Chapter 10 Protect
PROTECT
“What have you done?” Weryn hissed at Roan.
He knew it was the Kaly-Eyros Vampire behind it.
Elgar controlled Roan’s ability to speak, but Weryn could see the cruel glee shining in those silver eyes even without any words spoken.
It wasn’t Shaela as she was just along for the ride.
Legion wasn’t a planner. Not like this. They were cunning, but not clever and this–this–was clever as all hell.
“The dead are rising! But how could he do this? He’s under your control, Elgar, isn’t he?” Demos asked.
“The artifact. The Necrolyte,” Elgar explained. “He placed it somewhere and now it is doing this.”
Weryn felt the ground roil beneath his feet.
The bones of the dead–prey killed long ago in worthy hunts–were rising up out of the ground, shaking off their blankets of dirt and turning glowing eyes towards them.
Dozens of creatures that had taken skill, planning and, in some cases, luck to kill were now awake and aware and, because they were already dead, they couldn’t be killed again.
They would have to be destroyed utterly to stop them now.
And there were only four of them against… How many?
For he realized in that moment, connected as he was to this city and these lands, that it wasn’t just these creatures on the Hunter’s Path that were being raised from the dead, but every dead creature that had ever walked, run, slunk or flown was coming back.
The ground beneath his feet began to part.
He jumped back as skeletal arms emerged and dragged out a long vanquished Vampire.
Weryn stomped on the Vampire’s skull as it emerged from the ground and crushed it to powder, but, of course, the headless Vampire kept coming.
It needed no brain, no eyes, no head to keep attacking.
He knew this all too well. He had fought Kaly’s creations on countless battlefields.
He had never heard of the Necrolyte, but terror reverberated inside of him at what it could do.
“We’ve got to rip it apart!” Demos yelled.
Weryn grunted his agreement. He reached down and wrenched the skeletal Vampire from the earth.
Demos grabbed its flailing legs and Weryn kept hold of its bony arms. Then between the two of them, they pulled it apart.
Weryn tossed the arms in opposite directions.
Demos did the same with the legs. The empty rib cage landed on the ground with a dull thud, unable to act even if it was still animated.
But yet another skeleton sought to emerge beneath it. More stomping ensued.
“Do you see that?” Sana cried, pointing down the path as monstrous creatures emerged one by one. “Do you see… How many are there?”
“Too many,” Demos growled. “Ryder, we have to get out of here. Now!”
Weryn could have argued his name was not Ryder, but he knew what Demos meant. And the voice inside of him cried out to listen to his friend.
Listen to Demos! He’s right! We cannot stay here! We’ll be overwhelmed! Ryder insisted.
This is my city! My home! You would have us abandon it? Weryn scoffed.
If it is between saving a place or saving people, people always win out, Ryder retorted, not at all sorry or ashamed for his suggestion evidently.
Demos is my best friend! Sana and Elgar need our help!
I would not have them die here after surviving the War!
For what? An empty city that I don’t even remember?
I remember!
And what’s it worth? Remember Demos! Remember all those who died because of my desire for revenge! Ryder insisted. They are what matter in the end!
“Can you not make him stop it, Elgar?” Weryn gestured to Roan even as he busted open another skull and wrenched off more limbs that he threw at any creature who started to come near.
“Roan does not have the power to control so many undead,” Elgar answered. “This is beyond him.”
“He did this and can’t stop it?” Sana looked as if Roan had sprouted another head. “He’s going to be killed too! He truly is insane!”
Elgar did not confirm or deny this, but instead simply said, “I have called for Caemorn–”
“Kaly themself would be the only one able to control this and I would not have them on my land!” Weryn growled.
Caemorn is Kaly! Ryder shouted at him as if he were a particularly thick child.
No, he cannot be! He was all moon-eyed over Elgar’s Master! He would never–
He was moon-eyed over Balthazar, who IS Eyros, by the way, Ryder emphasized. They’re friends! More than that, they’re Master and Childe on some level. You don’t understand anything!
You are mistaken! They are nothing like Kaly and Eyros! I knew them both! You didn’t!
They’ve changed. This life has changed them, Ryder said and there was a tone in his voice that held some shock And it’s changed me too.
I thought that what I did before was more important than who I am now, that I would be overwhelmed by my memories and personality from before, but I was wrong.
