A GIANT MONSTER HEADS FOR THE RUINS OF WARMTHKEEP.

It is not a single being— it is a creature comprised of thousands of entities. Undead creatures that have converged to form that abomination. They writhe and crawl all over its skin, but it takes the shape of a person that stands taller than the dry highlands surrounding the city.

It lumbers forward, each massive step sending a tremor over the earth, reverberating throughout the Blazing Desert. I stare on as this giant heads for Warmthkeep at an alarming speed. It gives chase to Nindran and Nelrel. The two women had been given the task to distract the bulk of the Zombie army surrounding the city, yet somehow, during their distraction, this creature formed.

Perhaps these Zombies are like Galgom. A hivemind— single entity that can split and reform. But from what I have noticed, while they act the same, they are not the same. Not like Galgom was.

Rather, the Zombies are simply so single-minded that there is a symbiosis in their actions. And after chasing Nindran and Nelrel for enough time, they somehow single-mindedly formed this amalgamation of their numbers.

It is not the entirety of the Zombie army that left Warmthkeep. With the School of Divination, I can look beyond just this giant Zombie. I can still see thousands upon thousands of their numbers following far behind, moving far slower, but still heading in the general direction for Warmthkeep.

I purse my lips, quickly formulating a plan in my mind. Then I descend back down to market street as the remaining few survivors look up at me in confusion.

“What’s going on?” one of the Elementalists— the one who recognized me and the leader of the group— asks. “Did something happen?”

“Change of plans. We need to evacuate everyone, right now.” I shake my head as I walk up to him.

“Right now? Aren’t you going to fly us—”

“There is no time,” I cut him off promptly. “Bring me the least-abled of this group. I will fly them out as fast as I can. The rest of you will begin heading for that plateau, altogether.”

“Heading there? By ourselves?” a voice protests.

I turn to see the second Elementalist staring at me with wide eyes. I nod simply. “Yes,” I say simply in response.

“That’s ridiculous! We’ll never survive the trek there!” he exclaims. There are a few murmurs of agreement, and I shake my head.

“I apologize, but this is no time to argue.” I point towards the outside of the city. “The Zombie army that destroyed this city is headed back for it right now. And this time, it will leave everything in ruins.”

“What?” The group of survivors exclaim in surprise. They gasp and murmur, a susurration quickly rising before dying down as the first Elementalist steps forward.

“Are you certain this is our best chance of survival?” he asks, meeting my gaze.

I look him straight in the eyes and answer, “Yes.”

“I see.” He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. I sense the way his breathing heightens— I can see that he is steeling himself. But he pretends to be in control, putting on a bold face as he looks back up at me. “Very well, then. We shall do as you say, Tian.”

I place a hand on his shoulder, offering him a reassuring smile. “What’s your name?”

“Kallist,” he says.

I nod and take a step back. “Thank you, Kallist. I trust you’ll look after your people. And I promise you, none of you will die today.”

He blinks a few times. Then he straightens and looks at me, more confident than before. “Right.”

With that settled, he turns around and begins gathering the survivors to quickly leave. He also tells the second Elementalist something, and the other man comes up to me. He shifts back uncomfortably.

“Uh, sorry for… yelling at you,” he says. “I am Skylar.”

“it is fine— I did not take any offense,” I reassure him.

“Right.” He nods and ushers me forward. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll bring you to those that need to be evacuated first.”

Skylar gathers a group of children and elderly men and women. It is not all the elderly gathered here, nor is it all the children. It is only a select few— the weakest and least-abled of them all. I nod and offer them my hand.

“Come, I will get you out of here.”

* * *

I return back to the bunker, dropping off the group of children and elderly I carried with me. Unfortunately, due to the fragile state some of them are in, I had to fly a bit slower than I had hoped. But nevertheless, the trip is made quickly. Seiled is waiting for me, but he has a worried look on his face.

Herder helps bring the survivors into the bunker as I speak with the boy.

“I take it you have seen it too, then?” I ask him, eyeing the horizon.

The tremors from the giant Zombie’s footsteps is far more apparent now. Its approach drawing closer and closer. The boy nods in a panic.

“What do we do, Tian?”

“We stick to the plan,” I say simply. “But we will need your help.”

“My help?” He blinks.

I bring him over to the wall overlooking the city. We are at the adject wall where Beihal has his contraption set up. From where Beihal is, he cannot see market street, but he has a good view of Kalmat still fighting off the remnants of the Zombies in Warmthkeep. Meanwhile, from where we are standing, we cannot see Kalmat, but we can see market street and the remaining refugees evacuating.

I turn to the boy, pointing at where Kallist, Skylar, and the remaining refugees are at market street.

“The survivors from market street— they will need your help. Can you use your gadgets from afar to keep Zombies off them?”

