Written by Craig DeBoard
Cover Art by Byron RempelChapter 1
The Man in BlackNOW:The man in black made his way across the rubble of Peregren. He came to the back of a building and climbed onto the top of a shed near it. From the shed he stepped onto a windowsill. He then hosted himself onto the roof of the building.
He slowly crept across the roof and looked at the street below.
"Assassinator sees thousands of zombies," Assassinator, the man in black, said.
The zombies all saw him and began running toward the building.
"ASSASSINATOR FLEES THOUSANDS OF ZOMBIES!" Assassinator screamed in fear running back the way he came.
Chapter 2
No Holding BackTWO HOURS AGO:Errons swung the kopesh blades he always carried, with deadly accuracy. "GO!" he screamed at Turk'en.
The darkling jumped onto the rail of the ship and leaped off tackling the masked human assassin twenty feet below on the stone streets of Peregren.
The city was at war. Nearly 50 Knights of Tomath fought against well over 80 assassins from the Acaetus Nimius guild. The guild wasn't just going after the Knights though. They were attacking all of the townsfolk of Peregren.
Turk'en and the human assassin tumbled on the ground and both rolled to their feet.
"FOOLISH DARKLING!" the masked assassin yelled rushing at Turk'en. Turk'en ducked and used the assassin's momentum against him, sending the assassin rolling over him.
The assassin landed on his feet though.
"Crap. It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?"
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Aldion and Leif ran. After they had left Grettal's, about halfway to the Sky Palace, a building exploded in rock and dust. Acaestus Nimius had surprise attacked the city before the Knights were ready. They had used the Knights' own catapults against them within the city walls.
"We've got to get to the ship!" Aldion screamed as they ran.
"People might need help though!" Leif yelled back as the two ducked when another building exploded into more dust and flying debris.
"I know! But if we stay here we're dead! And then we're no use to anyone!" Aldion screamed back.
Leif didn't like it, but Aldion was right. The two ran as fast as they could.
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"ACHK! YE FECKIN' NO GOOD SNEAKS! YER ALL GOIN' TA DIE!" James shouted reloading his rifle on the Sky Palace.
Lopex stood near him fighting off two human assassins of his own.
"THEY'RE EVER' WHERE!" James yelled.
Lopex guarded James' back while the drunken pirate went back to firing his rifle at any enemies he could find.
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Wooden shards and splinters flew everywhere as houses were blasted away by more catapults. Kargin, Zoei, Ulak Thundermouth, and tangerine were holed up in a small shed in a residential area.
"Madam Prime Minister, we have to get out of here! We have to leave the city" the knight screamed at Zoei.
"NO!" she screamed back, "when this is over these people will still need a leader. Take Tangerine and get to the Sky Palace!" Zoei yelled back trying to be heard of the nearby explosions and screams and violence.
The entire city was in chaos.
"But Prime Min--" the Knight began.
"THAT IS AN ORDER GENERAL! I HOLD YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR MY DAUGHTER'S SAFETY! NOW GO!" Zoei ordered.
Kargin was hesitant and looked like he was about to argue but stopped himself.
"You have my word, while I still draw breath, I will allow nothing to befall your child," Kargin said solemnly to Zoei.
"I know," she replied.
"Mom?" Tangerine said worried.
"Go," her mother ordered.
"I LOVE YOU!" Tangerine shouted to her mother as Kargin grabbed her by the hand and the two took off running.
"I LOVE YOU!" Zoei yelled back. She turned to Ulak. "You need to go with them."
"Not happenin'," muttered the dwarf, "Tommy was my crew-mate. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you. I already told yer knight friend."
Another explosion hit nearby.
"Then we need to get to the parliament building now!" Zoei yelled over the noise.
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"Cap'n, do we shove off or not?" Bone Jack yelled to his leader.
"NO! We wait! Cholley hasn't returned yet, and I won't be leavin' any crew behind," Captain Hellcat yelled firing her pistols at the enemy.
Dead bodies littered the streets. It was almost as if the assassins weren't meaning to kill Zoei, but instead to kill everything in Peregren.
"Captain, we have to leave now!" Browden yelled bashing the fingers of an assassin that tried to pull himself up and over the railing of the ship.
"NO!" she screamed at her lover, "NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND!"
Browden shot a glance at Erron who was also on the ship.
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"How goes it?" The Harbinger asked.
"All goes according to plan my lord," Sabal said to the main sitting at the desk, and slightly bowing.
The man sat at a large oak desk inside of the wood-mill in the southern end of Peregren. The Knighthood had known that the assassins were in Peregren for quite some time, but never had the forces to try to remove them. When the attempt was made on Prime Minister Zoei's life, the general of the knights, Kargin el Tomath gave the order anyways.
"It amazes me how you knew this would happen," Sabal said to her leader.
"Ahhh, of course you wouldn't understand this. You are nothing but a mere pawn in this game between myself and our real target. Real target. HA! It amazes me how foolish the knights could be, believing that I would target Prime Minister Zoei Fantasy. There is more to this world than the city of Peregren or it's pathetic knights," The Harbinger replied, while standing and walking around the desk to Sabal.
