"The Golden Kingdom may have fallen but it can be rebuilt. Take all you need and leave your luxuries behind." Leo was the third son of an infirm King but wasn"t considered a prince. The legitimate children were all dead so he was the closest thing to a successor that this Kingdom had and he would need to be a symbol for the people. Leo had been raised from a young age to be the perfect soldier by his mother"s father; the former captain of the King"s Secret Army. "Although your baubles can be sold later on, they"ll do nothing but weigh us down now.""Sir, what about my family? They"re still back in the capital." This foolish man didn"t heed Leo"s warning. He told everybody to bring their family to one of the forts in the north long ago. "The Black Knights are still riding north. We"ve got time to go back for them."
"Consider them gone and grieve later. If we go back now then we"ll never be far ahead of them." The Black Knights were the Undead Kingdom"s best troops; an unstoppable army lead by the Undead King himself. "While we rest, they keep marching. They will catch up to us."
"Sorry, sir, I just can"t leave them behind." The Knight mounted his horse and started to gallop back towards the capital.
The Knight knew too much. If the Undead King turned him into an undead then their destination would be compromised. Drawing back his bowstring, Leo loosed his arrow into the Knight"s back. Leo"s bow was enchanted with Wind magic which let the arrow penetrate through the Knight"s armor. "Take the gear and burn the body. We have no time to waste."
Although Leo"s actions were cruel, they were necessary. Humanity"s survival was on the line. The natural barriers would only stop them for a short time and time was not humanity"s ally. The undead didn"t have a lifespan like the living did.
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The ride to the north was difficult. Their destination was a settlement in the mountains. The men complained about the cold but it was all that would protect them. The undead moved slower in the cold.
"We"re almost there. Remember that we"re here to make peace with the tribals. Do not attack them." They were savages but at least they were living humans. "Keep close, none of you leaves the group."
There were signs that people lived in this area. Animal bones built into the shape of a shrine and leather strips hanging from the tree branches. They were used to warn outsiders that there was no entry allowed; a warning that Leo would ignore. "Hold." He needed to head in alone to so he called for his troops to stop.
Leo traveled down the path until there were signs of scouts nearby. "I come in peace! I seek an audience with your Chief!" There was motion from the trees and the wind carried their words to his ears. They didn"t trust him and expected this to be a trap. One of them would go bring the hunter named Soba.
It was important to be diplomatic with the tribals. Fighting them and the Undead King"s forces wouldn"t be productive. Even if the cold mountains slowed down the undead, there were traitors to the human race that would follow their orders in exchange for wealth and power. The only people that could be trusted were those with little desire and those smart enough to realize that the undead wouldn"t fulfill their promises to living men. The tribals were the former while most of his men were the latter.
"Who are you who seeks the Chief?" This must be Soba. He didn"t show himself but the way his body cut through the wind gave away the fact that he was a size larger than the others.
"I"m part of a group of travelers from the cities in the south. The Dead Men walk north. We"re all of the living soldiers that are left." The tribals wouldn"t understand him unless he used their terms.
"The Dead Men are not real. Leave this place." Leo could not prove that they were real but he couldn"t stop now.
"I have seen them with my own eyes. I must tell your Chief what I have seen." The soldiers that died were raised again and the undead didn"t tire. There was no way to win a battle of attrition against them.
The hunter named Soba talked with the other three before replying, "Lay your weapons down and we"ll take you to the Chief." Leo followed Soba"s orders and wrapped up his weapons before placing them on the ground.
"I have done as you asked." A small child came out and checked to see if he was armed. "It is that bundle, there." Leo backed away and let the child take his weapons.
"Follow us." Soba only made an appearance after Leo was unarmed. It was common sense to send in the weak to test for traps so Leo wouldn"t consider him less of a man for his actions. Veteran hunters took a long time to cultivate so their lives had more value.
The Chief didn"t believe their story but agreed to let them live on their land. Each of the soldiers were expert marksmen on top of having excellent sword and lance skills. They would need to act as hunters until Leo could unite the tribals.
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That night, Leo had a strange lucid dream.
Right now, power was the thing that Leo needed the most.
{What is this power and how do I obtain it?}
{Nothing is free. What do I need to do to arm myself with this power?}
{What do I need to give up personally?}
{This sounds too good to be true. What do you get out of it?}
{As long as those conditions never change, I accept your power.}
{Research?}
That sounded simple enough but he"d need to find out what these chemical elements were. He had never heard of that phrase before.
{What is a chemical element?}
{Why not have the materials listed in words I understand?}
{I do not understand what you are saying.}
While that was suspicious, it was good that this system was being honest that it didn"t want him to know things. If it lied to him then he likely wouldn"t have known either way. He"d need to write the question down for later when it decided that he could learn more.
Hopefully this didn"t just end up being a dream when he woke up.