//------------------------------// // 11. Convergence // Story: A Wilting Flower // by Terran34 //------------------------------// The morning sun shined down from the heavens, casting its light upon the ruined city. At the edge of the church parking lot, the light revealed a lone RV. Abandoned by its human owner, the luxurious vehicle remained inert, surrounded by the mass of undead flesh that was the Oppressed. The door appeared to have been forced open, the culprits obvious from the slashed and rent metal. From the inside, its splendour would be truly revealed. Apart from the cramped interior, It would be difficult to tell that the exquisite furnishings belonged to a motorized vehicle. The walls were lined with cabinets and drawers made from gleaming polished oak topped with counters made from smooth marble. An L shaped couch sat at one side of the vehicle near the driver’s seat, resting atop the soft beige carpeted floor. Opposite the couch was a flat screen TV who lustrous surface remained dark. At the other end of the vehicle was a kitchen and office, complete with leather chairs and a small dining table. At the very back of the vehicle, located within its own compartment and separated from the rest by a soft white door was the singular bedroom. It consisted of only a bed, with a memory foam mattress and a set of flowery sheets. Despite the absence of the vehicle’s original owner, the bedroom was not unoccupied. Tucked underneath the covers were a pair of ponies; a unicorn and a pegasus. Nascent Shade opened her eyes and gave a soft yawn, shifting in the comfortable bed. She and her partner, Incipient Rays, had previously finished their sweep of the surrounding suburbs, where they had found and exterminated any human survivors hiding in their homes. It had been remarkably easy. Rarely did she encounter a human who was armed, and even then they hardly proved a threat to her. Shade considered herself a proficient mage; she wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Governor General Vanta or the slave general, Mist, but she was more than strong enough to deflect a few projectiles. That being said, the human weapons made her wary. According to the legends, humans were powerful sorcerers who ruled the entire world with their might. So far, the humans had yet to show any magical propensity, but their weapons might as well have been magic. To an unprotected pony, their “guns” could tear them to shreds in a matter of seconds. Even to her, deflecting a single volley of those small lead projectiles drained her considerably. Thus, despite her disdain for their race, Shade had to admit she was grateful she wasn’t fighting with the human standing army deeper in the city. She preferred to leave that to Vanta and these human undead their king had created. After finishing their sweep, Shade had retired to this human vehicle with Rays for some relaxation. She shifted in bed and got out from under the covers. She looked around at the small bedroom and scoffed. She liked the luxury, but she hated that the bedroom was so small. If she wanted to get intimate with her partner, she didn’t want to feel claustrophobic while she did. Shade jabbed her still napping partner. “Wake up, you furry flapper. We’ve napped enough,” she ordered him. Rays woke with a start and lifted his head. “Wha... oh, is it morning already, Shade?” he inquired sleepily. “It’s been morning for hours, you dolt. We only napped for about thirty minutes,” Shade reminded him with a roll of her eyes. A smirk crossed her face right after that. “Were you that worn out from earlier?” Rays mirrored her expression and shifted his body to face her. “Could you blame me if I was?” he returned, leaning in. Shade chuckled in response. The two of them shared a nuzzle and a quick kiss. Shade hopped out of the bed and strode out of the bedroom. She caught a whiff of her own scent and grimaced. “Agh... Rays, I get the shower first. I feel like a filthy mess,” she commented. Ignoring his acknowledgements, she retreated to the cramped shower beside the bedroom, and washed herself clean. Despite the fact that the city should have none of their fancy “electricity” as the humans called it, the RV still had running water. Shade once more marveled at human ingenuity. They were light years ahead of the Crystal Empire’s technology; without their magic and Vanta’s strategy, the humans may have stood a real chance. Once Rays had showered as well, the two of them donned their armor, grouped up, and stepped out of the RV. “Now then, let’s take one last look around before Frozen gets here,” Shade decided. She glanced back at Rays. “Do you have your amulet?” Rays nods, briefly flashing the pulsing ruby amulet hanging around his neck. “Always. I know what happens if I don’t wear it,” he responds with a frightened shudder. He gave a glance towards the nearest