Jerry’s heart was shaken, but he insisted.

“I can try,” he said. “Wizards are frail. An ambush, a trick… There have to be ways I can win.”

“There aren’t. You don’t even understand how terrifying Archmages are, Jerry…” Horace’s voice suddenly broke, ending in a long, trembling sigh. “This is all my fault. If I handled this better, we would have never reached this situation. Now, we’re fucked.”

Suddenly, Horace, too, turned around to look at his people, then bowed. They were instantly appalled.

“Horace!” several people cried out at once. “What are you—”

“I’m sorry, everyone,” he said, forehead touching the ground. “I had a duty to protect you, and I failed. Now, we will all suffer.”

In the span of a few minutes, the tribe’s long-lasting peace had been utterly torn apart. An impossible enemy wanted them dead. They were doomed, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

Everything happened so fast that most of them hadn’t even realized it yet.

“You did your best, Horace!” A man and a woman hurried forward to raise him up. The woman said, “If not for you, we would have died many times over already!”

“Right, right!” The man nodded. “We owe our lives to you, Horace. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s us! You had to endure such humiliation to protect us. Otherwise, with your strength, you could have easily fought this wizard!”

Horace chuckled, then shook his head. “In any case, the skeleton was right. Jerry cannot be blamed. Maybe, if we’d thought to cover that hole, things could have been different…but now, we’re doomed. Everything is over.”

A heavy silence blanketed the tribe. This time, it wasn’t one of fear, but of deep, morose thought. Every path ended in swift death. Jerry and his undead eventually stood, meeting each other’s gloomy sight as hushed whispers began to spread.

Boney walked up to Jerry and patted his shoulder. “Well, it was nice knowing you, Master.”

Jerry stared blankly for a second, then chuckled. “What are you talking about, Boney? I’m not dead yet—I mean, I am, but not dead dead.”

“A matter of time, Master.” The skeleton shook his head. “If you pass away, can I have your sack of shoes?”

Jerry chuckled. Horace glared over.

“This is no time for jokes,” he spat out, and Jerry waved his hand in apology.

“Sure, but I mean”—he shrugged—“this sucks, but death isn’t such a big deal, is it? Most of us are dead already. That Archmage only mentioned he’d torture me, so no need to worry about it. Let’s just do our best for now and die when the time comes.”

Horace simply stared.

“Can I speak, everyone?” Laura suddenly walked forward, with her blue dress and long blonde hair contrasting the swamp environment. Everyone stared.

“The Wizard Order has great influence, but there are many large, barren areas in the Dead Lands. In fact, they regularly lose people here, as the terrain is so expansive and uninhabited that searching for someone is just not worth the hassle.”

Everyone stared at her. New hope shone in the eyes of the villagers, but Horace asked, “And how do you know that?”

Jerry looked on with interest. Laura paused for a moment.

“I used to belong to the Wizard Order,” she finally replied, drawing a series of gasps—and a series of nods from the people that had guessed it. “I ran away…and now, I will devote my life to destroying them.”

“What!?” exclaimed Jerry. “You were in the Wizard Order?”

He looked around in shock, only to find puzzled faces gazing back.

“We all knew, Master…”

“Why did nobody tell me!?”

“We thought it was obvious…”

“I thought you were just running away from them,” said Marcus, looking at Laura.

“Of course I was running. Before achieving my Awakening, I can’t even hope to inconvenience them.” She sighed. “In any case, I didn’t plan to involve anyone, but...I am the reason why Sakalai Maccain assaulted us in Edge. I’m sorry…”

“No problem,” Jerry responded. “Everyone knew already, so I guess they’re fine with it.”

“Why did you run away though?” asked Boney. “And how?”

“I would rather not say right now.”

“Yeah, I can understand.” Jerry nodded. “I knew someone in the Wizard Order. Quite a shitty person. Didn’t end well for him.”

