“It’s cold out here,” Tiphaine shuddered, covering her shoulders with the humans’ blanket only a minute after they had left the tent. “I wish we could just stay by the fire…”

“I mentioned the necessity of being quiet thirty seconds ago!” Emony whispered, holding out his hand. “I thought you agreed we should leave? Come on. Quickly. I think the lake is that way. Your plan – we’re going in the opposite direction.”

Tiphaine took his hand, likely appreciating the warmth, and nodded.

They silently made their way to the nearby tree line, keeping their distance from the light of the torches surrounding the encampment. Soldiers were standing around, keeping watch, but they didn’t seem to notice them leave. Over the years, the two of them had gotten very good at sneaking around. They passed beyond their perimeter without incident. Honestly, it was child’s play.

In fact, Emony thought it might have gone too smoothly, and he became anxious that they might have been followed. His senses had been dulled by his becoming a mermaid a few weeks ago – his werewolf hearing and sense of smell, as well as his ability to see in the dark, were nothing compared to how they had been before. He was practically as limited as one of the humans he scorned.

Which is why he made sure to take extra precautions, stopping in the shadows and listening for a few moments every now and then before moving on. Tiphaine, too, remained quieter than the wind.

Just as they started to move again from one of the trees, thunder began to roll across the sky. Dark clouds covered the rising moon, promising rain that would take away his legs. Looking back, Emony noticed the camp sentries begin groaning and covering themselves with long cloaks, while others ran around with torches preparing fires.

Should we turn back? he wondered. If there really was an army of undead roaming about, he could use the humans as a meat shield for him and Tiphaine if they chose to remain with them.

“We’re running out of time,” whispered Tiphaine next to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. “The magic is getting even thicker. I’m sure something is going to happen once the rain comes – and then you won’t be able to move. We have to hurry.”

“Agreed. Let’s go.”

“Okay. Wait, what—”

As soon as he turned to look at her, Emony saw the sword being held to his neck. Holding it was a man in steel plate armor and a helmet. This human he somehow recognized, it was one of those that had ordered them out of the tavern hours earlier.

“I knew you were traitors,” the knight growled. “You monsters always stick together. You scum have friends in that lake?”

Emony sighed. His senses really must have dulled more than he’d thought, since a human managed to sneak up on them. Though Tiphaine hadn’t noticed him either.

The blade suddenly cut three inches forward, reaching his skin and drawing a small trickle of blood.

“Not a move, snake! Or I slit his throat!” the human shouted. “You won’t manage to turn me to stone before I do. What are you, anyway, vagabond? Her wretchedness is visible, at least, but you are clearly a beast as well, since you are with her. So, what are you? And what are you up to? Answer me!”

Emony weighed up the situation and his options. Considering his dulled senses and lack of supernatural strength, aggressive resistance could well lead to his death, though he doubted it.

“Answer me, I said!”

He subtly glanced past the human’s blade, over at Tiphaine. She was terrified by this human. That made him irritated. He noticed the skin on his neck starting to vibrate in a familiar way, though it hadn’t started to rain yet.

The blood, he realized. The transformation was coming, slowly, from where the blood the human had drawn was leaking onto his skin. It was a weak vibration – but it was an option. Focusing his mind, he leaned into it, giving himself over to the change and signaling Tiphaine with a wink.

“So, what is more important to you?” he asked the human, buying time for the transformation to surge through his body. “Killing me, or saving everyone in that camp? Because the men of the lake are coming. I know exactly how it’s going to happen.”

“I have no problem killing every last one of you monsters,” the knight responded menacingly. “Well? Where are the drowned going to attack from tonight? How many are coming? Hm? What is – don’t move!”

The change happened in no more than an instant, as he forced the magic to wash over him. The human jumped back for a split second, thinking it was a form of attack, before leaping forward again and bringing his sword down towards him. He was too late.

The same moment the magic tied itself around her tongue, before she lost her balance and flopped onto the ground, Emony laced her voice with magic:

“Stop.”

The man became stiff in an instant, ceasing his movements halfway, not stirring a muscle. The sword stopped an inch from Emony’s head.

Tiphaine caught Emony in her arms. “My turn?” she asked. “We don’t know how long that magic lasts.”

“No. They know your petrification can be reversed. You, human. Die.”

Hearing the last word, the knight’s eyes widened in sudden panic. Moments later, he began wheezing, struggling for breath, flailing around with his entire body and losing his footing.

“Help!” the human cried, losing his voice. “Men, aid me! The beasts! The beasts, stop them!”

“Urgh,” Emony said, grimacing. The magic hadn’t worked as quickly as she’d hoped. The man was making a racket. She should have told him to die quietly. Urgh, and that she nonsense was back, too.

“What do we do?” asked Tiphaine, panicking.

“Wipe the blood off my neck! I need legs!” Emony hissed.

Tiphaine did so quickly while the dying man screamed, and right after Emony’s twin limbs returned to him, he picked up the human’s sword and finished the deed more quickly.

But likely not quickly enough. Lightning was already flashing through the sky, accompanying the roaring thunder. It was only a matter of time before he lost his legs and mind again, just as he had lost his pants.

“We need to leave, now!”

