Reud stalks through the darkness of the city, the streets just barely lit by the light cast out from Tel’s burning hand. Moving quickly along its weaving streets and overgrown alleys, as familiar to him as the back of his hand, Reud heads towards the entrance to the underground.

Far off in the distance a long screech breaks the silence of the night. Reud speeds up, walking as fast as he can without risking tripping on some hidden root. The magic beasts must be stirring from their dungeons, the magic strumming in their veins, pushing them to feed. They will wake and sense the villagers, exposed without proper shelter, and come to hunt. He’ll need to be quick.

As Reud walks, he feels the mana in the air grow more chaotic as the night truly takes hold, the crescent moon shining overhead bearing with it the favour of the goddess of magic and madness. The mana infusing his body reacts to the change, flowing through him like ice water in his veins, sending shivers down his spine. It is this that sends the beasts mad, and risks doing the same to any mage lacking the proper self-control. Reud, however, is not some fledgling mage, and with an ease born from countless years of practise he clamps down on his mana. He was going to need to keep a clear mind this night.

Soon, they reach the building where Lilia shifted the boulder, and enter the tunnels beneath. Down here is a true darkness, the only light penetrating its depths being that the intruder brings with them. To some such a darkness may feel oppressive, but to Reud it feels familiar. Safe. Like returning home.

Reud closes his eyes, feeling the mana that infuses every part of this place. His mana, thrown out as the residue of centuries of experimentation. Here, he didn’t need the light cast by Tel, his mana sense sufficient to navigate its winding passageways.

Weaving through the tunnels, they emerge into a small room. Lining one wall are a number of alcoves, each containing a skeleton. Against the other wall sit three chests, long scrapes along the ground indicating someone dragged them here.

Reud walks over to one of the chests, pulling it open, and begins building a pile of swords and axes by his side. Long ago he’d scoured the city for anything of use, throwing them into chests and hiding them away in his underground home. Here they were safe from looters, ready for when the time came that he had a use for them. A time such as now.

Reud walks to the other chest, rummaging within, then pulling out armfuls of clothing. He searches through the clothes, discarding any with extensive bloodstains or rents. A pair of dirty brown trousers, a grey tunic and a thick leather belt pass the checks, and Reud quickly pulls them on beneath his cloak.

No longer feeling so self-conscious, Reud walks over the alcoves. At each one he stops and places his hands on the bones, flooding his mana through them, activating the spell carved into them long ago. One by one, the bones shudder, then begin to float. Soon, ten skeletons stand in the room, their bones clattering together. Reud picks up an armful of weapons then walks down the line, handing each skeleton one. Jerking like marionettes, they clumsily grasp the weapons.

Stepping back, Reud checks over the skeleton group, a sense of excitement building with him. He’d been aimlessly making these undead for a long time, more as a way to fill in the years rather than for a particular purpose. Now he has a goal, something worthwhile that does not involve fighting or killing. He’d never really enjoyed killing, even back when he had been an adventurer, and the centuries since the war hadn’t held much but killing over and over. Now though? A strange feeling blossomed within him, something he hadn’t felt in so long he’d almost forgotten what it was. Hope. Hope for a future, filled with something that meant something. Hope for rebuilding the land of his memories, before the war tore it to pieces. Hope for a life with his wife, that he loves more than anything else in the world.

Smiling, Reud exits the room, the skeleton horde trailing behind him. Slowly they weave their way back through the tunnels towards the surface.

As they walk, Reud sends out his magical senses, feeling down deep below the tunnels into the maze of caverns that lie beneath. Relief fills him as he senses the resonance where it should be, where he left it. It hadn’t stirred. Thank Idia that his summoning in Littlestream hadn’t awakened it. After the number of restorations he’d had to perform, he wasn’t sure he’d have the power remaining to put it back to sleep.

Once again out in the cold night air, Reud stops to listen. Silence, marred only by the clacking of bone. A brief moment of peace. Then a howl breaks through the night, closer this time.

The magic beasts were close. Time to hurry

***

Terrified faces peering from the windows of the building greets Reud when the returns, the howls in the distance getting closer and closer. Lilia and Bo, along with a couple of others, are jamming burning branches into alcoves along the street, illuminating the overgrown ruins in flickering light.

Spotting him, Lilia jogs over, her face serious. “I’m so glad you’re back. The beasts are close, I can hear them.”

Reud gestures over his shoulder at the horde behind him. “I’ve got ten skeletons here, where do you want them?”

