Army of the Undead

Theo didn't have time to scream. All he saw was a gray face, a contorted snarl, claw-like hands flying at his throat.

Then someone seized his cloak and flung him back. Theo yelped as he hit the stone floor, stirring up clouds of ash. Through it, he barely managed to glimpse Ryllis in front of him, giving her spear a tremendous swing.

A dull, sickeningly wet thud echoed through the house, followed by a rattling hiss. Something tumbled, hitting the floor with a sickening crack.

"What – what – " Sam gasped, her back pressed to the wall and hands clamped over her face. 

Forcing strength into his legs, Theo stumbled forward. The house wasn't very big, so it didn't take long to reach the entrance.

When he saw the thing crumpled at the doorway, his stomach twisted into knots. It was...a body. Skin gray and clammy, face twisted into an open-mouthed snarl. A stab wound gaped in its chest, but there was no sign of blood, only ragged flaps of skin.

"Ryllis!" Sam cried, shrill and breathless. "You didn't just – "

"I don't – " Ryllis threw a wild glance at Sam, her face more desperate than Theo had ever seen it.

Then a new sound met Theo's ears – a rough scrape and clatter. His heart leaped into his throat when he saw the corpse begin to twitch, fingers skittering across the stone floor like the legs of a spider.

With awkward, jerking movements – less like it was moving with its own power and more like it was being controlled by an unseen force – it braced its hands against the floor and hauled itself upright. Every movement made more skin flake off its fingers, curling like scraps of sawdust and revealing bare bone underneath.

The three of them could only watch in horror as the corpse rose to its feet. Its shoulders were slumped, its arms dangling limply, and the eyes madly spinning in their sockets seemed unable to focus.

Impossible. But Theo couldn't deny what was right in front of his eyes. 

This wasn't just a corpse. It was a zombie.

As it lurched toward them, scraping its feet against the floor, a strange chill gripped Theo's spine. This wasn't fear, nor even the cold night air. He had felt this before, hadn't he? A deep, dark Levia....

But before he could think about it further, Ryllis charged. "Sam! Let's go!"

"Ah – right!" Sam gulped in a deep breath before summoning her Levia. A diagram erupted beneath her feet, drowning the room in cool green light. As her power brushed against Theo's, he found he could breathe easier.

Aglow with the same light, Ryllis lunged for the zombie. Flames erupted around her spear, harsh and crackling. 

When her spear struck the zombie, the horrid stench of roasting flesh slammed Theo in the face. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to watch as Ryllis carved an arc down the zombie's chest and split it wide open. 

The zombie collapsed again, gurgling weakly, and Ryllis wrenched her spear free before stepping back. Theo stared at its exposed ribcage, the bones charred and smoking, and it took all his effort not to vomit inside his mask.

At that moment, his Levia lurched violently. A warning? No time to think, or even call out to the others, because two new zombies charged through the entrance, carelessly trampling over their fallen comrade.

Snarling, Ryllis swung her spear and sliced off the arm of the nearest zombie. The other one grabbed the shaft of her spear and tried tugging it out of her grasp, but that was when a new diagram flared beneath her. More intricate – an elemental spell.

A wall of fire surged in front of Ryllis, roaring like an enraged monster. Once again the stench of cooked meat flooded the room, but Theo refused to let it distract him. Gathering his own Levia, he cast a strengthening spell and a pink diagram joined the mint green one. Their mingled colors danced across the walls like an echo of the aurora outside.

With a tremendous kick, Ryllis knocked away the zombie clinging to her spear and sent it flying into the wall of fire. As it writhed and sizzled, she rounded on the other zombie. Its lower half was caught within the flames, but it kept trying to reach for her with its remaining hand. Her face a mask of fury, Ryllis sliced through its neck with so much force its head shot clear across the room.

Theo flung himself to the side to dodge. The head thunked against the wall, but he didn't bother to see where it landed. As he ran for the entrance, Ryllis flicked her wrist and the flames died into nothing.

