The Duke’s Reborn Daughter Sometimes Chooses Violence.

Motion sprang around me almost instantly.

The men and women who had just been about to retire all burst to life. The men and women who had already been awake rushed toward the direction of that screaming. I followed this second group, the frantic cursing of Violet trailing behind me, sure that Damian was racing behind her in turn.

I looked around for Sere. I didn’t see her immediately. Panic spiked before my brain caught up with my eyes.

Her Edict.

I couldn’t see her because she didn’t want to be seen. She would be fine. Her Gift was simply too strong.

The shouting grew louder now, and came from more sources. I ran in the direction of that initial scream. It took me no time at all to see the source of the commotion.

A group of men and women, Magical Lights raised high, crowded around a body on the ground.

The smell hit me first. It smelled thick and sweetly rotten. It was a man, or had once been one.

It wore the same black and blue armor as the men surrounding it, yet it looked ancient. Grime and mud covered most of what I could see. Patches and scars trailed along the armor. Even without those, the armor looked different. It was a subtle difference. The difference between one shade of dark blue and another. Then, there was the man himself, or what I could make of him.

I could only see his neck and the side of his head. That was enough. There was little flesh to speak of, and what remained was a brown and red smear covering the man’s cheek. Otherwise, there was just bone, plus an eye half-melted into its socket.

Nobody spoke. The Magical Lights hummed faintly, and the ash drifted, and the thing on the ground did not move.

Purge.

The word slammed into my skull so hard I staggered. The Godblade snarled.

My right hand grew uncomfortably hot, my fingers twitching toward an invisible hilt. I had to grab my own wrist with my left hand, squeezing tight to keep the blinding steel from manifesting right here in front of half the expedition.

Corrupted.

Power thrummed up my arm. Vaelin had not tried to do this in a while.

Slowly, the urge passed.

“Damn Walker,” a man next to me growled, spitting into the ash.

The word spread from him to the people watching. I distinctly noticed that it was the more grizzled veterans who watched in silence, while the men and women who looked younger seemed determined, but confused.

“What the hell is this thing?” Violet cut in through the gloom with all the subtlety of a warhammer. ”Looks like one of you.” She moved forward and proceeded to kick the corpse in the side. Something inside it shifted wetly.

I winced. This did feel like disrespecting the dead.

“Girl, that’s a walker.” A grey haired man muttered. “Some poor bastard must have gotten separated in one of the older expeditions. Happens sometimes. And sometimes…they end up like this.” He gestured. “This one was moving. They all can still move. Can talk too. Struck him down before he struck me.”

I had read about these ‘Walkers’ before. One of the rarer types of monsters found in the Ashen Wastes. In my old life, creatures similar to these were called ‘Zombies’. This was something more.

There was another set of screams, somewhere from the right. The men turned. I was already sprinting. Damian stepped in beside me a moment later. He did not speak. He did not have to.

I did not have to run far. I came to another crowd of people, hunched over another corpse. This time it was a woman, her body more decayed and flaying than the last I had seen.

There was one difference. This one was moving..

Two burly men sat on the creature’s back as it thrashed in place. The creature bucked. One of the burly soldiers was thrown completely off, crashing into the dirt. The Walker lunged, its jaw snapping inches from the second man’s face.

Before it could bite down, a jagged spike of stone erupted from the ground beneath it, pinning the creature’s shoulder to the earth. Damian lowered his hand, his breathing heavy.

Some men’s hands bore flames. Others water. Two archers had their bows drawn. Damian had reacted first.

The Walker ceased its thrashing, twitching against the rock. Then, from its torn, bloody throat, a wet, gurgling sound bubbled up.

”C-cold... l-let... in...”

Every man and woman within earshot went still. I found myself leaning closer despite every instinct telling me not to.

I shivered, and I was sure I was not the only one.

“Report,” a man barked. Lieutenant Simone had only just jogged to join the crowd.

“Caught this one trying to sneak in, Sir,” the remaining man on the beast’s back muttered, he was pale but was regaining his footing. “Tried to sneak in all quiet like, too, but I saw it.”

Lieutenant Simone grunted. “Fifth time in one night. What are the odds of that?”

“The fifth?” I asked, voice projected with mana.

The man must have noticed me standing there for the first time, for he hastily saluted. “Yes, My Lady. There are more. They tried to sneak in from every side.”

