvas lunged, dodging the paladin's swing before immediately grabbing the handle and twisting it in a way that it would simply hurt to hold, trying to fight back against the strength of a skeletal Hob-Goblin arm, the paladin tried his best but ultimately, he failed to even struggle against the garguantuan grasp of the skeletal undead, not to mention the heat that comes from his body.
A gasp followed by blood escaped the paladin's mouth as Karvas' arm pierced his chest, with the threat gone, Karvas' rage died down, giving him the greater intellect he possessed compared to other undead. The priest that attacked him, someone who has turned pale by now simply stood there, unmoving as the undead looked his way, Karvas grasped his mouth, searing it, the undead felt saliva evaporate between his finger tips.
The priest did not die an easy death, a corpse with but a burned mouth and dried, blackened eyes with a face that had undergone through severe fat burn was the only thing that would be found when he finally gets discovered.
Karvas nodded to himself, proud of his work, then he took a good look at the paladin, trying to grab it thinking that there no survivors left, he bent down, a knife found it's way on his ribs, then-
RING!
was a sound that entered his non-existent ears, an alarm scroll was activated, seemingly by a scout that had been sleeping on the trees. Karvas confirmed his theory when, after looking around, he found a hammock attached to three trees, a silhouette belonging to a humanoid slowly shrinking beneath it.
Raged filled the already fuming skeleton, his mind slowly becoming numb, a pressure... perhaps an instinct that stems from intelligence told him not to get eaten by such a mind consuming rage and- he followed, the flames died down as ashes escaped Karvas' mouth, his base instinct as an undead shouldn't be something that would take a hold of him and thus, his burning mind deciding the best course of action, Karvas left to get back to his lair, carrying all his recent kills as he did.
The sun had risen by the time he had gotten back, and undoubtly- the information regarding him had already been released, Karvas knew that he was a threat that humans would prioritized, something that's more important than that horde leader. Though, the current army should be able to buy him enough time to find a new place far away from this one, one where the undead wouldn't be around, a place where suspicions wouldn't occur. A place where he can experiment in peace.
Karvas nodded to himself, resolved to go out and find the best suited area for his needs, the 10 foot tall skeleton looked back at the place where the last human had gone to, then he looked to his side, remembering the waterfall and the river, something that would make the humans think that he would stray away from. A good choice but- they recognize I'm smart. were thoughts that passed through his non-existent brain, words, for the first time were spelled out instead of thought of, Karvas felt great joy, thinking. Thinking was something on the memories of the two humans that integrated with him whilst the basic instinct to take actions was something that belonged to the Hob-Goblin mind that had joined with them but, alas! He can finally decide things with relative ease, no longer needing to take action during the moment.
Karvas was ecstatic but instead of joy, rage filled him, giving him the comfort of being alive. The only reminder that Karvas needed to give him satisfaction, that he was him.
Karvas walked away, planning on treading the high cliff above his lair, something that humans would assume as way too risky even for themselves, and this is the main reason why Karvas would do such a thing, if they won't do it? why would an undead?
Karvas grinned as he below the high evelation he now found himself on, the world looked small from this view, the open breeze felt great, and the feeling of those pesky humans not being able to find was quite... satisfying, he was happy, for something as mundane as making an intelligent decision, the relief that he felt was something to behold.
Though he doubts that humans truly had free will, as they have to sustain themselves and sleep, for an undead whom does not need to constantly do such things, Karvas felt free as he looked down on the forest below him.
Karvas started moving towards an unknown destination.