You are Summoned

“This’ll take some time to clean out,” Fitzfazzle said as we dismounted from our mechs. His mech had been swarmed by several of the bizarre undead that had erupted from the barracks. Using his gnomish ingenuity, Fitzfazzle had stomped on the enemy, but some of the strange bodies had jammed inside the joints of one leg, slowing his mech down considerably. A work crew of soldiers was helping to clean things out, but it would delay their pursuit.

“Can we afford to wait? I think giving that necromancer any additional time to prepare is a mistake,” I offered.

“I don’t disagree with you Rico, why don’t we do this. Second company is just down the road in reserve, I’ve already sent a runner to have them get here on the double. We’ll send them to track down the necromancer. Our mechs won’t be much use in this forest. If they run into anything they can’t handle, we’ll move up to reinforce them,” Fitzfazzle said. With Warmaster Glumbleflump back with the main army, Fitzfazzle was in charge.

Only a few minutes later, second company ran past, heading into the forest and following the necromancer’s trail. A pair of scouts led the way and one of the mages went with them. When they ran the necromancer down, they would likely need the mage’s spells to heal the undead curse that seemed to plague anything our foe touched.

We set to the sad and gruesome task of dealing with the aftermath of battle. The gnomes informed me that leaving undead to rot in large numbers was asking for trouble. They could corrupt the ground and if enough corruption was present, it would slowly spread through the forest, eventually spawning new undead from the corrupted soil.

The gnomes started to gather wood for two large bonfires. One to deal with the undead, and a separate one for our fallen. While gnomes mourned for their dead the same as humans, they realized that the person they loved was no longer inside the body after it dies. Typically, they’d cremate the remains and scatter it somewhere important to the family. In battle, they would cremate the fallen together, where they would stay by each other’s side for eternity.

Runners were sent to the main camp to summon some wagons for the wounded. If we could get them to the camp, where the bulk of our mages were, they could be healed a bit better than simple bandages and the spells of one mage. Armor, weapons, and final notes would be collected and would be returned to the main camp along with the wounded.

Fitzfazzle told me of the final note tradition. A soldier going into battle knew they had a chance to fall, and the note would be a final farewell for their family. It was considered a great dishonor for anyone other than the family of the fallen to break the seal and read these small scrolls. The soldier’s name was on the outside of the note, and they were sealed with a family crest so their loved ones could recognize them. It was kind of like a soldier’s dog tags and a final farewell letter all in one.

The butcher’s bill for our battle was a high one. We lost fifty-six and over a dozen that were too injured to continue and would have to be sent back to the village. Before we could even start to get things sorted out, one of the scouts that had accompanied the second company came running back into the logging camp and made a beeline for Fitzfazzle.

“Sir, we tracked the necromancer down to the river where the sawmill is. He’s holed up in there, but something big is inside, we heard it roar when the necromancer entered. Once he entered the sawmill, the undead started digging their way out of the ground outside it. We’ve got at least fifty zombies outside the sawmill, which the company could handle without too much trouble. The problem is the necromancer’s still in there and he has those ghouls and whatever else might be hidden inside. We need reinforcements before we can attack.”

“I haven’t had time to fix my MESS yet. Rico, I don’t think we can wait. You take third and fourth company with your mech to lead the assault,” Fitzfazzle ordered. I could see in his eyes that if my mech was sized for him, he’d push me out and take it himself.

“Not a problem, I want another crack at that necromancer,” I said.

“Great, there should be a trail that leads to the sawmill which our MESS’s can use. As soon as we get my machine going, I’ll join you. It shouldn’t take much longer to clear things out, but I don’t want that necromancer to slip away before then. Commander Blumplenizz of the fourth company is the senior soldier here, he’ll be in overall command,” Fitzfazzle said.

We didn’t waste any more time, and Blumplenizz gathered his troop and had them running down the trail to the sawmill almost instantly. Both companies that were with me had taken casualties in the battle, but not as many as the first company had taken. We had around 180 troops, my mech, and the full strength second company of 100 gnomes that was waiting at the sawmill. It should be more than enough to deal with the necromancer now that most of his freakish army had been destroyed.

