The War of .Zip (Working Title)

Chapter 32: Burnt but cold.

In the days since the skeletons rose, panic had consumed Shiar.

They'd tried to climb through the walls of the capital for hours before they eventually realized they could just brake through them. Casualties had been unbelievably low with the skeletons trying their hardest to only knock out or disable their enemies and only killing Generals and higher up guard members when they had to.

By the end of the second night, they'd engulfed the city, but left the population untouched.

People were almost able to continue with their daily lives, and most almost did.

They had breakfast, went out to work, walked down the roads on the side that the shuffling skeletons left for them, and then just continued on with their lives.

Even the guards had mostly left the skeletons alone now.

If they weren't fighting them off at the Crown, they'd leave them alone, and the skeletons would do the same.

So, whilst the Crown was still under siege, life in Shiar was now almost peaceful again.

What's more, crime had dropped to 0%. The skeletons killed anyone they caught breaking the law before retuning to their shuffling towards the Crown.

Now, there were rumors. A small band of commoners and lords alike were speaking privately about whether or not the skeletons were right to peruse the king as they did.

There had always been a rumor of the king and queen having killed Richard so that they could rule, but now the fact that the rodent genocide was carried out in secret by their monarchs had bolstered the numbers of this little faction.

Meanwhile, in the Crown, Maisie screams in her room and then begins to pant.

Alexander climbed back up the bed and lay beside her, the two of them rather happy with how the last hour had turned out.

''See...you needed...to release...some stress.'' She said between breaths.

''That was much better than training.'' He agreed. ''And it burns about as many calories.''

Maisie laughed as she sat up and walked over to the wash basin.

Outside, the sound of battle raged on, but by now it was white noise to them.

''So, what now?'' She asked as she dabbed her neck with the wet cloth.

''Well, I'm still sooo annoyed. Yes, uhhh, my anger is consuming me.'' Alexander joked.

''Oh dear.'' Maisie said, turning to her lover and smirking. ''Luckily, I might have a solution...'' She jumped back onto the bed and round two commenced.

As night drew in, Krios looked out at the city. No fires, no screams, just a constant stream of skeletons moving towards the Crown and attempting to break into it.

He thought how funny it was that, to his knowledge, this was the nicest war he knew of, yet the oxymoron seemed somewhat foreboding.

War never changes. He thought to himself. But, this time, it has. Few casualties, life continuing on uninterrupted. This could last for years before either side ever felt the need to enhance their offensive.

He wandered back through the garden and spotted soldiers coming off duty. They were mostly unharmed with but a few suffering minor wounds, but nothing a bandage wouldn't soon fix.

They almost seemed happy and he could overhear them making plans to visit the local tavern.

One even suggested Cockatoos, which Krios knew to be a pretty place where the pretty people of Shiar would go to party.