War of the Words/Chapter 21

Delnar called the guard together with a command and stood in the center of them, his face looking drawn and haggard in the firelight.

"Gentlemen, this night a great malice has awakened that even now plans our destruction. An army of the living dead fills the wilderness somewhere, and on our flank our own front has become a haven for the fallen dead who come to life. No one is to wander alone, no one is to sleep by night. Anyone entering the camp is to be stopped and examined fully before they are allowed to proceed. If any questions exist about their nature, they are to be denied admittance. If they press the issue, then they shall be put to death. In the morning, we pull camp and seek a more defensible situation. For lack of a better option, we will press for the nearest city, which we must make before night falls again. Any questions?"

Delnar waited but no one spoke. "Very well, fall out."

That evening, five soldiers were killed by the undead in spite of their best precautions. It took two of them rising from the dead before Delnar gave the order that should any suffer even a remotely life-threatening wound from the undead, they should be destroyed before the foul necromancy could work its way into their system. When the day broke, Delnar and the men rapidly went about breaking down the encampment and gathering together essentials. Any non-vital items would remain and be retrieved later should time, and safety, permit.

The march for the port city of Sentar was a morbid and quiet affair. The knights were already exhausted and a forced march did little to lift their depressed spirits. During the march two more knights disappeared. Delnar had heard that not all undead shunned the daylight as fiercely as others and was forced to conclude that the men had fallen under their malice. By the time the army arrived at Sentar, darkness was already beginning to color the evening sky. There was little time to secure an encampment or search the city, so Delnar took the largest building he could find and had it searched for life or unlife signs and, finding none, had the entire army holed within and set in a perimeter outside it.

The music did not return that evening and Delnar had his army spend the next day fortifying and strengthening their position. It was at midday that the carnage at the temple was discovered.

"Why is there death and decay here but nowhere else in the city?" Delnar wondered aloud. "Where are all the people; if they died, shouldn't they be here?"

"If I were to guess, my lord," a knight responded, "I would say that there are signs of undead here because this is where they came from."

Delnar shuddered. "Get a squad together to clear this temple. All of the body parts must be either cast into the fire or thrown into the sea before nightfall, and then the temple must be sealed tight and guarded heavily until I can search it in the morning."