With the Dead

The match lit on the second try, briefly warming his hands as they clasped around it. The cigarette caught and flared. His mind cleared, the thoughts seeming to travel from the embers, tracing a swirling path from them, through his lungs, and to the back of his skull.

With newfound clarity he watched the shambling army approach. Skeletons, thousands, all marching to the beat of some necrotic drum only they heard. At their current speed they would overwhelm his meager forces in about 7 days. A chill crept through him, challenging his will.

His thoughts trailed back, to all the other failed attacks. Sure shot generals who believed they had the power to face the horde. He thought he might be able to see some of those leaders now, slowly plodding among the undead ranks. Stripped of their skin, they lost all agency.

It didn’t seem to matter what was thrown at them. Sure, you could destroy platoons of them, pummel their bones to dust, but there were always more. Generations of dead brought up wherever the mass moved. Great grandparents slaughtering their descendants, adding to their strength.

His eyes focused, looking deeper into the oncoming storm. It wasn’t just humans. Great shadows moved in the dust behind the army. Dragons, giants, and something even bigger. That last thing was an unknown, even the mages could not discern what the mass truly was.

All they had were the reports from destroyed cities after the fact. Whatever the lumbering thing was, it destroyed everything around it. Castles, keeps, underground fortresses, even a full mountain, if the reports could be trusted. They couldn’t. Nothing about the undead could.

“So...” he mumbled past his cigarette “what can we do?” “Sir?” the mage beside him asked. “I don’t know what to do.” He replied. Looking sideways, he saw his advisor. A frail woman, twice his age, and wondered how she handled the chill on this cliff’s edge. “Magic?” He asked.

She looked at him thoughtfully. “We’ve tried that on them.” “No, how do you stay warm?” He asked. She formed a soundless “oh” and turned around to look at their own forces. A pebble before the ocean. Their chances in the coming fight written on each soldier’s face.

“So, without their minds, they turn to ash eventually. Nothing to hold them together.” She said His mind raced. “So why do they...” He thumbed back at the undead “why can they keep moving?” She tilted her head. He knows this. “General, why do you ask questions you can answer?”

“Humor me.” He responded with a smile. The fire was starting to catch in his mind. “Different Magic.” She said with a shrug. “It’s why one soldier can kill dozens. It’s not about minds with them, they are simply moving to the magic commands of someone else. It’s just numbers.”

Minds. Will. Can’t beat. Join. More kindling. More fire. “What if they did have minds? Is that possible? What would our chances look like?” He questioned in an official tone. She thought a while before responding. “It would be very bad for us. Yes, it’s possible. But...”

He asked “what” with his eyes. “But it could only be done to currently living creatures. It’s possible a few in the horde are like that but unlikely. The magic animating them seems to only work on those dead for a few hours minimum. If they were converted while alive they’d...”

She stared at him. The fire caught in her mind too. “They would be undead with a will. They would be almost unstoppable.” She said as she looked towards their pebble of an army. “So undead with their will intact...” he trailed. “... would be unstoppable.” She finished.

“Can you?” He asked. “Not alone. And only to volunteers.” She said. “We’re all that’s left. I think you’ll find many willing to die already.” He said “They wouldn’t belong to the undead. They would be their own masters.” “A fate worse or better than death?” “Lesser of two evils.”

They both stared at each other and then turned back towards the cliff, towards the shambling death. There was hope, at least hope for those they protected. The general flicked the filter from his fingers, watching as it fell slowly to the ground. The fire was in him now.

“If you can’t beat them...” He said in an uplifting tone. “...join them.” She responded in kind.