We were in serious trouble. He was level 46 and his stats were insane! Thanks to his undead body, he was almost completely invulnerable. Not even Stigma could do enough damage to this guy. Cali struggled to reach out her fingers and pull the trigger on her lance, but it was no use – the lich was too powerful for her. He ragged her back down to the ground and tossed her into the nearest tree, shattering the bark and sending her tumbling to the ground below.

“Shit!” I gasped. There was a 50/50 chance of that being the end of her. The decomposed, rotted visage of the monster turned to me and I had to admit, I might have pissed myself just a little bit. “Stigma… any ideas?”

“…Flee?”

“Okay, that’s a good plan. But I don’t think he’s going to let us get away.”

He charged at me, safe in the knowledge that he didn’t need to waste his magical strength on me. I held up the flat side of Stigma and blocked one of his punches. Bad idea. I could feel the bones in my forearm crack as the impact knocked me flat on my ass. I rolled through the dirt and braced myself for another blow. Crack! I winced and swore. It hurt like a bitch.

I couldn’t kill this guy fast enough to save my own skin. Stigma was a low-level weapon, and my equally low-level swordsmanship meant that I couldn’t swing her or use special attacks. I’d pinned my entire hope of victory on Cali – and she was probably dead in a ditch a few meters away. The rotted body leaned in and wailed an agonized scream. The stench of rotting flesh was horrible.

I grunted in agony with each bone-breaking blow. His undead strength was the real deal. I needed to find a way out of here as soon as possible. Survival was my first priority. With Cali out for the count there was no way I could win. I needed her magic and I needed it now. I glanced over to the log that was blocking my view of Cali’s body and willed her to stand up again. “Cali! Nap time is over Cali, get the fuck up!”

Another thrown punch, another crack in my forearm. I cried out in agony as the sting of the injuries finally caught up with my adrenaline fuelled body. I rolled another one of his wild swings and ran as fast as I could to open a gap between me and him. I couldn’t keep defending using Stigma, he was killing me just from sheer impact. As I made a mad dash for the log that Cali’s body was hidden behind, she finally stood and faced us.

A crimson curtain of blood flowed down from her forehead, getting into her eyes and mouth. But she didn’t look hurt, she didn’t look worried, no – in the face of an incredibly dangerous enemy who had just thrown her halfway across the continent, she looked happy. Her grin widened more and more, revealing her now blood-covered teeth. She started laughing.

“Ha… hahahah… hahahah!” She doubled over, body quaking in unrestrained joy, “That’s it, that’s it!” She staggered to her feet and bore her weapon, “That’s what I’ve been looking for!” she declared.

It was like she’d turned into a totally different person. All of the emotion that she’d been bottling up since we met spilled outwards into a twisted, insane expression. “This is it, this is it! Hurt me more! Excite me more!” She hopped over the log and charged at the lich, letting loose a fireball that I was forced to roll away from lest it singe me too. The lich wasn’t prepared for her to re-join the fight, and was engulfed in a bout of intense magical flame.

That wasn’t going to stop him, he didn’t have nerves to feel pain anymore, but the sharp end of her halberd slamming into his chest and lifting him from the ground would. All the while she continued to laugh manically. With the beast still suspended off his feet, she placed a fresh pouch of powder into the chambers and started chanting a new spell.

“[Blast!]”

My ears rang as the lich was ripped apart with a sudden explosion. Burning flesh and chunks of bone flew in all directions. She pulled back on the spear. The lich fell, the magical fire eating away at what little flesh remained, charring bone and boiling organs. Sensing my chance, I leapt over the log and brought the sharp end of Stigma’s black blade down into his chest, cracking bone and slicing old flesh.

“[Consume!]”

The lich tried to escape. One last desperate attempt to preserve its precious life for one more day. It’s arms and legs kicked and scrambled for purchase in the dirt below. The blue glow that hid between it’s gaping jaws and hollow eyes emerged from his body and flowed into Stigma. The struggling became weaker and weaker, until eventually he grew still and stopped.

“Burn in hell, asshole,” I spat. Cali stood next to me in a listless, loose posture. I did not expect things to pan out this way. She’d somehow blown the damn thing to pieces with two spells. This girl was something else, and that was before I found out that she had a screw loose. She blinked.

“That was fun,” she announced in her usual, deadpan tone of voice. Seemingly completely ignorant to the blood that was now coating her, she started picking through the remains using her bare hands.

“You mind telling me what the hell that was about? You completely lost it.”

She tilted her head back to look at me, “Did you find the sight of me unseemly?”

I shrugged, “Not really, just… it’s quite a contrast.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Life is dull. The thrill of combat stirs my stone heart.”

I left her to play with her food and headed into the stone building. I was hoping to get something more than cash out of this endeavour. A Nightwalker like him should have several items of interest in his collection. These monsters loose sight of their reason, but they’re creatures of habit. They’ll hold on to artefacts and affixed items as they usually have an interest in the arcane.

“How much fuel did that thing give me?” I asked Stigma, leaning down to fiddle with the lock on a heavy wooden chest.

“Not much, I’m afraid.”

“Why not?”

“Every time a Nightwalker perishes, a small amount of their souls’ energy is expended and evaporates like vapor. They lose themselves as a result, like the madness you witnessed just now.”

The lock clunked, “And that means they’re bad soul-food?” I lifted the lid and peered inside.

She smiled, “Yes. Live prey is preferable.”

Inside the chest was exactly what I was hoping for. A pair of rings, and judging by the runes etched into them – they were both affixed. I quickly scooped them both up and placed them into my pocket. There was also a small amount of coinage, which I gratefully took and added to my tally. That and the money give to me by Cali for helping would set me up for a good while. There was little else of interest in the room, though I did get a brief glimpse into the unlife of a Nightwalker in the process.

It was almost like a real home. He’d cobbled together sticks and stones into a small firepit in the middle of the room, though he had little need of the warmth. A large wooden table was topped with heavy tomes and a small crystal device providing a small amount of light, the very same light that had led us here. The man must have been trying to perfect his magical craft to the point of obsession. Such long-term isolation would chip away at the soundest minds.

“Poor bastard.”

Stigma appeared against the back wall and shook her head, “Nightwalkers are pitiable creatures, but it is by their own hand that they suffer such a fate. Driven by a never-ending desire for more power. They reject the things that make them mortal, and in the process spoil the meaning of what it is to live.”

To hear that coming from Stigma was a profound irony. Her ability allowed me to strive for more power than any normal man could achieve on his own. Perhaps this corrupting spirit had a more complicated relationship with her own existence than I first assumed. I huffed and slipped some of the books into my looting bag, “Do you know what it’s like to live?”

She appeared forlorn, “I do. Not just through our shared senses, but our combined will to continue existing in this world. Hold it tight, lover mine, to lose it is a dark and lonely road.”

“I don’t have any plans on dying soon. So you’re stuck with me until I run out of luck.”

“I’m right where I want to be,” she purred, wrapping her arms around my neck. The phantom sensation of her body pressing into mine was profoundly strange. I walked through her embrace and back out into the cold. Cali had finished molesting the zombie’s dead body and was waiting for me. She still neglected to clean the blood out of her eyes.

She propped herself up using her halberd, “It’s dark. Let’s find a good place to camp.”