One - Wake
The first chapter of Death’s Name* because it’s a huge improvement on my very first draft and I’m proud of that. AKA your introduction to my undead monsters :)
*It is in first person! I know some people don’t like that, but it feels right for this story.
“Just so you all know, this is not what I expected to be doing today!”
“Just keep moving!”
I glared at the back of Karolus’ head. Sure, he had a point. There really was no time to regret waking up at all. But still. If I thought I was going to open my eyes to a day full of a whole vanguard chasing me only to turn around and defend me from undead…well, I wouldn’t have gotten up in the first place.
Karolus’ attitude certainly didn’t help. He was probably the youngest of them—the one who’d caught up to me first and explained the vanguard wasn’t there to hurt me—yet seemed to have the soul of a 70-year-old man with a stick up his—
“There!” Alvera shouted, gesturing between the darkened bricks of what must have been two small shops. I eyed the scattered remains of the items inside, wondering what they could have been.
We skirted down an alley, finding another. This one had a small shock of hair, burnt at the tips, with highlights of oil-slick black dripping from the ends onto the cobblestones. It cocked its head at us in a slow, two-part movement, eyes blackened from fire and rot and the oozing darkness deep inside. The snap and crack of its limbs as it tried to stand made me cringe.
Alvera darted forward and stabbed her dagger down to the hilt in the undead’s head. It hissed and crumpled, empty.
No time to waste. We charged on, flitting past empty streets and hollowed-out buildings. Some still burned. Others only smoked, their darkened insides quiet and lifeless.
This was what I saw when I first wandered in, only an hour prior. Now, as we ran, darting from street to street, killing them—the Xialun, Karolus called them—occasionally passing the other vanguard, I vowed that the next time I came across a burned town full of burned bodies, I’d turn right around and leave.
“Another!” Karolus jerked to the side, pointing.
We followed, and my heart skittered in my chest at the sight of a hunched over figure, almost standing.
“You don’t want them to stand; it’ll be all over.”
I may have known very little, but Karolus seemed certain of that fact. And this one was almost there.
The Xialun snarled, head cracking upright in long, stiff movements. Karolus leapt and drove his dagger through its eye.
“There’s no end to them!” Alvera snarled. She was panting in her leather armor, green eyes darting. She brushed off some sweat and shook her head. Her red hair flared in the sunlight, a beacon.
Amazing, I thought, that the sun could shine so bright through all the smoke.
“That’s how it always is,” Karolus replied, wiping his blade and rising. “Come on.”
“Hey.” Alvera waved a hand in front of my face and I blinked. “I know this is a lot at once, but keep moving alright? We’re doing alright.”
“It’s not—” I paused, swallowed, stared at the Xialun. I wanted to scream at them, tell them I knew nothing, that I woke up with nothing in my head and no idea where I was and that this whole situation was crazy. I came here looking for help. Instead I found a dead town, a vanguard, and undead.
I shook my head. “Right.”
Karolus led the way. His long black hair whipped in the wind, brushing over shoulder pads and leather. Scars ripped up his arms and across his face—the first real, live face I saw in this dead town, a stern, young face full of memory and anger. A face of duty.
The one who first helped me up and reassured me the Vanguard was not there to hurt me.
A deep bugle echoed down the streets, and we all stopped. Two notes and silence.
“Someone needs help,” Karolus whispered.
Alvera swore and rushed toward the sound. Karolus and I followed. We jumped over the undead we killed and darted past broad avenues of smoldering wood. Vanguard flickered into sight between the buildings, swords and daggers flashing bronze in brief flashes of sunlight. They all had the same tight faces, the same fright.
One of the dead had risen.
It struck me all at once and I redoubled my pace, tightening my grip on the loaned dagger in my hand.
We reached an open square and skidded to a stop.
“No,” Karolus breathed.
I dropped my dagger. The clink echoed throughout the square and we stared and stared at the thing in the middle, horror washing over us, and the other arriving vanguard, like a tide.
The Xialun stood at an angle, back bent unnaturally, limbs too gangly for the body. It held a long, thin sword. At the end hung the limp body of one of the vanguard. Her hair brushed the dirt and her mouth hung open, sloshing with blood. A pool of it spread around the Xialun’s feet. It, too, stared, as if entranced. Then, with a slow, jerky movement, it shook the vanguard from its sword.
The thud hit my chest, rang in my ears; but the gurgling scream that followed hit my stomach. I put my hand to my mouth.
The vanguard writhed on the ground. Blood poured over her lips and strangled her cries.
“You bastard!” a man screamed. He leapt forward, sword upraised, eyes burning, and the rest of the vanguard tensed.
“Zhio, stop!” Commander Roes commanded. She stepped forward to catch him, but Zhio darted toward the Xialun without a second thought. He struck out like a snake and for a moment I thought he’d got it. The Xialun were slow to stand, slow to move; they had to be slow to fight, too.
Steel met steel. One moment the Xialun had been staring at the fallen vanguard, and the next its sword flicked up to meet Zhio’s. Zhio gasped and I winced at the visible tremor that passed through his arm.
“Everyone, to arms!” Roes cried, raising her sword. The vanguard followed suit. I scrambled to grab my dagger, but before I could, another scream pierced the air.
The Xialun’s sword burst through Zhio’s back, so fast the vanguard hadn’t even taken a step before it happened. Zhio struggled to pull away, but the Xialun grabbed the front of his robes and dragged him down to the hilt of the blade. The scream turned into a wail.
