The muted rattling of metal and stones were like raindrops sending ripples across the stillness. It was calm. The darkness swayed to the steady rhythm, and it was neither warm nor cold. It was like the beating of a heart, a faint but strong reminder of life. It was not the darkness she remembered, the contradictory torrent of nothingness filled with pain. It was peaceful.

If death offered her tranquility like this, Rana would have never taken the faint tether of the light. However, death was not tranquil. Death was violent. This could only mean that she was alive, and she had to face the consequences of her undead life. She would wake and there would be nothing but strife, doubt, and her crime awaiting her.

Her vision snapped open and as she expected, found herself bound in chains. Her limbs were shackled to her back as her wrists and ankles were chained together. Her body laid on to her side and she remained still as to not alert her captors. She was surprised that it was not an uncomfortable position, it simply felt weird.

Rana glanced at the sky. The sun was still down and it did not seem to be coming up any time soon. However, she had no idea how long she was not awake. She did not think of it as sleep. It was like her awareness just disappeared. If she were still human she could hypothesize the time she rested, but she was unsure of what to make of her undead physiology.

She knew she didn’t need to rest, but it seemed like if her mind was weak, whether through being damaged or experiencing mental traumas, there was a chance that her mind would not be able to handle the stress and simply shut down. Her uncertainty in whether or not to kill Kai, the doubt of her identity, then followed by the three arrows puncturing her body seemed to be too much for her to handle.

Once again, death nearly claimed her.

That was not to say she was not in danger. Whoever sent Kai and the paladin after her although did not want her life, she feared there was something far more sinister. She should be glad she was not dead, death was the end of everything after all. However, the Church only gave the judgment of death to monsters, and orders to keep one alive meant forbidden experiments and heretical inclinations.

Rana was angered at the thought. It was the reason she was alive, but the Church had their oaths and their oaths were broken.

She calmed herself as haste would get her nowhere. She glanced at the chains tying her, some rusted metal chipped and dented too weak to hold any high level marked one. The bindings also had no wards, making escape a simple test of strength. Her captors were confident she could not escape them or the chains. She agreed, but it still showed a lack of experience, careless even. They only knew she was a level one zombie with a mage-class mark, her Spells and Status should be hidden. She was not interrogated, not inspected, and especially not subjected to identification Spells. There wasn’t even anyone checking to see if she was awake. They simply bound her and began charting her off to who knew where. They were sloppy.

Rana did not expect them to know every precaution needed, as paladins and patrols dealt with monsters not humans, but the monster before them was a marked one. If she were in their place, she would’ve at least cut off every limb.

She observed the path behind her. It was a trail of wheel tracks and hooves prints left by the wagon. Into the distance and over the mountains were nothing but lands of various heights and shades of brown. There were only tracts of dead grass and crushed pebbles, not even hints of the forest. It was a sight very different from the surroundings of Stallhorn. All she knew was that she was in the middle of nowhere.

Rana hesitated in opening her mouth, but if she were to be prepared for what was to come, she needed more information.

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“Hey,” Rana began, but before she could speak another word, a figure leaped onto the cart and she found the sharp end of a spear on her neck. She paid it little attention, however. If they wanted her dead she wouldn’t be here. “Where are we going?”

“You have no need to know. Stay put and there would not be any trouble,” Kai replied and lowered his spear to his side. “I would love for nothing more than to skewer you this very instant, but we have our orders.”

“Captain, enough. The witch does not need to know our business,” replied another voice and she instantly recognized it as Henry’s. The captain made a sound of irritation before leaping off the cart. Henry then continued, and even though she could not see him, she knew he was talking to her. “You, witch, We cannot kill you, but we can make the journey very painful for you. Stay behaved.”

His tone was flat, but the anger within him was seething. It was not unexpected. If not for her experience with Kai’s hostility, she might’ve been surprised. However, if she were to rouse such hatred in one person, it would not be out of the ordinary that another would exhibit the same animosity towards her. She was still troubled. Two humans knew of who she was, and they both wanted nothing but her death.

Rana had to know. Was it simply because she was a zombie, was she some kind of heretic?

“I deserve to know,” she said but no one responded. “What is my crime, for being part of a curse I am not privy of? I wanted none of this, to be walking the land as an undead hated by both monster and man, and to be truly neither. I have no memory of my past, but I do remember my oath and my duty. I am not an abomination. I am still human.”

An arrow filled with the light element shot through the cart from one end and out of the other. The burning silver was simply near and it scorched her skin. Rana gritted her teeth as both pain and chill assaulted her. Still, she ignored the burn and the threat of death.

“I am a marked one and I know where my loyalty is.”

“I have nothing but pity for you, witch,” said Kai, his tone still full of hate but softer. “Henry, she does not deserve to die not knowing the crimes she committed. She does not deserve a death believing that she was innocent, that her death was at the hands of scum. What she had done deserves despair that could crush her soul, punishment that will torment her for eternity.”

“Is it wise, captain?”

“It is a blessing from the Deity she revived, to not know of her past, to be as powerless as she is” Kai replied and with each word, Rana’s defiance was smothered by dread. “She could finally face judgment for the pain she inflicted on all the innocent.”

“Your decision, captain. I am no longer with the church and I only follow your command.”

“Thank you, Henry,” Kai replied. He then climbed onto of the cart and kicked Rana so that she was facing him. He looked her in the eye and planted a foot on her cheek. He pointed his spear to her. “My task is to bring you to where you will be judged, and before the deity we will ensure you will never bring destruction ever again. Traitor paladin, you are hereby arrested for the high crime of betrayal against the human order, leading to the fall of High Tower and the death of millions. By the name of the Seventh, your evil shall be punished!"

Kai then released his foot but the reveal of her identity already latched onto her like a grasp of ice. She was not just a monster, she was not just a necromancy abomination. She was everything she stood against, the vilest of all the horrors she vowed to defend humanity from. The mark on her hand, the oath that compelled her, everything was a lie. Her mistrust against the Church was not one of insight, it was one fueled by her own crimes.

Rana was the champion of the damned and an enemy of humanity. She was a fiend.

“Now, repent and despair. Wallow in your powerlessness. What awaits you will be justice.”