Rowin cocked his head to one side. "Come again, Leina?"

She was dressed in her breastplate and greaves, exactly as she'd been when he'd dragged them both from the river.

"Kneel before the power of Amara if you wish to live."

Tomoe reached for the sword on her back, as Leina's was already drawn.

"Don't bother," Rowin said, stepping forward. "Get going. Find your friend."

"No," said Tomoe, gripping her sword. "She is possessed by a dark power. It will take both of us to defeat her."

"I'm not gonna defeat her, I'm gonna snap her out of it. Besides, the longer we take, the longer whatever did this finds your friend Shizuka first. I don't like my chances if she's in a similar state to this." Rowin looked at her. "I'll snap her out of this. Now get. We'll catch up-"

Tomoe's sword flashed as she swerved around Rowin and blocked a sideways cut from Leina, needing both hands to block Leina's one-handed attack. Holding her hanging guard steady, Tomoe glared back at Rowin, who would've been sliced in half at the hip if not for… the sword he'd popped out of his scabbard and held against his left pelvic bone.

"Like I said." Rowin finished drawing his sword and reached past to deflect Leina's follow-up at his other hip. "We'll catch up."

Tomoe sighed and darted past Leina, their blades sliding against each other as the brainwashed noblewoman tried for a cut against the priestess.

"Hey, eyes front," Rowin said. "I've got a counteroffer."

He watched Leina's blank eyes meet his own. He'd have found it unnerving, if he hadn't seen that dead look dozens of times before.

"Stow that power of Amara and let's get back on the road."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my," said Menace, watching the man meet her servant's first attack head on, being knocked back into a wall for his trouble. "He seems quite durable himself. Maybe I should make him a servant, too. What do you think, Setra?"

Menace looked around when she heard no response from her verbose weapon. "Setra?"

Setra, as it happened, was sticking his tail into a large pile of sand in the tunnels beneath the grand facade entrance. He was grinning to himself the whole time, knowing the face that protruded from the pile was connected to a busty, pale-skinned beauty.

"It would be such a shame," he said lecherously. "You got way too much fun in you to let you die."

The sand collapsed somewhat, revealing the pale woman's upper endowments. "That's why I'm gonna make an exception, to make the most of what you got, hrh hrh."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The problem with fighting zombies, living or otherwise, was that they had no tells. They weren't themselves, so their eyes didn't flare and their limbs didn't wind back the way a normal person's might. Normal zombies were clumsy, uncoordinated, due to the rot eating at their sense of balance, but living zombies like Leina had no such drawbacks.

Because they weren't themselves, that also meant that flourishes and dazzling displays of swordsmanship wouldn't faze them. Rowin couldn't intimidate Leina the way he'd intimidated Echidna or one of those bridge bandits. He couldn't even force a surrender

The final problem was that zombies, who didn't feel pain, hit the way a horse kicks.

As such, Rowin found himself on the back foot rather quickly, giving ground to a woman who would've otherwise been an amateur. He had to, because blocking or parrying would've probably broken his arm by the fight's end, if it didn't end him. Every time their swords collided, Rowin felt his bones rattle. Leina lashed at him with blow after blow that felt like an ogre swinging a giant mace, and showed no signs of fatigue. She hammered that point home by grimacing, the first expression she'd had all fight, and hammering Rowin through a wall.

"Kneel before the power of Amara if you wish to live."

"Guh!" Chain mail was great but it couldn't cushion impact like plate or scale could.

'I don't like the way you're fighting,' Finnean remarked.

"And I don't like the way she's fighting," Rowin responded. Leina lunged at him with a slash that smashed through solid rock. It would've cleaved him in half if he hadn't rolled aside. Leina was prone, normally where Rowin could cut at her limbs and down her, but his 'hit the road again' agenda was hamstringing him. She lashed out with a leg sweep that toppled him hard onto his back.

"Come hon, Leina!" he wheezed, which somewhat lessened his plea. He coughed and backed away. "What happened to all that talk about strength and making it on your own, huh?! Did you let Claudette drop you off a cliff just to get captured again? A birdcage is bad, but slavery isn't?"

That grimace contorted as Leina attacked again. "I am a servant… of Amara."

She swung, but the rock-cracking blow landed much softer this time. Rowin spun with the blow, stepped behind Leina, then thrust his sword alongside her neck, flicking one of her braided bangs with the hoops on the end.

"Is Amara going to get you back to Risty?" he said cheekily. "Looks like they haven't gone anywhere for a while, except down."

Power flared around Leina as she whirled and struck again. Despite the aura, she only hit as hard as she did last, once again letting Rowin slide under her guard and pop up in front of her.

He stuck his face in hers, that cheeky grin still wide and toothy.

"Besides, can't be that good if the best they can do is an even match with little old me. Guh!"

