Smells. So many smells around. Smells of horse sweat, feces, trail feed, new military ammunition and bonfires. And blood. A muted smell of human blood circulating in veins under a thin layer of skin. It seemed as if he just had to sink his teeth into flesh – and here it was.He shouldn’t.It was stupid anyway: to attack right in a camp full of armed soldiers and mages ready for battle. That’s why Zomzom was moving calmly forward through the tents and rows of people. Once in a while, he presented his letter with the seal of the Undead King without saying a word, then continued to the central marquee.After his death, the zombie had developed a few really useful skills allowing him to track down, catch up with and kill a victim. He felt he was capable of finding a man several miles away even in a dense forest. His dead eyes perfectly sensed everything, his sense of smell drawing pictures in his head about which he’d formerly had no idea, an

Shaina snickered, “You want to know how Reive died?” Her thin lips became a single line, her whitened eyes closing for a moment. “Well, I’ll tell you.”When she raised her eyes again, I saw traces of despair even through their dead translucent color. There wasn’t any malice, only some old deep-seated pain.   “Reive was a fanatic,” she muttered. “He should have received the crown by inheritance. But he was deprived of this right. I don’t know how it’d have turned out if things had gone otherwise. Would he have unleashed all those wars that made him who he is now? Would he have killed hundreds of people, building up the greatest and the most terrible army of the dead the earth has ever seen? Or would he have just calmly ruled the kingdom? I don’t know. But the need to seize the throne awoke greed for more and more power in him.”For a moment, the woman was lost in thought

Reive woke up in the morning in a vicious mood. Just as the past two nights, he’d had dreams about Angelina again, but he still couldn’t understand what was happening. Why were his dreams so real? Why did they leave such a heavy aftertaste? Bitterness, burning and a dull and nagging pain, as if he’d been doing something wrong. As if he’d been losing something very important to him. Or had already lost it.He was beginning to feel even worse after these thoughts.Reive got out of bed, casting aside the wet sheet he had used instead of a blanket. The summer nights were too stifling, and that he was seemingly turning into another man in his dreams was completely draining him.The necromancer went into the bathroom. As usual, the servants had already prepared hot water and warm towels for when he woke. Everyone in the castle knew he was the new king now. Maybe some were angry. Or maybe some might argue a coronation ceremony hadn’t taken

The zombie was walking along the corridor of the castle, sensing the trace of his master. Lately, a strange kind of itchiness had appeared within him and it had been irritating the dead man quite a lot. This itchiness prevented him sitting down for long. He had only to keep still for an hour or two, blending with the surrounding Dark and dissolving in the silence, and this feeling would appear.Curiosity.Boredom.It was terribly irritating. Today Zomzom had been about to lose control and gnaw through the throat of a servant who came into the Undead King’s room by accident when Reive wasn’t there. The poor guy was going to light a fire or ask if His Dark Majesty required anything. This resulted in him fleeing from the room when he met Zomzom’s eyes flashing with anger and hunger, because he’d forgotten to put on his hat.Everyone called his master “Your Dark Majesty” now. As if they were part of a conspiracy. However, t

“My name is Yarosh Trenvir, Duke of Namir,” he said with a small bow. “I’m a deputy and the throne guardian of Aldenor, until a new king is officially chosen.”It was impossible not to pay attention to the pretentiousness in the man’s tone: one could hear more in it than he was saying. I didn’t have the slightest idea if Yarosh was noble enough for the throne. Nevertheless, to all appearances, the duke was sure it would be he who would be chosen, so he was already feeling like a real king.   “And these are my first assistants,” he went on speaking as if he were introducing the second-most important people of the state after himself.Frankly speaking, their names went in one ear and out the other. And not for the first time. It was enough for me to hear they were both supreme high wizards. The same ones who had been serving Gerhard Ayris.Reive nodded.“My name is Reive Erid