‘You can’t fight this,’ Eva’s voice reached me from within.

‘Are we on talking terms now?’ I asked.

‘Is this the time for jests?’ she said.

Maybe not, I shrugged.

‘Don’t give me that!’ Eva snapped.

‘Give you what?’ I asked. I feigned ignorance. The dead hunk of meat was advancing toward us slowly. I had some time for petty remarks.

‘Do you think you can kill the undead?’

‘Seeing as he’s already dead,’ I said, ‘I think not.’

‘Then why are you still standing here?’

‘I don’t wanna run and realize he can,’ I said. ‘If I can’t kill him, might as well incapacitate him.’

Eva remained silent for a while. ‘Good point,’ she finally conceded.

Didn’t see that coming huh? Empress of the city of light! I had some brains after all.

Here’s the gist of the situation. I had a walking dead before me. I had left my sword in the forest earlier. Raiya picked me up but forgot to pick up my weapon. I wore studded leather armor, but it wouldn’t protect me against a thrust attack. I had to first disarm the walking corpse then chop his legs off, assuming his friend doesn’t awaken in the meantime. Knowing my rotten luck – yeah I started believing in luck, slightly now – the other would soon awaken.

Zoey tugged at my arm. “What do we do?” she asked.

“You don’t do anything,” I said. “I’ll get rid of him. Then we run. Don’t fall behind, you hear?”

“Join us…” the walking corpse said. If that was the only thing he could say, I’d consider myself lucky today. Repeating the same words over and over again only meant he couldn’t think properly.

‘Lord Qil’Al,’ Dif’s words echoed in my mind. ‘Controls death.’

At least the old man gave me a heads up. I didn’t think I’d run into the champion so fast. But at least I knew what I was dealing with, to some extent that is. Seeing the corpse rise meant I was dealing with a nercromancer. How strong was he? I didn’t know. But I was sure I’d soon find out.

The walking dead was getting closer. His movement was clunky and slow. I took a deep breath and charged. There was no point in waiting anymore. The enemy I was facing wouldn’t feel pain. It was either cut his legs off or behead him. I decided to do both.

He swung at me. I thought I had things under control but realized that with one eye, I couldn’t easily foresee the attack in the darkness. I felt the weight of the sabre against my abdomen. Thank the gods for studded armor.

The swing wasn’t strong enough to cut through the first layer of leather. And the leather was sturdy enough to reduce the damage I took. I winced but endured. It was nothing compared to Sam’s kicks and punches anyway. I held the saber from its handle and shoulder bashed the undead. He stumbled backwards, unarmed.

I swung as hard as I could. The blade, to my dismay, got stuck in the man’s neck.

Shit! Not sharp enough!

I put a leg on the man’s chest and wrenched the scimitar away. I swung again, and again, and again. Four swings! It took four of them to cut a man’s head off. Imagine how painful that could’ve been if he were alive. I didn’t bother cutting his legs down. I just broke his knees. I was pressed for time, and for a good reason.

As soon as the first corpse was dealt with, the second rose. I kicked him and swept him off his feet, then proceeded with the beheading. By the time I was done, I was out of breath. That scimitar was more trouble that it was worth. But it was the only weapon I had so far. I took it, pulled Zoey by her hand and into the only tunnel that led away but not back to where we came from.

“Aaaarrghhhh…” I faint voice reached us from behind as we were about to enter the tunnel. I looked back and saw, to my horror, the corpses crawling toward us. Their heads were probably the ones moaning.

“We gotta get the hell out of here!” Zoey screamed.

I winced. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to her high pitched, panicked screeches.

“That’s what we’re doing,” I said, “in case you haven’t noticed.”

We ran through yet another dark tunnel that led us toward darkness and the unknown. My senses were on high alert. I hoped nothing would jump at us out of the blue. I didn’t have the means necessary to deal with it. I started cursing the day I lost my eye.

‘What was that about assimilating me?’ Eva asked as I led the Sister through darkness.

‘Can we talk about it another time?’ I asked.

‘You found it convenient to joke around earlier while in danger,’ she retorted. ‘Why shouldn’t I do the same?’

‘This is different,’ I protested. ‘I was thinking of a plan of attack. Now I need to focus, or get ambushed and die here.’

‘I have a space in which you can speak to me too, you know,’ Eva said.