We weren’t very far from where the sawmill was located. The necromancer had been forced to take a circuitous route through the forest to get there, but we reached it in just a few minutes. As the scout had reported, there was a slew of zombies wandering around outside the building. The enemy must have already spotted our forces which left the mage with second company free to cast several light spells without concern for giving their position away.

The sawmill itself was a huge wooden affair, and a large water wheel spun as the nearby stream powered the machinery inside. Large, barn-style doors were placed at either end of the building, and they were currently closed. Zombies wandered around the outside of the sawmill, not yet attacking the nearby gnomes.

“Rico, give us a minute to reinforce second company, then start hitting them with magic missiles when my ranged troops fire,” Blumplenizz ordered. Despite his whimsical gnomish name, Blumplenizz looked the part of a hardened warrior. His chainmail still had bits of undead struck to it from the last battle, and a large scar from an older wound was hidden under an eye patch.

Second company had done a good job encircling the place, but if we didn’t want the lines to get overrun if the necromancer made a break for it, they’d need help. Third company spread out to strengthen the lines, while fourth company readied themselves to charge the building when we cleared out the zombie defenders.

Crossbow bolts, and arrows started to pepper the zombies who finally responded to our presence. The entire undead force turned and began shambling toward where my mech was, positioned behind the fourth company. On the way over, I had shifted my mana connection to the other launcher, wanting to have fresh wands ready if this battle was more difficult than anticipated.

Zombies fell quickly, and with my firepower added to the mix, only a few made it to the shield wall that fourth company had formed. Less than thirty seconds after hitting the shield wall, the last zombie was slain, and the fourth company made a cautious approach toward the barn doors of the sawmill. I pushed my mech a bit forward, positioning myself between the sawmill and the rest of our troops. My mech was a lot more heavily armored than a gnome in chainmail.

I expected the barn doors to burst open at any time and a new swarm of undead to counterattack. Instead, everything was quiet, and the only sounds were the rattle of armor, and my mech stomping forward. Blumplenizz send a squad ahead to check the door, and they signaled that it wasn’t barred, and they could swing it open on command.

At the commander’s signal the doors were pulled open. The mage, who had joined up with Blumplenizz while we were approaching, cast a light spell inside. The light must have been the signal for the ghouls to attack, as they poured out of the barn and leaped onto my mech.

The crossbowmen with fourth company fired, injuring, and picking off a few ghouls, but I was also prepared and fired the third barrel of my blunderbuss almost the moment I spotted the undead. With a whoosh, the flame stones flew into the charging ghouls, blasting though their thick hides and burning deep into their undead flesh. The ghouls that had been hit gave off a high-pitched squeal as they burned, but we hadn’t managed to pick off all of them.

A pair of ghouls grasped onto my mech, one clawing and biting at the blunderbuss and the other attacking the armored box that housed the magic missile launcher I was currently using. Gnomes rushed forward, their spears impaling the one on the blunderbuss before he could do much damage.

Surprisingly, the ghoul that had latched onto the magic missile launcher was having no trouble cutting through the armor of the launcher with his claws. Too high to reach with their spears, I had to content myself with waiting for the crossbowmen to pick off the ghoul. My connection to the wands in the launcher faded as the ghoul cleaved through the mount and the launcher bounced off my mech and slid down the embankment into the nearby stream.

The ghoul fell a second later, turned into a pincushion by a volley from the crossbowmen. I quickly connected my mana to the wands in my original launcher as a massive figure charged from the sawmill and crashed into my mech. The squeal of tortured metal was heard as my mech collapsed, two of its legs crushed by whatever was on top of me. It had me pinned and was pressed right up against my mech, blocking the viewports.

I could hear gnomes shouting battle cries as they attacked my foe. Hopefully they could kill it quick, because I could hear claws scratching on the armored door to my cockpit. It was supposed to have been reinforced after my encounter with the zombie giant, but after seeing the ghoul claws in action, I figured I didn’t have long unless something changed.