Mazer shifts his weight and the sound of his powerful body stretches like a horizon over the unscarred silence. Looking down at Lu beneath him, he sees she isn't moving and concern floods his features. She turns and looks up at him, alive but uncertain. People around are lying facedown or in strange, warped positions.

There's no point in shielding Lu's eyes from the dead; there are too many.

"Are you alright?" he asks, standing up and helping her to her feet.

She nods hesitantly and looks around. "What happened here?"

Mazer looks around and grunts. "Massive magical attack. Seems to have killed everyone except for us." He unconsciously touches the magic-dampening amulet around his neck. "We might have been saved by this."

"Good job, jewellery."

"Indeed," Mazer answers.

The girl walks tentatively forward, looking around the huge and now derelict city. "So, what now?"

"Now...we walk."

"To where?" the girl asks, and Mazer realises he doesn't know.

A strange, cavernous growl draws Mazer's attention and he turns to see a young woman, her stumbling footfalls echoing loudly in the deserted air. Tense and ready, Mazer watches her approach. As she comes within a few feet, she throws herself at Mazer, trying to claw at him: he pushes her to the ground.

"She's hysterical!" Lu says.

"Yes, hilarious," Mazer deadpans.

Leaping back to her feet, the woman charges Mazer, much quicker now, her eyes disfigured by an animal hunger. Her long fingers are blackened and lethal: shocked, he punches her full force, exploding her skull in a rain of blood and bone.

Lu is startled. "What the—"

Looking around at the thousands of other bodies, Mazer charges at Lu and runs with her across the street. "Necri! The undead. Run!"

Horrible wails surround them on all sides as the population of Ryoko rise up, arms grasping at the runners as Mazer picks out an open building, runs inside and slams the door closed. It's an old department store with a heavy door, terrible thumps echoing across the room as Mazer holds the door, more and more bodies rising and throwing themselves after the living.

Large display windows all along the shopfront smash and necri close in on both sides. "Move to the back of the shop!" Mazer instructs Lu, who's shivering like a gong that's just been struck, as undead close in on both flanks, then he steps back and allows the doors to fly open but, just as necri force their way in, he kicks the doors back their way, draws his sword and decapitates two monsters on his left.

Spinning around, Mazer hacks at a crowd of undead charging from the right and, though limbs fly everywhere, their mass reaches him and forces Mazer back into a set of clothes rails. They swarm him like ants and he holds the mob off with his left hand, hacking and slashing with his right, but the even bigger crowd from the door are closing on his flank and he's pinned back by the weight.

An almighty push forward gains him an inch, before the swarm forces its way forward again and, in that time, Mazer leaps to the right, spins the entire clothes rail with one hand and throws it as a barrier. A couple of seconds bought, and with several hundred necri now in the store and thousands more outside, Mazer charges at Lu and points, his voice hammering in the details.

"The stairs! Up the stairs!"

Lu's brain takes hold of the message, which bypasses her shock and drives into her like fire into iron. Turning to run, she makes it to the first steps just as Mazer overtakes, picks her up and sprints up the steps five at a time. Sword in his other hands, he slices through a necri on the floor above and continues up the stairs, the pursuit howling like slaughtered cattle.

These things are as fast as they were in life, just a lot more dead – though not as dead as Mazer would like. Several more flights pass with the pursuit failing to gain ground but unrelenting, untiring; because they're dead, they have infinite stamina, so Mazer's priority is to break off the pursuit as soon as possible.

A cold wind pounces on them as Mazer kicks open the door to the roof and sprints to the other side, with Lu still in his arms. From nowhere, a necri smacks into Mazer and knocks him off-balance. He turns and sees four necri in workman clothes descending, but his sword has been knocked clear. Behind, hundreds of necri pour onto the roof in pursuit.

