Stathis heard a rustle somewhere ahead, and froze, pushing herself against a tree. She could see Pajaran do the same, her mace ready, as Semari dropped into view. She extended her arms straight out in front of her, letting her tongue loll from her mouth as she mimicked shambling around, pretending to be a zombie. They must be lose by, then. Semari raised three fingers before pointing into the darkness – did she mean three hundred paces? That seemed about right.

She walked in the direction indicated, trying to move without stirring up the undergrowth too much. There were no animal noises, but she could make out a constant sound, of earth being moved. Before she could gesture Semari over to ask questions, the woman had scampered up a tree and vanished from view, disappearing into the foliage. So much for getting information from the scout!

As they advanced through the trees, the noises got louder, the treeline thinning and absorbing less of the sound. She could make out movement, and saw that the ground had been completely churned up, trees ripped out even to the roots, pale undead bodies going about their tasks.

She turned and raised a hand.

I assume that is a signal to be ready?

Stathis raised her thumb, looking around and trying to spot Janaxia. But too many of the trees looked spiky and spiny, too similar to Janaxia’s horns. Hakara was easier to spot, her robes a blob of grey amidst the dark forest, with a few flares of brighter blue around her waist. Stathis gestured her over, Hakara managing to approach without snagging too many bushes.

‘Can you sense anything?’

Hakara’s fingers danced, chill blue dust shining for a moment, before forming into a floating circle, noticeably brighter on the side pointing towards the broken-up ground.

‘I guess that means something magical is going on?’

‘Indeed. A constant use of power for something. I could try and find out more, but it would take quite some time.’

‘I think for now, we just fight our way through. Try and get through, destroy the leaders, or at least get into whatever they’re digging up and steal whatever they’re looking for first. We want to draw to stay close together so we don’t get overwhelmed. Janaxia, are you somewhere close by?’

Hmmm, I must have gotten better at stealth.

What Stathis had thought was a particularly spiky tree-trunk moved, revealing itself to be Janaxia, dressed in her “armour”. She’d even added a helmet, darkly-burnished metal with holes for her horns and open-faced.

‘Oh ,there you are. Good. OK, let’s get this started. Janaxia, can you see anything out there?’

She made a show of looking into the darkness, her head scanning from side-to-side. ‘There are rather a lot of undead, although all are engaged in labour, rather than being ready for war. Some have tools that could be used as weapons, but none appear to have been modified for combat.’

‘Any sign of their leader, any summoners, the vampires? Or that armoured guy?’

‘He did give his name, although you clearly don’t remember – Chirutha. Hmm, there seems to be more movement up on the crest of the hill.’ She pointed, although it was impossible to see what at. ‘That is where the obelisk is. Semari, perhaps you could try and attract some lightning?’

‘Don’t start squabbling. We’ll head up there then. Hakara, call up your ice storm somewhere to the side, and that can be a distraction.’

It only took a few seconds, the blue dust turning a chilly tint, forming itself into a ball and then shooting off into the darkness. Stathis could only barely see the result, a cloud forming from nothing, thick chunks of ice thudding downwards, hopefully shredding anything caught beneath them. She counted in her head, getting to a ten-count, before pointing forward. ‘Go!’

Stathis charged, Semari racing ahead, a blur in the night. Pajaran kept pace with her, her mace swinging through the air and crunching into the skull of a skeleton they ran past, the thing not even able to offer resistance. The rest of the bones collapsed into a heap, the animating magic gone.

The ground was loose underfoot, her feet sinking in, everything all churned up, torn-apart roots threatening to capture and grab her feet. A zombie turned to stare at her, slack-jawed and gawping, before Stathis cut through it’s neck, head tumbling into the darkness. Janaxia conjured up her eldritch blasts, more undead slamming backwards as the bolts connected, shoving them away.

The slope increased, soil trickling beneath their feet, the angle making it more and more arduous to keep going. She could hear the ice-storm thudding downwards, hopefully flashy enough to draw attention, as the ground levelled out, and suddenly they were in the middle of a work-camp, albeit one without any of the usual living accommodations. Dozens, if not hundreds, of undead were present, in various states of preservation. She cut through a spine, severing one in half. The torso kept moving, arms flailing, but there was no time to finish it off as they kept moving forward.

Stathis glanced around, trying to see the scale of the works now they were amongst them – it looked like huge heaps of earth had been dug up and moved, trenches next to irregular heaps, threatening to spill back into the holes it had come from. Low groans and dry clatters started to get louder as the undead reacted, starting to realise something was going on, at least as much as they could.

