Fantasy The Clueless Wizard (Completed)

[Yokai]

》Attack the undead.

Arden made an undignified squeaking noise, rather like a mouse that had been stepped on. She had barely managed to save herself from impalement. How nice.

Frightened by the possibility of another attack Arden attempted to dodge out the way of the incoming attack. Using Watson she aimed to sweep the undead creature off its feet -- perhaps if she knocked it down she'd be able to dispatch it and continue on her merry way?

 

[ArcticFox]

The undead warrior was taller than Arden and probably stronger, but it was slower. This gave her the opportunity to slip underneath the spear then hit the back of its knees, so that the creature buckled and fell to the ground, allowing her to go past it and to the horse before it even managed to turn around.

The horse was unmistakably Alexei's and it was also unmistakably dead. Freshly killed, with its entrails sprawled on the grass underneath. Arden approached to inspect it closer. And suddenly a hand grabbed her ankle.

"Wait, wait!" Alexei exclaimed, already expecting to be electrocuted by a surprised Wizard.

The man was stuck underneath his fallen horse, one leg trapped with its heavy body.

"I think it's broken." He said with a pained grimace.

The undead Arden just passed was crawling slowly toward them.

- Call out to Kogan to get him to help.
- Try moving the horse to get Alexei out of there.
- Deal with the undead first.

 

[Yokai]

》Deal with the undead first.

Arden glanced down at Alexei's possibly broken leg and winced. That had to hurt.

"Luckily for you, I'm a nice and talented wizard who can heal that," Arden assured him, giving his head an affectionate pat before she could stop herself. She was kind of terrified right now, nobody could blame her for being a little weird. The sight of the undead creature crawling towards them was definitely worrying though.

"Oh, yeah, right. I should probably take care of that..." Arden mumbled, glancing around for Alexei's sword; she doubted Watson would be of much use. She needed something pointy and sharp. Again, her experience not-with-standing she just hoped that stabbing something was as easy as it looked. "If Gandalf can do it, so can you Arden." She muttered under her breath.

 

[ArcticFox]

Alexei saw what she was doing and handed the sword to her. The weapon was far too heavy for her hands - those swords are much larger than they look too - and she held it awkwardly and at an angle. Still, all she needed to do was bring it down and chop off the creatures head.

Which was not a difficult thing to do. It was as if this corpse was particularly old, its neck was already crumbling and she severed it with an audible snap as the blade hit it. She had to repeat the process for the creatures clawing hands too. Quite morbid, but efficient.

"Watch out!" Alexei suddenly shouted and Arden saw another shambler coming close to her, a step away only, its arms reaching toward her neck.

"Arrgh!" Someone let out a war cry and a horse whooshed past her to slam into the unarmed undead, sending it flying across the field.

Kogan charged into the fray on his horse, leading Arden's behind him.

"Come help." He called, dismounting and trying to lift the dead horse. More undead were starting to appear all around them now.

- Keep the undead away from them, while Kogah gets Alexei out.
- Help Kogan get Alexei out.
- Get Alexei out as Kogan keeps watch.

 

[Yokai]

》Help Kogan get Alexei out.

Somehow Arden had managed to traumatise herself in the process of decapitating the reanimated corpse. Thankfully she didn't have much time to reflect upon her actions as she almost wandered into the arms of another undead creature. Kogan really deserved a raise.

"You're doing great, Arden. Everything is fine. Zombies are encircling you and you're totally the comedic relief that dies in the first hour of the movie; but you're fine." Arden muttered under her breath, the words practically indistinguishable from complete gibberish. Surprisingly it seemed to be helping in halting any major breakdowns that could occur. With that done she hurried over toward Alexei, dropping his sword back beside him, as she tried to use Watson as a makeshift lever in pushing the horse upwards enough for Alexei to slip his leg out.

 

[ArcticFox]

"I got him." Kogan said as Arden helped lift the horse.

A moment later very pained looking knight was being propped into the saddle.

"And you'll have to keep him balanced." Kogan said as he reached to place Arden behind Alexei.

She could barely see a thing sitting behind him. Alexei tried to say something, but then gritted his teeth in pain as the horse moved and with it his injured leg.

"Come on, you useless humans, no time for healing now, we'll have to just outrun them." Kogan shook his head, climbing on his own horse.

--

Kogan explained that there was no great way to fight the undead. The best strategy was usually to run. After all you could not kill them, unless you destroyed whatever was making them restless. He did not know of any corpse army rising in his lifetime, but an occasional walking dead was not that uncommon. Either way, they did not really have time to contemplate it that night.

