Chapter 110 - And Now, You Die

  It took some doing to get Sue out of the Target and into the main hallways of the mall itself. The doorways were simply too small, so I had my dinosaur blast the metal and glass framing above them, blowing the whole thing out. The resulting passage was big enough to accommodate Sue, just barely.

  As soon as Sue stepped through the gap, that’s when they hit us again. Tons of undead came rushing down the passage like a wave. I sent the mental command to my juggernauts to form up, but it wasn’t going to be enough to blunt the charge, not by itself. So I reached out with my Control Undead power—and found it had changed.

  The first grab gained me six zombies instead of one. That was very new! And more than a little welcome. I swiped control of the front rank, then immediately grabbed the one right after it as well. Twelve zombies were mine in as many seconds, and my new minions turned and swiped at the rest right behind them. The wave of undead smashed into them, bowling them right over, but it caused a massive traffic jam, like a highway pileup that just keeps growing because more cars keep crashing into the rear ends of the others.

  I almost cracked up laughing, watching the mess as it grew. There just wasn’t time, though.

  “Farnsworth, get your guys in there and hold the line!” I shouted. Then I ordered Sue to hit them with a Fireball, right in the center of where the zombies were falling all over themselves. The spell impacted, sending zombie parts in all directions. It took out two of the ones I had controlled, too, but that was fine. It would be simple enough to grab more of them.

  Then I launched myself forward into the air, slicing straight toward the enemy. The avians saw me moving and followed close behind, but when I dropped myself down in the middle of the madhouse, they stopped there, preferring to stab zombies safely from the air with their spears, instead.

  Me, I wanted to get in there. I smacked into the tile floor in the middle of the zombie logjam like a comet coming to Earth. The force of the impact send several nearby foes falling backward, and my sword carved that gap larger still. I was surrounded, though, with foes attacking me from all sides. That wouldn’t do, so I Controlled six of them behind me to watch my back, which let me focus on the ones ahead of me.

  One after another, the zombies kept going down. My juggernauts and Farnsworth’s human troops crashed into the horde’s battle line, wiping out a dozen zombies in seconds. Behind them, the ratkin used their bows and spears to take out more foes.

  The battle was going well, but I still felt on edge. I cast Health to Mana to refill myself with magical power, then Drained a nearby skeleton mage to refill my health. I wanted to keep myself in as close to top shape as possible, because my gut said something was coming, something bigger and more dangerous than the undead we’d faced so far.

  Then I felt it, a wave of fear rolling down the hall toward us. Even with all my Will, I almost turned and ran. I had to keep myself focused to remain in place, and stumbled a step. Two zombies used the distraction to grab me, one holding my shield while the other grasped my sword arm. The latter one leaned in, ready to take a chunk out of my shoulder. I didn’t have time for anything fancy, so I let him pull me closer, using the momentum to empower a forehead bash. The zombie flew backward at the blow, its skull split wide open.

  One threat down. The other was still trying to chew on my shield, but my sword finished it off fast. I whirled then, checking on how the rest of our people fared.

  My undead hadn’t been impacted by the fear magic, but the living troops definitely had. The avians had withdrawn; the ratkin as well. Both groups were falling back into Target, giving back twenty feet of hard-won hallway. Some of the humans were with them, although Farnsworth and Kara were still fighting. Kara rode Sue, her bow singing as she fired shaft after shaft into the horde, and Farnsworth was right alongside the juggernauts. His axe cleaved apart two zombies as I watched.

  We were holding, but barely. I needed to wipe out whatever was casting that fear, or we were in deep shit. I took to the air again, hoping that I could see whatever it was from above.

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  At first, there was nothing. But then something rose from the rear ranks of the undead horde, flying up to meet me.

  It was spectral in appearance—that’s the only way I can describe the thing. It looked vaguely like a man, wearing medieval armor, but he was only semi-visible, translucent, like he was only partly there. He carried a massive sword in both hands, and as he glided through the air toward me I had to wonder if this was the foe I’d felt, back at the fort.

