Chapter 173 - The Bones Danced

I had a big finish in mind. Something that would end this battle for sure, and maybe give me a decent chance against Peter, next time we ran into each other. More than that, if my plan went well it might give some meaning to the deaths out there on the battlefield. Sue was gone. There was no bringing my dino back. When the orcs killed Sue, the spirit or energy that had been animating those ancient, fossilize bones left. It wasn't coming back, no matter what I did. But maybe I could make that death mean something more.

The fighting continued, and my forces were losing. There were just too many orcs, and not enough animated zombies to take them down. The zombies were doing their job, keeping the enemy at bay for the time being. But I was losing zombies like mad. I only had a few minutes left.

Fortunately, the orcs placed their bonfire relatively close to where Sue and Plum went down, and there were still a lot of leftover orc bodies there for raw materials. I started casting Animate Dead, gathering all my mana and Will. I was going to need every drop of power I had. I'd never attempted an Animate this strong before. The spell was tier ten, and with luck, this cast would create a tier ten undead.

I cast the spell. Power surged down my arms, flowing from my hands into the bones in front of me.

The bones danced. They lifted themselves from the pile of orc bodies, each bone ripping itself away from the flesh in which it had been embedded. Then the bones skittered across the grass, flowing like some weird Claymation video, bit by bit moving nearer to where Sue had fallen.

Not far away, Plum's bones danced, too, joining themselves to the same inaudible beat. They rolled, scrabbled, and wiggled their way to join the others. The spell drained all the mana I could muster and demanded still more, so I managed to cast Health to Mana, restoring just enough mana that I hoped I could finish casting.

Sue's fossilized bones formed the core of the new being. Hard as stone, heavy and powerful, they would be the center. Sue's powerful jaws made up the head. But each piece was reshaped as it came into place. Horns sprouted from the nose of the skull. Sue's forelimbs grew thicker and stronger, Plum's skeleton lending most of the matter. Sue's tail remained a tail, but the spike on the end was new.

Plum's wings attached themselves to either side of the body. They were augmented by a series of smaller bones yanked from all the dead orc bodies. Those smaller bones flowed together and merged, forming additional ribs for the wing structures. I wasn't sure how useful they'd be for real flight, since there was nothing between the bones. But with magic, a lot of things were possible. We'd have to see how it turned out.

Finally, the spell snapped into place, complete.

Utterly spent, I sank to my knees, hands digging into the soil. For better or worse, the spell was cast. I lifted my gaze to take in the powerful creature standing before me.

It was entirely made of bone and fossil, both materials merged in ways that I could never have imagined, before I'd seen it. The head was a massive thing of teeth and horns. Red light flickered in the eyes, which reminded me of Sue. The head was suspended on a long neck which led to a powerful body. That body was supported by four massive legs, each ending in large claws. The barbed tail lashed through the air behind the creature. Powerful wings opened wide, spreading to their fullest extent.

I'd made a dragon. It was a skeleton dragon, an undead thing, but it was mine, and to me he was as beautiful as he was deadly. I quickly realized he was also smarter than most other undead.

Mage. You have called me into being?

The thought was projected directly into my mind with enough force to make me wince. Was that what Peter dealt with every time his dragon spoke with him? Maybe we could get the conversation toned down to a more congenial level.

"I am. My name's Selena. I created you because I need help, badly. I'm sorry to ask, but can you try speaking a little more softly?"

I can. How is this?"

"Much better, thanks." The voice was easier to manage, but it was still deep, resonant, and unabashedly male. I guess this one was a 'he?'

You need help, you said. From the looks of things, a battle took place here. You won?

I shook my head. "I lost. The battle, though. Not the war."

The dragon's chuckle echoed in my mind. Grit and determination will take you far. I sense the undead are yours to command. The others?

"Enemies," I replied.

Understood. Call your troops back. I will deal with the rest.

I did as he asked. A quick mental command to the few remaining zombies, and I had them all turn and run away from the living orcs as fast as their legs could carry them. Shocked, our enemies didn't react right away. They held formation, looking around the battlefield for more threats.

They spotted the dragon. I swear I could see some of them turning paler green even in the darkness.

