Chapter 7
"The curse inside the Blighted Forest feels almost identical to undead power. So the creatures that attacked us have been hiding here all along."
At the forest's edge, a young Goblin High Priest in black robes studied the twisted woodland ahead.
Several other priests stood at his side, each carrying a staff and dressed in the same dark robes. Towering Goblin Brutes formed a second line behind them.
They were the finest fighters of the Thornstake Tribe.
Farther back, hundreds of armed Goblins fanned out along the forest's perimeter, every one of them a seasoned fighter.
The tribe had brought its entire military strength.
By order of the High Chieftain, they would hunt down whoever had destroyed the Ragtooth Tribe, no matter the cost.
"Something actually lives inside the Blighted Forest?" one priest asked.
The forest bordered Goblin territory, and their people had studied it for generations.
Everything they knew said the curse had reduced the place to a lifeless wasteland. Nothing should have been able to survive in there.
Yet the High Priest insisted their enemy was hiding within it.
The others shared the same doubts, but none dared challenge him to his face.
"The life-tracing spell points straight into the forest," the young priest said coldly. "Are you questioning my judgment?"
No one answered.
His tone softened a fraction.
"Don't worry. I've developed a temporary countermeasure against undead curses. It should hold against the Blighted Forest as well."
That settled them.
"The outer forest holds little more than ordinary trees. Even if we entered, the curse would need at least three days to take hold."
He gazed out across the vast wall of black trunks.
"But the forest is enormous. There's no point wasting time combing the perimeter."
The High Priest raised his staff.
Green energy gathered at its head, condensing into a flickering emerald flame.
"Vital Soulfire consumes lesser curses. We'll burn away the outer forest and force the enemy into the open."
His reasoning was simple.
Any undead capable of surviving near the heart of the Blighted Forest had to depend on its curse. The two powers almost certainly sustained each other.
Destroy the forest, and the creatures hiding inside would weaken.
They would have no choice but to respond.
"In the end, they're nothing but mindless undead," the High Priest said.
At his signal, the other priests kindled the same green flames atop their staffs.
He cast first.
The rest followed.
Dozens of emerald embers arced through the air like falling stars and plunged into the dark forest.
The instant the flames touched the trees, they swelled with a deep hum and raced outward in every direction.
Within moments, green fire blanketed the black woodland.
But the Vital Soulfire did not burn like ordinary flame.
It didn't char the bark or consume the undergrowth with heat.
It clung to the vegetation like a colony of leeches and drained the life out of everything it touched.
Leaves shriveled.
Branches cracked.
Whole trees withered where they stood, then collapsed into gray ash.
The more life the flames devoured, the brighter they burned.
Against moving targets, the fire might have spread slowly.
Here, it had been loosed on a forest overflowing with living plants. Even the traces of curse power laced through the trees served as fuel.
The blaze expanded at a visible rate.
Within seconds, a wall of emerald fire raged before the Goblin army, reflecting in hundreds of eyes.
Now they had only to wait.
The High Priest was confident the undead would come to them—which spared his forces from entering the forest and risking the curse.
And if the enemy refused to show itself, so be it.
The Vital Soulfire would keep spreading until the entire outer forest had been stripped bare.
Sooner or later, whatever lived within would be forced to act.
The response came faster than expected.
A massive shape rose above the distant treetops and swung toward them.
"High Priest, something's coming!" one of the Goblins shouted.
Another squinted at it.
"It's huge. That looks like... a Bone Dragon!"
Several Goblins flinched at the word dragon.
The High Priest didn't so much as blink.
"It's merely an undead creature shaped like one. It's nowhere near a true dragon."
The reassurance steadied the others.
For Goblins, the name alone was enough to inspire terror.
The High Priest decided to strike first.
As the creature closed in, power gathered around his staff.
His senses told him the Bone Dragon was only Recruit Rank.
Hardly worth his concern.
"A cheap imitation."
A green beam erupted from his staff and tore across the sky.
Vital Soulfire did more than drain vitality. It could snuff out the soul itself, which made it especially lethal against the undead.
The High Priest expected a single strike to destroy the feeble creature.
Instead, the Bone Dragon rolled aside and climbed hard.
The beam grazed its body, blasting away a single rib without dealing a fatal wound.
At the same moment, energy gathered in the dragon's jaws.
The High Priest had written the creature off, but the trace of draconic pressure spreading through the air made him think twice.
"Defensive formation!"
The priests raised their staffs.
A moment later, the Bone Dragon roared.
Flame erupted from its mouth.
But the blast wasn't aimed at the Goblin army.
The dragon fired straight up into the sky.
A pillar of searing fire climbed through the clouds, bright enough to be seen for miles.
The High Priest stared upward.
"What is it doing?"
...
Deep within the Blighted Forest, Lilith saw the signal.
She lowered her raised hand toward the undead army already assembled before her.
"Advance. Prepare for battle."
The trees parted at once, opening a broad road toward the forest's edge.
With Lilith at the head of the formation, the undead marched.
The Bone Dragon's breath had been a prearranged warning.
The fact that it had signaled instead of attacking told Lilith everything she needed to know.
The enemy was strong.