The roar of an engine informed them that they were not alone, and Wolfe volunteered to poke his head out of the door to see what was coming and flag them down if it was a transport bus.
It was. In fact, it was their transport bus. Only it was on fire and covered in undead, following a road roughly a kilometre south of them. The fire was likely the defence force removing the undead, but it didn’t bode well for their chances of flagging down the bus.
One after another, the undead fell to the ground, burned to true death, and the bus made its escape back toward the main force.
“What did you see?” Reiko asked as Wolfe came back inside.
“The bus was attacked by undead and turned around a kilometre south of us, headed for the main line. I think they burned them all off, but I can’t verify what condition the bus is in.”
“It’s still calm near us, so let’s get some lunch while it’s safe to eat a hot meal, and then we can start to salvage what we can of the camp. Any supplies are a bonus since we were supposed to be dropped at a fully stocked location.”
Thankfully, they had a number of the good freeze-dried meals from the Academy in their packs, despite the advice that they wouldn’t need them, and a quick lunch was prepared while they waited in silence to hear any movement outside.
Over the next few hours, the silence was slowly replaced with a distant, rhythmic thumping that shook the bunker. It seemed to be in the distance, and it was headed back toward the main line.
“Should we see what it is? I mean, we’re here to defend, so we should probably do something if we can, right?” Mary asked.
“Yeah, it is our duty.” Wolfe agreed.
“Just poke your head outside. If they’re in the distance, we should be able to attack and then hide back in here until they are gone again. If they are headed for the main line, then we don’t need to worry much if a bunch of them get past us.” Reiko suggested.
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Wolfe moved to the door, carefully raising his head out above the hill where he could see his surroundings. South of them, along the road, a group of large animals with pronged horns were using their antlers to pile up the scorched remains of the undead into a small mountain of corpses.
There were thousands of them, possibly tens of thousands since Wolfe could only see those closest to him, and the ground was still rumbling with the movement of the herd.
“They look a little like elk are supposed to, but there are thousands of animals with antlers out there, and they are pulling up the undead corpses.
The bus couldn’t have killed all of the ones I am seeing the herd pile up unless the guards were way more powerful than I expected, so I think the animals are killing them.” Wolfe explained.
Cassie stuck her head out the same spot that Wolfe did, then immediately retreated.
“That can’t be normal animal behaviour. They’re not stopping, just piling up the corpses they’re holding on their antlers. Even some of their own are on the pile now.” She informed the group.
“So, innocent-looking monsters? That many could be bad news for the main line. Can we even do anything about it, though?” Mary asked.
“We can try. Maybe wait until the herd is almost past us and then attack the rear? If they turn back the way they came, that means they’re not our problem anymore, right?” Ella suggested.
The others hesitantly nodded their agreement, but Beth looked too terrified to move.
“Wait, I recall something from home. My mother used a spell to enhance the details of her clairvoyance. I am sure I recall it right. It only needs a bit of dirt and water set out like so.” Reiko explained.
She made a pattern on the floor, then sprinkled a few drops of water from her canteen into the pattern and wove Witch Magic over the group.
“It should last a little while. Maybe fifteen minutes worth of enhanced senses?”
Wolfe could feel all his senses grow sharper, and it seemed to be easier to control [Detect Hidden] since less was hidden from his sight, to begin with. That simple bit of Witch Magic was quite impressive. He would have to ask Reiko to teach it to Cassie and Ella later.
“Alright, let’s see if we can hit them from here. If they don’t see us and follow the road or the terrain, it should lead them past us but not over us.” Wolfe whispered as he left the bunker.
“Mary, stay with Beth and prepare to bring the ward over the door back up as soon as we come back in,” Cassie added, grabbing Ella and following him out.
Reiko was right behind them, and the quartet lay down in the snow to get their bearings.
“These things don’t feel malicious to me at all. I mean, they’re like average animals.” Reiko whispered.
“Want to let them pass by, and we can wait for something actively hostile?” Ella suggested.
“No need to wait. They’re moving for a reason. Your spell increased the range of my [Detect Hidden] Spell, and there are much larger monsters attacking and eating the back ranks of this herd. Give it five minutes, and the next group should be in spell range.” Wolfe whispered back.
The creatures in the back were deformed monstrosities halfway between a bear and a rhino. Four-legged, with sharp teeth and fur, but far larger than any picture of a bear Wolfe had seen in history books, with a pair of thick horns on its snout.
The herd began to stampede as the attack began, turning in the rough direction of the camp and bringing the attackers with them.
“Begin the barrage as soon as you can. I would really rather not have those things near us.” Wolfe ordered, using his spell-enhanced sight to launch a [Unholy Smite] attack while trying to focus on gathering mana in between castings.
The Smite slammed into the horned beasts, dropping a few and heavily injuring others. Wolfe cast [Unholy Smite] over and over, trying to wound the entire front line of the beasts in the few seconds before the others could join in.
“You need to teach us that sensory spell that you’re using, Wolfe,” Cassie complained as she launched her first attack, a lightning strike that dropped one of the beasts in an instant.
“It’s in the Handbook. We have a copy with us.” He agreed, not realizing the trouble he was going to be in when the Witches discovered that he could see through their clothes at will.
