Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 6

“Well,” Girika said, “that escalated quickly.”

“That’s just a bit of an understatement,” Saraca replied.

“Nothing we’ve heard about the Undead since their appearance spoke of any behaviour like this,” Rana Kizurra said.

“It’s entirely unprecedented,” Saraca said. “None of the histories that I know of and none of my experiences with Undead elsewhere suggest that they might do this.”

Individual Undead were known for their mindless hunger, hatred for the living, and the pure, straightforward evil of their actions. However, he had never seen nor heard of the Undead ‘reacting’ on such a wide, uniform scale. A pack of Ghouls would doggedly pursue someone once they noticed them, but steep and sudden mass escalation across hundreds of thousands of individuals spread over dozens of kilometres due to isolated events just wasn’t something that the Undead were known for.

If anything, it was generally the opposite: they didn’t harbour the same feelings as the living, nor did they react as the living did. They felt no sense of loss for their fellow Undead and thus did not retaliate for that reason. Stories of people coming back from the Undead to haunt their killers or whatever were simply that: the Undead were beings independent of any history their appearances might suggest.

“Then why would they do this?” Rana Saj asked.

“Not that it changes the result,” Saraca answered, “but the reaction that we’re seeing may not be what we think it is.”

Now that the initial shock had passed, framing it as vengeance or retaliation was silly. There were other, perfectly good reasons as to why the Undead had gone on the offensive.

“The way that those Death Knights were drawn in created an opportunity for our foe,” he said. “We’ve been making those bands of Undead champions manageable by severely restricting their movements. Not only were the people responsible for that busy moving out of the way, but the Death Knights passing through them might also have used their own taunt along the way, which has an area of effect centred on the Death Knight.”

“Which prevented our forces in those places from countering the Undead warbands when they attacked,” Rana Kizurra sighed. “What a blunder.”

After identifying a potential weakness in the Undead forces’ capabilities, the leaders of Rol’en’gorek’s combined forces issued instructions to the clans across the front who were capable of exploiting it. Unfortunately, the victory cry that confirmed its success did not come with an analysis of the outcome. The clans also took it as a signal to execute the same tactic across the front.

In all honesty, the tactic would have been a resounding success had the Undead not done what they did. Saraca swept his gaze over the northern front, where the Undead had driven deep into Rol’en’gorek’s lines like black spikes driven into fractured stone. That the Undead had responded with an offensive was surprising enough on its own, but the way that they did it unsettled him.

Undead beings had a specific nature that they tended to adhere to in the same way that a being with specific elemental affinities did. Mindless Undead had a nature that could be broadly defined as ‘hunger’. Zombies and Ghouls sought the flesh of the living, while others sought to steal away the vitality, reflexes and even the intellect of their victims.

Intelligent Undead also had a nature that they couldn’t deny any more than a Fire Elemental could deny the drive to burn everything that it could. Amongst the most well-known of those drives was that of Elder Liches – probably because it was something that didn’t force them to confront the living – who created labyrinthine laboratories to plumb the depths of the arcane.

If the will driving the Undead here was a ‘Commander’, then what did that mean? In lieu of living desires, would it pursue the development of strategy and tactics to the exclusion of all else? Or did it just want to run an ‘army’ and fight wars? Based on how quickly it had formulated an answer to a new tactic being employed, the latter had to at least be a part of it.

In that case, how long before honing its skills as a Commander led to the development of new Skills and Abilities? As far as he could tell, it already had at least two: the ability to communicate with its allies over long distances and the oppressive battlefield aura that one would expect out of an Undead Commander – the opposite of the morale-boosting effect of their living counterparts.

All things considered, it was not Death Knights nor Elder Liches that were the true danger, but their Undead Commander. Not destroying it meant that it might retreat to raise a new army and return as an even greater threat. He needed to figure out some way to locate or draw out the enemy Commander and destroy it so that couldn’t happen.

“It looks like things are starting to stabilise,” Rana Saj said.

“I still fear to ask what the losses were,” Rana Kizurra shook his head.

Rather than stubbornly try to push back the defence-oriented Death Knights, Rol’en’gorek’s forces had withdrawn to form a new defensive line. That line was two kilometres south of the old one, affording the observers on Eastwatch’s walls a more detailed view.

