At dawn on the eight day of that week fifty riders left Emberstone trough the front gate. Milo rode at the head of the column with Ivy and Lily. The rest of the party were strangers to him although Lily had specifically selected each member based on their suitability for their mission. As for Haldor and Lizbeth they were remaining behind to rule Emberstone in his absence. The mission was expected to last two weeks which meant Emberstone and Willowford would be cut off from the reinforcements and supplies only Milo could summon.

  When they entered the forest a third of their party split off including Lily. It was their job to keep their little army undetected and forewarned about any potential threats. Assuming everything went to plan they would start attacking villages on the fifth day. Lily had specifically brought along every warrior with any trace of skill at non-lethal martial arts. Milo had serious doubts that their mission would be bloodless, yet he fully intended to try.

  The speed at which they were travelling increased as soon as they reached the muddy road which led from Willowford to Ferdor. By the end of the first day, they had already covered a significant distance. Tents were brought out and food was prepared. Milo didn’t miss the stink eye Lily gave him when she saw Ivy slip into his tent. It was clear she disapproved of their relationship but Milo couldn’t care less. His feelings for Ivy had gone from an uncertain “Is she seducing me?” to “Thank god she keeps coming back every night”. She was by far the brightest spot in his new life on this brutal world where danger and conflict seemed to be hiding behind every corner.

  The second day was pretty much a repeat of the first day. It wasn’t until the fourth day something unexpected happened. It was about mid-day when Lily suddenly popped back into reality right next to them. Unlike Ivy, Lily could shadow blink across vast distances and could even bring her horse along for the ride. It made her by far the most mobile hybrid on the planet. The master of the shadow stalker order was all business as she gave her report.

  “I detected a large group of several thousand humans about an hour’s travel northeast of this position. Several of them are wearing a tabard with Ferdor’s city icon.”

  Milo cursed, so much for the crucial element of surprise.

  “How the hell did Ferdor spot us so far from our target?”

  “I don’t think they did, aside from several hundred guards, many of whom are wounded, the rest appear to be civilians. Based on their obvious exhaustion and lack of possessions it is my assessment that they are refugees.”

  “Refugees? What are they running from? If it was us, they wouldn’t be going in the direction of Willowford.”

  “Unclear, I thought it best to inform you so that you can decide what to do about them.”

  Milo nodded.

  “Good, go back and see if you can find out who is chasing them, I need more information.”

  Lily vanished in a pop of shadow magic and Milo turned to Ivy.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think that this is a golden opportunity.”

  “You want to intercept these refugees despite not knowing what we’re walking into?”

  “If these civilians can outrun whatever’s chasing them, I doubt whoever it is can catch us on horseback. Besides if these people are refugees there’s a good chance, they’ve left their homes behind. I don’t know about you, but I think it will be far easier to convince a few thousand refugees to start new lives in Emberstone than our original plan to abduct a few thousand peasants.”

  “It’s not that simple, abducting a few thousand peasants meant pissing off Ferdor, a city state with no standing army. The threat they posed to Emberstone was negligible, these refugees are clearly fleeing a superior force. For all we know we’re about to interfere in the business of vastly superior enemy.”

  Ivy shrugged.

  “It’s a risk, but we can always reconsider once we learn who this potential enemy is.”

  Milo wasn’t entirely sold on the idea, but he still ordered his little army on an intercept course.

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  Nearly an hour later Lily returned just as the refugees came within view. The shadow stalker’s face looked more serious than Milo had ever seen her.

  “Undead, a vast of horde of undead, I think it belongs to another divine faction.”

  Judging by the uncertain look on Ivy’s face she was no longer confident that this mass of refugees was an unexpected gift which had fallen into their laps.

  “Only two factions practise necromancy, one is a middling power but the second…”

  Lily instantly agreed.

  “We should leave, if this horde belongs to the death faction we are in big trouble.”

  Milo felt like he was working with half the puzzle pieces.

  “What is the death faction?”

  Ivy looked genuinely worried as she explained.

  “The death faction serves the god of death Enox, like our own faction they are extremely martial in nature. They practise death and shadow magic which can be combined for necromancy. Lilith has warred with them on several occasions and every time the war ended in a stalemate. Necromancy can’t be used on beings with demon blood, unfortunately this advantage is largely cancelled out by the fact that the undead give reduced spirit essence when they are destroyed.”

  Lily added her own concerns.

  “It would be the height of foolishness to take on another divine faction without first gathering every shred of information we can about their status. By engaging them know we will reveal our presence in this region which might lead to our discovery. Emberstone is strong, but it is not yet unassailable.”

  The mass of human refugees had spotted them, and a small group of armoured figures were heading in their direction. The small group of what he guessed to be guards wore tabards with what looked like a golden harbour on them. They looked desperate as they approached with weapons clutched in their hands. Once they were within speaking distance a middle-aged man with a magnificent Mustache took up position in front of the group and spoke.

