The journey to Fort Dralis was uneventful, though grim. The team moved as quickly as their oxsteeds could carry them, and only took the safest roads, having no time for unplanned monster attacks. The trip still took most of the day, and the last several hours were spent slowly climbing a mountain road.

  The landscape in the North-Eastern mountains was interesting to Ethan, given his climbing background. The peaks were tall, and surprisingly steep, and the party had sheer drops on their left side the entire way up to the Fort. When the ancient structure finally came into view, it was immediately clear why it had been used defensively in the past.

  Fort Dalis itself was in obvious disrepair, but it sat right against the edge of the ravine the undead would need to cross. Cath Bridge–the only way across–was accessed by going through the fort itself, or at least through the small marshalling yard between the wall and main keep.

  Ethan approached the ravine and looked down at a drop of hundreds of feet, the sun’s last rays not even reaching the bottom. His eyes followed it to the west, where it opened into the massive valley that was Viridus. To the East, he could see where two towering mountains had been bisected by a river and waterfall.

  Those mountains were certainly unpassable by normal means, leaving the wide dirt road on the other side of the ravine as the only safe way into the kingdom. Valanor had told him that if he went to the top of the fortress, he’d be able to see nearly to the breach. That meant the slow, marching army of undead monsters would be visible as well, and certain to be here by morning.

  Finally Ethan followed the group through the massive gate that led into the fort. The gate was in reasonable shape, forged with magic rather than by hand, and Savilar felt it would hold. They’d have to sabotage the mechanism for opening it, of course, as the monsters wouldn’t likely reach it unless they had already made it inside, already having crossed the bridge.

  “This has to be an unusual design for a defensive fortress,” Ethan said after looking around.

  Savilar pointed to the other gate to their right, which led to Cath Bridge. “The problem is that the fort is too old, and has served too many purposes over the centuries. Its most recent official purpose was managing trade from the East. Merchants would cross Cath bridge and be brought into this area for cargo inspection. Then they’d move through the gate we just entered, and into the kingdom.”

  “Its most recent unofficial purpose was housing Gunther’s bandits,” Cara said, punctuating the statement by spitting on the ground.

  “Recent events,” Savilar said, pointedly not looking at Ethan, “left their numbers severely diminished. The king’s patrols were finally able to empty this place, allowing it to serve its ancient purpose once more. The undead can’t get past the border guards on the main road, and so now they come to us.”

  The group ignored the main keep for the moment, following the L-shaped path to the second gate, which was likewise already open. They looked out at the bridge together, each of them quietly considering the future battleground. Cath Bridge was easily thirty paces across, which wasn’t small, but might be manageable. Unfortunately it was also made of stone and magic steel.

  “We’re sure we can’t just knock it down somehow?” Ethan asked, taking out a dagger experimentally.

  “If you started now, you might be able to carve a hole through that Dusk-molded stone by tomorrow,” Savilar said.

  “Anything with obvious strategic weaknesses tends to be built with significant magical effort,” Valanor explained. “Even the earth beneath our feet would have been reinforced to ensure the bridge was properly anchored.”

  “So where does that leave us?” Selina asked. “Now that we’ve seen the place, do we have more of a plan?” She sounded slightly desperate, which no one could fault her for.

  In answer, Sav turned and pointed back to the fort. “We haven’t seen everything yet. At the very least, we’ll hold this choke point, retreating inside when we’re overwhelmed. The more we can get them bunched up on the bridge the more we can use our wide-area attacks to thin them down.”

  “We’ll also narrow the bridge further by putting everything we can find on it, to limit their numbers as much as possible,” Valanor added. “Killing them will also create a natural barricade. But all of that is only the basic strategy. We should have around twelve hours to prepare further.”

  “That means going over whatever we find in the fort,” Savilar said. “As well using any magical means we have at our disposal to slow them down. I’ll carve out trenches, Valanor will make palisades, and so forth. We’ll go over what everyone else can do as we walk.”

  “Given some time, I can set rune traps,” Selina said. “I don’t have anything particularly destructive, though.”

  “I have nets, but they’re likely better saved for keeping the enemy focused on Valanor,” Cara added as they made their way into the keep.

  The main building appeared to be three stories, although the roof was largely destroyed, leaving the top floor as nothing more than rubble. They walked through the keep’s double doors, and looked around at what the bandits had left them.

