Chapter 29 - Smoke

Author's note:

Apologies for the delay. There will be a double release today.

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Erik woke up still tired. And his wounds weren't any better either.

At least his essence had recovered. And the first thing he set out to do was raise more minions. He couldn't raise Thrane as that would have been too much for the boy, so he was left only with that one last skeleton he had brought with him and the body of the annoying villager.

This was also another one he didn't know how to feel about. The villager had kept grumbling about Erik and then his Undead throughout the whole time. And now he was one.

Well, the man had at least turned out to be one of principle and honor. He had not been a coward or a traitor in his final hour.

Erik then immediately put all his minions to work. And loaded them with as many things as he could. They still needed to leave some of the luggage. But they had enough.

He also outfitted his minions with weapons, as he wanted to see how well they could fight with them. In yesterday's fight, they mostly only managed to be useful because of the mayhem, catching his enemies by surprise or while they were wounded. He was hoping that this would increase their lethality.

He gave two of the skeletons axes and a spear to the last one. The humans in the valley seemed to only wield these two weapons. The blades of both of which were made from sharp rocks. Leading him to conclude that they simply did not possess the resources or skills to manufacture anything else.

But he did so because he wanted to see if they were any better at wielding different weapons.

He asked them to perform a few swings. And the results were as expected. Aside from using the sharp ends as slash or stab, they couldn't do anything else. Honestly, he was grateful they could do even that.

With his minions ready and their luggage packed, he turned his attention to another thing.

There was one major problem that he had noticed—it was the swarm. It had begun moving a little bit faster. Now, it was inside the forest.

Erik's face turned grim as he observed it. The progression of the sea of death was still glacier but noticeably faster than before—they had even less time now.

Turning his gaze away from it, the two of them, with his minions in tow, set out on the way back to the village. It would take them a few hours, maybe more, with everything they were carrying and Erik's wounds.

As they walked through the forest, he decided to check out his new Blessing.

The process of materializing it was intuitive, like moving a limb.

Pale mist gathered in his right palm and coalesced into a black candle. The whole thing happened relatively quickly. It took only a few heartbeats.

Erik brought it closer to his face and examined it closely. It felt like any other candle, just black. Even its size was normal—barely thicker than a finger and twice the length of one.

So, what now?

"Burn brightly," he tried. But nothing happened.

He had no idea how to use a Blessing. Yet again reminded that he really needed someone to teach him the ways of Rune Bearers.

His next idea was to try and use essence somehow. He focused on the candle and tried willing it to do something—anything.

And surprisingly, it did. A flame came to life on the wick of the candle. It was just an average flame, but in a moment, it turned blindingly bright. Erik averted his eyes and stopped supplying it with essence.

The candle immediately returned to normal.

"What was that?" Endur called out curiously from behind him.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

He returned his attention to the candle. He tried a few more things, and concluded that the flame was simply just bright. When the light intensified, it did not burn hotter. So aside from using it to light his way in darkness, he couldn't see any other uses for it.

But still, he was happy that he got a Blessing.

Despite the luggage they were carrying, they made good progress as the day advanced. And by early afternoon, they were nearing the village.

When they got closer, they noticed that it was smoking.

"Why is there smoke?" Endur said, adding, "We always make sure to cover it. There shouldn't be any visible."

Then the boy's eyes widened, "Something must have happened. We need to hurry!"

But Erik pulled him back, "We don't know what's going on. And if there is danger and we barge in without taking precautions, it won't end well for us."

The boy fidgeted but seemed to be able to listen to reason.

Fee, you better be alive, dammit! Erik thought as his brown creased.

The two of them found a hidden spot between the overgrown roots of a dead tree and left their luggage. They ensured it was well hidden before creeping towards the village. With the leftover weapons from yesterday, all of them were armed to the teeth.

Erik had taken one of the axes and one of the spears for himself. His minions bore the weapons he gave them. And even the boy carried a spear.

As they got closer, they heard shouting and the clash of weapons.

The boy had become even more anxious, practically itching to rush forward. And even Erik himself was barely holding himself back.

Most of the commotion was coming from the village's northern side while the two approached it from the easter part.

Endur took them through a small opening in the fence that surrounded the village, and they found themselves in a small passage between two stone buildings.

Peeking on the main street, they saw that a number of bodies were scattered. Puddles of blood were everywhere. And the suffocating smell of smoke and iron lay thick in the air.