Tiphaine didn’t need any encouragement. As quickly as she could, she nodded and grabbed his hand before speeding away through the undergrowth of the forest, leading the way through the darkness.

“Sir Meheyn!” they heard the shouting a minute later. “Sir Meheyn – he’s… He’s dead! There are enemies in the area!”

“Sound the alarm! The men of the lake must be here!”

“It’s not even raining yet! How?! The scouts haven’t reported anything! What if it’s the newcomers?!”

They ran. The dark shadows of the forest were now being constantly illuminated by lightning. Emony swore, hearing the shouts of the humans continue behind them, and the thudding of their metal boots running across the tree roots and stones on their trail. That was when the rain began to pour from the sky.

“Patrols, out! Be on your guard!”

Shouting was coming from all around them. It seemed there were even more human soldiers guarding the forest than he had thought.

“I’m starting to transform, Tiphaine,” he hissed while he ran, vibrations spreading from every spot the rain touched his skin. “I can’t hold it off for long!”

“Let me know when it happens! I’ve got you!” she shouted back to him.

Emony saw shadows moving in front of them as a flash of lightning illuminated the forest. But the humans are behind us!

His confusion didn’t last longer than a moment. Through the rain, he heard an inhuman gurgling. A second streak of white in the sky revealed the monsters that were suddenly racing towards them. And they really were monsters. Just as the knight commander had described them, they were corpses in varying stages of decay, racing through the undergrowth on whatever limbs they had left, wielding rusted, bloodied swords with their broken fingers.

“Duck!” he shouted to Tiphaine. She swerved at the last moment, dodging a blackened blade belonging to one of the monsters. Furious, he slashed forward with his own, with the sword he’d just stolen from the human, and cut into the thing’s ribcage before slamming it upwards and slicing open the rotting flesh from stomach to forehead.

The undead monster only stared at him with empty eye sockets. Then it raised its sword again.

“Emony!” shrieked Tiphaine, just ahead of him.

Well, she’s worried, he thought in that moment, smiling despite it all while watching the blade come down. Then he dodged it with a lithe sidestep and threw his sword spinning toward the corpse’s neck, slamming the monster into a nearby tree and decapitating it.

Then, seeing more of the things approaching, he quickly darted over to Tiphaine, grabbed her hand and yanked her after him.

“This way! Don’t stop!” he shouted to make sure she heard him over the thunder. Discretion was pointless now. “Men of the lake! We come in peace, to speak to Verena! We are not your enemies!”

“What was that?! The men of the lake are coming! Here, men! They’re here! I can see them! We need reinforcements!” a human voice shouted behind them.

He could hear others’ panicked voices too, throwing around orders even while the dead were hurtling towards him and Tiphaine in a deranged charge. The sound of the thudding of hooves quickly enveloped the dark forest.

“They’re here! To battle! For Evaria! For the king!”

Unable to avoid both the humans and the undead, he led Tiphaine and bolted between the trees and undergrowth along the line of the living, avoiding the men charging forward on horses, ducking low and trying to escape the place where the two armies would collide at any moment.

The vibrating of his entire body was becoming unbearable, the rain was already soaking through what remained of his clothes and dripping off his skin, demanding a change he couldn’t refuse.

“Tiphaine, I—”

It came suddenly. His legs were forced together against his will for the third time that day, and he fell over himself during the mad dash away from the coming battle.

Tiphaine, still clinging to his hand as he collapsed, caught him quickly enough to betray that she was expecting it. Just as quickly, she let go of his hand as he fell and coiled the end of her tail around his shrunken waist. Then, she dragged him/her, immobile, through the hundreds of thorned bushes that lined the ground.

“Don’t look at me,” she hissed, “I’m taking my veil off! It might work!”

Even if it was unlikely to, it was worth a chance. And if Emony was to be a weight to be dragged around, she would have to make use of her own power, too.

“Whoever can hear us, protect us!” she shrieked as loud as she could, magic surging off her tongue. “Protect the lamia and the mermaid!”

They suddenly changed direction, Tiphaine doing her best to avoid the jaws of death. Emony’s head hit a tree, stunning her momentarily and turning her around so that she saw what they were leaving as opposed to where they were going.

Behind them, the two armies were explosively clashing, the horsemen reaching the undead and cutting through their ranks before being stopped and stranded within the army of corpses. Their pained cries were honestly horrible to listen to, even for her.

They slithered away from them as quickly as they could.

Many minutes later, Tiphaine began to slow down, breathing hard. She couldn’t carry her much further, Emony knew it.

“You were right, the Eyes don’t work on corpses,” she panted.

“Damn. I was just making things up back at the knight commander’s. I was hoping I’d be wrong – but I don’t think my voice works, either.”

The battle in the forest behind them raged on in the dark rain, thunder and lightning crackling overhead, drowning out only most of the screams.

“We have to get further away,” Tiphaine muttered, exhausted, convincing herself to move forward.

“Keep us safe, humans!” Emony shouted again with magic dripping off her voice, not knowing if she would be heard or obeyed. “Keep them away from us!”

The screams and the neighing of horses seemed to grow louder and louder, even as their distance from the battle slowly increased. Emony then decided to be quiet, opting instead for stealth again as Tiphaine carried her away.

The rain kept falling from the dark sky.