  The main hall had been used for eating and likely even sleeping for some of them. It had numerous overturned tables, old furniture, and it stank. Surprisingly, rather than leading to anything significant like a lord’s hall, the room ended in a large stone staircase going downward, as well as two spiraling upward. The building also stretched into wings in either direction, with doors leading to more rooms in the back, and ending in more stairs.

  “Let’s check out the battlements,” Valanor said to his brother. “The rest of you look through everything here, check for supplies, weapons, anything you believe may help.” The two Dusk rank warriors proceeded to the right, where sunlight leaked through an open door to the fort’s wall.

  “I’ll go upstairs,” Cara said simply, and proceeded in the other direction.

  Selina and Ethan looked at one another and shrugged. “We’ll explore the terrible depths,” Ethan remarked, moving toward the stairs. Tibby appeared, glowing brightly to light their way as the pair moved underground.

  “Do you know much about this place?” Ethan asked.

  “Yes and no!” Selina said, looking around with curiosity. “Savilar is right that it’s been used in a lot of different ways. I’ve met Hunters old enough to have seen it before it fell to bandits, but I don’t think anyone in the kingdom remembers it before the East fell.”

  “How did it fall? Was it just the undead?”

  Selina nodded sadly. “There’s no just with undead monsters, Ethan. It’s more than just their numbers, which grow out of control faster than you can imagine. They’re a terror, and they bring a horrifying promise to anyone they can infect. They don’t feel pain or grow tired, and they often march on villages at night. They say it only took one rift for the Eastlands to fall.”

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  They were both silent for a while after that, and focused on exploring. The lower level turned out to be mainly for storage, but very little of it would be useful as more than barricades and obstacles for the battle. More furniture, empty crates, and supplies for taking care of gardens long since overgrown outside the keep. As Ethan looked around though, something seemed strange. He let his eyes follow the unusually shaped room, which was essentially a stone circle with narrow hallways in line with the wings upstairs.

  Finally his eyes settled on a nearby wall. “Tibby, can you come shed some light over here?” The lepus glared at him suspiciously, and Selina had to come as well. When the Familiar’s brightness lit up the wall, it revealed something odd, and Ethan reached out to touch the cold stone. “The stones at the bottom of the wall are a different color from the rest.”

  “Ah, that ties in to the ‘yes and no’ of understanding this place. I’ve heard a fair amount about its purpose at different times, but it’s very, very old. Even the Runic Guild doesn’t have records of its creation. It’s been built, and rebuilt a dozen times over the centuries. This must be an older part of the foundation.”

  Ethan knelt down, looking closer at the stone. “It’s not quite black, but it’s too filthy to be sure,” he said, not understanding why that felt significant. “And it’s covered in scratches. It doesn’t look like regular wear, it looks like someone did this on purpose.” He moved along the perimeter of the room, finding similar stones with the same markings. Finally he went back to the stairs, examining the shape of the room once more.

  “Ethan, I’m not sure how this helps us,” Selina said gently.

  “You’re right, sorry. Just reminds me of something, and I can’t think of what. We can get back to the others.” They returned to the main hall, wandered through the hallways and kitchens in the back of the keep, then moved to the walls when they didn’t find anything valuable.

  The pair emerged from the keep to find the sun setting, with Sav and Valinor quietly discussing plans for the coming attack. Ethan moved past them to gaze down at the bridge. The ravine was only about eighty feet wide, which meant they might be attacked from monsters even as they crossed, depending on the types they faced.

  He looked across the divide at the plateau. Sheer cliff was on one side of the road, an impassable mountain on the other. The road terminated at Cath Bridge, but the area leading to the drop widened slightly. It was probably used as a place for the caravans to gather in the past, but now it meant three times as many undead would be able to crowd around the bridge, waiting to cross.

  Ethan moved back to the others, noticing Cara approaching at the same time. Valanor stepped back so the group could form a rough circle. “What did everyone find?”

  “Nothing particularly useful,” Ethan said. “More old garbage that can be used as barricades. Little else.”

  “Upstairs is almost completely looted,” Cara said, “except for a weird room right above the main hall. It has a bunch of old statues–knights in armor, but just decorative. Looks like they were too heavy to move or something, and the ceiling is already cracking from the weight of the roof above it.”

  “Avoid the second floor, noted,” Savilar said. “All we could find was a few barrels of oil. Actually quite valuable to have been left behind, but hardly enough to turn the fight in our favor.”

