The demons cometh

A FEW HOURS LATER - ON THE ROAD:

The rain falls down through the forest as Daffy and her guards are sitting around a camp fire as they decide to rest for the remainder of the night.

The fire crackles as they cook their food and while here waiting, the group begin to talk.

"Is it just me or is the sky darker than usual?" One of the guards says.

"It's night dumbass, it's gonna be dark" A second guard replies

The mage of the group cuts in by saying, "No, he's right. Something is... different... about the night. It makes me feel... uneasy".

Daffy at this point is feeling uneasy herself. She looks around the dark forest and can't help but shake the feeling that they're being watched.

The commander of the group looks around before saying, "Where are Mikael and Ahngelo? They've been gone for too long for damn firewood".

The group of 12 look around, searching for any signs of life but as the silence creeps in, it's immediately shattered by a blood cuddling scream.

"AAAAAARGHHHHHH".

The group shoot up, drawing their weapons as they fall into a half-circle formation. All eyes now scanning the forest for any movement.

Daffy is moved back toward her wagon by the mage, "I hope that crossbow isn't for show Miss".

"Dinnae worry lad, I can hit a moving rabbit fae 50 yards out".

"Good, we may need that".

Daffy then moves up onto her wagon and hides behind the wooden planks on the side while mounting her crossbow on top of said planks.

The mage however readies his staff which begins to glow with fire magic.

"Fast movement coming toward us! 11 o'clock!".

Every eye shoots toward the 11 o'clock position, as does Daffy's crossbow.

The moving shadow begins getting closer and closer, trampling over branches and leaves as quickly as it can.

One of the guards then pulls out a spyglass and quickly looks through it. As he does, he sees who the shadow is and shouts to the other, "It's Mikael!".

"HEEEEEEELP! THEY'RE COMING!".

The group are all shocked and so they keep their weapons and guards up, ready to fend off whatever is chasing Mikael.

The young guard gets past the last few trees and finally makes it to the camp where he is immediately met by the commander.

"Son, are you alright? Where's Ahngelo?".

The young man takes a few breaths before saying, "He's dead! We got attacked by those things! They... they fucking ate him!".

Everyone is shocked and confused but that's when the asshole guard asks, "What things? I don't see shit".

"They got these red eyes! A-a-and their skin... it's like fucking grey a-a-and rotting!"

That last part perks up the ears of the mage who asks, "Did you just say... rotting?".

"Yes! It was like they were...".

"Dead" The mage says, finishing Mikaela sentence which sends chills down all of the groups spines.

The commander looks at the mage with a raised brow and says, "Cidal, do you know what this is?".

Cidal looks at the commander before promptly responding, "I'm afraid so Commander. If what Mikael says is true, then this... is the work of a necromancy".

The group are all shocked, fear spreading throughout their body as one of the guards ask, "Wait, necromancy? As in...".

"Magic involving the dead... specifically... raising them".

The group are stunned even more as Cidal's words confirm their biggest fear.

"So how do we beat them?" The commander asks with a non-wavering faith in his voice.

"Our best hope is to get to Reduna'z Gaze. We will need as much help as we can".

"Seriously? It's a few dead assholes, we can take 'em!" The asshole guard arrogantly announces.

"No way man! These things were fast! Faster than anything i've ever seen!".

Cidal thinks on Mikael's words before saying, "The dead must be fresh. The resurrection was recent".

As they group are talking, a group of loud, ghastly, horrifying roars emanate from the woods and seem to be getting closer.

"Commander! We must go! Now!".

The commander looks at the group before saying, "Alright! Argyte, Lysan, Horun! Get this cart turned around! The rest of us will cover you!".

The three men head to the cart and with the help of Cidal and Daffy manoeuvring the gurogans.

The trees of the forest begin to shake, the leaves shaking rapidly as birds take off into the sky. A cold wind falls over the group as they feel like they've become surrounded.

Fear encompasses all of the guards which is quickly followed by the one thing they didn't want,

Silence.

The whistling wind and falling rain may continue yet the forest somehow lies still.

The commander steadies his breath, seeing his men with worried looks in their eyes.

Heads turning quickly, hearts beating rapidly, stomachs in knots.

One of the half-orc guards has his sword in hand, his hand quaking along with his breath. He stares into the dark forest and that's when he sees a slight tremor in the bush ahead.

The guard is intrigued by the movement and in his intrigue, he moves slightly forward.

Sword in hand, he carefully advances toward the bush. As he gently moves forward, the bush continued to slightly shake ever enticingly.

The half-orc gets a few feet from the bush, heart about to burst from his chest as he extends his arm to prod at the bush with his sword.

The steel pushes past the first few leaves with an intense moment following but as the sword plunges deeper into the bush.

Nothing happens.

The guard lets out a sigh of relief, wiping the near dripping sweat from his forehead.

As the guard takes his eyes off of the bush for just a split second, a dark figure leaps from behind it and tackles the guard to the ground.

A loud scream emits from the guard and all of the soldiers immediately turn to his position and that's when they see it,

A grey-skinned, red eyed beast-like humanoid currently face deep in the guts of the half-orc.

The guards take a collective step back, shocked, scared, unsure of what the fuck to do.

A guttural growl comes from the beast. It's jaw stopping as it ceases feasting on the guard, as it stops, the beast begins to turn its ugly head and lets all the guards see it.

