Chapter 92
There it is, Raven said, pointing out across the open expanse of water to a hill looming in the mist.
I wonder whats up there. The hill seemed out of place in the marsh. The groves were the only areas that sometimes contained slightly raised land, but it was never much. Raven had spotted the hill from on of her perches in the trees. Maxwell had been able to use it as a reference to better orient ourselves using his map. His map did show a deep bay on the other side of the hill, added by travelers sailing along the coast. No indication about what was there was made though.
As we pushed deeper into the blood marsh, the plant life had changed drastically. Everything took on a red tint, the grass became sharp, the bushes covered in thorns, the bulrushes no longer green but bloodred with bone white cattails, and the lilies were covered in rows of spikes that they used like a venus flytrap. Blood biomes, like death biomes, became predatory in the extreme.
The current strip of land we were following did not lead directly to the looming hill, instead it skirted around a large expanse of water before heading deeper in. The last day since we left the grove had been eventful. Creatures attacked us more frequently, and seemed to be growing in strength the deeper we went. But with every skirmish, the number of creatures under my control grew. I didnt create any more death biome creatures, nothing that attacked made me want to do that, I just created zombie forms.
I did however take the time to use the more complex create undead magic to give me more powerful minions, especially with the strong ones. I was connected to all of my minions, able to sense their presence. In the water on either side of us swam large snakes, each as big as the one that killed Shadow.
Tuffy marched out front, and behind us a massive crap scurried along. I followed behind Tuffy on Shadow.
You know, its a shame we have to keep moving, I grumbled. I would love to spend some time grinding out levels here.
I know you mean, Maxwell agreed from the top of Snappy with Raven. So far, everything weve fought has been strong and a great source of experience, and with you helping I breeze.
This place does have lots of great prey, Raven said wistfully. Snappy was in the center of our formation, with the horses staying close to the massive turtle. The creatures of the swamp were drawn toward the horses, and after the second snake attacked, we elected to protect the horses with Snappy, while Maxwell and Raven rode atop his shell.
Eventually we made our way to the base of the hill. It was far steeper than I realized from a distance and was covered in a mixture of grass that varied in color from dark red to bright, almost neon red, and a black bush with thorns longer than my finger with beautiful bright red flowers.
It turned out that the large expanse of water wed been skirting earlier stretched clear to the base of the hill where a stream splashed down, out of sight from where we approached.
There was an animal path leading through the bushes covering the hill. I made for the trail, but as if that were a trigger, there was a rustling that covered the hill. Immediately I backed up and everyone grew tense.
I ordered the two snakes that had been in the water on our left forward to support Tuffys flank. The water theyd been in had moved away from us and now it was simply muddy soil with occasional rivulets of water crisscrossing it. It wasnt ideal terrain for most creatures to move through, but the snakes did just fine.
Raven and Maxwell hopped down as the Giant Kurmor lumbered forward. We were all on edge. While not much had been a great danger, the creatures were strong, and if we werent careful things could go bad very quickly.
Minks the size of sea otters bounded down the hill. Their fur varied in color from bloodred to nearly pitch-black. Their eyes glowed red and chunks of soil and brush were thrown up by vicious claws.
Individually their strength wasnt impressive, but together, it became clear how they defended their home. Unfortunately for them, we werent easy prey. I jumped off Shadow and gave him an order to defend the other horses. Shadow snorted a puff of eldritch purple flame in acknowledgment.
The minks reached Tuffy and Snappy first. Tuffy tore at them with powerful claws and wicked teeth, and one of the minks got caught in Snappys powerful jaws. But there were dozens of minks, several focused on each of my death creatures and more poured past them straight for me.
I heard a tumbling fight taking place in the bulrushes to my left and knew my snakes were no doubt engaging the vicious creatures. I doubted they would do well. Snakes were not ideal for multiple small enemies. Music from Maxwell was already spreading out, and I expected a buff, but it did not come. It took me a moment to realize this was his new song.
