In Enos, as the rest of their team left to join the battle for Nexion, Tenz and Yan were ordered to stay behind.They were new recruits, both equipped with bolters, swords, and leather armor, standard military equipment they had trained with before they defected the Black Legion.

The two patrolled the perimeter of the town, keeping a close watch out for any arrivals. Seeing no ships on the water, they ignored the sea.

But then, they heard screams coming from the docks.

They sprinted towards the source of the screaming, and when they arrived, they found a small horde of sword-and-shield skeletons shambling out of the water. The civilians were fleeing for cover.

Had the Resistance's diviners failed to treat skeletons as 'people'? Wait, that would mean-

Behind the skeleton mob, the water parted, and one of Daraken's apprentices walked out of the water, surrounded in a waterproof barrier. The skeletons organized around him.

He made an announcement, his voice amplified by magic to cover the entire city.

“You have made the wrong decision to support the Resistance. Daraken, with his great and powerful intelligence, originally adopted a policy to leave civilians out of this war, a policy that the Resistance reciprocated.”

Tenz and Yan took cover behind a building, out of sight of the apprentice. They were close enough that they had a small chance to take him out with a crossbow bolt, but even if they did, how would they stop the skeletons?

“However, the Resistance has abused that agreement. When civilians are under no threat, the Resistance does not protect them. We recapture a city, but they can just return and take it back when they want it again. That changes today.”

Wait, was he about to-

“Daraken has authorized a new plan of attack. Starting today, cities that defect will be purged.”

“Raiks, we need something. Anything!” Yan whispered frantically.

Tenz, meanwhile, did something stupid. He dashed out into the open, and challenged the apprentice.

“This isn't their fight!” Tenz shouted. “This fight is between you and us. Leave the civilians out of this.”

“'Us'? There's only two of you,“ the apprentice said. “And, as much as I'd love to sic this whole army on you to see how long you'd survive, you're not my target.”

“I want to make an announcement to the people here,” Raiks told the two of them over the Resistance communications channel. “Tenz, say exactly what I say, as loud as you can.”

“If you're going to make this a civilian war,“ Raiks announced through Tenz, “Then I think the civilians should be informed on how to fight back.”

The apprentice grumbled, then began an incantation. Tenz made a show of courage, standing his ground.

“Skeletons are weak to bludgeoning weapons. Their bones are unprotected, and easily shattered.”

Raiks gave the order for Yan to fire, an order that Tenz nearly repeated. Yan fired a burst of four bolts at the apprentice. The first shot took the apprentice by surprise, hitting him in the chest. It wasn't a lethal hit, but it did get him to stop his offensive spell to shield himself.

“Grab anything you can,” Tenz continued. “Even the simplest of clubs is just as effective as a sword against these creatures.”

The apprentice re-oriented his shield towards Tenz and launched it forward a force blast. His aim was thrown off when Yan shot his last bolt at him, causing him to flinch to dodge.

“Further, skeletons have slow reactions and a limited fighting style.” Tenz noted some heavy breathing from Raiks as he continued to echo him. “They are no more skilled than you are.”

“You...” the apprentice growled, his voice still amplified. “Legion, advance!”

The skeletons scattered into the town. Even after Raiks’ speech, the civilians fled, though with any luck they would fight back once they found the necessary weapons. Tenz and Yan wouldn't know the death toll until after the battle. All they knew is that they would have to give their all to fight for this town.

“We're stretched thin,“ Raiks admitted. “Normally, I would order you to retreat here. But this unprecedented measure demands an unprecedented response. I'm joining this battle, personally.”

It was a risk, Raiks likely knew. But with Daraken no longer present, it was much less of one.

Tenz slam-fired his bolter at the apprentice, then put it away to pull out his sword as a group of skeletons approached him. The apprentice, seeing this, ignored the duo and fired a blast of chain lightning into a nearby group of civilians.

The apprentice was the most dangerous piece on the field. While he was still on the field, Tenz recklessly engaged the skeletons in front of him, desperate to get through them to stop the apprentice.

Yan reloaded his bolter and fired another burst in the direction of the apprentice, distracting him briefly. Then, as a skeleton rushed him, he was forced to bash the skeleton's skull in with his bolter, breaking it in the process. He then switched to his sword to engage the remaining skeletons.