“They’re still withdrawing,” Kasturi noted.

“They should be if the Undead are advancing,” Saraca said. “They’re supposed to be skirmishing until they reach the real defensive lines we’ve set up. Have they destroyed any more strong Undead?”

“It’s hard to tell with all the movement. The ones that were reeled in before the Undead advance should have been destroyed…”

As they tried to figure out the results of the most recent action, a Nar with the stripes of Ki’ra came running along the battlements.

“Rana Saj,” she said, “our forces are asking if we should prepare to join the battle.”

“Join the battle?” Rana Saj came forward, “What are you talking about?”

“That’s, erm…”

The runner looked out at the lines to the north before she seemed to realise what the source of confusion was.

“Our allies in the west are struggling to hold back the Undead,” she said. “The fighting has come within twelve kilometres of the city.”

Saraca ran the way that the runner had come, making his way around to Eastwatch’s western wall. His stomach sank not only at how far the Undead had come, but also at how they seemed to be completely overwhelming the defenders.

“They’re almost at the first defence line,” Saraca said. “Kasturi, go and wake the others. We’re going to need to take the field soon.”

Rana Saj caught up with them a few moments later, an expression of dismay on his face.

“This looks bad,” he said. “They weren’t supposed to get that far for another day, at least.”

“What’s the status of our field defences?” Saraca asked.

“About halfway done,” Karuvaki answered. “Fortifications have been raised straddling the highway and some of the enchantments have been laid. Our position is already complete.”

Saraca nodded. There were two main defence lines – one at the distance they discussed and a second below the city walls. Even if they were only partially complete, the Undead would have trouble getting by. The enemy forces attacking out of the river were a nuisance, but those positions weren’t easy for the Undead to attack no matter which direction an enemy came from.

“We should go and get ready,” Saraca said. “Rana Saj, what are your plans?”

“Without knowing what these Undead are doing,” the Rana replied, “it’s hard to say. At the bare minimum, we’ll support the clans retreating from the west. I should have a better idea of what’s going on once I get closer to the front. I’ll see you there.”

They parted ways with Rana Saj, leaving Rana Kizurra to direct the defence from Eastwatch’s walls. The resting members of Saraca’s entourage were already preparing for battle by the time he reached his accommodations in the central keep. He sifted through his things, going through the dozens of magic items that he thought would be useful for a confrontation with powerful Undead forces.

“Hey Girika,” he said, “what are you going to do?”

“Cry,” Girika replied.

Saraca chuckled. Rogues were a poor match for Undead, though Girika could probably take down Elder Liches with relative ease as an Inquisitor. His bodyguard also had a substantial stockpile of scrolls, wands, potions and other magic items that he could support the entourage’s efforts with.

“Would you like to borrow some of my things?” Mitra asked.

“I’m good,” Girika answered. “I’ll just stick close to our good Yuvraj and make sure an Elder Lich doesn’t feel him up. We’re just holding the first defensive line, yeah?”

“That depends,” Saraca said. “Our priority is the leader of these Undead forces. If I see an opportunity to destroy it, we’re not going to let it slip by.”

“You think it’s gonna actually show up?”

“It depends on what ‘type’ of Undead it is,” Saraca replied. “If it’s some sort of Undead General, it’ll be somewhere safe in the back. An Undead Captain might not care for its subordinates the same way a living Captain would, but they’d still be compelled to fight at the front if we cause enough trouble.”

“And if it’s neither?”

“It’s always something. That’s just the way Undead are. There’s no such thing as an Undead being that manifests without an ‘archetype’. All evidence points to it being some sort of Commander.”

Of course, in an Undead force this powerful, one always had to be on the alert for more than one new type of Undead. This was especially the case since there weren’t very many Human ‘themed’ ones in most of the world. The Undead tended to spawn according to the dominant race or society of the region.

“Should we take off any identifying markers?” Mitra asked.

Saraca looked down at his equipment.

“Yes,” he answered as he removed a Confederacy insignia. “If things go sideways, I don’t want anyone linking us to the Confederacy.”

They were all warded from attempts at divination and detection abilities, but that didn’t stop someone who saw from remembering what they wore.

