Kasidy and the fat elf were in roughly the same direction. There was a split I would have to take if I wanted to go after the elf. His rooms were higher up in the castle and were likely the nobles. He had already dropped one of my guards, but I knew that, given the time, I would overwhelm him.

That was the thing about the undead. Given enough time, they would win, which was why I was trying once again to slow down the Merchant Guild’s team. If I could wear them down, I could win. After all, I had dead bodies, and I could reraise the ones I brought for the most part.

The skeletons fighting down towards Kasidy and Blink were fighting orc zombies who were decked out in full armor. The thing was, my skeletal guards were both higher leveled and better armed than his.

Whoever had made the guard’s armor hadn’t just given them standard armor; sure, it looked that way at first, like all undead armor. However, this stuff was fused to the bones so that it helped reinforce the magical parts as well.

The other great thing my undead had going for them was that I left all the bladed weapons elsewhere. The lich had his armed with anything he could get, and I only took ones that would do well against the undead. Which for the fight against the Merchant’s guild, I was kind of kicking myself.

I was frantic in the way that I was handling all of my soldiers. I was hopping between three fights while also trying to direct the rescue of prisoners that in many cases, fled right to death. I was trying to do what was right by freeing everyone as I went, but the fear of this many warriors would be enough to scare anyone. Add in that they are undead being commanded by a one leg, no foot, man being carried on a throne, and panic becomes understandable.

I didn’t want to waste my hell dogs, but I knew I would need to slow down the Guild’s team, which meant that something would have to go. I had been sending shades to watch their approach, and it seemed that if I didn’t attack, they didn’t. However, they were also walking through the place like they owned it. So my pack broke into smaller groups and charged them down the hallway.

I wanted to test the tanks first to see if they were all show or if they would be a challenge. I was both impressed with the guild and saddened by how quickly they dealt with my dogs.

As my dogs came into range, the two tanks set their massive tower shields. Then, they activated a joint ability that made a translucent wall in front of them. When the hell dogs hit the wall, they just bounced off. The tanks didn’t even move. The man in black somehow slipped past the wall and cut down all my level 50 dogs like they were nothing.

I shook my head slowly. I wasn’t happy with what I was seeing. If they could attack like that, they were much higher leveled than me. Which kind of made sense, as they were set to respond to a lich that slipped his collar.

I wanted to see what would happen if my shades attacked the women in white. So I sent ten after one of them while another group of dogs attacked the front. My dogs hit just like the ones before them, and as the man in black flashed forward, my shades slammed into one of the women.

She screamed, and the other waved her hand. I watched all my shades around them vanish right as my last dog died from the sword. I smiled. It was a small victory, but the woman I attacked fell to a knee before the sword, not the spell, finished off the dog.

I nodded, which caused my eye to hurt, and winced. “That spell’s range is short.”

The cook beside me asked. “What was that, my lord?”

I looked down at her and shook my head. I guess I couldn’t get too mad at being called my lord. I was getting used to it, and besides, I was on a throne, so sure.

About that time, I was getting to the split where I would have to pick to go after Kasidy or fat elf. My thoughts were that the fat elf would have the phylactery, which would let me get past the lich faster. However, I also knew I needed to get to Kasidy and free Blink. If anyone could help me take out those two casters in white, it was Blink.

I heard a shout and saw the fat elf being dragged down the hall. I smiled grimly and willed my skeletal guards to move faster. The elf stumbled, and then they yanked him more. I watched gleefully as he slammed into the ground before me.

As I had my throne lowered, I asked. “Tell me why I should spare your life?”

The elf sobbed and gulped. “I… I… know where the phylactery is!”

I started to laugh, and then I gave a brief golf clap. “Sure, but I don’t care about that. I’m the Deathwalker and can unmake the lich if I choose to or tame it. It is nothing but an intelligent undead, and I might claim it myself. No, tell me about the guard that is coming here.”

The elf’s eyes got big as soon as I said Deathwalker, and I saw plus twenty to my intimidation kick in. A puddle formed below him, and he started to stammer and cry.

I growled out. “Tell me now, or your first death won’t be your last.”

He took a deep breath and then nodded. “There should be eight guards that come through in the first group, and then the second should be eight normal guards. Which group do you want to know about?”