Oppressed, the creature ambling aimlessly about the parking lot in the absence of new orders. Before the two of them could embark on their second sweep, Shade and Rays heard the cacophony of clicking and scraping that accompanied the movement of a large number of undead. A seething mass of Oppressed lumbered along the road, heading down the streets directly towards the church. At the head of the horde was the pale blue unicorn that Shade had been expecting. If she remembered correctly, his initial orders had been to infiltrate the subways and exterminate any humans coming in or out of the city. Shade bowed to the unicorn as he approached. Rays did the same beside her; they both knew what would happen if they didn’t show this unicorn the proper respect. “I see a horde of undead sitting idle. I’m assuming this means you’ve finished eradicating the human vermin in this sector?” the unicorn addressed them, coming to a halt a few feet away. Shade raised her head and grinned. “That we have, sir. They hardly even put up a fight. They just hid in their homes and ran right out to their deaths when we set the buildings on fire,” she revealed, attempting to show as much confidence as possible. Frozen Soul brushed his chin with a hoof, looking around the area. Shade watched him restlessly, her heart in her mouth. Technically, Frozen wasn’t a part of the military. He was a scientist, tasked with improving the Crystal Empire’s military might through any means. Yet he was strong enough to be one of Vanta’s top spellcasters; this meant he outranked all of them by default. He could kill her right here, and Vanta wouldn’t care. That thought terrified her. “Good. Let’s not dally here. I’ve been told the humans are mounting a stiff resistance deeper in the city, intent on retaking the Verrazano,” Frozen Soul revealed with a scowl. “Their armed forces are proving to be quite the nuisance…” “What would you have us do, sir?” Rays questions, popping a swift salute. “Regroup your undead with mine. We’re going to reinforce the city center and stomp out this resistance for good. The sooner we take this island, the sooner the city itself will fall... and I will be able to experiment upon the survivors at my leisure,” Frozen ordered. Upon uttering that last statement, his eyes narrowed and he adopted a devilish grin that caused Shade to shudder. “Understood,” Shade returns. Her horn lit up, and she connected with as many of the undead as she could. Fiery pinpricks of light appeared in her mind, indicating the presence of each and every one of them under her control. She willed them to assimilate into Frozen’s horde, and it wasn’t long before they responded. Rays was doing the same. He couldn’t use magic, but the amulet around his neck allowed him to communicate with the undead as though he could. It was one of Vanta’s more useful inventions. Shade wondered if Frozen would really get the leisure time he wanted. She’d kept her ears open while amongst her superiors, and from what she could tell, this city was extremely important to the country they were in. Would the humans really just let them have it so easily? Not for the first time, Shade hoped Vanta knew what he was doing. While they waited, Frozen cast his gaze around the area, noting the bodies of the fallen undead. Suddenly, he paused, a suspicious expression crossing his face. “Nascent Shade... is there a third non-unicorn member of your group here?” Frozen asked in a dangerously soft voice. Shade felt as though her blood turned to ice. Frozen’s eyes were fixed on her and devoid of any mercy. His question confused her, but she felt as though a wrong answer would spell the end of her. “A... A third? No, sir, it’s just the two of us here. The other ponies are with the horde further in,” she answered, her hind legs starting to tremble. Frozen didn’t appear convinced. However, he didn’t appear to have come to a decisive conclusion yet, as confusion filled his eyes. “Then something is wrong...” he murmured. Frozen’s gaze slowly oriented on the church standing tall before them. The morning neared its end as Amaryllis continued telling her story. The other members of her group listened to her raptly, occasionally interrupting the tale with various shocked gasps or incredulous questions. Amaryllis knew she couldn’t tell them everything. Considering the group consisted of only one real soldier, telling them that the human race ended for sure due to these monsters could very well cause them to despair, rendering them useless to her. Instead, she focused entirely on need to know information, beginning with the origin of the Oppressed, discussing the existence of King Sombra, ponies, and magic, and continuing on to mention the use of time travel. As it sounded nonsensical even to her, she wasn’t surprised that the others were having difficulty believing her. She left out any mention