Dry Bones

Colonel Doggard yelled for his men to retreat. Officers hurried about gathering weapons and supplies in packs. The officer’s horses swayed their tails, ears pointed forward, flicked, then swiveled at the slightest breeze. Doggard jumped on his saddle.

“The breech has widened down the southern front. Positions collapsed all the way down the line. The 41st Division is also breaking.”

“How is this possible!?” Doggard yelled.

“Bone whirlwinds. The remains of the skeletons we break become projectiles. They strip the flesh off a soldier in minutes. They’ve targeting mages specifically.”

“We need to retreat. We can’t wait here. I’ll go on ahead and notify the town! Men, on foot! Back to town! Defend the walls! You know the way! March fast if you know what’s good for you! But keep it orderly.”

Colonel Doggard kicked at his horse and rode away toward town at full gallop.

Fog loomed over the horizon, a powdery cloud that refused to settle. It churned visibly as it followed behind the skeletons. Limestone pebbles shattered rib cages. Skulls blasted into open fragments. A skull burst open, leaking fresh brain matter tucked inside.

A carpet of bones formed as the skeletons continued driving forward. The damaged ones reassembled, pressured, fused, glued together slightly less agile. They moved awkwardly, creaked loudly, and stumbled forward. But they continued regardless.

Kurl took a knee besides Adam, he called Roxanne and Frederika into a huddle, “I’m not sure this cloud will be safe to enter. Not because it’s poison, but because it’s affinity. If it’s an overlord, entering that fog is inviting death.”

“What’s the plan. I can’t keep killing these things by myself. They keep reassembling.”

“That’s your sign to stop attacking. I want you to dig a grave for our approaching friend.”

“What?”

“You’re going to need a bunker to survive what’s coming, and I’m going to be too busy baiting an overlord. Considering its rank, it may be already above those clouds, watching. They’re mage hunting, so I’m going to be the main threat.”

“You’re completely insane!”

“Dig your bunker and observe from cover until I give the signal,” Kurl gestured with his thumb across his neck, “Have your rifle ready, that means take the shot. If you don’t see it, you may feel a punch.”

“What about me?” Frederika asked.

“You’re a decoy. Distract the skeletons and keep them from Adam. Do not approach the uprooted forests. Do not leave my line of sight. Once the dust cloud approaches, he’ll sense you with his affinity and rip you apart in minutes. You’re going to need me to counter if you want to stay alive.”

“That’s the power of an overload…” Roxanne gripped her axe, “Do you think we can pull this off?”

“I’m sure of it. There’s nothing but skeletons for miles because they’re over confident. Stick close to me, side by side, and have those blessed silver axes ready. This vampire thinks he’s a god. And he might be right, but his last memory is going to be a bunch of blood outcasts.”

Adam dug a tunnel into the hill with swirling drills of limestone rocks, “It’s not going to be pretty, and my mana will be shot.”

“That’s what your rifle is for. Any questions?”

A hand raised, the tarnish chain dangled down the length of Fredrika’s body, “How close do the skeletons have to get before we attack?”

“Cover Adam while he digs. But not too close, draw attention away from him.”

The chain swung in whirl as Frederika ran down the hill. Imperial riflemen gathering their packs turned back to watch, only to be urged by their officers to keep marching.

“Big boy has arrived,” Kurl said.

Roxanne looked at the approaching cloud. Shambling skeletons flooded the terrain. She looked up, a figure loomed above the fog surveying them for but a second, then descended into invisibility.

Broken bone pieces formed into packed cannon ball size orbs at the fog’s edge. They shot forward with violent cracks.

They separated into long spikes of splintered bone, reoriented midair with sharpest ends facing down, and fired upon the dispersing column of riflemen.

Kurl ignored their screams, shut them out of his mind, and jumped over the side of the hill with Roxanne to assist Frederika as she whipped skeletons into pulpy dust.

The raining shards struck an umbrella of tarnish plates floating over her head. They pinged like rainfall as the plate dented. One shattered outright. Sharpened bullet cracked into splinters as she curled her chain.

“I’ll cover your ceiling. I’m going up. I want to get his attention!”

A cloud of zinnian condensed under his boots. The gas was heavy, but so was bone. He’d show this overlord he wasn’t the only one who could fly. The zinnian disc functioned like an elevator to the clouds. But as long as he could see the others, he could protect them. He didn’t use the two large tanks strapped to his back, not yet.

A wave of compressed zinnian needles rained upon the skeleton army. A formation of skeletal soldiers disintegrated. Weapons dropped into the pile of debris. The remains flowed back into the white mist, leaving the weapons behind.

“You want mages? Come get me! I’m the best one here!”

The wall remained quiet, but he heard Roxanne and Frederika fighting. He maintained a disc of zinnian above their heads to ensure nothing would rain on them from above.

“You think you can wait me out? Think I’ll run out of mana? You’ll run out of skeletons first. You already have enough ammunition. You can only use so much of it! What you won’t have is soldiers! Come out and fight me coward!”

The cloud of skeletal dust rolled from the fog. It tried to envelope Kurl, but rings of zinnian waved around him. It couldn’t get close enough to touch him, yet grasped like a withered hand around his barrier.

“Worried!?”

Skeletons clinging to swords flew with their jaws wide open. The zinnian barrier tightened as they crashed. Swords of poor-quality forged iron slipped against the barrier. Wrists snapped. The weapons fell with boney fingers wrapping the ragged hilts. A zinnian pulse burst in front of him. Swords flung into the fog. Skeletons disintegrated mid-air.

On the ground, skeletons rounded the hill and approached Adam’s improvised dugout from behind. Shouting an order from here was too dangerous. The overlord listened from behind the fog. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.

Frederika broke from Roxanne to cover Adam.

Kurl focused on moving her protection. While distracted, am aerodynamic rounded bone pebble shot through his defenses and scratched his uniform. A loud ringing clash left a dent in his tank.

Zinnian plates floated Kurl backwards and maneuvered him from another volley, “Feisty one.”