A zombie flew past Stathis, landing on the ground with enough force to shatter the skull, a decaying brain oozing out. Semari had run into the middle of a group of them, easily evading their clumsy attacks before striking back, every punch or kick obliterating one, their bodies catapulted away by the force of her blows.

The ground was getting looser and looser underfoot, Stathis starting to sink in under her own weight, the stuff acting like quicksand. There was a moment of relief when she stepped onto a stony ridge that could properly support her, standing there for a moment to get her bearings. Hakara flung a beam of blue energy at an attacker, their body suddenly coated with a thick rime of ice, limbs freezing into place, before toppling over. Janaxia was throwing countless blasts, each one potent enough to smash through one of the undead, leaving a slew of half-destroyed bodies. But they were gathering into larger groups now, starting to swarm together, Semari having to jump backwards to avoid getting bogged down.

Pajaran jumped onto the rocky outcrop, swaying for a moment before Stathis grabbed her and steadied her. She raised her mace high. ‘May the power of the Iron Shield purge the evil from this place!’ It pulsed with a steely light, a ring of energy lashing out. The nearby undead froze for a second, before shattering to dust.

‘Handy. Now let’s go!’

With all the nearby undead disintegrated, it was easier to advance, although the ground kept threatening to give way underfoot. Semari moved with light steps, skimming over the top with ease, but Stathis could feel her own feet sinking in with every step, the torrent cascading against her legs. It was a relief to make it onto more solid ground as she crested the top of the rise, able to see the full extend of the workings now. There had been a lot of work, gouges scarring the soil, stone vaulting visible beneath, along with ashen smears where protective magic had gone off. And countless undead, most still working away, hands scratching and scrabbling at the ground, a constant dry scratching and hissing off dirt.

A nearby group of skeletons clattered and clicked, dull smears of light flaring in their eye-sockets. Semari jumped into the middle of them and grabbed one, swinging it around by the leg, using it as an oversized club. Stathis and Pajaran moved towards her, taking care not to tumble into any of the trenches, using their weapons to smash at anything that got too close.

‘This seems too easy. I was expecting those vampires to be here!’ There was a sickening splat as Pajaran pulverized a skull, Stathis kicking the body into a ditch.

‘Or some wraiths or something.’ A zombie scrabbled at Stathis – she smacked it with her shield, before slicing through an arm and then shoving it away, pushing it away. It skidded and then vanished from sight. ‘I know wizards might be rubbish at strategy, but there should be something here.’

Lightning flashed downwards, casting a brief flash of white light over the scene, making it possible to fully see the extent of the works – huge amounts of the ground were covered with deep scars, alongside the heaps of the earth that had been pulled from them.

‘Head for that!’ Stathis looked around – Janaxia had conjured up her disk and was using that to stay out of danger, easily skimming over the surface without having to worry about tripping. Hakara was moving more slowly, having difficulties with the shifting surface. ‘Janaxia, pick Hakara up. The two of you cover us!’

I suppose covering fire may be wise. The disk spun around, moving towards Hakara, as Janaxia volleyed more arcane energy at another attacker, Janaxia’s bolts finishing them off. Hakara stumbled towards the platform, slipping deeper into the piles of loose earth.

‘We’ll meet up there!’

They kept moving forward, dispatching the undead with ease. Even when they managed to get close enough to grapple and grab, then Stathis sliced and shook them off, shoving them into the pits to keep them from grabbing again.

‘This terrain is worse than the fighting! Where’s anyone alive? Or at least undead and aware?’ Stathis felt the ground shift as she started to slide downwards, her feet stepping and making it worse before Pajaran grabbed at her arm, keeping her stable. She had to stab her sword into the ground to steady herself, pulling herself onto more stable terrain. ‘Damn, glad we didn’t bring anyone else. It would be impossible to maintain any form of group here.’

They managed to struggle their way towards the obelisk, the ground getting more stable as they got closer. Semari was ahead of them, now swinging around a skeleton, the thing falling apart, bit-by-bit, as limbs broke off the torso, before she cast it aside.

The obelisk here was bigger, with metal bands embedded into the stone. Stathis kept a distance away, not wanting to get blinded by more lightning strikes.

On the other side of the obelisk, partially sheltered by a stubby lump of stone, was a tent. Semari kicked at one of the fabric walls, the material stiffening under the impact.

‘Oww!’ Despite this, Semari punched it, with much the same effect, shaking her fist in pain. A magical glyph appeared, energy coursing towards Semari and hitting her. She froze for a moment, arms tensing up before shaking it off.

‘Watch out!’ Stathis swung her blade at the fabric, feeling it find purchase and snag, before the stuff stiffened and turned the blade aside.

