The snow crunched softly under Whisper's tread as she made her way slowly through the undergrowth. She would not fail the Master again. For a second, she felt a cold chill run up her spine at the thought, something more than the sub zero temperature that surrounded her. Shi had reacted towards her failure surprisingly calmly, something that terrified her far more than any of his rages.
Behind her, the eldritch mage could feel the burning gaze of Leuthere watching her. Turning to face the dark knight, Whisper put upon a mask of emotionlessness so as not to betray the feeling of dread that permeated from the captain of Shi's guard. Clad in ornate armour of an archaic design, the wight's bleached skull grinned back at her. Eyes of emerald witchfire burned in its empty sockets, filled with a loathing hatred of all living things. Since his resurrection at the hands of the necromancer, Leuthere had only ever failed once in his duty to serve his master. Now with Whisper and his skeletal men at arms by his side, the wight would ensure that his wrong was righted.
"We are near?" Leuthere demanded in a voice dryer and harsher than the desert sands, his mouth remaining still.
"Yes. The Fairies were remarkably easy to track." Whisper responded, somewhat agitated.
"Good," Leuthere seemed pleased, "We will bring the master's wrath down upon the traitor."
"Just leave the water mage to me," Whisper growled, "I have a score to settle with her."
******
Grey scanned the woods around them as Rykhan led him and Juvia deeper into the woods. The trees watched them from above like insidious sentinels. Juvia scooted closer to her prince, red flushing her face as she no doubt recounted the night before, only the risk of offending Grey preventing her from latching onto him.
Grey cast his thoughts back to the night before. What had made him kiss her? Was it out of pity for her. No it certainly didn't feel like that to him. Maybe it had been simply to repay her kindness? Possible but neither did that entirely make sense. Whatever the reason he had kissed her, all he knew for certain was that he had done so willingly and that he enjoyed it to a far greater extent than he had expected.
Up ahead, Rykhan halted. The wizened old man held out a hand, craning his neck to the treetops expectantly. Grey looked at Juvia for answers but the water girl simply shrugged. Turning they watched the old man. A few heartbeats passed until as if conjured from the air, a raven glided down, coming to land on Rykhan's outstretched limb. Bringing it close to him, the wizard smiled as though welcoming an old acquaintance.
"Um what's with the bird?" Grey asked, slowly approaching. The bird cawed at him and shuffled on its perch until it felt Rykhan's hand gently stroke the back of its neck. The old man smiled knowingly.
"The creatures of the wilds can be of great assistance Master Grey," he stated, "If one knows how to ask them?"
"Is that how you knew where we were?" Juvia asked. The old man responded by tapping his nose with one crooked finger.
Flapping its wings in an agitated manner, the raven cawed. Eyes widening, Rykhan turned to the creature and lifted it to his ear. When Grey and Juvia attempted to ask what was going on, Rykhan hissed at them for silence as the bird chattered away in his ear. Finally, after a few seconds, the creature flew away. A cold wind ran through the trees and Rykhan's face went visibly pale behind his beard. Juvia walked closer.
"What's wrong sir? What did the bird say."
Rykhan's lips trembled. "In the trees, they come. They come for you."
As if to mimic the bird's warning, a sound began to echo through the trees. It was regular and heavy, like the staccato rhythm of soldiers on the parade ground yet softened by the snow beneath. Eyes darting around them, Grey, Juvia and Rykhan formed a circle as shadowy figures began to detach themselves from the shadows. The smell of decay filled the air. Clad in rusting armour, the apparitions waited at the edge of the trees. Watching them, the skeletal figure's eye with a jealous hatred for all living things.
"Skeletons?" Grey growled between grit teeth as he watched the undead stare lifelessly back at him.
"Aye, one of Shi's pet mages must be nearby in order to keep these things moving," Rykhan observed.
"Now now Rykhan Dear, you know I prefer the term "acolyte of necromancy." The feminine voice that came from the trees was as smooth as poisoned honey. Silently a wave of skeletons parted in perfect unison allowing two figures to stride past. One neither Grey nor Juvia had seen before. It was skeleton but an even greater aura of dread hung over the creature almost like an unearthly miasma. Its armour seemed untouched by the passage of time, shining with the same magnificence it had hundreds of years ago. The wight's eyes seemed to glint with a vestige of intelligence beyond that of any mere corpse puppet. That fact alone caused a shiver to stab its way at Grey's heart.
The second figure was already known to them.
"Juvia remembers you." The blue haired girl growled. Whisper raised an eyebrow and sneered at Juvia before turning to Grey.
"Still hanging around with this loser Handsome?" Whisper asked Grey flicking her head toward the water girl, "How about you ditch her and I'll show what a real woman can do?" She winked impishly at the ice mage. Grey shook his head and shuffled closer to the others.