‘I’ll be sure to use it once we’re in the clear,’ I replied.

‘Promise?’

‘Promise, now will your highness please shut it so I’d concentrate?’

‘Pff…’ was her answer. But she at least let me focus all my energy on not being ambushed.

As we walked, I heard noises here and there. I asked Zoey about it, but she didn’t seem to have noticed them. Perhaps she was too afraid to concentrate on anything. We walked, not too slow, but not too fast either. I didn’t want to stumble upon a swarm of moaning undead. I pricked my ears and urged my eye to see more than it could. My nose was at work too. If there were other undead, perhaps older, I’d smell them a mile away.

The unexpected happened. It always happened to me in this fashion. I’d concluded that later on. Something good will happen, immediately followed by something equally bad, or the other way around. It wasn’t really consistent with the order of things, whatever “it” was…

I started to feel some kind of presence around me. That was by the time we’d reached another crossroad. We had only two choices this time: either go right or left. I felt two slow creatures creeping up behind us. They were as slow as snails. The second presence, or presences, I felt was at the tunnel to the right. There were too many for me to count. But I felt an ominous aura emanating from them.

“Left,” I told Zoey and pulled her toward the safe tunnel.

I couldn’t sense anything to my left. Which was good, right?

Wrong!

This is where it gets ugly. The tunnel was a dead end. My new adventure started with a desperate fight for survival. Can I catch a break?

“They’re trapped!” A voice echoed through the tunnels. “Get them! Make them join us!”

Definitely not…

“Myles?” Zoey’s voice made me wince again. “Why do I get the feeling that I’m always doomed in your company?”

Sigh…

“Stay behind me,” I told her. “I’ll create an opening. As soon as I do, you run like hell, do you hear?”

She nodded. Thank you Zoey for the guilt trip. That was the last thing I needed.

I’m not the kind of guy who’d protect the lady when in need. Nah, that sort of things exist in books where heroes have a resolve of steel. I was as selfish and bad as they come. That’s probably why I fell into Raiya’s manipulative hands. I may have deserved it. But the innocent and weak Zoey didn’t.

I was feeling pretty chivalrous that day, mainly because of the defeat I suffered at Sam’s hands… and feet. You start questioning your motives when you suffer an overwhelming defeat. I also felt I had to give her an opportunity to run.

I’d convinced her to run away with me from the Crucible after all. I’d manipulated her as much as Raiya and Agatha had. I led the Sister through the tunnel and back to the crossroad. By then, not only could I feel the dead walking toward us, I could smell them.

‘You can sense them now?’ Eva asked.

‘It somehow just happened,’ I answered.

‘That could be useful,’ she said.

‘Care to elaborate?’

‘You don’t feel their presence and aura,’ she explained. ‘You feel the one belonging to the necromancer. They’re dead, they can’t have an aura. Find the link between them and the necromancer and cut it. That should slow them down considerably.’

‘Won’t it kill them permanently?’ I asked.

‘No, he’s got tools to create links with the dead. It takes time to get the links working. So cutting them will at least buy you some time.’

‘Got it,’ I said. ‘And thanks!’

‘When did you become such a gentleman?’ Eva asked, amused.

‘No time to talk now,’ I said. I must admit I felt quite irritated by her remark. ‘Gotta save our asses now.’

I ran into the tunnel, Zoey close behind me. I knew where I had to go. Those dead men were slow. I had hoped I would get them before they reached the tunnel’s exit or, in their case, entrance.

The tunnel was long, and the anticipation was killing me. Zoey was panting behind me. But I urged her to keep going. We had to get there before the tunnel was sealed. I’d fight better if I had an open area to maneuver around. I’d reached the mouth of the tunnel just in time.

I had to cover my eye as soon as I stepped into the unknown. The place that welcomed us was pretty spacious actually. There were some holes above ground that let some of the setting sunlight in. The undead seemed to avoid it. I could finally see them clearly.

My happiness was cut short however. As my eyes got adjusted to the new lighting, I saw that I was facing at least fifty undead. All armed and slowly marching toward us. Beyond them was a large brass door.

“Zoey,” I turned to the Sister. “I’ll keep them busy, you run to the light. They don’t like it. Stay there until I’m done fighting. Or run to the door and hope it opens. Anyway, if I die, you’re on your own.”

She nodded. “Thank you,” she said.

What was that for?