Chapter 17

Most of the crew and passengers of the Chenodia spent the evening inside the ship as there was nowhere else they could stay.

Prince Gaius and Captain Meralco stayed on the upper deck, on the look out for the people they had sent out to gather information about Count Belford. Based on what they had learned so far, things were not as they seemed and there was a truly disturbing air up and about the place. Something was wrong in Karlaca, as if something terrible had happened there and only recently at that.

In the skies above them, dark clouds had gathered, obscuring the moon and stars. It seemed like there would soon be a storm coming but Captain Meralco felt something else as well. A deep feeling of foreboding for her crew and all those that lived on the island.

+++

Zenny the tiger, Dr. Josef the centipede, Fr. Stanwick the badger, Ting the panda barber and Fatima the hedgehog midwife traveled along the streets of Karlaca that night. Captain Meralco had ordered them to find anyone who’d be willing to discuss the whereabouts of Count Belford. That said however, it had been extremely hard for them to find anyone who’d even be willing to talk about the count.

The moment they even mentioned his name to them, they quickly fell silent and fearful. They would run back into their homes, lock their doors behind them and shut their windows. It was clear that no one wanted to talk about the count.

“What do you think is going on here?” Zenny asked. “Who do you think the count is and what did he do to be so feared by these people.”

“One can only wonder,” Ting the panda said, as they walked deeper into the darkness streets of Karlaca in the night. “But in Kithiya, only those who have committed terrible sacrilege are forcibly forgotten by other people. Even by close friends and family. For it is said that to even remember them can court misfortune and invite it into one’s home.”

“That is too terrible,” Fatima the hedgehog said. “In Zengo however, things are a little different. We do not talk about or even mention those who are practitioners of black magic. It is said that, to even mention their name is to draw their attention to you.”

“Enough!” said Fr. Stanwick the badger. “Let’s not dwell on superstitious nonsense. Let us instead pray for protection through the Redeemer. His presence, which is felt everywhere, is more than enough to keep foul magics and even fouler sorcerers at bay.”

“In any case,” Dr. Josef the centipede said. “The count has certainly had a strong psychological impact on these people. Whoever he is and whatever he has done has left a very strong negative impression of him. I doubt he will be easy to convince in helping us, one way or another.”

“Anyway, where do you think the others are?” Fatima asked.

“Others?” Dr. Josef said.

“The cobra and the owl,” Fatima said, trying to recall their names. “Zane the alchemist and Sienna the wizard.”

“Oh, they’d gone with a separate group,” said Fr. Stanwick. “They went with Captain Meralco’s boatswain Khayyam the crocodile and her signalwoman Yvonne the fruit bat. If I’m not mistaken, they also have Biggs the elephant from the Prince’s crew as well. They took a different path from us but I suppose we’ll meet up with them again later.”

Zenny walked on along with them as they continued to exchange banter but then she noticed that the air around them began to get colder. She looked at her companions then surveyed the darkness around them with growing uneasiness. The moonless and starless sky gave no light at all and they navigated only by the light of burning torches around them.

Then, a cold wind blew around them, kicking up leaves which rustled in the breeze. Branches of trees around them swayed and torches flickered at the wind’s passing. As the cold air passed Zenny, she picked up faint rhythmic murmurs that came with it that unsettled her. Which was strange really as she already felt odd about Karlaca when darkness fell upon it.

A mist rose from the ground, making what visibility they had even more difficult as they walked along.

“Perhaps, it’s time we went back to the ship,” said Fatima the hedgehog.

“And with that I agree,” replied Fr. Stanwick and turned about.

They were all about to turn away when another cold wind passed, this time stronger and even colder than the last one. This one was strong enough to shake entire trees and snuff out the torches around them, plunging them all in complete darkness. The mist thickened, covering them almost completely and with it came voices that seemed to chant eerily into the night.

“Wh-What is this?” Ting said. “What’s going on?”

“We have to go back to the ship,” Zenny said. “We have to go back now!”

And with that, the group left immediately and made a straight beeline for the docks where the Chenodia waited.

However, the mist around them continued to thicken, making it difficult for them to keep up with each other and to note the location of one another. The chanting voices became louder but whatever it was they were saying was in another language that made it impossible to understand them. Nonetheless, the way they chanted sent chills up the spine of the tigress.

She remembered voices like that all too well. They were the same voices she heard all those years ago when she and her family still lived in Valmoren. Of a time when her mother urged her to escape through a small tunnel in the floor while her father desperately held the door to their house closed. Outside their home, various voices chanted loudly, shouting in a long-forgotten language.

She would never forget those terrible moments.

As if on cue, a light approached closer and closer to the group. Shrouded by mist, it was hard to identify or even get an inkling of who was on the approach. However, as it got closer, it turned out that there were many sources of light and took a while for the group to realize that they were the lights of candles.

Then slowly, menacingly, it became apparent what the group was looking at.

Zombies. Dozens upon dozens of them. The walking dead, they’re eyes sewn shut with bright red string. Old, rotted and near-skeletal, the undead horrors shambled towards them with a steady and inexorable gait. They held thick black candles in their hands which gave off a strong, almost debilitating stench reminiscent of rotting meat.

