I am seriously on a roll right now. I have never updated this quickly before. I am so excited for this story. I hope you all like this chapter and if I keep this momentum up I should have another soon.
One might mistake this night as almost peaceful if not for the risen dead. Toads were croaking from wherever they sat and the river flowed lightly beneath the old wooden bridge that Li-Ming was now crossing. She kept her wits about her. The foliage from the cramped trees and bushes could easily hide any dangers that would jump out at her at a moment's notice. Some of the trees lacked vegetation, with naked branches creeping in all directions looking as if they might try and grab her. She started to feel the signs of fatigue, her eyes were getting heavy and she wanted to sleep. She had had a long journey and her mind was still restless with the memories of what had happened back in the Yshari Sanctum. But she wasn't going to go back now. Not until New Tristram was safe.
She rubbed her hand against the wooden railing that guided the path as she walked and wondered in her own thoughts. She spotted another wooden cart that had been tipped over like the last one she saw only this time it was set on fire and she could make out the silhouettes of the undead crowded around something, most likely another body. She looked over and saw an old cottage surrounded by zombies. A spark of hope filled her being, "Maybe someone is still alive! I have to help them!" She said to herself.
She picked a size-able rock up from the ground and ran closer the horde. She tossed the rock at one of the zombies, hitting it in the back of the head. "Hey you mindless, rotten freaks!" She yelled to further garner their attention. Soon enough the undead turned their attention to her, she smirked as they stumbled her way. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She concentrated her magic not into her hands this time, but throughout her body. She could feel the static she was generating, strands of her hair were either sticking up or clinging to her face. This spell was a bit tricky, she had only practiced it a few times and she never had the chance to test it in combat and now was a perfect chance to test it. It was unpredictable however, she couldn't control exactly where or when it would strike, she could only control what it would hit. Which to her was enough.
She felt the power she needed reach its limit and opened her eyes. "Hmmm aah!" she shouted as she raised her arms and a flash of blue light traveled up her body. She looked down at her hands and was proud of the results. Lightning flickered and arched all around her as the power that couldn't be contained tried to leave her body. "Alright! Time to send you all back the grave!" She said charging in.
Lightning formed in her hands and she blasted the undead with expert precision. Her storm armor was striking all around, hitting zombies at random with primal force, killing them each time, one by one. Standing her ground, Li-Ming shot a steady flow of lightning from her hands, hitting multiple targets as the beam arched from zombie to zombie. The undead convulsed and twitched violently, some even had smoke rising from their bodies as the lighting fried them until they hit the ground.
She didn't know why but she begin to laugh almost maniacally. She wished her old masters were here to see this. To see her strike down these vile creatures with the same magic they feared and see that magic was something to be embraced, not hidden. Something to be used to help better the lives of others in need just as she was doing now.
Less than ten of the undead remained, they stood near the old cottage and Li-Ming ran towards them. Her storm armor took out two of the undead before she reached them and she used her spectral blade spell to finish of the rest. She cut through one across the chest, severing its spinal cord and it fell in half. Some would have called her an animal, some would have called her mad for her brutality but she didn't care. She was a free spirit now. She was free from the restraints of the sanctum and free to pursue her life as she saw fit and nothing was going to stop that now.
She cut through one the last remaining zombies diagonally across the belly, spilling its guts before she used her other hand to decapitate it. One more remained and was coming up from behind her but her storm armor made quick work of it before it even had a chance to touch her.
She chuckled and regained her composure. She looked around to see if there was an off chance that she had missed any and as she suspected she didn't. Taking in a deep breath she relieved herself of her storm armor. The magic coursing through subsided and she was reminded of how tired she was. Now wasn't the time to worry about that. She had to kill the rest of the Wretched Mothers before she allowed herself to rest.
"Hello! Is someone in there?" She asked, walking around the cottage to find the front door. She tried to open it but it was locked, there was a basement so she thought she would try that. Just like the front door the basement was locked shut. She grunted in annoyance and looked the lock over. She held out her index finger and shot a beam at the lock to cut it open. She pulled out the lock, opened doors and walked down the steps.
"Hello! Is someone down here? If there is, it's safe to come out. The dead are gone." The cellar had a musty smell to it. There were a few lanterns lit down the corridor and knew there must be survivors down here. She turned the corridor not to find survivors but instead was met with something more horrifying.
There were mangled corpses splayed all over, maybe five people who hid down here hoping to escape but instead met a gruesome fate at the hands of the undead that lurked down here. The zombie was feeding on one of the corpses biting away at someone's stomach. It turned and noticed Li-Ming and she recognized the slimy ooze that dripped from its mouth, it was one of the Wretched Mothers.
