Zeke adjusted his shield, hefted his mace, then stepped outside. The sight that greeted him was far different from what he had expected. For one, there wasn’t a horde of zombies waiting for him. Aside from the mounds of rotting flesh that they’d left behind in their fight before entering the tower, there wasn’t a single mundane zombie in the area. And even those had begun to lose cohesion; compared to other monsters, it seemed that zombies decayed far more quickly.

Instead of the expected mass of rotting, undead monsters, Zeke found a bare handful of figures awaiting him and his group. In the center was a thin man with ghastly white skin. Wearing a robe that seemed to absorb the light, the man’s eyes glowed blood red. Zeke didn’t need to inspect him to know that he faced Abraham Micayne; the power wafting off of the man was palpable.

On either side of him were a pair of slender, dark-haired figures – one male, and the other female – with similarly white complexions. The two might’ve been statues for all they moved. Neither even blinked, they were so still. The twins Tucker had referenced, certainly. Micayne’s own children, experimented on and transformed into unthinking monsters. Zeke suppressed a shudder.

Finally, looming over Micayne’s shoulder was an enormous, bearded man. With a full beard, gleaming armor, and a massive sword, the man radiated necromantic energy in the form of a pale green aura that enveloped him.

“A-abdul?” came a raspy, stammering voice from behind Zeke. He recognized it as coming from the girl, Talia. “Is that you? W-what did they do?”

Micayne’s lips turned up in a wicked smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. “Oh, you’ve noticed my latest creation, did you?” he said, his voice smooth, like silk being dragged across jagged rocks. “If it makes any difference, I didn’t kill him. He was already dead by the time I got my hands on him. But now, he can live on as the best version of himself.”

“Y-you monster,” said Talia. “Better that you let him stay dead.”

“I…disagree,” was Micayne’s reply. This time, when he spoke, the twins’ voices overlayed his. They continued, “Abdul was always a survivor. He would’ve taken whatever chance he needed to take in order to continue living.”

“He’s not –”

“Enough!” roared the three, each slashing through the air with an open hand. “I will not have you lecture me on my own friend’s wishes! Nor do I wish to extend this conversation. So, I will offer you a chance, girl. Submit to me, climb back into the chamber, and I will allow your new friends to leave with their lives. Resist, and I will kill you all and add you to my army. Choose wisely, for I will not offer again!”

A pregnant silence hung between the two groups as both Tucker and Abby stepped out of the tower. Pudge followed a moment later.

Abby was the one who broke the silence, saying, “So, you decided to go full-on evil overlord, huh?”

“What?” Micayne spat, surprised at the question.

“All of this,” she said, sweeping her bow around and indicating their surroundings. “The haunted manor, the undead army, the monologue – those are all the hallmarks of a cut-rate, B-movie villain. Now, I’ll admit that the whole resurrecting the dead wife bit humanizes you a little, but it’s hard to sympathize with a man that turns his own children into monsters.”

“You dare speak to me –”

Before he could get the sentence out of his mouth, Zeke exploded into motion, covering the ten feet between him and Micayne in an instant. His shield hit with frightening force, and he was rewarded with a satisfying crunch of bone. Micayne went flying through the air, already sprouting an arrow from his neck. Zeke didn’t stop to see where he landed, instead turning his attention to the female twin to his left. His shift was just in time, because the girl had already launched herself at him.

Her three-inch claws hit his shield with a sound like nails on a chalkboard, scraping down the chitinous barrier with terrifying speed. And then came another attack. And another. She was all claws, and it was all Zeke could do to keep up – parrying with his mace, blocking with his shield, and dodging when necessary. But it was destined to be a losing battle because he couldn’t spare even a second to go on the attack.

Vaguely, Zeke was aware that his friends had joined the battle as well. Pudge had attacked the male twin, with Abby peppering the undead creature with one arrow after another. Meanwhile, Talia had turned her attention to the hulking form that had once been Abdul Rumas. Tucker was busy tossing his glass orbs in Micayne’s direction, and explosions of fire, force, and ice descended upon the stunned lich, keeping him out of the fight.

Or that was the plan, at least.

Inevitably, things went wrong pretty quickly. With a massive roar of outrage, Micayne exploded with green light. Immediately, Zeke found himself even further on his back foot, because his opponent’s attacks started coming even more quickly. Suddenly, he went from barely holding his own to unequivocally losing. A slash across his stomach was followed by one aimed at his shoulder. Then another that very nearly found his throat. In the space of seconds, his armor, which was already damaged from the unending fight with the zombies, was falling apart.

