Kat stared down at the approaching undead, their numbers were seemingly countless. The undead brought no siege engines nor ladders, leaving the defenders hopeful. She spotted numerous magical signatures dotted through the army. As they watched the approach of the enemy, the walls were being reinforced by guards and adventurers. A small group of men waited near the gates. 

“Spot anything?” asked the guard captain.

“There are numerous mages among them. Even though they have no siege weaponry, this will be a hard battle,” Kat replied, the man shifted uncomfortably behind her. “Bad news?”

“The gate isn’t working, the mages say something is interfering with their magic. They've gone to reinforce the eastern gate, which is going to come under Goliath attack soon.”

“I see, request some reinforcements from the mages.”

“Yes ma’am.” 

Right now, she was thankful the devs didn't remove her renown. It allowed her to quickly and efficiently organize the guard into a defense. Her thoughts fell to her sister, she felt bad that she had reacted badly. Once this battle was over, she decided to treat her sister to something nice. 

“Hello Miss Red,” a small man in a robe greeted her. He carried a staff topped with a blue crystal, his most striking feature were his black and yellow eyes. 

Beside him stood a tall man with blond hair who carried a sword that was larger than her sister. He looked like your typical video game player, tall, muscular and chiseled. Next to him stood a redheaded woman, she wore a forest green tunic with brown trousers. Her bronze skin, a stark contrast to those around her. From her waist hung a rapier, and across her back was slung a longbow. And lastly was a towering man, donned in full plate armor with a warhammer hung on his back. He was fairly average in appearance, with black hair and blue eyes. On his chest was emblazoned a pair of angels wings.

“We’re here to help,” the heavily armored man said. 

“We could definitely use it,” she smiled. 

“I am Velloran,” the armored giant said. “Cleric of Phoebe, goddess of life.” 

“I am Rirarryu, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance” the black and yellow eyed mage said, a slight hiss to his voice. “I am a black mage, specializing in poison magics.”

“Hello,” the redhead woman greeted, “this one is called Avalya.” her voice was smooth and warm. Like a gentle summers evening.

“Hey,” the man with the towering sword raised his hand, “I’m Volyun, just your average swordsman I suppose.” he chuckled nervously. 

“We wanted to see the famous Katherine the Red with our own eyes,” Velloran said with a smile.

“But these three were too shy to approach on their own,” Rirarryu said, rolling his eyes. 

“Nice to meet you four, I wish it were under better circumstances, however your help will be greatly appreciated.”

“This may just be a game, but I can't just stand by and let these people die,” the mage replied, the others nodding in affirmation.

“Yea me either, now let's go back down. We have about a half hour to plan,” she commanded, turning in place and descending the stairs. Her twin tails swishing lazily behind her as she walked. The others following behind her. They made their way to the guard barracks next to the gates. Pairs of guards were heading into the city to instruct people to seek shelter.

“Ah, Miss Red, please come in. We’re glad you’re here,” a man in his thirties beckoned her over. He was wearing expensive looking clothing, his thick black hair framed a joyous face. His eyes bore a terror she knew all too well. “My name is Erral, I am the lord of this town. You are quite famous, who are these four?”

“They are an adventuring party here to lend their hands defending the town,” she answered, allowing them to introduce themselves. 

“That's good to hear, tell me honestly. What are our chances of survival?”

“Low, but not zero. It’ll come down to fighting spirit. I suggest we put out a call for anyone who can wield a bow. And we’re going to need some mages to man the walls and defend from the enemy spell casters,” she explained.

“Right, any idea of their numbers?”

“Numerous,” she deadpanned.

“I see…”

There was an awkward pause before Kat resumed speaking. “The enemy numbers are vast, but they lack any siege weaponry. We should be able to hold the walls so long as we can prevent the spell casters from working any siege magic.”

She pointed to the map and began talking battle tactics. One thing she always enjoyed in world history was ancient battle tactics. The various generals and warlords who wrote the book on war. She liked to imagine herself in such scenarios, war games were one of her favorites to play. Even though modern wars were essentially nonexistent, she still loved to hypothesize. 

While she was strategizing, the mages she requested arrived and presented themselves for orders. She spaced them out among the archers lining the walls and watched as they bowed and took up their positions. The guard captain and lord watched her in awe as she took command and ordered men to and fro from her place atop the walls.

“It's quite impressive,” Erral commented. 

“Hmm?” 

“The way you command my men, it's like they are a proper army. You live up to your reputation. How would you like to work for me?”

“I’m sorry, as much as I love your town, I prefer my freedom more. I’d rather not be tied down to any one place.”

“Well, that is disappointing, but I do see your point. What if I were to make some special exceptions for you.”

“I think we should focus on surviving first, sir.”