"Contact your brother, Mathias. I want him to begin our second phase of our plan. Peregren's destruction is only the first step," The Harbinger ordered.
"Yes, m'lord," Sabal said nodding.
Chapter 3
Into the Wood-MillONE HOUR AGO:The war had first started when an assassin from the Acaetus Nimius assassins guild first made his way to the walls of the city undetected. His surveillance of the knights guarding the catapults was the exact tool the guild needed. By leaving the Knighthood to believe they would attack first, they wouldn't be expecting an instant attack within an hour after a funeral.
One should never doubt the assassins of Acaetus Nimius.
The catapults had a total of five guards each around them at all times, ready to attack any army threatening the sanctity of the city of Peregren.
It didn't take much for the assassins to remove the unaware guards from the catapults. It took even less to aim them at random spots within the cities.
The Knights of Tomath were completely unprepared.
"There they are?" Aldion whispered kneeling down behind a pile of broken wagon yokes.
"This is a bad idea. We should have went back to the ship. The Captain is probably worried about me," Leif said watching the assassins of Acaetus Nimius man the catapults.
"The Captain isn't even going to know who you are.....what's your real name again?" Aldion said.
"Leif."
"Yeah, Leif, she isn't going to recognize you. Last she knew, you were eight inches tall. Now you're a full sized man," Aldion replied.
"Still, this is a bad idea," Leif replied kneeling lower worried about being seen by the enemy.
"We can't go back to the ship. I wanted to. I thought it would be a good idea. But dammit, these catapults are killing people. We have to stop this," Aldion said.
"And I want to stop it, but we can't do this alone," Leif mentioned.
"Just follow my lead," Aldion whispered and began to slowly creep forward toward the assassins.
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Erron made his way off of the ship. If this had to do with Sabal then it had to do with him.
He began running through the city dodging in and out of people running for their lives. Here and there rioting began.
Erron stopped to help no one. While it would have been noble to do so, he had to find Sabal to bring an end to this.
Little did he realize he was being followed the entire time.
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Kargin and Tangerine made it to the ship, Kargin's armor and blade blood splattered.
"Tangerine!" Hellcat yelled running to the girl.
"General Kargin," she said with venom stopping dead in her tracks.
"I'm not here to quarrel with you. It is my solemn duty to see to it that the Prime Minister's daughter comes to no harm at all," Kargin replied sternly.
"Fine, so be it. Ye can do that by helpin' get this sky-ship ready for lift off. We have to get outta the city. Where's Ulak?" the captain asked.
"He isn't coming. he's staying with my mother. He said my dad would have wanted that," Tangerine replied following Hellcat.
The captain, and Bone-Jack, Kargin and Tangerine began preparing the ship.
"Lopex! Where's James?" Hellcat yelled at the mute.
Lopex nursed a badly bruised shoulder and pointed at James who was firing at members of Acaetus Nimius on the docks and streets twenty feet below.
"JAMES! Where's Browden?" Hellcat yelled.
"Hell if I bloody fekkin' know!" he yelled back firing more.
That's when Hellcat realized the severity of the problem.
Erron was missing too.
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Turk'en swung Frost Cutter fast. Incredibly fast at the masked human assassin.
The human assassin ducked and went into the splits bringing a fist up into Turk'en's gut. The human then slid both legs right back together and spun with a round house kick sending the darkling flying.
Turk'en crashed into an apple cart smashing wood and apples covering himself with the sauce.
"Damn," he muttered scrambling back to his feet. Frost Cutter had flown from his hand.
The masked assassin eyed the weapon on the ground.
Both ran for the axe.
Turk'en slid on the ground feet first as the assassin grabbed for the axe. His feet hit the handle knocking it away, and Turk'en shift to his back and lifted his legs up and spun catching the assassin in the face with a kick.
The assassin rolled with the blow and landed in a crouching position.
Turk'en kicked up into a fighting stance and the two rushed each other again, with the assassin jumping through the air with a kick, and Turk'en jumping through the air with a punch.
Turk'en missed and the masked assassin landed the kick to Turk'en's knee cap sending the darkling flipping through the air and crashing again, this time into a stone wall.
The darkling was slow to get to his feet and stood bleeding and feeling broken.
WAM! WAM! WAM! WAM!
Four punches in seconds into the face of the darkling.
The assassin didn't let up. Mounting the darkling the assassin rained down more punches.
Turk'en reached up putting the palm of his hand into the chin of the masked assassin shoving them off.
The darkling stumbled to his feet, barely able to see from blackened eyes, a swollen jaw, and a broken and bloody nose.
"Who....who are you?" he said stumbling.
SHUNK!!!
The ice axe Frost Cutter embedded itself into Turk'en chest.
The darkling fell.
The assassin stood over Turk'en's unmoving body and slowly removed the mask.
"Trinity," she said.
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Erron made it to the wood-mill and found an unlocked door on the side of the building on the first floor. The three story building was falling apart. Outside of it Knights battled more of the Acaetus Nimius guild trying to find somewhere close to the build to fortify so they could plan for a unified assault. The effort proved to be fruitless. But it was enough distraction for Erron to slip inside.