of Seth; that much was personal to her and had no bearing on the current situation. She also chose to leave out the fact that humanity would end in approximately eighty years or so. “Magic. Unicorns. Ponies.” Jakob repeated in a deadpan tone. He shook his head incredulously. “You expect me to believe that such childish fantasies are real?” “Jesus, how could you even ask that at this point?” Amaryllis demanded in disbelief. To her, there seemed to be no end to the stupidity this man could show. “You have seen literally everything that I’ve just mentioned with your own eyes.” “Cut him some slack, Amaryllis. It... well, I have to admit that this does sound like something out of a fairy tale,” Mary admits. Amaryllis groaned and rubbed her forehead, her patience quickly wearing thin. “I’m not calling you a liar, but…” “I believe her,” Emma stated without hesitation from where she sat beside her mother. “You made the Oppressed fight each other so we could escape, didn’t you? Did it have something to do with that pretty necklace you found?” Amaryllis blinked. She hadn’t expected the little girl to connect the dots like that, out of everyone else here. She gave a chuckle. “Yes, actually. I was about to get to that,” she answered, much to everyone's surprise. Amaryllis gave them all a pointed stare. “Really, the little girl is smarter than the rest of you?” “Could you show us this necklace?” Samuel cut across the forming protests with this question. Amaryllis nodded and lifted the magical amulet. The thing was worthless now, as all of the Oppressed it had been connected to had perished. Nevertheless, there was still a faint glow dwelling within the blood red ruby. “You’re certain that there are no other ponies nearby?” Frozen repeated his previous question to Shade and Rays, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. When the two of them both nodded, he grunted and glanced back over at the church. He jabbed a hoof at it. “Why have you not searched this building?” “We did, sir, before you arrived. It looked to be a stronghold of some sort, so we hit it with our largest force,” Shade related to him. She did her best to keep from trembling; she wasn’t sure why Frozen was so convinced that there was another pony nearby, nor why he was asking all these questions. It made her beyond nervous. “And?” Frozen prompted impatiently. “There were a great deal of humans inside, led by one they all were calling ‘father,’” Shade continued. “A priest... this must be a church, then, similar to the ones we’ve raided in Russia,” Frozen deduced. “What did you do with the humans?” “We killed them, of course. Some of them attempted to arm themselves, but they were no match for our horde,” Shade answered. “We then dragged the bodies out, loaded them into a cart, and sent some of our undead to deliver them to the Governor General for recomposition.” “I see... and you’re certain you found all of them?” Frozen questioned. The way he asked that question made it sound as if Shade had done something wrong, or overlooked something important. Shade gulped. “Yes sir, we combed every inch of the place. There was nowhere for them to hide.” “Hm. Then why do I sense a faint trace of one of our control amulets within the spire of that church?” Frozen demanded, jabbing a hoof at the steeple. Amaryllis held the amulet tightly, waiting for the others to get a good look at it. “It seems to me as though the unicorns are the only ones that can freely use magic,” she explained. “That would explain why the horned ones are able to hold their torches without touching them,” Kent deduced, nodding. He then gave a dry chuckle. “Unicorns and magic. I thought I’d lived long enough to see everything this world had to offer... I’ve never been more wrong.” “Right. However, the ones that aren’t unicorns; the earth ponies and the pegasi; are unable to control the Oppressed without making use of one of these, which I’m assuming is a magical artifact that allows them to connect with a certain limited amount of undead,” Amaryllis continued. Understanding began to dawn on the others. Avil put on a grin and slapped her knee with a fist. “I can’t believe it. You killed one of the bastards and stole their amulet. That’s how you made them all fight each other!” “Genius,” Aven commented, shaking his head wryly. “I’d never have thought to do that. This is why you’re in charge.” Jakob then butted in, annoyed at that previous context. “Oh yeah, if you thought so far ahead, then why did you waste them all fighting an army they couldn’t beat? Why not turn them into our own private protection force?” “Jakob, you are such a fucking moron,” Amaryllis told him flatly. She had no more patience for this man’s protests; it seemed like he was unable to do anything other complain. Before Jakob could voice his indignant response, she continued. “The only reason we’re alive