Jared released arrow after arrow in the small space, but the tide of ghouls seemed endless as they flooded through the opening in the roof. Amidst the chaos, he lost track of Pierre once the ghouls started climbing in through the windows, taking the living. The scream of one man would haunt him as multiple clawed, greyish hands ripped him through the window.

  “This is fucking ridiculous…” Jared muttered as he dodged underneath a swipe from a bald-headed, green-eyed ghoul. He countered the ghoul by stabbing an arrow into the armpit, but he knew it would have little effect with them being Undead. Jared also knew it was a lost cause, as even the survivors that had hunkered down were slowly dwindling. “Pierre!” He screamed over the roars and growls of the ghouls and the screaming of the people.

  No answer.

  “Pierre!” he shouted again, burying an arrow into the head of a ghoul that lunged at him, forcing his back against a wall. “Fuck it!”

  “Pierre!” Jared shouted into the Servant Bond link they all shared. In doing so, Jared felt his body stiffen as those did with the ghouls who stopped.

  “There you are, my servants…” An eerily monstrous voice sounded in Jared’s head. “Come to me…” it beckoned, and Jared felt his body act on its own accord as the ghouls parted the way for him. Jared wanted to scream, but no matter how much he wanted to, his body refused to obey, and only then did he see Pierre robotically walk beside him. The only thing he could still move was his eyes as he looked at Pierre in abject horror.

  The ghouls surrounded them in a macabre display of an escort as they dragged bloodied and beaten to near death victims along the dirt and cobblestone road. They moaned with each bump from the ghouls intentionally trying to hit every one on purpose. “The master has been searching for you,” a ghoul growled, giving a vicious smile.

  Jared couldn’t reply to the ghoul as they meandered through the streets. From what little he could see, every building on this side of the port town lay in ruins with bloody streaks lining the streets, all painting a trail leading to the tavern where Jared last saw Aldrin.

  His eyes flicked to Pierre, who was just as helpless as he was as they got closer to the belly of the beast. Wooden palisades fortified the tavern, and more ghouls lingered on the roof, watching them with an intense hunger that made Jared wonder if he and Pierre would even make it out alive. Even nearby, with the sun reaching its crescendo, dimly lit green eyes looked on from the shadows of the buildings.

  The doors opened, and if Jared could gag, he would have. Blood, bile, and excrement wafted from inside, making his eyes water from the pungency. Two ghouls that were bigger than the rest flanked the opening, and Jared had the chance to Inspect them.

  “He’s made more… This has gone to shit really fast.” Jared told himself. “I hope he doesn’t have Evie or Buramog.” That thought stayed at the forefront of his mind when they crossed the threshold.

  In the center of the tavern, a throne made of mangled bodies that seemed to be the leftovers from what the ghouls ate, drew his and Pierre’s attention. In it sat Aldrin, or at least the feral version of Aldrin that made Jared internally recoil. The man who was Aldrin no longer resided there as grey, pallid skin, snow white hair, and blazing crimson slitted eyes that mimicked a reptile’s eyes watched them. It smiled, revealing its fangs that still held flecks of dried blood. Worst of all, it didn’t look desiccated like other ferals. It looked strong and well-fed, something that gave Jared pause.

  With that visual information, Jared took a glance around with his limited vision to see to the left of him, a mound of corpses were piled up, each of them being savaged with looks of surprise etched on their faces. To the right of him, from the limited view he had that wasn’t obscured by Pierre and the other ghouls, he saw a row of bodies at neatly placed intervals.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Feral Aldrin let out a rough, barking laugh, further cementing that the Aldrin they knew was no longer in control. “My servants! Welcome!” It said in a deeper and more monstrous voice that sounded like crushing gravel underfoot.

  Jared felt the pressure release, and he felt in control of his body once more. He stumbled back, bumping into something that was cold and clammy. He turned to see one of the Ghoul Barons that towered over him, sliding its gaze downwards at him. Normally, he wouldn’t be so unnerved, but that was because Aldrin was in control. The creature that sat on the throne of bodies was entirely different and unpredictable.

  “Jared,” Feral Aldrin said, forcing him to look back at the creature. It stood and morphed into mist, rushing forth before reforming in front of him.

  Jared once again choked back a gag that rose in the back of his throat from the smell of death that clung to Feral Aldrin like a second skin. It sensed that, and it pouted. “Do I offend you? We are friends, remember?” It said, trailing a matte black claw along the jawline of Jared. “And you!” he whipped around, pointing at Pierre. “My Alchemist in training! Have you ascended your tier yet?” It gracefully moved towards Pierre, who stood stock-still.

  “No,” Pierre answered as evenly as possible, clasping his hands behind his back.

  Feral Aldrin clicked his tongue. “That won’t do… that won’t do at all. I need you in tip-top shape. After all, your Profession will soon be highly sought after.” It grinned, and before Jared could react, Feral Aldrin gave a command. “Ascend to your next tier, my servant!” It boomed, and to their horror, Pierre had no choice as he strained against the command, visibly shaking in an effort to resist. “Tell me your options, my servant.” Feral Aldrin pressed with a widening, malicious grin.

  Feral Aldrin made a play of tapping his clawed finger against his chin. “I’m going to need an assassin. More so if Moira doesn’t come with us. Pick Poisoned Blade.”

  Pierre resisted more, earning a frown from Feral Aldrin. “Pick. It.” He commanded.

  “I-I know y-you’re in t-there, Aldrin. F-Fihht i-it!” Pierre said, sweating profusely the more he tried to resist the compulsion of the bond.

  Feral Aldrin only sighed and shook his head, his widening grin dampening to only a smile. “My servant, ascend to Tier 3, Poisoned Blade.”

  Like a puppet with its strings cut, the last ounce of will was shredded within Pierre as his gaze went vacant, and soon Feral Aldrin laughed in glee when he came back, signifying Pierre had ascended against his will. “Good, my servant. Very good. Now, where is our last one?” He asked Pierre and Jared, and luckily neither of them knew.

  Feral Aldrin was about to ask again when one body that was neatly laid out in even intervals twitched. “Oh good! They survived!” He said, moving closer, and the ghouls that stood guard stepped aside to let him gaze upon the bodies. “Come, you two, witness their rebirth,” he flicked his fingers over his shoulder without looking away.

  Jared and Pierre flanked ?Feral Aldrin. Both of them inspected the unblemished, pale-skinned bodies of two men and two women, noting the two puncture marks on their necks and the dried blood caked around their mouths.

  Pierre was the first to stumble back at the inclination. “You didn’t…” he breathed, staring wide-eyed at the bodies sprawled before them.

  Jared couldn’t take his eyes off the bodies and nearly yelped when one woman, with raven black hair, twitched. Her smeared makeup and clothes denoted her as a lady of the night, but Jared puzzled together that lady of the night would soon take on a whole new meaning.

  Her eyes snapped open, flashing crimson before returning to sky blue ones.

  Then, almost like clockwork, the others twitched, and their eyes snapped open , flashing the same crimson. Jared’s heart thundered in his chest as the slow realization of how bad things were going to get. He used Inspect on the raven-haired woman as she groggily moved her limbs to sit up.

  “Welcome, my children, to your new life…” Aldrin purred, then chuckled darkly as he opened his arms wide as if to embrace them as they sat up.

  Jared took notice of the hunger that surfaced in their eyes. It was the same type of hunger that reminded him of how Aldrin first was. Realizing that, he let out a humorless chuckle, knowing full well that Ebira was fucked.