I couldn't sleep a wink. The thoughts going through my head recently have been both unpleasant and pleasant.
We left the mansion this morning and decided to keep moving. I didn't speak to Iros again before I left; there was no point, even though it's disappointing that someone so respected could be shaken by something like this.
I glanced back at the group and made eye contact with Harold. It made me uncomfortable. I raised an eyebrow, but he didn't look away, which annoyed me. I turned and sighed.
'Isn't it time to leave this group? Why am I still here?'
The distant sound of a scream echoed and caught my attention. I was already getting used to the smell of rotten meat. Those imperial fools had the time to set me up when their people are still out here.
"Cady," the princess called, and I turned to look at her. "Someone is in danger," she said.
"So?" I asked, and she shrunk. "If you want to save the person, go ahead," I said, and she looked down.
"But…"
"Let's go check it out, Your Highness," Harold said, getting down from his horse. Alvin gave him a look before getting down so the princess could dismount as well.
"I'm coming with you," he said.
"Don't worry, I won't throw her in the middle of a horde," Harold said, smiling as he grabbed the princess's hand. They left before Alvin could reply.
"Let's take a break here," I said, getting down from Bean. I dragged him as we walked in the other direction. We walked for a while and managed to find a small lake—a clean one, luckily.
Bean didn't need to be told to start drinking. I sighed and fell onto the grass next to him. I was exhausted from lack of sleep. I stared at the sky and blinked, trying to fight off the sleep, but it was hard.
...
'I'm right here, just come.'
This feels nice and peaceful.
'Cady, Cady, open your eyes, Cady.'
"Cady." I opened my eyes and turned to see an undead an inch away from my skin. Its head flew off before I could react. I stood up quickly, grabbing my swords from the ground. The lake was filled with undead, all trying to get to me.
"Why are you here alone?" I heard Harold's voice from behind me.
"Where's Bean?" I asked, looking around. He was trying to avoid the undead that were coming from the forest. I clicked my tongue and pushed past Harold to get to him.
"Bean," I called, and he turned. He ran toward me, not minding the undead between us.
I slashed through everything in my way and dodged those I couldn't kill. Bean stopped so I could get on him. We moved quickly to join the rest of the group. I turned to check if Harold was still there, but he was gone. I stopped where the others were meant to be.
"There's a camp ahead. They were attacked by the sorceress," Harold said, appearing in front of me.
"Where are the rest?" I asked.
"They went to help reduce the damage. Hordes are attacking the city. There was a barrier around it, but it was destroyed," he said.
"Shouldn't you be there? You could end this quickly if you put up a barrier," I said.
"That makes sense; how didn't I think of that?" he asked, but I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "Let's go," he said, but he wasn't smiling.
'Is it me, or did he become unstable recently?'
I turned and left, pushing the thought aside.
We went toward the city that had been attacked, but couldn't reach it because of the undead that blocked the road. They were all headed in the same direction.
I grabbed the rope and forced Bean to stop. I grabbed my sword and was going to jump down, but the path in front of us was destroyed—literally.
Remember when I said mages are show-offs?
Bean moved back to avoid getting hit. The path in front of us was on fire, but Bean ran through it quickly.
'Best horse ever.'
We got to the beaten-down gate and saw chaos. The undead were flooding in endlessly while people ran around in a disorganized manner.
'I'm not in the mental space for this.'
"Lead the people away from the main gate," Harold said, turning to leave.
"Don't go burning places," I said, looking around at the damaged city.
"Do you intend to fight off everything?" he asked.
Yes, I need to blow off steam.
He sighed, like he could hear my thoughts, and turned to leave.
I got down from Bean with my swords in hand as I strolled into the graveyard.
Some of the undead approached me, but I wasn't in the mental space to feel urgency. I don't know what I dreamt of, but it made me feel emptier—and I like it.
There were many. I'm crazy for thinking I can fight all of them off. Maybe it'd be more fun to kill them as I try to avoid becoming one of them.
'Snap out of it, Cady.'
Why am I acting suicidal?
"Cady," I heard someone call. I turned, but didn't see anything other than undead.
"Over here," the princess called. "Watch out," she shouted, and I turned to see an undead reaching for me. I slashed its head off and ran toward them.
"We're moving away from here. Harold will put up a barrier once everyone is secure," Alvin said, letting go of the rope around Bean.
That mage… I told him not to blow up anything.
"Once the people are safe, he'll lead the undead out, but we'll have to figure out how to leave after that," Alvin said, getting on the horse with his sister.
Now I'm curious about their relationship. Are they close or not? She listens to him, but he didn't seem close to anybody in the imperial family.
"Let's go," I said, pushing the thought aside. Most importantly, that mage is becoming more annoying.