"Master?" Coal black eyes slid to the side, burning with baleful darkness from within the confines of the Lich's hood. The magus who had approached him quailed for a mental before swallowing. "Master. The living have crossed into the village. It is only a matter of time now before the battle begins." The being addressed gave a calm snort, and shifted those hateful eyes back towards the map he had spread out on his table. Emaciated fingers drummed on the tabletop as the Lich stared in thought.
"How many?" The Necromancer took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"We estimate around a hundred of them, sire. We don't know if they have reinforcements or not, but -"
"No matter. Two dozen undead, with the Undying Ones, will serve as a fine force for them to test their mettle upon. And we shall learn if the defenders of this nation have the courage to face those who walk from the other side of the grave. Our Ghouls are the fastest - have them slowly start to circle the town. But they are to make no move until the battle has been engaged." The Lich spoke without turning his head to the Necromancer - and after speaking, waved one hand dismissively towards the dark sorcerer. His subordinate bowed and left to carry out the commands for the engagement.
"So then. A hundred, to investigate the deaths of villages. If I did not know the reputation of the Knights of Brae, I would be insulted at such a paltry force being dispatched to deal with us. Let's see how these knights fare against my undead servants, shall we?" The unholy being let out a long, low laugh as he set his hands upon the table.
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This was absolutely driving me insane. I was no mindless Hollow, to sit and wait for the living to come to me. I was a man of action, I craved being the instigator in fights. I was so used to others reacting to me, or to searching me out to fight me, that just sitting here passively was infuriating. In fact, it was too much for me. I surged to my feet - damn this, may the Abyss take it all. I would not just sit by - I was not a heartless being, Camille had made sure of that.
My feet started to carry me towards the ruined door when I heard it - the sound of armored feet trodding upon the earth, in some form of unison. My eyes widened - that damn Lich had been right. We were finally seeing this land's defenders, coming to the aid of a village. If it had been any other kind of attacker, it might even have been in time to help any survivors - bandits rarely bothered putting every man, woman, and child to the sword, after all. That kind of atrocity - well, it would get them hunted down. But - this wasn't a normal foe. These were Undead, just as monstrous as Hollows from my world had ever been. Slaved to the Lich's will, they had done just that, gutting the villages that they had devastated each time. Abyss, I didn't even know if there were even any survivors from the other villages, or this one.
I slumped against the door frame, my sword and shield hanging from limp fingers as I looked out. Damn it - there was another of the Undying nearby, I couldn't break my cover yet. I hadn't gotten close to the Lich, I could afford to have them realize my will was my own. And all of us Undying had received the command to observe the others, in case the Lich's hold proved weak enough to break. Damn it, I was already risking things by standing up like this, but -
Oh, no. These men were well into the village now, passing by the bodies. I couldn't see the looks on their faces, but - well, no feeling man, unused to tragedy and atrocity, would be able to stomach the ruins around them with ease. Not with how the Lich's army reveled in mutilating the corpses that couldn't be of use. That had been held to a minimum here, to help with the ruse of the living dead in the village - but it was only a matter of time before one of them got too close to a zombie, and triggered the trap. Damn it, and none of them would trust the' lone survivor' if they did see me. My fingers tightened around the straps of my shield - damn the Lich to the depths of the Abyss. I hoped these knights would be enough to fight off the Undead assailants.
