The chaos at the gate called numerous other people, like a flock of pigeons to a loaf of bread. We left the camp quietly and reached the edge of the area. Without a better idea, I concentrated on thinking about Gary’s location. Take me to him.

The next place we found ourselves was another warband camp. Instead of high stone walls, it was wood walls with a sharpened spear moat. There were colorfully striped tents instead of the bland beige of the fortress. But standing at the gate were a pair of armored skeletons with spears and shields.

I turned to Shadara. “Uh, are those undead?”

She grabbed her bow and nodded. “Yeah. Remember, destroy the torso on skeletons.”

The skeletons turned their heads towards each other and back to us. “Woah. Wait. We have intruders?”

I reached for my gun but paused at the skeleton’s question. I turned to Shadara again. “Did it just talk?”

Shadara wasn’t prepared for it either, as she looked baffled.

The skeletons brought their shields up and pointed their spears out. “What do we do? There’s two of them and two of us.”

“I say we get help. If they came here, they’re probably tough,” the other skeleton responded.

“They’re going to get reinforcements.” I kept my hand gripped on my gun, but I left it in the holster inside my jacket. “Do we run?”

Shadara’s face went slack. “You understand them?”

One skeleton stepped forward. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can. Raise the alarm. There might be more after them.”

As the other skeleton pushed itself through the gate, Shadara pulled her bow off her shoulders and readied an arrow. “Stop the runner. I’ll take the other one.”

I sprinted forward. As I tried to go past the first skeleton, it tried to stab me with his spear. It was pathetically slow and effortless to dodge. With the attempt, I decided to give Shadara a hand, or in this case, a foot, by kicking the back of its knee. I ran for the other skeleton, leaving the skeleton to fall backwards and defenseless.

I slipped through the small opening in the gate. The sight of the camp nearly took my breath away. Near the entrance was a pen of caged people with blank expressions and patches of rotting flesh all over their bodies. On the other side, a line of skeletal horses was tied to a rope.

In front of me was an ugly, decaying hag. Red and purple pustules, ready to burst, pushed apart dull, flaky gray scales. Thin, mangled black hair clung to her gaunt face with sunken yellow eyes.

Her tattered rags barely covering her swayed as she raised a gnarled claw. “That human?”

The skeleton in front of her turned and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Norbert is stalling the other one in case there’s more coming.”

Her head snapped with a wet pop towards the skeleton. “Other one? You ran in here because of two living ones stumbling on our base?”

The skeleton slid his feet as he inched away from the hag. I think it might be best if we just left now.

I turned to leave, but a blue hand slammed the gate shut. Shoot.

The horrifying lizard woman shoved the skeleton towards me as more skeletons gathered. “What are you waiting for? Kill her already.” She waved the other skeletons towards me. “All of you. Do your job.”

I looked around. Any escape routes that existed were slowly closing. The skeletons fanned out and set up in a shield wall as they advanced with either a spear, sword, or mace in hand. All the skeletons wore breastplates, acknowledging their one vulnerability.

They’re pretty slow. Maybe I can take out the ones on the end to find another exit.

This is what you’ve been trained to fight. There’s a significant ability gap between you and the skeletons. The ghast mage should be your primary concern. Also, your friend will join you as soon as she is able. Fight smart, and this is something you can handle. Stay mobile and keep your back free of enemies. You will not only survive but also come out with more stats and shards.

I looked at my hand. After I turned it over, I clenched into a tight fist. She’s right. Those nights training me were to prepare me for moments like this. I chose to fight against the thing that wants to kill me. It’s time I double down on that. I faced down Tasha without hesitation. It’s time I accepted that I’m going to be fighting a lot more now. This will be a test of my metal, in more ways than one.

Your arm blade and gun will be less effective against skeletons. Save them for other undead.

And the ghast?

Most undead require the destruction of their brain or heart, as Shadara specified earlier. The ghast’s brain would be the most likely option. If it doesn’t work, it’ll hinder her ability to use magic for a long time, effectively neutralizing her nonetheless.

The skeletons kept inching towards me. I snapped my head up, pulled my gun out, and aimed it at the ghast. I pulled the trigger, and the bullet struck a field that shattered like glass as the back of her head exploded. My second shot struck her below the cheek, blowing more gore onto the skeleton behind her.

A signal in the corner of my HUD showed that I received five stat points, and eight thousand, four hundred and seventy shards were all I needed to know that she was not getting back up. If that was the largest threat, I’m going to be just fine.

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The skeletons paused, watching the ghast fold to the ground. I took the moment to charge the skeleton on the outermost edge while putting my gun in its holster.

To the undead’s credit, it did try to turn and put its shield in the way of my punch. Too bad for it, I was far too fast. My fist collided with the plate. It collapsed like a pop can that a baseball bat had hit. It also went flying like it had been a baseball. The arms, legs, skull, sword, and shield clambered to the ground.

