Zombies On Fire & Other Short Stories

Night Fight

He waited for the giant corpse to take another step forward. His legs felt weak as the monster siphoned off his energy. Rainer could almost see the aura leaving his body in faint whisps. An overwhelming urge to puke overcame Rainer, but he had to control himself.

"Fear not human. Your flesh is weak. Soon you will be powerful like me because you will not depend on strength that comes from your flesh. Your strength will come from deep within. It will come from an eternal core that I will give you."

Rainer couldn't hold back the laughter in spite of his weakness and in spite of the creature's proximity. Steingrimer floated back a step and demanded to know what was so funny.

"You miss having flesh. Don't you. You touched my cheeks earlier because you still wish you had it yourself. You don't fool me. I know that you would trade your power in a heartbeat to have your flesh back. Well, if you had a heartbeat, that is."

The darkness in the empty hollows of the Nightwalker's skull narrowed and intensified in fury. The rasp in his breathing deepened, and a rumble rose up in his throat.

"Take care what you say, human. There are worse things that I could do to you than to allow you to become as we are and join our ranks in battle."

Steingrimer took a step forward. The runes and emblems on his chest began to intensify and glow brighter. Rainer felt his body growing weaker. The NightWalker reached out and took Rainer's face in his hands to pull him forward.

The human waited until the last possible second to reach under his shirt for NightBlade. He could feel the grip of the weapon wrapped in dull, black deerskin. He wrapped his fingers just below the curved cross-guard that led to the short, narrow, straight blade made of black crystal for such an occasion as this.

NightBlade had one sharp edge to cut and slice. The other was thick and solid. Perfect for defending oncoming attacks. But tonight, Rainer knew he wouldn't be strong enough or fast enough to stand up to the NightWalker.

His attack had to be quick and sure. A single strike was all he would have time for. Rainer was careful to keep his fingers away from the blade. Careful not to slice himself. A single cut was all that was needed to bleed his energy completely and utterly.

Rainer squeezed his hand tighter. He could feel the deer's head etched into the pommel. A reminder of Halldora's assurance that this was the right tool for the right job. The one thing that could kill a monster like Steingirmer.

If he failed to defeat the undead king, Rainer knew he would have to kill himself to avoid being transformed into one of these monsters himself. He most likely would anyway since Steingrimer was already beginning the process of sucking out his soul and replacing his soon empty vessel with whatever it was that fueled these mad NightWalkers.

Rainer swiped NightBlade from under his shirt and pushed it behind Steingrimer to try and keep it out of his peripheral vision till it was too late. The human flipped the knife up and around so that the blade was pointed in. Then brought it up towards the Nightwalker's exposed neck just above the protection of his armor.

But just before the tip of the knife struck its skin, Steingrimer's hand stopped Rainer's wrist. A wicked smile crossed his face, exposing his large, bony teeth. He twisted the blade from the human's grasp and threw his body back across the grass.

Rainer landed on his back in the grass and skidded to a stop. He scrambled weakly to his feet and tried to stand before Steingrimer reached him. Rainer's heart sank. He had failed to kill the NightWalker and failed to kill himself before he was transformed.

"Sneaky trick, human. One that would make any NightWalker proud. If I had any doubts that you would make a fine member of our ranks, this has removed them all."

Just as Steingrimer stepped forward to float in his direction, there was a flash of light. A portal burst open beside Rainer, and a familiar figure leaped out in his direction with fire in her hands.

Halldora launched a fistful of sparks and flames in Steingrimer's direction. But he easily dodged it by flipping backward and floating out of the way. Thorgaut leaped through the portal behind her and launched fistfuls of fireballs at the hoards of NightWalkers that rushed them.

The disgusting monsters quickly burst into flaming balls of fire that ran madly around in circles lighting their fellow NightWalkers. Steingrimer began screaming for them to back away before the whole army burst into flame. He separated the packs of NightWalkers that could get away while sacrificing the ones that he knew were already lost.

Thorgaut and Halldora took advantage of the confusion to race to Rainer's side and help him hobble through the portal. After pushing Rainer through, they turned back and launched fireball after fireball in Steingrimer's direction. A few came close, but none of the blows were solid enough to stick. Unlike the others of his kind, the NightWalker king didn't burst into flame.

They kept it up as long as they could, but soon grew weaker. It was impossible to hit Steingrimer, and the other NightWalkers stayed out of the reach of their fireballs.

Halldora closed the portal down after they leaped through, while Thorgaut helped Rainer to his feet. He realized that they were back in the safety of the castle for now, but it wouldn't be long before Steingrimer came up with a way to protect the NightWalkers from fire. Then it would be game over for all of them.

"I'm sorry," Rainer whispered hoarsely. "I wasn't fast enough to even nick his skin."

Halldora sponged his face off with a crisp, soothing mix of water and herbs. She smiled knowingly and glanced up at Thorgaut.

"We never expected you to actually kill him with that knife. Especially not with that new armored protection covered in runes that he wears. It would have held his energy in and healed him immediately even if you had managed to cut him." Thorgaut rumbled in his deep voice from across the room where he was pouring a goblet of scented wine.

Rainer sat up, angrily, "What? You sent me in there knowing it was pointless?"

Thorgaut walked across the room and handed him the goblet.

"We need him to think that was the reason we sent you and make him believe that was the NightBlade. Now, he'll wear it, and we can track him wherever he goes. And when we're ready to really attack, we'll have a direct connection to portal in right where he is at."

Rainer scowled but drank the wine anyway. Then lay back down. He didn't like feeling that he was a pawn in their game, but everyone around here seemed to be a pawn in someone else's game. He didn't know where one game started and another ended.

"So, what's going to happen to me? Am I going to be a full-blooded NightWalker by time the next full moon comes around."

"Steingrimer did a real number on you, but I'll do my best to stop it," Halldora said confidently.

"Yeah, and all we have to do is kill Steingrimer before than. You should be fine." Thorgaut said.

"Just kill Steingrimer," Rainer mumbled. "That's easier said than done. But right now, I'm happy to still be alive. Thank you for pulling me out of there in time."