WWotWW - Chapter 30 - In the darkness (Patreon)

I poked the dying fire, causing the shadows to dance against the back wall of our impromptu shelter. Clara and the girls had snuggled up to the back wall, out of range of the wind and driving rain. 

Unfortunately, the overhang wasn’t deep enough to completely cover our campsite, so I was still getting pelted occasionally while I was sitting by the fire. It wasn’t bad enough to soak me or put out the fire, but it was enough to limit my vision and be annoying. 

Normally after a hard day’s ride I’d be struggling to keep from zoning out and falling asleep, but tonight was different. The spirit was sitting several feet out, completely still, staring into the darkness. While it was conceivable that it was just out there to keep watch, something told me there was more to it than that. 

“I really wish I was able to talk to you, like Plays, so you could tell me what you know,” I muttered. 

The massive wolf turned its head and stared at me for several long seconds before returning to its vigil. 

I raised my rifle off my lap and pulled the bolt back just enough to confirm there was a round in the chamber before resetting the bolt and setting the weapon down again. I’d loaded it after dinner, so I already knew it was loaded, but the way the wolf was acting put me on edge, and I really felt like I needed to check. Just in case.

After sweeping my gaze through the rain and gloom and not seeing anything, I reached back and grabbed another log from the pile of firewood behind me and dropped it on the fire. The embers flared for a moment as they reached up to consume the new fuel, and in that momentary burst of sparks and light I saw something move.

I shot to my feet, bringing my rifle up as I did. 

The shadow had disappeared, hidden by the darkness and driving rain, but I knew it was still there. The spirit had… well, not jumped to its feet as much as shifted. Its form had blurred for just a moment, and when it reappeared, it was standing and much larger than it had been just a moment before.

It was staring into the darkness towards where I’d seen the shape, and growling.

“Kaylee, wake up Clara, NOW!” I shouted at the cat who had been napping near my feet, enjoying the warmth of the fire.

The feline didn’t ask any questions. She bolted towards the back of the shelter, yowling like a banshee.

I couldn’t imagine that many people would be able to sleep through such a racket, but I didn’t dare glance backwards to check how effective the cat was. Not while there was something dark just outside our camp. 

“Kaylee, what in tarnation are you doing?” Clara asked sleepily. “You’ll wake the dead wailing like that.”

“There’s something outside the camp,” I said, not willing to look back at her. “It was lurking just outside the firelight.”

“Something dangerous?” Clara asked, clamouring to her feet. 

“Well, I’ve never seen a wild animal willingly approach a lit fire,” I said in a low voice. “And even though I didn’t get a look at it, I could have sworn it was both standing upright and bigger than a man.”

“How much bigger?” Clara asked as she stepped forward, rifle in hand.

“Much bigger,” I muttered. “Ten feet plus.”

“Damn… what should we do?” Clara asked. 

“I need you to pile more wood on the fire,” I replied. “If it is some wild beast that might drive it away, and if it’s not, it’ll give us more light to fight with. I’d do it myself, but I don’t dare take my eyes off where it was. Once that’s done, stick close to the kids.”

I heard Clara drop to her knees, and immediately started shovelling logs onto the small fire. “If it’s that far out, do you think the wards are keeping it away?”

“Maybe,” I admitted, biting my lip. “What are they supposed to keep away?”

“Animals, curses and wandering spirits,” she replied.

“Well, I somehow doubt it’s an animal, and I really don’t like the sound of the other two options, so I honestly hope not,” I grumbled. 

“What’s happening?” I heard Mary ask, followed by Plays asking something in her native tongue. 

“Stay back in the corner,” I barked. “Don’t move; there’s something outside the camp.”

“What? What’s out there?” Mary asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I didn’t get a good look at it. Ask Plays if there’s anything dangerous around here. Something that walks upright and is taller than a man.”

While she asked the other girl, the fire grew brighter, fueled by all the wood Clara had stacked and piled onto it, and as it did, it illuminated the silhouette again.

I strained my eyes, trying to make out some sort of details of the thing. “If you can understand me, identify yourself,” I shouted, aiming my rifle at the shape. 

It didn’t reply. It actually didn’t do anything in response to my challenge. It just stood there, completely still.

“Plays says there shouldn’t be anything like that around here,” Mary cried. “This area is supposed to be protected by the spirits.”

I spared a quick glance at the wolf. It was obvious that it didn’t like whatever was out there, but it also seemed hesitant about heading out to engage it. 

“Clara, do you know any spells that you can use to make light? I still can’t get a good look at this thing,” I asked. 

“No, but I do have an idea,” she replied. 

Before I could ask what she was doing, she reached into the fire, grabbed one of the burning logs with her bare hand, and threw it at the feet of the shadowy form. 

“What are you doing? You’ll burn yourself doing that!” I snapped. 

“I’ll just heal it,” she replied, before gasping. “That’s not important right now, look…” 

Even though the rain was quickly smothering the burning log, it stayed lit long enough to give us all a good look at the figure. It was human; Or, at least, it had been at one point. The ‘man’ was dressed like a typical ranch hand, but his skin was a sickly grey-green colour, and it looked like his muscles had undergone explosive growth, twisting the body and ripping his clothes as they did. 

In the brief look I got at the creature, I could see there was no light behind its eyes, no life left in the body.

“A zombie?” Clara gasped. “What’s it doing way out here? They don’t typically roam far from their resting place, unless they have a reason to, and he doesn’t look like any of the settlers from around here.”

“Are they normally twisted like that?” Mary asked, her voice quivering. 

“No, no, they don’t,” I replied. “If anything, it should look like a slightly emaciated, and maybe decayed version of the person that died. They’re just reanimated corpses.”

“So the question is, did it become that way before or after it died,” Clara muttered.

“It doesn’t matter right now,” I said, letting my power loose and pulling the trigger. The empowered gunshot was surprisingly quiet, as part of the crack and flash seemed to be consumed by my power. It didn’t seem to lessen the strength of the shot at all; in fact, the resulting void that struck the zombie seemed to be even stronger than expected. 

Its head and a large part of its upper torso disappeared, and as the body toppled over, it spewed a foul green-grey fluid across the area. The smell was so foul that I staggered back, dropping my rifle and covering my face in disgust. 

The spirit scrambled back, its tail between its legs, barking and yowling in distress.

“What? Why’s it acting like that?” Clara yelled over the racket. 

If Plays said something, I didn’t hear it over the racket. I barely even heard Mary as she shouted. “It says it's a consuming corruption; we need to get away!’ 

As soon as I heard that something came over me. Instead of stepping away, I stepped forward letting my magic surge. A wave of dark flame shot out of my hand and rolled over the corpse. It crackled, jumping between the corpse and the spilt blood, consuming it all without touching any of the surrounding vegetation. I saw the occasional burst of green as it consumed the corpse, and after a few seconds all traces of the thing had been consumed. 

The wolf slowly calmed, then looked towards me gratefully. 

“Well, I guess that works too,” Clara said after a second. “Now, the real question we need to ask is: What the nine hells was that?”