“Right,” he said, taking a step back. 

The sun had begun to sink into the horizon, casting a pale orange light across the city. The undead were close enough now that their weapons were visible, crude weapons wielded clumsily by decayed hands. Their pace picked up as they began to rush headlong towards the walls. A battalion of skeletons took up positions and their bows. The spell casters hefted their staffs, a faint glow surrounding them as they drew upon their mana.

“Look out, their mages are preparing to cast their spells,” Kat warned, her eyes glowing faintly yellow.

“You shall all perish,” declared a cold voice. Its chilling tone sending shivers through the defenders. “Lay down your weapons and accept your deaths with grace.” the voice continued, the speaker emerging from the tree line. The undead making room for the speaker. Kat spotted a being made of dark magic, a sentient undead, one of the highest level undead, a wight. The foul creature emitted a dark miasma, an aura that is said to cause instant death to any too weak to resist.

“We would rather die fighting than just submit to you,” Kat cried defiantly.

“You will die like a nameless fool. None of you will live to see the morning. Now die!”

The wight raised its arm, causing the undead to loose their arrows, the bolts lancing towards the walls. The spell casters launching spells interweaving with the arrows as they buzzed angrily towards the defenders. The defending mages raising barriers to absorb the projectiles. 

“Everyone return fire!” Kat yelled, the defenders retaliating in kind. 

 

*****

 

“Who is this guy?” Evelyn whispered. 

“A necromancer,” Myrra explained, “he wants to kill everyone in town.” 

“How do you know?”

“We found a book that described a ritual.”

The two of them had been following the man for a half hour now. The sounds of combat started a few minutes ago. Since then, the mage had traveled to various locations and cast some sort of spell before moving on.

“Shouldn’t we just get him now?”

“We need to find the ritual site, he might not be alone.”

“Oh… I didn't think about that. He's on the move again.” 

The two of them continued to tail him, as he ducked through the streets and alley ways. The city was mostly empty as people huddled in their houses, holding each other and praying for survival. As the two of them ran to catch up, Myrra’s foot slipped on something, she threw her arms up to brace her fall, and was caught by Evelyn.

“Are you alright?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.

“Thanks, I'm fine,”  Myrra replied, her cheeks tinged pink.

“I’m glad, I wouldn't want you to get hurt,” Evelyn smiled.

“We should catch back up,” she replied, her face turning redder.

Myrra pulled away and nodded silently before the two of them resumed running after the mage. The two of them looking around for him.

“There!” Evelyn silently exclaimed, pointing at a shadow ducking into an alley way.

“He's going towards the manors…” 

“Follow him!” 

The pair continued to tail the mage, who seemed to grow increasingly frustrated. They followed him to the gate of the manor that Myrra cleansed. He pulled down his hood and stared at the dark house. Myrra hefted her flower rod and pointed it at the mage. The ground erupted with vines, entangling the mage before he could act.

“What the hell?”

“We got you evil necromancer!” Myrra cried triumphantly.

“Evil necromancer?”

“What were you going to do in this house?” Evelyn asked.

“Huh?”

“We know you’re planning something,” Myrra accused.

“In my own house?” 

“What do you mean your house?” Myrra asked in confusion.

“I think there is some kind of misunderstanding,” he said. “I’m not a necromancer. My name is Rudeus and this is my house. But there is a necromancer, and they’re doing something in there.”

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Evelyn said.

Myrra nodded and released her spell, causing the vines to wither to dust. “Explain,” she said.

“I’m not sure, the guild asked me to verify a necromantic spell.”

“I thought you weren’t a necromancer,” Myrra asked.

“I’m not, I’m researching necromancy as a way to restore lost limbs. Not to raise corpses to do my bidding,” he said defensively.

“But why were you sneaking around suspiciously?”

“I was following the traces of magic. There are traces of summoning magic all over the city. They all point to my house, and I will find out why,” he declared. 

“We can help,” Myrra said.

“Yes, this city is my home. And I’ll protect it,” Evelyn swore.

“I’d appreciate it,” he smiled, and opened the gate.

The three of them walked through the gate. The grounds were ominously silent. Nothing was stirring, not even a breeze. They walked over to the small house, the caretaker stayed in. They found the door locked and cautiously peered inside. The house was neat and tidy, a cup of something and a book open on a small table, like the caretaker had simply stepped out for a moment. The evening sun shone through the windows, casting elongated shadows through the house. 

“There's no one here,” Evelyn said from the next room.

“He probably went to shelter,” Myrra said.

“Hopefully, he’s served our family for a long time. It would make me sad if he died.”

“We should check the main house,” Evelyn said when she returned.

“Yes,” Rudeus agreed. 

The three of them turned to the house and began to walk towards the opulent front door.