The first few seconds after the creature appeared the trio were left frozen by the unexpected turn of events. Just when they were about to give up and return the city, the undead that had eluded them finally showed up. The three of them were professionals though, and their stiffened reactions were promptly discarded for active ones.

  Jarris’ blade came free of its sheath as his other hand went for the shield on his back. Likewise, Anith untangled her shield and axe to support him. The two of them charged the rotting creature while Rick brought his crossbow to shoulder-level in order to support the frontline fighters. The tactic was as basic as could be but would probably be effective. Their opponent was a mere zombie which did not seem to have a single ounce of intelligence; therefore, it would likely not take them long to bring it down.

  Of course, that was under the assumption that Sage would stand aside and watch them work; which, unfortunately, she would not. Her entire reason for coming this way was to meet the necromancer rumoured to be lurking around these parts. As the zombie provided a way to the necromancer, she was unwilling to lose it to these schmucks.

  The moment the trio sprang into action she had already begun her channelling. The spell was completed almost instantly and she aimed it at the one closest to reaching the undead. Just before she released the spell, she caught Jarris’ shift in demeanour as he almost stumbled but picked himself up really fast to attempt a jump to the side. He must have sensed her casting, an impressive feat for someone who had not awakened his mana. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough, the spell caught him in the back, sending him sprawling on his stomach.

  Obviously the other two members of the trio were caught off guard by this turn of events, completely throwing them off their act. Anith came to a halt and looked at the downed Jarris, the half of her face that Sage could see clearly displaying shock. Fortunately for her, her shield was still held up, enabling her to keep the undead’s puss-bloated arms from hitting her body. Then, with a grunt, she shoved the creature hard with her shield, causing it to stumble and fall backwards. She did not pursue though. Instead, she made a one-eighty and charged Sage, her eyes burning with fury.

  “YOU FUCKING BITCH!” she yelled as she raised her axe overhead.

  Similarly, Rick had also realised what had happened, prompting him to turn his crossbow on Sage. His bolt reached her long before Anith did. Unfortunately for him, it passed through her.

  As she watched Anith’s rapid approach, she once more grasped her mana and began preparing another spell. However, a short contemplation caused her to change her mind and cease her casting. Watching the woman approach with her large shield, she formulated another plan.

  Anith was a warrior with a Grade 3 physique. That was one degree lower than the bastard Isaac; the same level as her. The woman was perfect for testing her newly acquired sword skills on. So, she hoisted her buckler to shoulder-level and unsheathed her own weapon, preparing to take her on. To the side, she spied Rick notch another bolt to his weapon, preparing to take another shot at her.

  There was another who needed to learn combat and the marksman looked like an ideal foe.

  “Nyx!” she shouted.

  With the depth of their bond, it was not difficult for the familiar to understand her intention. Before the marksman fired his shot, an Umbral Felis jumped out of his shadow onto his back, eliciting a scream from the man.

  Sage did not turn to see what happened next as she caught Anith’s blow with her buckler. She felt the buckler dent inwards, sending a sharp pain up her forearm. No bones were snapped, but it did not stop her from grunting and gritting. Shoving the woman’s weapon away, she thrust her shortsword towards her abdomen, an attack Anith obstructed with her shield. The tip of the sword sank into the wood, rendering it stuck. Sage caught a gleam in Anith’s eyes as the woman took this as an opportunity to swing her axe horizontally with the clear intention of cleaving through her neck. She was prepared though and ducked backwards while simultaneously kicking the wooden shield away, all the while maintaining her tight grasp on her weapon. The sword came free as the axe passed mere centimetres above her. Both of them were sent stumbling from each other but they both managed to catch their footing.

  Taking advantage of the momentary respite, Sage’s attention wandered to the familiar and the crossbowman who were entangled in their own struggle. Now Rick only held the crossbow with a single hand, while the other grasped a dagger with which he tried to stab the shadowcat. Unfortunately for him, Nyx was adept at dodging; he avoided the attacks by sinking into the man’s shadow before peeking out with only his head and latching onto Rick’s ankle with his teeth. The marksman uttered a pained grunt as he tried to use his other leg to stomp the familiar’s head, to no avail. All his foot met was ground.

  Sage would have continued to watch a little longer had Anith not initiated another attack, causing yet another collision between her buckler and the woman’s axe. This time the woman’s axe penetrated her shield and she felt its bladed tip bite into her flesh. It stung, but she had felt worse before. Gritting her teeth behind her mask, she tried to maintain composure as she gazed into the woman’s enraged face.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Fucking witch!” Anith spat. “You damned bloodcurdling, flesh-eating bitch! This is all your doing, isn’t it? You are the one behind the undead roaming around, aren’t you? You foul bitch!”

