Hell Rises

Friends and comrades who had fought side by side for years, protected each other, and watched each other's backs... now stood face to face after all this time.

A massive army of undead. Many of them still had their old familiar looks. Many were wounded and suffering.

Ben recognized a lot of them among the crowd, and it hurt him… but he didn’t show it.
He turned to Talon with a smile. While Talon, standing three meters tall, looked down at Ben, who was two meters tall, Ben asked:
"Did you ever think we’d end up like this? What happened to the promise we made each other years ago?"

Talon stayed silent. He remembered that promise they made in the early days of building the base. Then he answered:
"I remember it clearly! We swore never to let the people we care about fall into danger."

Ben let out a soft laugh and turned his head away:
"So your mind hasn’t been wiped, and you still attacked the base we built with so much effort all these years… That hurts."

Talon paused a bit, raised his head, and calmly continued:
"That was the promise we made! We said we’d protect our loved ones — no matter what!"

Ben turned back, now angry:
"This isn’t protecting your loved ones! We never promised to hurt each other’s people in the process!"

He paused again, and with a softer voice added:
"I know you're worried about your daughter… but that doesn’t mean you should hurt those I care about! I promised I’d help you save her, but it won’t be easy. You have to be patient."

Elara was confused hearing this:
“That hornless giant has a kid? But what’s the deal here? No… I can’t step in yet. Better let Ben talk to him first. Maybe he can convince him to fight the Dark Lord together.”

So what really happened? The evil lord of this world had kidnapped Talon’s wife and daughter after Ben’s base was built. Unfortunately, he killed Talon’s wife but kept the daughter alive — as long as Talon followed his orders.
Now Talon, to protect the only thing he had left from his family, was forced to fight Ben and Elara.

Ben and Talon were still talking:
"Talon, this isn’t your only option! Do you really think after turning every base and survivor into undead, that monster will just hand your daughter back safe and sound? No way! Trust me, neither of you will be safe in the end!"

Talon snapped and yelled:
"That’s for me to decide!"

Ben froze. He looked clearly disappointed.
"So this is your decision?"
He slowly drew his swords and stepped toward Talon.
"I hope you won’t regret it."

They both gave the attack command to their armies, and the battle broke out. Ben and Talon were fighting in the middle of the chaos. Talon’s forces were clearly larger, but undeads are less resilient than humans in combat so it wasn’t over yet.

Elara was fighting in the chaos too. She had decided not to use the Eye of Darkness again — it could knock her out, and even hurt her own allies.

She watched Ben and Talon from afar and whispered to herself:
“Since I’ve fought Talon before, I can tell he’s not fighting with everything he’s got. And Ben… Ben’s way faster and sharper than this. Clearly neither of them wants to hurt the other, but they have no choice.”

She looked around. As far as she could see, undead soldiers were swarming toward the base — the base Ben’s army was protecting.

“At this rate, we’re probably going to lose. The best plan I’ve got is to take down as much of Talon’s army as I can… But if I use my powers, I might be in real trouble in the next fight…”

Just as she was thinking, a voice startled her:

"Hey!! my Queen! i'm here to help! I heard you don’t wanna use your powers, right?"

Startled, Elara snapped back:
"Damn it! Can’t you ever enter my mind properly for once?!"

"It’s not me scaring you, my queen. You’re just a little too jumpy!"

Elara growled:
"Sounds like you want me to rip you apart… Not that I could, even if I tried…"

Lux cleared his throat:
"Anyway, the last time you used that power and passed out — that was a different case. It’s not like every time you use it, you’ll black out."

"Huh? Why didn’t you say that earlier? I could wipe them all out in one move!"

"Don’t rush it, you idiot girl!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?!"

"Let me explain better. Last time you used that power, nothing happened to the people you were trying to protect — because they were in your mind. But now, if you can’t recall all of them at once during the blast, they’ll all be wiped out too!"

"Then this power is useless right now."

"Don’t say that, idiot girl! Why do you think you’re standing here chatting with me and no one’s attacking you?"

"Oh, you’re right I hadn’t noticed that! What’s going on? Why aren’t they attacking me?"

"That’s because they see you as their leader now. The Dark Lord’s power marked and sealed them, but since you’ve also reached the Eye of Darkness and are the true queen, your power overrides his. They obey you now!"

Elara stared blankly and replied:
"Are you serious?"

"Totally serious!"

"Would’ve been nice to know that before they attacked us!"

"Well… I kinda forgot to tell you before the battle started… sorry."

"Great… this idiot’s my guide in this world… Anyway, can I just command them with words now?"

"Yeah, but for better clarity, you should visualize what you want them to do in your mind, and one mor......."

Elara took a deep breath and shouted:
"EVERYONE, STOP!!"

All the undead froze and looked at her… Ben and Talon both stared at her in shock.

"Good! Now all of you — step away from the humans and stand aside!"

Undeads did as she said but She collapsed to the ground, her head pounding.
"LUX!! You useless trash, what’s this headache and weakness?!"

Lux cleared his throat and replied:
"When I call you an idiot, you get mad! You rushed it again, my queen! Controlling this big undead army with your mind takes energy!"

"Then how do Talon and the Dark Lord do it without draining themselves?"

"I was just about to tell you — you need to say: 'From now on, obey my commands!' That way, the undead officially switch sides and follow you by default, not through mental effort!"

Still lying on the ground, dripping with sweat, Elara asked:
"Wait, so what now? They’re not gonna attack again, right?"

Before Lux could answer, Talon’s voice echoed in the distance, giving another attack command — and the undead charged toward the humans once again…