Truce

 “Didn’t you…hear me?” Christopher growled. “Give Louise…back…”

“Don’t be rash, alright?” I warned him.“Let’s not do something that we’ll both regret.”

Although Christopher’s physical form had been resurrected, one look at him would make it clear to anyone that his mental state was in shambles. My pleas were useless because they were not even comprehensible to him in his current state.

I heard large sounds behind me, the fight between Emmett and the remaining cultists that had broken out was still ensuing, but I did not dare turn my head back, my eyes had to stay focused on the zombified Christopher, as I had no clue what he would do.

Christopher suddenly broke out into a sprint, heading right for me.

“You son of a bitch!” I could do nothing but drop Louise to the ground and charge at him as well.

Our fists clashed, but I was the one sent tumbling backwards. It seemed like the hole in his head hadn’t had an effect on his physical attributes, so I had to be extremely cautious. We had trained together a few times, but he’d never shown me the full extent of his abilities, so I had to take extra measures.

If even Louise had managed to knock me out after I zoned out for not even a second, I could only imagine what this guy could do, he was surely on a different level.

I immediately got up and smirked.

“Is that all you got?”My taunt had clearly had no effect on him, so I decided to stop wasting further breaths on engaging in pointless conversation with someone that was unable to respond or even understand.

Christopher then opened his palm up and gathered energy in it, forming a circle of black flames.

That again?

That black flame was extremely dangerous. It’s name was The Undead Flame. Well, not officially, at least, but that’s what The Order had decided to name it. Not only did it play a crucial role in our ritual, but it also possessed incredibly deadly properties, which would greatly aid it’s user in combat. Properties such as-

“LOUISE! Give me back my sister!” Christopher’s corpse shrieked while throwing the Undead flame orb towards me.

I can’t block this, I have to dodge!

Stop using my memories to your advantage, you prick!

They’re my memories!

I barely managed to get out of the way, the voice inside of my head distracting me to the point that I almost got killed.

The orb, having no target as I’d dodged, flew straight into the wall behind me, and started relentlessly burning it down.

That’s right, the undead flame could burn anything, without exception. It could burn cement, steel, or anything else, until not a shred of its target remained.

I wasted no time in charging at Christopher, surely casting that spell had nearly drained him of all his energy, therefore presenting me with an opportunity.

We immediately exchanged blows. My enhancement magic wasn’t anywhere even remotely close to Louise’s, but it was good enough to allow me to hang in there with a brainless Christopher, at the very least.

Our exchange of blows was pretty predictable as we both followed the rulebook, well, I’d assume he would improvise and come up with different tactics had he still been alive, resulting in a totally different match and perhaps his victory. Unfortunately for him, he was dead, so I took the opportunity to peek at what was going on with Emmett.

Three robed cultists were already down for the count, four more were still standing. It seemed these seven were the only ones that had survived Emmett’s entrance. I was curious about the exact number that had died, but I brushed that thought away and immediately started focusing on Christopher again, as I didn’t want a repeat of what had just happened with Louise earlier.

Christopher growled, snarled, and charged at me. I backed away before immediately blasting a fireball straight at him with my palm. This was a pretty small fireball, which didn’t require much effort casting, especially compared to the huge one they’d summoned earlier.

I wonder what would have happened if they’d managed to actually hit me with it?

The fireball struck Christopher in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He immediately got up, but his torso was on fire.

It made sense, of course dead people couldn’t feel pain, why would they? He’d try to attack me even if every bone in his body was broken, so I had to make sure that he was physically incapable of doing so.

Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind out of nowhere. I was so focused on Christopher that I completely forgot the threat of Louise.

Damn it, that makes two times today!

“Now, Chris!”Louise yelled while holding me in place.“Finish him!”

“You idiot, your brother’s a zombie!” I struggled but couldn’t break free. “If he attacks me, he’ll attack you too! He can’t tell who you are!”

“So…so what?” She hesitated. “It doesn’t matter, as long as he gets you!”

“I’m sorry for killing him, alright? But he was going to kill ME if I didn’t!”

“Shut up! I don’t care!”

Christopher started walking slowly towards us.

“Nnngh…..Louise, you have to let go!” I kept squirming uselessly. At this rate, we’ll both die!”

“Good!”

“Good? Really?” I asked. “Do you seriously wanna die in a place like this? You’re telling me that you’re completely okay with dying here?”

“I…I…”

Her arms that had been wrapped around my body relaxed slightly, giving me the cue to break free, which I did.

“Why, you!”

Suddenly, Christopher let out a blood curling shriek.

“Mine….MINE!” He howled.

I turned to Louise.

“We need a truce! You have to help me stop him!”

“Why would I help you do that!”

“Look at him! He’s out of his mind, that’s not your brother anymore! We have to put him out of his misery and let him rest!” I extended my arm towards Louise. “Besides, do you really think he’s gonna stop at me? Not a chance, he’s gonna start attacking everyone indiscriminately until he gets to you!”

She looked at it for a brief second, pain flooding her face.

Then she grabbed my hand and shook it fiercely.

“Truce.”