I sat alone inside the small family wagon. Finally able to find a moment of quiet, I closed my eyes. I focused on the undead under my control that were hidden in the Avari forces while careful not to take direct control and turn their eyes bright green.
Most of them were going about their simple daily routine. They were careful not to draw attention to themselves, following their orders perfectly. They tended to those still infected by the mist, patrolled the edges of the military camp, cooked for other soldiers, and cleaned their equipment. It was all very mundane, but vital for the undead to maintain their cover. Nobody would be able to tell what they were so long as they did not run into any longtime friends or family. While my undead were extremely lifelike, and usually even retained the memories from when they were alive, people who knew them well could easily spot that something was wrong. The dead had little emotion for the loved ones they left behind, and would sometimes even turn violent towards them if they were forced to face those emotions. Luckily, nothing like that had happened with these few days. While I was confident in my abilities, if the army figured out that my undead were moving among them, all my plans would become much more difficult to pull off.
Out of eight soldiers under my command, only one was doing anything worth my attention.Ignoring the others, I connected with the flames inside of him, deepening my connection. There was a moment of weightlessness followed by extreme nausea and vertigo as my mind took control and fully stepped into his body.
I had to lean against a nearby table as I adapted to the much larger body of the soldier. Taking direct control like this always felt as if I was wearing a thick leather glove that did not fit right. It was extremely uncomfortable and would only become more so the longer I was like this. I took a moment to shake away the discomfort while getting my bearings on where I was.
It was the inside of a command tent, much more sparsely furnished than General Hull’s had been. More than a dozen people surrounded a large table covered in maps of various terrain.
Small wooden tiles with different images carved on them were scattered across the maps. I took a moment to look at the images on the tiles, a sword, a horse, and a bow and arrow. They marked the infantry, cavalry, and archers on the map. I took a moment to carefully count each of the different tiles. This was something General Arthur would want later.
I was shaken away from my examination of the army’s layout by a loud shout from a man dressed in a commander’s uniform. His face was bright red and spittle sprayed across the room as he screamed, “Does anyone want to tell me why General Arthur just sent me a war ultimatum? Who in the bloody realms is Donte and why is General Arthur demanding his return?”
One of the nearby advisors stuttered as he faced the full wrath of the general bearing down on him. “D-Donte is a squire of the Ventus family… He was involved in… an altercation that led to the death of a noble connected to the royal family. According to the reports, a group of knights under General Izmos’s command forcibly… detained him to await trial and execution.”
“A squire? You expect me to believe two generals and twenty-five thousand troops mobilized because of a squire!” the general shouted back angrily, “Is he the illegitimate son of the king or something?”
“I… I don’t have any information about his origin,” the advisor replied nervously.
“And where is this squire now?”
“The report mentioned that he had been taken to Bastya fortress until the royal family decided his fate. I do not know if he is still there though.”
“Absolutely useless! So once again, we are stuck cleaning up a mess General Izmos made while he sits comfortably in his little fortress,” the general’s shoulders slumped as all the energy drained out of him. He collapsed into a chair, looking at the table in front of him with an empty gaze.
“If we engage in battle now, what are the odds of success?”
“Abysmal,” another of the nearby soldiers replied with a grim expression as he pointed towards wooden tiles on the map, “General Arthur and General Hull both took up positions on these two hills here. If we tried to attack either one of them, we would be caught by an attack from behind by the other. General Hull alone outnumbers us two to one. His numbers are padded by untrained militia, but any drawn-out conflict with him will still be costly. However, I am much more concerned about General Arthur. He may only have five thousand troops right now, but they are all elites. Honestly, I would rather fight twice the twenty thousand under General Hull’s command than these five thousand under General Arthur. It has been reported that each and every one of his commanders is capable of using glyphs or has an innate talent. Meanwhile, we only brought ten thousand troops as a show of force, and most of them are just regular infantry. We do not even have proper supplies for a battle this far from Avari borders.”
Another adviser spoke up, contradicting the first. "That is nonsense, it is just five thousand. What can General Arthur do with just five thousand troops? They should still be exhausted from their time inside the mist. You saw how weak our troops were afterwards. General Arthur's will be no different. It should not be able to mount an effective assault. We should charge him, and take the hill for ourselves"
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"Do you think General Hull will just sit there as we charge him?" the first soldier replied, "A direct attack is suicidal. At the very least we should not walk into their trap. We can set up on another hill nearby and fortify it against an attack. Make him come to us."
A few of the other knights at the table started boasting about the power of their army, claiming that they could easily crush any opposition. This started an argument between those who believed it was better to retreat and those that wanted to stay and fight.