He hesitates, shuffling his feet as he looks at the distance he has to cover. He raises his lightshooter, looking down at it for a moment, before finally exhaling deeply.

“Yes,” he says. “I can try.”

“I will leave it to you.” I give him a small nod before spreading my wings and flying back to market street.

Kallist has gathered the rest of the survivors, leaving the underground storage bunker behind to trek through the ruined streets of Warmthkeep for the plateau. I land next to him, but I do not stay to chat. Instead, I quickly grab a handful of survivors and fly back to the bunker.

I repeat this a few more times, my trips going faster and faster the closer they get to the edge of the city. Most of the Zombies are distracted by Kalmat, drawn to the fighting there. But some still break away, trying to feast on the line of survivors making their way through the streets of Warmthkeep.

However, before they can even get close, Seiled snipes them down with pinpoint accuracy. The stray Zombies are killed by a single blast from his lightshooter. In a short amount of time, he has managed to modify it so it fire its energy bolts far faster than before and over a greater distance without much drawback.

Each time I make a trip, the refugees manage to speed up. After all, I am flying off with their slowest members. Until, finally, the group from market street is quickly making their way up thye plateau on their own. I nod to myself, leaving them with that as I scan the ruins of Warmthkeep.

I expend an abundance of Indigo Essence, drawing from the School of Divination to find any straggling souls left behind. I fly closer, covering every main street and circling around the perimeter of the city. There are a few survivors still who I manage to find. I carry all the survivors I can find back to the bunker as well. I do a clean sweep again. And again. And again. Each time, going through new areas— calling out for all to hear.

Eventually, after a few more rounds, I cannot find anyone hiding any longer. I confirm that the city is entirely empty. Finally, I return to Kalmat. He looks exhausted. There are still countless Zombies surrounding him, but there are even more lying dead at his feet. He raises his sword— his Aspect no longer flashing— but his will still unbreakable. He is ready to fight for as long as it takes.

Only to yelp in surprise as I swoop down and pick him up before a group of Zombies could reach him.

“Tian?” He stares at me with his grimy and bloody face. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you out of here,” I say simply as I soar into the sky. “The city has been evacuated. There are no survivors left. You have pushed yourself enough for today.”

“Are you sure? We should check again—” he starts.

But I speak over him, “Look.”

Kalmat blinks a few times before turning his head in the same direction I am face. I purposefully flew as high as I can so he can see it with me. Kalmat has been so caught up with his fighting he did not notice the tremors shaking the city.

Now, he finally sees it. The giant Zombie sprinting down the valley, just outside of the city. Behind it, an army of Zombies follow mindlessly, hungry and ravenous, ready to tear anything apart. Nindran and Nelrel run as fast as they can from the undead, but they are getting tired.

Nindran turns around and claps her hands together. A ripple runs through the earth, and the two opposing hilltops next to the giant Zombie collapses. But that barely even slows the giant monster. She curses.

“Pishtim bleed on me— nothing we’re throwing at it is working!” Nindran screams as she makes a break for the fallen walls of the city. “What do we do, Nelrel—"

And I swoop down and pick them up right before they reach Warmthkeep. Nelrel sighs in relief as Nindran continues screaming.

“Oh sh— wait, what?” The azure-haired girl blinks, coming face to face with me.

“We are safe now, Nindran,” I assure her.

“That’s… did you save us just in time or something?”

“Evidently so,” Nelrel scoffs simply. She faces me as we fly away from the giant Zombie.

Nindran grins at me. “Well, thanks Tian! I thought I was gonna die back there. Seriously, that was close.”

“It is too close for comfort,” I agree.

Nelrel chimes in again, “I take it the city is evacuated, then?”

“As evacuated as it can be,” I reply.

“Good,” she says, her stoic demeanor breaking for just a moment as her lips curl up. “Then let us return to the bunker and lay waste to these Zombies once and for all.”

I eventually reach the bunker right as Kallist and his group arrives. They are tired, but grateful, thanking Seiled who has been watching over them this whole time. I lower Kalmat, Nindran, and Nelrel to the ground as Beihal comes rushing over.

“You guys are safe—” he starts, but I interrupt him.

“We do not have much time. Is it ready?” I gesture towards the bunker where his superweapon is hidden.

“It is.” He nods quickly. “Now we just need the rest of the Zombies to gather in one place and we can wipe them off the face of our world.”

“Right,” I say, glancing back as the last of my Indigo Essence begins to vanish. “We should be able to…” I trail off.

Kalmat narrows his eyes at me. “What’s wrong, Tian?”

My eyes grow wide as I fly back towards the sky. That cannot be right. But— the School of Divination does not deceive me. I stare in shock as I get a good view of it with my own two eyes.

“Oh no,” I whisper.

In the distance, the giant Zombie crests over another plateau, its faceless gaze focused on the bunker, looking hungry. Ready to feast on the survivors.