“Can’t you people stay focused for more than two sentences?” Horace growled. “My tribe is in grave danger. Speak, girl. You mentioned the barren lands.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “You should all leave this place and look for another home. Any place with trees or caves will do; just don’t be visible from the sky.”

“There’s the mountain to the west,” suggested a death spirit. “It has a network of caves. We could hide there!”

“And plenty of forests around it,” added another.

“You should go even further,” Laura refuted them, shaking her head. “Travel for at least a few days. Have lookouts and hide in case a patrol flies over you.”

The spirits discussed spiritedly with each other, latching onto this ray of hope like drowning sailors on a floating plank. Horace’s crisp voice cut through these whispers.

“Do you honestly think we can make it?” he asked, staring at Laura. “This is a huge gamble. If they catch us…”

He did not finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear. Laura bit her lip.

“What other choice do you have? You certainly have a shot if you’re careful. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“The person after you is an Archmage, one of the Order’s leaders. I’m afraid he won’t just give up… If the Order really wants to capture you, they can find ways. Biomancers who speak with animals, necromancers able to commune with the wild undead, intensive patrols around this area… I won’t lie to you; your only hope is that Jerry enraged the Archmage so much that all his resources are focused on him.”

“He did seem pretty mad.” Boney nodded. “His eyes would have certainly popped out, if he had any.”

Horace struck him with a hard glare before replying, “So? Should we still run?”

“Honestly, you have no choice. Try to escape, and if it works, it works. The only other option would be to actually fight the Archmage, which is beyond hopeless, or capture and surrender Jerry to the Order, which will likely end up with them killing you anyway.”

“Is he really that strong?” asked Jerry. “I mean, he’s a wizard, right? If we can somehow sneak up on him, maybe we can take him out in the blink of an eye.”

Horace shook his head. “I told you, that’s impossible. Archmages are practically invincible.”

“That’s not quite true,” said Laura, making a few brows raise. “Archmages are much more hardy than normal people, sure, and they have some defensive measures of their own, but they’re not infallible. Assassinating an Archmage is not unheard of, just extremely rare.”

“It’s unheard to me. Are you sure?”

“Very. Their invincibility is just a rumor they spread. The reason why fighting him is hopeless is that Archmages are furiously intelligent and unreasonably experienced. They’re always ten steps ahead. Couple that with their world-ending magical powers, and well…you get the point.”

“Oh,” exclaimed Jerry, blinking. “Then, we can just attack him, right?”

“Did you not listen to a word I said?” she snapped at him. “We cannot!”

“Why not? He can be as intelligent and experienced as he wants, but we can just be unpredictable. If we don’t know what we’re going to do, the enemy can’t know either.”

“That’s about the stupidest thing I have ever heard,” replied Marcus, frowning, “and I wouldn’t want to risk my life against certain death.”

“Well, what choice do we have?” said Horace, clenching his bow. “These Wizard Order bastards have slaughtered tribes for much less. We must slay him, or we are doomed…but fortunately, that lich is not unkillable. I think I can do it.”

“Is nobody listening to me?” Laura complained.

“As I hear it, Master is already a goner. That Archmage—Akakakaka, or whatever his name was—will utilize the entire Order to hunt us down,” said Boney, sighing deeply. “We might as well give it a shot…”

Boney didn’t really want this. He would much prefer ditching the tribe and hiding somewhere by themselves, or even taking the airship and running back to the Three Kingdoms, but he knew his Master—he was stubborn to death and righteous to a fault.

Axehand grunted, raising an axe in the air. The rest of the undead huddled around Jerry, who nodded. “That’s what I meant, of course—most of it was just implied. So, we’re going lich-hunting.”

“You people make no sense…” Laura’s eyes threatened to pop out. “Are you listening to yourselves? We’re talking about an Archmage!”

“Well, I’m no fighter!” exclaimed Marcus.

