Reece didn’t have to be told twice by the goddess. Kali’s instructions were quite clear. He quickly grabbed the nightcore, now more whole, and hopped onto Shenfu. The Qilin wasted no time in flying them back out of the secret chamber and to the amphitheater. Instead of his friends, he found a note lying on the floor.
“Sorry bud,” it read, scrawled in Angel’s handwriting, “but we decided that waiting around while others needed our help wasn’t going to sit well with us. Therefore, we went back up and are trying to assist the survivors of this place. I hope you found what we were looking for. Come and find us when you get this.”
It was signed, ‘Angel’.
Looking up from the note, Reece noticed that the entire amphitheater was filled with specters, people that weren’t entirely there. They all looked at him and waited. Reece realized that these must be Kali’s ‘Devoted’, and she had told him to unleash them upon their enemies. Reece got a smile on his face when he figured out just what he needed to do.
“Follow me,” he said, mounting Shenfu once again. “We have a horde to destroy.”
Shenfu crouched down momentarily and launched himself and Reece into the air, heading for the vaulted ceiling far above them. Looking back, Reece smirked as he witnessed the semi-translucent specters follow him and Shenfu toward the surface. Reece was curious as to exactly how effective the specters, which were effectively ghosts, would be against the much more corporeal undead.
A moment later, he and Shenfu emerged from the earth and flew high into the air. Reece quickly surveyed the scene. The zombies and other abominations were clearly agitated, and most were headed toward the nearby ridge. Following their route, Reece spotted a commotion near the front of the mass. Shenfu flew him closer, and he saw that his friends were fighting alongside dozens of other people. These people were massive and covered in brilliantly patterned hides, just like Angel and his rakshasa pack. In fact, he, Saul, and Beth all blended in well with the local pack while they fought.
Looking closer, some of the warrior defenders were mottled with patterns reminiscent of snakes and lizards. It was clear they were trying to skirt around the horde when it had turned and trapped them on a narrow ledge along the ridge. The band of several dozen was trying to battle up the ridge and away from the approaching behemoths but was making little progress.
Reece turned to instruct the specters to attack when he saw they weren’t behind him. Alarmed, Reece looked down and spotted them amongst the undead. It took a moment for Reece to comprehend the massacre the dead were delivering to the undead. They flowed over the zombies and even the behemoths like a tidal wave of destruction, clawing and tearing apart everything in their path.
Reece had Shenfu fly down and indicated they follow him. It was then that Reece noticed that they couldn’t get more than about ten meters off the ground. Though their unnatural flight should have allowed them to travel to the stars if they desired, something more was going on. It was like they were tied to the earth. With this understanding, Reece led them along the ground until they were finally slowed by the massive numbers of undead before them. Reece had a powerful ally, but no idea how to get them to where his friends and the other survivors were battling for their lives.
That’s when things suddenly got worse. The flock of unknown creatures that had been following them picked that moment to make their appearance, lending aerial support to the besieged zombie army below. He had only spent a few minutes in the chamber, but that was enough for the dark cloud of flyers to finally catch up with them.
“Shen,” yelled Reece. “We need to warn our companions that we have incoming.”
Shen responded by bolting through the sky towards the knot of survivors on the ledge. The rest of the Qilin were harrying the zombie forces and ripping them apart where they could. It was giving the survivors some breathing room, but that was about to abruptly end. From the looks of it, the flying monsters would arrive far ahead of the specters and that boded very poorly for the already struggling survivors. A moment later, he arrived just in time to see Bjorn in full bear form rip the heads off a pair of zombies with his massive claws.
The smaller form of Taela stood beside him, skewering a zombie through its head with a two-pronged spear. Ciera stood with several rakshasas in human form and a pair of women with a diamond pattern on their skin as they all fired powerful rifles into the mass of undead, dropping them six at a time. Naeva flanked Taela and guarded the side of her, opposite Bjorn. Aspen was busy skewering zombie heads one after another. Together, they made a devastating team.
