Chapter 5

It wasn't noon anymore, but the sun was still high in the sky.

'Now I remembered - I don't know how to get to dwarves. They will probably ask me about the purpose of my visit? What will I tell them in this case? I guess that I should tell them that I am looking for work. I have no idea what to do, actually.' Vito thought.

'I know nothing about real dwarves, their behavior, their laws and so on. I feel so stupid. Maybe I should visit another human town. There I will be able to improvise in the case of need. But I don't remember where other towns are located. Is it better to simply follow the road? It will surely lead me somewhere.'He continued his internal conversation as his enthusiasm was rapidly fading.

After blindly following the road for half an hour, Vito saw something in the distance.

"Nuvian, look. What is there on the road?" He asked his undead servant.

"I do not know. Seems to be a brougham." Zombie replied.

'It is likely to be an aristocrat or someone rich.' Vito thought.

"Can you see anyone guarding it?"

"No."

'Suspicious. Very suspicious... Probably it is another ambush. I didn't expect this part of the road to be so swarmed with bandits.' He thought.

"I have a bad feeling about it. Probably there are more looters on the way ahead. Let's attack them from behind." Vito said.

"As you wish." Undead replied submissively.

"Dismount and follow my lead. Horse, the same stands for you." He ordered.

"Will be done."

After getting out of the saddle, Vito and his nonliving servants started moving sneakily. They got away from the road and were walking in parallel to it. It was a long walk and boring, but Vito was not willing to get ambushed one more time, especially in the very same day. After walking for about fifteen minutes through the hills, they were finally able to see both the coach and people surrounding it.

They saw dead bodies of those who were likely to be the owners of the brougham, piled up in a heap. Also, they could easily see the backs of those who killed them and were going to attack any passerby. Bandits were hidden beside bushes and rocks and were awaiting their next victim. There were about fifteen of them. Also, there was a bunch of horses.

Each looter had different equipment. Some of them wore expensive and shiny armor with rusty swords, some the other way around. Most of them had nothing except for usual clothes and daggers. Those who were wearing something expensive surely stole it from those who had guarded the couch and its owners.

'On one hand, killing a dozen armed people is no easy task. On the other hand, doing so may clear my reputation or at least, mate it a bit better. Avenging an aristocrat and returning his body is surely going to be awarded by the local aristocracy or the king himself.' Vito thought.

'Time to be stealthy. This is the only way to defeat them all with such a little help. What a shame that there are no cemeteries nearby.'

Suddenly his expression changed from thoughtful to enthusiastic.

'Wait a minute. There is a big pile of corpses! It is an amazing opportunity. I will kill those three with a fireball, then I will teleport us all to the pile of corpses and revive them while the horse and the elf will be protecting me. Perfect plan!'

After taking the closest, but still not visible for bandits position, Vito started the completion of his plan.

A big fireball darted in the direction of a group of three men, hidden behind a big boulder. A big explosion killed all of them and crushed the boulder. The sight of torn apart bodies was still disturbing for Vito, but he was quickly getting used to it.

The noise made the whole unit of looters panic and look for its source. They didn't know who killed their brothers in arms, but they knew for sure - it was someone dangerous, as no wizards were a weak enemy.

Vito had the urge to throw another fireball at them, but it would reveal his position, so he held back.

Vito opened a portal gate behind the pile of dead bodies.

"Enter the gate. Be quiet and careful. After entering you must tell me if you see any foes, and if you do you should attack them immediately. By the way, the horse is under your command during this attack, use it in order to complete your own orders." He gave an order to the undead.

"Understood." Nonliving Nuvian's answers were short as always.

"No enemies nearby." It said a couple of seconds later after entering the portal.

Vito entered it as well and felt a strong smell of bodies that were just starting to rot.

'What a good scent - scent of safety.' He thought.

"Okay, time to take revenge, buddies." Vito muttered and revived them all as weak undead. There were nine dead bodies. Eight of them belonged to muscular men whereas one of them belonged to a skinny lad in his twenties wearing expensive clothes.

'Seems like this one is the murdered aristocrat, whereas those all are his guards and killed looters.'

"My faithful servants, kill everyone in this area!" He whispered, so that only his undead would hear him.

"It doesn't include you, Nuvian. You must stay with me and protect me at all costs." He said to the dead elf.

"As you wish."

Newborn zombies darted towards their first target - a group of five bandits armed with daggers. The living feared death, but they didn't want to surrender, so they fought back. Unfortunately for them, death was stronger than life, even when life outnumbers death, let alone the other way around. Soon, the whole group was killed even despite the fact that zombies had no weapon except for their tooth and nails. When they were about to die, the last standing ones accepted the fact that they had no chances of being victorious, alas it was too late. Death defeated life again. It always does...

Meanwhile, three archers were trying to kill the small horde of the undead by shooting arrows at them. Undead themselves couldn't care less about something that weak, so archers stopped wasting arrows and tried to shoot the general of the undead. Three projectiles moved in his direction, but got stopped. Nuvian and the horse caught them with their own bodies.

It didn't go unnoticed. Vito made another fireball explode in their faces.

The weaker undead charged at the closest target - a group of three more men. Looters' hands started shaking, whereas their legs buckled.

"Oh god of life, save me from this horror, please!" Pleaded one.

"Fuck this shit, it's not worth it!" Screamed another and ran away in terror.

The third was so scared that couldn't move nor talk. Soon, both of them were overtaken by undead. The praying one got his Adam's apple bitten off while the second lost his entire face.

Undead didn't waste time chasing the escapee, they sprinted towards another group consisting of two men. Last of the looters lost their hope of winning and tried to retreat.

"I didn't expect to die from an old age, but I surely don't want to die by the hands of zombies." Those were the last words of one of them.

"What a fool I was. I should have listened to my mother! If I did, I wouldn't die today." The second said and started crying uncontrollably.

They were running as fast as they could, but they were mere humans. Very soon they got tired and slowed down, that was the last thing they did in their entire life. Undead ripped them apart literally as soon as they caught up with them.

The dead were triumphant once more.

"Well done, my servants!" Vito exclaimed.

"Now collect all dead bodies into one pile. Except for you." He focused on the aristocrat.

"Come closer and show me what you have in your pockets." The dead servant did as Vito demanded.

'Not surprising. Looks like looter have taken away everything. Lad is lucky to be dressed not naked.'

When his previous order was completed, Vito revived new dead bodies as well. Now he had thirteen weak undead servants, one undead horse and one medium undead servant.

"Now, everyone show me what you have got inside your pockets!" He shouted. Undead followed the command, pulled out the contents of their pockets and showed it to Vito.

"Finally, that's what I was looking for!" He exclaimed enthusiastically as he found a family insignia.

'Now I should find the family of this lad and ask for the reward in exchange for his body!' Vito thought.

'Finally I will have a chance of restoring my position in society. I don't care about it hat much, but I am tired of living in the forest.' He continued his monologue.

"Come closer, my steed." He said to his horse and mounted it.

"Follow me, we are coming back to civilization!" Vito shouted.