Tenz took multiple hits from the skeletons. His armor protected him from the worst of the harm, but by the time he got through them, he was bleeding in multiple places. He was too enraged to care, charging straight at the apprentice.

The apprentice began an incantation. Tenz almost reached the apprentice, but he finished his incantation when he was barely three meters away. Suddenly, Tenz felt his chest crushed on all sides by an unseen force, shattering his ribs. He tried and failed to get back up.

“Huh, wasn't expecting that sort of reaction,” the apprentice remarked. “You must be the worst of the worst in the Resistance. Hence why you were the ones assigned to guard an ‘irrelevant’ town against my attack.”

Yan broke through the skeletons he was fighting, and charged the apprentice, only to be blasted down by a trio of magic missiles.

“Don’t worry, you’ll live,” the apprentice gloated. “Though you probably won’t want to.”

He let them lie on the ground, and waited.

**********

Raiks rushed through the portal to Enos, and arrived in the midst of a warzone. Even despite his earlier statements, he knew a fight between untrained civilians and the undead would favor the undead. The civilians still stood a better chance of survival fighting instead of fleeing, but there would still be a terrible death toll this day.

Raiks charged out into a street, right into a group of skeletons. With one swing of his Arcane Bolter, he smashed all of them. Then, he ran towards the docks, hoping to find the necromancer behind this depraved act.

While he was running, Derrin (who was taking over for Raiks in Nexion) gave a status report on the main battle. The Resistance forces there were now being forced to retreat back into the city and were taking significant casualties. The only good news was that the army in Nexion was not going after civilians. Hopefully, this apprentice was a rogue actor.

He found the apprentice. Tenz and Yan were lying on the ground behind him, wounded but not dead.

“I knew this would draw you out,” the apprentice gloated.

Raiks immediately opened fire, unleashing a rapid burst of five shots from his Arcane Bolter. The apprentice put up an arcane barrier to block all of them. Then, he retaliated with a burst of five magic missiles.

Raiks knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge them, but he also spotted the mage dropping his barrier. His instincts were expecting a five-shot burst before a reload, but the Arcane Bolter didn’t need to reload.

Raiks fired a special bolt into his chest, just before being hit by the magic missiles. He had underestimated the power of the bolts, and the barrage knocked him to the ground and took the wind out of him. He struggled to his feet.

“Now, you’re dead.” The apprentice began an incantation. Raiks didn’t recognize it. Maybe it was the same spell that had killed Bouldos. In his current state, he wouldn’t be able to dodge.

But the spell fizzled.

“Null-magic bolt,” Raiks explained. “You’re finished.”

The apprentice looked down at the bolt in his chest. The null-magic bolt was Raiks’ secret weapon. Instead of merely dispelling magic on contact, the bolt created a short-duration field of nullified magic. When embedded into a mage, it would shut down their ability to use magic for about a minute. Plenty of time to finish them off.

“Call off your skeletons, bastard!”

“No.” The apprentice attempted to pull the bolt out of his chest, but the bolt was barbed to make that nearly impossible.

“If you call off your skeletons and retreat, I will let you live. Otherwise, you're dead.” Raiks advanced towards the apprentice.

“What makes you think I care about death?”

Something was off. Daraken was a notably cautious individual, avoiding even small risks if he would potentially die. Some part of that belief should have rubbed off on his apprentices. At the very least, someone who was part of the leadership of a shadow government shouldn't have the overwhelming urge to sacrifice themselves just to accomplish part of a grander scheme for its other members.

“You’ve been tricked by the rest of them. They sent you on a suicide mission, hoping to eliminate you so that they would have less competition.”

The apprentice opened his mouth to respond, but then spent several seconds considering what to say.

“The skeletons have been given orders that I cannot override. The more time you waste here, the less time you have to stop-”

Raiks fired a bolt through his skull, killing him instantly. Then, he turned to Tenz and Yan.

“I- don’t think- we can fight,” Tenz said.

Raiks aimed his bolter at them, causing them to panic, then fired healing bolts. The bolt heads burst on impact, releasing the same healing energy contained in healing orbs. It was enough to get them back into fighting shape.

They didn’t need orders to know what to do. The three of them scattered across the town, hoping to end the skeleton threat as fast as possible.

