Rana stroke the mane of the horse as she cooed it to slow down. She was approaching a wooden gate lit by torches and overseen by makeshift guard towers. The fortress was only such in name. It was nothing more than an area walled off with carelessly chopped logs stacked together. She doubted it could even withstand a charge of foot soldiers let alone horsemen. The walls provided nothing more than the illusion of safety. Then again, it seemed like this illusion was the least that could be asked for. Even if it was unreal, a sense of comfort was still needed.

The fortress before her was not the castle the raiders mentioned. It was not their hideout, but it was her next destination. The information she gathered from the fearful man was of little accuracy and use. They sounded too far fetched to be real. There was no doubt he was only speaking those words because he believed it would let him survive. It was foolish and ignorant. There was no reason for her to let him go. In the end, he offered to debase himself for her pleasure. That was when she ended his life, for him to presume she shared the same debauchery as him.

However, there was something in what the raiders said that interested her. It was not what was spoken but what was hinted at. There was no reason to believe the man had the intelligence or negotiation acumen to string her along with these hints. He simply barfed out whatever was on his mind, and some of those details interested her. That was why she asked about the fort before her. It was their next target, and it was how she would gain access to the hideout of the raiders.

When one of the patrolling guards saw her approach, he informed his companion and walked towards her. He raised his hands and asked her to stop. She did as she was told, not wanting to start any trouble.

“What brings you here, lady? I must say, not many people wander into our walls,” the guard said. His hands never once left his weapon and his eyes remained steady onto her own. He was cautious and aware of the dangers that lurked the night. Still, he would not have the ability to stop the horror that was about to come. “I apologize that I must say this, but we do not allow just anyone to enter.”

“I understand, sir,” Rana replied. He was polite so she returned the favor. She also did not want to attract any unwanted attention or prolong this encounter. There was always the danger of revealing her identity, and his confidence in facing her told her that there was no doubt some marked ones guarded this place. “I am Rana, a refugee from the village slightly north of the Aodh garrison. I followed the survivors to the gathering, but what I saw there was a cesspool of desolation and ruin. No one would survive there. I then joined up with a group that sought respite elsewhere, but unfortunately, I was the only survivor. Then, I saw some light in the distance and wanted to try my luck here.”

“I did hear of Aodh trying to relocate their people, but I doubt they had much luck in succeeding such a task. Aodh is not a wealthy territory, and their council is not exactly known for their leadership qualities,” the guard said. He was knowledgeable and seemed to enjoy a good talk. Unfortunately, Rana had no patience for such a thing. She wondered if she had to pretend some more, but thankfully, he caught his own tendency to ramble. “I apologize, I sometimes talk too much. Well, we are in a poor situation as well, just a bunch of survivors from the war banding together to build another settlement. With all the marauding groups roaming around, it is best to band together. Still, I do not know if we can accept any more people. We might be able to provide temporary shelter, but we are also already overcapacity and cannot sustain ourselves.”

“You are too kind. I do not ask for much, just two nights of shelter and some feed for my horse to rest up. I would not be able to survive the journey without it,” Rana said. When she killed the raiders, eight horses were left without riders. She chose the strongest and fastest one as her stead and killed the remaining seven, turning them into vials of life-essences. The life-essence of horses were of higher quality and quantity than the average livestock, but it was still incomparably minute when compared to that of a human or fiend. She only managed four bottles. She ignored the dead bodies. That was one line crossing she would delay for as long as possible, “I would understand if I cannot stay, but I plead for just two nights. No. Maybe just one will suffice.”

“You don’t need to bargain with me, lady. We can definitely offer you shelter for two days.”

“Thank you…”

“You can call me Gregory,” he said. Gregory then motioned for one of the guards to come forward. It was a woman no older than her early twenties. She was petite with a ponytail and wore leather armor. Rana could smell the mark and guessed that the girl was a rogue-class. “This is Jessica. She will guide you to one of the temporary shelters. You can also leave your horse with her, she will guide it to the stables.”

Jessica tipped her head in a greeting and asked Rana to follow. It was odd that the guard would send away its marked one for such a menial task, but Jessica informed Rana that her watch was over for the night and another marked one would relieve her soon anyway.

“What brings you to these parts? I’m amazed you made it,” Jessica said. Her tone was cheerful but Rana did not miss the slight the suspicion in it. She wondered if it was a ploy. If Rana was dangerous to this fortress, no doubt a marked one would be sent to observe her. “The borders of Aodh and other territories are far from the Boundary Forest, but I heard it is filled with deserting soldiers turned bandits.”

“It was monsters,” Rana said. They were always a threat and the safest answer to any form of tragedy that happened in the kingdom. However, that was a century agi and she wondered if it stayed true even now. “I took a horse and abandoned my group. Was it despicable, abandoning others to their deaths?”

“I don’t know,” Jessica said after a long pause. There was genuine sadness that washed over her. Whatever she presumed of Rana, it seemed to make the stranger less suspicious. She then placed a hand on the zombie, but the wards in the bandages concealed the truth beneath it. “I am so sorry to hear that. It is all too familiar a story. Monsters took too much from us, and now, monsters wearing human skin are trying to take even more. Don’t worry. You are safe now. I will protect this place of respite, and all my marked one companions will too. I know the name of marked ones are usually associated with violence, but did you know, that decades ago they were symbols of peace and of protectors? I’ll keep you safe.”

Rana was surprised and Jessica mistook her widened eyes as gratitude. Rana was stunned, but it was not her kindness that shook the zombie, it was that she held the conviction of a marked one. It was a rare sight to see, something she thought was lost in the current time. In a sense, Rana was grateful, to know that humanity was not full of corrupt and vile beings.

Jessica led Rana to a shed and within were narrow stalls separated by thin walls. There was a blanket of thin hay spread on the floor, acting as a makeshift bed. Most of them were occupied by resting people, and the marked one guard led Rana to an empty one beside another unoccupied one.

“There, you can stay here for the night. It is a little cramped, but we try our best to make it comfortable for the people here. It is the least we can do,” Jessica said. The guard then motioned to the empty stall next to hers. “We’ll also be neighbors for a few days. It was good speaking with you, Rana. Get some rest. I’ll tend to your horse.”

With a smile, Jessica bid Rana goodnight and left.

Rana plopped on the hay and stared at the ceiling of the shed. If she were still human it would no doubt be an uncomfortable sleep. However, she was an undead being and had no need to a comfortable rest. All she had to do was close her eyes if she really needed it.

She closed her eyes.

It was unfortunate, but she had no ability to stop what was about to happen. The least she could do was use the tragedy to her advantage. If she could, she wanted to at least keep Jessica out of harm’s way. The marked ones who knew their conviction were worth saving, but it was because they knew of their conviction they could not be saved.

Jessica would no doubt be the first to fight, but also one of the first to die.