After riding for a couple of hours the sky got lighter and they could see down the road. They were roughly halfway to Pella's Wish and were not getting there any faster, despite taking the road.

Alexei would need healing soon. But could they risk to stop with the undead behind them?

- Stop and heal his leg.
- Continue on.

 

[Yokai]

》Stop and heal his leg.

After a few hours of feeling like Alexei's oversized backpack -- seriously, she could not see anything and all she could really do was cling to the poor guy -- Arden decided to put her foot down. Having a broken leg had to suck and if it came down to a fight, well, Arden wasn't so confident in her ass-kicking abilities.

"Okay, I think we've made some good head-way," Arden spoke up, voice only slightly muffled as she'd successfully managed to peer around Alexei. "Time for me to check that leg, big guy. That's gotta hurt and it's only gonna get worse." Which was true, riding was definitely not doing him any favours.

"Also, I can't see anything and I wanna sit up front with the big kids." Humour was the best medicine, even if Kogan said she wasn't funny. But he didn't like anything so who was he to judge.

 

[ArcticFox]

Neither of the two men complained when she called a stop and Kogan helped Alexei dismount.

Alexe's leg was quickly healed since Arden had the sufficient level of magic.

"I got careless." He said, as Arden healed him, not making eye contact, eyes narrowed. "I thought I could take them on by myself, or at least drive them away. I was wrong and now a burden."

"Gods, stop moping." Kogan interrupted. "It could have happened to anyone. Your intentions were good."

"Tell that to my dead horse." He said bitterly. Then sighed. "Well, it's a bit too late to dwell on it now, we should--"

"Wait, look!" Kogan's exclamation drew their attention. "I have never seen anything like this." He pointed down the road.

When the two of them followed the indicated direction, their breaths caught in their throats. The undead they encountered were not the only ones. The road ahead was flooded with the shambling corpses. There were so many of them that the whole area looked grey. It was almost as if the whole population of a smaller town was walking toward them.

- Ride straight through them.
- Try circling them around.
- Suggest something else.

 

[Yokai]

》Try circling around them.

Well, that didn't look promising. Arden blinked out at the sea of grey converging in their direction, the undead were making steady progress but it was slow moving. Distantly she recalled Kogan's previous explanation on the behaviours of the walking dead and found herself confused. Something had to be driving them, right?

"We should circle around them," Arden volunteered quietly as she hugged Watson to her chest for comfort. "Try and find whatever is making them restless. They're heading toward Blackcliffe... they -- they wouldn't make it that far, right?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"This is an exodus." Kogan said, and it was clear that even he was shaken by the sight. "They are coming from Pella's Wish. There's no other town in this direction that held so many people."

There was no time to waste. Arden now rode in front of Alexei, as the knight held the reigns, carefully urging the restless horse forward.

They skirted to the side in a canter, careful, as the closest undead instantly turned to march in their direction. They seemed to react to the sound most of all, but there was not much chance to be completely silent and also efficiently fast.

As they tried to evade them from the left side, they realised how many of them were there. It was en entire town's population no doubt. Some of the corpses were old and rotted away, leaving only skeletons behind, while some looked... recent. Also only a fourth of them carried weapons or was armoured, most of them were in tattered clothing. And most of them were orcs.

"Boss." Kogan said once they were on a safe distance away. "I have a sister in Pella's Wish." The tone of was uncharacteristically fearful.


- Reassure Kogan.
- Urge the horse to go faster.
- Ask about Kogan's sister.

 

[Yokai]

》Reassure Kogan.

As they drew closer to the hoard it was clear that Arden had misjudged the size and number of the undead as it only appeared to expand outwards. Apprehension crawled up the back of her neck as she glanced over the faces of the walking dead. Who were these people and how had they ended up here?

Kogan's next words genuinely startled her and Arden's gaze snapped over to him. He had a sister? Instantly she grasped that the likelihood of her being alive was... probably pretty slim.

"We'll be there soon," Arden reassured him, silently searching for the right words to offer as comfort. "And if your sister is anything like you then she'll be there too."

 

[ArcticFox]

"I hope so." Kogan nodded. "She's the only family I got." He stopped talking abruptly and spurred on his horse ahead.

Some two hours of riding later, the group was finally able to get back on the road. The horses were grateful for the flatter terrain and they picked up their pace. Alexei was restless in the saddle. He seemed to be on edge, always turning around to look behind them. But then again, the undead never were a pleasant sight.

"If we force on our mounts we'll reach Pella's Wish in a day. Providing we don't rest." He said to Arden. "I think your bodyguard would like that too." He said, leaning down to whisper in her ear, his breath warm on her skin.

