The first ghoul came around the corner to her left at a dead run, white eyes flaring bright, another one close behind. Kass turned and sprinted back the way she had come, trying to find a position where she wouldn’t get surrounded. Already surprised by the amount of the creatures that were so close by.

She made it to where she killed the first ghoul and then to the house she had hidden behind and figured this was the best place she was going to get. She turned to find five pairs of eyes rushing straight at her, not twenty feet away. They screeched and snarled as they ran, which would have crippled Kass with fear not five days ago had she not already been through so much.

With Whisper held in both hands Kass met the first ghoul head on, slicing down at an angle and spinning to the right. The blade passed straight through the monster’s head and half of its torso, killing it instantly.

The next one was upon her a second later, springing at her with its claws extended. Kass hopped back and the monster missed, landing on the ground in front of her. She took half its head with a quick cleave and instantly had to move, the next ghoul slashing at her from the side.

This time the claws connected with her shoulder, slicing at her leather coat but not penetrating. It swiped again and she flicked the sword in front of her, taking its arm before it could reach her. The creature fell back and was replaced by two more, both lunging, one with its claws and the other headfirst, aiming for her neck. She ducked and spun again, whipping the sword around her in an arc that took the legs of the headfirst ghoul, sending it crashing to the ground behind her.

The other raked at her back with its claws and tried to latch on, but Kass dashed away before it could, opening up some space between her and the swarm. There were over ten now, all of them sprinting her way. Except for the one without any legs of course. It crawled at a surprisingly fast pace across the floor, gnashing its teeth as it dragged its torso and two oozing stumps behind it.

Taking up the sword in both hands once more Kass prepared herself, looking for her best chance at an opening. The distance closed and her time to prepare came to an end. The leading two ghouls came at her from both sides, both leaping at her as if to tackle her to the ground. She dodged to the side again and lashed out, only clipping the side of the creature and cutting a deep line. It didn’t even seem to notice and lunged at her again.

Kass retreated back, trying to keep all of them in front of her. She neared a broken building and jumped through one of the collapsed walls and into the only room there was. It wasn’t big, but without a roof she had plenty of room to swing the sword. She hoped this would funnel the ghouls so they couldn’t use their numbers to their advantage. Just hope they don’t know to use the open doorway behind me...

It was a gamble, she knew, but she thought it was worth it if she could take them out one by one. She watched as the ghouls wrestled each other to get through the opening, clawing at each other. The first one burst through and Kass split its skull with a swipe, bringing the sword back up just in time to deflect the claw that came right after, from the second ghoul.

It was the one with only one arm and she kicked it back and swung the sword horizontal across its neck, sending the head flying away. The body stumbled to the side but stayed standing and Kass worried for a second that it would turn around and come after her again, but it finally collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Three more had already forced their way inside and Kass retreated again, disappointed that her idea hadn’t worked out the way she planned. She ran through the doorway behind her and came out on a narrow alleyway set between two rows of buildings. The ghouls flew through the door after her, crashing into the wall opposite and collapsing it.

Not liking her position at all Kass continued to run down the street, heading towards where she thought a bigger road was. Suddenly the wall of the building in front of her and to the left exploded into pieces, the rubble raining down on her. She looked at what had come through and saw a much larger ghoul.

It wore pieces of battered armor that clung to its decaying skin in random areas, most of it almost fully rusted. In its hand it held a large sword that it dragged behind it, the metal scraping on the ground below.

Kass skidded to a halt and pivoted to the side, narrowly avoiding the overhand chop that smashed into the ground, digging deep. She continued with the momentum and swung Whisper in her own downward chop at the creature. It reacted quickly and brought an arm up in front of the strike, deflecting the blade to the side with a rusty bracer that broke into pieces right after.

Dammit. Now a little off balance she rolled away from the bigger monster and kept on running. She glanced back briefly and received a notification that she quickly glanced at.

Crypt Knight

Level Unknown

Health Unknown

Weaknesses: Unknown

Abilities: Unknown

Undead.

It didn’t take long for her to reach a wider road and she burst from the alleyway, more than one ghoul hot on her heels. Now with a little bit more room to maneuver Kass faced her pursuers once more. Two smaller crypt ghouls led the charge, the larger knight only a second behind, followed by the rest.

Whisper pierced through the eye socket of one of the ghouls and Kass punched out at the other, her fist connecting with its face. It scratched at her arm as she spun away, pulling the sword free from the skull and dodging another swipe from the knight.

It stopped mid swing and redirected the blade towards her and Kass frantically brought up her own sword. Metal met metal as she deflected the blow away from her body, sending it straight into another ghoul. The knight was pulled off balance as its blade sunk deep into the torso of the lunging ghoul and Kass tried to counterattack but was interrupted by yet another ghoul.

It came from behind and latched itself onto her back, scratching and trying to bite at her neck. She cast Barrier instantly and was spared from any immediate damage to her body as she wrestled with the creature. She felt the large chunk of mana drain away from using the spell and knew she was already running low.

