Ulrika and Thubet shake hands. Thubet sits back in her chair while Elred argues with her about how big a mistake she is making. She doesn''t look like she''s paying a single word. Her eyes stare back at Ulrika and me. I''m so livid with Ulrika''s decision that I have to walk away to avoid yelling at her.


    "Kaio," Ulrika says, walking after me. "Wait." I continue walking. "Kaioson, don''t be like this." She continues demanding I stop walking away. I don''t stop until she forces herself in front of me.


    "Get out of my way," I say.


    "No." When I grab her arms to move her to the side, she looks at me from the side. Her eyebrows hang low over her eyes. She shifts her lower jaw forward and frowns. "You better not push me away." I keep my hands still yet firmly grasped. "Kaioson, simmer down just for a moment. Just listen to what I have to say. There''s a reason why I did that."


    "It better be good, Ulrika. Because what you have done threatens everything we wanted!"


    "Kaioson, my love," she says in a soft voice. "Don''t be angry with me."


    "Fine!" I say, turning to my right and holding my arms crossed. From the corner of my eye, I can see her soothing her hands. "Speak."


    "I don''t want to be looking over my shoulder, darling," she says, resting her hands on my arm. "I have to face her and end the shit between us. It''s the only way."


    "Is it?" I snap.


    "What would you have me do? I want to be free from her!" She stands in front of me with her hands gripping the tops of my forearms. The anger in me refuses to look her in the eyes. She tries to make me look at her by moving her face in my line of sight. "Kaioson, look at me." One direct glance is enough to keep me from avoiding her desperation. Her eyes are sparkling from the sunlight. Her jaw keeps flexing in and out when she bites with her mouth closed. "This is the way to my freedom from her anger. I must face her."


    "What if you lose?"


    "That would be embarrassing."


    "Embarrassing?" I chuckle, but I''m not happy.


    "Don''t worry about me," she says, resting her forehead against mine. "I can handle the toughest of foes my way."


    "Even me?" My stupid jest to make light of the situation makes us giggle.


    "How could you ever be my foe? No god could turn me against my amazing husband," she says and gifts three long kisses afterward. "You are my lord, Kaioson."


    "You praise me too much," I say, walking to the Paladin building, clutching her to my side. "I''m just your husband."


    "Wait until we get back to my home. I''ll show you that you are more than you know."


    "What''s going to happen?"


    "Hopefully, something you''ll be proud of."


    Once we make it to the stable to get our horse from Vaeril, the stable master''s assistant, four of Ulrika''s youngest older brothers come to us on horses. Kindric, Oliver, Geminos, and Gnaeus are here.


    "Guys? What are you doing here?" Ulrika says.


    "We''ve come to see Lyra," Kindric says. "She sent offers for former military soldiers to join the Paladin forces."


    "Guys," she says, taking several glances at her brothers. "None of you wield magic."


    "But we''re pretty good with a sword," Gnaeus says.


    "Paladins are magic users."


    "We know that," Geminos says and steps off his horse. "The agency you work for is desperately looking for help." The rest of them get off their horses. They walk inside to let Vaeril place the horses in a stable. Geminos remain with us.


    "I thought you guys were retired."


    "War brought us out."


    "What about Vladimir, Maxwell, and Spyro?"


    "Those guys?" he says with a smirk. "They''re too old. Plus, they have families to take care of."


    "So do you," she says, tapping her finger on his chest. "Everyone but Gnaeus and me. Why are they here?" She points her thumb over her shoulder at her three brothers.


    "Look, I don''t want to explain their motives. We came to help, just like what you''re doing."


    Vaeril takes Geminos''s horse to a stable while the rest of his brothers head our way. They gather around us except for Oliver. He walks past us a few feet with his eyes intensely fixated on something. I look out into the crowd and spot a person bending over. His skin looks gray. For a split second, my heart jumps. He doesn''t look like an orc. His eyes are round like a human, plus he isn''t that tall. Three people around him come up to him to say something. Suddenly, he bites and rips the flesh off the man''s shoulder. The two others flee. I conjure my sword through the attacker before he can get on top of the man.


    "What the hell was that?!" Oliver says.


    "What?" Ulrika says twice. The victim grabs his bloody shoulder and takes off towards the Paladin building, screaming for help. Two seconds later, chaos and panic ensue. People scatter everywhere. Corpses from out of nowhere attack everyone in the streets.


    "Quick! Shut the doors!" I say. I maneuver my sword up to split the creature down the middle to kill it for good and call it back just before the door closes.


    "What''s going on?" The stablemaster says.


    "We''re under attack." My immediate attention goes to securing the building. I frantically check all around the stable for any possible ways those things can enter. Every window is closed, but they aren''t locked. "Vaeril, help me lock the windows!" There are six windows in total. He takes the three on the left side while I secure the ones on the right side. I lock all of mine first. When he goes for his third window, a creature nearly jumps through it. It gets close enough to grab his shirt. He locks the window and runs to me for safety.