Whoever pulled her strings had apparently taught her some hand-to-hand fighting. That knee to the gut was decidedly unpleasant.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna enjoy having you around," Setra chuckled as he finished digging out the pale hottie. "Maybe just a little to get-"

Shizuka opened her eyes and her ninja instincts took over.

"GA-AH!"

The cat-thing wailed in surprise as Shizuka exploded out of the sand pile, stiff and beaten but not out.

"What are you, some kind of specter?" she asked, her kunai in her hand.

"Yeah, sure, I'm a specter," it replied sardonically, its end growing long and wrapping around her body like a boa constrictor. "But I'm gonna do more than just spectate. I'm looking to get a taste."

Its mouth opened and a huge tongue rolled out, licking Shizuka's bust and then her face. "Ah-huh-huh, yeh. Honey, you got it all."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Suppose that you must fight one of us, 'Commander'. What then?

Plenty of you know how to bind someone.

Suppose that you find yourself alone again.

Rowin was thanking his lucky stars that he'd been convinced, for otherwise his ship would've been sunk. He was currently rolling around in magical grease, bleeding from the forehead and chicken-winging Leina (who felt pretty sturdy for her size; thankfully that was nothing new, either). He'd gotten her sword out of her hands but that three-pronged shield of hers had already given him a splitting headache. He'd never been fantastic at this grappling stuff but if Leina had no training and could beat a rookie while knee-deep in mud, surely some training could beat Leina's magically-enhanced raw pep, while they were covered in grease.

"Come on, Leina!" Rowin urged, grimacing as she elbowed him in the ribs. He seized the chance and caught her other arm in a chicken wing hold, too. "I know you've got more fight in you than whatever's doing this! So fight! Grit your teeth and dig in your heels, just like you did against your sister!"

"Kneel… Before the power…" Leina thrashed in his grip, too much for him to lock hands behind her back and secure the hold. "Of Amara!"

Their struggle took them to the stone blocks of the tunnel they'd found themselves in. Leina put her feet against the wall and pushed, her enhanced strength sending them across the floor and Rowin's body into ancient but still solid rock. The impact loosened his grip, along with what felt like his teeth, and Leina started to climb to her feet. She quickly ran and grabbed her sword. She was mid-swing when Rowin rushed her and caught her in a bear hug from the front. He'd bent his knees so he could catch her at her forearms, which unfortunately socketed his chin in the cleavage of her armor and his nose in the cleavage of her breasts. Her elbows were pinned to her sides, and this time, he did lock his hands.

"No," said Rowin firmly. He looked up into her eyes and squeezed his hands until they hurt, since that's what it took to keep Leina from muscling free. "I'm not kneeling before any power, and neither are you."

Leina continued to struggle, kicking and even trying to headbutt Rowin. However, he kept his legs closed, so her kicks did nothing, and her endowments kept his face too far for her forehead to reach.

Amidst the struggle, Rowin heard something metallic plink to the floor. He hoped it wasn't his belt buckle.

"No… Release me…"

Rowin opened his mouth to retort but he realized that Leina's struggle was getting weaker. The pain in his hands and locked muscles had kept him from noticing at first. She wasn't trying to headbutt him any more, and her kicks were aimed less at him and more at the air behind her. He only now realized that he'd leaned back and lifted her off the ground. She was flailing her feet like a swimmer treading water.

Her command hadn't been aimed at him.

"You heard her," he said. "Turn her loose or face the consequences."

Leina cried out and arched back, shaking in Rowin's hold as his already tired legs started to buckle. He'd been swimming in the river and then spent a good hour trudging through sand, but he'd power through. He'd decided after washing up in this desert that a good friend like Leina was worth it. He'd only known her for a few days, but he'd seen the cloth she'd been cut from and it was the same as him.

Plus, it helped that if he fell down now, he'd be put in a very compromising position by her hefty chest.

"She's with me, you hear?!" Rowin shouted into the underground. "You can't have her!"

Like smoke from a chimney, what remained of that evil aura burst out of Leina's body and scattered into nothing. She went limp in Rowin's hold. That was all he needed, collapsing to his knees and gently releasing her before falling to his back. Both of them breathed heavily from the ordeal, and the musky scent of centuries of dead air had never smelled so good.

"You… You okay, Leina?" he asked.

Groaning, Leina sat up and looked at her hands. She splayed her fingers, then made fists, then splayed again. Then she reached over and retrieved what had plinked: a small coin with the same face on both sides.

"She's gone," Leina said. "I don't hear her voice any more!"

"Hear whose voice?" Rowin said, lying on the stone.

Leina crawled over to where her sword had fallen and re-sheathed it. "The woman… the Princess of Amara."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"But how?!" Menace nearly dug her perfectly manicured nails into the rock of the altar she kneeled upon, watching events unfold as reflected in the waterfall. "The enslavement ritual was flawless!"

