Army of the undead

I gave the order to fall back. The Ghanral troops seemed distracted at the rising corpses and it gave us time and oppose to retreat. I wanted to try and kill Caine, but the undead had protected him, and shielded him from any attack I might make. If I engaged in a fight, I may have been killed by the overwhelming numbers of the undead.

The best strategy was to run and live another day, I did not want to risk myself and my warriors in this skirmish. We travelled back to Steelton and upon arrival, I demanded an audience with the king and duke at once, citing the urgency of what I had learned and seen.

“The Ghanral kingdom will now have an army of the undead at their side.” I told them.

The king and duke sat around an oak table in the council chambers, the king looked worried and sweated profusely. The duke kept a more calm and collected demeanour, his eyes focused on me and taking in every word I had said.

The thing that angered me the most, was Caine’s smug look when he showed his immunity to poison. That was to be the plan that was to kill him off, but instead he toyed with me about his resistance, even tasting the stone before using it. And of course, the rising dead. An army that does not need to eat, sleep or fall ill is a formidable and dangerous army to fight against.

The king wiped his moist brow with a cloth. “What are we to do against an undead army?”

“They have weaknesses, but most are old wives tales. There’s fire, and using salt against them, even prayer is supposed to help.” Said the duke, crossing his arms.

“Do you truly believe that?” I said with some disdain.

“Only the fire. There is also killing the necromancer who summoned them.”

“I like that idea the best.” I snarled.

We gathered an army of our own quickly, raising all men at arms to march towards the enemy, and the new addition to it. I was eager for battle and blood, to kill Caine. The army of Steelton was provided with wagons of pitch and torches to light it. We were to use fire against them, in hopes that this old wives tale was true.

As we marched, the enemy could be seen marching too, and towards us, particularly to Steelton. The first wave looked large, and were of the undead. The duke was armoured and equipped with an exquisite steel sword, as he rode on a strong looking stallion. I held my great-axe at the ready, hungry to engage the undead.

We engaged in battle, the undead were equipped with damaged armour and weapons, and it seemed that fire did work against them, but there was not enough for all of them. The reanimated corpses burned as if made of wood, the flames licking up the decay of their bodies. They paid no mind to the flames that engulfed them, completely void of pain. In some cases, this made them even more dangerous as they set upon the Steelton soldiers whilst they were aflame. I used my weapon to fight them back, making sure that the dead that I engaged with, did not pass me to advance. I slashed at them, some becoming decapitated, others cleaved in half.

The stench of burning flesh and rotting corpses filled the air as my axe bit deep into another shambling warrior, its rusted breastplate screeching as the blade tore through. To my left, a flaming skeleton lurched forward, bony fingers clutching a blackened sword that came down in a savage arc. I barely raised my axe in time, the impact sending jarring vibrations up my arms. Embers scattered across my face as I kicked the burning horror back into two others, their tattered uniforms catching fire like dry parchment. The burning undead finally succumbed to the flames on them, their gross and bone becoming ash and dust.

The duke’s stallion reared beside me, its steel-shod hooves crushing a crawling corpse’s skull with ease, the rotting inside of the cranium splattered into the battlefield.

The stallion’s whinny pierced the din of battle as another corpse latched onto its flank, rotten teeth sinking into muscle. I swung my axe in a wide arc, severing the attacker’s spine with a wet crunch, but the damage was done, and the duke’s steed fell to the ground from it’s wound. The duke barely kept his seat, his sword flashing downward to impale an undead spearman through its gaping ribcage.

To my right, a Steelton soldier shrieked as three corpses dragged him down and began to wildly hack and stab at him, his pained shrieks filled my ears. I ran towards him, knowing that he would already be dead, but I needed to destroy the undead. I made quick work as they were busy inflicting fatal blows into the Stellton soldier, striking them to pieces.

The file abandoned his horse, it’s gaping wounds from the undead caused it to bleed out. Another wave of undead started to march towards us, an I even noticed that fresh Steelton corpses had begun to rise. Perhaps if an undead kills a living being, then that new corpse will eventually rise to join it’s undead brethren. This necromancy magic was a **** to be reckoned with.

“King Fen!” The duke shouted out. “We need to advance!”

“Get behind me!” I shouted to the duke.

The duke followed the order, and I cleaved through the undead soldiers coming at us. I was faster than them, and they appeared more brittle. The overwhelming numbers of the undead seemed to be their advantage, and with every kill they made, a new foe would rise with them. The only way to achieve victory here, was to kill every undead, and destroy any corpse they had created.

The duke’s steel sword flashed like silver lightning, cleaving through rotting limbs as we fought back-to-back. The stench of charred flesh thickened as another wave of burning corpses lurched forward, their hollow eye sockets glowing with unnatural embers. I roared as my axe split a reanimated knight down the middle, its rusted cuirass shattering like dried clay, revealing writhing black tendrils where its organs should’ve been. The work of necromancy.

My wolvir warriors were making good strides in taking down the undead, without falling to their baldes and becoming one of them. They ripped and teared through them with ease, making sure not to become overwhelmed by them. My warriors tenacity and training had paid off, showing the humans how a wolvir does battle and succeeds.

To our left, a line of Steelton spearmen braced as the newest risen corpses shambled and limped toward them, freshly slain warriors with glazed eyes and gaping wounds still weeping.

The spears bit deep into the rotten flesh of the fallen comrades, their moans gurgling through slit throats as black ichor spilled across the field. I wrenched my axe free from a half-burned corpse just as another lurched at me, this one was wearing the colors of Steelton, its jaw hanging by threads of sinew. I slashed at it’s head, the sound of metal biting against metal as the undead became lifeless once more.

An undead soldier had made it’s way to Sebastian, no weapon in it’s hand, but it outstretched them to try and throttle him. The duke’s blade flashed, severing its grasping hands at the wrists before I crushed its skull with a downward chop, bone fragments spraying around us.

To our right, a pair of soldiers hurled a clay pot of pitch into the advancing horde, then one of them threw a lot torch to engulf them in large and hungry flames. It proved effective as the undead quickly burned even as they tried to run at the soldiers, but they kept them at bay with halberds and spears. The corpses were unable to close the distance, and fell victim to the fire that consumed them.

We managed to destroy the remaining undead, with no further casualties. Everyone still living had realised that their ****, would mean that they would become an enemy to Steelton, without their control.

We all tried to catch our breaths from the harsh fighting, I ordered Steelton soldiers and my own warriors to burn any corpses still remaining, to prevent their reanimation.

“You fought exceptionally well, king Fen.” The duke praised. “I can see why you wolvir are great warriors.”

“The best.” I said smugly. “Remember that after we win, I expect our services to be paid in full.”

“You are worthy every coin, king Fen.” The duke said.

Just then, a steel ton soldier on a horse met us on the field, a worried expression on his face.

“Duke Sebastian!” He shouted. “The Ghanral kingdom are abvancing to Steelton. And the undead follow them.”

Fuck! They must be using the corpses of the past fighting, a large abundance of dead would now have been at their disposal, and Caine was using them for his advantage.

“We need to make our way back, and fight them.” I told the duke. He nodded with agreement. We gathered the rest of the remaking soldiers as warriors and made our way back to Steelton as fast as we could, the stench of burnt corpses hung strongly in the air.