so far is because there’s so few of us. If we group together like the other humans did, we’d be noticed, prioritized, and destroyed. So yes, I could have taken the Oppressed with us. I’m sure we would have gotten anywhere without getting noticed.” “She’s right. I would have done the same,” Samuel concurred, nodding approvingly. “I’m beginning to come to the conclusion we should just trust Amaryllis knows what she’s doing,” Grant added, finally speaking for the first time since the explanation. “Somehow, with the exception of poor Dawson, she’s gotten us all here alive; not a single one of us has died.” “Yeah, well, she could use an attitude adjustment,” Jakob grumbled. Despite his argument being suppressed, his resentment towards her only seemed to be growing. “Don’t jinx it,” Amaryllis quipped dryly to Grant. “Honestly, I’m just trying to get out of the city and get to my friend in the military. Then we’ll be able to muster a real counterassault against these monsters.” “As it stands though, I think we’re still stuck here. The horde outside doesn’t seem to be moving,” Avil reminded her with a sigh. “We need a plan of some sort.” “I may have an idea,” Samuel rejoined. Amaryllis turned her attention on him, as did the rest of the group. “The Oppressed are blind in the dark, if I remember correctly. What if we waited for nightfall, and then stole another one of those amulets? We could create another distraction and flee towards the Verrazano.” Amaryllis paused, and then nodded. That idea wasn’t half bad. Shade and Rays froze, glancing at one another and then back to Frozen, clearly confused. “That... can’t be right. All of the undead here are completely under our control,” Shade protested, indicating the horde around them with a sweep of her hoof. Frozen shook his head. “I sense that the amulet is completely spent; no undead are connected to its magical signature. That is why it is so weak. Only one as skilled as myself would be able to sense its presence,” he explained. He narrowed his eyes at the church. “You’re telling me there are none of our forces in that church?” Shade and Rays both nodded frantically. A realization then struck Shade. “Sir, are you suggesting that one of our amulets may have fallen into enemy hands?” she asked tentatively. “Good, one of you isn’t incompetent,” Frozen responded scathingly, causing Rays to flinch. A surge of anger rushed through Shade at the unicorn’s blatant insult to her mate, but she suppressed it. “The question is... how could you let something as precious as an amulet be captured? Didn’t we tell you all that they were more precious than your lives?!” “Yes, sir! I have never lost my amulet!” Rays speaks up quickly, his face turning pale. He then paused, as if remembering something. “But... one of our earth pony soldiers did go missing the other night... and then some of the undead turned on us…” Before Ray could finish speaking, Frozen’s expression contorted with rage, and the unicorn smacked the pegasus hard with his staff, nearly knocking him off of his hooves. “You utter imbecile! Did it never occur to you that humans may have seized that pony’s amulet?!” Ray only whined in response, clutching the swelling portion of his face where he had been hit. Shade’s leg muscles tensed as she did her best to hold herself back. If they were lucky, that was all Frozen would do to them. Frozen gave a frustrated sigh. “No matter. Our foray into the city center will have to wait,” he decided. His horn glowed briefly, and his Oppressed began to spread out and surround the church. “Both of you, get your forces into position, and keep it quiet. We’re sweeping this building.” “Yes sir!” With the plan thus decided upon, there was nothing the group could do except wait for nightfall. Considering it was only a little after noon, that left them with several hours of down time. Therefore, the group grew restless and morale started to drop. There was no food or water to be found; everyone was suffering. Amaryllis knew that the survival of the group depended on this mission. If she couldn’t find a way to steal another amulet and get them out of here, the group would fall apart due to starvation, dehydration, and despair. Worse, it was possible the Oppressed would find them, and there was no way they could fight off such a horde. Amaryllis gave a dry chuckle. This really was the worst possible situation. Currently, she was resting in the upper level with her back against the wall. She wanted to sleep, but she had already tried in vain to do so. Plus, she had to be awake to give orders if necessary. Even while waiting, they couldn’t afford to let their guard down for an instant. She had Jakob up on the roof, keeping an eye on what the Oppressed were doing. According to his first report given a few minutes ago, the situation had gotten even worse, if that was even possible. That