Crack.
A branch snapped in the distance.
The charge in the air was almost electric—too sharp to be natural.
"Company," Brianna said calmly, a spear materializing in her hand as if plucked from the night itself.
Petra, who had been toying with the soldiers moments before, shifted instantly into a defensive stance in front of me. Regina straightened, a blade of living darkness forming in her grasp, her eyes scanning the treeline.
The forest went silent—not peaceful, but tense. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Above, the moon hung in the sky with a ring of cloud around it, like the unblinking eye of Horus.
Ahhhhhh!
A scream cut through the stillness. Heads whipped toward the sound—just in time to see one of the soldiers dragged down by a pale, rotting figure, its teeth buried in his throat. The dead had struck from the shadows, from the soldier's blind spot.
My pulse pounded in my ears. I clung to Regina's arm—still too weak to stand on my own. The Prince and the others shuffled together, forming a hasty perimeter. The Captain stared at the scene with grim horror as the horde momentarily focused on their fresh kill.
Zoë and her companion's hands sparked faintly with magic, but her arms trembled. "This is bad…" she murmured.
"What are we to do?" Prince Timothy asked, his voice calm but urgent.
"Your majesty," the Captain replied, eyes never leaving the approaching horde, "the only thing we can do is fight our way out. But navigation will be a problem… The sky…" His gaze flicked upward, "…isn't right. That moon is watching us."
The Knight raised her glaive and swept it in a deadly arc, moonlight glinting along the blade as it cut down a cluster of undead in one graceful motion.
You should return to where you fought the leopard-man, the system chimed in my head. This may be connected to what's happening now.
Without a word, the Knight hauled both Regina and me onto her shadowy steed. We rode hard, the camp shrinking behind us. Prince Timothy's voice rang out—furious, demanding we return.
"They're going to see if they can fix this," Petra called lazily over her shoulder. "So instead of shouting, try not to die."
The Prince looked ready to argue but then, with a faint shift in his expression, nodded in reluctant understanding.
"Captain—defensive formation! We're going after them."
The Knight's steed tore through the undergrowth in flickers of shadow. Regina's voice reached me over the wind. "A new summon?"
"Yes," I said, distracted, my mind already on the plan.
"System—how much stamina do I have now? And… do you think killing that leopard creature caused all this?"
Sixty-five percent, it replied. You can summon more pieces—a bishop, a knight, or pawns—but I'd advise conserving your strength. Unless you want to join the undead with your head unattached.
We rode deeper into the forest. Brianna teleported ahead, clearing a path in bursts of steel and shadow. The deeper we went, the more frequent the undead attacks became.
I summoned another Knight. The air cracked as reality split, a shadowy horse and armored rider emerging. It joined Brianna without a word, the two of them cutting a bloody swath forward.
At last, we reached the clearing where I had once fought the leopard-beast. My fists clenched involuntarily. But where its corpse should have been, a rip in the fabric of space pulsed—its jagged edges spilling an endless stream of undead. Three skeletal figures in arcane robes stood near the tear, their staff-tips glowing faintly.
"Magic casters…" I breathed.
"Was that leopard-man some kind of guard?" Regina murmured.
"Well, what's done is done," I said, my voice tight with fatigue. "Brianna—go with the Knight. Take out those liches. That orb has to be the key to this."
Exhaustion tugged at my limbs, but I kept my eyes open as we sank into the thicket, watching the deadly scene unfold.