As the banging of the skeleton’s destroyed body went still, I received two stat points and three thousand three hundred and ninety-five shards.

The skeletons, momentarily stunned by the unexpected turn of events, hesitated in their advance, their hollow eye sockets fixed on me.

“Stay mobile,” I reminded myself. “Keep your back free of enemies.”

As the skeletons moved to regroup and resumed their advance, I sprang into action. Dodging their lumbering strikes didn’t slow me down as I slammed my fist into another skeleton’s chest. Killing another one for three thousand shards and two stat points.

I bounced from one side to the other three more times, each time killing a skeleton. Each strike elicited a resounding and satisfying bang as bone shattered beneath the deforming steel. They stopped trying to flank me and balled up. They’re learning.

An arrow punched through the furthest up skeleton, dead center. The arrow went straight through the metal, sternum, and spine before exiting the other side.

I turned to see Shadara standing on the wall with a wide grin. “Looks like you decided to fight after all. Don’t go hoggin’ all the monsters to yourself.”

It felt easier to separate the skeletons as Shadara would shoot them, forcing them to raise a shield that I would then strike from behind. One by one, we dismantled their defense.

But as we fought, I could see more skeletons coming our way, joined by what had to be even slower zombies. Joining them were more gangly people who scurried on all fours with streams of drool flowing from their mouths. And I’m sure I saw a mummy or two in the mass too.

As the last of the skeletons fell beneath our relentless assault, Shadara held out her hand as she shouldered her bow. “It looks like now’s a good time to leave.”

I shook my head and pointed at the people in the cage. “We have to free them.”

Shadara looked at the cage. “No. Those are zombies. It’s too late for them.”

I felt bad for them. Those people fighting in the fort have it hard. If any of them are killed, they’ll be turned into an undead to fight their friends. This is wrong on so many levels.

I pulled my gun out and shot each one in the head. It took a full refill of my gun, since there were ten of them in the cage. None of them were worth any stats and only minor amounts of shards, but I couldn’t leave them like that. My gut felt uneasy about leaving them.

So I fled with Shadara after I dealt with the caged enemies. We returned to the camp we came from since we knew that was safe.

The sight of those poor souls trapped in cages, condemned to an existence as mindless undead, haunted my thoughts. Even though they were beyond saving, putting an end to their suffering felt like the least I could do.

I know Elara was a ghost and, therefore, a type of undead. When I first saw her, she scared me. But those zombies weren’t scary. They were unsettling.

Shadara walked beside me as I placed my hands on my stomach. The panther woman placed a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

I lowered my head and shortened my stride. “The pit in my stomach won’t go away.”

We were just by the gate, where a couple of the soldiers watched us.

Shadara leaned in close to me. “Undead are a nasty business. Spirit undead, like ghosts, are less nauseating. Seeing a decayed corpse walk towards you takes some getting used to.” She patted me on the back. “But I’d say that was pretty good for your first time. You’re quite impressive. What you did back there was nothing like what I saw you doing the first time I met you.”

I held out my hands. “That’s because I’m nothing like what I was back then. I’ve changed so much, physically, mentally, and emotionally. And I’ll never be like that again. Just like in the future, I’ll never be like I am now.”

Shadara looked up at the sky. “Nobody is. But that’s life.” She pulled me into a hug with one arm. “What do you say we get that armor you agreed to get? I’m sure you have plenty of shards now. You got most of the kills back there. Afterwards, let’s get some food.”

I smiled. “Of course. That’s enough excitement for one day. Gary’s not going anywhere. We have time. Let’s not rush it.”

I took the time to check on my status and distributed the stats I received.

Name:

Rina Lone

Augments:

Level:

29

Cellular Regeneration

Agility:(+30)

281

Synthetic eyes: lvl. 2

Arcane:

230

HUD

Power:

75

Epidermal plating (arms) lvl. 2

Quickness(+45):

450

Epidermal plating (hands) lvl. 2

Resilience:

225

Arm blade (right), Retractable

Toughness:

215

Synthetic tendons (legs) lvl. 1

Unassigned Points:

0

Synthetic muscle (legs) lvl. 1

Shards:

185251

Synthetic tendons (arms) lvl. 1

Synthetic muscle (arms) lvl. 1

Shadow Powers:

Mana battery (shadow) integration

Manifestation lvl 3

Synthetic bones (arms) lvl. 1

Shaping lvl. 2

Sub-dermal plating (torso) lvl. 2

I have progressed so much and I have paid for it every step of the way. But I’ve done it all without losing Shadara. That’s the one price I won’t pay. Not now, not ever. If you are listening, Soul Nexus, do your worst. I will find a way to reach the top no matter what horrors you throw at me. And most importantly, I won’t be alone.