  Sage did not bother with a response as she let her buckler go. She then grasped her sword with both hands and swung it with as much strength as she could muster while still keeping her balance. The blow was once again caught by the large shield, but the impact resulted in a large crack forming along with splinters flying.

  Anith pushed back her sword and began her own set of attacks. Now that Sage had dropped the buckler, the woman likely assumed it would be easy to cut her. Unfortunately for her, this place was an open field in a vast space, Sage could jump backwards an innumerable amount to avoid the sword before she was cornered with nowhere to go.

  “Dammit!” Anith’s frustrated call sounded after a minute of unfruitful attacks. “Stop dodging and face me head-on witch!”

  From where the woman’s partner tangled with the familiar, a pained yelp came. It was Nyx, who failed to dodge an attack, causing the underside of Rick’s crossbow to hit him and send him tumbling several metres from where he had been. Seeing this caused Sage to release a silent sigh as she raised her sword to catch Anith’s axe. Unfortunately, she had nothing else to block with as the wooden shield was rammed into her face. Luckily, she possessed other means to avoid the impact. Before the shield could make contact, she {Blink}ed, appearing a few metres away.

  This time, facing another of Anith’s attacks, she did not try to dodge or even use her sword to defend. Instead, she removed one hand from the sword and pointed it at the woman, preparing a spell. This fight had gone on long enough.

  The spell she chose this time was the 6th Order Illusion spell [Terror]; which, this time, fortunately worked as intended. Anith’s weapon was just a few centimetres from reaching her when it froze up. The spell did not only affect the woman. Rick came to an abrupt halt in the middle of his follow up attack against the cat. Not waiting to see how long it would take them to recover, Sage followed up by casting [Paralyse] twice, downing them like she had done their leader.

  With that, the battle was won. She took a step back to examine area.

  The members of the trio now lay in the grass, each of them wearing an unwilling expression of sorts. Anith’s eyes burned with hatred as she glared at her, while Rick grunted and hyperventilated whilst futilely trying to move his body. Jarris, who was the furthest from her, too had a hardened expression; however, he was too busy trying to fend off the zombie as best as a paralysed man could to show it to her properly. On the other hand, not counting the brownish-green fluid smeared onto his face and armour, the zombie did not appear to have harmed him too much. Although, that did not seem would be the case for long, as the creature kept trying to force its bloated thumbs into his tightly shut eyes while it drooled onto his face.

  “Enough!” she declared. “Get off him.”

  Hearing her, the mindless rotting being ceased its actions and climbed off the man. The trio, witnessing this, had their eyes simultaneously widen before their glares towards her intensified.

  “Sso it really wass you?” Anith managed to spit out with difficulty. “You’re ressponssible!”

  Sage deigned not to respond as her eyes darted across the surrounding, scanning the area carefully. Earlier, the trio had said that there would be others looking for the zombie in order to win the pool money; the last thing Sage wanted was to have them walk into this area and witness the current scene.

  She raised her hand and cast one of the spells she had recently learned, [Summon Undead III]. When the spell was finished a rip appeared in space and expelled an ashen grey figure with arms that were disproportionately long and ending with claws. The creature had no legs as it hovered above the grass, hairless and ugly.

  Race: Wraith (Undead- Spectre)

  Physique: None

  Mana: B (Green)

  The last encounter she had had with such a creature had been unpleasant. This time though, the wraith was under her control and she could command it how she pleased.

  “Search the surroundings, lure away anyone who approaches,” she ordered. “As for those who refuse to leave, kill them!”

  Unlike the Netherkin wraith, this one was not sentient; so there was no response as it {Blink}ed away to do its task.

  “What are you going to do with us?” Jarris hissed at her. Having been paralysed longer, the spell must have worn off a bit; which must be was why he was not slurring his words.

  There was no set limit for the amount of time one hit by [Paralyse] would stay under the paralysis effect. Stronger physiques shook off the effect faster, but that was not the only variable. There were known cases where those with the lowest physiques were able to shake off the spell relatively quickly. To avoid such a case, Sage hit the three with yet another round of [Paralyse] before spending a few attempts to successfully [Polymorph] them into mice, all off whom she grabbed by their tails and raised to eye level.

  “I have yet to decide what do with you,” she told them sternly. “It won’t be long though. Try to behave in that time, will you? Unless of course you prefer I feed you to my cat.”

  Said cat earlier injuries, which had been leaking tendrilled smoke, had long since sealed themselves. Now, he was busy gathering the trio’s clothes and items that had been dropped after their transfiguration. He was cleaning up the scene so those who came by later would not find something amiss.

  Satisfied with the mice’s reaction to her threat, she turned to the zombie, which continued to stand aimlessly on the same spot. Both is odour and appearance were an insult to the senses, something that made her keep a fair distance as she addressed it.

  “Take me to your master,” she ordered.