The World of Strife

We run back towards the line of dwarven soldiers as fast as our legs could carry us. My heart was thrumming chaotically as the unbelievable reality of our situation started to sink in. Undead actually existed in this world. Of course, I already heard about their existence thanks to that whole story with the Elden Orchard.

I will say it, though. Hearing about it, and actually being chased by a bunch of undead, wasn't the same! My skin was prickling in revulsion from the thought alone, and my heart pumped in painful desperation.

Could this day get any worse? The sound of chaotically trampling feet behind me answered my silent inquiry. Forcing me to run faster, even when my body screamed in protest.

Everything about the undead was terrifying, more so than in any movie I ever watched.

For starters, there were no ridiculous sounds, no whimpering groans or loud screams alerting us of their presence. Unlike the way the undead were portrayed in most movies, the ones here were completely silent, eerily so.

The first thing I noticed about their presence were the sound of trampling feet behind us and when I chanced a quick glance backwards, all my hairs stood straight up. I saw them chasing us in utter silence, everything about them just felt wrong, making me sick to my stomach. Their movements were unnatural. Like human sized puppets dragged forward on invisible strings, their limbs flailing and spasming occasionally. Not even the sounds of breathing could be heard from them. It was a sight that screamed danger and wrongness. Not even mentioning the sight of dwarves, humans, goblins, and dark elves in different stages of dismemberment running beside each other, all with the same glassed over look in their eyes.

Not even talking about the fact that they were not slow at all and still carried their weapons to boot!

I tried to run faster, seeing more of the creatures appearing behind the corner.

"Aria! They are catching up to us!" — I alerted the other elf, hoping that she might have an idea to get rid of them.

"I k-know!" — She answered, her fear evident in the way her voice trembled. I just wanted to cry at this point, as I instinctively understood Aria had no idea what to do either. This day just wasn't going my way at all!

It was at that time when Alita snapped at me, her voice filled with desperation. She was starting to lag behind, her heavy armor so far protecting her life, now was becoming an obstacle that weighed her down. — "Selora, aren't you a witch? Why don't you slow them down with your ice magic?!"

My mouth opened, then closed, not finding anything that would stop me from doing so.

"O-oh! Y-you are right, I guess, I kind of forgot about that!" — I answered, realizing a bit late how foolish that would sound.

"You did, what?!" — Alita shouted in disbelief, adding several curses at the end, but I didn't have time to mull over those anymore. I was already too focused on envisioning the ground behind us growing icy spikes that would stop the dead in their tracks. Hopefully puncturing their feet and getting stuck in it.

I didn't have the luxury to check the results of my spell, but I heard the voiceless sounds of several tumbling bodies behind us, followed by the screeching sounds of armor scraping against magically reinforced ice. I believed that my spell at least partially succeeded.

My hypothesis seemed to be proven right, since the dead didn't catch up to us in the following few minutes.

We run the remaining distance, I won't lie, the sight of several dwarven soldiers appearing at the end of the trench offered but a moment of relief.

I seriously wanted to get back behind those thick ass gates, and perhaps never leave.

We rushed past several dwarves who had similarly pale expressions as we did. I could hear the panicked shouts around us, some going as far as demanding a retreat. It was clear that the morale was shaken. I caught sight of several dozen of downed goblins scattered around the ground, most of them had crushed skulls, some downright beheaded. What was strange about them was that there were little to no fresh blood around the bodies, as if they were dead already when being killed. Based on the trend I recently witnessed, that wasn't a far cry at all.

My eyes widened with a dreadful realization. — "So that was why they sent in all those goblins to die… The bastards planned to resurrect them when they were already behind our lines, creating chaos in the minute they started a real counterattack."

I glanced over the disorganized lines of troops, my stomach sinking to the bottom. Their plan was working.

I watched several officers doing their best to keep the scattered soldiers at least moderately organized. I didn't blame the soldiers, after all, I was struggling with my own fears, and my screaming instincts to run for my life.

I noticed one of the officers throwing an annoyed glare in my direction. I guess seeing the three of us bolting beside them like there was no tomorrow didn't really help their cause. Well, sorry about that… but after what I went through, I just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

"Where is Emrum and the others?" — I asked the girls. I hesitated for a second, then added. — "We should let them know that we are fine, so they won't worry unnecessarily."

