The clacking of bone and steel echoed through the barren landscape.
Augustus now led the army, guiding them toward the junkyard.
Zero, still unconscious, lay slumped across the back of Arcaeus.
Forty-five minutes passed.
As they approached the junkyard's entrance, Arcaeus neighed to signal their arrival
The sudden jolt woke Zero.
He groaned groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Wha... what's going on?"
"We have arrived, sire," Augustus said coldly.
"Where?" Zero mumbled, still dazed.
He tried to turn his head and look around but ended up falling off the horse face-first into the dirt.
Alana zipped out immediately. "Feel free to let me know how that dirt tastes down there, hoho~!" she cackled.
Zero just groaned.
Augustus raised his hand, and spoke with an eerie command: "Halt."
A wave of authority swept through the skeletal army, stopping them just outside the junkyard.
Augustus sighed, dismounted, and walked in with Arcaeus, leaving the other two to their antics.
Zero lazily glanced at him from the ground. "He got a problem?"
"Don't think so," Alana shrugged with her ghostly tendrils.
Zero stared into the distance, still lying in the dirt. "What knocked me out?" His tone was flat.
"You ran out of mana," Alana replied. "Mana deprivation. You didn't recover after using too much"
"Figured it was that Tier 2 spell." Zero remarked
"To be fair," she said, floating lazily, "That wasn't your average Tier 2. It needed serious mana reserves and output. Most mages can't handle that, even with a focus."
"What happened after I blacked out?" Zero continued
"Augustus threw you on his horse; took charge of the army and led them out."
"Then?"
Flashback
"Where are we going?" Alana had asked
"Junkyard," Augustus replied.
"Why?"
"Magic pollution concentration's high there," he said. "Undead thrive in it. Some even restore over time. Good place to stay and plan while we wait for Zero to wake up."
Alana's eyes widened, impressed. "Huh. Nice insight. I'll leave it to you, then."
Augustus turned quickly, hiding his blush.
Back to the present.
"Then he read his grimoire the whole walk," Alana finished.
Zero stood, brushing muck off his cloak and face. "Let's head inside."
They walked through the junkyard's gate.
Inside, Augustus sat leaning against Arcaeus, silent, contemplative.
Zero scanned the area.
It felt familiar, but... he couldn't place why.
Alana darted off to scout the area. From above, she observed the layout:
0.7 acres of twisted metal corridors, veins of rust and scrap sprawled outward like a mechanical graveyard.
Wow, Augustus: Good call. Not even 300 skeletons would make a dent here.
Having seen enough she zipped back.
Augustus's voice broke the quiet: "What's our plan from here?"
Zero blinked, as if snapped back from miles away. He sat cross-legged and inhaled.
Then exhaled.
"All right… let's get started," he said, a determined smile forming.
Augustus straightened slightly, stroking Arcaeus's mane.
Alana hovered closer.
They formed a loose circle around Zero, who began drawing diagrams in the ashy ground.
"Augustus, how many settlements are in this province"
"Ten villages, five towns, three cities, and one provincial capital" he answered crisply
Zero rubbed a line out of the ash and retraced it.
"So... two villages per town, two towns per city, all three cities feed into the capital?"
"Correct."
He drew a little bit more before he spoke: "Okay, so here's the plan."
That quick? Augustus and Alana thought
He picked up a slightly bent pipe and pointed to his rough map.
"We attack all ten villages."
Alana rolled her eye. "Obvious. How are we doing it?"
Zero tapped the pipe on the diagram. "Since the villages are close to the junkyard, we'll hit them in pairs. For the first one, just us three go in. Keep it quiet. Raise the population, but leave one survivor for checking in. Afterward we take the new undead army to the next village and raid."
"After that?" Augustus asked, leaning in.
"We stash that army in the local junkyard. Keep them hidden. Then move on to the next two villages. Do it all again."
Quiet and Efficient. Augustus pondered
Alana nodded slowly. "And the towns?"
"For the towns," Zero continued, "we'll bring out the stashed armies from the nearby Junkyards. Each town gets swarmed. One army per town."
"Sounds risky," Alana pointed out.
"Which is why…" Zero grinned—"We hit all five towns simultaneously!""
"What?!" Alana shouted.
"Yup. Five armies. Five leaders. Augustus leads one. I lead one. Then Alana and... Skull Lord." he said pointing at each one of them.
"ME?! With that buffoon?!"
Zero nodded excitedly. "He's not ready for command. You'll handle oversight. He'll follow your lead."
Alana grumbled in defeat.
Augustus asked, "What about the armies with no direct commander?"
"They'll be fine. I'll take precautions: by then, they'll have learned enough from the raids anyway." Zero answered straight, then continued. "Same for the cities, except more intense. Then the capital gets hit with a full-force assault."
"So—that's the plan?" Alana asked
"But..." he paused, brushing part of the ash map away, "there's one major flaw."
Augustus looked with curiosity
"I need scouts," his tone grew serious, "Real ones. To survey each settlement, gather information, deal with stragglers. Right now, there are too many uncertainties."
"Bonewalkers are too clumsy," Alana said.
"I could try," she started.