Before Mazer can get up, the first of the roof necri is on him but he's astounded as it lurches to the side, struck in the face by a flying knife. He turns and sees Lu, who has clearly thrown the knife with some skill. She nods at him, as if to say no problem. Taking advantage of Lu's attack, he punches one necri into the other two, picks up his sword, grabs Lu and, with the mob baying at his heels, runs to the edge of the roof and jumps across to the neighbouring building, smashing through a window on its fourth floor.

The leap is too great for a non-Scrovengi special forces soldier to make so, making sure he has cradled Lu effectively and that she's fine, Mazer races ahead, reflected in a gallery of broken glass.

*

Hidden in the treeline with her ambush group, Sima Chan's eyes smoulder coldly as she watches the passing Scrovengi force. Her hit and run style of guerrilla warfare has been surprisingly effective against the more numerous, more physically-capable Scrovengi; Chan always makes sure her she outnumbers them at least three to one and that the element of surprise is total. Even with these disadvantages, the Scrovengi have pushed her close on several occasions, which is testament to the skill and bravery of their warriors.

She would never share that thought, though. It could disrupt the inveterate, inflexible hatred needed to wage a desperate campaign like this. She signals to her second in command, Zhou Ren, and orders the launching of flaming arrows, plus a barrage of magical artillery.

Fire fans out its foxes and hounds, surrounding the enemy with baying flames in seconds. Twirling her spear, traditional weapon of the Jiangese, Sima Chan yells. "Into them!"

Armoured and protected by heavy scales, the Scrovengi are difficult to finish from afar, so it always ends up in close quarters combat. Sima Chan fights with a secret, angry pleasure, with each kill imagining that she's tearing out the hearts of those who destroyed the Mandate of Heaven.

A sword lances through where her head just was but she recovers, striking the Scrovengi in the back of the calf; but it doesn't buckle his leg and he presses forward, knocking Sima Chan down with a forearm barge. She rolls back and onto her feet, twirling around to his flank as he attacks where she was, then her feet leave the ground and, with all her might, she strikes down onto his skull with her spear, sending him stumbling back.

As he does so, another spear is forced through the Scrovengi's neck, barely making it through the heavy scales. As the Scrovengi stands, Zhou Ren's spear is torn from his hands and the injured enemy's hand darts out with incredible speed, gripping Zhou by the throat and lifting him off the ground. Sima Chan jumps forward and, with all her weight behind it, puts her spear through the Scrovengi's face, killing him. She helps Zhou up.

Screams cause Sima Chan to turn, and she's surprised to see her own people being slaughtered. Ashen shadows arise like ghosts, the flickering firelight revealing them to be—nothing. They are just shadows. Shadows moving and slaughtering her people independently, seeming impervious to harm.

The fire's harsh revelation reveals more: a surprise Scrovengi counter-ambush, targeting Sima Chan's magical artillery and archers on the hill; they're being routed. Analysing the situation, and hopelessly outmatched, Sima Chan orders a retreat, looking around for the remnants of her force among the flames; sweat drips down her back like hot tea.

There is no way to escape. More Scrovengi pour down from the hills, their eyes glittering like metal as they approach the inferno. Looming from the shadows, Zhou's hand grasps his commander's shoulder. "Go!" he tells her. "I'll rally some of the men and buy you time."

Guilt floods Sima Chan as she hears this; then, horribly, a gush of hope rushes in and takes over her thoughts. A decent number of them can escape, if Zhou can hold the attackers off. Meeting his gaze for the last time, she nods her assent and, in the ensuing carnage, escapes into the night.

Zhou and his people are cut down before they know if they've succeeded.

*

They've been on the run for four days without sleep, pushed ever closer to the centre of Ryoko and further from their goal of escape. Mazer signals for Lu to drop down and ducks behind a bin in an alley, exhaustion dripping from his bones. But he's a Scrovengi special forces soldier, a member of Tiger Force, so there's no visible sign of concern or complaint.

The young human girl looks beat down, though she has been able to grab a few snatches of sleep in temporary safe places while Mazer stood guard. By saving his life on the roof, she proved they're a team and the gesture touched Mazer, who had been worried she still hated him for being Scrovengi.

