Scourge

Chapter One: Evolutionary Flaw

"Honestly, they deserved it," muttered Lainy under her tightly pulled hood. An effortless wave of her hand sparked a flame within the pile of logs the others had been collecting. "Evolution got the best of them; they just couldn't adapt."

"But what actually even happened?" Bensin questioned, almost to himself, because an answer seemed unattainable. Not even the wisest of the mages, whose name was Killiman, though the group simply referred to him as "Knowledge", could explain it.

"Who gives a fuck?" Chimed Lainy, stabbing a scurrying rat on the floor and holding it over the fire, watching it squeal and squirm. "It's not like they ever treated us with a sliver of respect, the bastards. I'm surprised the Empress didn't just command the League to put them out of their misery after the first war. But oh no, we had to display mercy and form a fucking treaty with the eggheads. And not to mention the fact that-"

Just then, a ways beyond the clearing the group rested at, an indistinguishable sound was heard by the lot (though all of them guessed quickly what produced it). Feris, who had been silently sitting atop a long-since broken down RV hopped down and glided to Killiman. "A hoard. Probably sixty. They smell us, but-"

A graceful hand lifted to stop Feris' explanation as Killiman rose. He could see them too, well, not visibly. But he sensed them, stumbling about where Feris had told him, slowly making their way toward them. His mind reached out and stood in the center of them, confirming the suspicion. Killiman opened his eyes.

"What do we do, Knowledge?" A skittish Vim asked.

"Lainy, Storm, take them out," Killiman stated calmly.

Then, sensing the remaining terror in Vim, he added, "We have nothing to fear, young one, because we have everything they lack." A hand rested on Vim's shoulder, reassuring and comforting him almost instantaneously.

Storm didn't protest, and before Lainy could, a single zombie meandered around the RV, noticing them and turning rabid, sprinting for the band of wizards. Closest to the creature was Bensin, who threw his hands up and, with a simple, ancient phrase brushing his lips, froze the beast where it stood. He then unsheathed his sword and decapitated the being, it's head thudding to the ground and its' still unmoving body releasing a revolting, black fluid.

"We need to move," Storm determined, and began in the direction Feris had spotted the hoard.

"This oughta be thrilling," a sarcastic Lainy declared, and followed Storm into the woods. Truth be told, though, she cherished nothing more than ending the lives of the undead. In fact, when she did, she enjoyed picturing them as the humans they once were, who she hated even more than the vile degenerates. The treaty between the humans and mages was tolerated generally, but many wizards thought the former were inferior and.. well.. pests. And now they truly were.

Feris leaped onto the decaying vehicle once more, scouting the area, but keeping a close eye on the two sorceresses. Killiman eased himself once more to the ground, linking with Feris' intellect to see what he could. Dark trees, a cloudless sky, the moon bearing down to illuminate a mass of the living dead. Thank the Gods for that, Killiman thought, referring to the full moon. Feris agreed telepathically.

"How should we approach this situation?" Storm asked, meeting a face from Lainy that screamed, Are you stupid? Blow 'em all sky high!

"I think we should kill them," Lainy responded, even more sarcastically than Storm thought she'd ever heard her speak.

"Yes, but a game plan is always smart," Storm fired back. "I'll distract them with a flare off to the side, and you use Illiceral to smash their brains from within, yeah?" Her accent, which nobody really knew the origins of, was thick, especially when she was whispering.

"Certainly," Lainy replied. "Glad I was on the planning committee for that one."

They passed a few more trees, the gurgles and shuffling of the zombies becoming more prominent. Storm noted that they had begun to sniff about as well; the wind was not on their side for this particular assignment. She readied the diversion in her hand, a slight glow and crackle forming at the palm.

Just as the hoard came into view, Storm cited a quick Feribellum Lacriso in her mind before throwing the ball of half lightning, half cloud-like burst of energy over their heads and somewhere off to the right. When the spell landed, it set off a loud bang! and killed two undead nearby. The sparks continued to divert the attention away from the witches as Lainy prepared her spell, grinning slightly. All the while, Feris and Killiman watched silently, patiently.

After a few more seconds, Lainy had gathered enough power to cast the spell. With a full throttled thrust of her arms, black tendrils materialized from her breast and crashed toward the grave-less bodies. Swiftly the dark fibers cruised through the brains of their enemies, and the commotion was over within thirty seconds. The empty vessels of decaying flesh fell to the forest floor and Storm turned to her companion, fury in her eyes.

"How discreet," she fumed. "You know dark magic will just attract more of them. Why did you use that bullshit?!"

Lainy shrugged and strutted back toward camp confidently. "Figured we're packing up and heading further up the mountain in the morning anyway. Jesus, can't a girl have any fun these days?"

Still watching, Killiman disapproved, but did not speak about the incident as the girls returned, and never reanimated the subject.