“You’re a captain,” retorted Jerry, motioning at the photomancer’s vehicle. “Our airship could use you. If not…there’s a flying boat right here. I won’t blame you if you take it and return to Edge.”

“But think of all the treasure,” whispered Boney, sliding to Marcus’s side. “Mountains of taels, just waiting for you to dive in. Oh, how sad those poor coins must be with no one to hold them… I guess we’ll just take them all.”

“I’m not stupid, Boney.” Marcus snorted, crossing his arms.

“But this is the treasure of Dorman we’re talking about,” Boney’s whisper insisted, speaking the words especially low so no one could overhear. “The greatest treasure in existence… How can you call yourself a treasure hunter if you turn tail now? Imagine all the riches, the fame, the glory…” He grabbed Marcus by the shoulder, gesturing widely with his other hand as if gazing at mountains of coins. “Everything you’ve ever dreamt of is there… Plus, we’re confident enough, or we wouldn’t go.”

“You would, because you’re stupid.”

“Strong too.”

“Hmph.”

Marcus kept his arms crossed as his mustache wiggled in thought. A moment later, he raised his head.

“Okay,” he said. “There’s nobody waiting for me, anyway. Worst case, I die. Best case, I become absolutely filthy rich.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jerry pumped a fist. “What about you, Laura?”

Everyone gazed at her, and she shook her head furiously. “You people are insane. I literally just explained why this is impossible.”

“No.” Jerry raised a finger. “You explained why it is possible.”

“I can’t believe you. This is ridiculous. We don’t even have a two-feather wizard, and you want to fight an Archmage.”

“We defeated a Sakalai.”

“That’s not even close.”

“Consider it this way, Laura.” Boney slid to her side from Marcus’s. “You clearly have a bone to pick with the Order…and what better time to fight them than now? Sure, maybe Master hasn’t Awakened yet, but does it really matter? You’ve seen Axehand. Tell me that’s the power of a single feather.”

She glared at him but said nothing.

“Your assistance could be the difference between victory or defeat,” the skeleton continued. “Where will you find a better opportunity to get back at them? Who else is crazy enough to do what we do?”

“Don’t pressure people too much, Boney…” said Jerry.

“Yes, Master.”

Laura crossed her arms. “I’ll consider it,” she finally replied. Jerry smiled.

“That’s more than enough. Now… I suppose we should get things started, right?”

“Right,” Horace spoke up. “Everyone, gather your important things and let’s meet here in ten minutes. There is no time to waste. We don’t need to sleep through the night, so we’ll march.”

“Is this really it?” said a death spirit, looking around in disbelief. “Will we just leave everything like that? This is our home!”

“We have to.”

“This is too abrupt!”

“What if we meet hostile undead?” asked another. “Without you…”

“Don’t whine. Most of you know to fight. You can easily handle anything less than a horde, and you have the hardiness of undead too. This is a risk we must take. I…” Horace frowned deeply. “I have devoted my life to protecting you, and I will continue to do so until the day I die. However, right now, the best way to protect you is by fighting the tribe’s enemy. When everything is over, I will find you again.”

The death spirits looked at each other. Then, with a heavy mood, they began to disperse.

The Akshik tribe had lost its home and would now become wanderers, at least for a short time. Horace shook his head, unable to digest this sudden change.

Why did this happen to us? It came out of nowhere… Why is the world so unfair?

“Well said, Horace,” said Jerry, stepping beside him. “How’s Granny?”

He glanced over, his lips revealing a tiny smile. “She’s injured…but Granny’s not as weak as she seems. I actually need to ask you a favor, Jerry; can your undead help me build a shader for her? She needs to move with everyone else, and she cannot handle the sun well.”

“Of course!” replied the necromancer, and the Billies immediately approached. He flexed his small biceps. “I will help too!”

“Sure.” Horace smiled before his eyes flickered to the side. “Oh? Start without me, everyone. Granny has something to tell me.”

“Alright. We’ll make the best shader ever!”