The tower groaned under the weight of beasts circling outside. Shadows of vast wings stretched across the crimson-lit walls as the pterosaur shrieked again, its talons scraping against stone. Below, the Tyrannosaur’s roar shattered the night, vibrating through marrow and rune alike.
Damien stood at the heart of it all, the dead hanging motionless before him—suspended in invisible chains of will. Their hollow eyes glowed faintly red, reflecting his power. Sweat trickled down his temple, though the air had turned frigid with the Keeper’s magic.
“Speak,” the Keeper urged, his voice sharp. “Command them. Let the old blood tremble at your word.”
Zara shook her head violently, stepping between Damien and the bound corpses. “Don’t listen! This isn’t survival—it’s slavery. You’ll lose yourself in them!”
But Damien’s chest heaved with a terrible realization: for the first ti, the endless tide of death could be bent instead of feared. His voice, low and unsteady, pushed through clenched teeth.
“Defend this tower.”
The dead lurched as one, turning toward the shattered doorway. Their bodies moved with eerie synchronization, clawing and crawling back down the stairs. Moans turned into a thunderous chant, echoing like war drums.
Zara’s breath hitched. “Damien...”
He could feel them—not just see them, but be them. Each step they took down the stairwell was an echo in his own bones. Every scrape of claw, every gnash of teeth, reverberated inside his skull. He was no longer alone in his body; he was legion.
The Tyrannosaur roared below, and Damien’s army answered. The clash was imdiate—rotting hands clawing at reptilian hide, dozens of corpses swarming the beast’s legs. Its jaws snapped, crushing five at once, but more climbed, sinking nails and broken teeth into its scales.
Damien’s knees buckled. The connection was raw agony, every corpse that died under the beast’s jaws tearing at his nerves. He clenched his fists until blood dripped from his palms, forcing them forward.
The Keeper watched with a solemn nod. “Yes. You bleed with them. Their pain is yours, their deaths your scars. But through you, they endure.”
Zara grasped Damien’s shoulders, trying to steady him. “You’re killing yourself! Break the bond before it kills you!”
Damien’s eyes glowed brighter, his teeth gritted. “If I break it... we die.”
Outside, the pterosaur swooped low, shrieking. Damien’s head snapped upward, and a thought surged through the binding like a whip. Instantly, dozens of corpses peeled away from the Tyrannosaur, hurling themselves from the tower’s edge. Their bodies collided with the beast mid-flight, dragging it into a spiraling crash. Bones shattered on impact, wings crumpled beneath the weight of undead flesh.
Zara’s scream cut through the thunder of battle. “You’re losing yourself!”
But Damien stood taller now, eyes burning like embers. The dead roared in unison outside, obeying his will even as they broke apart under claws and teeth.
His voice was calm, terrifyingly so.
“I’m not losing myself, Zara. I’m finding what I was ant to be.”
And outside, the monsters scread as the dead tore into them.
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