In the distance I feel Decker’s sword lying on the ground where he dropped it after being kicked away from the door. Not sure if it’d work I wrap the mana I have in the air around the sword and drag it towards me.

I feel a pull on my mana core as the beautiful silver slade flys through the air into my hand. In an instant the blade is covered in burning bright artic blue mana. The spell singing out shrill sirens call for the death of those who can hear it.

I bare my teeth at the zombie Butch and wait for it’s atack. Something in it recognizes my resolve to fight and appears displeased by it as it’s smile fades into a frown. It’s large muscles flex as it hunches over.

With a crack the zombie rockets forwards faster than I can respond. I feel the air leave my lungs as my feet leave the ground. Metal races around me as I slam into a wall and my vision blurs out of focus.

I fall to the ground coughing and gasping for breath. I cough up blood and realize instinctively that something inside of me broke. I shake my head and try to focus on the fight.

It doesn’t matter how hurt I get. Or how painful this becomes. The Zombie Butcher dies with me.

I roar out, coughing up more blood as I do so. My roar is a challenge to the Zombie Butcher to charge again. The Butcher responds in kind with a roar of his own.

I recast the burning, shrieking, Mana Saw around the silver metal of Decker’s sword. I take a stance that I believe is similar to Decker’s.

I hold the sword out in front of me ready to pierce or slice the zombie. It hunches over again readying for another charge. Knowing what to expect I conjure tendrils of mana.

At the sound of the ground cracking under the pressure of the Zombie Butcher’s charge I lash out with the tendrils of mana. They push into a metal structure next to me, throwing me out of the Butcher’s way.

As the Zombie Butcher flies past me I latch onto it with a tendril of mana. Using the tendril I pull myself onto the things back .

I thin out the mana into a string wrapping it around the monster's head and use it to hang on as the zombie tries to buck me off. It tries reaching for me but it’s large frame prevents it from reaching me.

With my other hand I raise the glowing sword and bring it down. The Butcher bucks at me and the sword narrowly avoids impaling the thing’s skull. Instead the glowing blue energy laced sword plunges deep into the shoulder of the Butcher.

It roars in pain or anger and tries to throw me off more viciously. It’s all I can do to keep a metal focus on the rope of mana. I feel it’s hands move the air around me as it tries to reach for me. But through it’s bulk it can’t.

When it realizes it can’t grab me it tries to throw me off by whipping its body from side to side. I pull tighter on the string of mana holding me close to it. Finally realizing that it can’t shake or throw me it runs backwards smashing me into a wall.

Pain explodes across my back as I feel the world starting to fade. The pain is far too great. I feel blood and vomit flood my mouth and spew out in a jet. Only through sheer force of will do I keep a hold on the mana wrapped around the things neck.

The sword flies out of the thing and away from my grasp. The energy around it fades as I lose my focus on it. Just holding onto the tendril of mana around its neck takes a herculean effort.

I close my eyes trying to focus on the burning fire within me. Every time I watched my magic pop or explode with any kind of force races through my mind. I take hold of as much mana as I can, intent on causing it to explode. However, I realize I’m barely even able to pull out an eighth of what I have left in me.

Worried that it won’t be enough I force myself to collect more. It feels as if I’m trying to suck in as much air as possible into my lungs. After the initial surge of mana the rest comes slowly and is stubborn. However, I ignore the full feeling in my mind as I force more and more mana to be ready.

The eight grows to a tenth then to a fifteenth. But the whisper in my mind tells me it’s not enough. Nowhere near enough. So I keep drawing and pulling more in.

I feel my body be slammed into more and more things as bones break inside of me. But at this point I’m so focused on the mana that I feel like a separate being. Watching my body be violated by an unnatural creature.

AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!

Decker screams as he powerslides behind the monster. His silver sword cuts through the thing’s heels. I watch through half closed eyes barely registering what’s happening.

The zombie falls to its knees in a howl of pain. I continue holding onto it still trying to build up more mana. Before I even gain another percentage Decker yanks me off of the beast, the magical thread dispelling as my focus is broken.

“Not on my watch kid!” He yells as he throws me over his shoulder.

He races us back up the stairs to the second floor. We make it a window before Decker puts me down. He looks outside for a second before turning back to me.

“How badly are you hurt?” He asks

Looking inside of me I realize more of the damage is to my torso, mainly my ribs. Running is out of the question but I should be able to walk.

