Book 2: The Undead

Drozakrahth

I’d been flying for 5 hours now, and it was late into the night…. We’d have to stop soon. Well, they did, but I would wait with them so they wouldn’t be ambushed.

I flew at the head of a V formation with about a thousand dragons. Every color was represented, and everyone except me was in armor. I didn’t need it; Plus even if I did, it would take too much material to make.

The whiff of undeath was faint on the wind… about another 3 hours, and he’d likely be here. This forest was dense, and finding anything would be nearly impossible without sunlight.

[Land.] I commanded, shifting and falling from the sky. The plumet from up is always fun, but I got no real joy out of it this time. I landed, making a small dent in the ground while I was surrounded by my dragons. “We will make camp here and rest, since all of you seem tired. Pick among yourselves who will take first, second, and third watch.”

“We can keep going sire.” Said one of my red drakes. They were all still in their armor, and the only enchantment that survived were my pants.

“No. There’s no point in finding them while all of you are already tired.” I said breathing a little fire on the ground. I laid in the dirt, to the protest of the others.

“My lord, one such as yourself should be comfortable.” Said a green drake.

“No. I’m fine. The ground is warm from my fire. I don’t Need a bed or anything to hunt down criminals.” I said shooing them away. I went to sleep in the center of my army, but I stayed alert for fighting sounds.

The sun was up before I knew it. I stretched, not used to poor sleeping conditions, as in this life I always had a bed. Regardless, I popped my neck, and watched the sunrise almost alone in the forest. The light peeked between the trees, and the golden dappled light on the fog was pleasant to the eyes…

“Do you have need of anything my lord?” Asked a blue dragon. I shook my head. I didn’t bother knowing any of their names. I wouldn’t remember them anyway since there were so many.

“Wake the others, we depart in an hour.” I said still sitting there.

They didn’t eat, because I told them to save their rations for later today. It was to have them more adept. A hungry dragon is the most fearsome… plus I figure at least some of them will be fresh meat.

I took this time to Really inspect the lot I was given. These dragons were Whelps… but they should be enough to deal with humans.

In the air, the stench of death and rot reminded me of the old times. I was never full back then, but at the same time, I had a bad habit of devouring everything until I was bored, and leave the rest to smell like this…

But the time to reminisce was over. A small mortal town was currently undead. They walked around aimlessly… I crashed to the ground to try and save a screaming mortal man, but they bit him before I killed about 5 of the swarming horde… there were so many.

[Burn a ring around the village, let none escape!] I roared, snapping the neck of the man who turned in my arms. He could not pierce my flesh with his bite… his mind was already gone…. That was faster than magic… faster than mind control. “If any are sane, round them up and take them to our sleeping grounds.” I also snarled, but that part was in common for the human’s sakes…

The little ones had no part in this… .

While in my mortal form, I killed as many as I could. I saved whom I could… The humans who were insane rushed me as if they were commanded to… I wouldn’t be surprised. It allowed about 30 or so to be captured by my drakes… how they flew in the sky…. How they killed the mindless outside the circle.

“Murderer…” One undead rasped then they all followed. They were all reaching for my face as I clawed through them… Some came out of homes… this was a trap…

“Gravitas….” They whispered. There was no air in their lungs… so the sound was actually a bit unsettling…. They sounded like the last breath taken before death…

I knew that spell…. It doubled your true weight and everything you wore… They were mortal… but still I slowly began to feel heavier and heavier. I would have my bones break under their own weight if I let them get away with this…

“This is some bullshit.” I said shifting. With a flap in the air, however heavy I was, was thwarted by my large wings…. It felt like I was trying to carry another dragon my size….

But I wasn’t about to be captured.

With a heavy hand I crushed the entire town. I was, after all, bigger than it…

“Let that be a lesson to you, wherever you’re watching from.” I snarled in common.

I was light again, but now they knew spells worked on me…

I took a deep breath. I torched the town. There were no screams…. No one cried for mercy, as all what was left of them were mindless undead…. They were still so fresh too… none here were rotted or bloated… but it meant that they were somewhere… in this deep forest surrounding the burning town.

My drakes carried the living humans with care as we made it back to the sleep site … No mortal could access speed enough to catch us anyway, but I still wanted them to have a Chance…

When we landed there were about 45 now that I could get a good headcount. They were all women and small children, though some had broken bones from being saved. Dragons don’t carry humans around… they likely didn’t know how much pressure to put on them to keep them from slipping out their talons.

The oldest of them was in saint’s robes… she was likely the head nun of the area. I chose to address this human. I think she was about 40ish? 50? Old enough to look aged, but not so old she looked decrepit. There was no gray in her black hair.

“Tell me mortal, if you are able…. What happened there? What is the name of the town I had to crush?” I asked this calmly, as they were surrounded by a thousand and one dragons… all colors, all in armor, and they were but women.

“Feltchin’s… or at least that’s what it was called….” She started. “A man as tall as you and just as wide came on a black horse… but it wasn’t right…” She mumbled. “The stench….”

“Was the horse undead?” I asked.

Her horrified look told me it was… that made him More dangerous than I initially thought… undead mortals was one thing…. But undead livestock… undead chickens, horses, cattle, sheep… deer…. birds….

Starvation….

“You all are under my protection.” I said firmly. “I mean to stop this…”

“He wanted the men…. But the men said ‘no’. Our lives were there… we were a poor farm town that hunted and processed pelts at the nunnery… it was hard work, but the pay fed the little ones here.” She said holding her arm. It was broken. I think a rib or two might have been as well.

“Mass Heal.” I said waving my still heavy hands. They were numb… but that would subside in about an hour.

They were uncomfortable from my heal, but I could not cast any more magic on such small creatures.

“Thank you Master.” She bowed.

“No need for that. Tell me what happened next.” I said softly.

“Well… after they said no… after they talked about how times were different, and that we could live in peace, he got mad… he said we were sows… he said that if they won’t serve willingly, then their bodies would do… and then he got off his horse and ripped John’s throuat Right out… and then he got up and attacked Curix… then those two attacked the other men and so on… We womenfolk ran, hid… his shoulders dragged some of us nuns away… but they didn’t kill them… the sheep lost all their wool… the ducks their feathers… the well water became rancid…. We’ve been without water a day sir.”

“How long since he visited?” I asked.

“… That was last night…” She mumbled. “He came about an hour before sundown… and by sunrise the town was lost.”

“Did you hear where he was headed?” I asked.

“The Southern Continent.” She said looking at my boots.

“Take these mortals to my town. Give them about 10 gold each. The children are to go to the orphanage. And nun I will task you to aid Sister Trish. She’s old…. Very old… they will need a new caretaker soon.” I said thinking out loud.

“Yes your highness.” She bowed.

“My dragons… we must intercept him before he leaves this forest…. Dead livestock and rotted waters will poison the land… not to mention that I’m not sure if that can turn a mortal as well…” I said firmly.

The drakes that didn’t fly off more gently with the humans this time were left behind with me to understand the true gravity of this human….

They used a gravity spell… meaning they wanted me Alive… My power rivals Nox as his exact equal… a mortal with that much power would surely bring undeath to them all… it would be the end of man…. And likely the end of all the rest of us, since the poison waters could not be drank, nor the animals eaten… that probably went for the plants too, but I would check tomorrow when I fly back to the battleground….