  “Greetings strangers, I am Kellor, guard captain of Ferdor’s southern district, who are you?”

  Milo looked at Lily and then Ivy, with a shrug he urged his horse forward and introduced himself.

  “Milo Harper, champion of Lilith, lord of Emberstone and Willowford.”

  Kellor’s jaw dropped.

  “Your strange eyes tell me that you are not a Lendorian noble, yet you claim to be the lord of Willowford, how can this be?”

  “I helped the people of Willowford depose their corrupt mayor. I also defended them from a horde of satyr when the monsters burned half their town to the ground. They have seceded from the kingdom and now enjoy my protection as my willing subjects.”

  Kellor looked genuinely shocked, and Milo could practically hear the man redoing whatever calculation had led him to set course of Willowford. After a few seconds he looked over his shoulder and Milo followed his gaze to the front ranks of a vast army.

  “My lord, will you allow me and my people to pass unmolested? We are pursued by a relentless foe who seek to destroy us.”

  Milo decided that an interrogation was in order.

  “I can see that, why don’t you tell me how you ended up in this situation, who knows, maybe I can help you.”

  Milo could see a hint of hope kindle in Kellor’s eyes.

  “We were attacked by the undead two days ago, they rose from the ocean and by the time we realised what was happening they had already taken the docks. We tried to push them back into the sea, but then small boats and rafts started arriving carrying thin people in black clothes. Each of these strange people seemed to be a mage and they used their magic to raise our own dead against us. Once I realised that the city was lost, I gathered what survivors I could find and led them away from the city. At first it looked like we were going to get away but then the dead started following us. They never tire and are difficult to kill, we’ve been running ever since.”

  Ivy urged her horse forward and leaned in next to him to whisper.

  “His description of the enemy matches the death faction, we should leave at once.”

  Milo’s eyes took in the vast horde of undead approaching in the distance. There were at least ten thousand of them. Then his eyes fell on the refugees, he estimated their numbers at around four thousand. A sudden realisation dawned on him and he whispered back.

  “I’m afraid that’s no longer an option.”

  Ivy gave him a questioning look and he explained.

  “The death faction has captured Ferdor and slain most of its population. If I were to take a wild guess, I’d say they probably have tens of millions of spirit essence waiting to be used right now. But to use this spirit essence they must return to their base.”

  Ivy finally caught on.

  “They’ve overextended themselves chasing these refugees, we need to wipe them out before they can get back home and spend their spirit essence or their army will be so large we can’t possibly win.”

  It was clear they needed to fight, but Kellor didn’t know that and so Milo decided to try something.

  “Guard captain Kellor, after hearing your tragic story I have decided to offer you and your people sanctuary in my lands.”

  Kellor took in the fifty hybrid’s waiting behind Milo and he could practically hear the man thinking “you and what army?”. Still, he clearly wasn’t about to turn down the only sliver hope available to him.

  “And what do you want in exchange for this protection?”

  “You and your people will become citizens of my lands, I currently have more land than I do citizens.”

  “That’s it? We become your subjects and in exchange you will protect us and give us free land?”

  The man was no fool, he clearly realised that there was more to this deal than I seemed. Yet Milo wasn’t about to muddy the issue by explaining that all the refugees would need to convert.

  “Indeed.”

  Kellor cast another look over his shoulder at the approaching army and then nodded.

  “Deal.”

  “Very well, now urge your people to hurry up and then assume a rear-guard position with your guards. My army will handle the fighting.”

  Before Kellor could protest Milo accessed the interface and started summoning.

  The first two to arrive were Seti and Beldan, Lilith’s favourite son and most trusted general. Seti smiled at Milo but Beldan was all business as he noticed the army rapidly closing in the distance.

  “The death faction?”

  “Indeed, they’ve overextended themselves chasing these humans. We need to destroy them before they can return to their base and use the spirit essence they’ve accumulated.”

  Beldan understood his role immediately.

  “Very well, since we are facing undead, we will rely on demon soldiers and elementalists. Undead are weak to fire and have difficulty killing hardened targets like a demon soldier.”

  Milo had 382 000 spirit essence left to work with. He began by summoning 1100 demon soldiers. Next, he summoned ten elder demons, ten hybrid leaders and finally 72 elementalists.

  Beldan wasted no time in taking charge of this army. The big general arranged his forces in a double line with the elementalist in the rear. Seti took personal command over the elementalists and was waiting for them to come in range when something strange happened.

  The enemy army suddenly stopped and then a lone rider on a skeleton horse rode trough the front ranks. The rider wore a white robe and carried a skeleton staff, he kept going forwards until he was at the halfway point between both armies. Beldan explained what was happening.

  “Looks like they want to negotiate.”