Chaos. It was all around me, coming from all sides. Even from the air some came, jumping with agile movements as if gravity meant nothing to them, as if the fact they were undead gave them some special power to defy it. The smell of rot was overwhelming, so overwhelming that my head almost seemed to burst just because of the stink that filled my nostrils if I breathed. Breathing through my mouth was not an option either, it made me gag and nauseous, something I could not use at this moment.
It looked bleak from my position, I will not deny that.
As I moved my weapon to parry an attack that was directed at me with great speed, my eyes fell on the fallen ones around me. Undead corpses everywhere, body parts, broken bones, empty eye sockets staring into nothingness, the unholy light that was once in them gone. Littered between the rotten things were more colorful blotches as well, I could see pink limbs sticking out here and there. A hand reaching for the air, falling down as the life was taken from the body, another soul lost to this endless battle.
A stab came from the side, scraping along my armor, denting it slightly. I reacted swiftly, turning my arm and my upper body to hack at the unnatural creature that was at my side, chopping his head off clear with a single strike. They died easily, but their numbers were just too great. Tiredness had dug itself into my bones, fear coursing through my body like poison through blood, empowering me but also making me reckless. Could we win this? Was there even a chance…?
“Get back in line, you maggots! Stop them from advancing too far!”
The calls barely reached above the sounds of the battlefield. Screams of endless agony filled the air, grunting and growling of the undead made an always present background noise, like it was some odd orchestra working together to create a music of death and destruction. It never grew silent, it never stopped. I moved around, my armor limiting my movements somewhat but also protecting me. I grew tired though, so tired…
More came to me now and I noticed I was standing on a pile of rotting bones and flesh surrounding me, cracking under my feet as I had to make effort to remain standing under the blows of crude weapons and claws raking at my armor. I was trained for this, I couldn’t fall! Panting heavily, sweat running down my back, the taste of blood and rot filling my nose and mouth, I fought on.
Fought for those still standing beside me, hacking down undead after undead, the unending sea that was coming to me. Some struck me though, denting my armor, clawing in the thinner places of the plate, some even clawing right through with their talons, hitting the soft flesh underneath. I could feel the strength draining from my body. Would this madness ever stop, or were we all doomed?
As I felt myself waver under the constant blows, I turned to the thing that had always been there for me. I tried calling on it, reaching out inside of me to bring it forward, to feel the comforting waves fill my body. But there was no answer… An empty feeling in my whole being made itself present now, a hole in my soul. I started to panic. Why was it gone?
Why didn’t it answer any more like it had always done? My distraction caused the enemy to advance even further on me, pushing me back, claws scratching at me. I kept fighting, even though the thing I had put all my trust in, seemed to have abandoned me.
Suddenly a feeling of utter fear crept up in me, terror making itself master of my mind and being as my gaze shifted to something in the distance that was rapidly coming closer. This was no normal undead, I could feel it… This one was stronger. My movements fumbled and I nearly dropped my weapon from my sweaty hand as I now could see clear. It was coming for me.
The being was massive, the power emanating from him in waves of pure terror and fear, my knees almost giving out under me only because of its presence coming closer and closer. I stood my ground though, I wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t give in, even though everyone I knew around me was already dead, slaughtered, abandoned by that which we had believed in. Lifting my weapon, the fight started.
The being wasn’t very fast, and I managed to get some blows in, but they didn’t seem to do much damage against it at all. For every blow I gave, I received more back, claws and fists endlessly pummeling against my armor until it was almost falling apart, edges cutting in my skin and bleeding, tiring me out even more.
The fight seemed to take ages in my own experience, but I know it only took mere moments in reality. I could not handle this being, I could not defeat this, it had all been for nothing. A particular heavy blow on my back made my knees buckle and I dropped my weapon as I fell to my knees, being forced down by sheer power and strength and the lack of energy that I had left in my own body. I could hear them cry out around me in victory, in lust for my blood, the need to kill me…
So this was it.
Fear filled my whole being, my form trembling as I saw them all closing in on me, mindlessly crushing the corpses of their own underneath them. I tried in a last attempt to lift my weapon, but I just couldn’t anymore. Everything had left me. Abandoned me and left me here to die.
The first sharp pain came at my side and I screamed as my skin was raked open by numerous sharp claws, more and more coming, biting and gnawing, hacking with spears and clawing at me, destroying my armor. The pain was too much, my screams dying out slowly as I fell over, bleeding and dying. The last thing I saw were their shadows covering me, their emotionless faces coming closer, their jaws opening, blood dripping claws reaching out-….
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A loud scream echoed through the inn as Rhonya awoke, sitting up straight in the mountain of furs she called her bed. Cold sweat covered her whole body which was shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face and her hands were so clenched that her own nails had dug into her skin, making small wounds on the insides of her palms. Her breathing came in rasps as she looked around the room, her eyes looking fearful.
It took the female Orc a few moments to realize where she was, that she was safe, surrounded by those she trusted and loved, mostly. With a very deep sigh she moved a hand to rub her eyes, trying to calm herself down. The cloth she had slept in stuck to her sweaty body, as did her messy hair to the sides of her face.
“Calm down, Rhonya…it was just a dream… It’s not real.”
Her voice was barely a whisper, just something she needed to say to herself to remind her she was awake now. It had all seemed so real, as if she had really been standing there on that battlefield, surrounded by Scourge…
The feelings of the fear and desperation still filled her, she even thought she could still smell the rot and blood in her nose, taste it in her mouth… With a sigh she reached to her pile of clothing next to the furs, grabbing her waterskin that was there too.
She drank a good amount of water before just wiping some of it across her face as well. Slowly she lay back again, her breathing having calmed, but she wouldn’t sleep for the remaining of the night, the echoes of the nightmare still going through her mind, not knowing what it meant or why she had dreamt this…
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