Aria rolled her eyes, then cursed under her breath. — "Now, you don't want to worry them, but you don't seem to care about me worrying all the time, ignorant girl!" — She complained. — "Fine, they were supposed to be in that direction!" — She pointed towards a crowded trench section. — "Let's go find them." — I nodded, content that Aria agreed with my plan, while sheepishly ignoring her side comment. The woman had every right to be pissed off about me…

We barely took several steps, when shouts of alarm from the direction we came from reached us. All three of us turned towards the commotions, immediately spotting a handful of undead clashing with the terrified soldiers.

I grasped my stuff, desperation setting in. — "Can those things even be killed?" — I asked before recalling the images of those presumably undead goblins with crashed in heads. — "Would crushing their head work?"

Aria stared at the number of undead attacking our lines, then said hesitantly. — "They can be killed, if you cut off their heads or crush it… aside from that, mostly fire will do the trick." — She took in a shaky breath. — "That might sound simple, but believe me girl, cutting off the head of an armed and armored undead is far from being easy. They do not feel pain, nor fear, most of your attacks will be shrugged off, while they will do their absolute best to maim you, overrun you, then pin you to the ground before ripping you to shreds. Don't underestimate their strength!"

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Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this world? I screamed internally while listening to Aria's explanation.

Alita snorted beside me. — "Hey, look at the bright side! At least these ones won't try to have their way with you." — The dwarven lass chuckled with a lot of mirth in her voice.

My head snapped towards Alita, taking in her expression while trying to work my thoughts into working order with little success.

I stared at the dwarf incredulously. — "You did not just…" — I started, but was cut off by a shout from Aria.

"Here they come! Watch it, girls!" — I snapped my face back ahead. Noticing three of the undead creatures running towards us.

My mind sharpened as I took in the sight before me, and my thoughts focused on the task ahead: eliminate the threat, by all means necessary.

There was no more lingering hesitation inside me, just a single-minded determination, a mentality that seemed to solidify after my most recent bout with death, rape and slavery.

My voice was surprisingly calm and coordinated as I spoke up.

"I will pin them down, you girls finish them off!" — I stated and there were a pair of nods from the girls as the general chaos spread across the battlefield like wild fire following the undead's arrival.

I focused on the incoming undead, which were consisting of one dwarf and two dark elf men. I recognized them from our previous conflict. It seems they have chased us all the way.

I snapped my magic, channeling it with as much efficiency as I could. I was starting to get the hang of this ice magic. I pointed my staff towards the quickly closing undead and willed my mana to manifest in a burst of ice spikes explosively extending from the ground right under the enemy's feet.

The elongated spikes pierced the undead with a sickening sound of ripped metal and flesh. The thoughtless creatures were running closely beside one another, making it easy to hit all of them with a single attack.

To my surprise, two of the creatures went limp as they were hit in a lucky angle, their brain pierced through by some of the icicles. The third seemed to be stuck as well, if not dead-dead. Its body pierced through in several places, already freezing with the effects of my ice.

Alita moved up to it and attempted to cut off the undead dark elf's head. Unfortunately, her sword couldn't deliver a clean slash from all those icicles tough as metal surrounding the creature, which continued to claw the air in a monotonous attempt to hurt the dwarf girl.

While this awkward dance happened, the somewhat familiar sound of a snapping mechanism sounded behind us. A bolt cut through the air, hitting the undead elf. Alita flinched back as the third undead suddenly went limp. I narrowed my eyes at the creature and noticed that a crossbow bolt was now stuck through its head.

I turned around and smiled when I lay eyes on the dubious human lass. — "Camilla!" — I exclaimed, taking a double take at the woman holding a dark elf made one handed crossbow. She was already in the process of reloading it. I took in the girl's appearance. Her injured arm was bandaged, but the large splotch of blood drenching through the fabric meant that it was far from being healed. Aside from that, she seemed relatively fine.

"Take that, you motherfucker! How do you like your own medicine?" — She shouted at the now dead-undead elf, it took a few seconds for me to realize that that very elf was the one who shot Camilla, previously.