The building itself was empty.
Erron decided to check the second floor. Empty as well.
After twenty minutes, of searching the first two floors he proceeded to the third floor.
There was door directly at the top of the stairs. The third floor consisted of one room that was on the other side of the door and Erron had no idea what lay on the other side.
He slowly opened it.
"I knew it wouldn't be long before you arrived," the voice said.
Erron knew the voice. But he couldn't place from where. The room itself was dark and Erron could see the silhouette of the man sitting at a large oak desk.
"Who are you?" Erron asked drawing his two curved kopesh swords.
"Don't be stupid. You know who I am," the man said standing from the desk and walking toward one of three windows in the room, "the real question you want to ask, is why?"
"Why what?" Erron said glancing back at the door he came through to make sure he wasn't followed.
"Why this? Why this attack on Peregren?" the figure replied.
"We know why. To kill Zoei Fantasy," Erron said through gritted teeth.
"Zoei? HA! You're more foolish than I remember. This isn't about her. It's about him. It's always been about him," the figure said walking back to the desk and sitting down.
"Who?" Erron asked walking near a different window and glancing at the carnage outside.
"The King of the Undead," the man at the desk answered.
"You're going to have to be a little bit more specific. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," Erron said still looking outside.
"Yes you do. You know exactly what I'm talking about. This is all about him. It always has been and you know it."
Erron turned toward the man at the desk.
"What do you want? What do I have to do to stop this and get to Sabal?" he asked.
"Ahhh, such petty requests from you for such a large price you would have to pay. Do you think I care about Sabal? Have her. You'll find her on her way south heading to the small village Medrath."
"That's clear on the other side of the continent. Why is she going there?" Erron asked.
"Haven't you been listening? This isn't just about Peregren. This is about all of Nerin Toth," the man said becoming annoyed.
"Fine. Then what do I have to do to stop this violence you created in Peregren?" Erron asked still staring out the window at the carnage the one pristine and massive city had become.
"There is nothing you can do," the man said.
"TELL ME HOW TO STOP THIS!" Erron yelled spinning around to face the figure.
"You can't."
CRASH!
Erron flew out of the window, with a man in black on top of him. Both of them fell to the ground with the man in black punching and stabbing at Erron with a dagger the whole way down.
The Harbinger stood at the broken window looking down on Erron.
"You can't," The Harbinger said.
Chapter 4
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back2 MINUTES AGO:Aldion and Leif crept forward. Two Acaetus Nimius assassins guarded the one catapult that Aldion and Leif were able to get close to. Three others operated it. They were firing large gunpowder kegs that were lit.
"Cover me," Aldion whispered and began crawling toward the assassins.
"Cover you? I don't even know what you're--" Leif started.
Aldion lit one of the unused kegs of gunpowder in the larger group of unused, unlit kegs.
He then snuck back to Leif.
"Why did you need me to cover you?" Leif asked, eying the assassins the whole time.
"I dunno. Always wanted to say that, I guess," Aldion replied.
"Yeah....we should be leaving," Leif suggested.
"Probably," Aldion replied.
The two shot up to their feet in full view of the assassins.
"Th' hell?!" one shouted.
"Get them before--"
KA-THOOM!
The resounding explosion sent Aldion, Leif, the assassins, the wreckage that was at one point the catapult, and nearby buildings all flying in different directions. It also blew a giant hole in the wall of the city.
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Hellcat waited no longer. The Sky Palace lifted off.
"You can't blame yourself," Tangarine said to the captain as she left Bone Jack to steer the ship.
"I left Browden behind," she said softly, "I left Cholley behind," she finished not knowing the eight inch tall man was now a full sized man known as Leif.
"They'll survive," Kargin butted in with uncaring words.
"No they won't. You have no idea what will happen to them," Hellcat said angrily turning on Kargin.
"I know they're part of your crew. I know my men and I have had run-ins with your crew in the past. I know they're survivors," Kargin said sternly.
Hellcat turned and stormed off down below deck to her cabin. She fell into her cot and buried her face into her pillow. Her guilt overwhelmed her.
She leaned up and grabbed a bottle of rum from the nightstand beside her cot. She opened it and took a large swig straight from the bottle.
"Browden," she whispered tears streaming down her face.
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The undead began pouring in through the whole by the thousands. One advantage to the massive city were it's strong walls that kept out the undead. One disadvantage however was that it was so massive. With such a huge population the undead were naturally drawn toward the city but always roamed outside of it's walls.
Now they poured in with nothing to stop them.
EpilogueNOW:The man in black made his way across the rubble of Peregren. He came to the back of a building and climbed onto the top of a shed near it. From the shed he stepped onto a windowsill. He then hosted himself onto the roof of the building.
He slowly crept across the roof and looked at the street below.
"Assassinator sees thousands of zombies," Assassinator, the man in black, said.
The zombies all saw him and began running toward the building.
"ASSASSINATOR FLEES THOUSANDS OF ZOMBIES!" Assassinator screamed in fear running back the way he came...back toward Erron's broken body.
NEXT ISSUE: THINGS GET WORSE!
