New Midian

The blue box appeared only after a few seconds, and chaos ensued.

The woman's body began to glow a soft white light, and an apparition version of her stood up. It was her, as in life, but healed and in good health. She was dressed in the same clothing as her corpse, without the blood stain of her fatal wound. I noticed her feet were not there; nothing touched the floor, and she floated a few millimetres above it.

She seemed serene for a few seconds, but then suddenly turned.

The soft white light around her turned an ugly red, and her features twisted into rage and hate for all that was. Her hair now swirled like a nest of snakes, and she let out a deafening scream of hate and pain.

"What?"

My Hunters were aware that something was happening, but they were awaiting my instructions. It seemed they had the sense to stay out of this. I need to find out more.

"Status sheet. Hateful Spirit."

"What the hell! She is more like me!"

Perks replaced her skills, and I had no idea what they did. Focus! Start with her Dark Trait.

"Well, this is a thing."

I had no idea what to do here. I will need to move her body, but to where? I reached out and connected to both Hunters. I needed to get them moving as I thought about the newest Hunter.

"There is a wagon to be looted at the gates. Do not bring anything to the church just yet. I have an issue with my new Hunter. Once it is resolved, we will proceed as usual. Dump the wagon into the ravine to the west and release the horses."

They then moved away from the church.

I turned my attention back to the Spirit. She was standing, looking around, furious as hell, with no target in sight. She seemed oblivious to the fact that her body was at the base of the altar with her captor/killer. I think she would only target the living.

Leaving the church through the roof, I looked around. She could not be placed to the west or south of the area. She would attack the other Hunters, forcing me to intervene. The east was too close to the gate and may be another issue in the long run. That left the North. The nearest building was my storeroom, which I wanted to maintain at the moment. Further North was another mausoleum that could be used. It was near the wall and was the best option I had at the time.

The distance was further than my avatar could handle carrying the body. Travelling to the building, I summoned my avatar and opened the doors. Inside was a single sarcophagus-like grave, which I pushed open enough to get the body into. This was taxing, but using my avatar was slightly less so than doing it with just my will.

Dismissing my avatar to save time, I returned to the church. The Spirit floated around the main room, avoiding the light coming through the windows. I opened the church doors with my will. The sun was setting in the distance, so I had to wait.

Of course, time dragged slowly along in response. In the last two years, I have learned to be patient, but still.

I connected to the hunters when the Dungeon was covered in the shadow of the mountains.

"Back to your lairs, I am moving something. When I am done, I will contact you."

I sensed some grumbling from Rodriguez, but Rigger was happy to spend more time with his "wives". When they were safely tucked away, I summoned my avatar again. The Spirit screamed at me, but I could ignore it. She seemed confused by my avatar and did not attack me.

I lifted her body and began moving as fast as I could to where I planned to put it. She would be light even in death if I had a natural human body, but my avatar was not real. Her weight began to tax me more and more with every step. The Spirit moved with me, screaming in anger and frustration.

The wall was 0.75 miles from the church, and the building I had chosen was 0.6 miles away. It was the longest 0.6 miles of my life to this point. It took nearly eight hours of walking, then stopping and dismissing my avatar before resummoning it and starting all over again. I could hold the form longer than I could at the start, but it still taxed me terribly. I was sorely tempted to call on a Hunter to finish the journey, but that might end badly, given the Spirit's temperament. I had an option for punishment, but my taxed mental state would reduce its potency.

Near dawn, I placed her body into the open casket. It was more like dumping it as I was losing my avatar form. The body dissolved into black mist a few seconds later, and I was too exhausted to summon another. It was so bad that it was dawn before I had the strength to close the doors.

I slowly drifted back to the church and sensed that the other hunters were out of their lairs.

"Keeper, is it safe to head to the church, amigo?" Rodriguez asked.

"Yes, you find a body there to search and bury."

It took another hour to get there. In that time, Rigger was finishing burying the body, and Rodriguez had piled up the loot on the altar. I shifted my perception to the altar and did nothing else until Rigger joined us. When he arrived, we started. I wanted to make this fast as they always had tension when they came too close together.

"Right then, let's see what we have…."

It was the largest haul we had ever gained. Jack Smith came well-provisioned for his journey to the Dungeon. There were several travel cases and two boxes best described as chests and bags of travel rations. Both hunters gained much in tobacco, alcohol and a few other luxury items. I got two more guns, a few jewellery pieces, a watch and some money. The rest was going into storage, and thanks to the crypts now located around the Dungeon, I had more space.

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"Leave my items on the altar; I will deal with them when I am ready."

"Not going to the side rooms?" Rigger asked.

"Not yet. With the addition of crypts to the Dungeon, I will change how I store things here in the church."

