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Raekar slumped to the ground, and groaned when someone shook his shoulder. “Come on, get up. You can’t just lay there,” a young man shouted at him. Raekar groaned again, then shoved himself to his feet. He felt like his head had been sundered with the gate.
“It’s much easier to do that with sand than wood,” Raekar commented. He tried to rub his forehead, but the sailor who’d shook him seized his arm and dragged him forward. The rest of their companions had already charged through the breach, but the zombies in the courtyard didn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight. Perhaps Halana had been right, and the forces of evil were weaker in daylight. Maybe this noon assault was their best bet at survival. It certainly sounded better than being hunted down in the night, when she’d explained her plan back in the woods.
But the fervor of Halana’s thinking overlooked some incongruous details. For instance, why had the undead been fighting amongst themselves? Not that Raekar was upset about it – he’d made his escape while zombie pirates swarmed the death knight – but it could be important. What if the serpent they’d come to slay turned out to be a hydra? Raekar wished they’d found Winia, but with her Eye for evil, she had probably run to the farthest place from it on the island. She certainly wouldn’t be turning up here!
“Hurry up, wizard!” Sir Dedran shouted back at him, and Raekar shook his overtaxed head clear. The last zombie had fallen: a burning pile of flesh at Halana’s feet.
“Did you see,” Halana called out to the handful of men around her – the only ones who’d managed to stay together while fleeing through the woods. “A knight in black armor, akin to the one who attacked us – and she fled! We must pursue, while the sun is high and the gods smile on us! We shall enter the vipers’ pit and burn them in their nest!”
She led them into the keep at a trot, her bronzed mace wreathed in holy fire. Raekar followed at the back, pulled along by the young sailor. “You know,” Raekar said, “the back isn’t so bad a place to be, up until it’s time to retreat.”
At the front of their column, a pack of zombies rounded the corner. Halana cried out in righteous blood lust, and seconds later the corpses no longer moved. Raekar held his breath when they passed the smoldering.
“Maybe not,” the sailor gasped beside him, “but do you really want her to leave us behind, surrounded by a castle full of dead folks who might want something easier to kill than the lady herself?”
“Good point,” Raekar huffed as they jogged around another corner. “You know, if we survive this and my apprentice doesn’t turn up, I might have a place for a smart lad like you.”
The sailor gave Raekar an incredulous glance and stumbled. This time, Raekar caught his arm and steadied him – then picked up the pace, leaving the young man to follow him.
After all, Raekar thought, he’s right. We are surrounded, and in that case the middle is the safest place to be.
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