I looked from right to left. Lemien’s jaw had reached his knees. He didn’t expect me to get out of the fairy’s bind after all.

The undead around me were all well-equipped and heavily armed. The necromancer was preparing for a worst case scenario though. He’d led me through this path all along. I guess the banshee was hungry for more than simple human thoughts. She’d found in me the happiness to snuff out, the rage to consume, and the will to live to cut short.

I’d read about this in the books Dif had poured into my mind. Banshees were the lowest kind of leeches. They’d stick to humans, threaten them with impending doom and feed on their emotions. I was almost a goner if it weren’t for the few happy memories I cherished. Thank the gods, old and new, that I remembered my past life and previous ordeals.

Now I was presented with a new challenge. I couldn’t hope to bring every single undead down. Their master loomed close, he was powering them up. I felt the link to their master, stronger, brighter.

‘How will we get out of this one?’ Eva asked me.

I didn’t have time to answer though, Lemien cut my thoughts short.

“It seems you managed to repel my Ofelia after all,” he said. His tone had changed. He was no longer the stout old man I looked down on. He had a new air about him, arrogant, haughty. He studied me with a demeaning look. His lips curled into an evil grin, triumphant.

“You can’t escape my army though,” he said.

“What’s your goal anyway?” I asked. “I’ve offered to help you infiltrate the city, wipe those Sebyan out.”

“I’m not entirely convinced,” Lemien said. Damn that old doctor! He read through me after all. “How about you let Ofelia in?” he said. “It will be painless. You’ll be my puppet. You’ll look alive and the infiltration you suggested will have more chances of success.”

I stared at the old man. The banshee floated beside him, green, ethereal, ugly. His bodyguards groaned; their eyes hollow, devoid of life.

“I gotta hand it to you Bolignois,” I said. “Your plan seems more plausible than the one I came up with.”

“So what say you?” the necromancer asked. “Submit to Ofelia and you won’t know pain. You’ve seen how it is with her.”

“How about I die instead?” I asked. “Your plan won’t work if I’m a lifeless puppet to raise from the dead.”

“I will come up with another plan,” Lemien said. “Besides, your idea with the mice has inspired me.”

“You don’t have the time to come up with new plans though,” I said. I forced myself to smile. I needed to look confident, demeaning as well. I needed the necromancer to doubt his plans. “Your mice won’t live long enough to infiltrate the city. They’ll be disposed of as soon as the Sebyan figure out they’re dead, or sick. What happens when you run out of time, I wonder?”

Lemien’s jaw tensed. A strong killing intent emanated from his dead eyes. He could’ve killed me right there, but he needed me. I could sense his despair. But I still couldn’t see a way out of this.

“I don’t like to think of failure,” Lemien said. “It doesn’t work that way. I do what has to be done to reach my goals. I will get you to submit to Ofelia, whether you like it or not.”

Shit! He was about to change tactics with me. I didn’t want to hang naked in a cell again. I thought of my soiled undergarments. The shame of having the necromancer discover that as he prepared me for torture…

I don’t think he’d need to torture me after that. The shame was enough.

It’s funny how your mind goes straight to these thoughts when you’re about to face death. How are you supposed to think anyway? You know there’s a high chance you’d end up dead in the next few seconds. Your mind just goes blank and you think of the stupidest thing.

I sighed.

“Why be nice to me though?” I asked. “Why the act? You offered me food and shelter. You even offered me a hot bath. I don’t think that was for nothing.”

“Ofelia doesn’t like dirty food,” Lemien replied. “She doesn’t like depraved ones either, be it of sleep, food, or water.”

“What does she say about me now?” I asked him.

“Never mind that,” Lemien said. “The dead don’t have the right to ask questions. Kill him!”

It all happened too fast for me to react on time, or to react effectively. By the time Lemien issued the order, two undead rushed toward me. One of them came from my blind spot. I dodged at the last possible moment. Eva was also screaming orders at me. I couldn’t think straight, nor could I act on time.

The moment I dodged the first attack, another one ensued, from the opposite side this time. I felt the sharp end of a sword scrape against my shoulder. I felt the stinging sensation of flesh being cut open. I felt the rush of blood. Then pain came howling through my mind. I winced and reminded myself to focus.

I was injured, that was the best start I could hope for. The two undead swung once more. One had a large Morningstar. The other held a sword, too large to be real. I don’t know how I managed to slip past them, but I did. I was thin and nimble enough to get out of that tight spot.

The Morningstar hit the ground where I stood seconds ago. The sword hit the other undead’s head. I heard the clank of metal against metal. I didn’t have the time to look back though. I had more enemies coming my way. The banshee rose in the air as well. She was preparing to scream her lungs out at me.

“Interesting fellow, this one,” the voice of an old man told me.

“Dif?!” I asked out loud.

I looked around for the old man. Everything around me had grown still. The banshee was floating above me, her chest inflated. More than eight undead were rushing at my direction, two feet away. Their weapons were brandished, ready to cut me down, or beat me to death, whichever came first.