Zeke couldn’t spare a moment to check on his companions, but judging by the pain coming through his bond with Pudge, none of the others had fared any better than he had. Whatever Micayne had done, it had enhanced his minions to a staggering degree.

For all Zeke’s impressive stats, he was still mostly untrained. He had plenty of rudimentary ability that worked perfectly fine against monsters, but against a trained opponent, his natural abilities were for naught. Even his [Leech Strike] was useless, for he couldn’t spare a moment for an offensive strike. No – he was outmatched and outclassed, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Luckily, Zeke wasn’t alone.

With a hiss, Talia sprang into view, her own claws glistening with green liquid. Even as she struck – once, twice, and then a third time in the space of a second – she growled, “Hit Rumas! I’ve got this one!”

Zeke didn’t have to be told twice, and he quickly turned his attention to Rumas, who looked all the worse for wear. His armor had lost its pristine shine, and in places, it looked as if it was barely holding itself together. Jagged, black claw marks marred the once-perfect metal, and the few bits of the behemoth’s flesh that were visible looked as if they’d gone through months of decay.

What the hell happened to him?

Zeke didn’t have time to wonder, because for all the damage that had been done to the former paladin, he still looked just as strong as before. But Zeke was used to strong. He could deal with that. So, without further delay, he leapt forward, barreling into the nine-foot-tall figure.

“Really?” came Abby’s incredulous voice. “What’d I tell you about leaving your feet?!”

Zeke had neither the time nor the inclination to answer her jibe. Instead, he focused entirely on fighting Rumas. His mace and shield worked in unison as he battered the man’s legs and lower torso, denting his armor. Even as he went on the offensive, Zeke managed to avoid the lumbering former paladin’s sweeping sword strikes. Whatever skill he’d once possessed had probably dissipated into nothingness when he’d become an undead abomination, so Zeke was just able to avoid the former paladin’s attacks.

Just when things seemed to have fallen into a rhythm, pain lanced through Zeke’s mind, staggering him just enough that Rumas’ latest two-handed attack landed on his shoulder. Zeke’s armor deformed, and he cried out as his clavicle snapped. Luckily, the greatsword didn’t pass all the way through the pauldron, but his own injuries were the least of Zeke’s worries. Pushed to his knees by the force of the blow, Zeke managed to sneak a glance at Pudge, whose fur was stained dark from blood. The bear stumbled in place before falling on his side and exposing the ragged gash that ran the length of his side.

“No!” Zeke cried, lashing out with his mace and batting aside Rumas’ latest strike. In a second, he was on his feet and rushing to Pudge’s side.

Sorry…I tried, Pudge thought at him. Even the bear’s thoughts were strained. Save girl.

For the first time in months, maybe even years, Zeke hesitated. He had no idea what to do. He didn’t know how to save his companion, whose agony pulsed in his own mind. The hits he’d manage to land on Rumas didn’t do enough damage to heal Pudge via the diluted portion of [Leech Strike] that flowed through the bond. The monster was too durable, his armor too sturdy.

And then, Zeke’s eyes found the male twin who was slowly stalking toward Abby. With every passing second, an arrow sliced through the air. The slender figure dodged each with relative ease. But the twins were creatures of speed, not endurance. They were difficult to hit, but Zeke suspected that if he managed to land a blow, it would do significant damage. Maybe it would be enough to keep Pudge alive.

Without another thought, Zeke dashed toward the slender monster. Moving more quickly than he’d ever moved before, he was upon the thing before it could react. He didn’t bother swinging his mace. Nor did he lead with his shield. Instead, he tackled the twin and drove it into the gore-soaked earth. A moment he was swinging his mace with every ounce of strength he could muster.

The monster twisted beneath him, avoiding the worst of it. Still, Voromir clipped its head, and [Leech Strike] went to work, knitting his collarbone back together. It was a good thing, too. He couldn’t afford to be at half strength, because the monster wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

An explosion erupted behind him, but Zeke didn’t care. Instead, he continued his assault on the pinned twin. The creature’s claws sprang out, digging deep grooves into Zeke’s chest. His armor was practically useless under the assault. He didn’t care. He barely felt the gaping wounds. Nor did he slow down when the monster managed to knock his mace away. He wouldn’t stop. Pudge needed him.

Gripping his kite shield with both hands, Zeke brought it down, edge-first. Its edge bit into the monster’s neck, but it remained silent. Even as Zeke did it again, the creature didn’t cry out. The only noise that escaped from between its lips was a slight hiss. Again and again, Zeke’s shield descended like a guillotine, and with each blow, the wound opened up a little more. It took four strikes to get to the spine, then another six to cut through. Three more, and the monster’s head rolled free. Still, the monster twitched in undeath, but with nothing to drive it, it was gone.