"I noticed the new addition to my lair," Rodriguez said as he started chewing tobacco.

"Both your lairs got one then?"

Both hunters nodded, seeming happy for the extra space it provided.

"Anyone want the travel rations?"

Both turned their noses up at them, and I asked no more. I was building a small pile of them.

"Remove this to the storage building and avoid the mausoleum to the North, past it. The new Hunter will not take your presence well, at best. You will know the area to avoid."

They were curious but heeded my instructions. As they removed the remaining items, I altered the hunting zones in the Dungeon to account for the Spirit. She had a small area, but I knew that anybody wandering into it was in for a world of hurt.

Looking over the loot on the altar, I noticed something new—a silver dollar coin minted in 1870. It stood out from the other notes and coins, and I found myself strangely attracted to it.

"I wonder if I will see any more?"

I first went to work by looking at the crypt under the church. It was made of stone of similar quality to the building above. Along the east and west walls were six alcoves designed to hold bodies. The rest of the room had no other structures or tombs.

I spent the rest of the day moving my wealth down to the crypt. The alcoves were oversized shelves on which I could store things. The guns and other weapons were stored above the crypt and remained safe. The day passed as all others, and nothing else of note happened.

The Dungeon fell into its usual routine of waiting for travellers to come up the road and turn up the side path. I watched from the top of the bubble. There was much more traffic on the road, but none turned towards the Dungeon. It seemed Crossway was becoming a more popular destination as more were heading towards it than away.

This went on for a few weeks. As summer wore on, the weather rotated between rain and long periods of sun. The land was alive, teeming with wildlife and diverse plant life. In time, we got our next visitors to New Midian.

Four riders left the road late one day and came up the track to the Dungeon. I had been sending both hunters out to ensure that the path was clear and that no additional warning signs appeared. I shifted to the gates to watch their approach.

Four men, four horses, all dressed in rugged travelling clothes. I picked out saddlebags, a few rifles and… shovels? I was not expecting them all to have them. They were an unkempt group. They looked like they lacked personal hygiene or had been travelling for some time. I'm leaning towards the former. The group had an air of skulduggery around them.

They rode right up to the gates and dismounted. Their conversation was sparse, but it proved enlightening. One walked forward and looked through the gates.

"The stories were right. It's a large graveyard." The man said from the gates.

"So, let's get to robbing the place." The most surely looking one said.

"And we shall. Get your lanterns out. It's getting dark. We will camp at the chapel over there." He pointed to the church that was still visible. One held back as the gates opened, allowing the men to walk in, leading their horses.

"Where did this place come from?" One asked. He was fearful, and rightly so. I was working out how best to deal with them.

"Someone built it. Did not appear one night. Who cares?" The surliest snapped.

Well, that was not true in this instance. It appears I have a group of wannabe graverobbers to deal with. This was surprising, as, from my limited knowledge, most grave robbers were singles or pairs, rarely groups.

[Alert! Intruders are not recognised as Challengers.]

This appeared when the last entered, and they crossed the courtyard into the Dungeon. They ignored the paths and went straight to the church. This stirred my hunters, and I reached out and connected with them.

"Four men with mixed weapons are heading for the church. Looks like they are grave robbers."

I provided them with the basic facts, knowing they would handle them. What I did not expect was Rigger's question.

"Robbers? They were led by a fella tall, with long black hair and a scar across his nose?"

I double-checked, and his description matched the lead man.

"He does indeed. Is he a friend of yours?"

"Bastard! I am going to kill that yellow-bellied cur! He sold me out to lawmen...."

Rigger continued ranting for a few minutes, and I discovered the following. James McTaggart was a wanted man and a former partner of one John Rigger. The pair committed numerous crimes until Mr McTaggart framed Rigger for most of them and tried to collect the bounty on him. This led Rigger to go on the run with the Marshals chasing him, which ultimately led him here. Rigger had some unresolved issues with the man. It appears that he will resolve them today.

McTaggart and his motley group reached the church as the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains, guided by the light from their lanterns. The church would offer them no protection from my Hunters, as they are not challengers. I would take no further action unless demanded. It was interesting to see what Rigger would do here.

The horses were tied up outside, and the men sought to camp in the main room. They went right up to the altar but were not paying attention to it or the statue, which I found odd. It was not the kind of thing you would see in churches and should at least be commented on. They seemed more interested in the pews they planned to use as makeshift beds.

"Dawn, we search. Sleep here, as the place looks abandoned." McTaggart instructed the others. There was some grumbling, but they were soon at work. The fearful man complained the loudest. He was stealing glances at the statue now. My hunters were nearly there.

Rigger was walking with purpose, with Rodriguez trailing but close enough to join in with any violence. Rigger's body language made clear that there would be violence and a lot of it.

