Chapter 5

A small shadow flew through the air, bounding from rooftop to rooftop as the clouds above slowly parted to reveal the clear night sky illuminated by pale moonlight. With wind rushing through his short platinum blonde, Vesryn crossed the city streets as the undead horde gathered and followed beneath him. His left hand was tightly clenched into a fist by as magical energy gathered between his finger. His body danced and flipped through the air as he used the countless rooftops and even the undead themselves as footholds to propel himself through the night air. Streams of magic flowed behind him like rivers of stars that extended from his grasp. The air seemed to grow warmer with every passing second as he pushed his way closer to the castle.

With one final push, Vesryn leapt from a building towards the horde that piled up in front of him. Using his free hand to redirect the grasping claws of the undead, he planted his feet onto the back of one of the creatures at the top of the pile and launched himself high into the air. Flipping upside as he reached the peak of his jump, Vesryn brought his left arm across his chest, magic no longer flowing towards the clenched fist by his right shoulder. With all the force he could muster, he waved his arm and push his hand towards the ground beneath and the reaching horde of undead. In that instant, time seemed to slow as the memories of his battles came to the surface. The voices of his former companions echoing in his mind, overlapping with his own voices as the familiar spell and incantation repeated over and over in his mind.

"Firaga!" A flash of bright orange suddenly illuminated the dark streets, as though the sun had appeared directly above the city. A bright, golden-red ball of fire the size of his head burst forth from his outstretched hand before suddenly expanding to a massive sphere nearly six feet in diameter that consumed the reaching undead below before slamming into the ground beneath. All sound seemed to disappear for a single moment, only to be replaced by a deafening explosion. Vesryn felt a rush of wind and heat as his small body was sent even higher into the air. Flipping and twisting his body in midair to reposition himself, he landed atop the peak of the castle itself and watched the devastation of his first true spell.

A wave of heat and fire washed over the undead filled plaza before continuing on through the countless streets and alleyways, setting the undead ablaze everywhere it reached and a crater where the plaza used to be. The buildings immediately surrounding the former plaza crumbled from the force of the explosion and the bodies that were sent flying. Webs of fire continually spread through the city, branching out using the countless undead and overgrown vines, casting an orange glow over the city. Standing on his left leg with his right leg hanging in the air, slightly bent at the knee, Vesryn looked down at the chaos unfolding in the streets as a brief wave of exhaustion washed over him.

Though he managed to cast the spell, his realized that his overall control over magic was not enough to use the spell to its true potential. Higher level spells like the one he just used required him to gather enough magical energy from his surroundings, a process that had taken nearly a whole minute and would have taken four times as long if the surroundings wasn't so saturated with magic. Not to mention he could feel the drain it took on his stamina to manipulate and shape the energy through brute force. He made a mental note that if he wanted to use large spells in battle, he needed to become more efficient and precise in his control of magic.

Seconds passed as he analyzed his current state while he watched the flames spreading from atop the castle, his breathing returned to normal and his stamina recovered from his previous consumption. With the undead scattering in every direction, Vesryn stepped off of the tower's peak and started to make his descent. Using the numerous ledges and balconies to control his fall, he eventually landed on top of the stairs leading into the castle itself. He looked inside through the ruined doors as the plaza, now an empty crater filled with a raging inferno and molten rock, illuminated him from behind. Glancing over his shoulder, he found himself and his clothes unaffected by the raging fire burning directly behind him, the intense heat feeling like little more than an average summer breeze as he watched the various surviving groups of undead to scatter into the distance away from the fire.

Vesryn turned his attention back towards the interior of the castle, the flames having scorched the stonework beyond the entrance, leaving them darkened and covered in a layer of soot. Stepping into the flame lit interior, he could see the hosts of undead waiting in the shadows. Vesryn saw no intelligence in their white, cloudy eyes, but he could tell that they were actively avoiding the inferno raging on behind him. More and more undead appeared from the depths of the castle as he took the opportunity to look at his surroundings. Great stone pillars stretched up to the ceiling and a single large stairway was positioned in the center to allow passage to the upper floors. Several hallways branched out from this central room, each leading into a different part of the castle.

