The undead don’t like light.

It was a naïve conclusion I’d made by seeing them avoid the sunlight that slithered through the holes above us. In truth, most undead I was facing feared the light. But those were the weakest kind.

I had to deal with about fifty of them while Zoey stood behind me watching and hoping I’d come out on top. The plan was to send her to the area where sunlight concentration was the strongest.

So much for wishful thinking! I had a dull scimitar on one hand, and about fifty undead to deal with. They were slow. At least that was a good sign. I took my time observing them though. Rushing in without a plan meant death.

‘Just concentrate as you’ve done earlier,’ Eva told me. ‘You’ll be able to sense the link to their master.’

‘I can feel it alright,’ I said. ‘But it’s not just one link. It’s some kind of web that runs through their limbs.’

‘Can you feel a concentration of energy that holds the webs together?’ she asked. ‘Some kind of core, or the center of the web if you like.’

‘It changes from one undead to the other,’ I said.

‘He’s good!’ Eva said. I swore she was praising our enemy. I could somehow feel her emotions– she didn’t speak to me in words you see. I’m just translating the gist of our connected thoughts.

I was getting used to the smell of rotten flesh by then. The walking corpses that targeted me weren’t fresh, unlike the ones I encountered before. Some had pretty solid armor though. Their swords glistened against the sunlight as they walked toward me.

“Myles,” Zoey shrieked behind me. “They’re getting closer!”

“Just… Stay calm, would you?” I said. “I’m thinking of a plan of attack!”

“Your plan won’t work if they surround us,” she said.

She had a point, as much as I hated to admit it.

“Alright,” I said. “The ones to our right seem weak enough. They’re not wearing any armor and they seem more decayed than the others. I’ll create a path for you and you run for the light near that brass door. Got it?”

“Yes,” Zoey answered. “Would you hurry it up then?”

Oh the tirade of insults I’d kept to myself! As soon as we’re out of here, she’s on her own! I had decided.

“Don’t fall behind,” I said then rushed to our right.

There was no need to slash and cut at that point, I needed to get to the light as well. If only I could use the stop spell then. That would’ve made things a bit easier. Zoey was at my heels. I shoulder bashed, kicked, and pushed the slow walking corpses away. Zoey followed, shrieking every time one of them tried to grab her.

“Come on,” I yelled at her, “don’t fall back or you’ll never reach the light!”

“What do you think I’m doing?!” she shrieked.

Even the undead stopped upon hearing her high pitched voice. Perhaps it was an illusion after all, since they kept on extending their withered arms toward us, but I liked to believe it was true. Her voice was annoying. It overshadowed every other quality she might have had.

We struggled for an eternity, me being the bodyguard, Zoey the escort. But we finally reached the light. And the undead didn’t follow.

‘They’re already rotten,’ Eva told me. ‘They don’t want the sun to make it worse for them. You’re lucky Stalwart.’

‘Lucky would mean finding the door behind us unlocked,’ I said.

‘That’s wishful thinking,’ Eva retorted. ‘Wishful thinking can only get you killed. We need to deal with them before more join the party.’

‘Any suggestions then?’ I asked.

‘Use the pointy end of your saber,’ she said. ‘Poke them and break the links. That’d slow them down more.’

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I didn’t have any better ideas, so I followed the advice.

“Stay here!” I told Zoey before leaving the safety of sunlight. “Once they follow me, run to that door. See if it’s open.”

She nodded.

I ran outside the ring of light and among the army of undead. The first one to come at me was an old man. His white beard was still attached to his half eaten face. I stabbed him in the stomach. I felt the link inside him weaken, but the old man was still moving, gesticulating with his outstretched arms. I put my leg against his chest and wrenched the sabre away then brought it again on his skull.

The old man fell to the ground and crawled toward my legs. I wrenched the sword away once more, but only half of it came out. I looked at the broken sabre, dejected, and threw it aside.

‘This won’t work!’ I said. Panic started rising within me. Others were joining the party. If I’m surrounded, I’ll surely join them.

‘Hey, you’ve recovered some of your own energy,’ Eva said.

‘Yeah, so what? I don’t know any spells.’

‘You don’t need spells against these beasts,’ she said. ‘Get away from the swarm now. I’ll explain what you can do then.’

I obeyed. I shot a quick glance at Zoey, who was hugging herself and looking around frantically. I ran toward the tunnel from whence we came. I had put a good distance between me and the slow marching swarm. They’d diverted their attention from Zoey. They couldn’t reach her yet, so they all turned toward me.

