Rise of the Supreme Necromancer-Chapter 79: The Eyes Below And Above

After listening to his involuntary scout, Aleric told his soldiers to let him go, then retreated to his personal wagon together with Samuel. There, he pulled a rough map of the country from his possessions.

"I got troubling news... The king’s army is much closer than we expected. The scout I’ve sent heard that they were sighted traveling on barges down the river Esta... This is where he and his friend were trying to flee until one of them suddenly died. Can you guess where this is on the map, Samuel?"

The undead paladin nodded and unrolled the map, then spread it on a small table in front of Aleric.

The necromancer watched carefully. By now, Spine Staff taught him all the letters of human languages, but reading and especially writing were still a struggle sometimes. Aleric remembered the names of places, though.

"We are here, in Belltown," Samuel said, pointing on the map with a steel-covered finger. "The Erstairn is still at least a week of marching away, and all over here are counties we can conquer before advancing there. But to reach most of them, we will need to cross the river Esta."

Samuel ran his finger over the map. A long, wide line was coming from the north of Aleshat and going south, where it eventually split into several much thinner lines that eventually crossed the border or reached the sea shores. It was the biggest river in Aleshat, and many towns and cities were built on it or its offshoots, including Belltown.

"The river we are currently near is too small for ships, so the army will have to disembark and travel to us on foot. If they are traveling over the river right now... Then, considering how the rumor travels, they must be at most four days away from us!"

Aleric’s eyes widened.

"So close already?

"Yes, master. We... I’d say we are ready to meet them, but... from how few templars we’ve seen so far, their main forces will all be there. Not to mention the noble levies... Just all the spellcasters in the royal army might cause heavy damage to our soldiers. They will have not only clerics, but also battle mages from the Elemental Academy. Their magic isn’t as good against the undead as Light magic, and most of them will be only first, maybe second rank, but they are still a force to reckon with. Like a siege weapon."

Aleric rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"The time is running short. Very well!" He pointed at the town close by. "We can take this place and use it for another wave of recruitment, and as a defensive position."

"Master Fenn, Frinstoun would be an even better defensive position. Not to say we would be running." Samuel winced under his helmet and bandages. Then, he pointed to another city farther north. "Or, we can march at full speed toward this city, Soromill, and defend from there. It’s riskier, though. If we are too slow, the king’s army will catch us right outside their walls, and we will be pinned in the worst position imaginable. Especially since Soromill is somewhat close to them..."

Aleric scoffed.

He could admit that running was wise, but his entire soul rebelled against the idea.

"Then we will go to Soromill immediately. And to win more time, I would rather create a distraction... Our Black Riders should be enough to divert the king’s attention, and maybe even a part of his army. And even the inquisitors won’t be able to catch up with them, since they can gallop day and night long."

"Just Black Riders?" Samuel asked. "There are only a hundred of them. The king will just ignore them."

Aleric smiled.

"Not if they burn his villages and insult his weakness for everybody to hear. Imagine yourself in his place. Would you simply tolerate something like that? When does the appearance of any roaming undead already make all the nearby armies attack them?"

When Samuel didn’t reply, Aleric smirked.

"Yeah, thought so."

***

The undead army that was already preparing to set out now did it in even bigger hurry. But separate from others were a hundred Black Riders. Without waiting for the supply carts, they took their equipment and rode out of Belltown to the east, while the main army moved to the north.

Dozens of zombies and skeletons carrying cargo or going to take their place in the marching line, and nobody paid much attention to Krenn, and even his "bodyguard" zombie was only watching him with half an eye.

The Dark mage was sitting on a boulder at the side of the road leading out of town, resting. However, his features were anything but relaxing.

A crow’s call from above made Krenn hunch his shoulders and fearfully look up. When he saw that the bird was black, he relaxed a little.

Then, Krenn took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and, while his bodyguard’s glassy eyes were turned elsewhere, stuffed it under the boulder he was sitting on.

His entire body tensed as the Dark mage watched the bodyguard’s reaction, but the zombie didn’t suspect anything. Neither did anyone else... So far.

"Krenn! Are you coming or not? You will rest plenty in the wagon!"

The call from his ’teacher’ made Krenn jolt and stand to his feet. But Aleric, who was riding on his horse past Krenn, didn’t look like he noticed anything amiss.

He wasn’t even looking at Krenn.

"You can teach something to my other apprentices while we travel. Or simply rest. There will be a lot of hard work ahead... As usual," Aleric said, riding past.

Krenn watched his back and wished he could simply kill him with a curse... and then Garron, and then the king, and then flee and hide until the end of time.

But although there was plenty of Aleric’s long white hair lying around, Krenn knew for sure that he would deflect his curses without even trying.

He shivered and went to the wagon that belonged to him and Aleric’s other apprentices.

Krenn never noticed the white raven that was watching him from the sky. She was nearly invisible when she flew under the clouds.