“Check your contingency stuff, as well,” Saraca said. “This walk of shame is an especially long one.”

Fifteen minutes later, Saraca led his entourage out of Eastwatch’s western gate. They found Rana Saj with Hhrolhr and Thurgakhr at the chain of fortifications raised along the first defence line, standing atop a magically-shaped stone tower north of the highway. Further along, Rol’en’gorek’s forces were conducting an orderly retreat in the face of an advancing fog bank.

“Saraca,” Rana Saj said. “I sent my skirmishers to relieve the forces still in retreat. Things are back under control, but the Undead are still pushing.”

“How many people are still out there?” Saraca asked.

“Including my people, around seventy thousand. Anyone that’s still alive should be with us within the next twenty minutes or so.”

“The clans that were hit by the Undead are claiming that there’s a new type out there,” Hhrolhr said. “I can’t make much out of the description, though.”

“What was it?”

“Uh…humanoid and rotting. Moans or something. Tattered clothing. Aside from the fact that they’re tremendously strong, they sound like any other fleshy Undead.”

“There must be more of a description than that,” Saraca said.

“I haven’t come across any survivors from that initial charge and we’ve been skirmishing since then,” Hhrolhr replied. “The Undead should be pretty close now. We might be able to see for ourselves the next time the wind picks up.”

Saraca turned his attention from the fog bank to inspect the fortifications. Half of his entourage had spent the time since they determined where their defensive lines were directing the construction of a chain of low walls and towers that ran along the course of a small river. The earthen walls were only three metres high, but they became a formidable obstacle when placed at the top of the small ravine.

“How much of this is magically fashioned?” Saraca asked.

“Just the towers,” Karuvaki answered. “We had a lot of labour available so they did what they could with the walls. It’s not our Corps of Engineers’ work, but it’s better than nothing.”

“And the enchanted part?”

“That stretch next to the highway. It’s where our enemies can deliver their forces the fastest, so it should be where most of the fighting is.”

They walked over to their position. Girika shivered as they stepped across the threshold of the enchanted area.

“I hate that feeling,” he said.

“What is it?” Rana Saj asked, “I’ve not felt anything like this before.”

“We used Hallow spells to turn this entire position into holy ground. Those standing on it enjoy the effects of an Anti-Evil Protection spell, Undead are much easier to turn, and those who die here cannot be raised as one of the Undead. Additionally, a Freedom effect has been attached that will apply to anyone with a positive Karma score.”

“I’m not familiar with this ‘Freedom’.”

“It’s an effect that makes one immune to any effects that directly impair movement. Hhrolhr, try pulling on Thurgakhr’s arm.”

Hhrolhr did as he asked, reaching out to grasp Thurgakhr around the wrist. His paw phased through. They both stared at the result.

“It’s a simple way to check if it applies to an individual,” Saraca said. “You should have the other warriors stationed here test whether they receive the benefits or not.”

“Does it work against magic?” Rana Saj asked.

“Yes,’ Saraca answered. “That includes the spells that we’ve been using to slow down the Undead.”

“I see. So we can use those same spells while defending and anyone with the effect will fight unimpeded.”

“And since the Undead have negative Karma scores,” Saraca said, “the Freedom effect won’t apply to them.”

Rana Saj sent Hhrolhr and Thurgakhr to reorganise the defenders. Saraca ascended the tower at the centre of the position, waiting for a gust of wind to come off the river and blow the fog bank away.

“Do you have any other countermeasures in place here?” Rana Saj asked.

“We’ll be placing a Forbiddance spell about three metres below the top of the ravine,” Saraca answered. “It does a few things, but the effect we’re using it for deals damage to beings that enter it. The farther the being’s Karma score is from the caster’s, the more damage it takes.”

“That means if we throw Girika down there,” Mitra said, “he’s not going to be very happy.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad…”

“Additionally,” Karuvaki said, “our Druids have placed Spike Growth below the line where Forbiddance will be. Anything that walks through that area will take damage every step and may suffer crippling effects as a result of that damage.”

“I’ll have to let everyone know not to fall down there…anything else?”

“We were thinking of placing a bunch of mines, but decided it wasn’t worth the mana. Any Undead that make it to the wall will already have suffered grievous damage.”

