Maddison tried to remain discreet as he watched the scene unfold. Whatever the creature was, it was thankfully distracted with monologuing, and he was using it’s divided attention to prep a failsafe.

  Like the zombified dragon, Maddison had clicked in enough to know the creature before them wasn’t the culprit, just another enchantment under a very powerful curse. A curse that was well above his pay grade and whatever ludicrous amount of rings Tarson had offered him. If the man was even alive after the dragon.

  Maynard let out a cry of pain as the creature dug its nails into his shoulder.

  Maddison ignored his screams. The bounty was on his head, if he died it was still a win in his books.

  The mercenary managed to catch Sariel’s gaze, nodding his head to coax her to his side. She didn’t catch the signal until Cody snuck over to her, the two of them silently tip toeing across the room as the creature kept to its rant.

  Maynard screamed in pain again as it ripped its claws down his shoulder.

  Sariel made it close enough to Maddison’s side, and to the mercenary’s surprise, the demon she had called Cody turned back, trying to quietly wave the two children over.

  The one he knew, Sajus, stared blankly into nothing. His brother at his side eyeing his father, engrossed and disgusted by the secret the creature was forcing his father to tell.

  “I shattered her skull where she stood, and left her in the woods.”

  Timber’s cheeks flushed, his face red with stilled rage as he grabbed Sajus’ arm and snuck his way over to Cody. Maddison had heard bits and pieces from his distance, and the pain on Timber’s face as he cast his gaze to the floor spoke volumes in how he’d wished he’d blotted out every word his father had screamed and hissed.

  As they all reached the door, the creature began to hum. Maddison remembered the song collaterally though Sariel’s obsession with it, and motioned for her to stay quiet as soon as he noticed a rush of excitement on her face.

  He waited for the group to make it behind him, stepping back to ready for a final escape. But fate was not on his side as his foot pressed into the floorboards.

  Maddison winced as the board let out a drawn squeak, the whole group stiffening as the undead turned around. It remained silent, its lips flattened to a sneer. Somehow, through the rot and lack of eyeballs, it still looked disappointed to catch them all in the process of trying to sneak away.

  Timber turned heel to run, his feet sliding back as Sajus refused to obey his pull. He gave his brothers arm an extra hard tug, surprised at his continued resistance as he stood fixed upon the corpse.

  The creature faced them, the words coming out of it not aimed at Maddison and his group, but the man that still cowered behind. Gasping out panicked breaths. “I won’t let them kill you dear. That won’t satisfy her. You need to suffer.”

  Maddison felt around his bag, running his fingers along the various caps of the potions he kept on hand.

  “Little Sajus, darling.” It spoke, the blank eyed boy peeking up to gaze at her like a sky full of stars. Despite Timber’s best efforts, his brother stepped forwards, passing Maddison by half a foot. “You find yourself standing before your father, a man you had loved with all your little heart, now a shade, a lie. You ask yourself, how could this be? But it all just makes sense. You lift your blade and prepare for battle”

  Sajus pulled a little dagger out of his belt, ignoring his brother’s attempts at drawing his focus and breaking the spell on his mind.

  “For the man standing before you is not the father you knew. He is the dark lord, and you must vanquish him.”

  Sajus raised his dagger, lunging at his father only to be grabbed and dragged down to the ground by his brother. With a few choice phrases Tim was able to rip the blade out of his hand, the two of them ferociously slapping and biting at eachother while their father tried to break up the scrap with his limited mobility.

  Tim twisted his brother’s ear while pinning his stomach down. He leaned down to practically scream in his ear, despite the spell blocking from anything he had to say reaching his brother. “I was born two minutes before you, you don't stand a chance crybaby!” He caught the zombified woman looking down at him, nerves of steel willing him to point his finger directly at her. “You’re next skat stick! Wouldn’t pay a rat’s ballsack to stop you from making your peace with my old man, but I ain’t letting you touch me or my thumbsucking brother. I knew it was you, never seen a spooky freak so obsessed with putting berries in buns! Went and died in the woods? I bet the wolves wouldn’t even eat your nasty arse!”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The zombie breathed out a small sigh, planting her foot in Tim’s side to knock him off Sajus as she kept her narrative tone. “You feel a strength well up inside you. This underling of the dark lord is but a minor obstacle to your true goal...”

  Tim coughed, picking himself back up to ready for another scrap with Sajus. “Stop talking like that you weirdo!” His glare shifted to a smirk, his gaze travelling just past Cindy at what stood behind her. “And don't turn yer back on Mudface over there.”

