"Aagh!" he gasped.
The furious necromancer smashed Killum aside with a savage blow. Then he stepped into Asha's attack, punching her in the face, before backhanding Fergus. Tiana skidded to a stop when he spun around to her, sword raised for a killing blow.
"Leave her alone!"
Rand flew in and kicked the Dark Lord in the face. He staggered back, before attacking the dwarf warrior with a savage series of cuts and thrusts. Rand staggered back in shock. Killum's breath caught, sure the dwarf was about to be slaughtered.
"Don't touch my friend," Tiana snarled, suddenly next to Lord Kathro.
She thrust her short sword at his heart, but his steel armor turned it aside. Then he hit her with his percussion spell, sending the redheaded thief flying backwards against the battlements. Tiana went limp, out cold.
"Every bone in my body hurts," Killum grumbled as he struggled to his feet.
Asha stood up beside him. "That's nothing. My hair even hurts."
He couldn't think of anything to top that, so turned his full attention to Lord Kathro. The bastard was covered in blood, but every wound they'd scored was already healed. He was unstoppable.
"He has to have a weakness," Killum said.
"He does. A fetish for zombies," she said. "Don't see how that helps us."
"Well, duh. Who doesn't like zombies," he replied. "What is your fetish?"
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She gave a shrug. "Battle-mages."
With that, the sorceress took off running at the Dark Lord. Killum gawked after her a second, and then followed. They had to end that fight quickly, or Lord Kathro would put an end to them. Maybe forever. Tiana was already down and out, and he doubted she'd return to the fight that day. Rand was racing to put himself between her and the necromancer.
"Fight the evil overlord, they say," Fergus shouted angrily. "Win the battle, they say. Get the girl and have fun, they say. I'm still waiting for the fucking fun to start!"
Asha attacked with her swords. That meant she still didn't have enough mana to fuel a spell. Killum checked, and he only had 2 mana. He didn't see any way to defeat a level 103 necromancer without both of their magic and a whole lot of luck.
"Where's your god-damned dragon?" Fergus demanded. "We need backup."
Killum stopped to look around. Where was Gye? What was the matter with that dragon? He knew they were fighting for their lives.
"Gyevikxus."
There was a swoosh, and he felt the dragon return to the helmet.
At the same time, Rand shouted with battlejoy. He and Asha were defending Tiana's unconscious body with all they had. The Dark Lord was slowly pushing them back one painful step after the other. Fergus was shooting arrows, but they were bouncing off a magical shield.
"Gyevikxus," Killum said. The dragon appeared before him atop the keep. Lord Kathro cried out as he spun around. "Kill the Dark Necromancer!"
Gye spewed fire immediately, even as he rose up on his hind legs and turned to face the Dark Lord. Killum ran toward the fight, sword in hand. No mana for his shield, but determined to at least get a shot in on their enemy. Fergus, Rand, and Asha also threw themselves at Lord Kathro.
"Do or die time, baby!" Rand shouted.
Lord Kathro thrust both hands out at Gye. The dragon was hit by an explosive bursts that sent him flying back off the keep. He watched the evil bastard turn with a savage roundhouse that took out Asha and Rand, sending them flying into Fergus.
As he turned toward Killum, the battle-mage knew a second of blind panic. He launched himself at the Dark Lord, and thrust his Dragon Knight sword straight at Lord Kathro's heart. The enchanted blade's tip hit thick steel…
And pierced it.
Killum and Lord Kathro stared at each other a long second, neither moving. When the Dark Lord started to lift his hands, the battle-mage took his sword in both hands and thrust it deeper with all of his might. The tip pounded out the back of the evil necromancer.
"And this is for all the pain you cause me and my friends," Killum growled, before thrusting his dagger under Lord Kathro's chin, and up through his head. "Die, and don't even think about coming back."
He held his foe's eyes as the life bled out. Blood bubbled out of the necromancer's mouth, and he slowly relaxed and died. Killum left the blades in him, holding them until Lord Kathro's corpse faded away.
Chapter 50
The wind was cold that high. They flew above the clouds, though there were only a few scattered about. The world looked different up there. Warlord's Castle was just a speck, and Killum had to use his Farsee to even find it.
The main features below were the vast forest to the south, and the soaring, white-peaked mountains to the north. At that height, the battle-mage could see the forests of the Kumar on the other side of the mountains. The kingdom that he might be a part of as Duke of Highcliff, Warlord of the Southern Reaches, and Governor of Malvurn Province. At least those were Duke Seth's titles. If nothing else, the castle was definitely his for as long as he could hold it.
"See that haze to the west?" Gye asked. "That is smoke. Lord Kathro has started to build his host of undead by conquest. He is killing everyone and turning their dead bodies into his undead Dread Ones."
"Can we stop him?"
"I don't know, but I think we have to try."
Taking on Lord Kathro again both excited and frightened him. The gamer inside wanted to go on a quest with his friends to fight and defeat their most deadly foe. Maybe there was some magical object hidden deep in some subterranean temple dungeon they could use to permanently defeat and kill the Dark Necromancer.
After a month in the castle, they were all ready to do something. Anything.
Who knew being lord of the land was so damned boring?
"Boring?" Gye cried. "You've been banging that hot little sorceress nonstop for the past month. And you say you're bored?"
"Stop reading my mind."
Thinking about Asha – and her silky smooth skin and amazing body – left him breathless and tingling. She was such a passionate woman, too. The sorceress attacked loveplay like a dungeon, all or nothing.
"I can't, which means every time you jump on top of her I am forced – "
"Stop. Too much information," Killum cried. "From now on, you're going back into the helmet before bedtime."
"Thank you."
"And don't you dare tell Asha anything about this," he said. "Otherwise, she'll never sleep with me again."
With a mental command, Killum had Gye wheel around and begin their descent to Warlord's Castle. According to Gye, they were in early summer. They'd have a few months of warm weather, before winter and the snow came to bury the land. For that reason, the dragon didn't think Lord Kathro would attack the castle until spring. So they had six to nine months to prepare for it.