It screamed in a loud high pitch and Li-Ming could see its throat swell with bile. She prepared herself for what she thought was an attack but the creature spewed the malodorous contents all over the bodies instead. Li-Ming thought she was going to throw up but held it down. She didn't know what the purpose of that was and didn't want to think about it in depth until the bodies started twitching with life. Slowly but surely the bodies started rising, Li-Ming couldn't believe it. The Wretched Mother did it to outnumber her, to give it the advantage.
"So, you things can think." She said. She took a stance and kept her arms in and held her hands out in front of her. An invisible wave of force pushed forward, knocking the undead back against the stone wall, killing one of them. She willed fire into her hands and set them all ablaze. She used more than what was necessary but she felt it justified. The cottage was sure to catch fire but she didn't care. There was nothing for anyone here anymore. Just a gruesome tale.
"So, two down. Three more to go." It was progress.
Her path to old Tristram was set. She needed only to follow the trail and she hoped she would get their soon. Things were calm, the undead she came across were few now. She came across two more wagons that were set on fire. There were no bodies this time, just scavenging quill fiends searching for left overs, either the people ran and managed to get to safety or were devoured and joined the horde. Li-Ming hoped for the former. These people didn't deserve the deaths they were getting. No body deserved this kind of death.
On top of the hill ahead of her, Li-Ming could see buildings, which was surely Old Tristram. The staircase leading up to it was made of stone that had rotted with age and over use. The earth had taken most of it over. She ascended and sensed and eerie calm. "Old Tristram." She reminded herself as she explored the old, tattered streets. "Diablo himself once walked this place." Yes, it was a famous tale. It was hard to imagine being in the same where a lord of hell once stalked.
It was to quiet, Li-Ming felt like she was being watched. She actually wished she had a friend right now to keep her company. She had no friends. The only friend she ever had was dead. She thought she was used to it by now but as she continued to walk the abandoned streets of Old Tristram she didn't know anymore.
There was rustling in one the abandoned buildings next to her. She readied herself knowing whatever was here wasn't good. As the creature stepped into the moon light, Li-Ming was quick to identify it as a Wretched Mother and not just any Wretched Mother. This one was taller and didn't immediately attack her. No, this one was the queen.
"Hmmm. I Guess Rumford miss counted. I was told there was more of you." She smirked with confidence. The Wretched queen gave her an angry glare. Its breathing went from slow growling to rapid grunts. It screamed a similar scream as the one she fought earlier. Nothing happened at first, Li-Ming looked around and saw nothing. She chuckled. "Ha! What was that?" Right after, she heard soft footsteps coming from all around the ruins. The undead slowly appeared into the streets as they walked out of the old builds and turned the streets. Li-Ming could make out the other two Wretched Mothers as they joined in. All of this made Li-Ming think of some sort of apocalyptic folk story. Here she was alone and tired inside an abandoned town that was packed with undead in the middle of the night. What a marvelous story this will make once she's done here. It was sure to be told throughout the ages.
The Wretched Queen was on the verge of attacking when Li-Ming pushed it back into the building from where it came from with a wave of force spell. She turned her attention to the group on her left and summoned an energy twister in their direction. The twister threw the undead in all directions. Some crashed into buildings, others went sky high. Li-Ming then turned to the group on her right and once again charged in with her spectral blade spell ready.
She sliced through the zombie horde in rapid succession. She slapped her hand on the ground creating an orb, engulfing the ruins slowing all but herself trapped within it. Now she had no worries of being overrun as she cut down the undead. Their body parts were littering the old street, everything from their arms and legs to their torsos and heads and coagulated blood covered the bottom of her boots.
Her time manipulation spell wore off as she finished off the last of the horde. She stood there panting, a surge of pride rushing through her. "I'm so good. I astound myself." She said then chuckled. She heard a noise behind her and saw the Wretched queen once again emerge from the building Li-Ming threw her in. "Oh. I forgot about you." She said in annoyance. The Wretched queen screamed at her and charged her with surprising speed.
"Oh no you don't!" Li-Ming quickly cast her disintegration spell and fired the beam at the monster. The Queen slowed but did not stop moving. It screamed in pain as she took another step. Bit by bit, pieces of the creature charred and turned to ash. Li-Ming grunted as she put more energy into her attack completely stopping the queen. The queen fell to the ground and tried to crawl away but Li-Ming did not stop. She fired her beam until the creature was nothing but smoldering remains of what it once was.