A blood covered mouth, blood trickling down it's neck with torn parts of flesh and innards dangling from its mouth as it bares its black and blood splattered teeth toward the group.

The guards feel their entire bodies quake in fear as they can't believe their eyes, even Cidal is in awe of this horrific creature.

The undead creature gets up to its feet, almost methodically before it begins to slowly move toward the group.

The commander snaps out of his fear-induced state as he steadies his blade and steels his spirit.

The shambling foe gets closer and closer but just as it gets with ten feet of the commander, he strikes with blinking speed and impales the undead.

The creature makes a noise registering the pain and as it dies, the red eyes begin to fade and become a deep abyssal black before the commander pushes the body off of his sword.

The guard all look amongst each other in confusion until the arrogant guard speaks up as he says, "Well, that was fucking easy".

Just as those words linger in the air, a cacophony of roars emit from the forest as dozens of the undead begin to rush toward the camp.

"Cidal! Get that cart moved now!" The commander shouts as the undead break the treeline and begin to rush the guards.

The undead leap into the air, only to be met with blades as the guards begin to slice as quickly and often as they can to try and cut through the overbearing numbers.

The guards begin to fall, one-by-one as the undead are just too quick and numerous for them to keep up with. Because of this, the three guards that we're helping to move the cart have joined the others and begin to fight back but it's quickly become a losing battle.

Cidal the mage looks back at his friends and is wracked with worry as the once strong group of 14 is now down to a worrisome 7. He looks back to the cart and sees that they're almost completely turned around and so he prays that his friends can hold on for a bit longer.

The commander spikes his sword through one of the undead, saving one of his men as they start to back up, losing more and more ground as the undead seem to be unending.

The seven men then turn to six, and then five before becoming four.

Blood coats the dirt and mud beneath their feet which is almost sucking them down like quicksand.

Another guard's screams fill the air as their numbers go down to three.

Mikael sees this and so he tries to move back but due to the sinking mud, he loses his footing and falls to the ground.

One of the undead sees this and makes a beeline for the easy prey on the floor. Mikael is seemingly frozen as now he sees the creature come barrelling toward him.

The undead leaps, ready to pounce onto Mikael but as it comes down, a large steel sword cuts through it's decaying body.

A hand then drags Mikael up to his feet and Mikael sees that the hand belongs to his commander who days, "Let's go! The carts ready!".

The three remaining men turn around and begin to rush toward the cart.

The trio run with everything they have left, the mud popping and plopping as they try to lift their feet with every step. The trio becomes a duo however as the third guard is kept upon and torn into in the blink of an eye.

Mikael and the commander want to stop to help their friend but can't so they keep on rushing.

Fifteen feet is all they have to run but the undead are still hot on their tail.

Cidal gets on the back of the wagon before shouting, "Duck!".

The men do as the mage says and duck their heads. Ad they do, Cidal lifts his staff and unleashes a torrent of flame from the orb on the top, burning a good amount undead beasts.

Fifteen feet turns to ten as they're almost free. The commander leaps onto the cart and turns around, extending his hand to Mikael who reaches for it. Mikael is a fingertip away when suddenly, he is dragged to the ground.

The commander goes to help his soldier but Cidal grabs him before saying, "Go, go, go!".

Daffy cracks the reins and the gurogans take off with the wagon beginning to speed down the trail.

"Noooo!" The commander shouts, seeing Mikael being ripped into by the burning undead that pulled him to the floor. The last thing he sees of Mikael is his skin beginning to boil from the flames engrossed on the undead.

The commander moves from the rear of the wagon, looking away from the site of battle where his men now lay dead. A shuddering sigh leaves his lips as he closes his eyes, regret and shame showing on his face.

Cidal sits beside his friends as he says, "I'm sorry commander".

The commander sighs again, "He hadn't even seen his twentieth summer".

Cidal places his hand onto the grieving commanders shoulder before saying, "We will avenge them Johtun, every single one".

Johtun also known as the commander simply looks up, a burning look of fury as bright as the mages flames in his eye as he says, "You're damn right we will".

The wagon continues down the road as it heads toward Reduna'z Gaze.

BACK AT THE CAMPSITE:

The undead all stand still, seemingly gathering around in a circle as footsteps exit the forest.

The undead all look toward the footsteps as they see their hooded leader, the necromancer Imoga.

She walks into the circle and looks around before saying, "Excellent, our plan is succeeding as planned".

A snarl comes the from the left side of Imoga and so she turns to see the walking corpse of one Ivellise.

"My darling daughter, have you no patience? This was a test of our abilities and the spark to the fuse as it were".

The shambling Ivellise snarls again and so Imoga answers, "The reason why I left the dwarf alive is because she shall lead us to your murderers, my dear. I can smell their scent on her, all we have to do is... follow".

The undead Ivellise snarls once more and Imoga then says, "You needn't worry my dear... for every one we lose...".

Imoga then closes her eyes before raising her hands and as she does, the bodies of the fallen soldiers begin to reanimate, snapping back into life as it were as they rise to their feet.

"We resurrect ten more".

Imoga chuckles to herself as she looks at the new members of her army like a proud mother.

"Onward my children! Tonight, we make the world fear me, Imoga, Darksister of the Nyll once more!".