While the two sides argued, the general tapped his finger on the table. He stared silently at the map for a long time before finally letting out a sigh. The arguing knights immediately went quiet as the general spoke, “We do not have any advantage in a direct assault. For now, we will fall back to Bastya Fortress. There, we can have the high ground advantage, and the mountain pass should negate the numbers disadvantage somewhat. We will leave the infected here for treatment with a small detachment. Ready the troops. We need to move immediately. I do not trust General Arthur to give us much time for his ultimatum.”
All the knights around the table, including the ones that argued for staying to fight, saluted the general. Regardless of their opinion, his word was the final law. They shouted affirmatively before relaying commands to their subordinates.
The commanding officers worked with an efficiency that came from years of experience as they prepared the army for departure. one by one, they ran off and before long, there was only the general and the undead soldier under my command left in the tent.
The general looked up with annoyance as he stood from the table. “Can I help you with something soldier?”
My undead shook his head as he smiled at the general. “I just wanted to give you a message… for your eyes only.” The undead soldier reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of wax-covered paper that was folded nearly a dozen times into the shape of an envelope.
The general gave a confused look as he took the paper. “Who is it from?” the General asked as he unfolded the envelope. Purple dust spilled onto the ground as the smell of rotten eggs instantly filled the room.
The general immediately threw the envelope down as he jumped back. His eyes began to glow with a deep yellow light, but before his talent could activate, the general started wobbling unsteadily. The yellow fade from his eyes as he slumped to the ground. He gipped at his throat as he struggled to breathe. “W- Why?” he said with a weak rasp, unable to even call for help as his eyes started to lose focus.
My undead casually reached down, picking up the envelope and gathering as much of the fallen powder as he could before turning back towards the general. I took full control of the corpse, eyes turning bright green as I stared down at the dying man. The general’s face turned pale as he tumbled backwards, his eyes wide with fear.
The corpse spoke with a strange layered voice that was both mine and his simultaneously. “The Avari took what was mine. Now, I will take everything of theirs, starting with you.”
The general tried to crawl away as I approached with slow measured steps. I simply stepped on his back, forcing him down. the general clawed at the ground desperately trying to escape, but he was too weak to put up any resistance. I reached down and grabbed his hair, forcing his head back. I pried open his mouth moving the small envelope of powder closer.
Tears streamed down the general’s face as he struggled to speak. “P-please, no…”
I did not hesitate as I forced the rest of the powder down the man’s mouth.
He tried to spit the powder up, I clamped my hand over his mouth. The nails tore from his fingers as the man continued to claw at the ground, leaving long bloody lines in the dirt. After a few more seconds he fell still. I watched the life fade from his eyes as he silently pleaded for his life.
“I am sorry…” I said softly. I blinked a few times, confused for a moment, but quickly shook away the discomfort.
I pressed my hand to the general’s head as all the flames from inside the corpse gathered in one place. My connection was severed as the fell corpse lifelessly to the ground.
There were a few moments of silence, followed by a new flicker of flames. The general stood up, through his eyes I looked down at the unmoving corpse of the knight silently for a moment before straightening my back with a sigh. Moving quickly, I began to set the scene to explain the body as a failed attempted murder on the general.
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I severed the connection with my new puppet, allowing it to act as naturally as possible. My mind returned to my own body. I shook away the discomfort I felt with a frown.
“You are not awake yet, right?” I whispered quietly in the empty wagon. Silence… There was no reply. I was still alone, but…
I shook my head, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. Pushing open the door to the wagon, I looked up at the blue sky. then, I looked down at the family that waited for me with a smile on their face.
“How did it go?” Renald asked, handing me a flask of water.
“Everything according to plan,” I replied with a shrug. I grabbed the flask and downed the entire contents in one go. Only when there was no more to drink did I hand the empty flask back. “General Arthur was correct. The Avari are retreating to Bastya just like we wanted. As a bonus, I now also control the general of their army.”
Renald froze, the smile disappearing from his face. “You actually killed him? I did not think you would actually get the chance.”
I nodded. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Renald hesitated for a moment as Tia placed a hand on his arm. “It is not a problem… I just… dislike poison. A soldier should die honorably on the battlefield, not by trickery.”
“Death is death. No matter how it happens, the ending is all the same. Poison is useful, and this way there are fewer unnecessary deaths on both sides.”
“Then why do you look so troubled?” Tia asked calmly. “You are still in wren’s body. I know when something is bothering her.”
“I…” Stopping, I struggled to find the right words. “don’t know…”