Chapter 25

Signs of twenty five

Freeman watched as a battle unfolded in front of him. The border to the corrupted lands was the site of a battle completely unlike what Freeman would have expected. Freeman was not sure what to think of the battle as a sizable undead force was being attacked by a dozen Reavers stepping out of the corrupted lands.

The reavers tore into the undead. The undead were more numerous but the reavers were so much more powerful. The undead did do some damage, slowly taking a reaver down.

Freeman stood frozen with shock for what seemed like an eternity.

He would have expected the reavers to be fighting along side the undead.

“Attack the undead!” Freemand yelled. “Kepp clear of the reavers!”

Freeman watched as his archers started taking undead from the flank. The reavers reacted to the human assistance by focusing the undead farthest from the humans. It was as if the reavers recognized that the undead were a common threat and were working to keep the undead between the two forces.

Some of the undead broke away and moved to attack the humans.

“Set up a defensive line.” Freeman barked.

Several men moved to block the advancing undead.

Freeman was still staring at the reavers. The reavers fighting the undead. Fighting the undead. Freeman wondered if this was some sort of dream. Some sort of nightmare.

The reavers bellowing cries filled the air. The men also yelled, louder than usual to counter the sounds from the reavers. These men were used to fighting against reavers nto fighting with reavers. The undead didn't stand a chance. The massive forms of the reavers tore through the unarmored undead. The humans under Freeman's command knew how to kill the undead without placing themselves in danger. The battle was very short. The sounds of the undead being taken apart by the massive reavers were countered by the men yelling as they cut down the undead.

When the last undead was destroyed. The reavers stood and watched the humans. Freeman watched the reavers.

“Form up!” Freeman yelled.

The men formed into a strong box formation. Freeman waited to see if the reavers would attack. Freeman had a hundred men. Facing a dozen reavers. Freeman could take the reavers but it would take a toll on his men.

One of the reavers stepped forward and made a motion towards the corrupted lands. Freeman looked long at this massive creature. The reaver motioned again and then all the reavers turned and walked into the corrupted lands.

Freeman watched as the reavers crossed the threshold. He looked at his men.

“Lets get moving. Form up into groups, ” Freeman told his men. “we came here to go into the corrupted lands, now we go in.”

He heard some murmurs about the reavers, the men were fearful.

“We will defeat this menance, the fact that the forces of corruption are on our side only makes our victory more sure.” he looked at his men, he willed them to have his confidence. “Lets go.”

They formed into lines and marched into the corrupted lands. The border to the corrupted lands was like a curtain of ice. As Freeman stepped through into the corruption the freezing cold cut into his flesh. He felt as though his entire body was seizing. He looked and saw his men fighting through the cold. Freeman had made the passage several times and each time the cold was he worst. He fought to take each step, just to keep moving. Freeman looked around. It was hard to look at anything when you were entering the corrupted lands. The things that was near at hand seemed to be far away. The background looked like something painted on broken glass. The effect was more than a little disconcerting. The men seemed to be doing fine, but Freeman had to trust their training and experience.

Suddenly the cold was gone. Freeman relaxed just for a second getting ready for the next phase. Scorching heat filled the air. Freeman sucked in a breath that felt like he was burning his lungs. The air seemed to scour his flesh. He looked at his arms expecting to see bubbling flesh and burning cloth but saw only the pale while of his skin and the dark brown of his armor. The heat sapped his strength. He felt like he would not be able to take another step. His vision started to blur and he closed his eyes against the horrible heat.

The waves of heat seemed to last forever. Finally the heat was gone and Freeman opened his eyes. He was standing just in the inside of the border of the corrupted lands. He looked back at his men. It looked like a massive sheet of ice separated him from his men. Slowly they started to emerge. It seemed like hors since they had stepped into the border but it had taken less than a second.

Freeman allowed the men a moment to recover from the passage.

He looked at the surroundings, the corrupted lands was a strange place to be. The colors seemed more vibrant. The land was also different. On the other side of the border was a forest of old growth pines. Here was a plain of waist high grass. Off to the north was a massive hill, nearly a mountain. Outside the corrupted lands there was no hill. The sky seemed closer, the clouds appeared to be just out of reach. The sounds and smells seemed alien as well. The sounds were muted, shouts did not carry as far as you would expect them to. Odors were the opposite. Freeman could smell the reavers as if they were standing right on top of him. The reavers stood watching his men. Freeman was pleased to see they had moved off some distance. For whatever reason reavers did not suffer the ill effects form crossing the border. If the reavers were going to attack the perfect time would have been just as the men emerged in the corrupted lands.

The men started to reform into units. Freeman indicated the reavers, and told his men. “We are on a mission to destroy undead. Remember that. Fight the creatures of this land only as a last resort.”

He started off towards the reavers. The reavers turned and walked north towards the hill in the distance. Freeman noted that the reavers were also traveling slower than they normally did. They were traveling at a pace the men could maintain without strain. Freeman suddenly had a feeling that almost everything he knew about reavers was wrong.

They traveled until sun down and then the reavers stopped and sat in a circle.

“Set up camp. I want the groups close. No fires. Double guards.” Freeman told the men.

Immediately the men started setting up the camp. Tents went up. It did not take long to get the camp set up. Freeman spent his time watching the reavers. They just sat there. They were in a very vulnerable position, if Freeman launched an attack on them they would most likely all be dead before they had a chance to regain their feet.

Freeman made sure to visit each guard post. He talked to the guards. Made sure they felt comfortable. He also made sure they understood that for the short term they were allied with the reavers. There was some grumbling about it but Freeman made sure that they all understood that they were not to attack the reavers unless the reavers attacked the camp. He also left explicit orders to wake him if the reavers moved on the camp.

Freeman retired to his tent and slept. It was the first time in weeks he did not sleep in his armor, fearful of attack. He dreamed of a simpler time when he was just a soldier and he did not have to save the world.