The sudden darkness disoriented Theo, but he still had the globe-fish to see by. Fearless as ever, Ryllis charged out of the entrance. Sam ran after her, already casting a new spell.

Theo followed, preparing to cast another strengthening spell – but the pure chaos outside froze him in his tracks. Where before the village had been eerily still and silent, now it swarmed with so many zombies he couldn't even make out individual bodies, only a roiling mass of limbs.

A flash of red light sent him stumbling. It must be Meg casting a spell, he realized. Then he saw Lodo in his giant cat form, slashing at the zombies with metal claws.

And there was Gryseld in the middle of the mob, firing nonstop with twin pistols. Kress charging like a mad bull, scarlet dreadlocks streaming behind her. One pirate perched on a roof, shooting crossbow bolts into the mob while the other pirate carved through the zombies with twin scimitars.

And Darian, where – another red flash illuminated her at the edge of the group, jabbing with her rapier. The next time she stabbed, lightning crackled around the blade.

But Meg couldn't support her and Lodo at the same time. So Theo had to do his part. As Ryllis and Sam dove into the fray, Theo breathed in deeply and lifted his staff. His Levia rushed through his veins, boiling with desperation, and he directed the flow up the staff and into the crystal at its tip. Pink light blazed within its core, so bright it almost blinded him.

Still not enough – brighter and stronger, letting the light dance back and forth across the Star of Miriel's facets so that it refracted against itself and became more intense and concentrated. When the crystal began to thrum with power, Theo knew it was time.

He pointed the staff, and an elemental diagram blazed beneath Darian. Then he swung it in an arc across the battlefield, and strengthening spells erupted under every single fighter. He saw Gryseld freeze, her eyes wide, before a huge grin spread across her face and she swept her tail out behind her, knocking over three zombies at once.

Lightning flashed brighter than his Levia, making dark spots dance in his vision. Surrounded by streamers of crackling electricity, Darian dove headfirst into the mob of zombies.

Theo gripped the staff until his arms went numb, concentrating all his attention on his power. He still didn't feel exhausted, but he knew if he lost focus for even a second, every diagram would go up in sparks. So what if he didn't have Zenith. He'd just use the power he would have given his familiar to support everyone else.

But he was so focused on his task that he didn't notice the zombie sneaking up behind him until too late. When it slammed him to the ground, the staff slipped out of his fingers. He yelled, writhing uselessly beneath the zombie's grip. Its rotting stench flooded his nose, but the dark Levia animating its bones and tendons was far more noxious, throbbing inside his skull like it wanted to drill through his brain. 

He fought with all his might, thrashing and kicking, driving his knee into the zombie's ribs so hard he felt bone crack. But the zombie didn't let up; it kept scrabbling at his face, trying to pull off his mask.

As his desperation rose to a crescendo, a new Levia sliced through the air – purple flames even colder than the snowy night. The next thing he knew, the zombie let go and tumbled off his body, hitting the snow with a dull whump.

Gasping for breath, Theo hauled himself upright. When he saw the staff lying by his side, he snatched it and clutched it tight to his chest. Damn him if he was ever going to let go of it again.

"Theo." The quiet voice somehow managed to cut through the panicked pounding of his heart. Rising to his knees, he turned to see a man in black armor approaching. His breath caught; with the helm hiding his face, Victor might as well have been the vengeful figure who had tormented Theo's nightmares.

But when Victor held out a hand to him, Theo didn't hesitate to take it. The armor was cold and hard against his palm, but it was so much better than the zombie's clammy touch.

"Are you all right?" Victor asked. 

Theo nodded quickly. "I am. But you guys – "

Victor tilted his head to the sky, and Theo looked up to see five skycraft looming above, their keels almost scraping the roofs of the houses. People were climbing over the railings, descending on medusid tentacles into the raging battle. 

"Lo and behold, the cavalry is here." Mirage stepped out from behind Victor, brandishing his whip with a flourish. "Did you honestly believe we'd be content with just watching?"