I stared at the twitching corpse. “It just spoke. Does that mean they are intelligent?” None of the books I had ever read had made mention of that fact.

“Intelligent? No.” Simone shook his head dismissively. “They mimic voices. It’s always garbled. Never anything that makes much sense.”

That wasn’t the impression I got. The thing had said ’cold.’ It had said ’let in.’ That was a request. But the Lieutenant’s jaw was set, and the men around him were nodding. 

“Then, does it make sense that they would try to sneak into our camp? From several different places at once, at the same time?”

The man slowly and pointedly shook his head. Little doubt he’d had the same thought himself. That was a lot of intelligence for a pack of mindless beasts.

“What are you thinking, Esra?” Damian asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s just odd.”

This was not the hill to die on.

Violet had a hand on her warhammer as she stared down at the flailing body, as if it could overpower the two men on top of it at any moment, and she needed to be ready.

I noted that quite a few of the men were staring at me. Unlikely that they actually cared what I had to say, but the fact that they didn’t immediately move to mockery was a good sign.

“Sir!” A woman’s sharp voice, accompanied by the woman herself as she stepped past the crowd. “You should come see this.”

Simone nodded, made to move. I followed him. And in turn, Damian and Violet followed me.

This third crowd was the largest I had seen all night. More than a dozen men and women were standing around another Walker. This one without any head at all. Dorothy Carter cowered a few feet away, nervously staring at her Scrylens, before she stared back at the headless corpse. I only regarded her for a second.

“Sere!” I stepped forward past the crowd, toward the blonde-haired girl kneeling in the mud next to the Walker.

The sight of it stilled me. The Walker’s head was caved in, scattered into gory, blackened chunks. Sere’s hands and the cuffs of her gray tunic were stained with thick, dark fluid. She was staring down at her own bloodied fists, her body trembling faintly.

Purge.

Vaelin snarled in my mind. The urge came again. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood.

Not. Now.

“Hey,” I whispered, dropping to my knees right into the foul-smelling mud. “Look at me.”

I reached out, ignoring the gore, and wrapped my hands firmly around her trembling and wet fists. She flinched, looking up. Her gaze was distant, but her eyes snapped into focus when they found mine.

“Are you okay?”

Sere swallowed hard, looking back down at the decapitated monster, then gave a tiny, jerky nod.

Then did I notice a tiny cut on her cheek. Not enough to be a scratch. Hardly anything at all.

It still made my blood boil.

I didn’t decide to release my mana. It simply happened. It happened the way a breath happens.

A weight settled on that space. A weight so heavy that several people gasped. Made several people stagger back. One woman almost fell to her knees before she managed to catch herself. A man opened his mouth to speak, and nothing came out.

Sere’s eyes widened slightly, but the weight didn’t settle on her in the same way. My failed practice with my Edict had at least taught me how to better flare my mana. Make it less indiscriminate.

Absolute silence followed. I could hear my own heartbeat.

”Someone, explain what happened,” I whispered. ”And do it very quickly.”

I did feel one weight. The weight of the Godblade pulsing in my mind, ever ready to be summoned.

“T-there was a scream and-” A woman swallowed. “When we came, the beast was already dead. W-we found them like this!”

A row of nods from the men all around. It didn’t feel like any of them were lying.

“M-may I explain?”

My head turned to look at Dorothy. She looked very, very pale. Her chest heaved, fighting against the invisible weight that tried to choke her. Dorothy let out a choked gasp. She was standing behind the raised Scrylens as if it were a shield.

“I-I was just trying t-to take pictures!” she stammered. “I thought the forest looked so eerie, and the lighting was just right, and-”

She pointed a shaking finger at the ruined corpse. “T-that thing didn’t make a sound! It snuck right up on me! It reached for my throat, and I-I thought I was going to die, and-” Dorothy pointed at Sere, her voice breaking. “S-she just appeared out of nowhere! She saved me!”

I stopped channeling mana. Let that invisible pressure finally lift. Everyone in that small space stood a little easier, casting around nervous gazes.

I only looked at Sere.

Dorothy’s explanation was enough. The woman had moved to take a few pictures with her Scrylens. She had chosen a poor time and place. Sere had saved her. A crowd had gathered. It wasn’t even Dorothy’s fault. She was well within the barrier. Well within the line of any watchers. Besides, the barrier simply purified the air; it wasn’t a defense against whatever lay outside.