"I figured you'd offer," Zero said, "but I need a constant stream of information. Every minute. Populations, visitor patterns, magical activity. You'd be overwhelmed."
"True," Augustus nodded. "Unexpected visitors could ruin everything too"
Zero sighed. "Exactly. Dead end."
Suddenly..
Clang.
Metal drums echoed in the distance.
Then clicks; sharp, rhythmic and surrounding them.
Scrap began to shift. Whole mounds trembled. The junkyard... was moving.
Alana flew behind Zero.
Augustus scanned wildly, trying to locate the source, but it was everywhere.
Zero didn't move. Unbothered. Just watched.
SCREEEECH.
A high-pitched, metallic rasp silenced everything.
Zero's eyes darted forward.
"Come out," he said calmly.
From the mound, it emerged.
No struggle, like it walked through air.
With its long, wiry limbs. Lizard-like head. Scaled green skin. Prehensile tail.
Only 18 inches tall, walking on all fours like a wingless dragon.
Zero squinted.
"A… Drogger?" mutters Augustus
Alana gasped. "No way... what in great chaos are they doing here?!"
Zero looked to his side "you know what this thing is?"
"Oh, I remember," Alana said, scowling. "Back in the day, they were a pain in my side. mana-sensitive little pests. Could detect chaos from a mile away and ruin so many of my traps."
Zero watched it creep forward, tongue flicking at the air. It didn't seem hostile.
"Are they any-strong?"
"For the chaos no! they are Bottom-tier monsters in strength," she replied. "What made them so infuriating was how well they synced with people. Smart little vermin, too smart. In fact they could learn, adapt, and even use simple strategies. It made setting up ambushes and traps around them a nightmare!"
Augustus spoke up. "Then you'll be happy to know: they are now treated as vermin. They were purged over time. Due to how much they Overbred and due to times changing; ultimately lost value. But... instead of perishing they adapted. Evolved. Junkyards became their refuge. Full of necrotic residue, safe and nostalgic for them."
—"Good, this is where they belong!" Alana huffed
"And due to that I can count on, there being a large amount here and that being there leader"
Zero pets the Drogger and then he lifted it up by its arm pits.
Alana interjected "Wouldn't make sense Droggers only follow the oldest and the elders are usually way bigger than that; this is more to be likely a juvenile"
As Zero lifted it up he saw a faint green rune that glowed along its belly.
"What's this?"
Alana gasped. "That old script… It's a rune! From back then!"
"Explain?" zero queried
"People back then thought Drogger's were more useful and small, so they put runes on their bellies to stop them growing. Everything else: learning, mana sense, instinct and the perks of age, all kept developing just fine. They also can live up to a thousand years… just rarely get the chance" she finished bluntly.
Zero stared into its eyes. Let his necrotic mana seep out.
"You want to work for me, little Drogger?"
The creature blinked rapidly. Head tilted. Tongue flicked.
Then in a scratchy mimicry
"Yes."
Alana and Augustus stood in stunned silence.
Zero deeply chuckled.
Then burst out
"PERFECT," he declared, raising the Drogger into the air, laughing.
"Haha! MY PLAN! IT'S COMPLETE!"
He hugged it tightly, laughing.
Alana rolled her eye. "Still have to figure out how to use them."
Augustus agreed. "Yes, how…"
"Isn't it obvious?" Zero asked, placing the Drogger in his lap. He redrew the map. "They're more than scouts. They're a message chain."
"But how will you communicate across far villages?" Alana questioned. "They'll be hours apart. And you're no beast-handler so how will you teach them to understand you?"
"Well you said they can learn things, right?"
"Yes…"
"Then I'll teach them: Signs. Numbers. Gestures. Expressions…" Zero grin widens "It doesn't matter. They'll learn."
He tilted his head toward Augustus "and for communication... Augustus, you're up."
Augustus straightened, caught off-guard.
Zero didn't wait. "We'll use your black tethers. Coils."
A pause.
A black tether...?
Augustus froze, mind racing.
He knew this whole time?
His blue sockets flickered faintly, a shade lighter. But his voice was cold. Controlled.
"Yes, sir."
He extended his hand. From his fingers, shadowy, snakelike tethers slithered out, writhing with unnatural grace.
Zero holding his hand out, "Your master coil. Give it to me."
Augustus hesitated just long enough to reveal the impact.
He knows how it works, too?
Still, without question, he handed it over.
Zero took it, the grin never leaving his face. The Drogger, now curled on his lap; barely flinched as the coil wrapped around it like a comforting thread.
Augustus watched. Quiet. Calculating.
Then spoke, tone crisp:
"What's your plan, sir?"
Zero beamed. "Simple. I'll send groups of Drogger's to every village, town, city, and the capital. Each one pairs with a group leader, who gets a Coil. That way, they can send info back through the master coil"
He patted the small Drogger. "This one stays with me. Anything they learn, it relays to me directly."
Both Alana and Augustus nodded.
"Perfect," Zero said, standing. "You guys stay here. I've got work to do."
He looked at the Drogger enthusiasm shining off him "From now on, you're mine. I'll even give you a name… but first, we've got work to do"
He dashed off deeper into the junkyard, the Drogger clinging to his cloak.