  The creature snapped its head to the rest of the group, just as Cody finished his spell. A fiery rope unfurled from his palm, looping its wrist in a tight knot. It tried to loose the rope from his grasp with a tug, only searing its flesh in the process. As the creature focused on its binds, Sariel dived past it, practically pulling the two children off their feet as she snatched whatever fabric her hands found first and hauled them to the door.

  The creature snarled at the trick, finally ripping through the ropes as she drew a quick incantation that stole the air out of Cody’s throat. He buckled, grabbing at his neck to try and find the spell as the flaming rope disintegrated in the air. Maddison was the last one left now, poised to strike as the corpse turned its attention to him.

  But it did not lurch to attack, nor breath another curse. Instead, it’s voice rose to a commanding boom that seemed to echo in the back of his mind.

  “You face many foes, but worry not...”

  Maddison could feel something itching at the back of his skull. He was hoping to make a run for it while the creature had its attention drawn. But now with its full focus on them only one thing was running through his head.

  Now. Do it now.

  “But as fate would have it, you made some friends along the way.”

  The itch in his skull grew, and without thinking twice he grabbed the vial out of his pocket and whipped it at his target. The container shattered on the zombie’s face, the red liquid sizzling at its flesh as it shrieked.

  As the zombie bent over howling in pain, Cody let in a gasp of air, allowing Sariel to help him to his feet as they fled the room. Maddison held up the rear, kicking the office door shut and dragging a decorative table in front of it. Cody was already ushering everyone down the stairs by the time Maddison secured the barricade, eyeing the mercenary curiously when he joined his side. “What was that?”

  “Healing potion.”

  He hummed in understanding, his strides quickening as they reached the bottom of the steps. “Sneak everyone out a back door. I’m taking the front, I need to check on Hord’anne.”

  “There’s a dragon at the front.” Maddison said, waving his hand dismissively when Cody acknowledged the warning. If Cody distracted the dragon and got himself eaten, then at least it would solve one problem and give them a chance to slip away.

  “Sariel, go with Maddison!” Cody ordered, waiting for her to hesitantly follow the mercenary before charging up a spell to blast the debris at the front. But the small ball of fire splashed across the caved in door, the objects staying unnaturally still at its force.

  He was quick to notice the strange ripple that travelled through the air. The forcefield. Identical to the ones on the walls of Bervolt and now trapping them inside.

  “No.” He breathed, his face dropping to dread as Maddison tried a window at the back of the house with the same results.

  “Do you like it?” The familiar voice echoed through the walls around them. It belonged to the corpse, or, whatever was controlling it. But given that problem was still trying to break through the door upstairs, the detached attention made for an eerie setting. “Fooled you twice now. It’s a wonderful barrier. You can come as you please, but going is just a little bit harder.”

  Maddison backed up closer to Cody, blade drawn as he tried to center the voice. But the way it reverberated down the halls and up the stairs broke its source into half a dozen identical voices all traveling from different directions. Maddison felt Cody’s presence, nearly back to back with the sorcerer as he darted his attention around the room on a similar quest.

  “Can you break the barrier?” Maddison muttered.

  “No.” Cody admitted. “The best I can do is look for a hole.”

  “How long?”

  “If I can’t find one in ten, we’re stuck here.”

  Maddison nodded in understanding. “Truce for ten more minutes.”

  “A hole? You think I left one?” The voice mused, drifting back and forth in the space above Maddison and Cody. “Just because I find you all so… adorable. I’ll let you all go, if you agree to play a game with me.”

  “Trust me ma’am Maddison here don’t like games much. Tried em myself.” Sariel said, looking around as if she could see her voice bouncing through the empty house.

  “Silence.” The voice hissed, the sound travelling from her left to the ceiling above her. She kept her eyes on the invisible force the entire time. “Your entire demeanor upsets me. If I was here myself, I’d have melted that enchanted blade to your skin. Pitiful weak excuse of an enchantment.”

  Sariel paused, eyeing Maddison with a hurt look. “I think she’s mad at me. I did nothing, poor sport I’d say if me winnin' Boar Chase got her all riled up.”

  “Ten minutes." The voice boomed. "If you don’t find me, then you will rot in these walls. That’s my game. Play it if you wish.”

  Before a protest could be made, the voice shrank away, the party no longer feeling the weight of eyes upon them. Replaced with the presence of an invisible clock, that now ticked above them towards a strange fate.