The four moved cautiously through the streets. The sun was setting, stretching long shadows across the ground. A chill hung in the air, carrying a sense of foreboding that Cassius felt deep in his bones.

As they stepped onto the main street, they paused, scanning their surroundings. People continued with their tasks, seemingly oblivious to anything amiss.

“Wait here,” Aliss said before stepping away. Cassius watched as she approached the bakery they had visited earlier.

“Might want to follow her,” Dreu suggested.

“Why don’t you?” Cassius growled in response.

Beside him, Seraphis let out an exaggerated sigh.

“I don’t want to draw attention,” Dreu pointed out.

Cassius turned to him, begrudgingly admitting that Dreu did stand out; his white hair, robes, and staff were unmistakable among the townsfolk.

He headed for the bakery, wondering what Aliss was up to now. He had barely reached the doorstep when he stopped, his gaze drifting to the street. Something was off. He couldn’t quite place it until he saw a young boy drop his ball.

It rolled into the street. A second later, his mother pulled him back just in time to save him from an oncoming horse.

Cassius stiffened. He had seen this before.

The door swung open as he stood at the bakery’s threshold, watching the scene unfold exactly as it had earlier that day. Aliss stepped out, wide-eyed and breathless.

“They’re under a curse,” she said, her voice unsteady.

“Cursed to repeat the same actions repeatedly,” Cassius murmured.

Aliss swallowed hard and nodded. “Let’s get out of here. This place feels wrong.”

Cassius pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded. Together, they returned to Dreu and Seraphis, who lingered in the shadows of the buildings.

“Where did you go?” Seraphis asked, his brow furrowed.

Aliss shifted uneasily. “Dreu, the townsfolk are repeating everything from earlier today.” She hesitated before adding, “Who could have cast such a spell on them?”

“Not sure,” Dreu answered. “But I’d suggest we leave before we get stuck or worse.”

“Agreed,” Seraphis said with a nod.

Without hesitation, the four hurried out of town, making for the woods where they had left their horses. Their progress came to an abrupt halt at a sight ripped straight from nightmares.

“STOP!” Seraphis thundered, his voice echoing as his armor of cloud solidified.

Dreu raised his staff, its tip blazing with the intensity of gathering magic, ready to unleash. Cassius and Aliss stood a step behind, eyes wide, throats dry.

Cassius was the first to move, standing beside Dreu and Seraphis.

“What are we looking at?” he whispered.

“Abominations,” Dreu answered.

Before them, there stood a horde of grotesque figures that were too many to count, who appeared human but barely. They all held a twisted resemblance to the ones Cassius had seen in the mansion’s dungeons. He scanned their faces, searching for familiarity, but they were too warped, their features stretched and contorted beyond recognition.

Cassius reached for his daggers without a word; there was no way forward without a fight.

“This is what Zenior has been up to,” Aliss said, still standing a few steps behind them. Cassius glanced in her direction, noting the way her body trembled with fear and realization, and then turned his full focus back to the living corpses ahead. “He’s been raising an army of the dead.”

“Zombies,” Seraphis muttered through gritted teeth. The easy expression Cassius had always seen on his face was gone; in its place stood a warrior, ready to face the horror blocking their path.

Cassius’s mind reeled at the word. Zenior was too far gone. Did the Axis of Seraphim know? They probably must have, but they sent someone like him on this mission. Why?

At that moment, as the zombies began to move as one, he knew with certainty that the Axis of Seraphim was playing a bigger game. And one way or another, he would uncover it.

At first, the zombies moved slowly like mechanical dolls guided by unseen strings. Just as Cassius began to hope they might not be much of a threat, the horde suddenly surged forward with alarming speed. The group barely had time to form a protective circle around Aliss, who had only her bow and arrows for defense.

Cassius lunged toward the first zombie, a creature with a single eye in its socket, while the other dangled by threads of membrane and vein. Its teeth were long and jagged, fingernails sharp like claws. Cassius slashed at its hand, severing it, and then spun around to face the next attacker as one of his daggers buried itself in the first zombie’s back.