  “Let’s talk about what we can do,” Valanor said. “My Steel Affinity will allow me to create spears. With the time we have, I should be able to make almost a hundred. Careful placement of them on the bridge should keep the enemy mostly in front of me.” He looked around the group expectantly, and Savilar nodded.

  “Earth is the only thing I can make good use of before the battle begins.” He pointed across the gap. “A good portion of the ground over there will be magically stabilized to anchor the bridge, but the farther I move away, the more I can prepare. Pits to slow them down, mostly, but maybe we’ll get more creative after getting to work.”

  Cara pointed at what would soon be an undead staging area across the bridge. “There’s an old fence circling the ravine, but it isn’t much. We should tear it down. That fall is our greatest weapon. Undead are fearless, but they do react to danger. I think we should let them gather, but have traps ready to force them off the sides.”

  “Oh!” Selina said with excitement. “That I think I can help with. Raw destructive power hasn’t been my focus, but there’s a number of ways to simply apply force in a given direction.”

  “What about fire?” Ethan asked. “I’m trying to fill a lot of gaps between what I know about undead from my world, and what we’re expecting here. But dead, dry flesh might be vulnerable to fire, correct?”

  “Quite so,” Savilar confirmed. “The monsters experience no pain, but also no regeneration. Any damage they take is permanent, and the true undead among them–”

  “True undead?” Ethan interrupted.

  “Those few that will actually be Undead Affinity, rather than simply turned. Their powers are mainly used to direct the horde. They will undoubtedly give some basic instructions to the rest to avoid unnecessary harm. That will include fire, which you’re right will spread quickly.”

  “Especially if we add oil to the mix,” Ethan said, seeing the plan coming together. He turned to Cara. “I can charge some of your arrowheads. That’ll turn you into an artillery cannon. You can knock some off directly, light up anything we leave there, whatever we want.” The Archer actually looked eager at hearing that.

  “What about the true undead?” Selina asked. “I’ve heard mixed stories on what happens when you take out the leaders.”

  “Likely because it’s so damned hard to tell,” Savilar said. “The true ones rarely stand out, especially among thousands of monsters. If we do take one out, it will mean some confusion in their ranks–maybe even more going over the edge. But even if we get them all, the turned won’t just lie down and give up. They’ll go berserk, attacking anything in their way.”

  Valanor spoke up. “Let’s talk high level before we get to work. Ultimately the strategic goal is to keep the undead on the other side of the ravine, until reinforcements arrive–hopefully by the second dawn. We’ll block as much of the bridge as possible, filtering them toward me, with Familiars for backup.”

  “I think I’ll be able to support from up here,” Selina said. “The range isn’t a problem, and I can prepare a number of different rune circles to move between.”

  “I should be up here as well, especially if I’m shooting across the ravine occasionally,” Cara added.

  “That puts me next to you to charge your arrows,” Ethan said. “But I can also rift that distance when it makes sense. Get in a few Assassinations to thin the herd.”

  “Keep that as an emergency, or perfect scenario measure,” Savilar cautioned. “You have no idea how dense it can get when the horde starts pushing up against something. If you get knocked down, you probably won’t get up.”

  “Understood,” Ethan said, his mind playing out a dozen zombie movies.

  “You’re also responsible for anything that gets inside the walls,” Valanor said. “Cara gets anything with wings–which will be rare, thankfully–and you take anything that lands.”

  “Lands?” Ethan asked.

  “Standard monster and demon tactics fall apart with undead,” Sav replied. “Expect big ones to throw little ones, small ones to ride big ones, all sorts of unnatural madness.”

  “I’ll keep the fort secure then,” Ethan replied. He felt the part of himself most influenced by his communions with his Familiars waking up. That part felt most at home on the Hunt, stalking prey and destroying threats.

  “I’ll be down there with Valanor, giving him rest when possible, and watching his back,” Savilar said. “Anything else before we prepare?”

  “Oh, one thing!” Selina said, pulling out ink and a few other materials. “I’ve been working on this, and I think I have the supplies for a single communication rune. It will need to be replaced by something better when we return to Corvale, but it should be good enough for short ranged messages here.”

  “Excellent, give it to Ethan,” Valanor said. “He can relay messages between the groups, and he’s the most mobile if we get separated.”

  “Plus we can hear him dying when he goes off to fight alone,” Cara said.

  “It’s your unwavering support that gets me through these difficult days, Cara,” Ethan said dryly.

  “Let’s just get to work,” Savilar said. “The horde will be here by first light.”