"She's more of a woman to me than you'll ever be," He growled in reply, quickly glancing back at Juvia for the faintest of seconds before returning his look back towards the dark mage.
"If you're quite done flirting, you can get out of our sight Whisper," Rykhan snarled, "It's your master we wish to deal with, not his servant."
Anger flared across Whisper's face as she fixed her eyes on the old man. One could almost feel the loathing radiating from her.
"How dare you! Shi needs me! I will be by his side as he sweeps away the weakling guilds and ascends to Godhood!" She yelled, bolts of dark energy crackling around her. "And you will all be forgotten! Now die!"
Casting her arm out, Whisper gestured towards the three wizards. Silently obeying the command, the skeletal legion began to march slowly forth, rusted blades grasped in fleshless fingers. Grey raised his arms and prepared to cast ice geyser when he felt a surge of magical energy beside him.
"Wild Magic: Root Whips!"
Bursting forth from under the blanket of snow, several thick oaken roots sprung forth striking the undead puppets. Grey smiled a little as he saw Rykhan's hand guiding the trees to exact his terrible vengeance upon Shi's minions. The creatures gave no sign of fear throughout however, even as brittle bones were broken and skulls smashed by the flailing flora. Instead those who were able hacked their way through with a grim determination. Nodding at each other, Grey and Juvia sprang forth to eliminate these stragglers, water whips and ice lances breaking killing those few who got through.
In a spectacular explosion of emerald light, the roots disintegrated. Behind the charred remains, Whisper leapt forth, the skeleton in ornate armour running in close on her heals. The wight stopped and surveyed the scene before marching towards Grey, deadly intent alit in its eyes. Conjuring the Ice Demon's longsword, the ice mage entered a defensive stance as he waited for the ghast to attempt it's first attack. For a moment the wight stopped. Then it dipped its head, giving Grey a salut as though acknowledging the challenge. It then reached into its scabbard and pulled free a blade wreathed in the very same emerald flames that burned within its sockets.
Slowly the warriors circled each other, each studying the other's form. With a wordless battle cry, the skeleton lunged forward bringing his witchfire blade arcing around. It was reflex rather than skill that allowed Grey to parry the blow. Spinning around, Grey slashed at the dark knight with a succession of rapid strikes. One blow caught the wight's pauldron, that piece of armour protecting the shoulder. The wight staggered back under the force of the blow, the armour threatening to buckle.
Leaping back, Grey summoned a series of ice lances that he sent shooting at his opponent. Each striking with the force of a small thunderbolt, the lances penetrated into the creature's ebony armour, sending it crashing to the ground with a harsh clang. Turning away from his fallen adversary, Grey paused only momentarily before leaping back into the fray.
Juvia stood amidst a cluster of skeletons, nimbly dodging their clumsy blows. Not far off Rykhan's wild magics clashed against the eldritch sorceries of Whisper, the two mages dancing between flailing trees and flickering lights. Juvia didn't have time to attempt to aid her ally or even watch the spectacle as the skeletons closed in. One blade caught Juvia before she could register it, drawing blood as it tore through her flesh. Another lunged forward. Its blade however p[assed harmlessly through water as Juvia prepared herself in time phasing momentarily into her water body. Holding her breath, Juvia watched them advance. Just a little closer.
"Water Jigsaw!" Thousands upon thousands of dart like slivers of water shot from Juvia's outstretched hands in all directions. Cracking ribs and breaking bones, the spell tore the skeletons apart with its fury, disrupting the dark enchantments that gave them form. Damaged beyond even the foul regenerative powers of necromancy, the warriors crumbled into useless piles of bone upon the floor.
Grey came rushing over. "Are you alright?"
Juvia nodded. "Yes but there are more coming. Juvia knows it."
Grey exhaled and looked around. Whether it was some magical sixth sense of sheer dumb luck, he detected movement behind him and dived out of the way of the blade arcing for his neck, pulling Juvia with him. Stood before him was the same knight from before. Frost encrusted holes marked where Grey's lances had struck it. Whereas any living being would have been killed by the attack, their organs impaled by icy shards, the wight suffered no such hinderances.
Grey brought his ice sword swinging around in an attempt to strike at it. But this time the wight was ready and parried the blow. Retaliating quickly, the wight's blade came slashing down at Grey. In a flare of green flames, its sword shattered Grey's blade and drove him into the ground, where he lay passed out.
Flying into a rage, Juvia lunged at the wight with her water whip. But ultimately this did little more than annoy the creature. Looking at her with what may have been contempt, the creature lashed out and drove the pommel of its sword into Juvia's gut. Winded, Juvia doubled over in pain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of eldritch energy engulf the landscape followed by a terrifying scream of agony. Silence filled the clearing. Then gentle footsteps approached.
"Say goodnight Dear," A voice like poisoned honey purred into Juvia's ear. Then something crackled against her skull and Juvia knew no more.