blue unicorn from the subway was here now along with the entire southern horde, effectively tripling the amount of undead in the area. The situation was beginning to look extremely bleak. Amaryllis let out a string of curses beneath her breath. More than once, she found herself despairing that she’d ever get out of this church. To comfort herself, Amaryllis would always remember the time when Seth returned from the future. He had become confident and kind, nothing like he had used to be. Yet he had never given in to these monsters. Amaryllis glanced up as someone entered the room. It was William, and he was by himself. He looked as though he were coming to sit beside her, but halfway across the room, he changed his mind and sat across from her. An awkward silence ensued between the two of them. “Hey... could I ask you a question?” William finally broke the silence after a while. “If you want,” Amaryllis replied uncaringly. It wasn’t as though she had anything better to do. “It’s about what happened eight years ago,” William clarified, looking once more to Amaryllis for approval. She quickly grew annoyed with his lack of courage. “Just spit it out already,” she returned irritably, causing him to wince. “Do you remember back when we went to school together, when we met that man? The one wearing the strange armor and cape?” William began. Amaryllis nodded; she didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget Sombra’s face. “Was... that King Sombra?” Amaryllis’ brow rose at the question. He was right, of course, but she hadn’t expected him to figure that out so soon after being told. “What makes you ask that?” she inquired currently. “Two things, actually. First was that awful feeling I had when he walked outside. It was as though the air itself was squeezing in around me,” William retold, shivering a bit. “It wasn’t just me, either. Everyone felt it.” Amaryllis nodded. According to Seth, even humans, who weren’t sensitive to magic (Seth had insisted he was a special case, though he had never really elaborated), could sense it when a being possessing overwhelming power was nearby. “And the second thing?” She prompted. “The way he just disappeared after we went looking for him,” William answered. “There was nowhere he could have gone that we wouldn’t find him, but he just vanished. What really tipped me off is that the last person we asked about it mentioned a ‘fancy dressed horse’ walking out of the forest. When you said our enemies were ponies…” “Right, right. I’m surprised; I guess you aren’t completely stupid,” Amaryllis cut him off. “You’re right. That was the king himself. To be honest, if we had found him... he would have killed us... effortlessly. There’s not a human alive that could touch him.” William’s eyes widened as the color drained from his face. Amaryllis mostly couldn’t fault him for that one; even she had been disconcerted by how close she had been to death when she saw Sombra. According to Seth, the king possessed so much magical power that the very landscape was altered when he fought at full strength. Such a thing was impossible for her to imagine. “Then... is your friend connected to all of this?” William astutely questioned. “More or less. It’s not important. He’s gone forever anyway.” She responded bitterly. “I told you all everything you need to know. You don’t get to hear about my personal life.” “O... Oh,” William emitted, disappointed. Silence fell between the two of them again. However, William never regained his coloring. Instead, he seemed to grow even worse, the man hugging his knees to his chest. “We’re... all going to die, aren’t we?” “Don’t you even start,” Amaryllis groaned. She should have expected this. Out of everyone here, William had been the most frightened out of all of them, and the one most likely to despair... exactly as he was doing now. “I’m right though, aren’t I? Monsters that won’t die no matter what you do to them, ponies with magic the likes of which we’ve never seen, and a king on top of that who is so powerful that the very air shakes with his presence?” William’s voice escalated in pitch as he continued to lament. “We’re screwed... we’re beyond screwed. Why are we even still…” “Stop… just... stop,” Amaryllis was quickly losing her patience. She wanted to keep resting in preparation for tonight, and this was doing nothing but stressing her out. “We’re completely surrounded by undead monstrosities, and even if we could somehow get out, what would we even do? Fight back? What could we possibly do against them?!” William just grew more hysterical. Amaryllis’ fuse slowly burned away with every word he said. “Why don’t we just…” “That’s enough!” Amaryllis interrupted his despair. She got to her feet and stormed over to him. “I don’t want to hear it. We’re all in the same situation as you, and none of us are whining like that!” “But…” William