    "Kaioson, what''s happening?" Ulrika says.


    "The Echo Ripper is back."


    "What?" Her teeth clench, making the muscles on the side of her jaw flex.


    "Who''s that?" Gnaeus says.


    "Some bitch I should''ve killed. She can manipulate the dead like they are her fucking soldiers."


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    "How can she do that?" Oliver says.


    "She''s a necromancer," I say.


    "When I find her, I''ll kill her," Ulrika says.


    "Let''s find out a way to get out of here first."


    Our only option out of here is through the front doors. We can run along the sidewalk leading up to the agency. The problem I''m seeing is that Ulrika and I are the only two armed. That is five people in our care until we can get them to safety.


    "Ulrika, escort your brothers into the agency," I say. "I got these two. I''ll head out first."


    "Boys," Ulrika says. She pulls out her sword and levels it over her head. "Stay close." An arch of lightning sparks across her sword from her hand.


    "Vaeril, get on my back." I set my sword to proximity. It will attack the undead without direct command. As long as they stand around me, they will be fine. "Okay. Let''s go!"


    I head out first with the stable master ahead of me. The streets are in absolute pandemonium. Echo Ripper''s undead are attacking everyone. There are mangled corpses about, including in my pathway. My sword cuts down the undead as we run. I make it untouched. Haleema and her Paladin forces storm by me. I return to the stable to give Ulrika a helping hand, but my services are unnecessary. The lightning arching off her sword zaps the undead near and far. She safely delivers her brothers to the building.


    "Does this place have an armory? Kindric says.


    "Why do you want to know?" Ulrika says.


    "I want to help." His brothers want to join him too.


    "I think you should hide and secure yourselves in a room." All of her brothers frown nearly at the same time. "Guys... no. Hide until it is safe."


    "Ulrika, we want to help," Gnaeus says. Glysith, Hayden, and Elred run past us with swords in their hands. "They could use our help. Why do you want us to hide?"


    "I don''t want any of you hurt or killed. Especially you, Gnaeus."


    "What?"


    "You are all that Jenifry has."


    "Ulrika," he says, patting her right shoulder from behind. "I know that," he says, smirking. "We had this conversation before we came," he says as he glances at his brothers. "Don''t be worried, sister." He runs into the building, followed by Oliver and Kindric. Geminos is the last one to follow. She reaches her hand as if she wants to grab him.


    "Gods, protect him," she says softly. "Kaio, I don''t know what I would do if I lost another brother."


    "He will be fine," I say. "They will be fine. All of your brothers have military training, yes?"


    "So were Decimus and Numerius. It doesn''t mean shit!" The undead coming up the steps interrupts our conversation. We cut down seemingly countless numbers of them. They begin to overwhelm the Paladins in the street. "Why are there so many of them?"


    Their numbers continue to increase. Ulrika and I try our hardest to keep the undead from reaching the building. They swarm in groups. Sometimes I have to blast them away to keep them from attacking me all out once or incinate them with a stream of fire.


    If I keep this up, my mana will deplete too soon.


    "There''s too much!" I say. "Conserve your mana!" After telling Ulrika not to use magic, she unleashes a massive lightning strike upon the undead. The sky directly above us suddenly blackens. Lightning strikes the undead at random. Rain falls from the sky but only briefly. There''s a short period of peace before I can hear the roars of a distant fight come into my ears. She falls on the steps ass first, panting.


    "I will never do that again," Ulrika says. She catches herself from falling forward. I sit with her and use my body to keep her upright. "Did we get''em all?"


    "We?" I say, snickering. "You were the one who got them."


    Haleema returns from the city with her Paladins. She doesn''t stop to ask if we are okay. The Paladins follow her inside the building. As they enter, Ulrika''s brothers come out with Glysith and Coretha. Thubet and Elred randomly show up from the street.


    "Are they all dead?" Gnaeus says.


    "I am unsure. I hear fighting further in the city," I say.


    "Well, let''s get out there."


    "Whoa there," Kindric says. He stops him from running off by placing his scabbard against his stomach. "Haleema told us to wait out here for further instructions."


    "What is she doing?" I say.


    "Call to arms," Coretha says. A massive horn blares from the roof of the building. They sound like Kromagia''s warhorns. The sound makes the ground rumble. It roars five times before stopping. Haleema comes out of the building with every Paladin I know.


    "What''s happening?" Glysith says.


    "Kaio," Ulrika murmurs and then points to the sky. Dark, thunderous clouds rapidly form, covering the sky in a thick raincloud. It stretches as far as I can see. Green lightning from the left and right converge into a center point. It slams into the street in a cloud of black smoke. The demonic mana radiates from within. As the smoke settles, the Echo Ripper emerges with Zadione''s three new Paragons. Penny points at me and points at her left hip to taunt me.