“The first one with the two women in white and the man in black.”

He nodded. I could see the panic waring on his face. He feared me, but he also deeply dreaded the one in black. He was having problems deciding who to be more fearful of. So I helped him along a bit.

I had my skeletal guards yank him up off the ground. “I will either yank your soul from your body now, turning you into a wrath and trapping you in pain and anguish for all time, or you will tell me what you know!”

He stammered out. “My… my apologies, your lord Deathwalker. The women you are speaking with are priestesses of the goddess of death. The man in black he. He’s. He’s our enforcer. He’ll kill anyone who gets in his way of getting the phylactery. But, if you give it to him, he might let you live.”

I nodded slowly and then, through my pained brain, caught something the elf had said. “You said there were eight, but I only saw seven come through the portal.”

He nodded and gulped. “Two guards, two holy ones, two battle mages, one enforcer, and one assassin. If you didn’t see them come through, they were already in stealth, and that means that….”

He didn’t get to say anymore as a long thin dagger appeared through his throat from the back. The Shroud of Protection snapped on just a moment later as ten darts all got caught in the shield. I looked in the direction they came from and couldn’t see anything. Then I flipped on my life sense.

I couldn’t tell what the person was from the wavy, watermelon-shaped light twenty feet in front of me. However, I knew what I was looking at. An assassin that thought they were going to be my end. I screamed as I grabbed the skulls on the side of my throne. As I did, I activated the wraiths that were captured in the throne.

It could hold ten, but I only had seven right now, and I figured I would get another one in just a moment. My wraiths blew out of the mouths of the skulls on the throne. As they flew out, I pointed at the assassin.

I bellowed out both in anger and pain. “Kill him! Rip his soul from his body!”

With that, the wraiths flew forward. The assassin thought that by not moving, he would somehow become invisible to the wraiths, which might be the case for others but not me, not anymore. Me being able to see the guy meant that the wraiths now knew where to attack.

All seven of them screeched at the same time. I saw their Tormented Wail push out from them in overlapping waves. The assassin’s stealth dropped, and then the wraiths were on him. Each one pressing in, ripping his spirit out of him.

The assassin wasn’t a fool and, through his pain, activated some skill. It likely was meant to take him behind me. However, with the Shroud of Protection on, he just bounced off the front of my magical shield.

The Shroud, however, held him in place for just long enough for my Guards to attack. The two lead skeletal guards carrying me attacked the would-be assassin with their claws. I saw his cloth armor rip open and blood fall out, right as the wraith’s Wails hit him again.

While I had a high level of control, it seemed that didn’t mean that the Wraiths weren’t trying to mess me up as well. When their wails hit, I heard the former prisoners close by scream and, in the case of the cook, fall over, throwing up. My skeletal guards also stumbled, which I found odd.

The assassin dropped a small smoke ball and tried to disengage. However, he still showed up perfectly with my life sense. So for the first time, I cast Nightmare. I felt my mana fall like a rock as I pulled from the throne. My spell slammed into the man, and he froze, trapped in his own worst thoughts.

I smiled as I had my guards stand up and the wraiths back away. Then I had my guards push the dreaming man toward me. I pulled Soul Ripper out, rested the tip on his throat, and shoved it into the hilt. There was a slight bit of resistance, and then he came out of his dream in time to have his soul slammed into my dagger.

I watched his soul rush out of his body. It wasn’t with my life sense, but rather it was with my eyes. It was like an image of himself was lifted partway out of his body. Then it was colored inverse, bent over itself, and slammed into a funnel. Then as this now oddly colored soul came out and around into the dagger, it was like someone flushed the toilet, and the whole thing spun.

It only took a moment for his death, but I was sure it was a moment I would regret. Not that I killed him or took his soul. No, those were things that I was okay with. No, it was the time that I was spending when I should have been running towards Kasidy.

I heard crying coming from the cook. I looked over at her, and she was staring at me with big fearful eyes. I tried to give her a friendly smile, but she just gulped. I saw her pull back her breathing, and then a single tear rolled down her dirty face.

I nodded at the body. “Don’t worry; he deserved it. Just like his friends deserve this.”

With that, I reached out my left hand and raised a zombie from both the fat elf and the assassin.

* * *