tried to begin, but she wouldn’t let him. He choked as Amaryllis lifted him to a standing position by the shirt. “Honestly, you’ve done nothing but cower in the back of the group ever since we escaped the subway. You’ve never helped us fight; not even once! What kind of man are you?!” Amaryllis demanded, her words lashing out cruelly at William like a whip. A realization suddenly struck her. “In fact, you’ve always been like this! If someone raises their voice at you; hell, even if someone looks at you weird, you cower like a goddamn kicked puppy!” William recoiled as if he had been struck. Amaryllis wasn’t finished, however. Animosity towards this man had been building up inside of her ever since the subway, and now she felt as if the words were rushing out of her. “Now, in the time where we need every able person we can get, you’re nothing but dead weight! You are one of the only two people here who has lived in this city, yet you did nothing to help me; the fucking stay at home mother was more helpful than you!” Amaryllis couldn’t stop herself. At this point, she was yelling loud enough that Kent, Avil, and Samuel, who were in the other room, came to see what was going on. “I needed you, yet you were so busy being a coward that you won’t even fight for your survival!” “Not everyone can be as strong as you!” For the first time since she’d known him, William snapped back at her. He was panting from his outburst. She was so surprised by this, she was actually speechless. However, his newfound bravery didn’t last very long. William slumped forward, his face falling. “I... I’m sorry. You’re right... I’ve let you all down.” Amaryllis managed to gather herself in time to give him a response. “Your apologies mean nothing to me. Are you actually going to do something to help now?” William paused, and then nodded. “I’ll try. I don’t think I can fight... but... I’ll do everything I can,” he answered shakily. Amaryllis grunted. At least that was something. “You know, I really envy you. I’ve tried, but... I can’t be like you.” “Don’t try to be. It’s a miserable way to live,” Amaryllis retorted with a bit of dry humor, her ire receding now that she’d put everything out in the open. “Now, if you’re so willing to help, join Mary in looking around the church one more time.” William nodded, and then he left the room to carry out her order. When Amaryllis turned to sit back down, she noticed the others that had come to watch. “The hell are you three looking at?” she demanded. “Don’t you think you were a little harsh on him?” Avil pointed out. Amaryllis rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you, but... this whole mess is wreaking havoc on my nerve. Not everyone can have nerves of steel like you.” “They don’t have to. In a situation like this, everyone has to do something to help, or they’ll slow the rest of us down,” Amaryllis returned. She felt good after her previous tirade. She never did like holding in her feelings. She knew the others wouldn’t agree with her black and white viewpoint, however, so she changed the subject. “Any word from Jakob? What are the Oppressed doing?” “I don’t know... but I’m getting uneasy,” Avil answered, crossing her arms. She moved towards the window, making sure not to stand directly in front of it. “The other Oppressed we’ve seen have been on a rampage. How can Sombra afford to keep such a large horde sitting idle when our military is more than a simple threat to them?” “They may know we’re here,” Kent suggested darkly, causing Avil to shudder. “Though I can’t be sure. If they know about us, then why aren’t they attacking?” “Your guess is as good as mine. Still, it’s best to take all possibilities into account,” Amaryllis decided. She looked over to the three of them. “Gather the others. Tell them to find something to arm themselves with. If they do attack, I don’t want to be caught flat-footed.” The three of them nodded and moved to do as she commanded. “Status?” Frozen Soul demanded, approaching Shade where she was standing near the edge of the parking lot, opposite the church’s entrance. Shade immediately snapped off a salute. “I’ve placed our undead at every possible exit to the church, sir. Additionally, I’ve saturated the forest on the eastern end with our forces, as well as the surrounding streets. If there are humans in there like you’ve said, there will be no escape for them,” Shade responded smartly. She allowed a smirk to cross her face. She was looking forward to another slaughter. “Good. I want to get this over with fast,” Frozen expressed. He glanced back towards the cityscape in the direction of where the battle with the humans still raged. Shade noted his gaze. “Any news from the city center?” she questioned curiously. “They’re putting up a fight, if nothing else,” Frozen answered. It didn’t seem to Shade that he was taking them very seriously. “Their