All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 146: Winter is Coming

Bee looked on as Susan drilled their new members hard. She might have been a more demanding teacher than even Void, though she was definitely more hands-on. Void had just let Bee do her own thing while giving the occasional instruction and acting as a safety net. Susan, though, was giving very specific instructions. They learned how to use a bow and knives mostly, and she was very particular about their technique.

She couldn't say that the men were good yet. It took years to get really good with a bow. But after a few days, they were definitely able to hit the broad side of a barn now. If they had a few hundred more men like this, volleys of arrows would be a real asset. As it was, five arrows needed to be well placed to have much impact. They were doing much better with knives. Really what they needed, even more, was levels.

Levels would fix all their issues. Higher dexterity and strength would let them get more proficient at their skills, and they might even get some related system skills. It was just another reason she should consider summoning demons. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain that it was the right course of action. Still, she had yet to bring it up with Void or the council. Before she did, she wanted to be certain that she would be able to do it and would be able to harvest the demons properly.

After a few days in the library, she was pretty certain she had a safe method. There was a lot of information there on the topic, being a demonologist library and all, so she was pretty confident.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up and went to go find Void.

***

Her master was in its room, sitting on its rug. She looked at the red thing. A little while ago, she had floated the idea of making a throne of some sort for it to rest on instead, but the idea had not gone over well. Maybe she could move the rug onto an elevated dais; it just wasn't right to look down at Void like this all the time. Well, it didn't seem to mind in the slightest, so maybe she shouldn't, either.

With a greeting bow, she sunk down on her knees before Void and greeted it properly. "Good afternoon, Master."

It welcomed her in its odd way of communicating. She was still getting better at understanding it. The resonance in her mind whenever it spoke to her always seemed way too informal for her master. It was either dumbing down its message for her, or she was just incapable of grasping its full words. Still, she tried, and the voice came through clearer each day.

She was about to tell it why she was there, but before she could, it spoke again. It told her that it had a gift for her.

A gift? What had she done to deserve such consideration from Void? She was not worthy, but she couldn't deny it. In all honesty, she had been slightly jealous of the children all getting finely crafted practice weapons from Void. Often she would have to look at the broom to remind herself that she was still valued. It was hard for her to reconcile these two instincts, but she was able to set aside her conflicting thoughts to focus on her master.

While she had been thinking, it had produced a thin and long piece of off-white fabric. With its arm, it extended it toward her. Her hand trembled as she reached out to take the cloth.

Examining the piece in her hands, it looked like a scarf. It was clearly made of wool, slightly lumpy in a few places. It was still rather soft, though, and didn't cause the itchy sensation that many pieces of wool clothing did.

Bowing low, she grinned widely. "Thank you, master!" She exclaimed. She truly had received a gift. Her master was far too generous. Perhaps it had understood how distant she had felt from it lately? Bee couldn't help the warm feeling that came with the idea of Void caring so much.

As for why it had given her a scarf, she had no idea. Maybe winter was going to be colder than usual this year? If that were the case, then they might need to prepare more winter clothes than they already had.

Void continued to watch her, and she could almost feel the expectation rolling off of it. Righting herself, she carefully wound the scarf around her neck. It fit her quite well, the tails running down the perfect length for her torso. Of course, it was hard to make a scarf not fit well, but still, it showed extra care. She smiled at the gift she had received.

Remembering why she had come here, she regathered her thoughts. "Master, I had an idea. It's a little dangerous, but I think it's worth the risk."

Void waited impassively for her to continue. Swallowing, she did. "For a few reasons, I think we should start summoning demons again."

Bee paused again, waiting for some protests, but Void beeped a simple question. It wanted to know why they would bring the mess makers back into the castle. She was sure there were many hidden meanings and intonations she wasn't capable of understanding beneath that. For example, something like a mess maker must have been her mind trying to translate Void's word for demons into something that she could grasp.

"Well, the mages that were here before us had them here for a reason. They were both studying them and using them to harvest alchemy ingredients. I don't think we need to study them, but we will need some of the ingredients that we can only get through the demons. The second reason is that I think we can use them for training.

