7. Bandits

A group of thirteen went out for blood. There were tall and buff looking skeletons. Along with them were skinny but tall skeletons, yet a little shorter. A young boy rode on a lich, the same lich which was made from the ashes of the original skeleton. Each skeleton now had a black and blue flame. As the small group traveled they came across another ice wolf pack. This one had six normal and one chief.

The battle began. The liches attacked with several ice wolf skulls. The death knights summoned their fang spears as well. When the first line hit each other two wolves died with no casualties on the skeleton's side. A fierce battle began as Rise faced off against the chief. After a few clashes the chief went down and Rise wasn't mortally injured this time. Rise had the liches on their mounts carry the corpses as they began traveling again.

They killed off several packs, but the suffered the loss of two death knights and a lich. It wasn't the end of the world, soon enough they went back. They had the bodies of 5 chiefs and 42 wolves. They made sure to avoid any more wolves along the way, they were a little encumbered. It was a successful harvest if Rise did say so himself. But that wasn't the end for this.

A group of fourteen bandits silently followed them. They were going to rob and kill this small kid, maybe get a bounty for him being a necromancer. Unless he was a Lord, if he was then they were going to be a criminal. The lead bandit smiled when the group of ten arrived back. They then decided to attack at night.

Rise noticed a familiar presence following them, bad people. He ordered the death knights and liches to patrol in teams of five. He had a bad feeling about this. When he got back he saw the blacksmith Jerry and the tailor Polly making weapons and armor. There were a few sets.

"Stop whatever you're making, take this. Make shields, swords, staffs, armor, and better cloaks. Continue." Rise ordered and threw them the ice wolf pack leader fur and reinforced ice. The two were surprised but Polly got to work. Jerry's loyalty raised to 63.

By tomorrow he should get everything done, but in an hour he should be able to strengthen his skeletons. Rise was feeling a little giddy, no matter how much he was cold or ruthless, he was still a kid in the end. Plus, things were going his way. But he needed to deal with the current threat first. The bad people. They could be criminals, bounty hunters, anything really. Rise breathed in and out, he started calculating seriously. With Blue, the current skeletons, their mounts, and himself. He had a total military strength of twenty people. Each one was quite strong.

Thus an hour went by. Several new tents were made and the bandits were still hiding. Rise went back to his hut and found that more equipment had been made. Good, Rise quietly grabbed one of each item and went out. Polly and Jerry were still working hard. The young Lord then went over to the graveyard and threw everything in. Soon the skeletons were upgraded. The liches had a meter long staff as well as a cloak with shoulder guard. The death knights had capes instead. They had reinforced ice armor, shields, and swords. It would be a tough battle when it actually came.

Time passed as Wendy made dinner, night was here. Rise wasn't in the mood to eat, but was convinced by Polly. Her exact words were. "Growing children need food and sleep!" He wasn't a child! Somewhat...

The bandit leader finally made his move as Rise entered the igloo, Rise decided to let the skeletons handle it. It was technically eighteen on whatever their numbers were. The bandits had better equipment over all, but were prone to emotions and exhaustion. Thus, the battle began once more.

The bandits invaded from all sides as the death knights laid dormant under the snow. The liches were the first to see the invaders. They were a sort of berserker class, absolutely no defense, yet a lot of power. Eighteen skulls flew out and chomped on them. Already four died. The death knights leapt out from under the snow and began hacking away. The leader was surprised but not jaw stricken. Good thing he called in reinforcements. Soon all but three bandits dies, one was the leader who was far away, two were still fighting yet fell anyway. But in the distance a group of forty armed bandits appeared. They had the same equipment as the last bandits. The battle rages on.

The frost vampires knew something was wrong when they heard the shouting. Blue was surprised as Rise left and scouted the battlefield. He hurriedly grabbed some equipment and got to the graveyard. He grabbed armor and swords made from ice iron. The strongest of any ice material. Also the most common material used for armor and other things. Throwing the armor and sword into the graveyard they were equipped onto the death knights and liches.

Somehow no skeletons died so far, maybe due to the ambush. But the forty that came were going to be a pain in the behind. Rise summoned his fang spear and prepared for battle. He told Blue to evacuate everyone far away. Blue agreed and left with the frost vampires. They might've been useful in the battle, but he'd rather not waste any subordinates if he could. The roars of the berserkers accompanied the clattering of the undeath.

This was going to be a long night. Rise mused himself, he chuckled. Snowy was left in his hut as he readied for the oncoming battle. Forty-one approached fast, the bandit leader teamed up with the new army. In the lead a girl the age of Rise led the battle. This was a Lord battle. And Rise was all for it.