Vesryn sighed as he watched the large horde that looked back at him. He closed his eyes as he felt the heat at his back, before opening his eyes a second later, his pupils elongating to take on a feline like appearance. Magic flowed towards his hands as he launched forward into the horde. Reaching out one hand in front of him, Vesryn grabbed one of the undead creatures by the neck as flames erupted from between his fingers. The nearby undead immediately retreating away from him as the captured undead was completely cloaked in flames. Pushing the thin creature back, he jumped up, planting his feet on the burning creature's chest and kicking off. The burning creature slammed into the surrounding horde, causing the fire to spread wildly among the other undead as Vesryn soared into the air and grabbed onto an iron sconce on the wall, the rusted metal creaking and bending from his weight.

"Ugh, this is going to take all night." Vesryn groaned as he looked down at the horde that was spreading apart to avoid the spreading flames. Pushing off the wall, the rusted sconce crumbled to the floor as he pierced through the air as he grabbed the head of one of the undead, his hands igniting on contact and setting the creature ablaze. Maintaining his momentum, he flipped over the creature before throwing it over his head as he landed on the ground, causing the now burning undead to go flying up the stairway and crash into the horde above. With the monsters confined to the stairway, the flames spread quickly as several of the creatures tumbled over the broken railing to get away from the flames.

"Fire." Vesryn chanted, causing magic to gather into the palm of his hand as he pushed it forward. As his hand was fully extended, a red, fist-sized ball of fire shot through the air, impacting the rusted breastplate worn by one of the undead, causing flames to wrap around the ruined metal and splashing onto the other creatures surrounding it. His small form leapt back and forth throughout the castle, dancing between the outstretched grasping claws. Igniting his hands on contact, Vesryn used his unnatural strength to throw the undead into each other, causing to collapse into crumpled piles of bodies that quickly caught ablaze as he leapt away towards his next target.

Relying mostly on grabs and throws to make up for his new body's short reach, Vesryn continued to fight against the overwhelming numbers. A familiar feeling welled up in his chest as he immersed himself in the rhythm of battle. The sound of his heartbeat softly echoing in his ear and the vibrations in his bones brought a smile to his face. Claws and rusted blades sliced through the air, missing him by a single hair each time as he flipped and spun through the air, dodging every attempt the horde made to tear him apart. Flames continued to spread all around him with every passing moment as more of the horde caught fire, spreading it to the nearby undead.

Leaving a trail of burning undead behind, Vesryn tore through the horde that was now trapped within the castle after he sealed the exits with flaming bodies. Minutes turned to hours as he fought his way through the castle, that somehow appeared larger on the inside than on the outside. His pace slowing down as the creatures grew more dangerous as their numbers dwindled and leaving behind undead that were faster, stronger and armed with full suits of rusted armor and weapons. Vesryn stopped at the top of the stairs on the fifth floor, moonlight shining down from a hole in the ceiling. In front of him at the other end of the hall, two figures both dressed in discolored metallic armor stood motionless in front of an open door as though they were standing guard.

Unlike the rest of the undead that have lost all semblance of their former life, these two figures still retained their human appearance. The one standing on the left side of the door was a man that had shoulder length, light brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. At a glance Vesryn estimated the man to be just under six feet tall. On his chest was a breastplate that was decorated with the engraving of three lions, all stacked vertically on a shield like crest. In his hand, he grasped a silver longsword with fine engravings on the blade near the hilt just before the wing-like quilling that made up the crossguard. Standing the opposite side was another man that stood close to six and a half feet tall, his black hair was short and curly, his beard covered most of his lower face. His armor was visibly thicker than his partner's with a crest sporting a single sword with its blade pointing towards the ground. In his left hand was a large greatsword, six feet in length, the blade extending from a simple crossguard, flaring out briefly to a width of half a foot before quickly tapering to a fine point, its edges a flawless silver that turned to a darker color towards the center.

Looking at the two former knights, Vesryn could almost mistake them as living humans if it wasn't for their dull grey and cloudy eyes that now focused on him. For a brief moment he though he saw a flash of emotion hidden deep within their eyes. Stepping into the hallway as the last bits of the undead burned behind him, Vesryn watched the two undead knights raised their swords in front of their chest for a brief second before taking a combat stance with their weapons held out in front of them. He watched as magic flowed towards the two swords before the two knights rushed forward in his direction.