Only one of my swords had been in position to follow us through the network of the teleportals, the other had been on the far side.

  I flew it out in front to meet the monster’s charge. But none came.

  Much like their counterparts in the room behind us, they were also asleep.

  Must have been that time of day.

  We might have been able to sneak past, but we would have to do it every time we entered the room, and the odds were not guaranteed to be so favourable in the future. There were three of us, and I could ready my weapons ahead of time, such that they were.

  I drew the pixie and Attar close.

  “Let me handle the opening attack,” I whispered, “Once the centipedes are moving, hit them with everything you—”

  Unlike their brethren in the room behind us, this centipedes had much finer hearing. My whispers were enough to wake them. Or maybe their nap time had ended.

  Whatever the reason, the end result was six angry and hissing centipedes scuttling towards us. One mercy, and by no means a small one, was the height and angle of the ceiling. These centipedes were confined to the floor.

  I’d have to work with what I could.

  Soldiers’ Swords

  Magic Swords III

  Fireball

  “Kill them!”

  My fireball spell vanished as I cast it, but the conflagration still engulfed one of the centipedes.

  My soldier swords struck. Eight blades struck versus the five remaining centipedes. I’d summoned each blade above a centipede and the overlap didn’t pay for itself. Each of the additional blades on three of the centipedes missed, tangled in the blade in front of it perhaps.

  Only a single sword penetrated the thick armour of the centipedes and that one only fissured the plate behind its head. No stopped their advance.

  I’d get one more chance, and then they’d be upon us.

  BiteII

  Magic Swords II

  The bite didn’t even slow the centipede whose head I’d targeted. The sentient swords of my second spell were out of my control. The first missed the rushing centipedes entirely, the second was smarter, and stabbed the stone floor in front of the centipede, anchoring itself. The centipede was split in two as it ran headlong into the invisible trap.

  Even their unnatural vitality was ended by a blow that severe. Both halves curled away from each other, twitched once, and were still.

  Three of my soldiers’ swords missed their second strike. The other five were more successful than previously. One centipede had its legs scythed from under it. Enough remained on both sides of its body that it continued to rush towards me, but it left a thick smear of blood behind it, one which wasn’t slowing in leaving its body.

  Another lost a piece of armour from its back, a deep wound which bled, but nearly as severely as the other centipede’s. One sword deflected into the ground, throwing up sparks, and the final weapon struck directly between the previously injured centipede’s eyes, failing to penetrate the thick plating their, but staggering it and slow its charge.

  They would have been upon us then, and it would have been fangs and claws against cutlass and spear, but that was when Attar attacked.

  The necromancer pointed, and the ogress appeared, spear at the ready. Another gesture and a wall of mercenaries intercepted the rest of the centipedes. Attart flew through the ghosts and wrapped herself around the uninjured centipede, causing its movements to slow and its eyes to freeze over. Its head died instantly, the rest of its body took longer to understand.

  The ogress’s sword caught the staggered centipede’s charge directly in the heart. Or maybe the lungs. Whatever it held where a human chest would be. It appeared to be vital, though that didn’t stop the centipede from pulling itself along the spear and snapping at the ogress’s face.

  The heavily bleeding centipede whose legs I’d taken crashed into the line of ghost mercenaries. Swords bounced of carapace and claws scrambled along leather. Neither was injured in the exchange, though the centipede was brought to a halt.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  The final centipede scoured a line across one of the mercenary’s armour but was slit open in exchange as it reared up to strike. It collapsed in a pool of guts and blood and did not rise.

  I darted forward and struck with the Dead King’s spear, finishing off the centipede the ogress had killed.

  Attar was more sensible, and retreated from the centipede’s charge, letting his ghosts finish the job.

  The frozen centipede lashed out sideways at one of the mercenaries, who nimbly danced out of the way. Attar’s body had no weight to slow the creature.

  My swords caught up with the centipedes shortly after our engagement, but I didn’t dare strike. I’d learned by lesson.

  Instead, I brought the weapons around to protect Attar, and drew my fireball back from the smouldering corpse of the first centipede.