“Ribs.” The word hurts to say. “Broken.” Each syllable sends burning pain through my chest.

“Alright. I’m going to throw you out the window. Get up and make a break for the building.” He says.

The whisper in the back of my head screams at this plan. I can’t tell why but it’s not going to work. We’ll all die if we try it.

I shake my head in the negative before steeling my resolve.

“No. I can. Kill It. Just. Need. Time.” I say through broken gasps.

Deckers looks at me unsure. I flare my mana letting the blue flaming aura engulf me to show my resolve. The sounds of the zombie’s footsteps on the stairs echo up to us. Decker’s eyes steel with resolve.

“I’ll give you as much time as I can. Do what you have to.” He says.

He turns around facing the staircase. His sword held out before him. He places one foot forwards and lowers his stance. Ready for whatever is to come.

The fact that he trusts me and listens to me isn’t lost to me. Before all of this I rarely ever spoke out and when I did I was dismissed or belittled. But this man before me is risking his life because of me.

I shake the thoughts from my head and turn my focus back on my mana. The collected bit from earlier returned to my pool making me start all over again. However instead of trying to blow myself up this time I’m going to shoot it with a massive Cannonball.

Instantly an eighth of my power is expelled from me. A blue glowing ball of energy floats in front of me.

I call on more mana forcing it out but It’s slow and resilient to my demands. Unwilling to be added to the sizable amount I already have. But I ignore it’s wants and force more and more mana out of me and into this ball.

My skin feels on fire as the energy pushes out of me into a bright swirling ball of energy in front of me. The energy seems to generate a wind of its own as papers are pushed back away from it and I feel a pressure emanating off of it.

In the distance I hear the clatter of metal on metal as Decker meets the Zombie Butcher head on. His silver sword dances through the air at incredible speeds. Unlike any of the other zombies, the Zombie Butcher matches Decker's pace. Meeting blow for blow.

Decker side steps a downward strike from the beast. His sword cuts through the air in a horizontal strike. It digs itself into the monster side spewing a black ichor as it does so. The Butcher roars out in pain as the blade passes through him.

Forty percent of what I have in my pool glows before me. The mana takes on a darker color the more I add to it. No longer an arctic blue, the mana glows a heavy shade of navy. The size of the orb is now that of a large person. However, the whisper in the back of my mind still calls for more.

The Zombie Butcher grabs Decker’s head causing him to scream out in pain. The zombie lifts the man up and away from the sword, throwing him to the side. Decker screams out in pain once more causing wildfires of rage to burn in me.

My mana pulses at the rage, freeing itself of it’s unwillingness to group in large quantities. The orb jumps from the size of a large person to that of a small car as I dump more and more mana into it.

The zombie takes the sword out from its side howling in pain. Decker lies collapse on the ground only a few feet from me. The Zombie turns towards him, hatred in his eyes. It stalks over to the man raising the metal cleaver in its hand.

Knowing that I don’t have the time I cut off the flow of mana to the orb. Instead I force it to spin in a clockwise motion. The pressure it gives off sucks the air out of the room as it violently rotates. It howls with power distracting the Zombie Butcher from the man at its feet.

The zombie looks to me and the elongated High Velocity Cannonball in front of me. The energy crackles and I realize that I’m not in complete control over it. Not wanting too much energy to bleed off I hurl the energy at the zombie.

For a moment in time it’s as if someone painted a blue line through reality. The concentrated ball of energy leaves a trail so bright that it looks to be drawn in the air.

The orb strikes the Zombie Butcher dead center forcing it back against the far wall. The wall bulges and explodes outwards as the zombie is carried with the energy. There in the middle of the street the energy explodes, no longer able to sustain its shape.

The energy rocks the building and shatters glass. I feel my head spin as my ears ring. Looking up I see a hole in the wall with no zombie floating there.

My heart rises with relief. It’s done. We won. And I’m still alive. My laughter rings out as I feel nothing but joy.

“No.” A soft voice rings out in the back of my mind.

My laughter instantly dies out as I watch the hole in the way. There’s no way anything could have survived that.

A crack rings out as pavement is broken under sudden pressure. The Zombie Butcher flies into the open hole of the wall.

It’s left arm is nowhere to be seen. The bone of it’s skull is visible around burnt skin, it’s blackened yellow teeth visible despite it not bearing them. In it’s right hand it holds it’s cleaver. The metal is bent and warped out of its normal shape.

Zombie Butcher

Level: 22

HP: 8/115