"Because we aren't studying them, most of the ones we summon, we don't need to keep them very long. Either we spend the effort to dismiss them via the ritual, or we just kill them. If we kill them, then we can gain levels as well. The danger is mostly if we bring something in that is stronger than we expected. Then whoever is trying to level could get hurt. Of course, I won't do this without your permission and will always let you know ahead of time.

"And… if I could, I would ask to wait until you have time to be nearby so that you might step in before things get out of control." Bee finished her pitch. She didn't think it was the most convincing. But that wasn't her goal. Void would make the right choice, so the best thing she could do was give her master all the information rather than try and deceive or sway it. Trusting someone that much normally would have been hard for her, but Void had long since earned it.

Void twisted back and forth slightly on the rug. She didn't take that for a rejection of her idea, but it seemed like it was considering her proposition.

---

Harold watched as the undead mass surged toward the gates of Caleb. Some strange magic or skill had seized the defenders, and the countermeasures weren't deployed as he expected. Something must be going terribly wrong. He had never seen troops under Arthur's command be so unprepared. They only managed a single volley of arrows before it was too late.

When the undead reached the top of the wall, the defenders started to move, but they seemed slow and confused. Their position was soon overrun. Signals all over the city started flaring; Harold could see the flags going up and down. Soon reinforcements were rushing to assist; the battle intensified as the undead poured up the wall.

As they approached, the battle raged. The mages Harold had with him watched it impassively. He wasn't sure if it was because they were inoculated to the sight of so much death or if they were lamenting the waste of so many curious subjects to study.

Their escort of soldiers reacted a bit more naturally. Unfortunately, they weren't able to act on their desire to assist their allies. The fifty of them could only charge at the back of the undead army, and with the numbers sitting outside the city, the front wouldn't even notice the impact in the rear before the men were all cut down.

They paused on the hill. Still, the undead hadn't noticed them in the cover of the trees. Watching the battle unfold, they did their best to stay hidden. One of the city scouts had found them and led them this back way, keeping them hidden. So far, they hadn't needed to tangle with the undead at all. Harold wanted to keep it that way. He still hadn't forgotten his last encounter with them and had no desire to repeat that occasion.

Once the position on the wall had stabilized, a horn sounded, and the gates began to open, forcing the undead away. This was a risky maneuver as many of the undead surged forward to try and get through. Before they made much progress, though, the hoof falls of heavy cavalry shook the ground, and they came charging out of the gate. The scout raised his horn to his lips and blew a response.

Harold wasn't sure if this was planned or if they were just taking advantage of the opening, but it seemed that this would be his party's best chance to make it into the city.

The raiders' momentum squashed the undead and drove them away. Surprisingly, the undead started to move back rather than trying to bring down the horses. This told Harold something was controlling the horde, as that was not at all how normal undead acted. The fact that they were holding a siege itself was rather odd too.

He didn't have much of a chance to think about it as the scout and the escort were leading them in a charge aiming right where the heavy cavalry was coming from. The timing was just slightly off. It was all Harold could do to stay in the saddle as they smashed into the back ranks of zombies. The undead were not prepared, so they plowed through them for a bit until suddenly, the heavy cavalry was splitting around them.

The group of mages didn't stop moving as they hurtled down the path the cavalry had carved. As they rode, Harold regained his senses. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out vial after vial of anti-undead measures they had prepared and hurled them in all directions, trying to keep the path clear.

The other mages caught on to what he was doing and followed suit. Before he knew it, they were at the gates. As they passed through the narrow opening, he looked behind and saw the heavy cavalry blocking the path. Once they had punched out the back of the force, they continued for a little bit before turning around and diving in behind. The anti-undead measures had mostly held up, and even if the mounts were getting tired, it didn't show as in only a few moments. They were following them through the gate.

The second the door gate closed behind them, Harold swung down from his horse and looked for an officer. He and Arthur had a lot to talk about.