Lilia looks up and down the street. The once proud road is fully overgrown, its carefully laid flagstones broken and displaced by roots that have dug themselves under and through the earth beneath. A number of large trees have sprouted through the road surface, and the rest of the ground is covered in a combination of moss and a variety of small plants. The buildings lining the road have most of their road side walls still standing, creating a corridor of half-collapsed stone walls, interspersed with the odd alley, leading off into the night.

When they arrived, they often had to go single file to squeeze through the gaps left between the stone walls and the trunks of trees.

Finally, Lilia speaks. “If we build a wall there, there, and there, we will have a little safe area here. We just need something to build a wall out of. I took a brief look through the buildings are there’s no remaining furniture or anything we can break down.”

Reud smiles. “I have just the thing.”

Responding to his thought, the skeletons carrying axes jerk forward. Reud gestures to a tree and the skeletons spring forward, chopping away at it. In no time at all they cleave through it, and the tree topples to the ground with a boom that echoes down the street. A chorus of howls from the distance respond.

One of the skeletons slams his axe deep into the log. Another of its companions drops its axe and shambles over to the side of the road, pulling a large chunk of rock from the ground. Staggering back, it raises the rock and slams it down on the axe, driving it deep into the wood. With a loud crack the trunk splits, a rent travelling up its length. Another pair of skeletons repeats the action further up sending the rent even further. With a final groaning crack the trunk splits in two.

The skeletons continue to cut into the wood, splitting it down into thick planks. Reud glances back at the building behind him, noticing with interest that the people within are staring intently at the skeletons work. Some of them have even lost the look of fear and revulsion that clouded their faces whenever they looked at the undead, replaced with appreciation, maybe even admiration, at the efficiency with which the creatures work.

Soon a pile of wood planks lie spread out on the ground. The skeletons drop their axes, and step forward to gather the planks, four skeletons to each. Step by step, they shift it over to the places Lilia indicated, jamming the planks into any available gap. Then the group walk back and grab another of the planks, carrying it over and balancing it on top of the first. Plank by plank the wall gets higher, each one balanced on top of the first.

Reud glances over the barricade, looking it over critically. It certainly isn’t fancy, but it will have to do.

“No no no!” Comes a gruff voice from within the building behind him. Reud turns, looking for the speaker. A jostling runs through the crowd peering out of the windows, followed by the emergence of a large man from the doorway.

The carpenter, Grym, strides over to Reud grumbling loudly. “What the hell is that wall, a strong fart would bring it down.” He stops before Reud, glancing at his glowing eyes briefly before looking away. “Beggin’ your pardon, my lord, but I can’t just stand there in silence no more. Ye pets are impressive, but even me’ nan could work wood better than they.”

Reud raises an eyebrow, amused at the man’s outburst. “Good to see you again, Grym. I take it you have some suggestions for how to improve the wall.”

“Aye, my lord. You see what we need is some braces there, a supporting beam there.” He points to the wall, gesturing to each side. “We could also carve some joints into them ends, and attach them over there.”

Reud holds up his hand to stop the man. “You are obviously the expert here. How about you just give some orders to the skeletons instead of me, have them do the work you need.”

Grym looks at Reud. “You mean them skeletons can understand me? Even though they ain’t got no ears?”

Reud gestures at the skeletons. “Go on, find out for yourself. I think you’ll be impressed at how quickly they learn.”

Grym stares for a moment before shrugging. He turns to the building and shouts. “Right then, Daryl, Benny, get yourselves out here. We got a wall to build.”

Two young men emerge, smaller in stature than Grym but showing signs of developing the strong build that comes from lugging heavy loads around all day. The three men stride over to the wall and begin to order the skeletons around, quickly organizing into an efficient team. Grym leads two of the skeletons in carving the ends of the logs with protrusion that will interlock to form a tight join, loudly ordering them to carve a certain way. The other two men lead the rest of the skeletons to begin work felling the other trees in the immediate vicinity and splitting them into usable logs.

Reud relaxes, watching the men work alongside the skeletons with a bemused smile on his face. A touch on his shoulder startles him. He whips his head around to see Lilia standing by his side, Bo standing just outside the building behind her.

“Will you look at that, people actually working alongside the undead.” Lilia says, smiling gently.

Reud smiles and turns back to the group. “I never thought I’d see the day. Everyone always said they were too creepy.”

They pause like that for a time, Lilia’s hand on Reud’s shoulder setting him at ease, the simple contact bringing him great comfort.

A shout breaks the quiet. “Look! The beasts are here!”

