At the camp, the lone soldier was still ducking and darting around the wreckage of the wagon, keeping the Dead Warden’s attention. He couldn’t last much longer. No way.
“Larson!” Harry called.
Larson glanced over his shoulder. Several soldiers turned too, but he barked at them without missing a step. “Eyes front! I’ll bust the skull of the first fool who attacks without my say so.”
He stepped back from the line and moved toward Harry as Harry closed the rest of the distance.
“Get your men under cover.” Harry gestured back toward the cavern entrance. “I’ll try to draw it away and give you time.”
Larson looked back at the Dead Warden before responding. “Don’t think this changes anything. When it’s done, I’ve my orders.”
“Later.” Harry waved him off. “Move slow. Don’t draw attention. And Larson…” He waited until the man looked him in the eye.
“My people are up there. If one of them is harmed, I don’t care how or by who.” He pulled his lips back, letting his fangs slide free in a slow, deliberate show. “You will wish that creature got you.”
Larson’s jaw clenched hard. He gave one curt nod.
With that, Harry broke into a sprint. He swung wide instead of cutting through the soldiers’ line, no sense tempting fate, and angled straight for the creature still battering the wagon.
At about thirty feet he yanked a spear from inventory, planted his feet, and stepped into the throw. All the practice was paying off. The spear flew clean and buried itself square in the center of its back.
Several heads screamed at once, fewer than before. The mass lurched and twisted toward him, its front and side bristling with crossbow bolts. A few of the bodies hung slack now, heads lolling, limbs dangling. Dead weight.
Harry spun and bolted. He knew from experience how fast it could move.
He dashed a short distance and glanced back. The Warden was coming after him, but slower now. It had to drag several of the dead bodies fused into its bulk, and every time it rolled side to side to bring another set of limbs into the motion, it lost momentum.
Out by the wagon, the lone soldier shifted like he was about to bolt. “Wait! Don’t draw attention!”
Harry yanked another spear free and threw. The monster’s rocking, uneven gait ruined his aim and the spear flew wide.
System, I really wish I had an axe.
The Warden lurched, tried to surge forward, and tripped over its own dead weight. Limbs that no longer worked folded under it, and the whole thing slammed into the ground.
First, you don’t tell me to get more rope…
Harry pulled another spear and hurled it before it could rise. The tip drove deep into the neck of the nearest head. The head went slack at once, swinging loose as the monster rolled and shoved itself back up to resume the chase.
Now, you don’t tell me to carry an axe. You’re sure you’ve done this before?
:: System: These exact circumstances are somewhat unique.
Harry drew it farther and farther out, keeping well out of its reach. He went through more spears, most of them solid hits. One body tore loose and slid off, then another followed.
A quick look toward the cavern showed the line of soldiers slipping inside. The lone survivor from the wagon staggered after them, bent low, moving slowly.
Harry had a sudden thought and pulled the magic torch from his inventory. It stayed dark. He shoved it back and drew another spear.
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Good. If that had worked I was going to feel really stupid.
Once the last soldier disappeared into the cavern mouth, Harry went wide, letting the monster chase him in a slow, dragging arc as he led it back toward the ruined wagon.
System, I have a really bad idea. You should try and talk me out of it.
:: System: Increased danger, even when foolish, correlates strongly with accelerated advancement. Maybe more so when foolish.
Just remember you said that at your next performance review.
Back at the wagon, Harry took a second to study what was left of it. Not much. One side of the frame was kicked up at an angle, about chest high. Good enough. He climbed onto the tilted section and braced himself.
The Dead Warden kept coming, half charge, half dragging its ruined mass across the ground.
Harry crouched with a spear ready. “Stay down, stay down, stay down…”
Twenty feet. Ten.
“Oh shit…”
He dumped vitae into strength and speed. His vision tightened to a razor point, every stagger and hitch of the monster’s approach stretching into slow motion.
The Warden slammed into the wagon and sent it flipping end over end.
Just before it hit, Harry stepped forward and launched himself at the creature, pushing for every inch of height he could steal.
He came down hard, driving all his weight, momentum, and vitae-fed strength behind the spear. The metal punched through rotting meat, deep into the mass of bodies.
Screams ripped out of it. One arm snapped up and clamped around his leg. He ignored the grip, locked his stance, and forced the spear even deeper.
The monster reared back. Harry held on with both hands, his feet kicking free and dangling in the air as it lifted up. The arm on his leg stayed clenched tight. More arms clawed toward him, falling short. The few that could have reached hung slack and useless, the bodies they belonged to already dead weight.
Its remaining heads roared as it lurched into a staggering spin, flailing blindly at him. It crashed back down, the impact jolting through its mass. Harry slammed down on its back hard, rolled onto one knee, and steadied himself. He kept his grip on the spear with his left hand, and yanked a sword from his inventory with his right. He raised it high and chopped down hard.
More screams tore loose. The creature heaved, starting to rise again. Harry brought the blade down a second time, burying it deep in rotted flesh. He let the sword go where it stuck and clamped both hands back around the spear.
They fell into a brutal rhythm. When it lurched upright, Harry held on. When it slammed down, he tore another sword free and hacked away at whatever he could reach.
The body he was hacking into finally tore free and slid off the main mass, peeling away in a wet smear. Beneath it lay another corpse, a head staring straight up at him, jaws snapping, a shrill scream tearing out of its ruined throat. Two active arms thrust upward from the same body, clamping around Harry’s legs and trying to drag him down.
Harry ripped another sword free and brought it down in a brutal chop. The blade sheared through most of the skull. The head went slack and the arms dropped away.
With that body ruined, the entire side of the Warden sagged and collapsed, no longer able to hold its weight. The limbs on the opposite side kept kicking and shoving at the ground, dragging the bulk in a tight, grinding circle and leaving a greasy smear of rot and stench behind it.
Harry shifted his focus to the next cluster of bodies in front of him, hacking and carving them apart piece by piece. The monster’s movements slowed. The screams thinned out, fewer heads still capable of making any sound at all.
It finally collapsed onto the ground, a broken heap of bodies. A few limbs still twitched, a few mouths dragged out low groans, but the fight was gone. Harry pushed more vitae into his strength and kept hacking. Gore splattered across him, slick and warm, guts spilling in wet ropes around his boots.
He dropped lower, carving toward the source he could feel through his Blood Sense. The one spot that still held an ugly, rot-green thread.
He cut again. And again.
At last the thread snapped out. The whole mass sagged flat, deflating as trapped gases vented in a choking, foul rush.
Harry shoved himself free, jumped off the corpse, and staggered away.
He looked up toward the cavern entrance. One figure stood there watching. Maybe Nick. Hard to tell from this distance through the haze of stench and settling dust.
He checked his meters.
H 93 | V: 82 | TM: 25%
He’d taken damage without even noticing. He glanced down. Every inch of him was matted in gore. Blood seeped from a deep gouge along his leg, the greave on that side hanging loose.
System, I warned you it was a bad idea.
:: System: Duly noted.
He pulled up his inventory. Twelve spears left out of the twenty-eight he’d started with. Three swords. He swept a look across the field and the scattered bodies. He’d collect everything later.
Harry drew a slow breath, squared his shoulders, and started the walk back up toward the cavern.
***
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