Sneaking to the edge of the alley, he spots dozens of necri ahead and returns to Lu, ashen-faced. "They're everywhere."

Lu nods, grim-faced. "I miss my bed. I've started to carry a little portrait of it around in my pocket."

Mazer smiles emptily but he's a million miles away, so Lu tries bringing him round again. "So, what's the plan?" she asks, trying to be chirpy.

"It's looking like a run through those hundreds of necri."

Lu nods as though this isn't crazy. "Will it work?"

"I don't know. No one has ever tried it before."

"...I'm not surprised."

Mazer genuinely laughs this time, then rubs his face contemplatively. "Considering Scrovengi can live for several thousand years, it looks like I'm going to see my life expectancy cut—"

"To?"

"To a level comparable with someone who's going to live a lot less than that."

"Me?"

"Hopefully not," Mazer answers sincerely, looking her right in the eye. "I can run a lot faster than you – so I'll probably live longer."

Lu laughs gently. "You would abandon me!"

"No, I wouldn't!" Mazer protests. "It was a joke. I'll lift you and run."

"...This feels a little too much like a kidnapping."

"Very funny," Mazer deadpans. "Let's go."

Lu jumps up and down, quietly psyching herself up.

"What are you doing?" Mazer asks.

"I don't want to die without limbering up first."

"...But you do want to die while looking like a prick?"

"You can't swear at me!" Lu smiles. "I'm a thirteen-year-old kid!"

Mazer shrugs. "Fuck off." Then takes a knee. "Hop on."

Jumping on his back and looping her arms around his neck, Lu gets as fixed as possible. "I'm channelling the barnacle," she tells him.

"Channel its silence."

"Sure, sure...how are you feeling about this plan?"

"I'm ready to kill and be killed."

"Wow," Lu mouths. "Is that the first special forces tough-guy thing you've said this week?"

"Yes – then again, it is Monday morning."

"Ha-ha! I bet you've been waiting to say tha—"

Mazer takes off running, while Lu holds on for dear life. Dozens of necri charge and he cuts two down immediately, charging through the others as they close in on all sides. He slashes and spins to keep Lu safe, taking hits on his own tough body to spare the frail human from harm.

The area is decimated by the blast and the buildings look ready to collapse; this is, or was, the centre of Ryoko and its busiest pedestrian area. This comes as quite a surprise to Mazer, when he turns a corner and, his charge already slowed to a canter by the attacking waves, suddenly finds himself surrounded by thousands of undead.

With nowhere to go, he thinks a quick personal prayer to his mother, who has long passed away but always remained in his thoughts. He thinks of all the little choices in his life, the people he's known and the changes they've made in him, or the changes he wrought in them. He has no overt religious thoughts. The rest is for battle.

Spinning around, he cuts down dozens but they press closer and closer and closer. Eventually, he's totally surrounded and leaps a full twenty feet in the air with Lu still clinging to his back; he's not trying to escape, his leap is straight up in the air, and he comes crashing down with his sword, tearing through a necri from head to ground.

As the weight of Mazer's heavy, armoured body hits the weakened road, it gives way and he falls helplessly, along with many necri, hitting the ground thirty-five feet below.

"Are you alright?" he asks Lu.

"Yeah. Your face broke my fall." She looks around, though it's almost pitch black. "I think this must be an underground thoroughfare, to ease the congestion on Ryoko's streets."

Alarmed, Mazer leaps to his feet. "It's pretty congested in here!"

Undead are everywhere. Maybe it was a busy time when the strike hit, or perhaps they like dark places, but either way there are thousands of them in this mile-long stretch of tunnel. There's no way to escape now.

The necri quickly close in, but an axe slams into the closest one's face. Mazer turns and sees four people being floated down to his level: a large black human male, a female human mage, a male human mage, who's doing the floating, and a ginger Dwarf; the Dwarf, who threw the axe, smiles at Mazer and speaks in Samarian.

"...How's that for a big slice of fun pie?"

***

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