I sat In the front of the church as Father Landen droned on and on about obeying Oysus’ will to ensure your place in the afterlife. I had finally learned his name when I showed up at the crack of dawn along with practically everyone else in the village. It had been a few days since the fire that had so tragically killed Lord Kuller, though I much preferred the zombie version, and plans were now in motion.

 

It had taken a lot of time to sift through the paintings. The Naga we freed and gave supplies to, hopefully, would earn us some favour in the future. We did not share a common language but it was a start. I had no intention of conquering whatever tribes that roamed the Wildlands and good relations would be far more beneficial.

 

Jackal reemerging from his cocoon was a sight to behold. The small boy was now seven feet tall with four arms. Two on his human torso, similar to mine, and two arachnid legs on his new lower half. Describing him as a spider centaur wouldn't be accurate because there was even less human about his upper half than before. Jackal was far more intimidating and now was the right size to swing his battle axe. And as he had the class lumberjack it was quite fitting. At least for the foreseeable future, he would not be living that down much to our amusement.

 

I glanced to the back of the church where the villages enslaved were forced to sit or stand. There were far fewer compared to Llyne however they totalled about two dozen. They were all in poor condition though so were most of the villagers. Considering the village had to make enough to feed itself and then export the rest to Llyne it was no wonder. 

 

I knew this wasn't Earth but I couldn't help compare things. Serfs were practically slaves though technically free yet many people here of that class also had slaves. But this world couldn’t be expected to follow Earth’s history, after all, magic didn't exist on Earth. But there was enough overlap that somehow concepts snuck through just as I had, though my life here was divine intervention.

 

Looking at the villagers around me I was ready for what was to come. Everyone in the village was here, church wasn't really an optional thing. However, that meant that everyone from the elderly to young children were also present.

 

I was strangely alone, having left everyone to do their tasks while I prepared for mine. But I didn't expect much of a resistance so I wasn't worried, plus Nimue would be rejoining me soon.”

 

“Despite the loss of our dear Lord, this town remains strong. The filthy Lamia intend to drive us from these lands that Oysus has given us but we shall not bow to their barbaric demands. Oysus’ light shines upon all of us and food for our holy kingdom is vital, he will keep those of us who are pious safe from such brutes,” Father Landen exclaimed.

 

Even I had to admit there was skill in talking for so long even if most of it didn't mean much or was simply untrue. Feeling like now was the perfect time to show that they were not safe however I made the command.

 

As the skeletons I had magically animated before the sermon clawed their way out of the ground Nimue burst through the large doors of the church. Everyone turned with astonishment as she rode down the aisle on a large zombie owlbear. She was quite a sight and people murmured nervously.

 

“Excuse me, what is going on?” Father Landen asked, the confusion evident on his face.

 

“Sorry to interrupt, Father,” I grinned, bouncing onto the stage and removing my hat and cloak so people could get a good look at me. It felt good to stretch my arms after being so cramped up. A hush fell across the room

 

“Dame, what on earth is—”

 

His decapitated head bounced down the aisle as Nimue resheathed her sword. People screamed and got up to run only to scrabble back as my skeletons entered. They were not armed but the sight of them was enough to terrify.

 

“Everyone back to your seats!” I yelled.

 

“Back to your seats!” Nimue echoed far louder than I.

 

“What do you want!” a man in the crowd shouted but people began to shuffle back to the pews.

 

“Slaves, stand with your enslavers!” I said as people cautiously took their places. What other choice did they have? The enslaved tentatively approached to stand close to whoever currently owned them.

 

Dozens of skeletons lurched into motions each grabbing those that the enslaved had come to stand beside and dragging them to the stage. This way was better as the enslaved were not responsible themselves for what was to come.

 

“Hey!” a woman screamed as two skeletons dragged her and her boy on the stage. “Stop, please!”

 

Some of the villagers put up some resistance but the undead did not tire and eventually, they were on the stage.

 

“Let it be known henceforth in this village, no one shall be the property of another. None of you are innocent but some are more guilty than others. Slaves, you are no longer enslaved but free as anyone else. Those without purpose may join our cause or do as you please,” I said. At my command, the remaining skeletons fell away from the doorway. “Slaves no more, take your leave.”

 

For a moment no one moved but as soon as one man went for the door the others quickly followed. Tiss, Jackal and Ruba were out there along with a couple of skeletons, they would handle things while I ensured no one forgot our visit.

 

I looked at the line of villagers and picked the biggest and meanest looking. I stopped in front of him, his wife and two sons were also on stage. “You do renounce the Order of Musado?”

 

“The Order will have your head, you witch!” he spat.

 

I nodded at Nimue and she drove her sword into his back as the skeleton released him. Nimue dragged his corpse back up by its head as her magic took hold and a new zombie was born.

 

“Loyalists will be executed, you are all more valuable to me dead than alive, it is your choice. What about you? Do you have different priorities than your husband?” I asked his wife before looking pointedly at her children.

 

“I renounce the Order,” she said shakily.

 

“Good,” I smiled as her skeleton dragged her off stage and away from her children.

 

“What about the two of you, are you good little soldiers?” I asked her children.

 

“No! Leave them alone!” she cried.