It all made sense. Well, save for one thing.

“Why were you following her?”

Sere paused, pulled out her notepad. It was now stained with ash and mud, but she opened to a new page. She scribbled with a pen she pulled out of another pocket.

Cool.

She pointed at the Scrylens.

Ah.

“Nice kid.” Violet’s voice was loud and proud. “You fucking showed that thing. How’d ya do it?” Violet came and stood behind me, looking down like a very proud mother.

Sere awkwardly made a punching motion. That would explain it.

“Hah! Guess you did learn a thing or two.”

Sere shrugged.

I felt at ease again, my shoulders less tense. I noticed Sere staring at me. She looked away when I met her gaze.

”I’m not upset,” I murmured, both of my hands on her shoulders now. ”Not at all.”

She met my gaze then, seemed to sit taller.

I glanced at the ruined Walker, then at where Dorothy stood. At least she wasn’t cowering behind the Scrylens anymore. Where was the adventurer assigned to her?

”I’m proud. You protected someone. That matters. You did good, Sere.”

Her eyes widened and then clouded. I almost thought she would cry, before she pointedly rubbed at her eyes with her arm, before happily nodding her head.

I gave one last glance back at the corpse.

A Walker wasn’t a person, at least not anymore. They were in the shape of one, and perhaps that alone was enough. Sere must have felt some guilt. It wasn’t quite killing a person, but the similarity was there.

Not everyone had something broken inside of them that let them do what I did.

Even as I watched, Violet pointedly kicked the headless corpse in the ribs.

”Gross,” Violet muttered. ”Good hit though.”

Some people had other things wrong with them.

“You did well, Sere. I’m glad you’re with me.”

Sere nodded again, a bright smile covering her face.

Damian stepped in next to us, extended a hand to each of us in turn. He looked a little awkward.

“Are you two going to stay in the mud or….?”

We took his hands as he helped us up.

Only then did I notice the audience we had. I had all but forgotten about them, and the audience was larger now than when I had noticed them last. This must have been half the camp.

Lieutenant Simone hadn’t said a thing. That was wise. Lieutenant Marsh was with him. I didn’t spot the Count himself.

The men and women all looked at me uncertainly. I did wonder what was going through their heads right now. Did they have to stare so openly? How annoying.

I walked past them, my friends in tow. The crowd granted me passage long before I reached it.

Following the attacks, Count Vance doubled the perimeter guard.

He ordered the Magical Implments turned up to their maximum brightness, casting a harsh glare against the edge of the blue barrier. There was a nervous energy in the air. No more Walkers came.

My energy was drained by the time I got back to our tents. I was even yawning. The Count had advised I get a few hours of sleep before my shift, and right now, that seemed like the wisest thing I had heard all day.

“Man, that’s lame,” Violet muttered...

“Is that what you took away from this?” Damian said back.

“I am sure there will be excitement enough soon. We reach the village tomorrow.” I said.

That didn’t seem to soothe Violet much. She clicked her tongue. “I know we’re supposed to hang back and all that, but if something comes up, I am going to smash the hell out of it.” She was looking at me very seriously.

“I am sure you will, and I am not nearly stupid enough to try to keep you. Just…be careful.”

Violet paused, her face reddened. She turned slightly away, one hand tugging at her red braid. “Will do.”

“I’m getting some sleep. I suggest you all-”

I paused at a tug on my arm. Saw Sere point at my tent. I didn’t understand.

She frowned, pulled up her notepad.

Together?

I hesitated.

Please?

The hesitation shattered.

“Okay.” I smiled at her, moved to shove away the flap of my tent. “We do need to get you cleaned up first.”

”Night,” Violet said, a beat too quickly for her. She ducked into her tent without looking back. The flap angrily snapped shut behind her.

I looked at Damian. He had the look of a man who had decided, very wisely, to say nothing at all.

It had only been the first day, and it had been exciting enough.

“...Lady.”

The sound woke me up. I blinked and sstared at the shadow outside of my tent, illuminated against the Magical Lights our camp was using.

My neck ached from sleeping at an odd angle. It took me a second to remember where we were. There was a weak groan from on top of me.

Sere had rather thoroughly pinned me down underneath her as she slept peacefully, one hand curled into the front of my shirt.

What was she, a cat?

“I’ll be right there,” I called out as quietly as I could.