Before I could ask, I heard the arrival of several dwarfs, and I quickly noticed the anxious gaze of Emrum. — "Burn my beard!" — The man exclaimed loudly as he marched up to us. — "What in the seven hells were you thinking, running off alone in the middle of a battle? Have you girls completely lost your minds?!"

I couldn't help but sigh, while still accepting the brief hug from Emrum. — "Look, we are sorry, but this is probably not the right place to argue about this! I will gladly take all of your scoldings after we are behind those gates!"

Aria stepped up to me, grabbing the back of my collar. In the background, the new wave of undead were effectively pushed back by the incoming soldiers. There was only a dozen or so attacking this position, making it relatively easy to put them down. Still, they caused a lot of injuries and several casualties, even when fighting against one to three, which was a disturbing thought. The psychological effects of forcing the dwarfs to put down their own comrades when turned undead was an entirely different matter, or the thought of coming to the same fate if killed, to be forced to turn on your own comrades and in many cases, friends, and family.

Aria shook me lightly while grasping the back of my collar. — "I wouldn't get so prickly with that attitude, young lady! I didn't forget the way you spoke to me before, nor will your adoptive father forget the worry you caused him!"

Camilla paled, seeing the way I was being chewed off, and came to my help. — "It's… not Selora's fault… I-I… think I cornered her to act so… foolishly… If there is anyone who should be punished, it's me…"

Aria blinked, then turned on the human lass. — "Oh, and you will be punished alongside with her, don't you worry about that!" — She spat. — "I don't know what crossed your mind, but it was utter foolishness of you to leave alone!" — Camilla winced, her expression morphing into shame and regret.

"I am sorry…" — She said, looking down at the ground.

"You better be!" — Aria stated coldly, her blue eyes practically sparkling with fury between me and Camilla.

"I…" — I gulped. — "I am… sorry… too…"

The older elf raged on. — "Seriously, from what you told me, you were getting this close to be kidnapped again, or worse. Do you think you will be able to get away one more time?"

The older elf continued to scold us, but the way she did so felt a bit strange to me. She usually was a lot more collected, and measured in her way to lecture others, this time it was way too chaotic.

Aria was beside herself, that was clear, and the reason was obvious. I felt ashamed that I didn't understand it before, especially after listening to her tale regarding the Elden Orchard. The only reason I didn't acknowledge it was because I got used to seeing Aria as a war steeled woman who had no fears. The idea in itself was ridiculous.

She was acting strange since the appearance of the undead. To be more exact, she was panicking.

As I realized this, I pushed down my emotions, my sense of hurt, and stepped closer to the elf, giving her a somewhat subtle half hug. She froze from my touch, unsure how to react when I whispered to her. — "It will be alright, Aria. This Necromancer is clearly not as powerful as that Lich you mentioned…"

She went even stiffer hearing my words, a subtle shake going through her body. Her strict determination crumbling as her features softened for a brief moment… — "You idiot girl…" — She reached up to my face and teasingly stroked my right ear along its length, which made me giggle from the strange sensation. — "Thank you…" — The woman added before steeling her expression once again. She stepped up to Camilla, lifting the girl's face, who was still lost in her thoughts.

"Stop moping about, stupid lass! If you want me to forgive you, then you only have to use that damn bow on the enemy! I don't need your tears!" — Camilla snapped to attention, with fresh determination.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Alita, who was so far satisfied with watching the show, seemed to have had enough of being an observer and choose to remind us of her presence. — "So, are we retreating or what?"

Emrum answered this time. — "No, we can't, not until we achieved our initial goal. Even if we can't break the siege without the cavalry, we have to kill their siege mages. If we don't, they will melt the gates and our efforts were for naught. Thanks to the coordination of Shaper Voznin, we managed to close on their mages positions. With a last push, we will be able to fight them directly."

"Then what are we waiting for?" — Alita demanded.

To which Emrum added in a dire tone. — "Master Voznin needs time to gather his power, we cannot effectively push forward without his support. We expected the cavalry to arrive by now, but it is nowhere in sight."

Everyone grow somber hearing that statement.

"Damn it, nothing ever goes as planned!" — Alita mumbled, disbelievingly, clearly annoyed by the news.

In the meantime, I stepped up to Camilla and started healing her injured arm. Which she accepted as a thankful smile stretched across her pale features.