heavy weapon emplacements are quite troublesome. However, they’re going to run out of ammunition eventually. Then we will crush them.” “How much time do you think we have before reinforcements show up?” Shade pressed. From the other side of the parking lot, Rays moved to join them, finished positioning his own undead. “The human military is quite strong.” “All their strength does is make them complacent. Why be afraid of anything, when they possess weapons capable of leveling mountains and devastating entire countries? Their lack of foresight will be their downfall,” Frozen expressed disdainfully. “There will be no reinforcements. Their long range communications are down, and we’ve destroyed their fuel and power reserves. By the time their leadership learns of this invasion, the city will have already fallen.” “Wow... the Governor General really thought this out, didn’t he?” Shade marveled. Not for the first time, she wondered what it would be like to work under Vanta directly. Maybe she would be promoted after all this. “Indeed, he is not King Sombra’s top general for…” Frozen began, but then he paused abruptly, his eyes narrowing at the church. “I knew it. There are humans inside.” “Did you see one?” Rays asks curiously, joining their conversation. A twisted grin crossed Frozen’s muzzle. “They think they’re being clever, looking down on us from the upper levels,” he answered. The unicorn progressed towards the church slowly, his horn starting to glow. “We attack now. Shade, you attack from the east. Rays, from the north. Leave the rest to me.” "I'll start by taking out that annoying sentry..." Frozen angled his head up towards the steeple. His horn flared and turned a bright shade of cyan, wisps of magic surging through the air and imbuing his staff with power. Shade shivered, as she could feel the very air around him drop in temperature by a great deal. He raised the staff, and the gathered power was released into the air just above him, where it coalesced into the shape of great jagged spikes fashioned entirely from blue tinted transparent ice. The staff swooped forward. The spikes shot through the air, accelerating to a lethal speed in less than a second. Shade followed their path with her eyes, watching them zoom up towards the steeple... and strike home. Amaryllis was speaking with Samuel and Grant, the three of them armed with makeshift weapons. Like before, Amaryllis held the broken guardrail, the tip speckled with the dried blood of her previous victims. Grant had appropriated a window pole where the end had been snapped off and sharpened to a lethal tip, while Samuel had found an old slab of polished wood that could double as a club. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a faint cry and a thump. The three of them immediately turned to see nothing, but then Jakob plummeted onto their level from the rooftop access and hit the ground on his side. Amaryllis was about to yell at him, but then Jakob rose... and her angry comments subsided. Jakob had been impaled right through the center by a spike made of ice that was easily as thick as Samuel’s heavily muscled arm. Two more spikes of a smaller size were embedded in his leg and arm respectively. “Oh my god!” Grant exclaimed in horror. His panicked yell attracted the attention of the others who were nearby, who expressed various reactions of shock and despair at what they saw. Jakob limped forward, gasping in agony with every step. He looked up at Amaryllis, his eyes wide, his face pale, and his blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. There was a sickening crackling sound; tendrils of ice spidered out from where he had been impaled, steadily freezing his body solid. He lifted his arm, reaching out for Amaryllis. “H-Help… me….!” Jakob groaned as the ice continued to spread across his body. Amaryllis instinctively took a step back, words failing her at such a gruesome sight. At long last, Jakob’s eyes rolled up into his head, his body fully frozen. His rigid form shattered into hundreds of icy chunks upon hitting the ground. Amaryllis gaped for several seconds, and then she shook herself back to reality. “Goddammit, they know we’re here now! All of you, get ready for a fight, now!” she commanded urgently. “That’s one down,” Frozen confirmed, and then he gave a derisive laugh. “You think these walls can protect you from me, humans?” Frozen twirled the staff a few times, his horn still glowing brightly. He then swept the staff horizontally to the right, unleashing a wave of frigid cold towards the church. The wave slammed into the front doors and flash froze them, spreading outwards upon impact. “Advance!” the unicorn ordered. The Oppressed roared in unison and galloped en masse towards the church as Frozen watched, his grin turning wolfish. “Today, you will join King Sombra’s ranks of the undead, humans!”