Rana Saj looked down the ravine on the outside of the wall.

“I must wonder how you came up with this,” he said.

“It’s common practice in places with high magical integration,” Saraca told him. “Against living enemies far more often than the Undead. Those without countermeasures are destroyed very quickly.”

“…after we’re done here, I’m going back to the jungle and never coming out. It’s less vicious there. What about the Elder Liches? By all descriptions, they are prodigious casters that may have those countermeasures.”

“It’s possible, but unlikely. Even if they did, they’d have to get close enough to do something about it and we have tens of thousands of Rangers waiting for them.”

The wind finally picked up, taking the fog bank with it. Less than a kilometre away, the sun beamed down on the Undead advance. Behind the squads in the lead, a wall of hundreds of thousands of Undead followed. Saraca pulled out his spyglass, examining the front ranks.

“Those are…Weeps?” Mitra said from beside him, “Human-form ones.”

“Why are there so many of them?” Kasturi said.

“How many do you see?” Saraca asked.

“Several dozen, at least.”

『Gladestalkers, prioritise Weeps. Attack as soon as they come in range.』

Bullets immediately started flying through the air. So many Weeps in one place was unprecedented, but unprecedented seemed to be the order of the day when it came to this particular Undead army.

“I’m not familiar with these new Undead,” Rana Saj said.

“Overall,” Saraca said, “they’re a bit less powerful than Death Knights but they hit harder and emit a poisonous black bile that’s a bit more potent than Giant Scorpion venom. They have damage reduction, but any enchanted attack bypasses it. We don’t want them reaching us because they’ll flail around hitting everyone they can reach with that bile. They regenerate twice as fast as a Troll or Vampire so we need to destroy them while there’s little interference.”

“One of the Skeletal Dragons is loitering over the river nearby,” Kasturi said. “Can I get rid of it yet?”

“Sure,” Saraca said.

“Skeletal what?” Rana Saj looked up at the sky.

“They’re essentially Bone Golems in the shape of a Dragon,” Saraca said. “Unlike Golems, which are animated by bound Elementals, Skeletal Dragons are animated by negative energy which gives them the properties of the Undead. There’s a couple of invisible ones that they’ve probably been using as flying observation platforms, but neither of them has come close enough to destroy until now.”

Shouts of alarm rose along the riverfront as the still-invisible pieces of the destroyed Skeletal Dragon rained into the river. To the west, the Undead picked up their pace after losing a pawful of Weeps. Rana Saj had his best hunters join the barrage at five hundred metres, and the entire wall was sending a hail of bullets on the Undead by the time they closed within three hundred.

Retaliation came in the form of black crossbow bolts unleashed by the lightly-armoured ‘line breakers’ mixed in with the Death Knights. Those caught by the projectiles were thrown off of the wall by the impact. Mystics rushed to tend to the wounded, though it seemed that the victims were dead more often than not.

“Don’t falter!” Rana Saj shouted, “Destroy these abominations bef–”

Saraca’s paw came up to catch a black quarrel sent in Rana Saj’s direction. He examined it for a moment before tossing it onto the ravine.

“Make sure you’re out of sight before you shout like that,” Saraca said. “Mitra, how are we doing with the Weeps?”

“Most of them are gone,” Kasturi said.

『Add the line breakers to the list of priority targets. Kasturi, start testing damage types.』

Four of the lightly-armoured Undead were blasted apart within seconds. The rest dashed for cover behind the rank of Death Knights. Several tight defensive formations manifested as they advanced toward the ravine.

Saraca examined the arrangement of the enemy’s troops. They were still all uniform in their approach, with the ones on the highway matching pace with those in the fields. An extra two squads were on the highway, but they weren’t charging ahead to take the bridge.

Is there any purpose in doing that?

If he were in the enemy Commander’s position, he would have sent his troops down the highway to smash through the easiest-to-reach part of the defensive line. The Undead seemed prepared to do exactly that, yet they weren’t doing so.

『Mitra, take the warriors and head to the bridge. We may have friends there soon.』

『Right-o.』

『Gladestalkers continue your attacks, but keep an eye on the surroundings.』

“I forgot to ask,” Saraca said, “but the bridge has the same enchantments as the ravine, right?”