Pouting, Menace sat back on her heels and folded her arms. There must have been a good reason why… Wait, that man… Maybe he was the reason. If he was, then such a will would undoubtedly serve as a great asset for Amara.

Menace reached out along the link to her oldest and most faithful servant.

"Setra?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The floating cat-thing's ears twitched, something Shizuka noticed easily.

"What's wrong, kitty?" she asked, loosening her grip on the everburning torch she'd found.

"Nothing," Setra replied. "I was just looking at the hieroglyphics. I'm surprised there's any historical drawings left after all this time."

"So, kitty, can you read them?" Shizuka asked, leaning towards him slightly. It was hard to tell where his eyes were looking, but if their introduction was any sign, this cat liked his milk.

Not enough to override his irritation, though.

"Of course I can!" Setra said, annoyed. "And just so you know, I'm not a kitty, I'm a living scepter! I'm the Black Devil of Amara, lady."

Shizuka started stroking his chin. "Come on, don't be like that. Purr for me."

Much to her amusement, he did just that.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Menace had no idea why Setra was purring, but he acknowledged her order all the same. Turning her attention to the image on the waterfall, Menace willed it to change to the final intruder, the priestess of a foreign land. She was busy running through the hallway of crushing columns.

Normally, Menace would assume the booby traps would take care of her, but she was forced to agree with Setra: any one of these intruders would make powerful servants. She had to have them.

Menace spread her arms, tapping into the dark aura of death which clung to the sunken ruins of her great temple complex. In life, her old servants weren't able to protect her, nor the kingdom she'd been destined to inherit. In death, they would help her build anew, first by gathering their replacements.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Tomoe tucked and rolled out as long spears shot out of the floor, reaching all the way to the ceiling. Her body ached from dehydration and her feet hurt from running on the stones, but she feared the worst was yet to come. As she found herself in a large chamber with a domed roof and a large circular skylight in the ceiling, it wasn't the rumble of river water that gave her pause.

She sensed the evil aura of this place growing stronger, concentrating itself elsewhere, and then… Approaching. Sure enough, she'd escaped one trap only to run into another. From around a door, on the other side of the room, came a trio of shambling persons, infused with the evil aura and something else, something sinister yet unfamiliar to her. However, they weren't alone. They were quickly joined by more, at least thirty of them, three to a doorway and standing guard.

Tomoe drew her sword and prayed that Shizuka was okay as a skeleton from each of the doors stepped into the room. The light illuminated the metal of their bronze helmets, curved swords and round shields. Tomoe spied only one door that was unoccupied, but knew better than to run into such an obvious trap.

From each doorway, one skeleton marched towards her while the other two remained on guard. Tomoe allowed them to get halfway to her before she rushed one, cleaving its head from its boney neck before it could so much as raise its sword. The others charged; six more swings of Tomoe's Kushinawa saw them reduced to pairs of walking legs.

That was the first sign that all was not well.

These legs continued to stand upright. Tomoe whirled and blocked the first skeletal guardian's sword, even as its head floated back onto its neck bones. Its empty eye sockets were as lifeless as its attacks, simply drawing back and clumsily swinging a second time as Tomoe recovered from her shock. She dropped low and lashed out with a heel kick to its shield, blasting it apart from the concussive force.

She leapt away as an ancient blade cut a piece from her red hakama trousers. The other guardians had recovered themselves and were whole again. Her blade rendered useless, Tomoe reached into her sleeve and pulled out a trio of paper talismans.

"Evil spirits, begone!"

Her aim was true: the talismans struck center mass on three guardians, all equal distance from one another, before exploding, catching the rest.

Tomoe breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the other guardians, still as motionless as the stone doorways they guarded. Surely, they would intervene if…

…if not for the blocky rattling coming from the piles of boney shards.

To her utter dismay and horror, even reduced to fragments, even with their ancient weapons shattered by age and Tomoe's talismans, these undead monsters began to reform once again.

"Very well," Tomoe said, sheathing her sword. She hopped over the reforming skeleton she'd kicked and ran for the open doorway. "It seems my only recourse is to spring your trap."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You were there for all of that?" Shizuka asked as Setra led her further down the narrow, featureless corridor.

"No, that was before my service began," Setra replied. "My Lady misses those days. The ancient kingdom of Amara was her paradise, and it's my duty to help her restore it. Besides…"

Setra swiveled around and grinned at her. "If even half the babes in this era are as hot as you, it'll be my paradise, too. Me-yow."

Shizuka forced a smile on her lips. Do something about your attitude first. Then we'll talk, kitty.

She walked past him. "Where are you taking me, anyway?"

