Zombie II

This was suddenly really easy. It was understandable for the King of Daghan to fight him, as he had even insulted Cedric a few times while he was on a visit. He had waited for the day on which he could get back at him, slice his head open, and turn him into one of them...

But there was a problem.

The Kings were monsters.

In terms of fighting strength, at least.

He had been prepared to take them all on, but not at the same time. He was glad for Marion's presence, as his bulky frame and strange abilities were a huge help.

Nonetheless, they didn't tire.

Cedric had hoped that they would have the advantage there, at least, since his forced needed no sleep, no water, and no food.

They only hungered for the soft feeling of human flesh...

Well, the fact that he could think about this while fighting the King of Daghan was pretty telling. Cedric suspected him to be the weakest of the God-Kings.

"Not so snappy now, are you?" Cedric mocked, crossing his arms. "Back on the wall, you were so eager to talk, but down here... you're just another hunk of flesh."

"You are the same, rotten creature."

"Rotten? Yes, my body is rotten, but if my mind is dead, too, it's because humans caged me in there with nothing but grunting undead to keep me company! I never wanted this!"

"And yet you fight."

"And yet I win," Cedric corrected, lunging at the man. He helplessly swung his sword, missed, and watched as Cedric's hand penetrated the small gap between armor and helmet at his neck, grabbing his spine and ripping it straight out of his body. The pain was so large, the King of Daghan couldn't even whimper before falling. "Now that I think about it, you never told me your name," Cedric mumbled, looking at the deformed husk of a man. He shrugged. "Then again, I never told you mine."

The scent of blood attracted the other zombies, and he allowed them to indulge in their new prey, watching with glee as the King rose as one of them, he waved them away.

He would be helpful on the battlefield.

Cedric turned to Marion.

He was sizzling from his wounds, and Cedric realized that the moon had risen.

Smirking, he joined the fray.

The King of Belarus was a formidable foe for fighting with apparent ease even as Marion powered up even further.

With Cedric at his side, though, he finally showed a troubled expression.

Anger and frustration conquered his body, and he hacked with his twin axes at his attackers.

Marion blocked them with his fur, and even when they hurt him, he healed back. He could fight recklessly now.

Cedric was less lucky.

After the comparably slow but precise swings of the King of Daghan, this one was problematic to deal with.

One moment of distraction, and... his arm was gone.

Cedric clicked his tongue as Marion shoved him out of harm's way.

"I'll deal with him," he promised, jumping the barbarian.

"Die, bestial creature!" the King shot back, hacking both his axes into Marion's neck. His fur was strong there, and the hunger didn't leave his eyes. "What are you-"

"I am your end." He then proceeded to bite into him, ending his life. "He would've woken up when the night was over if I didn't do that," Marion said, shrugging.

Cedric peered behind him, where the corpse was twitching.

"You might want to finish the job," he warned, jumping back.

Marion did the same, and they watched the King of Belarus rise again... with no light in his eyes and shadows engulfing his frame. He looked at them blankly, then ran off to smash his axes into two humans, after which he disappeared into the shadows, emerging elsewhere.

"Uhm..."

"So my bite did something, huh?" Cedric mused, watching as explosions littered the sky. The apparent leader of the new force that had arrived only recently floated in the sky, a horde of black little creatures at his side. He waved his arms and they followed his command, smashing into the ground or attacking the King of Gaundry. He protected himself by crouching behind his golden shield, then smashed his hammer into the ground, causing a small earthquake. That seemed to unnerve the black creatures, and he had time to attack the floating shadow, his eyes glowing with intense light. The hammer only met more of the black, fluttering things, and many crashed to the ground. A few landed on the ground in front of him, and Cedric picked one up. "Bats?"

"They seem preoccupied," Marion judged, gazing suspiciously at the sky.

"I don't want to fight him again, either," Cedric admitted. Seeing him fight from the outside, he wondered how they had stopped him and the two others at the same time. Both he and his enemy seemed too distracted to notice the death of the Kings. "Let's just... watch out!"

Marion grunted as Cedric let go of his separated arm and lunged at Marion, sending them both tumbling out of harm's way.

A gentle light had enveloped the space where they had just been standing, though it didn't seem gentle to Cedric.

It was... dangerous.

Deadly.

Marion felt it, too.

He sniffed, his head shooting around to the edge of the clearing their battle had created. A figure stood between two trees, making gestures with his hands as his mouth mumbled something. The cone of light got bigger, enveloping more space by the second.

The two fighters in the sky noticed it, too, distancing themselves.

"Can we take him?" Marion asked, shifting his position to a crouch, ready to sprint forward at moment's notice.

"It's not a question of whether or not we can do it," Cedric whispered, trying to ignore the silenced grunts of the undead that were hit by the light. "That man's a priest or some holy man. Maybe just a mage, but he could end us all with the right sequence of words on his lips."

"So he's dangerous?" Marion grinned, tensing his muscles. "I hate danger."

The beast was back, Cedric noted.

Before he could say something, Marion already closed the distance, swiping at the man... but he missed...

No, he hit the man, but the air around him shimmered and he disappeared in ripples, while Marion was on the ground, howling in pain.

Cedric watched him hold his claw, which was turned to ash, though it quickly sizzled back into existence.

"An illusion...?" Cedric mumbled, watching with glee that his arm wasn't yet hit by the light. His movements would turn sluggish if he had to control both it and his body at the same time, now that they were separated, but it would serve as the perfect surprise attack. "Just gotta do this," Cedric mumbled, running to Marion.

He was fully recovered and now sniffed the air once more, skeptically turning in several directions, no doubt housing more illusions.

Marion decided on his course before Cedric caught up to him.

For a moment, he worried that they'd lose sight of each other, but then he found Marion engaging a definitely real version of the earlier illusion.

Noting that his arm wasn't far behind, Cedric circled the duelists, silently directing his arm behind the man.

Before he could do so, however, the ground shook, and the wall constricted.

Cedric watched with terror as it reconnected again, smaller than before. Their reinforcements, almost endless behind the walls, were cut off.

The wall was too steep and smooth to scale, and through the contraction, the towers they built were no-doubt destroyed now, too.

The man fighting with Marion smiled, before howling echoed through the woods.

The werewolves!

Now that the full moon was out, they were awake!

Cedric gritted his teeth as these would be the last reinforcements they had. He jumped out of his hiding place, making sure that his hand was steadily advancing behind the man.

"Another one?" the man exclaimed, the satisfaction gone.

"Marion, get the beasts and secure the wall. Dig a tunnel or something, we can't let our armies be cut off! I can't control them like you can, go!"

Marion looked at him with a gaze that said 'But we already built some tunnels,' but he obliged.

Howling and calling to the beasts and undead beasts in the vicinity and beyond, he went to defend the prison.

The man smiled.

"You won't stand a chance," the man taunted, not noticing Cedric's arm. When it grabbed him Cedric lunged at him, punching him square in the face with his other arm. Too late did he realize that he had managed to knock most of the man's teeth out, but lost both his arms in the process. As an undead, he felt no pain, but it was shocking to see nonetheless. "Be gone, asshole," the man spat through bloody teeth, sending a ball of light Cedric's way.

He dodged, but then vanished in the light that followed.