Al Dherjza’s cobbled streets were completely overrun by Tenebria Coronum’s runic zombies. Every corpse within the magic circle surrounding the city had been reanimated; including every withered corpse that rested in the catacombs beneath the city.

“Where’s Charlie? I heard that he was helping reclaim the battlements.” Runald asked as he, Kari, Lumie and Leon ran through the city streets, eastward towards the hospital. They moved as quickly as they could; the number of undead pouring from the various catacomb entrances onto the surface would only increase over time. What remained of the main force of the Al Dherjzan Knights followed a few blocks behind.

“When the zombification spell was cast, he left straight for the hospital. I’m not surprised, given the carts of bodies piling up nearby.” Leon replied.

“What about Sophia?” Runald asked.

“One of the knights saw her take a mortal blow… but they say her body disappeared. We don’t know what became of her or where she is.”

“If she’s not around, we should treat the situation as if she’s dead,” Runald said grimly.

An ornament on Runald’s lapel burst to life. “Scout’s spotted a horde spotted to the north along Shieldmaiden’s Road.”

“Take a detour south,” the warlock instructed. “My team will stay the course here and regroup shortly.”

They were passing through an empty residential district, but the street on the next left turn housed an ancient alchemy workshop. Alchemy was a specialisation within the mystical arts, like enchanting. Though it was a powerful science that allowed one to transform one material into another, it carried a certain risk of bodily harm if done incorrectly. The apothecaries and other magical stores had already officially moved their reagents to the hospitals and other storehouses. Though it was possible for the store owners to have illegally hoarded some reagents for themselves, by Runald’s assessment, it seemed more likely that looters and desperate citizens would have taken those obvious supplies. But alchemists’ workshops were a different story; they would have been left relatively untouched owing to the inaccessibility of the technology.

The four of them ran along the darkened streets, staying close to the walls. They made it to the intersection under the cloudy night sky without incident. But upon turning to see the road their destination lay on…

“Horde!” Kari hissed, readying the wand-pistol with a red vial.

“It must be part of the same horde that our scouts had just spotted. Shieldmaiden’s road is the next block over… there must be at least four hundred of them.”

Due to the Coronum’s presence in the skies above, all magic in the vicinity was still empowered, including the effects of Rolynd’s weapon. Although the Al Dherjzans could use this to their advantage, most of their forces were short on magical supplies, putting Kari in a uniquely favourable situation against the hordes of reanimated dead.

However, that did not mean that he would have it easy. Hundreds of glowing eyes milled about the far end of the street. He had seen what the enchanted corpses could do when a rune-inlaid arm had snapped a Sarigold swordsman’s arm like a dry twig with a single errant swipe. Even with the knights' coordination, the zombies were a major threat due to their raw strength and numbers. Although the knights had done well dealing with smaller groups of the Coronum’s ghouls, a long, drawn-out fight with a horde of a hundred or more could be a death sentence. The best strategy was to move quickly and avoid making contact with the enemy.

The zombies’ perception and intelligence were limited. Lumie, Leon, Runald and Kari had not yet been noticed by the horde on the far end of the street to the north, and it seemed possible for them to sneak into the alchemy workshop without drawing any unwanted attention to themselves.

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“Quietly. If they notice us, we return to the main force and deal with them there. Don’t fight back unless it's life-or-death; making too much noise here could draw a second horde to us.” Runald instructed them.

Confirming their formation, Leon nodded, drawing his sword. Runald and Kari took up the rear as the ranged attackers, while Lumie stood next to her brother in front, wearing a personalised set of armour. It was made from a matrix of black ceramic plating bonded to ductile, lightweight aluminium, painted over in the blue and orange livery of the Al Dherjzan knights. Normally, such armour would be too heavy to wear, but with her gift for boron, Lumie was able to mitigate the inertia and clumsiness of the heavy boron carbide plates.

Even better, Lumie was able to re-sinter the damaged armour back into shape with her Gift, so long as she was given the time to rest. Unlike Kari, she had focused more of her time on physical and technical training as a knight, rather than on developing her Gift which had been determined to be rather limited in application.

Lumie held an axe and shield at the ready with her spear holstered on her back. Spears were useful in the melee against the Incandestine forces, best used from behind the knights’ shield formations with their long reach. However, in this situation with only the four of them, against zombies, spears were a liability. With their enhanced strength, Lumie had no doubt that the shaft of her spear could be broken or torn from her grasp by the zombies’ unpredictable, surging movements. An axe, in comparison, was far more practical. Even if its weighty edge was blunted, Lumie would still be able to use the blunt rear side of it to cave in their skulls.

The alchemy workshop was about fifty meters away. But the four of them had barely moved twenty or so paces before the situation changed dramatically. Runald’s lapel burst into noise once more. He stopped, wary of the noise drawing attention from the horde.

It was a female scout this time, from the battlements. “Demons have been seen exiting the Coronum’s mouth, numbering less than one hundred. Most headed towards the battlefield, some into the city. Succubi, vampires, tieflings, infernals… more probably.”

“What are they doing?” Runald asked.

“Uncertain, but they’re spreading out thinly.” The scout replied.

“Hmm…” Runald wondered

“Perhaps they’re commanders. That would explain their relatively small numbers and distribution.” Leon suggested.

“Commanders… yes. That seems plausible.” Runald said in acknowledgement. Then, into his lapel, he said: “The presence of runes on the undead suggest that they can be directed. If the demons are commanders… we can expect a more coordinated offensive from the undead forces. Treat the zombie hordes as intelligent as a precaution, until the demons’ purpose has been identified.”

Numerous words of affirmation came through Runald’s communicator, which he promptly muted, refocusing on the task at hand.

The four of them reached the workshop without a hitch.

Leon tried the door with his spare hand.

“It’s locked.” He reported.

Naturally, like every other building in the city, the alchemy workshop was covered in runes that constructed defensive enchantments. They would be unable to break the door down without drawing the attention of the horde, only seventy or so meters away.

“Step aside, I’ll handle this,” Runald ordered. The other three took up positions around the warlock, as he inspected the door.

Runald held up an ornate obsidian dagger, passing it slowly over the surface of the door. It glowed with a mysterious purple light. Under the dagger’s glow, the mess of runes took on various hues depending on the enchantment they were a part of. The majority of the runes were deep blue. Defensive. However, passing the dagger over the upper middle part of the door, he saw two columns of three runes, glowing pink in varying intensities. Runald stuck the tip of the dagger into the pink rune that was dimmest, and with a noise like a rasping breath, the pink energy was absorbed into the magical instrument.

The door unlocked with a click.

Runald pushed the door open and the four of them hurried inside. Kari swapped a blue vial into the wand-pistol before he headed indoors. He wasn’t about to risk blowing them all to hell with an empowered fireball fired in panic.

“We’re looking for an orange powder. Usually kept in corked bottles the size of a thumb. That would be your standard alchemical catalyst. Besides that, any precious metals, or substances such as mercury, iodine, garlic or godbugs. Anything that you can associate with purification could be turned into a weapon against the undead.” Runald told them

“I’ll watch the street. The horde could come closer.” Lumie said. The bulk of her armour and weapons would slow her search for materials.

“Good, we’re counting on you to tell us when time is up.” Runald replied.

Kari began searching through woven sacks and cluttered, dusty wooden shelves. Leon started on the cabinets on Kari’s far side. Runald headed deeper into the back of the workshop, where there were furnaces and glass devices of which Kari had little knowledge.