She managed to throw it off just as another overhand chop came her way. She shoved Whisper up to block again, and the blow rattled her, driving her down to one knee. Another ghoul jumped at her then, forcing her to dash away.

Like before, the first to arrive were the crypt ghouls, the knight a little slower, coming up behind them. This was good for Kass, allowing her to take out one or two before having to deal with the thing. Amazing I can even fight against something like this.

She dropped into a Cathavanian battle stance, something that somehow felt natural to her even though she only just learned of it the other day. Crouching low, it allows for powerful strikes and quick back steps, dealing heavy damage while staying at a distance from the opponent.

Kass swiped left and right quickly, exposing the brain matter of the first ghoul and cutting off both arms at the elbow of the second. She back stepped twice, but then, seeing an opening, lunged forward to finish off another ghoul.

That left the crypt knight, and two ghouls, one of which didn’t have any arms. Having a split second of time Kass checked her resources.

Health

321/330

Stamina

281/420

Mana

112/350

Running low on mana, but everything else seems okay. Steady now, you’re almost through this. Back in her low stance Kass deflected two quick thrusts from the knight, sending its massive sword crashing into the ground, dirt and stone flying away from the point of impact. Another opening presented itself and she scored a deep cut to the knight’s bicep, slicing through rotting flesh and partially into bone.

The knight shrieked and jumped away, making a loud clacking sound as it kept its distance. Kass quickly finished the other two ghouls and then moved back, cautious as to the new behavior of the crypt knight.

The two combatants circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Kass held her sword out in front of her in a defensive, Alanivan crowned gate, the crossguard just below eye level. She knew that patience was key here, and that if the knight attacked first she would have the advantage. As long as it didn’t overpower her.

Seconds passed. It felt like an eternity to Kass as she waited, not allowing the heavy sword to dip as she held it out, elbows slightly bent. She kept her feet staggered, ready to move at any moment.

The knight finally moved, taking two large strides and bringing its sword down at an angle, chest level. Kass caught the sword with her own, rotating her wrists and redirecting the force towards the ground. The blades separated, the knight’s smashing into the ground once again as Whisper came back around, aimed for the thing’s head.

At the last second the creature ducked away, the blade only taking its ragged ear with it. With a great burst of speed the knight pushed off and shoulder checked Kass in the stomach. Her barrier broke with a pop and she flew through the air, landing hard on the ground where she slid for a few feet, gasping for air.

The light from her orb suddenly dimmed and Kass looked up to see the knight jumping at her, sword held high. She cast Barrier again and rolled to the side, pushing herself up quickly to her knees. The knight smashed to the ground only a foot away and then spun towards her with a backhand.

She moved back in time, dodging the strike only to see the sword coming in right behind. She deflected it above her head with only a second to spare and pushed herself to her feet. The knight had already recovered from the swing and attacked again, this time coming in low. She deflected again and countered, aiming for the sword arm. The knight blocked with another rusty piece of armor.

Blow after blow they traded, searching for an opening. Kass fell into the rhythm of the fight, understanding better and better with every second what the knight was going to do and what it was capable of. She was amazed at the strength and speed of the creature as well as the coordination it possessed to wield such a large sword. It was definitely a skilled swordsman.

Kass was also impressed with herself. Although she had made some mistakes she still stood, fighting with power and skill of her own. Left. Right. Low. Low. High. A pattern started to show itself and by now she knew she could win this fight. Let’s finish this.

Predicting where the next strike would be, Kass moved herself into position, readying herself. It came just as she expected, swinging low and then diagonally. If she had been where she was supposed to be, she would have had to deflect the blade up and over herself, or stop it cold, which was difficult for her to do considering the strength of the knight.

Instead, Kass had moved to the side early, completely out of reach of the blade. The creature continued its sweeping strike, leaving it defenseless. Kass leapt in then, stabbing Whisper straight up through the chin of the knight and out the top of the skull. The light in its eyes died instantly, snuffed out like a candle.

She ripped the blade free and looked around her as the body sagged and collapsed to the ground. Corpses and limbs lay strewn about the street, leaking their dark ooze, some still twitching. She lowered the blade a bit, resting its tip on the knights body, and breathed in a few deep breaths.

“Well done Kassandra.”

“Thanks Whisper. Wasn’t sure we’d get through that for a minute.”

“You performed admirably, human.”

“Yeah...I guess I did! Are you-” a shriek from behind her cut her off and she turned quickly, blade at the ready. She didn’t see anything though and she carefully moved towards where she heard the sound.

Another shriek cut through the silence and then she saw it, moving out from behind a building. The creature dragged its body at a fairly rapid pace towards Kass, biting the air and whipping its head back and forth. She almost laughed at the sight of it, almost.

Had it not been for all the dead things lying about her or the fact that she almost died again, she might have, and one day she hoped she would. But for now she just waited for the crawling creature to reach her and, lifting the blade high into the air like a golf club, split the thing’s skull in two.