Werewolf V

Marion didn't think Cedric knew what he was getting into, but he didn't dare to go against him when he looked like that... he understood why Cedric had the power to lead the undead armies like that. Marion could never do it.

It was the same, really.

Just as Cedric couldn't control the beasts, Marion couldn't control the undead. It was a kinship they couldn't fake, even though they were both monsters.

The beasts he called surrounded him, and they quickly reached the wall.

The zombies there looked distraught... as if they suddenly didn't know what to do.

When their eyes fell upon Marion and his group, their dead eyes lit up with hunger, and they stormed towards them.

"Stop!" Marion howled, causing them to slow down, watching him with uncertainty.

A moment later, they were engulfed in light.

Marion winced and cried out in pain as his body melted away, the sizzling of the moon the only thing keeping him alive.

It was like an endless process of healing and dying.

The undead, be they beasts or humans, all faded, and only the life beasts remained.

A man coughed blood, his eyes wide like a frog's, pointing at Marion.

"You should be dead! How can you live?"

Knowing that this was the same man he left with Cedric, he immediately knew what had happened.

He was enraged as he ran towards him, planning to rip him apart into pieces... when the ground shook once more, the last King landing before him.

"Damn, the little bat escaped," he cursed, looking at Marion. "You're pretty unlucky that I found you first... mages! Let the purge begin!"

Another beam of light shot from the sky, sizzling his flesh away.

Marion didn't care.

Fire, grass, earth, plants, winds, darkness, lightning, sounds and so much more crashed into him, but he didn't care about it.

The beast was back, and it arrived with a bang.

It was as if the power of the full moon had increased, giving him strength and infinite durability. These men wouldn't defeat him today!

"No, no, that's not how it's done!" the King exclaimed, and the onslaught stopped.

"Your highness, we have reports of many zombies storming out of tunnels all around the place!" a man whispered to the king, having arrived with heavy breathing.

The king nodded to the mages.

"You know what you need to do... I'll take this thing."

Marion hadn't the time to react.

All he felt was the impact of something cold and hard into his lower jaw, as well as his body taking off into the sky, lunging over the wall and landing hard on the ground.

The impact knocked the air out of his body, his bones broken and sizzling.

The King landed in front of him, crushing the undead trying to swarm him. He beat the ground like a drum, and lightning spread from where his hammer had struck.

Thousands of undead fell at once, giving them space.

"And you call us monsters," Marion jested, jumping at him.

"I don't need to look after my allies here, beast," the King returned, swiftly decapitating Marion. The separated head sizzled a new body into existence, and he attacked again... and again... until the King hit him square in the chest. Lightning rushed through him, stopping his movements. The King snorted. "You fought well, monster."

With a final impact, he carved Marion's chest open, ending his life. He breathed his last as the King bowed lightly, flying back over the wall.

"We... lost..."

Or did they?

Strangely enough, Marion wasn't dead. Or maybe he was because his skin was all scary now, just like the zombies around him... grey, green, red...

Disgusting.

They looked at him curiously, then fell to their knees. They grunted something, and Marion understood.

"What a strange undead..."

Marion held his head in his claw. The sizzling had stopped, as his body was in pristine condition aside from the color.

He sunk into the shadow, confirming that he maintained his powers.

What was going on?

He looked at the wall.

The sound of a one-sided slaughter could be heard on the other side, and it all came rushing back.

"So that's what happened..." he mumbled, emerging on a pile of undead the King had left. He could see the horde stretching to the horizon, and he raised his voice at his army. "We have been defeated today! They imprisoned us again... and I fear that Cedric is dead. Defeated. Gone. He won't come back." Marion repeated this so often because he didn't know if undead would understand what he meant with dead. "I heard that at least one our allies escaped, a master of shadows, just like me, only stronger." Marion demonstrated his powers again, emerging on another pile of dead undead. "I suspect that more of us survived... and we all know who's out there to support them. A boy stopped us from fighting, and his mother is also out there. They have been favorable toward us, and if they rally those who are left, our time shall come once more! We won't give up just because they tell us to! We will be back! Are you with me!"

And they growled and grunted again, different from before.

"The Undead King! The Undead King! The Undead King!"

Marion smiled as he repeated it in his head.

The Undead King.

He wouldn't ever return to his family, would he?

The chanting continued for a long time.