For an instant, Reece was awestruck. The survivors were rakshasa, just as Reece had surmised, but the fact that there were also serpent or snake-like people fighting alongside them was unexpected. Some of these had the lower bodies of giant snakes, but most, like the ones with Ciera, looked largely human, other than their scales and coloration.
Reece couldn’t help but surmise that the undead menace had brought two different tribes together to fight for survival as one. It was a good sign but wouldn’t make a big enough difference in the battle they were locked in. Something had to change, and quickly. Reece noticed Angel backing off the front line holding his arm as blood ran freely down his forearm. He had Shenfu land next to the injured rakshasa. Reece looked right into the eyes of Angel’s hybrid form, despite sitting atop Shenfu’s massive body. Reece had almost forgotten how big the rakshasa could become when transformed.
“Angel, you’ve got incoming. Look!” yelled Reece over the din of battle, pointing in the direction of the flying mob.
Angel’s ears perked up as he followed where Reece was pointing and growled when he saw the distinct shape of winged creatures approaching. He let out a roar and several of the snake-people and local rakshasas took notice as well. One of the snake-people hissed and coiled its tail underneath itself, using it as a spring to launch itself straight up the side of the cliff. It could have left at any time, Reece realized but chose to fight alongside the rest of its brethren and the rakshasa as well. Reece watched as the powerful creature crested the ridge and slithered from sight.
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The remaining defenders redoubled their efforts and managed to battle forward several meters before they were again halted by the press of zombie bodies. Unfortunately, exposed as they were on the ledge, the approaching swarm of winged monsters were going to pick them apart the moment that they arrived, even with the help of a baker’s dozen Qilin. Reece decided to use his control ability, though the sheer number of zombies made his efforts seem almost futile.
Still, he concentrated and was able to turn about ten of the zombies on their rotting brethren. It wasn’t much, but it bought the harried defenders some breathing room with the zombies tearing each other apart. Reece was able to do the trick a couple more times before he was forced to focus on a new threat.
The low keening of what sounded like a massive horn sounded in the distance. Reece swore under his breath and could only hope that it wasn’t more enemies. Things were already looking grim, even though the survivors had managed to hold their own with minimal losses. Unfortunately, for every survivor, the were easily two hundred zombies.
“Well, that’s what happens when over six billion zombies are created across the world,” thought Reece in dismay.
Looking back at the once distant black cloud, Reece watched it draw near, coming into frightening focus. Distinct vulture-like creatures flew on wings of rotted flesh and sinew, their skulls poking out from the bits of flesh that still covered the faces. The things cawed at the survivors through blood-covered beaks, a sound more like a death scream than anything an animal would make. Reece’s skin crawled at the sound and a chill flashed through his body. They were about to enter a world of hurt and Reece had to begin thinking of saving those that he could and escaping through the earth, where the undead couldn’t follow. The thought of so many survivors dying made him almost throw up, but as much as he racked his brain, he simply couldn’t come up with a solution that would save them all.
And then the massive undead vulture-creatures were upon them. Several survivors were quickly picked off the ledge and fell into the mass of zombies below. Shenfu with Reece on his back attacked the nearest vulture, tearing one of its wings clean off with his forepaws. The rest of the unencumbered Qilin fought feverishly to keep the vultures off the struggling rakshasa and snake people, but it was obvious that they couldn’t keep it up for long.
A shriek pierced through the cacophony produced by the battle and caused almost every combatant to look up to see what had made such a noise. From the sky rained down another group of flyers, this one cutting a swath of devastation through the ranks of the horrid vulture creatures, matching body with body and tearing heads, wings, or feet off the rotting creatures with no regard for decorum. Reece got his first look at one when it landed on the back of the vulture monster that Reece and Shenfu were trying to fend off.
She was magnificent. A beautiful woman, but with arms that ended in ten-centimeter talons and sported wings made of brilliant green and blue plumage. Her legs also ended in even-longer talons, and she used these to shred the wings of the attacking vulture, causing it to plummet to the ground below. The impact of its body flattened a pair of unsuspecting zombies that were shambling towards the front lines of the fight. She nodded and Reece could swear she winked at him before flying off to find another vulture to shred. For the first time since the battle had started, Reece thought that they could win.