“Aramis!” came a guttural scream.

And then, a wave of pure force slammed into Zeke, knocking him from his feet to collide with the tower’s wall. Shaking his head, it took a few moments for Zeke’s vision to focus, and when it did, he saw Micayne, his black robes tattered and singed, kneeling beside the decapitated body that had, once upon a time, been his child. Everyone on the small battlefield, friend and foe alike, had been affected by the powerful lich’s outburst.

The man looked Zeke’s way. Red tears streaked down his cheeks, and he wore a mask of pure anguish. “You…”

Micayne stood. As he stepped forward, his flexed jaw trembled with unspent rage. “The world has never seen the agony you will experience before you die,” he spat. “You will –”

A silvery arrow sped toward him, but he swatted it away as if it were little more than an annoying pest. Suddenly, Talia was there, her claws digging into the man’s flesh. A wave of black energy erupted from her body, spreading in a circle. The pieces of slain zombies that hadn’t yet decayed were disintegrated, and Micayne stumbled. When Talia tried to take advantage of that opening, he caught her by the throat and said, “Interesting. I’ll deal with you in a moment.”

Then, with a dismissive flick of his wrist, he sent her careening into the tower. She collapsed bonelessly, though she managed to let out a slight groan.

“Is that it? Is that the final stand?” the man growled, taking another step forward. “What of you, alchemist? Any more tricks up your sleeve?”

Zeke glanced at Tucker, who was slumped on the other side of the tower’s door. The man was clearly concussed, but he still tried to summon one of his orbs. It tumbled uselessly from his fingers, the head trauma having taken its toll.

Micayne glared as Zeke climbed to his feet. He didn’t have his mace. His armor had been shredded. And he could barely think straight. But he didn’t intend to go down without a fight.

“A little fight left in you, huh?” the man sneered.

“Something like that,” Zeke muttered.

Just then, a bleating call echoed through the air.

“Was that a goat?” Micayne asked.

It was, as evidenced by the giant caprid that barreled into him. The monster was easily seven feet tall and as heavily muscled as a bodybuilder. It let out another bleating cry that nearly burst Zeke’s eardrums. A roar from nearby answered it, announcing that Rumas had rejoined the battle. The pair of giants clashed, Rumas’ blade biting deep into the caprid’s white fur. Not to be outdone, the monster headbutted the former paladin, sending him staggering away.

Another bleating call was followed by another, and before long, a dozen of the horrible yells filled the air. Then, a veritable wave of the monsters came flowing around the tower to join the battle. It was just in time, too, because both Micayne and the other twin had regained their feet only to be swarmed by the goat-men.

“Don’t see that every day, do you?” Abby said.

“No,” Zeke agreed. They were sheltered by the tower, but it would only be a matter of time before the caprids turned their attention to them.

“Pudge?” Abby asked, a note of worry in her voice.

“He’ll live,” Zeke said. As if to punctuate the statement, the bear chose that moment to rise to his feet. He still bore a nasty gash running the length of his torso, but it had healed considerably. He wasn’t in fighting shape, but he didn’t look like he would die. “Check on Talia. I’ll help the big guy. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Abby nodded, then knelt beside Talia. Meanwhile, Zeke made his way to Tucker, who was already downing some sort of red liquid. The other man’s eyes went wide, and Zeke could practically see his heart racing. “God,” the man muttered. “I never get used to that. Is the girl okay? What about the bear?”

“What was that?” Zeke asked, seeing that the man’s condition had improved drastically. Before his eyes, the scrapes on Tucker’s face closed, replaced by healthy, unmarred flesh.

“Healing potion,” Tucker said. Then, a pair of vials appeared in his hand. Each held a pink liquid. “Give one to the bear. Give the other to the undead girl. It should help get them on their feet.”

Zeke nodded, taking the man’s offering. In seconds, he’d fed one of the vials to Pudge, then given the other to Talia. After seeing how the potion had affected Tucker, he was unsurprised to see that the pair of them healed in seconds.

Looking out across the battlefield, Zeke saw Micayne and his undead monster of a daughter battling against a host of caprids. Meanwhile, the titanic clash between Rumas and the giant goat-man had continued, taking its toll on the both of them.

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Zeke said. “Let’s go.”

With that, the group slipped around to the back of the tower and set off towards mountains to the north. All the while, the bleating screams of their saviors filled the air.