Whispers of A Dead Empire

Chapter 49

I was jolted awake by a callous hand that clasped around my mouth. I quickly locked onto the offending person and saw that it was Gunther. He had a finger held up to his mouth and wore a look of absolute focus as he stared in the direction of the windows that overlooked the well-worn road we traveled on yesterday. I calmed down and nodded my head as I realized what was happening. I rolled off the couch and landed silently, and slithered over to my rapier. I grabbed the handle and pulled out my weapon, and focused my hearing.

The sound of baleful moans was slowly filling the air. It grated my eardrums and sent sparks of fear through my chest. It made me want to run for the hills and never look back, but it wasn't the first time I had to fight something like that before. I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. Gunther brought his staff to bear and crouched, walking over to the far window.

I heard a door swing open and saw Carter already moving out, with Alinore behind him, their weapons at the ready. I made a quick gesture with my hands, telling them to fan out around the cabin. We had to make sure that all the entrances were guarded and our flanks secured. Once I made it to Gunther, I peaked my head out the cabin window.

The sun was on the horizon, casting rays of white light that cut through the fog, which was starting to lose its viscosity. Through the fog, dozens of figures were becoming visible, shuffling aimlessly down the road. As they became more apparent, my heart dropped. Those were zombies, Wretched creatures of decaying flesh that had no purpose but to consume the living. They were entities that were constructed by evil magic and had no thoughts or feelings.

I glanced towards Gunther and met his eyes for a moment. We should be safe as long as we stay here for now. All we needed to wait for the horde to pass through. I kept my profile low as I made my way across the living room to my other companions' positions.

"Alinore, do you see a necromancer guiding them? Or magic that connects them all?" Dealing with zombies was extraordinarily rare, but we all knew that if we took the necromancer down, the horde would follow suit, unable to remain one without the magic that guided them.

Her eyes shone with silver power as she peeked out the window and scanned the horde that was slowly growing larger. They seemed affixed to a specific location and moved to it, but who really knew these things. She stared unblinkingly at the crowd of zombies as they shuffled by before she pursed her lips. "I'm not seeing any sort of magic that's animating them. They almost seem to be operating of their own accord."

What? That shouldn't be possible. Zombies needed a necromancer to guide them. I racked my brain for any reason it could be a thing until yesterday's conversation crossed my mind. When the ferryman told me that the empress of these lands gave everything to sever the chains that kept them in servitude. Was this her doing? Just how powerful was she if she could do something like this.

We stayed there quietly as the zombies marched past. We counted at least twenty of them. All of them looked to be various civilians wearing tattered clothing that was barely held together. But most of all, they seemed to be in various states of decay. I bit my tongue to stop myself from making any kind of noise as I waited for them to pass. The smell of death grew stronger with each passing moment, and my stomach churned in response to the increasing potency of the smell.

Eventually, they faded out of sight, with the fog consuming every trace they had, outside of the horrific smell and the distant moans. I relaxed slightly as I glanced at Gunther. Anger was etched into his face, along with no small amount of disgust. I shifted my attention towards the other two. Alinore was more disgusted than anything else, while Carter just seemed to watch the area. He was far too good at hiding what he was feeling. It was something that I needed to work on figuring out.