Reecheep couldn’t believe her eyes.

Immortals stood between her and the week-long nightmare.

They appeared just like they did in the paintings and drawings.

The short and bulky one halfway down the stairs had shiny, green-colored skin, like a gemstone. She held an enormous shield and a bulky weapon that reminded Reecheep of an ironspitter.

The one that seemed to be the leader had skin that was an angry red color. He aimed a smaller version of the weapon down while staring with unblinking eyes at the approaching horrors.

Next to him stood a startlingly tall woman with gray skin.

Finally, hovering too close for her comfort, was a young-looking man with pale, almost white skin.

“Initiate combat,” the leader said calmly.

As one, helmets emerged from the collars of their shiny armor to enclose their hairless heads.

“Target their heads, as the Kinarian suggested.”

“I suppose we know what happened to all the bodies, although… how are they still moving?” the towering woman said.

Reecheep knew the answer or at least she had a good idea.

The words refused to come out of her mouth. Terror at the approaching horde stole her voice.

“These Kinarians are shredded and full of holes. Why are they still ambulatory?” the brawny woman said.

“There’s nothing in their eyes. They’re dead,” the young man said. “but… not?” he glanced at Reecheep. “Please stay close to me.”

Reecheep noticed that she had been sidling back and immediately stopped.

“Optimum range reached. Commence firing,” the leader said.

Bright streaks of light emerged from their weapons.

Each was accurate.

None were rushed.

The dead Kinarians’ heads exploded one at a time. The bodies dropped to the ground and finally stayed down. The rest of the horde continued to move forward at a shambling pace, as if they were leisurely moving to attend a show display at the theater.

How many were there?

A few hundred at least.

The shadows below concealed the back end of the mass from Reecheep’s eyes.

Slowly, inexorably, the dead walked forward even as more and more of them fell to the weapons of burning light. Until they were a few paces away from the base of the stairs.

“Crouch, Braal,” the leader said.

As soon as the brawny woman did as ordered two thin beams of red light lanced out of the leader’s eyes. He swept his head from left to right and sliced through several ranks of dead Kinarians. Right across the tops of their heads.

“Count is at 215 left,” the one called Braal said.

Reecheep thought she heard a smile in the woman’s voice.

“My PDW charge is at 30%,” the pale, young Immortal next to Reecheep said.

“Continue firing,” the leader said. He turned to Reecheep. The reflective faceplate of his helmet hid his face. “Kinarian. Is this contagious?”

Reecheep tried not to quail back. She swallowed. “If they bite you… but you’re Immortals… they can’t hurt you.”

“You heard her, Braal. We need to conserve weapon charge. Your armor will protect you,” the leader said.

“Understood.”

One word, but again Reecheep heard the joy clearly.

Braal placed her bulky weapon on her back and it seemed to adhere to the surface of her thick armor without visible attachments. She drew an arm-long rod from a compartment in her right thigh. It extended to about four times its original length. She let out a joyous shout and jumped down.

She plowed straight into the middle of the horde behind her massive shield.

Bones broke and bodies tore, but the dead didn’t feel anything.

Reecheep had no tears to shed for her people. They had ceased being Kinarians in truth with the evil done to them by the outworld invaders.

The dead reached, grasped and clawed at Braal’s armor, but their sharp talons could barely scratch the shiny armor.

The powerful woman crushed a handful of heads with each swing of her rod. She knocked the dead down with her shield and body before stomping their heads into pulp, like rotten fruit.

It was over soon and all that was left beyond the bodies was the stench of death. Something that Reecheep had gotten used to over the past week.

The leader of the Immortals approached Reecheep.

She started to move back but the young-looking one grabbed her arm. “We mean you no harm,” he said. His helmet retracted to reveal a smiling face.

“We just have questions,” the leader’s face was stern. “What happened here?”

Reecheep told her story in a rush of frantic words.

It took a moment for the leader to process the wildly branching stream of information that she had hastily given him. The feathers on her head drooped as Reecheep realized that she had sounded like a terrified girl rather than a proper guard.

“And you don’t know the current location of this outworld invader?” the leader said.

Reecheep shook her head.

“What is the probability that he has already left the town and moved to the next closest settlement?” the tall Immortal said.

“Unknown. We don’t have enough information to generate a projection. If the outworlder is creating these…” the leader pointed at the mess of smashed bodies on the lower level, “unfortunates, then reason suggests that he will remain until he has exhausted the available supply.” He turned back to Reecheep. “How many of your kind remain?”

“That I know of? Me, the Speaker, and five hatchlings. They’re the reason I’m out here. We needed supplies.”

The tall Immortal made a sound. “Seven people out of over ten thousand. That’s a lot of dead— or whatever we’re going to call those things… not-dead? Un-dead?”

“Are we certain that they are? I mean, dead, that is…” the young-looking Immortal said.

Reecheep was surprised to detect a subtle sensation of fear in his voice.

What did the Immortals have to fear?

“I’m pretty sure they are,” the brawny Immortal stomped up the stairs, “I noticed a lot of them had fatal wounds that I didn’t give them. Several appeared to have their internal cavities opened up and organs… partially devoured.” Her face twisted. “I say we find this outworlder and make him pay for this evil.”

“PDW charge will not be enough against ten thousand of these walking corpses,” the leader said.

“They can’t get through my armor and I can smash them well enough,” the brawny Immortal said.

“We don’t know what this outworlder is capable of,” the leader said.

“Magic!” Reecheep chirped. “He has powerful magic. A shield that can stop our ironspitters and orbs that kill instantly. And the substance that he used to turn my people into those… things.”

“Magic,” the brawny Immortal bared her teeth.

“We require more information before proceeding,” the leader said.