“ZHIO!” Alvera screamed. She made to charge, but Roes stepped in front of her, and held her back.
Zhio fell still and the Xialun pushed him from the blade. It stared at his body and then at us. It smiled. Black ooze fell from its mouth, down its chin, dripping into and mixing with the blood at its feet.
“Everyone,” Roes said, her voice firm and steady, “faerie maneuver.”
In a beat, the vanguard fanned out, its ten remaining members scattering themselves at different distances from the Xialun and surrounding it. Karolus made to follow, but Roes grabbed him and pointed at me.
“Keep her back.”
Karolus’ face hardened, but he nodded and stepped in front of me. Roes joined her troupe and advanced.
“Hey,” I cried, standing with dagger in hand, “wait, I can—”
Karolus put his arm in front of me. “You go in there, you’ll die.”
I glared at him, stomach roiling with what I’d just seen. “That thing just killed two people; like hell I’m staying back here and—”
“This is not your fight!”
“But it’s yours! Do you even care about the people who just died?”
Karolus grabbed my tunic and yanked me forward, eyes blazing. Before he could say anything, Roes cried out another command, and the vanguard shifted.
Alvera darted forward, sword arcing over her head. The Xialun blocked, lightning swift, and I pulled in a breath, waiting for the counterstrike, for the scream; but Alvera leapt back, returning to the shifting vanguard. The Xialun cocked its head, watching, but not stepping forward to attack.
Another vanguard leapt forward, struck, and jumped out of reach of the Xialun’s reply. This happened again and again, but no blows landed.
“What are they doing?” I asked Karolus.
He let go of me, gaze intent on the strange battle in front of us. “The faerie maneuver.”
“I heard that part already,” I growled.
“The only way to defeat a Xialun. Quick, unpredictable strikes. In a group, if we can manage.”
“But you said they’re unkillable once they stand.” I swallowed hard, dagger still tight in my hand. “Why attack at all?”
“Mostly.” He stared at me, appraising. “Mostly unkillable. They’re not really useful to the Sorcerer if they don’t have limbs.”
“Who?”
Karolus shook his head in disbelief. “You have to know this! The war’s been going on for four years.”
Questions upon questions burned in my head but I swallowed them down. It didn’t seem a proper moment to tell Karolus I didn’t know who I was, or to get a history lesson. We’d have to survive this first.
One of the vanguard cried out and stumbled back from the Xialun, blood dripping from his side. It tried to follow, but Alvera struck from the side. Her sword struck the Xialun’s shoulder and the creature whipped around on her with a snarl. Before it could attack, another vanguard stepped in and finished Alvera’s work, slicing the Xialun’s arm clean from its shoulder.
The creature’s scream sounded more like the call of an eagle. Black blood spewed from its wound, but rather than retreating, it swung its sword. Alvera and the other vanguard just barely stepped out of range in time. The rest of the vanguard converged and then leapt back, starting up their deadly, fluid dance once more.
Despite its missing arm, the Xialun moved as fast as before. It landed hit upon hit. Not deadly, but close. The vanguard was hanging on the edge and I could barely breathe watching it. Even Karolus grabbed onto his sword, as if he might charge in despite Roes’ order.
Another vanguard stepped away bleeding. Roes covered their retreat, her long rapier zipping through the air. She sliced off the Xialun’s hand in one fell swoop.
“Yes!” I cried, hopping up.
Karolus grabbed me again, his eyes wide. I followed his gaze and watched in horror as the Xialun smacked Roes with such force that she fell on her back. It followed up with a savage kick before the vanguard shoved it back.
I gaped and glanced back at Karolus.
He gritted his teeth, eyes still on the fight. “All the limbs. It’ll fight and kill even if it only has legs left.”
He couldn’t be serious. I wanted to laugh, but Karolus’ scarred face was hard. Fear writhed in my gut. What were these things?
Roes picked herself back up and rejoined the fight. Her voice echoed across the square as she commanded her troupes. I watched in awe. They rippled, as fluid and together as water. Whenever the Xialun struck one, Roes or Alvera or another of the vanguard stepped in to defend their retreat.
They knew what they were doing. Years of war; of course they did.
The Xialun's arm fell to the ground, followed by the right leg. It collapsed. The vanguard cheered. Unfortunately, the celebration didn't last long. In one fluid movement, the Xialun threw itself into the air and landed on its remaining leg. A horrible, oozing grin spread across its face. It lunged at the closest vanguard and sank its teeth deep in her shoulder.
The vanguard screamed and ripped herself back. The Xialun took a chunk of her flesh, its grin stained a sharp red. Alvera stepped in front of the vanguard, brandishing her sword. Before she could strike, the Xialun closed the distance and slammed its knee into her chin.
Karolus twitched, whole body tensing.
“You keep her there, mitya,” Alvera cried, blocking another strike with her sword while cradling her jaw.
“I’m not that young,” Karolus muttered, but he relaxed somewhat.
I followed suit; just watching Alvera’s confident stance as she held her own gave me hope. Finally, she slammed the Xialun to the ground. Roes stepped in and finished it, slicing away the last leg. The Xialun snarled. Its eyes met mine.
Unease rushed over me, just like the first time I saw one of them just a little while ago. Deep, dark, oozing blackness, like a starless void. If I stared for too long, it might swallow me whole.
A twinge passed through my chest. I doubled over on it and when I looked back up, the Xialun had gone still.
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