Zenny drew her sword and prepared for the battle that would eventually come but felt doubtful due to the large number of zombies that stood against them. The colt mist that enveloped them chilled her to her bones and even when she held her weapon aloft, she felt the cold air sap her strength. Whatever was in the wind around them bore a malignant energy as the oncoming zombies did.

“In the Name of the Creator,” Fr. Stanwick intoned behind her and, almost at once, Zenny felt some of the cold air that wafted from the zombies evaporate. “The Redeemer and the Divine Wind.”

A soft glow surrounded the old priest, as if he himself was a lantern in the lightless street.

“Come close to me,” said the badger to his companions. “I will protect us while we walk through those abominations. But please, you must do what you can to keep them off of me. If they break my concentration, I won’t be able to protect us.”

And with that, the group of five waded among the zombies, knowing full-well of what would become of them if they allowed Fr. Stanwick to lose concentration.

The zombies parted before the group as they passed, the light coming from Fr. Stanwick like a hot flame to them, forcing them to back away. Some hissed or shouted as they passed but none dared attack. At least not yet.

Those that got too bold were pushed or thrown aside by the group. Zenny had to push aside one zombie while having to stab another through the chest when it got too aggressive. Fatima the hedgehog and Dr. Josef the centipede pushed aside zombies that tried to get at the old priest who prayed vehemently between them. Ting was the one who led them, his eyes more adapted to seeing in the dark than any of them and using his strength and bulk to shove aside any of the zombies that tried to block them. Zenny guarded their rear, using her sword to deter any who tried going after the badger behind his back.

There was almost an endless tide of zombies, surrounding them on all sides. Both their numbers and their stench were almost overpowering and Zenny felt quite dizzy even as she hacked and slashed at the zombies, cutting off hands, arms and the occasional head off the shoulders of the undead monsters. What she did not know was that flinging dismembered body parts wasn’t exactly the best idea as she scattered the occasional hand or head in one direction or another.

She could never know that severing the hands or limbs of zombies might cause her more problems as one detached hand crawled on the ground and made it past all four of Fr. Stanwick’s protectors. It slipped past Dr. Josef’s many legs, traveling on its fingers like some grotesque arachnid. It then suddenly grabbed the priest’s leg, causing Fr. Stanwick to stumble and fall over.

Now that his prayer had been halted, the nimbus of light that surrounded the old priest also faded, ending the protection that he provided the group.

The zombies hissed and roared in what could only be triumph, now free to attack them at leisure. It was clear that the undead monstrosities were more aggressive now as they moved faster than before. The undead horrors surged forward, attacking the group like a swarm of starving locusts.

Zenny fought them as best she could, slashing this way and that with her sword. She felled some of them, cutting off arms, legs and heads with the enormous blade of her weapon. She had long trained to fight undead like this and her training had paid off, allowing her to fight and keep at bay the zombies.

That said though, she was not tireless and the zombies still had the advantage of their great numbers. While Zenny fought bravely and had probably reduced the great numbers of the zombies by at least a quarter there were still clearly too many of them. She began to tire, the great muscles in her own arms beginning to weaken even as she cut zombies in half or kicked aside those that got too close.

The others did their part in helping her, pushing zombies aside and using their own natural weapons against the foul beasts. Unfortunately, they lacked the training and weapons that Zenny wielded and could only attack the zombies with claws and teeth. Dr. Josef used his scalpel and Ting used a straight-razor but those served as poor weapons against the walking dead who could no longer feel pain.

Fr. Stanwick tried to rise and begin his prayer again bust was tackled by one of the zombies, causing him to lose concentration.

With her arms weakening, Zenny wondered how long she would be able to hold back the large horde of zombies that now bore down on them. She fought back with every inch of her being, remembering how her parents fought back such horrors for just so she could escape and survive. But she knew, within herself, that it wouldn’t be enough.

Then a loud crash issued from somewhere ahead of them, near the docks. There was a cheer of triumph, followed by another loud crash that was like thunder. Zenny couldn’t see what was happening there but she knew that it must indeed be something because the zombies momentarily stopped their assault on them and turned to the source of the noise.

“It’s them!” Ting cried. “It’s the others from the Chenodia!”

Zenny turned in the said direction and saw that there was a bright orange light coming from the said direction.

+++

When Prince Gaius saw that there was indeed something terrible happening in the town, he sent forth a new team to retrieve those that were out there. Nobuo the gecko, Thomson the bear and Steno the hyena was some of those chosen but it was clear that they would need more help. It was then that Vic the lemming and Slender the anaconda decided to volunteer.

As they disembarked from the ship, they too saw that there were now candle-carrying zombies that walked the streets of Karlaca.

“If I know anything,” said Slender the anaconda. “The walking dead’s always been scared of fire.”

And that was when an idea came to the mind of Vic the lemming...

Slender shrieked and cursed in terror as Vic drove the wagon across the horde of zombies that lay before them. They had surrounded the wagon with torches that blazed in the night, scorching any of the zombies that came to near it. The four occupants Nobuo, Thomson, Steno and Slender all held torches of their own to help fend off the walking dead. Vic himself had a long pole with a torch tied to the end which was brightly lit that he used to deter any zombies ahead of them without hurting or spooking the kiloraptors that pulled them along.

It wasn’t long until they found Zenny’s group who was fighting for their lives against the zombies.

“The prince thought you guys needed some help,” Vic said to a now smiling Zenny. “We came as fast as we could.”