Whistle, Whistle, Whistle. "I've been working on the railroad…"
"Mistress, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I am doing?" Elanore gestured towards the staff over her shoulder. Dangling from the end of it was a small bag full of grass. "This is my haul after a long day's work."
"Mistress...that's grass, and what are you even talking about?"
Elanore sighed and looked down at the dirt and cobbled trail. "This road reminded me of a railroad."
"A railroad, mistress?"
"What!? You really don't have them here?"
The wyvern shrugged. "I have never heard of one, but it doesn't mean they don't exist."
"Right...I forget that you lived in seclusion high up in the mountains, at the throat of the world."
"It's not the…"
Elanore placed a hand up, stopping the other girl from continuing. "I know. It was another reference to something you wouldn't understand…More importantly, can you hear that?"
Naela nodded. "It sounds like there's trouble ahead, mistress."
The vampire grinned and ran ahead over a hilltop. Far off in the distance, she could make out the figures of people fighting. Warriors surrounded a large wooden carriage, and from the grasslands, Elanore saw their foes. I was wondering when something like this would show up!
Race: [Zombie]
Age: 98
Sex: Male
Level: 5
Health: 107
Stamina:
Mana: 11
Undead monsters!
Though, no matter how much Elanore looked at it, it was strange. There were no crypts or anything nearby and nothing like a necromancer either. The zombies crawled out of the grass as if they were flowers blooming on the field. Rotten flowers, that is.
"What should we do, mistress?"
"For now, we can just watch and see what happens."
///
Mathew's axe cut through the arm of the zombie in front of him. The appendage fell to the ground, radiating a foul stench from its green flesh. The low groan of the undead reached his ears, but it was the scent that threatened to overwhelm him.
"Marine!" He shouted.
"On it!" The girl's voice responded, and she started to channel her magic. "Blessing of Synnaria upon us, cleanse this foul smell! [Scent of Her Holy Garden!]"
Mathew's olfactory sense started to change slowly. The foul smell of the rotting dead became replaced by the natural splendid scent of a garden. The whiff was enough to clear his head right as the zombie lunged for him.
The warrior swung his metal axe at the zombie's head, and it tore through the neck of the creature's flesh. The head of the undead sprang free from its body and fell towards the grass below. He looked towards his friend Gregory to see how the other warrior was faring.
"God dammit! Why are they out this early in the year! It's not even Fall yet!"
Mathew grinned after seeing Gregory was as his usual self. Instead, Mathew turned his attention towards a new row of zombies climbing out of the ground. "We don't really have the luxury to care right now. Simply take care of them and make sure that the merchants are safe. It should end soon!"
The warrior stomped his feet on the ground, using his skill to bind himself to the earth. He charged forwards at the small platoon of undead.
Bang! His axe slammed against heavy metal armor, and Mathew's eyes widened. "Armored Zombie?"
The recoil of his strike rattled inside of Mathew's wrist and knuckles. His entire body felt shaken from the impact, and despite his skill, he nearly stumbled onto the ground.
Mathew's eyes widened as he caught a grin form in the helmeted zombie's mouth. The warrior was left defenseless in the wake of his strike.
A halberd of magic manifested in the undead's hands, and it swung the newly manufactured weapon with a sickening grin on its face. The zombie aimed right for the midsection of the warrior, protected only with leather armor.
"Mathew!" Samuel's voice shouted, and the young boy—barely fit to be a warrior—lunged between the zombie's weapon and the older warrior.
The boy stopped the attack with his shield, but it was enough to send him flying. Samuel went sprawling back towards the carriage and tumbled hard on the dirt road.
Mathew gritted his teeth while looking back. "You fucking idiot!"
"Do you really have time to worry about your friend?"
Mathew stared back at the zombie in horror. "You!? You can speak!?"
The zombie twirled his halberd and stomped it against the ground. "Right you are. Zuldoor, the pleasure is all yours."
Mathew shook his head and took a step back. He looked towards his friends fighting other zombies, but none of them were like the one before him. Why am I the one that always draws the short straw, dammit?
Zuldoor frowned. "I believe it is customary for warriors to introduce themselves in a duel. Perhaps I misjudged you?"
"I am not going to introduce myself to a damn zombie."
Zuldoor's grin returned, and he tapped the end of his halberd on the ground three times. "No matter, pretty soon you will know the might of Kazaldoor."
"Kazaldoor?"
Though, no matter how much Mathew wanted to stall for his friends to finish their fights, Zuldoor did not wait for his other zombies to die. Blue flames coated Zuldoor's halberd. The zombie tapped the weapon on the ground three more times, and the blue flames started to spread to his armor.
Mathew lunged towards the enigma in front of him. That can't be good. I have to stop him!
However, the closer Mathew's legs got, the more the premonition of death hit him. He caught the glowing blue orbs of the monster, and it was like staring into the eyes of death itself.
Death tightened its grip on its halberd, and it swung towards Mathew's neck. The man didn't have time to move. He had neither the reaction time nor the speed to block.
A flash of light. Beams of pink attacked the field and coated Mathew's vision.
The warrior tripped over a halberd on the ground and fell face first on the grass, eating a bunch of dirt on the way down.
For a second, he thought he was dead, but he soon realized that was impossible. Pain assailed his face, and blood poured from his mouth. In hitting the ground so hard, he'd busted his lip open.
He whipped around as fast as he could, searching for the zombie, but it was gone. In fact, all of them were gone.
The only thing that remained in their place was fading pink rays, and a light and mischievous voice sounded over the plains. It was the voice and face of a goddess, but the words were strange.
"Look at all this loot!"