“Hallow is already in place,” Karuvaki said. “We have people in position to get the others up once our allies finish crossing over.”

Roars of warning rose from the south. Saraca turned his attention to the riverbank.

“Squad of Undead coming ashore a few hundred metres behind the wall,” Kasturi said. “Should we switch targets?”

Saraca looked to the west. The Undead formations remained unchanged.

They’re not trying to pincer us? A distraction?

『Gladestalkers, destroy the line breakers and ‘priests’ in the group behind us. Continue focusing on the enemies in front after that. Mitra, if they’re not going for the bridge, have the warriors bring them to you.』

A surge of energy filled him as the familiar feel of Mitra’s Dance washed over the defenders in the vicinity.

『Stage One, active. What element?』

“Kasturi, how are damage types looking?”

“The Death Knights, Priest-looking ones and the ‘line breakers’ are all neutral, weirdly enough. None of the Elder Liches has conveniently popped up for testing, so I don’t know whether they’ve covered their weaknesses. The horde should just be as they are.”

In other words, fire or holy were their optimal choices.

『Holy. I don’t know if the Undead have thought about it, but Rol’en’gorek is all weak Druids. They don’t have access to holy damage.』

『Alrighty. Phase Two, incoming. Waiting for some actual fighting for the rest…』

Murmurs rose from the nearby Ki’ra warriors as their natural weapons took on a cool, blue-white glow. Rana Saj unsheathed his claws, turning his paw back and forth.

“At the risk of sounding entirely ignorant about everything,” he said, “what’s this?”

“An effect of Mitra’s Dance,” Saraca replied. “The surge of power a few minutes ago was her, as well. This most recent one adds holy element damage to the attacks of those affected by the Dance.”

“So we don’t have to rely on Martial Arts for elemental damage?”

“It’s cumulative with Martial Arts and weapon enchantments,” Saraca said, “so you’ll still hit harder if you use them. Death Knights have obnoxiously high physical defence and strong armour, so anyone that fights them will want as much non-physical damage as possible.”

『Woo, here they come!』

Saraca looked down at the highway, which ran by the base of the tower. Several warriors from his entourage were running back with Death Knights on their tails. Mitra visibly bounced in anticipation.

“Are they going to be alright?” Rana Saj asked, “Even one Death Knight was hard enough to destroy.”

“It won’t be a problem,” Saraca answered. “A house guard of this calibre is more than sufficient for a few Death Knights.”

The ten Death Knights were each taunted by one of Saraca’s warriors, turning the battle into ten duels. Two warriors stood by, keeping an eye out for any surprises. Mitra went to one of the Death Knights and took its flamberge away. She tossed it over the side of the bridge and it disappeared into the water with a plop.

“What now, Mister–GYAAAH!”

Mitra dodged to the side as the flamberge rematerialised in the Death Knight’s hand and it took a stab at her. She snatched the weapon away again and threw it over the bridge. The weapon reappeared in the Death Knight’s gauntlet.

『Hey, ji…』

『I saw it.』

The Dancer disarmed the Death Knight for a third time. She grasped the hilt and gave it a few swings before tossing it away. Then, she reached out with her paw as if to call it back to herself. Instead, the weapon popped up in the Death Knight’s possession. The warrior taunted the Death Knight back to herself before it could take another swing at Mitra.

“What is she playing at?” Rana Saj murmured.

“Mitra’s not playing,” Saraca told him. “She’s investigating an anomaly. Naturally-manifested Undead don’t just magically get their equipment back like that. On the third test, she wielded the weapon and checked it for some sort of recall enchantment, but it still went back to the Death Knight.”

As far as he knew, only one category of entities could do that: summons.

A low growl filled his throat as his attention went from the battle on the bridge to the mass of Undead advancing in the west. The answer as to how so many of them could appear in one place had unpleasantly revealed itself. Not only was there an Undead Commander somewhere out there, but there was also a being powerful enough to summon Death Knights.

Yet, it was not fear that came with this revelation: only a sense of urgency. They had to be destroyed before they gained too much momentum. Otherwise, the world would quake under the boots of an army the likes of which it had never seen before.

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