The church doors were open, and lantern lights came from within one another before the horses, and this one was unlit. As Rigger stormed in, the four men were inside, lying out on blankets on the pews, trying to sleep. This caused cries of alarm as the men reacted to the intruder. Rigger spotted his prey and went straight at him with a murderous, single-minded focus. McTaggart turned and looked on in horror as Rigger bore down on him. He tried to pull his gun, but Rigger's knife was in his guts before he could free it.

The others were grave robbers and were not of the violent type of criminal. They tried to flee, faces contorted with terror. Rodreguez ended one with his tomahawk, smashing into his skull. The other two fled into the deepening night, heading north, not east, to the gates and escape, forgetting their horses in the mad dash.

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

Rigger was taking his time with his kill. I stop Rodreguez from following the two runners, sending him to the gates. My newest Hunter was about to be tested, and I was curious to see what she would do.

Both men ran like the hounds of hell were chasing them. The boundary wall halted them, and they realised they had gone the wrong way in their haste. They were the surly and fearful ones. The latter had urinated all over himself, maybe more, but I was not looking any closer. Ignorance is indeed bliss at times.

They turned east and began following the wall, but a faint white glow to the side stopped them. Turning, they saw the figure of a woman approaching them. It was the hateful Spirit using its [Seduction] perk. She looked like she was alive, but more vibrant and innocent than ever. Her walk was slow and suggestive, entrancing both men. Their fear was gone as they were now focused on the woman before them.

When she was close enough, she changed. Her true form was revealed. The men started screaming as her hands changed into claws, and she attacked them. Her claws were razor-sharp and tore into them. Clothing, flesh and bone were shredded with terrifying ease. Blood splattered around as the men were ripped to pieces, and their organs were ripped from their bodies.

"Bloody hell!"

The speed and brutality were shocking even to me!

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

"Rodriguez, head back to the church."

The bodies in the church were dealt with, and the horses were freed outside the gates. The loot was split up, and the hunters retired for the night. The bodies in the North would be dealt with during daylight hours. Rigger levelled up.

His picture changed again. The whites of his eyes were now yellow, and his teeth seemed… sharper? Rodreguez was one kill away from levelling, and the Spirit had started towards its or was it- her first level up. I did not know what to call the Spirit.

The remains of the last two were collected and buried the next day, and both hunters were shocked at the level of violence the bodies had endured. What could be looted was, but it was not much. I was forced to use [Hide the Crime!] over several days to remove the evidence of the deaths. There was a lot of it scattered around.

Things settled down again after that, and I went into the usual routine.

After a few days, a large thunderstorm rolled off the mountains. Lightning arced through the sky as I watched it all unfold. The spatial folding caused the driving rain to be twisted and sent in different directions. The storm lasted for several hours but eventually blew through.

A rainbow covered the sky close by. I watched it as the clouds cleared and the blue sky dominated. The road below was once again filled with travellers moving along it. A convoy of four wagons came into view, travelling towards Crossway. The mud on the road slowed them, and I could tell the horse teams were struggling through the trees.

"Another group of settlers for Crossway, me thinks."

They were making slow progress, but they were still making progress. I expected them to continue along the road, but they turned towards the Dungeon. The convoy consisted of six wagons, all of which showed signs of travel wear. Figures sat on the front of the wagons, all wrapped up in many layers to protect them from the weather. The trees hid the last two from my sight at first.

"1873 is turning into quite the year."

I watched the group park the wagons in a rough circle before the gates. As they finished positioning them, more men, women, and children emerged from the wagons. How many were there?

I counted twenty-two in total. The largest group is yet to come here.

"Damn, if they come in, it will be a massacre!"

A man was walking between the wagons, talking to different people and organising them. After a few minutes, he walked to the gates and looked across my domain. He seemed focused on the church. He turned and addressed the group in a loud voice.

"Brothers and sisters! The Lord has led us across the great plains, and we are close to the promised land. We have endured and suffered as the children of the Israelites had in ancient times. Come, let us praise his name in his house yonder." From his voice and words, he seemed to be a priest.

Twenty were gathered up while two teenagers stayed with the wagons. Half the group consisted of children as they walked into the Dungeon. They were unarmed as they stepped forward.

[Alert! Intruders are not recognised as Challengers.]

"Why? They are not armed?"

I looked across the group again for weapons. The men were wearing heavy coats and jackets that could be hiding pistols. I could not see any openly carried weapons.

My hunters were stirring. I reached out.

"Twenty people are in the Dungeon. Half are children. No weapons can be seen. Two are remaining with the six wagons outside the gates."

The day was ending, and the sky was turning bloody red. I felt this was an omen for what was about to happen.