"Why do we have to put him on this boat!" Julius flipped.
"Because I can't let my cousin see me, you know this." Arlen climbed on.
"Throw him back in the water and let him float to his own." Julius folded his arms in opposition.
"Don't be mean; we're closer to land. Just paddle."
"No, I say we throw him overboard before...Arlen, he's waking up!" Julius pointed at the alpha's sluggish movements. Luca's hand slowly came up in search of something. His eyes were heavy, but his lips whispered distinctly, "Axel."
Arlen did not fret. He stood behind the alpha to whistle a short tune, watching Luca grab his ears in suffering till he keeled over again.
"He hates noise." The young man shrugged. Julius swiped a hand over his face, reanalyzing why he had to babysit a crazy Master. What else could he do but row closer to the forestry?
"Help me carry him."
"Arlen, his kind is heavy."
"Right." Arlen fixed two fingers in his mouth and whistled for assistance, summoning two corpses- male and female. He was somewhat familiar with this pair.
" Carry him off this boat. I'll be right back," he said.
"Zombies gain?! Stop putting my life in danger Master Arlen." Julius swung his arms in frustration.
"Shhh! He might hear you. I only need to question a naughty little siren. These two will obey you while I'm gone." Arlen took the boat and veered off, leaving the servant in a dicey situation...
On the water, Rufus' carelessness left his pride decapitated. They scouted the area but had no luck in bringing out Luca.
"They may have torn his body to shreds by now." One of his beastmen commented. That blubbery earned them a disgruntled look from both Rufus and a troubled Axel. "I'll send for reinforcements." Rufus avoided his fierce eyes.
"Look, there's a sword on the water," another man in uniform cried out, causing heads to turn. Axel sought a closer look, and the outcome put him between panic and relief.
"It's my brother's blade." He took hold of the weapon and sat in the boat's safety. "If he's alive, it can lead us to him," Rufus explained. He was born and bred near water; he could follow any scent without it getting in his way.
***
Julius leaned against a tree, keeping an ample distance from Luca and the corpses who dropped him like a sack of rice.
"Hey, zombies...stop it; you're not allowed to do that." Julius stuttered when an undead person lifted Luca's hand, struggling to pull down his sleeve. "He is not food...Ah!" the servant scrams behind the tree when the female growls at him for yelling.
Luca lay there stiff as the un-dead things he hunted sniffed him and tugged at his blond hair: peering at the wavey strands like they were special looms. Julius shuddered, putting himself in the alpha's shoes. He imagined it but couldn't picture his face on that body as the thought made his skin crawl.
The male, dangling Luca's hand in the air, suddenly dropped it and stumped in a fitful manner: he disliked his partner's interest in the man's wet locks. Female corpses were always stronger and held more power compared to males. They could do whatever they wanted, and no one dared stand in their way, but this corpse seemed to care about her companion- enough to stop when he showed discontent.
She had a rather interesting way of consoling the other by action. Curling the victim's hand in a fist, she singles out a middle finger and raises it high enough for Julius and the male to see.
"Ack!...what?!" the servant choked on his spittle. Clearing his throat, he threw a pebble to deter them, but the male copied action and nodded excitedly for more. Shaking Luca's finger like two dummies handling a stick, they minister to themselves with their wands and then stick it up the victim's nostrils.
Julius nearly collapsed but slapped himself awake to be spared such a humiliating fate.
The lunky male with a hunched back crawled to Luca's lower region and lifted a leg. His partner cupped her face and grumbled with thrill when Luca's boot was pulled off, showing her the snowy feet of a handsome man.
"Yo...you! The Master put me in charge, and I say to stop!" Julius pointed shakey hands at the pair, then hid again for his dear life. He went Google-eyed when the fierce corpse lifted her decoloured, potholed skirt.
"Oh my god, did you eat her toes?!" The beta turned his eyes away from the sight, holding back a purge. A foot with missing toes? That is a stack of pointy bones bearing no flesh to be classified as toes.
Julius gave up when the grizzly damsel hugged the male and got ready to claim her gift.
"I know what you're thinking, do not do it." Arlen came out of nowhere.
"Oh, thank heavens." Julius slumped to the ground in utter relief, staying behind the tree to catch his breath.
Arlen got a good laugh when he saw what his puppets had done to the widower of Beaumont Castle. Tapping his feet on the ground, he crouched before the alpha, contemplating whether taking those fingers out of his nose was noble.
"I must give you credit; he looks better this way, Hehehe." Arlen praised the rotting duo. They lowered their eyes respectfully and pointed at Luca's toes. Arlen tilted his head like the gentle Master he was, reducing his smile lightly as he let them down gently. "I know he has beautiful toes, but you can't have them. These belong to a man, and you're a respectable lady. Mnn?" he said modestly.
The female's head sank lower. "You don't need toes; you're already beautiful. Isn't that right, Jules?" Arlen searched for her dirt-infested gaze. "Julius!" he turned to the tree where the beta was hiding.
"Huh?" the servant looked at the corpse, which barely had any hair on her skull, not to mention her black teeth and that giant hole on her right cheek.
The last thing he would call her was beautiful, but that would be life-threatening in this situation. "Er, yes, very beautiful." Julius lifted a shakey thumb. Only then did the female raise her head.
"There there," Arlen coaxed sweetly. "This beastman is my friend; I will feel bad if he loses his toes." Arlen trusted the corpse's loyalty to him.
"Fr...friend?!" Julius recoiled after shouting again.
"Yes, he must be. Why, then, do I wish to offend him this much?" Arlen chuckled. He sighed. "Let's leave; his brother will be here any moment from now," he said to his puppets and stepped toward Julius. "Oops, nearly forgot." Arlen ran back to fix Luca's finger situation before joining his servant.
"Master Arlen, the boat!"
"Right!" Arlen cast a spell, and the boat shattered, sinking in the water without a trace...
**
"I see him!" Mark exclaimed.
"Luca! Brother!" Axel jumped off before they even touched land.
'How did he get all the way here without a scratch?' Rufus tightened his jaw. His suspicion leads him to footprints on the muddy grass, going into the vast greens. Luckily he was the only one that took note of this. The others were concerned about the unconscious alpha whose ears oozed out blood.