Chaos erupted as Aethelbert collapsed to his knees. One of the guards reached toward Charlie as if to grab him, misinterpreting his outburst for a threat. A few others turned around to look, just in time to see as the remaining guards that had remained by the door struck at the remaining three priests.

Unprepared, most went down immediately. Whatever power they had that would allow them to take on the lich, it didn’t help them here. Most of them, at least.

The priest of Derevan, blessed by the god of war, reacted faster than the others. He slammed his head back, suffering only a shallow cut along his neck and breaking the assassin’s nose. Before he could recover, the priest seized the man’s arm and threw him forward over his shoulder, planting his head on the stone floor with a sickening crack.

Aethelbert’s assassin rushed at the war priest, teeth bared in a grimace.

“Life eternal!” He hissed, diving at the priest.

“Our birthright, unchained!” The others responded in unison with a practiced cadence as they threw themselves at their target with a fanatic gleam in their eyes. The fight was intense, but quick.

Most of the real guards rushed in, but one apparently thought the revenants were responsible. He lunged at the group with his spear, causing them to scatter to avoid the weapon. Lonnie, who was now standing behind the guard, smoothly reached out and touched the man’s neck. A second later, he crumpled to the ground. Charlie very much hoped he hadn’t killed the man. Not so long ago, he’d seen the water elementalist rip the fluids out of an enemy’s body through his mouth. At least nothing was leaking this time.

The guards quickly overwhelmed the attackers and pulled them off their victim, but not before they finished their task. The priest of Derevan lay dying alongside the corpses of his colleagues, the knife buried in his chest twitching slightly in time with his slowing heartbeat.

Most of the assassins lay dead, but two were only injured and quickly restrained by the guards. Moments later, the guard Lonnie had laid out groaned. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.

“Who the hell are they?” one man asked. “Where did they come from?”

An older guard with long, iron-gray hair answered, pointing at two of the dead, including the leader.

“They’re all from the wall guard, I think. I recognize those two from the gate.”

“Do you think there are more of them?”

“Probably. We need to send teams to secure the other guardians. I can only think of one reason to start killing priests right now. Go report to the captain.”

Stunned by the sudden violence, most of the revenants had backed up a step or two, huddling against the walls.

It was only then that Charlie noticed that the blood that had pooled around the priestess of Lynhild was receding, disappearing slowly. Clearing his throat he called out.

“Uh… Sergeant? I think the priestess there is still alive…”

The guard’s eyes snapped up at him, then to the downed woman, who hadn’t stirred. Still, the disappearing bloodstain was hard to miss, even in the relatively dim light.

“What? What is that?” The man wondered. Charlie didn’t know either. Everyone knew that priests sometimes enjoyed divine powers and protections, but that didn’t do justice to actually witnessing it.

“All of you, stay back and sit down.” The guard gestured to the revenants. “We’ll worry about you in a moment.”

Rattling off orders in rapid succession, the remaining guards got to work. In short order, a team of medics gathered up the bodies and the surviving priest. Lights were brought in, and one of the other officers, a corporal, verified the identities of everyone who remained. The effort seemed like too little too late to Charlie, but he supposed it was probably military protocol.

Finally, a man in a bright blue cloak entered, wearing the golden insignia of the captain of the guard. Charlie had seen Captain Orem from a distance before, but never up close. He hadn’t served with the city guard in life. Something about the captain’s eyes unsettled him. It was strangely familiar…

Charlie didn’t suffer as much memory loss as some revenants did, but he did have a few holes. Trying not to draw attention, he watched the man. Maybe it would come to him.

“Get those undead creatures out of here.” Captain Orem said. “And I heard something about a trogg or two. I’ve never seen one of those. Where are they? I’m having a house cleared nearby, so they don’t cause a panic walking through the streets. Put them all under heavy guard.”

“Sir.” The officer saluted. “The high priest was adamant that they should stay below…”

“I’m aware of the guardians’ policies, soldier.” The captain cut him off. “We’ll sort it out after the fight. Right now, we have an attack to prepare for and all our highest-ranking guardians are dead or out of commission. I’ve spoken with Lieutenant Meuren, and it sounds like this could get messy without them. In light of that, the risk to Merchant Prince Frederik’s allies has grown too great to ignore. Perhaps, when this is over, the prince can take it up with the high priest’s corpse.

The sergeant swallowed and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Get moving! And get messages to every temple in the city—I need all remaining guardians, along with any other priest that might be able to fight a lich.”

As the guards moved to corral the revenants toward the exit, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, boss man! I want a piece of that lich, too. Most of us here have a bone to pick with that guy, and we’re not all totally helpless, you know.”

Captain Orem frowned as he looked for the speaker. It was Lonnie.

“That’s what I’m concerned about.” the captain said seriously, “I am not sending my people into a fight against an sorcerer with a bunch of unknown undead creatures at my back... Especially not now.” He finished after a short pause, looking pointedly at the bloodstained floor.

Lonnie didn’t take the hint, or maybe he just really wanted to fight.

“Come on, we have some military training.” He wheedled, slipping out of a small group of revenants that the guards were currently moving out the door. “We’re not ghouls, man. This guy over here. He was one of yours!” Startled, Charlie realized that Lonnie was pointing straight at him.

Charlie sighed quietly. He had tried not to draw attention to himself so far, pulling back into the shadows except to call out during the attack. There was nowhere to hide now, though, with the captain’s frowning face fixed firmly on him.

“Well. You certainly do look like a ghoul. That’s one of our uniforms. What’s left of it. Where’d you get it?”

Charlie winced. There was nothing for it now… He straightened, tucked his chin in and saluted.