  Before the fireball could cross the divide, the thrashing centipede caught the ogress a blow to her head. Her solid neck and helmet caught the blow like a stone against the breeze. She barely moved.

  One of the mercenaries was less fortunate. The bleeding centipede spun before he could react, and with a single viscous bite, tore his sword arm off. With his anchor to reality severed, the ghost was instantly destroyed.

  In the same motion, the centipede’s rippling body rolled over one of the other mercenaries, piercing her dozens of times with its remaining legs, killing her as well.

  All this from a creature we’d already slain.

  I leapt forward to fill the gap, only managing to scour a line through its chitin, but it was enough to remind the creature it was dead, causing it to collapse.

  That left my back open to the centipede who was missing its heart. I managed to spin in time to catch the blow on my spear, but the fangs still bore down on my arm. I missed my armour severely at that moment.

  My spear only nicked the inside of the centipede’s mouth, but it was enough to cause it to drop dead, dragging my arm down with it. A lesser man would have lost his arm, mine was only scratched by the fangs, but it was a deep scratch, enough for the creature’s venom to enter my body.

  Regenerate II

  I wasn’t taking any risks.

  My foresight was immediately vindicated by the sudden feeling of weakness which caused me to collapse to the floor in a puddle (Figuratively; it was important to point these things out when I’d been a literal puddle just a few days prior).

  My wound should have closed instantly, but something in the poison kept it open, kept it weeping clear liquid.

  My strength returned enough to raise my neck in time to see the ogress blind the frozen centipede. Its eyes had undoubtedly already ruptured from Attart’s presence, so nothing had changed as far as the centipede was concerned. It probably hadn’t even felt it.

  Still, it kept the creature occupied while the remaining mercenaries squared off against the final, living, centipede.

  Half the blows glanced off the iron-hard carapace, but the centipede was showing its wounds. One of the mercenaries opened a gash in its armour, and two others combined their efforts to sever the creature’s head.

  The headless body collapsed, which I’d long since learned was no guaranteed thing. Hearth in storm.

  I was on my feet before the frozen centipede could react. It might not have been able to react no matter how long I’d taken. It definitely couldn’t see any more, and I doubted it could hear. Or think.

  Then again, the giant bugs were somehow able to think in the first place, and I’d never thought of them as particularly intelligent. Except for spiders. Spiders were always plotting something.

  My spear struck true, but my blow was still weak, yet the spear cut through the chitin with ease. The centipede dropped dead from a scratch I doubted would even hurt it.

  The Dead King’s gift had been far greater than I’d realized. I’d been foolish not to use the short spear earlier.

  I’d also have to be careful not to cut myself with it. I was uncertain why it was killing everything it touched, but I wasn’t about to test that on my own flesh. My natural resistances wouldn’t even protect me from what I’d seen.

  Attar returned to banish his ghosts and his ice-clone. The pixie dusted off his jacket and clapped his hands once, “Wonderful! Are you fit to travel on?”

  I checked myself over. Still had all my finger and toes. The wound on my arm still hadn’t healed after a minute of regeneration. My spellbook was nearly empty, but I had my spear and necromancer at my side.

  “Ready. Though not much further. My use is diminishing rapidly. Attar, you’ll have to defend us from physical threats. I’ll keep an eye out for traps.”

  “I’m not sure. Perhaps we should wait. Rest until your spells are recovered before going on.”

  It was only noon, but we did have the food and water. The only things which would be tried were our patience, and the pixie’s.

  “Can you wait a full day before continuing to lead us on?”

  The pixie kicked out his feet and fell to the ground with a gentle *plop*.

  “Nothing easier, my fine fellows. You saved me from decades of torment, I can wait a sliver of eternity.”

  “Somewhere further from the corpses?”

  “I’m already there!” The pixie leapt up and scampered to the far end of the great chamber.

  The place was empty. Not even a further funerary slab to lay to rest a corpse. Whatever treasures had lain here had been plundered by the warlocks long ago.

  The pixie waited for us by one of the doors around the corner, but made not effort to go through. Attar and I joined him, and passed the time talking of Attart, and my journeys before, filling in the gaps I’d not explained fully to Attar, and answering his questions. We ate and drank, and eventually night came. We slept.