 

I stood back up and had the skeletons release her and her children. The point was fear, none of these people cared about the Order beyond their own lives. I very much doubted any others would choose death. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

 

Several were devoted even to the end as were executed in front of everyone before being raised as zombies. The worst was a family of five but an example had to be made. Zealots could never be swayed with reason and children simply parroted their parents.

 

Since the father was so devoted he got to watch them all die first.

 

By the end of the massacre, Nimue had a unit of ten zombies.

 

I was very glad Tiss was not there to witness my actions, she would have been appalled. Some part of me was horrified but another part relished in the power. Though I took no joy in killing children, leaving them alive would lead them to become adults with an all-encompassing hatred towards me.

 

Silence stretched on as blood dripped from the stage. Nimue stood at the head of her new small army with her owlbear at her side.

 

“Thank you for your cooperation,” I finally said addressing the crowd. “Those of you remaining will be released shortly. Do not make me come back, I will not be so kind a second time." With those words of warning, I hopped off the stage and walked down the aisle with Nimue and her retinue quickly following. The skeletons returned to blocking the exits, keeping everyone inside until we were gone. They would be burning out soon anyways.

 

“Good work,” I said, offering a strained smile to Nimue as we headed back towards our camp.

 

“Thank you, Morgan,” she replied simply. Clearly not as affected as I was by all of this. I would get used to the atrocities of war in time but currently, even I had my limits.

 

“R-right, we’ll be leaving shortly. Go take anything you want from the village. Any supplies you want with you, we leave at noon,” Tiss yelled over the crowd. She was being held up by the now enormous Jackal.

 

I was glad to see that most of the freed slaves remained. We needed all the help we could get. Everyone froze when they saw me approaching with Nimue and an owlbear at my heels followed by many of their now-dead enslavers.

 

“Welcome to the legion of the damned,” I smiled warmly.

“There are children, you killed children!” Tiss hissed at me as we walked. Nimue rode ahead on her owlbear while the zombies encircled the living. It had taken a lot of convincing on the part of mostly Tiss to get everyone at least a little comfortable with the zombies. But they were all desperate and would adapt quickly.

 

Letting Nimue animate the children had not been the best idea but really hiding anything from Tiss was a bad idea. It wasn't fair to either of us to keep such secrets.

 

“Yes,” I sighed.

 

“What happened to playing nice?” She growled.

 

“I was playing nice. I warned them not to make me come back.”

 

“And what of our group? They are not stupid, they know what you’ve done.”

 

“Good queen, bad queen,” I reminded. “They will rally behind you and put up with me.”

 

“I don’t like this,” she sighed.

 

“I know. But true believers are dangerous and we already have enough enemies.”

 

I didn’t feel great but it had been the logical thing to do. Those devout villagers were the enemy or would have become the enemy. 

 

Since I had been trying to save people, it had become personal in a way. Had it not been for Tiss’ good influence I would have just blown up the church with everyone inside. I had to admit there was a difference between battle and slaughter, I had crossed that line today.

 

But the villagers had a chance to be better, I did not think they would become better for they were not responsible for Sloffanilz. I doubted they would see the error of their ways but at the very least they would think twice before buying a slave.

 

I was at war with the Order, with slavers, with Sloffanil, those without true alliance could be ignored.

 

“We’re almost there!” Jackal called scurrying back to the group, he had been sent forward as a scout. 

 

“How can you tell?” Tiss yelled.

 

“Naga!” He replied.

 

Tiss froze, turning pale. The only time Tiss had stayed far away from me was when I had released the Naga from the paintings, she wanted to be as far away as possible.

 

I gently tugged her forward, “Tiss, just look at the upper half and don’t run away again.”

 

Tiss groaned.

 

“You're a leader now, these people are looking up to you.”

 

“You are not helping,” she huffed.

 

“I know I try to be gentle but you just have to get over this. You were fine with the demon, remember?”

 

“It’s not the same, I was already scared because she was trying to kill us.” 

 

“Tiss, look at me,” I said, spinning her so she had no choice but to look at me. I was getting better with my arms and they had been a worthwhile addition to my meat suit. “Snakes might freak you out but they aren't snakes, they’re people. People that the Order hates. People who don’t look human enough to be accepted by the kingdom.”

 

That finally seemed to get through to Tiss. “Ok, I’ll try.”

 

Jackal scurried to my side. “So… the Naga may have vanished.”

 

“What?” I frowned.

 

“They were coming down the road so I came back but we should have run into them by now,” he explained.

 

“Fuck, group up!” I yelled. Either they had fled or they were hidden in the trees. The forests we were in were unfamiliar to what had been around Llyne and things were just going to become more unfamiliar as we went. Hell, this road wasn’t going to lead into the Wildlands.

 

The zombies closed in and turned, forming a protective circle around the living. They had farming equipment as weapons which was better than nothing. The problem was we didn’t want a fight.

 

“Watch the forest!” I ordered. “We come in peace!”

 

There was just silence and the sounds of the forest.

 

“Oh,” Tiss gasped and pointed at her map. “There seems to be some kind of camp or something up ahead at the end of the road.”

 

“Let’s go say hi then shall we?” I sighed.