Thankfully, Sere barely stirred as I pried myself away from her and set her down on the makeshift bedding. I opened the flap, stepped outside, and saw the woman who had been sent for me.

The short-haired woman tipped her head. “I had to come fetch you.”

“Lead the way.” I trailed behind her with a yawn.

The Fingered Forest had been eerily quiet before, now it was deathly silent. Our camp was asleep, and with the absence of birds, animals, or insects, there was simply nothing.

The only sound was the crunch, crunch of us stepping on Ash.

The woman didn’t have to lead me far. She led me near the blue edge of the barrier, where a single man sat in front of a Magical Implement that blazed white. He was huddled in furs, his back against a tree.

He roused as we approached -the Ash made sneaking rather difficult.

“Willa? It’s you?” The man paused, saw me standing behind the woman. His eyes widened a fraction.

“Count’s orders.” The woman -Willa- said. “Get some damn sleep, you old bastard. You need it.”

The man slowly nodded, turned, and moved back along the path we had come.

Willa looked at me, hands on her sides. She gestured at the Magical Implement.

“If you see anything, My Lady. All you need to do is flood the device with Mana. Past a certain amount, it will emit a loud sound. That’s the alarm we’re using this night.”

“Okay.”

The woman nodded once, and then she was gone too, leaving me alone.

I yawned again, back against the tree. There were more blazing lights to my left and to my right, one every few dozen feet or so. More guards the lights made it hard to make out their features.

The only thing to do now was just stare out. Stare out at that dead, lifeless land. There wasn’t much to see, which would make it easier to spot something actually worth seeing.

Click. Click.

The Magical Implement was giving off a fair amount of heat, not just light. The land had gotten frighteningly cold with the setting of the sun.

The warmth did little to chase away the creeping cold. I kept my eyes fixed on the Fingered Forest beyond the blue dome. It was pitch black. My mind showed moving shapes where none existed. Shapes that were banished by my blinking.

Click. Click.

I enhanced my hearing just a fraction. I could hear the wind howling and the soft shifting of ash in the dark. Somewhere, a long way off, something creaked. Creaked, and then went still.

Crunch. Crunch.

I stiffened. Mentally reaching for the Godblade before I remembered to reach for my normal sword.

“This is where you wandered off to?” Violet’s voice cut through the stillness.

I exhaled.

Violet let out a loud yawn as she strolled right up to the edge of the shimmering blue barrier. She stared out into the pitch-black.

“I’m part of the watch,” I answered. “Why are you awake?”

Violet shrugged, dropping down into the dirt right next to me. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“You should try. We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow-”

“Ow!”

I winced, stared down at my thigh where Violet had very pointedly punched me. “That’s mean!”

“Sorry, went a little too hard,” Violet said. “I’ll make it up to you by keeping you company. Beats this bloody silence, doesn’t it?”

I stared at her, and smiled, before sliding down the tree trunk until I was sitting down too. “Two pairs of eyes are better than one?”

“Four pairs between the two of us,” Violet said absently, reaching behind her and pulling out…cards?

“You play?” She asked.

“No?” I answered. “Play what?”

“Rogue’s Hand. It’s fun.”

I had read up a little bit about this kind of thing back on Earth. It hadn’t ever been a focus. “Is this…a gambling thing?”

“Yep. Won’t be gambling though. Less fun that way, but it’s still fun.”

“You gamble?”

Violet frowned at me. “Sometimes. Now shut up, stop distracting me. Gotta make sure it’s fair.” Violet began to shuffle the cards.

She was terrible at it. Half the deck nearly spilled into the ash before she caught it, swore under her breath, and started again.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and watched her.

My mind wandered.

I wondered if the Walkers dreamed. If somewhere beneath the rot and the bone, the person they had been still lingered. Still felt the cold. Was that why that woman had wanted in?

It was easier to believe they didn’t. Perhaps easy truths were the right way, in a land like this. All of the books and tomes I read prepared me little for the actuality of it.

It might not have been too late to turn back.

“Stop daydreaming,” Violet grunted. “And take these.” Violet pushed a stack of cards in my direction.

I smiled. Reached for the cards.

The ash drifted. The dark watched back.

The Magical Implement hummed and gave off heat.

The Fingered Forest stood in perfect, watchful silence.

It was going to be a long night, but it didn’t seem nearly as dark anymore.