Chapter 6 March of the Dead

"Stay behind me," Rhen said, voice low and rough as he adjusted the cloak over his bloodstained armor. "At least two miles back. No closer. Do not let anyone spot you."

Aldric stood at the front of the formation, eyes fixed on him. "Understood, Captain. Two miles. Hidden."

The entire legion answered at once, hundreds of voices overlapping in eerie unison. "Understood."

Rhen shivered despite the warm evening air. "Move out."

They turned as one body and began marching. No shouted orders needed. No stumbling or complaints. Just perfect, synchronized steps that made the ground tremble in rhythm. Too perfect. Like a single creature wearing the faces of his brothers.

Rhen started walking toward the kingdom road, boots heavy on the dirt path. After fifty paces he glanced back. The legion followed exactly as ordered, a dark mass keeping perfect distance. He picked up speed. They matched him without breaking formation.

"Test," he muttered. "Halt!"

The legion stopped instantly, boots slamming down together.

"Resume march."

They moved again without a single heartbeat of delay.

Rhen cursed under his breath and kept walking. "This should feel good. I still have them. They're still following me."

Aldric suddenly appeared at his side, matching his stride. Rhen hadn't called him forward.

"Aldric," Rhen said sharply, stopping. "I didn't order you to walk with me."

"I know," Aldric replied calmly. His voice carried that same gravel tone from life, but something underneath it felt smoothed out. "You looked like you needed someone beside you, Captain. Old habit."

Rhen stared at him. "Old habit? You're dead, Aldric. I watched you die in my arms. How are you making decisions on your own?"

Aldric shrugged, the motion too fluid. "The System binds us to you. But we're still us. We know you, Rhen. We know when you need your second at your side." He glanced back at the silent ranks. "The others feel the same. They want to be close. To protect you."

"Protect me?" Rhen laughed bitterly, resuming his walk. "From what? I’m the one who got you all killed. Now I’m dragging your corpses around like some kind of monster."

"You gave us purpose," Aldric said, keeping pace easily. "The pain is still there, but it’s quieter when we follow you. When we obey. Garrick keeps asking if we can move up closer. He says two miles feels too far."

"Tell Garrick to stay in formation," Rhen snapped. "That’s an order. All of you. Maintain distance."

Aldric tilted his head, listening to something Rhen couldn’t hear. "Done. They’re complaining, but they obey."

Rhen rubbed the back of his neck. The System interface flickered at the corner of his vision.

[Territory awareness expanded. Claimed land: Blood Field. Current control: 100%.]

He felt it then. A strange new sense blooming in his mind, like extra limbs he never asked for. He could feel the battlefield behind him. Every inch of churned mud. Every drop of blood soaked into the ground. It pulsed faintly, connected to him.

"Does anyone else feel this?" Rhen asked, glancing sideways at Aldric.

"Feel what, Captain?"

"The land. Like it’s... part of me now."

Aldric was quiet for a few steps. "We feel you. That’s enough."

They walked in silence for a while. The road curved gently toward the kingdom’s inner territories. Rhen kept checking over his shoulder. The undead legion maintained perfect distance, moving like shadows between the trees when the path narrowed. No one would see them unless they knew exactly where to look.

"Captain," Aldric said suddenly. "When we reach the capital, what’s the story? You walked back alone from a destroyed border legion?"

Rhen nodded. "Raiders hit harder than expected. Overwhelming numbers. I was separated during the final push. Fought my way out. Barely survived. The rest... didn’t make it."

Aldric’s scarred jaw tightened. "And we wait in the shadows while you smile at the bastards who ordered it."

"Yes," Rhen said firmly. "For now. I need to get inside. Find out who planned this. How high it goes. Then we strike."

"Smart," Aldric replied. Too approving. Too quick. "You always were the one who saw the whole board."

Rhen stopped walking again. "Why do you sound like you’re planning with me? You’re supposed to be following orders, not discussing strategy."

Aldric met his gaze steadily. "We followed you in life. We follow you in death. The difference is we understand now. We understand what they did to us."

The words hung heavy between them. Rhen looked away first, resuming the march. "Just stay hidden. That’s all I need from you right now."

"As you command."

The edge of the battlefield approached. Rhen could feel it in that new sense. The boundary where claimed land ended and normal territory began. His steps slowed.

"Legion, hold position here," he called back. "Do not cross until I send word."

The response came as one voice. "Yes, Captain."

Rhen took the final steps across the invisible line.

The System triggered without warning.

[Territory Claimed: Border March Road]

A surge of new awareness flooded into him. And with it, something else stirred deep inside the network. Not his men. Not the System. Something vast and patient waking up, stretching through the connections he had just created.

Rhen froze.

This wasn’t just control. Something was growing.