  But no—I didn’t think this was our main enemy. Whatever I’d sensed at the fort before had been terribly strong, frighteningly so. This creature was just a single tier above me, at tier eight. Some sort of lieutenant, then, a sub-commander.

  It made sense. How could one being control a thousand zombies, after all? At tier seven in Animate, I could raise sixty-four undead. I could control thirty-two tier points worth, using my tier six Control Undead. A tier eight monster like this one could maybe control one hundred and twenty-eight tier one undead. But to control a thousand? You’d need to be tier eleven, and I didn’t think we were facing anything that strong, even at the big boss level.

  I dropped a Drain Life on the thing as it approached me, and the spell staggered it. I grinned. That was good information to have. It meant the thing could definitely be hurt. But the last thing I wanted to do was face it airborne. My flight weakened me by draining mana I ought to be using on other spells, so I dove back toward the ground, landing off on one side of the horde with my back to a hallway wall.

  As I’d figured, the thing chased. It landed not far from me, the other undead backing away to give us space. They surged on, attacking my battle lines. I could only hope our troops held, because I had my work cut out for me fighting this thing, whatever it was.

  Then it spoke, and the words chilled me to the core. “You dare much, coming here, necromancer.”

  “I’m just doing what needs to be done,” I said. I cast a quick Health to Mana to refill my pool and followed it up with another Drain on the big bad. He flinched as the spell hit but continued his advance.

  “Why fight the inevitable? You could join us, you know.”

  “Oh shit, is this the part where you tell me you’re my dad?” I quipped. The creature stepped in and swung his sword downward, aimed at my head. I blocked with my new shield, the impact hitting hard enough it numbed my fingers some. Without the level of Strength and Stamina I had, I doubted I’d have been able to keep holding the shield.

  “No, I am a wraith of times long past, summoned back to this world by my master,” the thing said. “He would welcome your service as well, though. Surrender. I will take you to him.”

  I ducked under his next swing, taking a slice at his leg with my much shorter blade. My weapon didn’t seem to do a lot of damage, though. In fact, I was pretty sure it mostly went right through him. Wraith, indeed—this was some sort of ghost-type creature. Killing it wasn’t going to be simple. Shit.

  “Yeah?” I asked, trying to keep it talking. “What’s the benefits package look like?”

  “You will die,” it said.

  “That doesn’t sound appealing.”

  “You will die,” it went on. “But then live again, as a wraith or lich. And never die again. You will be immortal, serving my master for all eternity.”

  “Still not feeling this offer,” I retorted, dodging sideways to narrowly avoid his sword again. Holy shit, the wraith was fast! I was swifter, but only just, and my inability to nail it with my sword was making this fight a lot harder.

  Still, I had a plan in mind. I just needed to hang on a little longer. I backpedaled to avoid another swing, then blocked an attack with my shield. The clang that made echoed over the sounds of battle around us.

  “If you will not serve willingly, you will still serve,” it told me. “All will. You will simply become a mindless zombie instead of a willing slave. Come now—my master would much prefer you come of your own accord. Join us.”

  “Not gonna happen,” I said, firing off another Drain Life. That staggered the wraith again, slowing it down further. I’d done some serious damage with those spells, but it still looked plenty healthy. How much damage was this thing able to take, anyway?

  “As you wish,” the wraith replied.

  Then, before I could react, it moved its sword in a fancy, flourishing pattern that I could barely keep up with. Clearly, this creature had far more experience using its weapon than I did. I could barely follow the flashing blade, but I still managed to block the first blow with my sword, and the second with my shield…

  The second shot was a feint. I realized it as the greatsword barely made contact with my shield. It had maneuvered me so that my shield blocked my vision. I couldn’t see what it was doing, for just a split second.

  That was enough.

  The next thing I knew, the sword was sticking through my gut, in one end and out the other. I screamed. There was nothing else I could do—the pain was just too intense for any other reaction.

  I was dying, and I knew it. I reached out for the mana to cast Drain Life, but it was a struggle to concentrate through the agony. I staggered back, the wraith following me, sword still held inside me. It reached out with an armored fist and grabbed me by the throat.

  “And now, you die.”