He fought like never before, his limbs moving with a fluid grace forged through countless hours of solitary training. Every motion was precise and instinctive, a blend of techniques stolen from enemies he’d battled on low-level jobs and moves observed from a man he had once idolized. A man buried so deeply in his heart that Cassius hadn’t thought of him in years until now.

Shaking off the thoughts that threatened to drag him into places he didn’t want to revisit, Cassius refocused on cutting down the zombies.

Beside him, Dreu had already taken out many with his magic, while Seraphis was a perfect fusion of art and war. He moved with blinding speed, his cloud armor shifting density in response to the zombies’ approach, thickening where he was exposed, and thinning where he was guarded. His sword, forged of ethereal clouds and wisps, sliced cleanly through the undead. The bodies fell at their feet in grim succession.

Cassius didn’t think; he fought, eager to clear a path to continue their journey to Sovervale, where Zenior waited. He had to end this nightmare before it spread and consumed all of Adaria.

“CASSIUS!”

Aliss’s cry snapped him from his focus. His thoughts and limbs froze for a heartbeat. As he slashed through a zombie with his daggers, carving a deep cross into its torso, he dared a glance back.

She was pressed against a tree, hands gripping the branches on either side, eyes wide with terror, and cheeks streaked with tears. Her gaze was locked on the ground between them, on the countless bodies littering it.

Art above by Sakhatokan

To Cassius’s horror, the zombies they had just cut down began to stir.

“FALL BACK!”

Seraphis’s shout snapped Cassius into motion. He delivered a final, fatal blow to a zombie lunging for his neck and then sprinted back. Within moments, all three of them had regrouped around Aliss, watching in disbelief as the fallen zombies began to rise again.

The wounds from Seraphis’s and Cassius’s blades were still there, deep and unmistakable. Dreu’s magic had left charred marks across their flesh. But the undead stood as though nothing had happened. Cassius’s stomach turned at the sight of the limbs he’d severed, arms and hands dangling uselessly from the bodies, yet somehow still part of them.

“They won’t stop coming,” Dreu murmured, sweat beading on his brow.

Cassius knew little about monks, but he did understand this much: magic took a toll. Dreu could use the Elf ring, but that was a last resort meant only for the most desperate moments. And yet Cassius was tempted to urge him to do it now if it meant reaching Sovervale in time to stop Zenior.

“They’re being controlled,” Seraphis said, eyes narrowing as he studied the still figures blocking their path. “They’re dead but not. They don’t feel pain, or fear, or anything that might slow them down… or let us go.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Cassius asked, clenching his daggers tightly, ready to strike if even one of the zombies made a move.

“Run,” Aliss replied, swallowing hard. Her face was pale, slick with sweat under the glow of Dreu’s magic orb. “Run because none of us is ready to face what’s coming.”

“What are you talking about?” Cassius demanded, glancing at Seraphis and Dreu, who looked as though they were considering her words.

“Cassius, we can’t face these abominations after what I’ve seen.”

“I suggest we get moving,” Seraphis said just as Cassius opened his mouth to press for answers. “Now!”

The zombies stood still, swaying as if caught in a breeze. The stench rolling off them was overwhelming, thickening the air with the rank smell of death and decay. Overhead, clouds gathered, heavy with coming rain.

They had to reach the horses before the storm broke. If they stayed and fought, the undead would never stop coming.

Dreu stepped before them, gathering his magic into a massive ball of swirling air that grew larger with every ounce he poured into it. Then, he released it. The blast sent bodies flying in all directions, clearing a path through the horde and straight to the trees where they had left their horses.

“HURRY!” Seraphis shouted, and the four of them sprinted without looking back.

Their horses were still there. They mounted and urged the animals forward in one fluid motion, riding hard in the opposite direction.

When they burst from the trees and hit the path toward Sovervale, Cassius dared to glance over his shoulder and instantly regretted it.

A colossal monster loomed beyond the trees where the zombies stood. It had too many limbs and too many faces. From countless eyes, it watched them retreat into the distance.

Cassius turned away, heart pounding, fear locking its grip around him with no intention of letting go.

Stay tuned for Chapter 18 on 09/12/25