Bracing though this display of aggression is, perhaps simply using the entrance would be simpler? As Semari has proven that she is willing to test for traps, then she could simply enter? Eldritch energy rustled the tent, a flap opening being held up Janaxia’s spell. Inside, Stathis could see the usual wizardly paraphernalia, strange objects and paper covered in dense and unreadable scribble.

Semari jumped away, grabbing one of the zombies that was shambling towards them and then lobbed it through the open flap, the animated corpse bouncing off the floor as it hurtled into the tent. It crashed into the far wall, the material stiffening, and then magical flared, the ground exploding as razor-sharp bones ripped up out of the earth, snapping around the zombie and slicing it to bits.

Stathis waited until the dust-cloud had settled down, before carefully poking at one of the ribs with her sword. It was far tougher than normal bone, with a razor-sharp curves, capable of cleanly slicing through flesh and bone.

Curious. A very indiscriminate trap – I would expect something a little more artful?

‘Where are they? There’s no sign of his guard either.’

Lightning shattered the sky, thunder following along with it, Stathis flinching at the sudden boom. The obelisk crackled with the power it had absorbed, white light sparking over the shining surface.

‘Hakara, is there anything in there that looks useful?’

Hakara dismounted from the platform, before waving her fingers in the direction of the tent. Something vibrated, Stathis stepping forward as she heard an explosion, turning her head away and raising her shield, shrapnel blasting off her shield. When she lowered it, the insides of the tent were scorched, the walls peppered with still-smoking shards of whatever had exploded.

‘Sorry, Stathis. That seemed to have been triggered by magic. It…’ She went silent, tilting her head, cupping a hand over one ear and concentrating. ‘Um, Stathis? It seems that the town is under attack. Kivata managed to get a message through.’

‘Shit. This was a feint? They won’t be able to hold out long.’

‘The message cut out, but it sounded rather dire.’

‘I can fly, but that will take time.’

Semari was slowly backing away, shaking her head. ‘I don’t wanna be turned into lightning!’

‘It’s the fastest way back. Pajaran, can you heal her up and shield her from as much damage as possible? You’ll have to try and hold them off until I can get there, while everyone else tries to move as quickly as possible.’

Pajaran started to pray, a shining barrier of energy appearing over Semari’s skin before fading into her. Hakara spun a spell into existence as well, snapping sparks of lightning appearing over Semari, flitting about and evading her attempts to poke them.

‘Do I really have to do this?!’

‘Sorry, Semari. But the town won’t hold at all otherwise. We might be too late already.’ The few scrapes Semari had healed to nothing as Pajaran cured her, as Hakara went over to the obelisk, putting her hand against it and then tapping a metal spike against the surface, holding it there. Stathis approached Semari, putting a hand on her shoulder. ‘I’m sure it won’t hurt too much. And I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

‘Easy for you to say! Why don’t you try it?’

Although she was preoccupied with the obelisk, Hakara was still able to respond. ‘All that armour would get in the way and cause rather unpleasant burns. And, of course, you have an innate resistance to such energies.’

Stathis steered Semari forward, glad that she wasn’t resisting, Pajaran layering more protections and enchantments onto her, leaving a clinging, staticky layer of energy on Semari’s skin.

‘It might be a little disorientating, but with your agility you should be able to recover easily. I will try and ensure you are transported high up, that may let you see what’s going on.’

Semari squirmed, her shoulders twisting against Stathis’ grip. ‘This sucks! Don’t wanna be the guinea pig!’

Energy flared from the pillar, a queasy mixture of cool blue, actinic white and abyssally-deep black, slashing and twining together. Whatever spell Hakara was now incanting sounding fast and urgent, syllables spilling forth from her mouth, faster than Stathis could follow. The sky above rumbled with a deep groan of thunder, but no flash of lightning. Hakara’s fingers danced over the surface, leaving wispy white rune-lines, that glowed for a moment before fading, getting drawn down into the depths.

Semari jolted forward, torn from Stathis’ grasp. A bolt of darkness slammed between her shoulders, knocking her forward as Janaxia gestured, flinging another bolt. This knocked Semari forward again, so that she was close to the pillar.

Lightning flashed down, stabbing from the sky. It slowed and diverted itself, somehow twisting away from the obelisk and striking Semari, who vanished. Hakara didn’t stop, continuing her spellcasting, the afterimage of the lightning still strobing in Stathis’ vision.

She turned and started to run, jumping into the air, her wings catching the wind as she took off. ‘Get back as soon as possible!’ A chill wind was blowing, an actual storm starting, rain starting to fall as she flew. The light from her wings illuminated the ground beneath her as she tried to fly as fast as possible, a seething mass of undead beneath her, a few of them gawping up at her.