The boy blenched and started visibly shaking.

These look like weapon wounds, Erik thought as he observed a corpse close to him.

His gaze moved to the stone building with the prison. The thick door was firmly closed, and it did not seem like it was disturbed. That place had now turned into a safe house.

As disturbing as everything before him was, a part of him calmed down a little bit.

For now, it's probably best that she stays there. I'll check up on her when things come down, he thought, letting out a small sigh of relief.

They stayed in the shade and moved from cover to cover as they made their way north. On the way, they saw that most of the houses were empty while some had bodies in them.

As they rounded a corner, they saw two men fighting another. The lone person was losing and was nearly going to be killed.

"Do you know them?" he whispered to Endur.

The boy was momentarily confused before saying, "The old man with the long brown beard who is fighting on his own is our neighbor. I don't know the other two."

At that moment, it was all but confirmed for Erik what was happening. From Gareth's words yesterday when he didn't want to let Endur escape. Then, there was a lack of any Nilgrim corpses, only human ones, and now this.

It seemed that the other settlement wasn't only after their small group. They wanted everyone in the valley. And they had made their move against the village today.

And the two of them had arrived just after the events were already in full motion.

He observed the three fighting and knew he didn't have long to decide what to do.

He didn't want to do this, but he felt that, at this point, it was too late for any talks or peaceful resolutions. These people were his enemies, and they stood between him and his and Fee's survival.

He grimaced, but he knew what he had to do. Swallowing the bitter taste, he set his mind straight, and his heart quickened at the thought of the approaching fight.

"Stay here," he whispered to Endur while telling his minions to follow.

He had timed his approach when the two enemy warriors had their backs toward them.

"Kill him," he whispered to his minions while pointing at one of the men.

The Draugr unhesitatingly moved towards the taller of the two. And as they did, he noticed another benefit to his Undead, something he had failed to pay attention to before. They were quiet. Their bones seemed to be held together mostly by essence, and especially in the heat of battle, the others did not hear them at all until it was too late.

It was chilling seeing them approach silently and without hesitation or mercy. Well, that was how his enemies would perceive it if they even saw them.

His Undead approached the man shoulder to shoulder. At the last moment, he noticed them but did not have time to do anything as one of the Draugr embedded its axe into his weapon-holding arm.

The tall warrior stumbled, and the Undead with the spear that had aimed for his back missed and pierced his knee from behind instead. He screamed as his blood sprayed on the ground.

His companion was startled, and as his attention was drawn to the new treat, Erik took advantage of that and used his spear to stab the warrior in the leg.

He lost his balance and fell forward.

Before the older man from Endur's village took action, Erik said, "We are on your side!"

He hesitated momentarily, but the apparent desperation and hope on the man's face pushed him to believe him, and he gave a curt nod. He followed that by slamming his axe into the warrior closest to him, the one Erik fell.

His head cracked open, and blood showered the surroundings.

The tall warrior had attempted to fight off Erik's minions, but with their surprise attacks, he was rendered mostly immobile and he was killed quickly.

The villager, still in a frenzy, was about to attack Erik's minions.

"Wait! They are not enemies."

Seeing that the Undead did not move, he stopped just in time but still watched them suspiciously, ready to strike at any moment.

"Endur, come."

The boy would be far more convincing than anything he could say, so Erik called him over.

And that did the trick as the man recognized him and calmed down.

Endur confirmed that the Undead and Erik were on their side.

"So, these vile things are of your making?" The brown-bearded man asked with visible disgust.

"They are but enough of that. What happened here?" he asked, wanting to confirm his conclusions.

The man, thankfully, did not dwell on Erik's Undead too long and answered his question.

"The people from the other settlement came... and they invited us to go and take shelter with them," he said and spat on the ground.

"I take it you didn't want to go."

The man grimaced and said, "Some did. They are fools for believing those lies! Omr and Gylfi did not stop them, but they and others refused to go. And that's when the invitation turned into an order. Initially, we pretended to submit, but only until we found a good opportunity to strike."

"It seems you found it."

"Yeah, we don't have much time. If you are with us, we have to move. Most of the people are at the northern entrance."

The three of them and Erik's minions set off towards the main battle, and the closer they got, the louder the sound of fighting became.

In a few minutes, they reached it, and they saw multiple small skirmishes all over the place. Even in the houses.

This is going to get bloody, Erik thought bleakly.