Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The battlefield outside the tower was a storm of blood and ruin. Undead bodies splattered against the Tyrannosaur's teeth, their bones snapping like kindling, yet more climbed and tore with inhuman persistence. The pterosaur thrashed beneath the swarm that had dragged it down, its shrieks fading into gurgles as claws shredded its wings.

Inside the chamber, Damien's chest rose and fell like a man drowning. The binding scorched through his veins, every torn limb, every broken spine of his horde echoing in his flesh. His knuckles bled, his jaw locked. Still, he did not falter.

Zara clutched his arm, terror in her voice. "Damien, stop this! You're bleeding with them—look at yourself!"

He turned his gaze on her. His eyes burned crimson, unnatural, yet steady. "If I let go, we die. If I hold on, we win. Which choice do you prefer?"

The Keeper moved closer, the runes pulsing at his back like a heart. His voice was low, weighted with iron. "You wield them well for a first command. But beware—every victory feeds the chain. Already, you can feel it, can't you? The hunger whispering at the edge of your thoughts?"

Damien staggered, one hand gripping the stone wall. He did feel it. Not just their hunger, but the pull—a dark tide lapping against his mind, begging to consume him.

The Tyrannosaur roared again, flinging bodies aside in heaps of shattered bone. Damien clenched his fist, forcing a new surge of will through the horde. The corpses convulsed, their broken spines straightening, their mangled jaws snapping back into motion. They rose once more, crawling over one another to bury the beast under their relentless tide.

Pain lashed through Damien like fire. His mouth tasted of iron. His knees buckled, but he stayed standing.

Zara's tears streamed down her cheeks. She tried to wrench his hands from the air, as though breaking his stance would break the bond. "Damien, you're becoming one of them! Please, let them go!"

The Keeper's hollow gaze fixed on her. "Foolish girl. He cannot let them go now. Not without tearing his soul apart. He chose the burden. It is his until death."

Zara spun on him, her voice raw with rage. "You did this to him! You poisoned him with your curse!"

The Keeper's lips tightened into a thin line. "I preserved him. Without the binding, he and you would be ash beneath that beast's claws."

A thunderous crash split the night—the Tyrannosaur toppled, shrieking, as hundreds of undead swarmed its skull, gouging at its eyes, prying its jaws apart. Damien cried out, doubling over, his body trembling under the mirrored torment.

Yet as the beast's death scream tore through the fog, Damien rose again, staggering upright. His eyes glowed like molten coals. The dead stood victorious outside, dripping gore, awaiting their master's will.

The Keeper bowed his head. "It is done. The old blood falls tonight."

But Zara stepped back, horror dawning in her eyes.

"No," she whispered. "It's only beginning. Look at him… he's not Damien anymore."

And Damien, his breath ragged, lifted his hand toward the night. The dead obeyed, turning their eyeless gaze to the horizon.