Setra chuckled. "To the royal treatment. You got way too much to get anything less."

"Less than… What?"

Shizuka found herself in a large, sprawling chamber with intricate carvings all over the walls, and statues that looked like the ones she'd seen outside, the cat guardians with heads that looked like Setra's, acting as support columns. The middle of the room was dominated by a half-sphere altar of some kind, with torch posts around it and a staircase leading up. Standing at the top, framed by a waterfall and the image of Rowin projected on it, was a woman who could only have been Princess Menace.

She wore a headdress with a large bejeweled icon of a cobra at the center and what appeared to be part of a coat of plates, in that said plates started at her neck and stopped just low enough to fully cover her nipples. Even then, the gold plates weren't overlapping so much as connected by black beads, and they didn't cover anything else besides her bust. Loose wraps wound around her arms. A loin cloth mostly obscured her blue and white striped thong, seen through the thin fabric. Unlike Shizuka, Menace's sandals had platforms on the bottom which pushed her heels up. It didn't look much like a battle outfit. Then again, Shizuka wore lots of loose clothing to stash all her weapons.

"You've done well, Setra," Menace said.

Setra grinned as he floated up to her. "Can I pick 'em or what?"

Menace clasped his tail/handle and hefted him like a mace as she looked Shizuka up and down. "Yes, I think she will make an excellent servant."

"Hate to disappoint, but I'm spoken for," Shizuka said, a kunai back in her hand.

Menace shook her head and rested Setra on her shoulder. "Worry not. Soon, that man will be serving me alongside you. You'll have the rest of your lives to spend together."

Setra groaned from behind Menace's head. "Do we have to, Milady?"

"Of course," Menace said as she flourished her free hand. A wisp of dark magic fluttered from it and disappeared into the walls. "That first servant of mine could never have broken free on her own. There's something about that man, something that made her strong enough to resist Amara's power. For the good of the kingdom, we must have it."

She smiled at Shizuka. "And you, foreign warrior."

"I don't think so," Shizuka replied, her ninja instincts sensing movement from the nearby corridors. "From what I understand, your kingdom fell because its leaders ignored the people. They allowed corruption and bribery to determine who got what, instead of merit. In the end, it was only a matter of time before one of the sellouts decided to sell out the whole country for a bag of gold, which is exactly what your attendant did."

"Do not speak of her in front of me!" Menace shouted. "Anariste had everything she could ever want: luxury, leisure, and a princess as noble as myself to serve! What more could someone want? What could be more fulfilling than that?"

Shizuka shrugged and started to circle towards that corridor of motion, waiting for this princess to try something. "Like I said, its leaders ignored the people. I'm including the people close to them when I say that. A good leader keeps an eye on their allies as much as their enemies. It's how I knew to leave my old allies and join up with Lady Tomoe." She stuck her hand into the waterfall as she passed the bottom, spraying some into her mouth. It tasted like chalk, but she didn't care. Water was water out in a desert.

Menace huffed. "Join me, then, and be the eyes and ears of Amara, the first among my many servants!"

Shizuka finished her drink, by now sticking her face under the waterfall and letting it slick back her hair. She turned and faced Menace. "I've already got a lady to serve."

"Shizuka!"

The ninja, freshly watered, zoomed over to the door where the shout had come from. "Lady Tomoe!"

Out of breath, disheveled, but nevertheless okay, Tomoe emerged from the darkness of the corridor and immediately doubled over, out of breath.

"Shizuka…" Tomoe panted, smiling up at her companion. "I finally found you."

"Why are you so tired?" She looked up at Menace and Setra, her fake courtesy discarded. "What did you do to her?"

Menace pointed Setra at her. "The unworthy are not fit to become my servants. I have to test them, just as I must now test you."

"Hnnngh, let me test her, Milady." Setra lecherously grinned. "I'll find out what that body's packin'."

"In time, Setra." Menace raised her free hand to the ceiling.

Immediately, Tomoe drew her sword and adopted a shaky battle stance. "Beware, Shizuka. She's the source of evil in this place."

"As the heir to Amara, I will do anything to reclaim my birthright," Menace declared, "even if that means siding with evil."

Author's commentary:

It's a two-on-one, warrior-waifu handicap match! Betting odds currently in Menace's favor, what with all the necromancy. Where are Rowin and Leina? How are Rowin and Leina? And why is Menace, a pampered princess-turned-sorceress, so calm when hands are going to be thrown? Only the next chapter will tell!

If you liked what you read, leave a review and check out my other stories. If you really liked what you read, drop me a line in the PMs or on Discord to discuss a commission of your own! Don't wait: I'll be nearly doubling my rate soon, so if you want to get grandfathered in to the current commission baseline rate of 1.6 cents/word (3000 words for $48; this chapter was $59.43 for 3714 words), hit me up.