TWENTY-SEVEN: MANOR OF THE DEAD

  His shield was pulled free of his arm, the straps tearing as another of the monsters bit his arm. Metal bent but held as Cassius cursed as his spear twisted out of his hand, the first of the undead dead at his feet. The other two were not so kind as to lay down and die, both of them worked him over with gnawing teeth, kept back only by solid steel and [Reinforce] keeping a layer of mana in the armor.

  Cassius swung his hips and tossed the creature that had locked onto his shield arm, rolling it over his hip to slam it into the ground. The second one tackled him from behind, the blow forced air out of his lungs as he was slung to the slick marble floor.

  He rolled, throwing an elbow that connected to something as he did so. The weight on his back disappeared as he got to his back, only to see the second undead grabbing at his legs, not bother to get back to its feet in its haste to reach him. Cassius kicked it in the face, once, twice, thrice, the hard heel crushed soft cartilage as its head was pushed away.

  The final one, that he had hit with his elbow, was slowly rising to its feet, eyes locked on the far side of the room as Cassius pushed his heels against the floor to scoot further back. He got his arms underneath him and shoved upward, drawing the gladius as soon as he was on his feet.

  Sharp metal split apart rotten flesh with ease as Cassius aimed for the base of the creature’s neck. No skill was needed as the triangular point emerged from the front of the monster’s neck. Cassius twisted his wrist and ripped the sword out, sending the head bouncing to the floor as the torso wavered for a moment before toppling over.

  “RARRR!” the final creature screamed, wordless in its rage as it came thundering to its feet in a wild charge. Its red eyes glowed with intensity as it lunged at him, arms outstretched in a perversion of an embrace.

  Cassius attacked, stepping into the embrace as he shoved the point of the gladius up and through the soft palette of the mouth and out the top of its skull. Its own weight and momentum carried it further down the sword, ending its life as Cassius used his free arm to grab its ragged clothing and shove it to the side to topple onto the other corpse.

  A wet slurp as the gladius came free and his own ragged breathing were the only sounds in the room as Cassius looked around for another attack. The three undead had emerged from hiding spots after he’d entered the room, thinking it one of the few empty rooms in the manor.

  Cool marble floors, small pantry doors, a large central counter covered in pots and pans had been his only companions in the room. Before the undead had unfurled themselves from cabinets and shelves they’d wedged themselves into, taking Cassius by surprise.

  It was by far the closest he’d come to death since his first encounter. Going over the kill alerts in his mind, none of the monsters had been strong, but the three of them together had been nearly enough to end him. It was only by sheer providence and training that he’d managed to kill the first one while the other two grabbed his shield and pulled it free.

  Cassius walked the room and checked every cabinet and pantry, careful of another ambush. Nothing in the room remained aside from moldering food, covered in thick white fuzz that made even Cassius wary of eating. The pots in the middle island were hard crusted with over cooked food, burned into the sides long ago.

  All three of the monsters had been dressed in white clothes, sleeves rolled and pinned up to their arms. None of them had anything of value to take, the knives in the kitchen turned to rust long ago, and nothing to eat or drink that wouldn’t poison him. Aside from the first of the undead he’d fought, none of them had anything of value to find.

  From behind him the sound of a door screeching open made him spin, lifting his spear while trying to keep his shield raised. Cold air and fog raced inside as the door to the back lawns banged against the wall and Leto marched in, his face scratched up, blood dripping down his sword as he looked around with wild eyes.

  “Leto!” Cassius barked, not liking the unstable look of the man. The nobleman stopped moving, only his eyes moving as he looked at Cassius. The moment stretched out as they stared at each other, Leto still perched as if to attack. Slowly he relaxed, shoulders untensing as he sighed out, closing the door with his free hand and slumped against it.

  “Have you seen the others?” Leto finally said, eyes closed as he leaned his head against the door. Cassius slowly relaxed his stance, lowering his spear tip and moving the shield to the side now that Leto no longer looked ready to kill without thought.

  “No. I arrived on the road in front of this manor. It was the only gate that opened. I’ve been killing these creatures as I explore,” Cassius said, using his chin to nod toward the three corpses. Leto opened his eyes and looked at them and nodded slowly.

  “I walked down the road, refused the open gate. It was a mistake. There are other monsters in the mist, stronger, faster than these ones. I climbed a gate and landed on the lawns in the rear. There was apparently a party of some size out there, it was filled with these creatures,” Leto said.

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  “You killed them all?” Cassius asked, not believing the nobleman would be strong or skilled enough to fight his way through a horde of the creatures.

  “Of course not. I ran, they’re right behind me,” Leto said. As if on cue, the door shuddered in its frame with enough force that Leto was thrown free and to the side. The nobleman swung around with the grace of a cat, sword rising as the door continued to rattle in its frame. A loud crack rang out as wood splintered and Cassius cursed as he ran around the wide central island in the kitchen.

