A Shadow of a Dream by Carter Isabella

Author:Carter, Isabella [Carter, Isabella]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: fantasy, M/M romance
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Published: 2013-02-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Elliot grabbed Basil's arm and pulled them behind the statue as the ground continued to tremble. "What—" Basil began, but Elliot shushed him.

"Watch."

Peering from behind the angel, Basil watched as the grave stones shifted and bodies began to climb free from their graves. For all his needling of Alexander, Basil hadn't honestly believed that necromancy could truly exist and yet, the bodies that pulled themselves free from the grave were clearly dead. They made no sound other than the dry shuffle of decaying skin as they climbed to their feet.

Basil thought he might be ill again, especially when one turned to look at him with the one eye it still had left. The other had been devoured by maggots.

"Not all of these corpses look thirty years old."

"They aren't," Elliot confirmed. "They have been dragging the bodies of their victims back to the graveyards."

"Why would someone do this?" Basil reached for his weapons, clutching them tightly in the hope that it might stop his hands from shaking.

Elliot started to answer him, but paused to watch as the bodies shuffled from the graveyard, headed away from town. Four of them, however, stared confusedly in the direction of their brethren. One—a man perhaps, judging by the tatters of clothing—raised his head toward the sky before turning towards town. After a moment, the other three began to follow. Basil raised his weapon to stop them, but before he could release the hammer on his revolver, one of the bodies simply fell apart, crumpling to the ground. Its companions merely shuffled around him.

"Whoever's doing this has gone beyond their limits. They can't control this many at once," Basil realized. "Is that why they seem to be going into town?"

"It looks like," Elliot answered. "We should stop the ones heading toward town first; we'll follow the others to see where they go."

Basil acknowledged Elliot's suggestion with a nod. Elliot pulled a sword, which surprised Basil. Although swords had once been considered noble weapons, they had fallen out of fashion at the end of the war as most of the cities pushed to encourage peace along with the increasing popularity of guns. There was a symbol carved in the center of Elliot's blade, but Basil couldn't quite make it out in the poor light. Elliot put his hand against it and Basil turned to watch with interest as Elliot moved gracefully, cutting off a bony hand that reached toward them—a fifth creature that had decided to investigate their presence.

Elliot took off its head with a flourish that was more flashy than efficient.

"There's a swarm of undead and you're showing off?" Basil asked incredulously.

Elliot didn't take his eyes off the corpse until it finished twitching. "What makes you think this isn't how I normally fight?"

"Because anyone who takes the time to twirl before impaling their opponent would have died a long time ago." Basil shot at the trio still attempting to make their way to town. "Now please kill these things before they make their way to the main street.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.