“Be careful, Reece,” cut in Shenfu. “That Harpyiai woman has her eye on you. Still, I’m glad a third tribe has entered this fight.”
Reece just chuckled and shook his head. The Qilin had either read his mind or simply read the situation just like he had. Indeed, with another tribe’s help, they had a chance. Reece wasn’t about to let that chance pass by. He quickly scanned the battlefield for an opportunity to do the most damage to the enemy. He quickly decided on a course of action.
Reece noticed that a few of the vultures had riders. So, while Shenfu flew from one vulture to another, rending heads and wings alike, Reece focuses on the mounted vultures. Starting with one, he took control of its pee-brain and dove it straight into the side of a behemoth below, its rider crying out while being drug along to his or her death. Splitting his concentration, he started dropping two and then three at a time, using them as undead air-to-ground missiles.
Meanwhile, the tribe of harpies, as Shenfu referred to them, continued to battle the undead vulture monsters one on one. They used no tools or weapons, instead relying on their formidable talons. Far more maneuverable than the vultures, the harpies dropped, spun, circled, and dodged the undead creatures’ attacks, often coming up behind them to lop off a head or wing. They were acrobats of the air, clearly born to it, and the patchwork undead simply couldn’t keep up.
Below them, the specters had torn into the undead scourge with a hatred born of centuries of frustration and rage. The softly glowing and partly translucent well-dressed people he had witnessed below ground were gone. These specters had their game-faces on. All skulls, black billowing cloaks of rotted cloth, pointed teeth and long black claws gave them the appearance of grim reapers. However, these had no need of a scythe, instead using their teeth and claws to tear apart the undead and living alike. The screams of terror informed Reece that the Order’s undead ground force had numerous living members within it as well.
“That was unfortunate… for them,” thought Reece.
“Yes, indeed,” agreed Shenfu, even though he knew Reece was simply thinking to himself.
The battle lasted another half hour, but the survivors managed to destroy or drive off the entire zombie offensive with help from the bird women, the Harpyiai. A weary cheer rose through the ranks of the survivors, exhausted but just happy to be alive.
Once the heaviest fighting had ebbed, most of the defenders immediately left the ledge, eyeing the imposing specters warily. They knew that the specters had been fighting the zombie horde too but were unsure of the motives behind the terrifying visages of the ghostly entities.
“It’s okay,” announced Reece to the remaining throng. “They are on our side. They’ve also suffered an affront by the Order and their goddess is having them assist us in this struggle.”
There was a long pause before the cheering resumed. It died down when one of the specters approached Reece. Now out of combat, it had the visage of a beautiful woman with long flowing hair, draped in loose-flowing robes. The numerous folds of cloth reminded Reece of a burial shroud. Like all the specters she was semi-translucent and had a subtle blue-green glow about her. Her beauty was marred only by an open wound above her left breast, the obvious cause of her untimely death.
She stopped before Reece and bowed slightly, an unnatural grace lending gravity to the gesture. She had a contented smile on her face and her eyes showed unending gratitude. Reece returned the bow with all the grace he could muster. The spectral woman smiled mirthfully at the attempt. She continued smiling when, without warning, she sunk back into the earth, her eyes never leaving him.
He followed her gaze down until her serene face disappeared below the earth. Looking back up, the rest of the specters followed suit, and soon the battlefield was devoid of their ethereal presence. The only telling of their tale was the mercilessly slaughtered undead and Order soldiers whose bodies were dismembered and strewn everywhere around the much-more-than-just-haunted site.
With the specters having retreated to their eternal resting places, Reece rejoined his companions and the rest of the survivors. Dismounting Shenfu, Reece walked up the ridge to an overhang near the back of it. The ridge itself widened back into the cliff, opening into a wide area where most of his friends and allies had gathered. Coming around the corner where the wall opened into the recessed area, Reece got an eyeful of naked flesh.