I was closer to the armored ones by then. But if Eva had a plan that could help me defeat these walking chunks of meat, I was willing to take my chances.

‘If you can sense them,’ Eva said, ‘that means you can sense your energy coursing through your Conduits.’

I looked at my hands, arms and legs. ‘Yeah, I can feel them.’ There was a web of interconnected bright lights. It looked as though my veins shone brightly. But these weren’t my veins. They were the Conduits through which Essence flowed.

‘Try concentrating the energy on one hand;’ she said.

‘How will I do that?’ I asked.

‘Gods!’ Eva swore. ‘Are you sure you’re a Stalwart?’

‘What does that have to do with anything?’

‘Just concentrate on bringing the energy to one spot, like you did when the Fragment almost destroyed you.’

‘Alright;’ I said. I took a deep breath and concentrated. I felt the energy running through my body then tried to redirect it to my right hand. It took some retries, but I’d managed it after three attempts.

‘Impressive,’ Eva said. ‘You didn’t steal this Fragment of mine by sheer dumb luck after all.’

I’d claim the opposite, but she was praising me, who am I to argue?

‘Now, with that concentration of energy on one hand, try hitting one of those undead. It doesn’t matter where you land the hit. Their links aren’t that strong after all.’

‘Got it,’ I said.

I had about two dozen armored undead coming my way. They were slow. In retrospect, I could only attribute this to luck now. There are fast undead, clever ones too. These ones were as dumb as a novice like me could hope for.

I ran for the first one and punched him in the face. His head bulged then expanded to dangerous proportions. Then, in an explosion of blood and sinew, the corpse fell to the ground, inanimate.

“KILL HIM!” the voice that spoke earlier said.

‘You’ve overdone it a bit,’ Eva commented. ‘You’re wasting too much energy in one punch. We just want to severe the link, not fill the place with foul smelling sinew.’

‘What’s wrong with that?’ I asked. I landed another punch and another skull exploded.

‘You’ll drain all your energy before you take them all out, that’s what’s wrong,’ Eva explained.

She was right. I’d already started feeling the energy depletion. It was worse than running for two miles straight, at full speed. I wouldn’t be able to keep this up. But I didn’t know how to control the Essence flow yet.

‘This is what I call experiential learning,’ Eva said as I landed another heavy punch.

My fist landed on iron armor. The armor cracked and the undead grinned before his insides blew up.

“Thought you’d get away with this, did ya?” I sneered.

‘You’re tense,’ Eva said. ‘Magic can only be used properly when relaxed and in control.’

‘Are we really in control?’ I asked. I kicked another undead and sent him stumbling back. I hadn’t concentrated my energy so nothing happened though.

‘You have to believe it, or your Essence will get out of control. You don’t want that to happen. Watch out, some have swords.’

I turned to see two undead brandishing their swords in the air. I punched the nearest undead and waited for the swordsmen to arrive. The first one swung at my ribs. I jumped back and was caught by two undead that were waiting for this kind of opportunity.

Their grip was surprisingly firm. I struggled to break free but their feet were firmly planted on the ground, no matter how many times I tried shaking them off. The two swordsmen were getting closer. The others closed the circle and I was completely surrounded.

I concentrated my energy on both legs and stomped the two holding me. Their legs broke and I was free just in time to duck. The sword missed me by inches then effortlessly slid through a corpse’s armor. The latter exploded and I heard a roar of rage echoing through the cave.

The necromancer wasn’t happy I suppose.

‘These ones are stronger than the rest,’ Eva said. She was speaking about the swordsmen.

‘How did he do that?’ I asked.

‘You can channel essence through objects you hold,’ Eva explained. ‘This necromancer’s good,’ she went on, ‘really good. We can’t linger here Stalwart!’

‘No shit!’

‘Disarm them,’ she said. ‘I’ll provide some help. It might hurt you since our energies haven’t completely merged together. But it’ll keep us alive.’

‘Alright then,’ I said. ‘As long as the other Fragment’s sealed, we can do this.’

I instantly felt Eva’s energy seep through my Conduits. We would have collided if I didn’t retract my own from her way.

‘Reinforce my arms,’ I said. ‘I’ll leave those Conduits empty for you. I’ll take care of the rest.’

‘Sure you can do it Stalwart?’

‘We’ll only know if we try.’