Chapter 122 - Shadow Bolt

  Gideon cursed under his breath. The trip was taking too damned long. Driving from the lake shore to the mall was a matter of ten minutes, maybe fifteen on a bad day, back before the Event screwed up everything.

  Now, it was an hour’s walk.

  His people were in good shape and making excellent time, but it wasn’t good enough. They were near enough now that they could hear the occasional sounds of battle emanating from the distance. Once, he thought he saw something flying through the air. He’d seen a few bird-people flying around the city over the past week, but what he’d seen didn’t look like that. It looked more like an ordinary human, although it was difficult to tell at such range, and he’d only caught a momentary glimpse before whatever it was vanished again.

  There was clearly a major conflict going on, and he had the troops with him to potentially swing that battle in one direction or another. But only if he arrived before the fighting was over! If they were too late, the victor would already be decided, and he’d have to deal with the consequences of a battle that he hadn’t even been present to fight.

  Gideon’s gut told him whatever was happening out there was important. Then he got proof.

  The wave of magical energy was palpable even at this distance. It hit him like an almost physical force, was strong enough that his men all froze in their march as the power washed over them.

  “What the hell was that?” one of them asked.

  “That felt weird!”

  Brian quick-stepped over to stand beside Gideon’s horse. “Sir?”

  “That was a spell,” Gideon said, raising his voice loud enough that all his followers could hear. “Cast by someone extremely powerful. We will need to be on our guard as we approach, but I’m even more confident that this mission is essential to our survival, now.”

  What he didn’t pass along to the others was the tier he’d sensed in that magic. Tier ten! That was…insane. Unprecedented. How had anyone gotten so strong already? He was only tier seven himself. Getting from where he was to a tier ten level would involve collecting an additional eight hundred and thirty-two crystals, all of the same spell or attribute. To accomplish that, Gideon would have to kill thousands of monsters, maybe ten thousand, perhaps even more.

  The difference in power level between himself and that caster was geometric in scale. The thought almost made him want to flee back to the fortress. They’d be safe there, at least for the time being. If was a difficult base to assault, and with his Domain in place and defenders properly set up, they could hold off a much stronger force there.

  But not a tier ten foe. That would tear through everything he had like it wasn’t even there. No, he needed information more than anything else. Any tier ten was automatically a threat, but he needed to know if this was an immediate threat or a potential one. It would be good to understand who was fighting whom out there, as well. But they were still twenty minutes out, at their current pace.

  Gideon reached a decision about his next moves and looked down at Brian. “Take command of our force. The undead will follow your spoken commands.” Gideon sent the mental command to make that happen, although he also ordered them to continue to his side, provided the men were safe.

  “Where will you be, sir?” Brian asked. “You going ahead?”

  Gideon nodded. “Yes. I want to get there as quickly as possible so I can see what we’re up against. Come in from the north side of the battle. That should be where you find me. I’ll try to stay silent as an observer until you arrive to back me up.”

  Brian snorted. Gideon’s eyebrows shot up at that, and he grinned a little ruefully. “I’m that transparent, am I?”

  “Yes, sir. You are. Be safe out there. We’ll make the best time we can and join you as quick as our legs will carry us,” Brian replied. “Remember though; we lose you, we lose everything, sir. You lead us.”

  “I won’t ever forget,” Gideon replied. “See you soon.”

  Then he turned and ordered his horse to step out at a gallop. The undead mount picked up speed quickly, racing forward along roads littered with dead vehicles as it poured on the speed. He had to get there before this battle was decided. Why he felt so certain of that fact, Gideon wasn’t sure, but he trusted his intuition.

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  One of his favorite things about the undead was that they never tired; his horse could ride at top speed nonstop, without ever growing exhausted. It was a massive plus, and one he used to the fullest potential that evening. His mount’s hooves clattered on the pavement as it carried him swiftly to his destination.

  Finding the site of the battle wasn’t difficult, even now that it was fully dark out. His NightVision clearly showed where smoke from the massive fire still rose into the sky, and the sounds of combat were audible even from a good distance. It was simple enough to home in on the location, which turned out to be a little west of the mall itself, on the western side of the highway.