Li-Ming was panting heavily now, sweat beaded on her brow and forehead. She wiped her sleeve against her head and collected herself. "New Tristram can rest peacefully this night." And she hoped the same courtesy would be granted to her. She was certain her old masters would see her in a new light if they were here to witness what she had done.
Rumford was sitting by the gate when Li-Ming returned. He got up and and looked her over. She was obviously tired but she held herself with pride.
"You have nothing to fear anymore Captain. The Wretched mothers and their queen have been vanquished." She assured.
"Oh thank the heavens." Rumford sighed, holding a hand over his heart. At first he didn't think she could do it, but now he was beginning to wonder what this girl couldn't handle.
Li-Ming held a fist in front of her face and coughed, getting Rumford's attention. "Beg your pardon but the heavens didn't save you. I did."
"Oh…of course. Thank you so very much Li-Ming. We couldn't have done without your help." He held his hand out to her.
She grabbed it and shook it. "My pleasure Captain."
"If there's one more thing you could do for me?"
Li-Ming raised an eyebrow. What more was there to be done? She was glad to be of service but she was exhausted. "What do you need?"
"Could you possibly talk some since into Leah? She won't give up on the idea of rescuing her uncle." Li-Ming's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about that. She cursed herself for her carelessness.
"I will see what I can do." She said then walked off into the town.
"She's in the Inn!" Rumford informed her.
Li-Ming found Leah sitting at a table with her head in her hands. Poor girl. She must have been more exhausted than she was. "Leah?" Li-Ming said politely, placing her hand on her back.
Leah looked up at Li-Ming and shot up from the table. "Anything?"
Li-Ming bit her lip and said, "Ummm…please forgive me but while I was fighting the undead I forgot to keep an eye out for anyone who stood out."
Leah's expression dropped but she wasn't angry. "Oh no, it's okay. You're probably tired from your trip and all the fighting. It was selfish of me to ask."
"It wasn't selfish. You love your uncle and you want to find out if he's okay. Anyone here would have done the same. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Thanks." Leah said with a small smile.
"Tell you what. We'll go out and search for him first thing in the morning. I promise you, we will find out what has happened to him."
"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Think nothing of it."
"Do you have a place to stay?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Well since you went out of your way to help everyone I thought I would offer you my room here in the inn for as long as you need it."
"But where will you stay?"
"I can stay at my uncle Deckard's."
"I appreciate it. Thank you."
"My pleasure. Come with me." Leah lead Li-Ming to a door past the bar, she pulled out a key and showed Li-Ming in. "This is my room. Do you like it?"
It was a pretty big room for an inn with two sizable compartments. The first was the foyer and it wasn't filled with anything to terribly interesting. There was a desk covered with lit candles in the corner next the door that lead out of the room that had what looked to be Leah's journal on it. Li-Ming closed it out of respect. And, there was a dining table with plates and bread. Bags filled with either fruits or spices laid against the wall.
"Through here. I'll show where you'll be sleeping." Leah pulled open a thick red curtain showing the other compartment. This one was more furnished than the other with two book shelves filled with books, a desk for study and a decent bed fit for one. A fire place lit the room, Leah threw a few more logs into it to keep the room warm. It wasn't what Li-Ming was used to but she knew beggars couldn't be choosers.
"It's not much, but it's cozy. I hope it'll do. If you need anything my uncle's house is right next door" Leah said.
"It will do fine. Thanks again." Li-Ming responded with a kind, tired smile. Leah nodded then left the room.
Li-Ming stood for a moment and looked around. She walked up to one of book cases to see what books were there. She read the titles one at a time tracing the book with her index finger as she did so. None of them caught her interest. She sat on the bed to test the mattress. It wasn't what she preferred, it was too soft and had an indentation in the middle showing where Leah always slept. Again beggars couldn't be choosers.
She removed her robes and armor until she was in nothing but her under garments then she reached back and removed her hair bands, letting her long, black hair fall lose. Placing all of her cloths neatly on a chair that sat in the corner of the room, Li-Ming pulled the covers of the bed up and lied down with a relieving sigh.
Before she fell asleep, she couldn't stop thinking of Isendra and how much she missed her. Isendra was the only one that ever really believed in her, the only one that encouraged her to follow her heart. Li-Ming was sixteen when she died but she still couldn't get over it and she wondered if she ever would. Despite how tired she was, it wouldn't be until late that her restless mind would allow her to finally find some sleep.
I have a confession to make. I am an addict. It all started when I picked up a copy of Evolve for the Xbox One and now I can't stop playing it. It's really all about less is more and I swear I would be losing calories if it was for my good friend Mtn Dew.