“Perhaps we have all that we need to bring in more strike teams?” the tall Immortal said.

The leader pondered a moment before shaking his head. “The threshold for adequate information has not been met. We must develop a full profile of the outworlder.”

The tall Immortal sighed. “I guess I’ll need a switch to speed, Kala. Invisibility and intangibility are unpredictable when it comes to dealing with magic.”

“Hold,” the leader said. “We don’t know where the outworlder is currently and you running around will alert him to our presence. We have the advantage of surprise.”

“I don’t know where the outworld invader is,” Reecheep said.

“Then can you tell us where the mostly densely populated area of your town is located?”

Reecheep looked into the red-skinned Immortal’s eyes, then remembered the scything beams that had emerged from them. Awkwardly, she tilted her head to one side to get out of his gaze. Naturally, the effort was in vain as his eyes simply tracked her.

“Yes… but I have to get these supplies back to the others.”

“Very well. We’ll escort you. Then you will give us directions.”

Reecheep let out a whistle in relief. “Oh, thank Torn! I thought you were going to ask me to take you there.”

“That won’t be necessary. Verbal directions or a simple map will suffice.”

“I can do both.” Reecheep was pleased that she could be of use to the Immortals. With luck they would destroy the outworld invader, put her people to rest and keep her and the other survivors alive. “Follow me.”

“Braal will take point. You will walk behind me and give directions from there,” the leader said as the brawny Immortal grunted and moved forward. “I’ve been remiss in introductions. I’m Cechon, that is Braal, Luun and Kala.”

Reecheep mentally filed their names by the color of their skin.

Cechon, the leader, was an angry red.

Braal was like a green gemstone.

The extremely tall Luun was gray.

And the oddly young-looking, for an Immortal, Kala had pale skin, bordering on white.

“My name is Reecheep,” she said softly.

Cechon acknowledged her with a slight nod.

Under Reecheep’s guidance they made their way through the silent town. Footsteps seemed to echo into the distance to Reecheep. Her toe talons softly clicking against the wood filled her auditory canals and had her head darting wildly around, expecting the dead to fall on her at any moment.

“Don’t worry, I’m not picking up any movement or heat signatures,” Kala whispered from behind her.

A snort from the rear of the line. “Our scanners aren’t exactly their normal perfect selves. Not to mention that dead things don’t typically give off warmth,” Luun said.

“I know that,” Kala hissed, “but she didn’t and now you’ve just scared her even more.”

“I’m okay,” Reecheep lied.

She told herself that in the midst of a band of Immortals was the safest place she could be in this situation. Also, she reminded herself that she had managed to survive days without them.

They reached their destination in under an hour.

“It’s a guard post. It was in the process of expansion, so there was a lot of building materials that we were able to use to clog the narrow hallway leading to the living quarters. That’s where the Speaker and I managed to get the hatchlings from the nearby nursery to when this all started.” That first night with the screams and death flashed through Reecheep’s thoughts. For a moment she was back then. She forced it away with effort. “Some of the hatchlings…”

“I’m sure you did your duty,” Kala said.

“Did you leave the door open?” Cechon said.

“No…” Reecheep’s heart sank.

“Claw marks and this blood is fresh,” Braal said.

“Breach it Braal, I’m right behind you. Kala, Luun secure this location. Keep Reecheep safe,” Cechon said.

The two charged into the dark interior of the guard station without hesitation.

Reecheep heard loud crashing sounds as if Braal was plowing right through the walls.

Sounds of combat reached her, but only for a moment.

Seconds passed.

Then minutes.

She silently pleaded with the two Immortals standing near her.

“You’ve seen how easily Braal handled the not-dead. I’m sure they’re just tending to the survivors,” Kala said.

Not exactly the answer she was hoping for.

To say survivors suggested that there were deaths. The hatchlings? The Speaker.

Luun regarded Reecheep with warmth in her gray eyes. “Sometimes it’s best not to speak what is in your thoughts, young Kala,” she sighed.

Braal and Cechon emerged shortly after.

The former carried a much battered body over one shoulder.

“Is Alasdor—”

“Unconscious. Superficial and serious slashes, but no bites. You had stated that a bite was necessary to transmit the same malady that gives the dead life,” Cechon said.

“That’s what I’ve seen,” Reecheep said. She suddenly noticed something missing. “The hatchlings?”

“Apologies. We were too late. The dead had reached them long before we arrived. This Alasdor, had managed to lock himself inside a cell. We have put all the dead to rest,” Cechon said.

“I— thank you.” Reecheep felt nothing, just a numbness that flowed through her bones. All that work to keep the hatchlings safe… undone in an instant.

“You called this man a Speaker?” Cechon said.

Reecheep head bobbed.

“Which of your gods does he represent?”

Reecheep blinked in surprise.

Of course an Immortal would know.

“Alasdor is a Speaker of Torn.”

“The Riven god,” Luun snorted.

“The what?” Kala’s smooth brow furrowed.

“Did you not read the briefing?” Luun reached out a long-finger hand to flick the back of Kala’s head.

“Enough,” Cechon said flatly. “Braal, how is the priest?”

“Almost finished patching him up. Scans appear to show no sign of foreign substances in his body. That’s a point in favor of Reecheep’s bite vector theory. I wonder what happens if spit gets into an open wound…” Braal stopped bandaging Alasdor for a moment, “do the not-dead even have saliva. I don’t think I noticed.”

“How did you not? You engaged them in close combat,” Luun said.

Braal shrugged and continued her work on Alasdor’s wounds.

“Where do we go now?” Reecheep whispered.

“This place is no longer safe. The two of you will travel with us toward the location you promised to provide. We’ll find a secure place for you on the way there,” Cechon said.

Reecheep nodded.

Her crown of feathers drooped flat against her head.