Chapter 33

Signs of thirty three

The undead army marched to the north as fast as Luuk could get them to move. The master was driving them north. For what ever reason the mission to the south was now over and the undead were all being called back to the north.

Luuk pushed the legion as much as he could. He knew the punishment for questioning the commands of the master. The undead moved through the forest. They passed the village where Luuk had watched his first officer Greg die. Luuk thought back to the days that followed that initial attack. He had pushed his men to the north to scout the boundary to the corrupted lands. Before he reached his goal he had died. It still felt odd to think about it in that way. He was dead. He would never again draw breath. He looked at his body. The time he had spent since had died had taken a toll on his formerly human body.

He once had a healthy tan complexion, as a young and active soldier he had a healthy build. In the weeks since he had died his skin had turned a blotchy white and grey. He had long deep tears in his arms and legs where he had been injured but never healed.

His body had started to breakdown. There was a long cut in his left palm the flesh had pulled away from the bones in his hand and part of his hand was completely skeletal. He felt around his body. He found an arrow embedded in his upper chest and tried to remember when that had happened. He wrenched the arrow from his chest and tossed it aside. He continued to walk with his men as he examined his body. He wondered if any of the undead thought about there former lives.

His former build had changed. His muscles had slumped, as if they had slightly liquefied. His chest was smaller and more watery. He walked on then stopped to examine his feet. He still had his military issue boots on but inside his boots his feet had swollen grotesquely. The flesh from his legs folded over the tops of his boots. Parts of his thighs had burst through the skin and oozed down his legs. He wondered why he had not noticed the changes before.

The pressure from his master increased as he had slowed the pace of the army north.

He continued his pace. He was saddened that this was the life he had now, if life could still describe his condition. He plodded on. He wondered if that damn cat that had started it all was still around. Perhaps it had been a part of the undead animals that he had used to take the base that had been his home for the better part of the last year.

The pressure from his master again increased as he had slowed the pace of the army north.

Luuk stopped the army. He sent a mental message to his new master.

“I have done all you have asked me to do. I have destroyed my former home, I have destroyed my former friends. Why? Why are you doing this? What is my goal?”

Luuk waited for the response. He was sure that the mental attack that he ahd suffered last time would be repeated.

However the answer came back to him as a message.

“You were built to destroy the reavers and other monsters from the corrupted lands. You were chosen because you had dedicated your life to fighting those same creatures. You were left with you mind because you were trained to obey orders.” His new master told him. “Now you must push your men. A new threat has emerged. This threat moves towards me and is intent on destroying me. You must be here to defend me or all will be lost.”

“Where are you?” Luuk asked.

“I am where I have always been.” the master replied.

“How do I get there?” He asked.

Inside his mind he saw his current location. Then the perspective changed. He looked down on himself and his undead force from far in the air. Then the view moved north swiftly he saw the boundary. The movement continued along the boundary for several thousand paces. Finally the perspective changed and he was looking at a barrier like what separated the corrupted lands and his home but it was different somehow.

“This is where I am.”

“It will take me some time to get to that place.” Luuk told him.

“I need you soon.”

“I can be there in two days.” He told the master.

“I need you soon.” The master repeated and then the presence in his mind was gone.

Luuk got the undead moving again. He wondered what could be this new threat. If it was more of the magic reavers then his force would not be enough to save the master. He willed the army to move faster. They got to the boundary to the corrupted lands and he was pulled towards corrupted lands. The urge to move to save the master was balanced by the urge to enter the corrupted lands.

He watched as a few of the undead walked into the barrier.

Was the corrupted lands his home now, Luuk wondered. The pull into the barrier was tremendous. The undead lost a dozen to the barrier before the path took them away form the entry point to the corrupted lands and the urge to enter them subsided.

Luuk thought again about the nature of his new life. He realized that he had become a soldier to protect other who cold not protect themselves. He struggled because he could no longer protect anyone. The draw to the master was a draw to protect someone again. The purpose provided for him something to strive for, a goal to accomplish. It also made him think of his human life because that was the last time he had a purpose he could believe in.

As the sun sank covering the land in darkness Luuk again was swept into thoughts of his previous life. This was the time day when he would be looking for someplace to rest. It seemed somehow more unnatural to be dead after dark than during the day. For a brief moment Luuk was jealous of the dead that lost all their abilities and became walking automations. Completely losing all of his humanity would be preferable to the terrible pains he was going through now.

Luuk realized that the problem was that he was alone. He was the last of the undead that had retained any human characteristics. He was the last. Adams had died blinding the reaver. Leaving Luuk all alone. He spoke aloud, just to remember the sound of his own voice.

“I am Frederick Luuk. I am the battle commander I lead these men to patrol activity near the corrupted lands.”

His voice cracked more than he remembered.

He feared that he would lose that as well.

He walked in silence for a long time.

“Hurry the enemy is here!” His master urgently told him, awakening him from his stupor.

He was surprised to see the sun starting to brighten the sky. He looked around him and realized that they neared. His goal. He sent out scouts to search for the boundary he had been shown by the master. It took an hour but they reported the location of the new boundary. The undead all moved towards the boundary and once they were at the boundary Luuk led them through it.

He did not experience the same painful cold and heat going through the barrier. It felt like he was moving through a river. He had to force forward movement. He saw the undead around him struggling to move forward as well.

He was starting to wonder if he would ever make it through into the lands beyond the boundary.

Then he was through. He saw the enemy. He swore under his breath. He had found Freeman and his men.