- Suggest to hurry it up.
- Suggest to take it easy and rest.

 

[Yokai]

》Suggest to hurry it up.

It seemed that the run-in with the undead had left them all restless and anxious. Arden nearly fell out of the saddle in surprise when Alexei leaned down to whisper his advice. Thankfully, she managed to save herself as she just flinched minutely and then huffed in amusement at her own jumpiness. Zombies.

"I'd imagine so," Arden murmured softly, gaze momentarily flickering over to Kogan. She had no doubt he was anxious to get to Pella's Wish as soon as possible. Her next words were raised above a whisper, clearly directed to the only other companion who wasn't currently in the same saddle as her. "We'll push onward to Pella's Wish, Kogan. The quicker we get there the better." And then she reached down to gingerly pat Spirit's neck in a silent apology.

 

[ArcticFox]

They reached Pella's Wish at the dawn of the next day, as Alexei prognosized, with only one short sleeping break and with all of their meals eaten in the saddle. It was not a pleasant journey for anyone and it showed. Kogan was slumped in his saddle, yet he stayed at the front. Alexei was more and more leaning against Arden as they rode. Arden could feel the tiredness in her limbs and her bottom was quite sore of all the riding.

They encountered a couple of stragglers along the way, but most of the undead seemed to be on the road. They would need to be dealt with soon, before they reached Blackcliffe.

Pella's Wish was somewhere between a village and a town. Now devoid of life, with just a couple of dozens of corpses and skeletons prowling the streets. It did not look like there was anyone alive out in the open, but there also were not any dead bodies on the side of the road. At least not of the immobile kind.

"We need to reach the centre, that's where Dura's home is." Kogan said as they stopped to watch down a street that led through town. That street and the village centre were the most crowded however.

"We can't all go in blindly." Alexei said, looking at the town with worry. "One should stay here and be on lookout, while two sneak in without the horses and look for survivors."

"I'm going in, you do whatever you want." Kogan said instantly.

- Stay on lookout with Alexei.
- Go in with Kogan.
- Go in alone.

 

[Yokai]

》Go in with Kogan.

The Walking Dead appeared to be a self-fulfilling prophecy in this instance as Arden stared down the corpse ridden road. Again she wished she'd picked up some light-weight sword or blade; anything seemed better than a blunt object. Still, they couldn't just leave Kogan to wander into the town by himself. What if he didn't find his sister? Or worse, what if he did find her? There were a lot of undead orcs around here.

"I'll go with you, somebody has to keep you outta trouble." Arden mumbled after a brief pause. She swung one leg over the horses head in order to slip from the saddle without disturbing Alexei. Flexibility, ladies and gentlemen. "No getting trapped under any horses while I'm gone, okay? Be safe, Lexi~" She teased, beaming up at Alexei before she waved and made to trail after Kogan.

Better to smile and be cheerful than wide-eyed and fearful.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Don't worry." The knight gave her a firm nod and a gentle smile. "I'll set up a perimeter and be on lookout for survivors."

Kogan was already on the ground, handing the reins of his horse to Alexei, eager to go in. By his body language it was clear that he was anxious, and that might present a problem if the undead noticed them. He will certainly draw their attention and knowing Kogan he would not hesitate to engage in combat, which might not be the best option in that situation.

- Stay low and follow the walls to evade the undead.
- Move straight through the undead.
- Go over the rooftops to evade them completely.

 

[Yokai]

》Go over the rooftops to evade them completely.

From the nerves that rolled off of Kogan in waves, to his naturally volatile personality, Arden already had a bad feeling about this entire situation. He was kind of like Batman in the sense that he worked better alone.

"Don't directly engage them unless actually necessary," Arden muttered to the big orc as they set off down the street. Dark eyes flickered up to the rooftops and she scrunched up her nose in thought. Slinking along in the shadows might more for her but she doubted Kogan was interested in taking the non-confrontational route. "Think you could boost me up there? It'd be safer and probably quicker than fighting through the undead."

 

[ArcticFox]

Kogan looked up the building with reluctance at first, but being already anxious to go into the town, he simply shrugged and grabbed Arden by the waist, tossing her up. Even though the movement was sudden, she was able to catch the ledge of the roof and pull herself up. The orc followed suit.

The roofs were made out of wooden planks for the most part and were flat, which made it easier for Arden to go over them and to her destination. It took a bit of manoeuvring and a lot of jumping to get on top of the indicated residence. Kogan had slipped a few times and cursed loudly, alerting the undead below them, so now they had quite an audience following their progress with intent.

"It's here." The orc said as they stepped on the roof of a two story house.