  He slowed as he approached. It would make no sense to rush headlong into whatever was happening. Better by far to use stealth, sneaking in closer so that he could scout the battle and get a better feel for what was happening. To that end Gideon used Darkness to wreath himself and his mount with shadows, then Shadow Walk to deepen his stealth even further.

  It might still be possible for an extremely strong spell caster to detect him; it was impossible to rule that out, as he didn’t know all the possible powers someone might have. Still, he felt as concealed as he reasonably could be, and it would have to be enough. Odds were that both sides were deeply invested in combat anyway, and would have few resources looking for hidden presences nearby.

  He made sure his sword was loose in its scabbard anyway, just in case.

  Finally he’d worked his way through the last copse of trees between him and the battleground. He paused right by the edge of the small forest and peered beyond—utterly stunned by the scene in front of him!

  One side was defending a small set of farm buildings. He couldn’t tell how many defenders there were, since they were hidden among the various structures. But it didn’t seem there were that many. Some strength there for sure, though—he caught sight of the tyrannosaurus skeleton he’d hoped to acquire, so someone else had managed to Control the creature before he got there! That showed initiative and skill, both of which he could respect.

  Then he cast his gaze at the undead army. There were a lot of zombies out there.

  That was beyond an understatement. Gideon had never seen half that many undead in one place. There had to be over five hundred of them remaining, and from the stacks of dead zombies littering the ground and the road beyond, it was clear the force had once been much larger. The defenders had fought ferociously against this foe, and from the looks of it he’d arrived in time. The battle was at a standstill, but looked ready to continue at any moment.

  Two figures met in the middle of the forces. One rode a horse while the other was on foot. He couldn’t hear what was said—his hiding place was still much too far away. But he had a decent idea what must be passing. They’d banter back and forth, and then engage one another.

  He had little doubt how the fight would finish. The mounted man was the tier ten he’d sensed from a mile away. That much raw power was easy to pinpoint at this range. Gideon decided he’d want to work on that some; many of his skills involved hiding, and he wanted to continue practicing how to mute his aura, to avoid detection. It was a skill he’d worked on some already, but he had no doubt if the tier ten turned its attention his way, Gideon would be spotted immediately.

  The other warrior was much smaller—a teenager, maybe? It was impossible to tell. He caught a glimpse of long, dark hair, so perhaps it was a woman?

  Without warning, the rider sent his mount rushing forward, but the defender pulsed a spell, briefly winning control of the undead mount! A daring move, but it paid off, and Gideon chuckled to see the tier ten faceplant into the dirt.

  The battle went on, and poorly for the lower rank warrior after that. Her friends—Gideon was more convinced than ever it was a woman—tried to help, but they were shut down quickly.

  He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to intercede here. The tier seven was going to lose. Even if he joined in, even if his entire force was there with him, it would be a difficult fight to win. Without Gideon and his troops, the lower rank was doomed. But he felt wary about siding with the higher ranked necromancer as well. Not because he thought the now unmounted man would lose, but because of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on—at first.

  Their battle moved across the field, gradually coming closer to where Gideon hid. He focused his Will even more on hiding his aura, hoping that he could remain undetected. He might not want to join this fight, but he still wanted to see how it ended.

  Then the dinosaur spat a Fireball at the enemy. It glided past, and Gideon got a much better look at the two opponents.

  One, the tier ten, was himself undead. He was no necromancer! He wasn’t human. He was just another monster raised from the dead by the event and come to tear apart Gideon’s world.

  The creature was no better than the monsters who’d killed Gideon’s wife and his child. He was just another thing here to ruin the world. Fury rose in Gideon’s chest, and he readied a spell, all caution set aside. Even if this was a near impossible fight, it was worth doing it. Gideon knew in his gut that this monster would destroy until there was nothing left, and that could not be allowed.

  He had a new spell, a powerful one, perhaps the strongest he’d seen. It was called Shadow Bolt, and from what he’d gleaned so far it fired off a bolt of negative energy. He’d tested it against his own undead, and it worked as devastatingly against them as it did the living. He’d never used the spell against a serious threat, but it did more damage than anything else he had.

  Gideon fired the spell at the tier ten thing moments before it killed the woman.

  The black bolt sped by, slamming into the undead lord. As it passed the woman, despite being black as night the thing still somehow glowed enough that his NightVision got a look at the woman’s face. It was his student, Selena!