Paul’s POV

  It took two days to reach the lissik village. The deep mud hampered their movements the entire way. The lissik continued to pepper Paul’s forces as they advanced. According to Slorbb they had no notion of the undead and didn’t know what undeath was.

  In the last couple of days, they managed to kill 17 lissik, more than half their warrior numbers. To hinder morale among the lissik, Paul turned all the dead lissik into zombies and had them walk at the front of the column. Seeing as how the lissik had no notion of undead or necromancers Paul hoped they would come off as still being alive and helping the enemy forces.

  As the trees thinned, the attacks became less frequent. They had one small group hide within the mud and jumped out with poisonous blow darts. They usually attacked the front lines, which Paul kept full of undead. The poison had no effect on his undead soldiers, which he hoped intimidated what remained of the lissik warriors.

  “How much further?” Paul asked Slorbb.

  “The village should come into sight within the next hour or so.” The enslaved spirit said, reluctantly.

  “Good, as we get nearer, I want to thin out the line and try to encircle as much of the village as we can. The lissik know the terrain and the last thing I need is a hit-and-run campaign for the next couple of years while I wipe the lissik from the bog.” Paul said.

  Paul wasn’t too concerned with the lissik surviving or not. It was how much trouble one option was over the other. According to Gideon, the lissik would be good at extracting the iron from the bog, probably even better than the goblins, due to the fact that they live here. This was reason enough for Paul to want to keep them alive.

  What he didn’t want was a massive and prolonged fight for the next couple of years while he slowly ticked away at the lissik, because they would also tick away at him. They may be unfamiliar with the undead now, but after some time they would learn, and adapt.

  For those reasons, Paul was considering not having any of his corporeal undead stay in the bog. Maybe Slorbb could stay as a spy, or Grandler could stay and lead the lissik in Paul’s absence. It would all depend on how negotiations went with the lissik. When the village came into view, 5 more lissik sprang up from the mud.

  “Archers!” Rikkard yelled.

  Having seen this trick before, the goblins were ready for it. The lissik attacked the skeletons and zombies with blow pipes, while Rikkard’s archers attacked from a distance. Within moments all five lissik were dead. That gave Paul 23 zombie lissik and if Slorbb was right, that meant there were only 7 warriors left.

  As they got closer to the lissik village, a single lissik could be seen walking towards Paul. Halting his army’s march, Paul and his main retinue continued forwards.

  “Hello stranger.” The lissik said loud enough Paul could easily hear him from a good distance away. “What have you come here for?”

  “It is customary to introduce yourself where I am from.” Paul said. “I am Paul Alaricsson from the Deepwood.”

  “I am Vrelka.” Vrelka said with confidence. “What are you doing in our bog?”

  “I am here seeking a metal that grows in the bog.” Paul replied. “Iron ore is abundant here, and my people need it.” Paul looked behind himself at the lissik zombies. “As you can see my magic is powerful. Even some of your warriors have been drawn in.”

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  “We know nothing of this iron.” Vrelka said. “Take your host and go elsewhere.”

  “I think not.” Paul said. “We have come too far, fought too many battles.” Waving a hand over his head Paul shot out a small bit of fire. “I am a powerful wizard, and I have with me powerful warriors.” Paul looked at Slorbb. “Come forward and tell your comrades they are better off surrendering to me than fighting as the others have.”

  Slorbb floated forward slowly. “They have powerful magic I have never seen before. They have the power to destroy us.”

  “Then you know, as well as I do, that destruction at the hands of an enemy is preferable to enslavement.” Vrelka said.

  “You don’t mean they are using that spell?” Slorbb asked clearly afraid.

  “Yes. This host your have joined with will soon be destroyed.” Vrelka said.

  “You can’t, it will kill most of the village too!” Slorbb yelled.

  The other lissik simply laughed.

  “What are they talking about?” Paul asked.

  “By sacrificing half the village, the shaman will summon an elemental that will defend the village from doom.” Slorbb said.

  Paul smirked. “Yes, lets destroy the village to save it.”

  “It is not funny.” Slorbb said. “The elemental will be giant.”

  “How long does the elemental stay alive?” Paul asked.

  “I’m not sure.” Slorbb said. “Until the enemy host is destroyed.”

  “So, if we retreat when the elemental gets here, it will go away?” Rikkard asked. “Doesn’t sound solid.”

  “Liora, go into the village first. Then the elemental comes, retreat in away from the army and see if it follows you.” Paul instructed.

  “It can’t be that easy, can it?” Rikkard asked.

  “We’re about to see.” Paul said. “They are already summoning the elemental. Let’s see how this plays out.”

  “Wait!” Slorbb yelled. “Are you telling me you think defeating the defending elemental would be so easy? That half the village will die for nothing?”

  “We’re about to see.” Paul said again. “Vrelka of the lissik, we refuse to leave. Summon your elemental and we shall end this fight today.”

  With that, Vrelka left and Liora, Thunderroar, Grandler, and the last worg wraith followed. The lissik village was barely visible on the horizon. In about an hour a giant earthen, lissik looking creature appeared. It had to be at least as tall as the tallest trees of the Deepwood. It could be easily seen from his current position.

  The elemental began to roar and rampage around. Paul could see it striking huts and throwing lissik around. It did this for about an hour before following, what Paul assumed was the small warband he had sent into the village. After about twenty minutes of following Liora and her warband the lissik elemental made its way back to the village and rampaged a little more, then just fell apart.

  “Alright. That was entertaining.” Paul said. “Let’s go to the village.”

  “I can’t believe that worked.” Rikkard said.

  Paul led his troops to the lissik village. It was just as slow moving as before. The moral of the goblins was higher than it had been, seeing their enemies completely destroy themselves put them in a good mood. About halfway there Liora made her way back to the army.

  “You were right.” Liora gushed. “It was beautiful. The elemental couldn’t do anything against us and eventually gave up and returned back to the village. They killed themselves.”

  “This is why I prefer necromancy. My creations obey.” Paul laughed. He couldn’t help it. The lissik had been so proud and overconfident in their blood magic elemental. Didn’t they know, you never create something you can’t control. Backwater education.

  Paul could see the huts of the village were destroyed. Smashed to small pieces by the elemental. Dead bodies of the lissik littered the ground. It was hard to tell if anyone even survived the massacre.

  In the center of the village was a ritual circle that looked burned into the ground. The smell of blood was thick in the air.

  “Search the village for any surviving lissik.” Paul ordered his troops.

  After a couple of hours of searching, Rikkard said, “There is no one left alive.”

  “Tell the men they can loot the village, but first I want all the dead brought to me to add to my army.” Paul responded.

  “Yes, Chief.” Rikkard said.

  “Easiest 300 troops I ever made.” Paul said more to himself than anyone listening.