"It was with these… disciples of mine that I actually felt some desire to care for them. I knew that they were but ephemeral existences, fated to perish in a century, maybe two, on rare occasions five or six, yet having shared my knowledge with them, I had unknowingly grown closer to them, seeing them… as friends.

It was thus with deeper sorrow that I had to watch my first disciples pass away when their times came to an end, yet their presence had left a mark on me, a desire to no longer be in solitude. I had since searched for such talented youngsters amongst my people, and taken them in as new disciples, a practice that I had kept up to this very day.

Most of my disciples stayed in my lands, using their newfound knowledge to help develop the land, to give back to the people they came from. Some others chose to strike out on their own. I gave these ones my blessings to do so, even some resources to help them in their search for their own fortune.

Out of all the disciples who had struck out on their own over the centuries, only three had left a lasting legacy to their names. They were the founders of Cainte, Antemeia, and Junora." - Nec Aarin, the Bone Lord.

A massive fist of rotting flesh swung down at her, but Aideen deftly dodged to its side as the fist crashed into the ground. The Death Guards behind her assailed the abomination as a unit, attracting its attention to themselves, while she quickly circled behind it.

For a moment she contemplated striking at the back of the abomination's knees, but looking at the trunk-like legs she doubted that her weapon could even get deep enough to cripple the fleshy limb. Instead, she went for a more accessible target, as the abomination's spine was still at roughly the same position it should have been in, if much thicker.

With a powerful swing, Aideen drove her weapon's blade into the abomination's spine as if it was a pickaxe, and she felt the adamant blade bite deep into the spinal cord. She then twisted, and violently yanked her weapon back out, a section of spinal cord torn out with it, even as the abomination fell down as it suddenly lost control of its legs.

Aideen twisted the staff again, flicking the blades back inside, which simultaneously dislodged the piece of spine stuck to it. As the abomination was at a far more comfortable height for her to strike now, she reared back, and swung her staff with all her strength behind it, a brutal vertical swing aimed for the back of its head.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

When the blow connected, bone shattered, and the force transferred into the brain behind it unimpeded, reducing it to little more than slurry. The abomination leaked blood and brain matter from all its facial orifices, then slumped forward, no longer moving.

As soon as they were done, the Death Guard lieutenant assigned to Aideen's team called the newer members, and directed them towards another incoming abomination. It was testament to their training that even the newest Death Guard immediately set to work as they cleared a path towards the new abomination, a grotesque centauroid one with four legs and far too many mouths.

One of the younger Death Guards got a bit too close to the abomination before the kill team got to it, and was swatted away like a fly for his troubles. His broken body landed near where Aideen was, so she didn't hesitate to go to him and immediately pulsed healing magic through his body.

She had made it in time, and the young Death Guard looked baffled, unable to believe that he was still alive, before Aideen snapped him out of his reverie by shaking his shoulder, and pointing to the zombie horde around the abomination.

The young man nodded firmly and got up to his feet. He took a look at his axe, which had been bent out of shape when he used it to somewhat block the blow earlier - probably the reason he survived it -, then he shrugged, and put it back into his storage as he pulled out a backup axe and ran behind Aideen.

It turned out that the centauroid abomination was more agile by a magnitude than the previous one, and the kill team had a hard time as they tried to pin it down. On the other hand, it also failed to do any significant damage to the kill team so far.

Aideen took one look at its thinner, equine legs, and with a grim smile, flicked the blades on one end of her staff back out as she rushed the abomination from its side. It saw her coming, and half turned, presenting its rear to her, and kicked out with both hind legs.

The hooves of the abomination caught her full on in the chest, and she felt it as her ribs and breastbone shattered under the blow, as the force pulped her heart and lungs. Even as she flew back however, her weapon scythed viciously down, and landed right as the abomination's rear right knee, severing the leg entirely at the joint.

Aideen rolled backwards before she rose up to her knees, her magic already at work as it reconstructed her pulverized chest, the bloody marks and the one tear from where a broken rib jutted out on her clothes the only remaining signs of the injury by the time she was done.

On the other hand, the centauroid abomination was hobbled by the loss of its leg, and the Death Guards had taken that opportunity to cripple another of its legs, which sent it to its haunches, only able to flail around with its arms. One of the older Death Guards bravely climbed onto the abomination's back, then slammed his warhammer hard against its neck, which broke the spine and had the creature's head loll at an angle.

Another Death Guard came to Aideen in a rush and asked if she was all right, and sighed in relief when she replied that he had no need to be worried about her. Together they rejoined the group, and then set towards the nearest abomination in sight.