Chapter 341 (2/2)

“Forward.” The Ghosthound said, turning around. “Better brace for this, because they have some of those big fucks. Neveah? Rip ‘em to shreds.”

The bone wurm underneath them vibrated with glee, in a way that again, reminded Decklan of Thorn. Suddenly, they were at the mouth of the valley, and the ranks and ranks of skeletons were there, waving their weapons and buzzing with fury.

When the bone wurm hit them, they simply exploded, reduced to dust. The Ghosthound gestured left and right, and hundreds of spears made of roots shot up out of the ground, ripping through the bulk of the forces at the mouth of the valley that hadn’t simply been annihilated by their passing.

Just like that, the formation of skeletons collapsed, folding in on itself as its heart had been ripped out. With that wave of his hand, the controllers seemed to have fallen too, because the remainder just seemed to be wandering around.

But then their speed continued to carry them forward, and they left the skeleton army behind. His and Dozer’s squad would be more than enough to mop up the rest of the stragglers. More than anything else though, Decklan had so many questions as he stared at the Ghosthound’s back.

Where had he been? What had he been doing? Where did this huge monster they were riding come from? And-

Decklan gestured behind them. On the back of the creature, farther behind them, there was also a teenage boy holding onto an ox, a girl petting a grizzly bear, and a preteen holding a flaming skull. Decklan sighed inwardly. Truly, the Ghosthound’s greatest skill was his ability to collect weirdos. But Decklan didn’t for a moment doubt that in their individual fields, each of these people was powerful in their own right.

“Slow, Neveah. This part is delicate.” The Ghosthound said, his gaze forward. Decklan leaned forward to peer in that direction. The group of skeletons that had the captive, and the Regalia, seemed to realize that they weren’t going to be able to escape in time, so they were forming into a defensive formation to repel them, a squad of skeletons who held long pikes pointing towards them.

But even with their speed slowed, they would arrive far before the other had anything more than a handful of skeletons set up. And more than that…

The bone wurm underneath them didn’t slow at all when faced with the previous enemies. Decklan had a hard time believing that this would be any different.

The Ghosthound turned to them as they rushed towards the enemy, and said something that caught Decklan, and even Dozer by his expression, by surprise.

“On whose orders did you come up here?”

There was a hard edge to his voice too, and his eyes glittered dangerously. Decklan instantly reevaluated his past encounters, looking for some sort of political maneuvering between the Ghosthound and another one of Donnyton’s leaders. Perhaps Mrs. Hamilton…? Donny….?

No, it couldn’t be either of them, they were his most steadfast supporters. That basically just left Sam-

Ah, perhaps it was that, Decklan thought, his eyes softening. Mrs. Hamilton had commented recently that Lyra was acting strangely, perhaps related to the Ghosthound’s departure. Had there been some bad blood there…? There was always a bit of sexual tension there, and if that soured…

Still-

“Mrs. Hamilton, who was acting on a tip from Lyra.” Dozer supplied, interrupting Decklan’s train of thought. “Apparently there is a fat prize waiting after this Champion nonsense is done, if we-”

The Ghosthound waved a hand, but there was definitely tension in his shoulders now. He gave them both a searching look. Decklan felt something very cold in his heart under the scrutiny. If it hadn’t been clear before, now, before the full force of the Ghosthound’s attention, it was clear that something had changed. His eyes were harder, the air of violence absolutely palpable, the natural strength oozing off of him.

The Ghosthound… had grown far, far more dangerous.

“...Thank you. Well for now….” The Ghosthound said, turning his attention to the front. “Let’s cut down the Skeleton Knight, shall we? It seems like everyone has arrived.”

A trumpet sounded. And over the far hill, a great host of undead began to crawl forward. These were bigger and tougher looking, and they began to scramble down the slope, heading for their caravan with the prisoners.

And upon the hill, sitting upon a grey horse, was a skeleton that wore a suit of cast iron armor, starkly dark against his bones. His eyes burned copper. The gazes of the Skeleton Knight and the Ghosthound met. They both smiled.