“I can’t always save you Stalwart,” Dif said. “You have ten seconds. I suggest you make haste.”

His voice died out as fast as it had appeared. I looked at one of the undead. He was carrying a long sword, too heavy for my liking, but it would do nicely. I snatched it out and ran for the door. The moment I was outside, I headed downwards. There was a steep cliff by the side of the tower. If I was careful enough, I’d be able to climb down, toward the running water.

‘What happened?’ Eva asked.

‘Dif came to the rescue,’ I said. ‘He gave us a head start, short, but it’s better than death.’

‘Where do we go now?’ she asked.

‘We head for the brass door,’ I said. ‘We have to get inside the city, and out of this man’s reach.’

‘Need I remind you that we don’t know the way?’ Eva said.

‘We have to follow the water,’ I said. ‘It’s down there, somewhere.’

‘It’s too dark to see,’ Eva protested. ‘Be careful not to break your neck.’

‘It would have already been broken if it weren’t for Dif,’ I retorted.

Up in the tower, I heard the necromancer roar in rage. I heard him order his army to look for me. Things had gone from worst to worse. I had a head start and I intended to make good use of it. I was bleeding, but the injury wasn’t too deep to hinder my movement. I strapped the long sword to my waist and started descending. What I was doing was suicidal, but running through the corridors of that dungeon meant instant death.

‘They’ll find traces of your blood,’ Eva said.

‘Have you seen the place?’ I retorted. ‘It’s full of corpses. They’ll lose my trail the moment they leave the tower. Besides, undead are stupid.’

The necromancer was cunning, but at least I knew he was no tactician. He wouldn’t chase after me himself either. He was a coward, and he knew I was armed. He wouldn’t come looking for me himself, or so I hoped.

I descended toward the water. I was climbing down some rocks when I heard the undead growl above me. They were looking actively. I swore under my breath. They might have found the trail after all. Perhaps Lemien was controlling them directly, looking through their eyes.

I plastered myself against the obsidian rocks and waited for the first wave of guards to pass by. There was no sign of Ofelia yet, I took it as a good sign. The banshee would be able to sense me if I was close enough.

I didn’t try to extend my senses outwards either. I didn’t want to end up being discovered. I kept climbing down. I made sure each gap I gripped was sturdy enough before I let go and went further down. The descent must have taken a long time but I managed to finally reach the water.

My legs were shaking heavily. My head pounded angrily. Lack of sleep had decided to come and join the party too. I saw double. – Funny I should say that since I had but one functional eye. – I pressed on though. I followed the stream and pricked my ears for any sudden movements.

‘Myles,’ Eva’s voice reached me from the depths of my subconscious. ‘Oy, Myles!’

‘What is it?’ I asked. I could barely walk in a straight line.

‘Open your eye damnit!’

‘What?!’ I asked. ‘I’m wide awake, see?’

I made to widen my eye, and was surprised by it actually opening. I had actually been sleepwalking. The moment I opened my eye was the moment I’d forced myself to jump back. I had reached an extremity through which water fell. I looked down and pricked my ears. I could barely hear the water hitting rocks at the bottom. The fall was steep, dangerous, deadly. Had I kept walking through that path, I would have been dead.

‘Shit, Eva! Thanks for the heads up!’

‘Try to stay awake, alright?’ she told me.

‘You can count on it,’ I said.

The rush of adrenaline had allowed me some minutes of lucidity. I looked around me. The tunnel I’d been walking through was deserted. I could no longer hear the other undead growling. I may have taken the most obvious route, but Lemien may not have thought about it. I had to climb down after all, who would try such a suicidal act while they’d just escaped death?

I would!

I heard a stone fall somewhere behind me. It rolled down the rocky floor and clattered as it did. I immediately expanded my senses outward, looking for whoever was tailing me. I felt a faint aura. Someone, alive, was watching me from a distance. I couldn’t go back down, lest I fall to my death. There was only one way to go, and that was toward the unknown observer.

I knew the person was alive. I couldn’t sense Lemien’s link. Besides, the live ones had a different feel to them. You could feel their emotions too. This one was apprehensive, ready to fight too, if it came to that.

“Hello!” I said. I made sure my voice wasn’t too loud for any undead to hear us in the distance. “I know you’re watching me. I’m not with the necromancer. I’ve just escaped from his tower.”

The other person, somewhere in the darkness, tensed up. I could feel his or her resolve to attack.

“I don’t want to fight, okay?” I said. “I’m injured, I can barely walk. But I know what the necromancer’s preparing. I can prove useful.”

No answer.

Oh, what the hell?! Was I hallucinating?

“Myles?” a familiar voice reached me. “Is that you?”

“Who is it?” I asked back. I had to struggle not to scream.

“Stay there,” the voice said. It belonged to a man. Something told me I knew him, but I couldn’t remember him clearly. “I’ll come over. Don’t move.”

“Eli?!” I said. “Is that you?”

“Just, don’t move alright?” he said. “I’ll explain everything once I reach you.”