    "Great," I say.


    "Who is she?" Ulrika says.


    "Penny."


    "Hello Kaioson!" Penny says as if she''s happy to see me. "You look well! How''s the hip?"


    "Ugh, that bitch," Ulrika says.


    "What are you doing here?" I say.


    "To initiate absolute dominion," Echo Ripper says. It suddenly begins to rain hard. The blood from the victims of the undead starts streaming down the street. "This kingdom will be hers."


    "Over my dead body!" Haleema says. Penny burst out laughing.


    "Oh, I really hate that woman now," Ulrika says.


    "Then it shall be," Echo Ripper says. The Paragons vanish in a purple lightning strike that accents and disperses through the cloud. It travels to the left in the sky. "I will take your corpse and use it against your friends," she says while rising into the sky. The rain comes down even harder. "Then their corpses shall be mine to command!" Her voice increases tenfold. It rattles my ears from how loud it is. A horde of the undead sprints towards us from the streets ahead. "Ravage that building!" She says and laughs maniacally.


    "Get ready, everyone!" Haleema says. "Do let them get in! Rhyndac, get the sorceresses to put a protective barrier around the building!"


    "Right away!" Rhyndac says.


    "Paladins, attack! I''m going after her." Lightning builds around her. The same with Echo Ripper. Suddenly, they vanish into the sky.


    "Here they come!" Ulrika says.


    Ulrika''s brothers leap into the fray first. Their attack is not enough to keep the undead from speeding through their line. Zadock obliterates four undead to dust as I''m about to use force magic to send them back into the streets.


    "Come with me, Kaioson," Zadock says. "Let''s try to split their forces towards us." He forms a massive ball of fire between his hands. "Launch it with force magic." The ball shatters into several orbs when I force it out of his hands. It scatters and hones in on the undead, burning them to a crisp.


    The rest of the Paladins join in as Zadock and I draw more of the undead to us. I slay fifty of them. Zadock and his incredible amount of mana reserves kill hundreds. Their numbers don''t dwindle. But I notice each wave looks different from the previous ones. The undead''s bodies are more skeletal than rotting flesh.


    "Where is she getting these corpses?" I say.


    "Good question," Zadock says.


    "Look at them. How are they able to stand and move?"


    "Necromancers can raise the dead even if the bodies are nothing but bones."


    "So..."


    "She''s using bodies from graveyards. Diabolical..."


    Our might continues to take some of the heat off the rest of the group. The more I fight, the further I move away from the main group. Sometimes I have to command my sword to do the heavy work.


    "Give me a fucking break!" I say as I slice an undead in half. "This is tiring me out."


    "It''s up to Haleema to end their onslaught," Zadock says. "If she can''t, then we''ll have to kill every single one of them."


    "Gods, I hope that''s not the case."


    "Prepare yourself for the worst."


    The worst is yet to come. I may be in a shitty situation, but Echo Ripper and her undead are the least of my problems. She''s nothing compared to Zadione. That mad woman can send hellfire from the heavens. There is almost no escaping such a show of force.


    Zadock and I tirelessly continue diverting the undead to us. Their numbers start to dwindle. I catch my breath while he is doing all the work.


    "Head back to everyone. I''ll finish them," Zadock says. I waste no time running back to the building. He electrifies the rest of the undead near him and arcs it to the undead around everyone.


    "Well done, Zadock!" Hayden says. "But you could have done that from the start."


    "Just be glad they''re all dead here," Ulrika says and lightly backhands his chest. "We can breathe for a moment."


    "So, what''s the plan now, guys?" We all look at one another for an answer. When I look at Lyra, she''s checking the clouds.


    "Lyra?" I say. "Do you see something?"


    "Guys," she says and pauses to glance at us. "The storm hasn''t let up." It''s still raining. Two sets of lighting rage across the clouds in random directions. One is green while the other is blue.


    "Is she still fighting her?" Hayden says.


    "Looks that way," Zadock says, running over to us.


    "Maybe she shouldn''t have gone alone."


    "Zadock, scower through the sky and help Haleema," Lyra says. "We''ll go through the city and eradicate any undead we find."


    Zadock takes to the skies. Lyra groups us into three. Ulrika, Thubet, Elred and I are together. Lyra will be with Ulrika''s brothers. Hayden and Glysith are the last group.


    "I don''t want to be around this dog," Thubet says.


    "I second that," Ulrika says. "Kaio and I will be fine together."


    "Elred and I will be fine too."


    "No," Lyra says, wagging her finger. "This isn''t up for debate. Do as I say and get out there," she says and then points towards the city. "This is a time to unite. Let go of your issues with each other."


    "Okay... okay," Ulrika says. "I understand."


    "Good. Thubet, do you understand?" Thubet rolls her eyes and turns her head away. "Do you understand?" She says, standing in Thubet''s face.


    "I understand," Thubet says.