It had convenient hatch on that allowed them to get inside and into the attic. It was completely silent on the inside, only the floorboards creaked under Kogan's weight. A staircase led down to the second floor.

"Dura!" The orc called quite loudly, which prompted a response from the outside - the scraping of the walking corpses on the walls of the house and an occasional growl.

- Tell him to be silent.
- Call for Dura.
- Go down.

 

[Yokai]

》Tell him to be silent.

Rather deliriously -- after being suddenly thrown through the air -- Arden mumbled the lyrics to 'Breaking Free' under her breath. Again, the soft uneven tune of her, quite frankly awful, singing appeared to comfort her. By the time they'd reached Dura's home she was still anxious but definitely not as irate as she had been.

"Kogan," Arden whispered, poking him in the ribs sharply as he called out. "Keep it down! They're obviously drawn to noise." Obviously, she said, because she was suddenly an expert. Hey, she'd learned a thing or two watching the Walking Dead. But also, y'know... mainly common sense stuff.

"Now... where is a securable area of the house?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"Fine!" Kogan growled, but he did keep quiet after that.

He led Arden down the stairs. There were signs of a struggle on the second floor. Most of the doors hung off the hinges and scratch marks were all over the walls and floorboards. As the attic, this floor was devoid of life as well. Through the open doors she could clearly see that all the bedrooms were empty.

Climbing down to the ground floor offered the same sight. Empty rooms, destroyed furniture, broken windows. The house was a ruin and it was deserted.

Kogan was about to burst.

- Thoroughly search the ground floor.
- Call out for Dura.
- Leave and return to Alexei.

 

[Yokai]

》Thoroughly search the ground floor.

Things weren't looking great. They'd searched the attic and the second floor, only finding signs of an obvious struggle that was almost as damning as finding Dura dead. Arden swallowed the lump in her throat and gently brushed Kogan's arm. There wasn't anything she could say that would offer him any comfort at this point. Instead she headed for the ground level. Even if they found nothing in the house, until they found her reanimated corpse, there was still hope that she could be alive.

 

[ArcticFox]

Searching through every room, every nook and cranny, took a bit of time. Just as it seemed like the trip was a waste of time, Arden stepped on a hatch in the floor, behind the stair case. Before she could call for Kogan, who stood motionless in the main room still, she heard stirring beneath the hatch.

"You are alive?" A voice asked. "I can't believe it." The wooden hatch opened to reveal a surprisingly petite female orc.

"Wow, you are actually alive!" She hurried to climb out, approaching Arden and patting both her cheeks with her hands as if to make sure.

"Dura?" Kogan peaked behind the stairs, his eyes widened.

"Kogan? What in all hells?" The orc girl raised an eyebrow at her brother. "So our scouts reached Blackcliffe after all?"

- Explain the situation.
- Ask how she survived.
- Ask what happened.

 

[Yokai]

》Ask what happened.

The young wizard's relief was palpable as a wide smile broke out across sunny features. Arden seemed just as delighted by Dura's sudden appearance than she was of hers. At least she presumed this particular orc was Dura? Thankfully her suspicions were proven correct by Kogan's genuine surprise.

That part about the scouts was worrying though.

"Ah, well, not exactly..." Arden spoke up for Kogan as she tilted her head to the side consideringly. "No scouts arrived in Blackcliffe to my knowledge. We're currently on an important wizard mission when we happened to be passing through. What happened here?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"Oh, you are a Wizard?" Dura grinned, scanning her appearance. "No way, I thought some old man was the new project."

"How long have you been hiding in there exactly?" Kogan approached now, placing his large hand on his sister's head.

"Wow, I don't know... weeks." The female orc shrugged. "It was getting cramped in there." She sighed, but soon her expression lightened up. "Well, let's go then. I can hear the dead out there. It's not fun. I'll tell you what I know once we are on a safe distance from here."

There were two ways out of the house. Through the front doors and across the square, or back through the roof and over the rooftops. While Dura looked to be the athletic type, she had potentially spent weeks in the basement, so she might not have much strength for either venture.

- Go through the roof.
- Go through the doors.

 

[Yokai]

》Go through the roof.

Fighting through the undead seemed much more dangerous and arduous than tackling the rooftops. But being stagnant and cooped up for so long couldn't be good for one's health. Arden frowned in contemplation as she glanced up the stairs; it was still their best option at the moment.

"We'll go back the way we came then," Arden concluded, offering Dura her most reassuring smile. "Will you be alright up there? Big brother Kogan will be there to protect you~" She smile widened in amusement as she grinned up at the bigger orc. Clearly she still had time to find this amusing; mainly because Kogan was such a big brother.