  With its position only an easy stride from the back door, it held the center of their formation as Leto took one of the alleys the island created, while Cassius took the other. With the straps broken on the shield, he had to rely on his hand strength on the handle to keep the heavy shield in position.

  Setting the shield down with a heavy thud, Cassius positioned himself so he could reach out and strike at the doorway at nearly the maximum range of the spear. It would give him time to move back as the undead pushed further inside of the manor.

  “How many were there?” Cassius asked as the door jamb splintered further, jagged planks of wood shooting out as the door hung there, held together by a prayer and well made joints.

  “Too many,” Leto said, a calm facade falling over his face as he lifted the blade parallel to his face, point towards the doorway.

  The door blew off its hinges on the next second, slamming loudly to the ground as the undead fought one another to enter the house, their bodies wedged side by side into the mangled doorframe. Cassius knew he had an opportunity and he took it.

  [Thrust] aided his attack and he killed the leader of the band as it wiggled in the doorway, its shoulder wedged with another one’s against the doors. Its stained clothes were elegant rags, fine silks torn and shredded as its blackened teeth gnashed uselessly against the air. It grew still as steel rammed through its forehead, mana bursting free at the end of the blow to spray the contents of its skull back towards the rest of the horde.

  Legs folded under it, but the press of bodies kept it wedged against the walls, helping form a temporary block. Already Cassius could see it beginning to slide downward, torso twisting in a way that would open up the portal and allow the rest of the horde to push in.

  Cassius struck again with equal results, the spear lunged along the dented rim of his spear with precision, guided by both [Hunter’s Sight] and [Thrust]. His mana reserves wouldn’t allow many more of the strikes but twice more he killed the charging undead, clogging the doorway with corpses. It didn't stop the undead, they climbed over the dead with feral intensity, but it limited their numbers.

  Leto stepped forward and used his sword like he was an executioner as the undead climbed over the top of the rampart of dead, heads rolling away with every strike. Cassius edged closer, shuffling forward and pressing against the island until he could strike out through the door and into the horde.

  Without using [Thrust] his lethality diminished, but his mana reserves stopped dropping and held steady while he used [Hunter’s Sight] to see through the thick fog that swirled around the edge of the building. If had not had the skill, he would have been hard pressed to see anything more than shapes moving in the mist, let alone able to slay them with the precision he was managing. Not every attack left one of the creatures dead, but it came often enough that he was outpacing Leto.

  “How many more?” Leto asked, panting as he flicked his sword and sent a long line of clotted blood free of the sword. Sweat rolled down the man’s face, pale from exertion as he struggled to catch his breath.

  “Plenty more,” Cassius said. It was hard to see how many were left, his view of the lawns were limited and the creatures shoved and threw themselves to the side as they fought to get toward the door. Leto cursed but prepared his killing field, kicking severed heads away from himself and finally shoving several corpses out of the doorway with his foot.

  Their stack of bodies had grown to cover over halfway up the eight foot tall doorway, with more corpses thrown to the sides of the back wall. Cassius kept them from grabbing Leto’s leg, spear flashing out in a series of precise strikes that sent two more of their numbers to the crowded ground. With so many of the dead littering the ground, the undead were forced to crawl on their hands and knees at times, slowing them and making them an easier target.

  Time blurred together as Cassius kept his eyes locked on the outdoors, the rasp of wood on metal as his spear shot out time after time became a melody to his mind. Leto continued to kill those that used the rampart of dead to hide from Cassius, his sword grew dull from the constant blows and he was forced to crush their skulls by beating them in with the pommel of his sword or under his boots.

  Cassius kept an eye on the nobleman, seeing his face growing more pale as he breathed heavily, never seeming to recover no matter how long they rested between attacks. Deep rings had formed under his eyes and his breath had taken a phlegmy rattle to it that alarmed Cassius as the man leaned against the island, waiting for the next of the attacks.

  “Are you wounded?” Cassius asked as the long moments between attacks stretched out longer and longer. There were few of the monsters left, their blood having made a lake in the kitchen.

  “Nothing of note. I am just tired. Rest, water, food, and I will be fine,” Leto insisted as he stood upright and looked out through the doorway.

  “Back outside, or finish exploring this manor?” Leto asked, his weight supported by the splintered wall.

  Cassius looked over the mangled corpses and then back towards the interior of the manor. He’d managed to work his way through the vast majority of it, finding nothing of value aside from the very first monster he’d slain, which had also been the strongest. There were still rooms he hadn’t explored, an entire upper level that he hadn’t climbed yet.

  [Hunter’s Sight] pulled his attention to the backyard, to where the others were scattered out and alone. Valeria was out there and a legionnaire did not abandon another legionnaire.

  “Let us find the others. If we need to come back, we shall come back,” Cassius said, making his choice as he started to climb over the bodies carefully, entering the thickly shrouded yard with Leto struggling behind him.