Whispers of a Dead Empire

Chapter 49

I was jolted awake by a callous hand that clasped around my mouth. I quickly locked onto the offending person and saw that it was Gunther. He had a finger held up to his mouth and wore a look of absolute focus as he stared in the direction of the windows that overlooked the well-worn road we traveled on yesterday. I calmed down and nodded my head as I realized what was happening. I rolled off the couch and landed silently, and slithered over to my rapier. I grabbed the handle and pulled out my weapon, and focused my hearing.

The sound of baleful moans was slowly filling the air. It grated my eardrums and sent sparks of fear through my chest. It made me want to run for the hills and never look back, but it wasn't the first time I had to fight something like that before. I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. Gunther brought his staff to bear and crouched, walking over to the far window.

I heard a door swing open and saw Carter already moving out, with Alinore behind him, their weapons at the ready. I made a quick gesture with my hands, telling them to fan out around the cabin. We had to make sure that all the entrances were guarded and our flanks secured. Once I made it to Gunther, I peaked my head out the cabin window.

The sun was on the horizon, casting rays of white light that cut through the fog, which was starting to lose its viscosity. Through the fog, dozens of figures were becoming visible, shuffling aimlessly down the road. As they became more apparent, my heart dropped. Those were zombies, Wretched creatures of decaying flesh that had no purpose but to consume the living. They were entities that were constructed by evil magic and had no thoughts or feelings.

I glanced towards Gunther and met his eyes for a moment. We should be safe as long as we stay here for now. All we needed to wait for the horde to pass through. I kept my profile low as I made my way across the living room to my other companions' positions.

"Alinore, do you see a necromancer guiding them? Or magic that connects them all?" Dealing with zombies was extraordinarily rare, but we all knew that if we took the necromancer down, the horde would follow suit, unable to remain one without the magic that guided them.

Her eyes shone with silver power as she peeked out the window and scanned the horde that was slowly growing larger. They seemed affixed to a specific location and moved to it, but who really knew these things. She stared unblinkingly at the crowd of zombies as they shuffled by before she pursed her lips. "I'm not seeing any sort of magic that's animating them. They almost seem to be operating of their own accord."

What? That shouldn't be possible. Zombies needed a necromancer to guide them. I racked my brain for any reason it could be a thing until yesterday's conversation crossed my mind. When the ferryman told me that the empress of these lands gave everything to sever the chains that kept them in servitude. Was this her doing? Just how powerful was she if she could do something like this.

We stayed there quietly as the zombies marched past. We counted at least twenty of them. All of them looked to be various civilians wearing tattered clothing that was barely held together. But most of all, they seemed to be in various states of decay. I bit my tongue to stop myself from making any kind of noise as I waited for them to pass. The smell of death grew stronger with each passing moment, and my stomach churned in response to the increasing potency of the smell.

Eventually, they faded out of sight, with the fog consuming every trace they had, outside of the horrific smell and the distant moans. I relaxed slightly as I glanced at Gunther. Anger was etched into his face, along with no small amount of disgust. I shifted my attention towards the other two. Alinore was more disgusted than anything else, while Carter just seemed to watch the area. He was far too good at hiding what he was feeling. It was something that I needed to work on figuring out.

"Alright, guys, we just got the first taste of this dungeon's mobs. What should our next steps be? Should we explore the area or follow them and see where they are going?" I asked as I traveled back towards the living room, glancing back towards the windows, ensuring there weren't any more zombies in sight.

"I'd vote to see what they were moving towards. It may give us more insight about the domain." Carter spoke up as he stared out the window. It would be better than just investigating the area. Maybe we would find out why they were moving around with a necromancer. Everything about this domain was astounding, from the date and time changes to the papers I found. It felt more like an actual place than something constructed by a stone.

"Alinore, Gunther?" I asked while collecting my equipment." Since this was a safe zone, I felt comfortable leaving most of my stuff here, especially considering we were the only ones here in the domain. They both mumbled in agreement. So it was settled then, and we would follow the zombie horde.