*****

At Nexion, the team had been forced into urban combat. Civilians had fled around them, having been warned of the Black Legion's potential shift in focus. While the Resistance's soldiers engaged the Legion's advancing shieldwall across multiple fronts, the surviving Blade Wyvern engaged from the rooftops. Despite its mass, it was able to climb the buildings in the city, walk across their roofs without collapsing them, and even leap across streets. It was a threat that they could not answer.

The Wyvern leaned over into a street, and grabbed Resistance soldiers off the ground, shredding them with its tentacles before swallowing them. This quickly broke their defense, leading to the Resistance fleeing with the Legion phalanx in pursuit.

Derrin asked for when the reinforcements would arrive from the forces stationed in Furion. They were still a minute out. He diverted more forces into the collapse, attempted to rally them once they were away from the Blade Wyvern, and wondered if the reinforcements would even be enough.

This wasn't a fight they could lose. If the Black Legion won here, they would prove the Resistance to be ineffectual without Annabelle's aid, and take out almost half of their army in the process.

The Blade Wyvern leaped forwards, trying to land on a building behind the Resistance. However, a fast-acting mage shot it with a fireball mid-leap, damaging its underbelly and blasting it off course. It skidded along a rooftop, and off the other end, falling into a side street that wasn't large enough for it to fit.

While the Wyvern was briefly out of commission, Derrin took the opportunity to reverse the battle, ordering a sudden charge into the advancing phalanx. The enemy phalanx rallied and stopped to brace, forcing him to call off the charge, but it still slowed them down. However, the move still let them retake ground against the phalanx, rather than losing that street completely.

Behind them, the Blade Wyvern crawled out of the street and back onto the roof. Soon, it would be eating out of their backline again. They were about to be sandwiched between a spear wall and a devouring beast.

“Just hold out a little longer! My forces will handle it!” That was Firenze, the force mage that was assigned to Furion.

“'your' forces?” Derrin inquired.

“Well, I'd probably make a better military commander than you.”

Derrin sighed. Firenze might actually be right, at least with regards to the uses of magic in combat. Unlike Raiks, he couldn’t identify spells on the spot, and hadn’t memorized the abilities of every mage in the Resistance. “Just get over here, now!”

Everyone in the streets adjacent to the Blade Wyvern fled. Everyone except Scars, who was probably the Resistance's best chance to eliminate the beast. The Blade Wyvern seemed to know it, keeping its distance from him. The Blade Wyvern reared back, and leaped back to its previous position, seeking to break their center completely.

But, as it was midair, it was suddenly thrown to the side by an unseen force. It tumbled out of control, before landing on top of the Black Legion phalanx. Firenze had arrived, accompanied by a dozen archers.

“I'm going to get our archers airborne to assault them from above,“ Firenze announced. “That should give them a whole new angle to worry about.”

The remaining two healers from Furion stepped through, and were immediately dispatched to support the frontline. Firenze’s partner remained in Furion, just in case the attack there turned out to be true.

Firenze activated his ritual, and the entire archer division took off into the air.

The Blade Wyvern got back onto its feet, but appeared heavily damaged. Several of the phalanx members had raised their spears just before it crushed them, and those spears were now impaled in its belly. It struggled to turn around in the street, and Derrin ordered his team to take advantage of this by charging forward to finish it off. A few surviving enemy infantry tried to push back, but the spearmen were too scattered and damaged to form a significant phalanx, and the auxiliaries both had no clear line of fire, and were distracted by the aerial bombardment.

From his overhead view, Derrin saw that the apprentices were taking cover underneath their golems to protect against the aerial assault. It didn't stop the archers from finding firing angles and getting shots in, however. One mage was hit and desperately activated a contingency to teleport away, and the other followed suit soon after.

Firenze then amplified gravity on the Blade Wyvern, crushing it against the ground. Not only did this immobilize it, but it drove the spears in its belly in even deeper, and prevented it from fighting back with its tentacles. The other mages joined the assault against it with various spells, finishing it off.

Derrin told the Resistance to demand surrender, and the remaining enemy infantry, after realizing that their heavy support was gone, complied. Then, he asked Raiks on the status of Enos.

“The skeletons have been destroyed, along with their leader,“ Raiks replied, exhausted. “But their mission was still accomplished. At least a hundred civilians are dead.”