“The thought that mortals can age and die. That life can begin and end in a short period of time, it confused them. They were angered at their lack of understanding, and they grew to hate mortal life.”

Chapter 64

“Alright, listen up. This is your new home for the next bleedin’ week.” Garman shouted, before pointing at the door to the stairwell behind him.

“Down there, you’ll find your quarters and the mess hall. Unless your off duty, I don’t want to catch any of you half-wits down there. You’re paid to guard this section of wall, not sit your lazy arses in the bunks.”

“This here is the Wards for this entire section of wall.” Garman explained, pointing at the etchings on the ground.

“This evening, the clerics will bring their altar and set it on that bloody blank spot.” He drew their attention to the empty rectangle in the center of the ward.

“When they’re here, your job is to guard them. Don’t talk to them. If I find any of you idiots bothering them, well… let’s just say that it’s a long bleedin’ walk down the stairs, but a short trip over the side.”

“Nothing interrupts their task, do you understand? God’s Bloody Bones, I don’t care if the black moon itself falls to the ground. You’ll stand in front of them and block it with your thick skulls before you let anything touch them.”

“We work in shifts, half on the wall, half down resting. Follow me, best for you lot to know what to expect” Garman said, before walking to the edge of the grey stone, the group followed along behind him.

As Wil stepped to the edge of the wall, standing behind the waist high parapets, he had his first view of Aachen.

The city sprawled outwards from the sea, stretching miles into the distance.

Aachen was a fabled port, and Wil could see the dozens of stone docks and wharves stretching into the ocean. Large warehouses were built next to them, holding the priceless materials and resources from all around the world.

Unlike the Capital, with its carefully planed roads and straight streets, Aachen’s buildings twisted and turned. It was as if a mad planner had been given free reign to place buildings wherever they fit.

It was a hodgepodge of design styles. Large, elegant and southern provincial, white marble manor houses were placed next to brick-and-mortar eastern province designed mansions.

Wil could see tall, grey stone apartment buildings. Over ten stories tall each and several city-blocks wide stood next to small, farm style houses. It was a strange contrast, showing the rapid expansion and lack of planning the city went through.

Aachen held nearly a million people within it borders at its peak. It became the second largest city in the Empire in less than fifty years, after the discovery of safe trade routes through the dangerous storms of the Azure Sea.

The swift growth showed in its design. It was clear that the desperate need for housing, combined with the nearly limitless funds the residents had access to, gave birth to this sprawling behemoth.

It may have been beautiful, back when the city was alive. Everywhere in Aachen, Wil could see touches of its wealth. Gold statues, stately buildings, massive cathedrals and even a Mage Guild spire rose into the sky from below the wall.

But that beauty was years removed from the present. A miasma hung over the city, like a faint black haze, sucking the vitality from everything below.

Nothing grew in the city, the trees were barren and dead, only grey and rotted husks remained. The paved streets were cracked and broken, filled with debris from the crumbling buildings.

Everything, from the formerly brightly colored painted buildings to the ocean itself, had a dull, grey tone. It was as if life itself had been drained from the city, not just the residents.

Wil knew that he wouldn’t spot any undead, not under the bright sunlight, but he was still surprised by how still and quiet it was below. Nothing stirred in the city, and there was not a single sign of life.

No birds flew in the sky, nothing grew in the soil. There was no life left in Aachen.

“This is what you’re facing. A million lost souls, intent on killing us all.” Garman said, for once not cursing or speaking sarcastically. His face had a solemn expression on it as he stared out over the dead city.

“I don’t understand.” Someone asked from the gathered crowd. “They're just walking corpses, what’s to fear? It’s not like they can climb up here and get us.” The man said, scoffing at the danger from the city.

It was easy for Wil to see his point. From this high up, it seemed unlikely anything could reach them from below.

“If that was true, do you think we would bother hiring you morons to defend the wall?” Garman countered. “When Night comes, this place will be crawling with the blasted Undead. God’s Bones, the wall and its wards are only a part of the defense. We’ll need everything we have just to bloody survive.”

“Look!” One of Wil’s peers shouted, pointing down below. Wil looked towards where he was directing.

He spotted a group of people, dressed similarly to those around him, undoubtedly auxiliaries from their gear. They were carrying large crates down the center of a road, careful to steer clear of any shadows or openings to buildings.

“God’s damned fools! Cutting it close, the flamin’ idiots. Take ‘em another couple of hours to drag that back through the gates.” Garman muttered, spitting off the wall.

“They’ll be safe right? Sticking to the open streets?” A woman asked Garman. The group winced at the question. They were hoping to avoid engaging Garman in conversation.

“Aye, if they stay away from the bleedin’ buildings. Piece of advice for you all, don’t go in any of those blasted buildings. Crawling with the dead. They build nests in there to block the sunlight. God’s blood and bones, only safe place is outside, on the streets.”

“Nests? I thought the undead were dumb. Where’d they learn that?” A man asked, leaning over the parapet for a better look.

“They’re about as dumb as you lot!” Garman cursed. “They don’t think, not like the living. But they are plenty smart, if you get enough of them together. Don’t underestimate them, just because their heads are as rotten as yours.”

“They’re a hive mind.” A woman said.

Wil turned to look at her. She was wearing a mages robe, with a staff in her hands. He could spot the Mage guilds crest on a pin she wore on her collar.

“What’s a ‘hive mind’?” the first man asked, still leaning over the parapet. “That like bees? They have a queen down there or something?”

“No, not a queen.” The woman said, walking towards the wall and looking down below. “But something is controlling them, at least on a basic level. Even reanimated, the dead won’t have any desires. They would just wander around, aimless. Something is driving them, making them attack and try to leave Aachen.”

Wil thought of the rumor he had heard about the cabal that had attempted to summon their god, when they were interrupted by adventurers sent by the merchants.

“Do you think they really succeeded, those cultists? This the work of their god?” Someone else asked, clearly, they had heard the same rumors as Wil.

“Probably not, otherwise, none of us would still be here.” The mage said, shrugging her shoulders.

“None of that is any our bleedin’ concern.” Garman interrupted. “Your job is to protect those clerics, let them recharge the Wards. I don’t care if the god of the dead himself comes knocking on the front gates, you’ll all stay here and guard the ritual.”

With that, Garman had them all go off the wall and get settled downstairs. Despite the size of the wall, the accommodations were small, and Wil was sharing a bunk house with a dozen other people.

He hadn’t brought much, so he quickly stored everything in a trunk at the front of his bed. Bored, he walked back to the top of the wall. The grey stone rest area made him feel stifled and claustrophobic.

There weren’t even any windows. The defense couldn’t risk allowing any openings in the wall.

Standing back on top of the wall, Wil watched the people coming and going around him as the sun reached its noontime peak above.

The group of auxiliaries in the city below were still busy carrying and dragging crates through the streets, and Wil idly watched their progress. Judging by their speed and the distance remaining, Garman was right. The group would be cutting it close to reach safety before it got dark.

An hour or so later, Wil spotted a commotion on the wall behind him.

Turning, he watched as the priestesses of Secundus finally arrived. A small group of legion soldiers, all rank-less, were carrying a square stone altar with a symbol of a perfect, blue circle on the front.

Wil could see there were nearly a dozen of the clerics, all wearing blue robes with their hoods up.