My dragon took to the air with three mighty sweeps of his wings. That was good news; I'd hoped he could fly, but seeing confirmation of that was a real plus. More wingbeats carried the dragon higher, spiraling up a bit until he was a hundred feet above the ground. The orcs maintained their position. If anything, they tightened their formation, probably figuring that being near one another would allow them to better defend each other.

Against most foes, that was a good plan. When fighting a dragon, though? They should have known better. They must have seen Peter's dragon in action at least once or twice, right? But either they thought this dragon was different, or they were acting out of instinct rather than thinking it through.

The dragon dove at them.

To their credit, the orcs held their ground. There were about forty or so left, gathered in a tight knot. Some of them still had bows, and they snapped off arrow after arrow as death swooped toward them. Not that it did them any good. Most arrows missed entirely. The few that hit, bounced off. Arrows weren't the best weapon against a creature with no vital areas.

Twenty feet above the ground, the dragon pulled out of his dive with a quick snap of his wings, then opened his mouth directly above the orc formation. Fire spewed out, washing over the ground and the orcs alike.

Now they ran. Orcs fled in every direction, but it was far too late. Most of them were aflame, burning alive as they ran. A few escaped without injury, but the way they'd all been clustered tight together made it easy to torch the lot of them all at once. One burning orc ran toward me, his eyes wide as he screamed. I cast a Drain Life while he was still a dozen paces from me, dropping him where he stood.

I think we've dealt with this enemy, yes? My dragon swooped over the field, picking up two orcs in his claws, carrying them into the sky and then dropping them from fifty feet. They didn't survive the experience.

"I think so, yeah," I replied aloud. I was pretty sure he could hear my mental commands, same as the other undead, but I was used to conversing out loud, so I figured I'd stick with that for now.

I can, yes. Hear your mental orders.

"Good to know. Um, what should I call you?"

You made me, mage. You have the right to name me.

So this wasn't some super-undead that I'd called up. He wasn't like Lyonius. This dragon was something different. My magic created him. He was mine to control, but he was still a thinking being. The day I started treating thinking beings like toys was the day I became as evil as Peter. It wasn't happening today, or ever if I could help it.

The dragon landed before me and settled on his haunches, looking at me expectantly.

"I think this needs to be a joint operation," I told him. "You're hopefully going to have this name for a long time, and I don't want to stick you with something you hate. I mean, I wouldn't want to be called something that I hated, either."

You are an unusual mage.

"Probably. I'm pretty new at this. You're the first talkative undead I've Animated." I walked closer to the dragon as I spoke, and Hope came over and yipped next to me. "Hope's smart, too, but she's not a talker. You and I can have conversations, so I want to be sure you're called something you'll be happy with."

Why don't you make suggestions, and I'll tell you if you hit one I like?

"We can do that," I replied. I thought a moment. "We could call you Wishbone, after the way you tore our enemies apart."

The mental groan he sent my way was enough to let me know that one wasn't the top pick.

"Okay, then! Um. How about something like Mortis? Or is that a little too on the nose?"

A bit. Since you're letting me choose, perhaps something with more weight, and dignity?

Dignity, huh? Well, most of the undead I'd named hadn't needed dignified names, but I could understand the desire. I wouldn't want my name to be a pun, so it stood to reason neither would the dragon. I thought a little longer, going back over some of the Latin I'd learned while preparing for medical school.

Latin was a weird language. Almost nobody spoke it anymore, but it was the source of so many words from so many languages, and it was pretty useful for doctors to know at least some of the language. Much of human anatomy and medical nomenclature came from either Latin or Ancient Greek.

"How about Tenebris? It means darkness in Latin, an ancient human language."

The dragon pondered it for a moment and then nodded. I accept this name. Tenebris I shall be. Now, mage, what is our next task?

"Oh, you had to ask that one, huh?" I looked around the battlefield. There was so much that needed doing. I had to put things in the right order, though. "First, we need to loot the dead, but we need to do it quickly. Peter could be back at any time, and we probably don't want to be here when he returns."

This Peter is an enemy? We can face him together.

"Peter also has a dragon, and she's higher tier than you. A lot higher."

I can see why discretion might be the better part of valor, in that case. I will gather bodies to you while you take their mana crystals, then. Once that's complete, we will fly from this place.

"Sounds like a plan," I told him.