We crept along the road, a watchful eye wary of the zombies beyond the mist. Trailing them was easy enough, but the silence we kept was driving me mad. There wasn't a necromancer nearby, then why were they here? How do we kill them? In the corner of my eye, I saw Gunther, every motion calculated as he slid forward. He seemed to be more himself, but I wondered if underneath, something still festered.

Carter was at the ready, and so was Alinore. We were on high alert, ready to react to anything at the drop of a copper. In the distance, a small wooden structure became visible. From the looks of it, the horde seemed to head straight towards it.

I quickly motioned for my ranger and mage to split up and find a better position while Gunther and I pushed forward. We moved from the road into the forest to stay out of the undead's line of sight. Zombies were incredibly stupid, and as long as we didn't cross their line of sight, so we should be alright. He and I quickly pushed through the forest, which wasn't hard considering the lack of foliage. We circled a little further out to reduce our chances of being seen by the horde until we circled around the strange structure they were gathering around.

From its looks through the fog, it was a miniature stronghold surrounded by a layer of wooden fencing. It wasn't anything fancy, just hastily constructed to keep out the undead. We settled into a small hole by the road close to the stronghold to observe it, yet kept us hidden from the undead banging on the walls."What do you think?" I asked as I observed the surrounding area, ensuring that nothing was creeping up behind us.

"I'm not sure. It may be a checkpoint of sorts, and there must be something in there that is pulling their attention." He kept his hand near his staff as he watched the walls.

"Maybe there are living beings in there? Why else would the undead be attacking this area in mass?" It would make sense, though. Undead never attacked others of their kind. The only ones who did that were Death Knights, but those were even rarer than undead were now. Except those were far more deplorable than any other undead could hope to be.

"Let's see if we can find a way in and investigate the area. Carter and Alinore should be safe setting up a recon point, and not much can slip past those two when they are running on full alert. Once we finish, we need to meet back up and head back to the rest area." I nodded my head in agreement with Gunther. There was a reason that I made this man my second in command.

"Let's move then," I replied in a hushed whisper as I slithered out of the small fox hole. I pressed myself against the ground as I ran to the wall, trying to cut the line of vision from the undead horde. Once I was on the wall, I flattened myself against it. Gunther followed suit just a few seconds later, and we began creeping against the wall.

However, much to our dismay, the fog was like a tide and seemed to flood the area once more. The haze grew thicker and darker, even choking out the sunlight of the midday sun. I grew tense as I lost one of my most vital senses in this situation. "Gunther, you still there?" I hissed quietly through my teeth. If we got lost now, it would spell our doom.

"Yes." His voice was quiet and tense. He must be suffering as much as I was. We didn't have the tools to survive in a situation like this, not like the other two, and for a moment, we were both on our own as we completed our task. The air was growing heavier, and the smell of petrichor permeated my nose, drowning out the wretched scent of death.

Great, we couldn't see, and it was about to rain. What was our luck today? Did we piss off Lady Fortune at some point? I used my fingers to feel the wall as I tried to find any sort of entrance. A building set up like this had to have a few or at least a destroyed portion of the wall.

We traveled for just a few more minutes before I felt the familiar imprint of a small door that stood at a stark contrast on the rough, dry grain of this wood. I ran my fingers across it as I tried to find a latch, which thankfully I did. "Gunther, you still here?" I asked as I moved to the other side, intending to unlock it if it even had one.

"Still here." I nodded my head and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, I found a door, but it's locked. There is no need to spook anything in there just yet." I told him as I hit the latch on the door and tried to push it open. It went a few centimeters before it stopped, and no amount of pushing seemed to do the trick. Fuck, of course, this would be our luck.

The only thing I had on me that was small enough to fit through the door was my rapier, and I would not risk the sword to get this door open."Change of plans. They barricaded the door. Think you can give me a boost?" A heartbeat later, the fog parted like the sea, and Gunther appeared.

"Think that will work?" He asked as he dropped to a knee and interlaced his fingers so I could use them to lace a foot through.

"Not sure, but it is worth a shot."