“Sir. Merchant Prince Frederik had it issued to me to replace my own, which was beyond repair. I served in the third division on the Rhenish border.”

The captain stared at him. When he didn’t continue, he prompted him “All of Duskhaven’s soldiers are sent to the third division. Name and rank.”

Charlie hesitated.

“I’d rather not say.” he hedged. “My family would not appreciate my current state becoming public knowledge…”

They knew, of course. They would have found out when they came to collect his remains, at the latest. Still, it wasn’t the kind of thing people talked about—it could seriously damage a family’s reputation, especially one like his own.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t.” The captain growled. “If you want to keep wearing that, though, you’re going to have to identify yourself.”

“Come on!” Lonnie called, seeing his hesitation. “Just tell him. I want to take a crack at that monstrosity’s little friends. You know they’re going to need us.”

Charlie thought about it. His parents would suffer for it if his existence here became public knowledge. His sister and even his nephew and cousins might as well, depending on how well they handled it. It wasn’t anything like an official censure, but it was the sort of thing that clung to a family. They would have a harder time doing business, finding tutors or getting a spot at the academy for their children.

It was easy for Lonnie to say. With a name like Polonius, he likely wasn’t from the Confederation of Free Cities at all. Most likely, he’d wandered in from the remains of the Olaescan empire to the south east. While the two states shared some historical ties, there was no chance that anyone who knew of his family would hear about this.

Most of Charlie’s family was here in the city. On the other hand, that also lent the situation far more urgency. He had already seen what the lich was capable of, if only at a distance. It was hard to believe that a few priests would really be able to stop him. Or him, for that matter. Still, though. If he and the others could make the difference here… He took a deep breath.

“Charles Hernham, second lieutenant, sir. Finding my records should be easy—I rose in this very crypt a few months ago.”

It felt good to say his name out loud again, but it hurt, too.

The captain kept his face impassive, but the way he went still made it clear that he understood. His family wasn’t famous, Charlie knew, but having a family name at all was unusual here. It confirmed that he was descended from the mostly defunct nobility. The fact that he was a commissioned officer would further make it clear that he wasn’t a distant relative—his parents were well-connected and owned a number of businesses in the city. Hopefully, in light of the coming battle, none of the guards present would remember enough of this conversation to repeat it…

“I see.” he responded, exhaling expressively. “Alright. But you’re still going to sit this out under guard.”

He held up a hand as Lonnie started to protest. “Quiet. Mr. Hernham, you may organize any capable fighters in your group to stand by. Should it become necessary, I will summon you to join the fight under the command of one of our officers.”

Charlie grimaced slightly to himself, but saluted smartly all the same. There was no point arguing, and making a scene now would only draw even more attention. He looked over at Em, who nodded to him.

“Sir. We have some injuries. If you could spare a healer, we can probably field about…” He looked at Lonnie, who held up both hands, fingers spread. “10 combat capable revenants. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but we can offer a significant edge against the lich’s goons while the guardians focus on the lich.”

Captain Orem’s eyebrows rose.

“Goons? You mean its ghouls?”

“Uh. Yes, sort of. Wights, vampires and werecreatures. He’s not using regular ghouls.”

At that, Lonnie chimed in.

“They’re really tough, boss. Some of them heal rapidly, others are just very fast and strong. All of them are crazy dangerous at close range. They drain essence, like ghouls, but they’re a lot better at it. It does a real number on you, and it heals them and makes them even stronger.” He shuddered. “I don’t recommend it. Just shoot them with rifles, it’s a lot safer.”

“Heh.” The captain chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now move along. No matter how desperate we get, I’m not going to call on a squad of unknown undead soldiers of questionable allegiance for support if I also have to add insubordinate to that description. If the Temple of Lynhild responds quickly enough, I’ll send someone over to look over your wounded.”

As Charlie helped Em out the door, he heard the captain call to a guard. “Find me those troggs! I don’t want those pests tunneling into the walls around here and breaking into someone’s basement.”

Stepping outside, the first thing Charlie noticed wasn’t the bright sunlight—they had that below. It was the wind. The crypt entrance was located in a small park on a slope facing the port. The salty seabreeze, mixed with the smells of the city all around him, stirred up countless memories in him. Em, still hanging onto his arm to steady herself, reacted similarly, drawing in a deep breath.

“Well, that’s something, isn’t it?”

They couldn’t enjoy the sight of the surface world for long. Seconds later, the guards prompted them to move along, guiding them around the corner, across the street and into a house that overlooked the park. The street was cordoned off, probably to keep them out of the sight of the public as much as to clear the area that they’d likely be fighting in.

The house itself was bustling with activity. Most of the other revenants were already there, and to Charlie’s surprise, Meuren and a few of her soldiers as well. Seeing them, he stopped and saluted.

“Lieutenant Meuren. What are you doing here?”

She smiled tiredly at him, with hollow eyes.

“I got most of my people killed in that raid down there, Charlie. And I heard that the guardians, the ones that are worth a damn and actually here in the city right now, just got assassinated by who knows what kind of weird cultists. Probably someone working with the lich. I wasn’t going to just go home before I made sure you were out of the crossfire.”

“Ah. Well, no need, now. You should get out of here. We made it out and you look like death.”

“Heh.” She laughed. “You think the captain would have just let you out like that without covering his ass? I vouched for you. I have to babysit you until you’re back in the crypt.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. At least we can just relax here until it’s over. I’ve had enough of liches and undead monstrosities for a lifetime.”

Charlie looked over at Lonnie and Em, both of whom winced visibly.

“Uh… yea. About that… we might not be totally out of the woods there yet.”