Maxwell was releasing musical notes as fast as he could. Raven had transformed into her lynx form, dark magic building around her claws and mouth. I wondered about her choice, but then I realized the lynx would give her a massive agility advantage over the minks. Even this early in the fight I could tell agility was the minks main attribute. If you were faster than them, they were nothing but easy prey.
My role was to defend Maxwell, the power of his song was great, but it would take a while to build. With that in mind, I cast a powerful buffing spell for all my minions before the minks reached me. It was less effective for Tuffy and Snappy than it was for the zombies, but it still aided them. I then began to cycle death energy through my body in preparation to meet the onrushing furry creatures.
In open area fighting, foes that lacked armor were ideal opponents for a blade staff. Mercy boasted a straight blade that was sharp on both sides, becoming a true extension of the staff. The key to fighting with the staff was keeping your momentum going. The butt and shaft of Mercy struck the minks just as often as the blade.
I was able to focus enough to cast my favorite spell and death magic emanated from my blade. Now as the minks fell before me, they rose and attack their former littermates.
One of the minks started to get past me. I threw Mercy and pinned it to the ground. This left me unarmed, but I struck out with the magic in my rings. Bolts of lightning chained between the minks. Summoning Mercy back to my hand, it brought the mink with it, still impaled on my blade, which was already beginning to stir to life. I whipped Mercy around and sent the zombie flying at a cluster of stunned minks.
That was the last one that tried to get past me, or even had an opening. I reached a critical mass of zombie minks that intercepted and stopped every one of them trying to get past me. I sent the new zombies to support the snakes, having no idea how the fight was going but I was surprised that none had made it through yet. At the front line, Tuffy was starting to get overwhelmed, and Snappy was covered in a furry cluster of minks trying to tear through his shell. Raven flew among them, claws flashing and shredding anything that came within reach of her dark magic, rending the flesh.
Suddenly I sensed a change. It came subtly at first, and was hard to put my finger on, but I could tell something was different. It rapidly grew in effect, then the full power of Maxwells song hit mehed finished. It had only taken him a minute to build the song, but in combat that felt like ages. The minks slowed and began to sway along with the music. Maxwells intent carried power, and he was able to avoid the song affecting his allies, mostly, I still felt it though it was no real threat to me.
Raven on the other hand was threatened by the music, and she scrambled out of the fight, transforming into her human self as she clamped her hands over her large ears. As the minks slowed, Tuffy and Snappy continued to tear at them. I did as well, cutting several down even as my zombies surged forward.
I saw the bright red eyes of the minks begin to close as sleep overcame them. This was a slumber they would never wake from. Making enemies fall asleep on the battlefield was a hard trick for sure, nearly impossible for all but the most powerful psionics. The one exception was bards. Their unique approach to magic gave them strengths all other casters lacked. Through their music they could make their will manifest in ways, like the song, that were truly terrifying.
Harmonic magic normally would struggle with this, hence why it took so long for Maxwell to build the song. But his death lullaby embodied an aspect of death that people did not recognize or understand.
Death is only a torturous and painful event based on the aspects that affect the moment of death. A person who passes away in their sleep does not suffer in that moment of death; they simply pass on. Saying death is the final sleep is being over dramatic, yet the act of dying itself in many ways is peaceful. Some could even say soothing. A person who has been suffering from a horrendous illness, or even torture, feels relief in those final moments. This song took that relief and peace and amplified its effect to the point that it lulled the mind of those too weak to resist it into a forever sleep.
An eerie silence fell across the battlefield as every one of the minks collapsed. The song was hauntingly beautiful, and it echoed across the marsh.. The soothing melodies exemplified tranquility and rest in a way that, to this date, Ive never seen anywhere else.
A splashing sound broke the stillness, and I looked over to see the water roiling. The snakes were still fighting the minks that had swam in after them. The water had stopped the sound, but now that it had drawn my attention, I began to move again.
I drained my mana pool to raise as many mink zombies as I could and send them storming into the water to support the snakes. With the addition of dozens more allies, the snakes overwhelmed and killed the remaining minks.
Once the battle was done, I gathered all of the bodies and turned them into zombies after summoning their death cores and absorbing them. I then ordered my horde to rush up the hill, killing whatever they found.
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