THIS is who I am now. I am who I am now!
You are talking nonsense! Weryn snarled.
But Weryn felt a sense of unease as if there was a crack that had suddenly appeared through the image he had of himself and, behind it, was something else. Someone else. A bright light.
“I have contacted Caemorn,” Elgar repeated steadily. “And he is coming, but to counteract the Necrolyte will require more than just his presence. He may not be able to come here and get this under control in time.”
“Time? Yeah, we’re running out of that!” Demos laughed wildly as the Gydr’s skeleton picked up a Mettung and snapped off its long, bony tail to use as a combination club-whip against them.
“Go for it’s right leg, Demos!” Weryn ordered. “I will take the weapon-wielding arm!”
Fighting with this relatively new Vampire was effortless. It was as if he and Demos had been fighting together for years–
Over two hundred years actually, Ryder corrected. Just let it flow and we’ll work in tandem. Him and I. Don’t fight it.
Demos ran towards the Gydr at full speed. The skeletal giant swung that club-whip around, but Demos dropped down and slid along the ground. He struck the Gydr’s lower right leg with both of his feet. There was a crack! Bone snapped and the Gydr went down onto one knee.
At almost the same time, Weryn ran forward, too, but he jumped up when Demos ducked down.
The arm with the club-whip passed beneath him just as it passed over Demos.
He landed on the Gydr’s shoulder. There was a snap!
The shoulder separated from the Gydr’s body and the arm hung uselessly by a few pieces of dried tendon.
Weryn flipped around and grabbed the Gydr’s head as he rode on the back of it.
He wrenched the skull backwards. The skull and most of the spine were ripped from the body.
The Gydr went down. He jumped off as the Gydr collapsed uselessly on the ground.
He grinned at Demos who was nodding in approval at what he’d done.
“You should have been with me when it was alive!” Weryn laughed. “We would have taken it down much easier than with my last hunting partner!”
“I’ll always be by your side, Ryder,” Demos said.
I know. And I owe you so much that I can never repay, Ryder said.
Weryn just gave a sharp nod as the two of them raced back to their companions.
“Can we really not teleport to the gate? I can’t teleport us to Nightvallen, but I can get us that mile and a half real quick!” Sana pointed out, eyes wide as the undead started to shamble towards them from every direction.
Shaela’s desperate expression and the sense that she would shed her skin if she could mirrored Sana’s opinion.
It wasn’t just the Hunter’s Path that was alive with the undead, but every building and the forest beyond.
There were undead slithering out from beneath tree roots, others slamming bony shoulders against slabs of stone that formed the floors of the streets and the buildings, more rising up from the muck of nearby swamps, and even some swimming to the surface of streams and the Endless Sea. Too many to count. Too many to fight.
“I must lighten my mental load for us to even attempt it,” Elgar said. His silver eyes narrowed. “And I know just how to do it.”
“How?” Demos asked. “Kill them?” This was said softly and reluctantly. But Demos firmed himself for whatever it would take. “Don’t take this on yourself, Elgar. Let us help you!”
He understands what must be done, Weryn thought with approval.
Demos doesn’t kill lightly. He remembers every person we’ve had to give First and Second Deaths to, Ryder told him. Life is precious to him.
If you remembered the War–any of our wars–you would understand that such a belief is not a strength, but a weakness, Weryn said.
And you claim to be me. Let us even say you are.
What use will you be to King Daemon? A Soldier who is reluctant to kill?
It is like a nail without something to hammer it home.
If I hadn’t been so eager to kill after what happened with Ashyr, maybe I would have found a different way to stop Kaly, Ryder pointed out. Ashyr is our General, our strategist, but I am not some blunt instrument without the ability to think for myself.
Hesitation often leads to death.
Sometimes, yeah, you’re right. But hesitation might have stopped all of this before it began, Ryder disagreed.
Be honest. Everything I’m doing here–letting this part of me be in charge–is because of that shame I feel for what I did.
I don’t want to own what I did. I don’t want to be that man who did these things.
But I am and all I can do is change what I do going forward.
Ryder’s voice seemed to be gaining strength. It was louder than before. There was another crack in the image he had of himself. One of the pieces had completely fallen away and someone else was looking back at him. Weryn was grateful when his attention was snapped back to the moment.