One of the villagers points up the road, the opposite way from the half finished wall. In the gloom far up the road blaze a number of purple eyes, the bodies of the magic beasts still hidden in the darkness. Screams come from the villagers behind Reud, panic setting in. Lilia gives Reud another squeeze before letting him go, stepping away.

“Now it’s my turn.” She says, her blade ringing as she pulls it from the scabbard. Another ring joins hers as Bo draws his blade too, stepping up to stand by her side. Her eyes blaze as glowing white lines thread their way over her body, her figure glowing through her clothes, and illuminating the surrounding area. With a thought from Reud, Tel walks over to join them, flickering flames flaring into life around his hands.

“You focus on getting that wall built!” Lilia says, lowering herself into a crouch. “I’ll show these beasts what a trained adventurer can do.”

Lilia takes her blade in a two handed grip, pointing it out in front of her directly towards the eyes shining in the dark. The white glow completely covers her body now, wrapping around her like a second skin.

Then she’s off.

Lilia races down the street, her feet blurring as she nimbly dances over the broken ground. Bo and Tel launch into a run behind her, lagging far behind the glowing woman. In an instant she is on top of the beasts, spinning into an arcing slash.

In the light thrown off by her magic the beasts are revealed. A pack of monstrous wolves, each one sporting a puffy mane of white fur around their heads. Long horns spout from their heads, giving them a unicorn-like look.

Lilia’s blade glints as it arcs through the air, a white glow lining its leading edge. Blood sprays from the closest wolf, accompanied by a yelp of pain. The rest of the pack spring backwards, avoiding the deadly blade. Unfazed, Lilia reverses her blade, thrusting it into the skull of the reeling wolf, sending it flopping to the floor. One down.

A wolf darts forward from the pack, dodging around it’s fallen companion with far more agility than a beast of its size should possess. With a snarl, it snaps at Lilia. She barely avoids its vicious teeth, but before she can counter the wolf springs out of reach. Another of the pack springs in, taking advantage of Lilia’s distraction. She barely gets her sword up in time, the creature’s teeth screeching along the metal blade. Her legs flash and she flicks out a kick, barely catching the wolf as it tries to spring away, sending it flying into a wall with a crunch.

A gout of flame shoots over her shoulder, sending the pack scattering to each side. Tel runs up to Lilia’s left, firing searing flame after searing flame. The wolves are too fast however, easily avoiding the fire. It does, however, keep them too busy to attack Lilia.

Reud smiles. If Tel was on her left, then Bo should be on her right. Wait, where was Bo? Reud looks around, trying to catch sight of the other skeleton. Bo was nowhere to be seen. Closing his eyes and feeling out with his mana senses, Reud searches for Bo. Searching for the resonance given off by the skeleton. There he was! On the… rooftop?

Knowing where to look, Reud glances up, spotting Bo running along the ruined buildings, just barely visible by the firelight glinting off his sword.

Then he jumps.

The skeleton sails through the air to slam into the ground, behind the wolf pack, his bones clattering along the ground. The wolves spin to face him, watching the skeleton’s scattered bones rise and form back into the humanoid figure.

Bo raises his blade, then charges towards the wolves. The pack tries to dodge to the side, but a wall of fire spewed out by Tel cuts them off. The only way they can go is back.

Right into the path of Lilia’s blade.

The three-pronged attack tears through the pack, wolves falling before the flashing blades, their animal minds not letting them step into the roaring flames of Tel. With the pack unable to avoid them, Lilia and Bo cleave through the wolves with ease. A frantic minute more, and it’s over.

A cheer goes up from the villagers as the last wolf falls to Lilia’s sword. These people had likely never seen an adventurer fight, especially not one as deadly as Lilia. Reud smiles as he takes note of the wonder in their eyes. Lilia would have a number of new admirers after this display.

People squeeze out of the building, striding out into the street without the fear they once had, walking up to congratulate Lilia. One brave man walks over to Bo and begins thanking him too, excitedly pumping the skeleton's arm up and down. The skeleton tilts his skull and raises a hand to rub the back of his cranium.

Reud’s thoughts are scattered as people begin to crowd around him too, babbling at him from all directions at once. He raises his hands and steps back, trying to give himself some space, but the crowd presses in. His mind racing, he thinks of something to do to get them away, the closeness and attention of so many people making him intensely uncomfortable.

Then, a strange thing happened. One moment the attention of the crowd was oppressive, the next that was replaced with a sense of pride. A feeling of responsibility towards these people who had put their lives in his hands. Reud looks over the shoulders of the crowd, catching Lilia’s eye. With these people, maybe they could turn this place into a home.

Srinaber had residents once again.