Blacky easily dispatched the zombie he had already wounded. The corpse fell to the muddy ground and did not move again. The second zombie fighting him clawed him, giving him yet another wound.
Etienne made contact with one of his scimitars against his undead opponent. A moment later, a dagger appeared in the zombie's shoulder. Anyone with a chance to look up could see Echo standing on the roof of the keep above the room where the group had entered the keep with a second dagger in her hand.
Jana bellowed at the zombies who had nearly killed her, swinging at them in a blind rage. She missed badly, and the wound in her abdomen continued to bleed, further draining her strength. She was moving almost as slowly as the undead she faced, but she managed to keep the two monsters from harming her again.
Aloysius boldly darted across the courtyard. One of the zombies clobbered him on his way by, and the priest quickly muttered a prayer to his dark god. "Die," he ordered the fleeing mage, but Aloysius paid him no mind as he dashed by. The zombies plodded after Aloysius as the wizard ran pell-mell into the darkness on the west side of the courtyard. Behind the priest and the zombies, the wolf continued to bare its teeth and growl.
Jana snarled and swung again at the zombies. She staggered slightly, fading fast from the horrible wound in her abdomen, which continued to bleed so heavily she was covered in blood from chest to boots. She seemed weaker with every swing of her sword.
Aloysius continued his mad dashing about the courtyard, a strategy which had proven at least somewhat effective thus far. He once again managed to elude the plodding zombies and tossed his dagger at the zombie fighting Etienne near Kaileer's fallen form. The dagger hit the zombie about the same time as the one thrown by Echo from the roof missed it. Etienne caught the zombie on both of his blades, sending the monster falling to the ground.
The zombies in pursuit of Aloysius moved towards him again. One of them was distracted by Etienne, who hit it with a scimitar, but unfortunately took another wound of his own in the process. Aloysius threw a couple of daggers before the creature after him closed the distance to make that ineffective. Both of them hit the zombie, but it continued on towards the mage.
Jana was fighting for her life against her two attackers when one of her swings went wild, throwing her off balance. She lost her footing in the mud and was unable to keep herself from falling in her weakened state. Her blood loss made it almost impossible for her to get up again, forcing her to fight from a semi-kneeling position on the ground. Only her extreme rage made this effective at all, and she made contact with one of the zombies with her bastard sword. It was becoming more than obvious that if she didn't get some help and soon, the wounds she had already taken might finish her off before the zombies did.
Echo circled around on the roof of the keep, attempting to give Jana some desperately needed help. She hit the zombie that was not wounded with another dagger.
Blacky hit the zombie he was facing several times, hacking the undead creature into bits.
The snarling wolf in the northeast corner of the courtyard disappeared.
Ranchefus produced a flask from somwhere on his person and quickly drank the contents. He took to the air, flying with frightening speed, and landed on the roof of the keep in front of Echo.
"Damn flying priest." Blacky grumbled as he saw his quarry fly out of range. Torn between who to help, Blacky moved to hack down the zombie on Etienne. Figuring he was the only one likely to be able to bind Jana's wounds successfully.
Etienne backed away as Blacky took his zombie. He pulled his bow off his back and notched an arrow, "I've got to distract the priest to give Echo some room. Jana's down but she's got a minute or two until it gets bad. Maybe I can keep us all from dying."
Etienne pulled back on his back and started to continously launch arrows at the evil priest.
As Blacky moved in to assist Etienne, Aloysius quickly calculated what this meant - he had to go toe-to-toe with the zombie in front of him. Drawing yet another dagger from his rapidly depleting bandolier, he weakly assumed his fencer's stance, his breaths coming quickly. "Take me if thou canst," he growled, as he tried to plunge his dagger into the zombie.
Jana's eyes grew wide and her face drained of what little color it had left as she saw Ranchefus land in front of Echo. "No!" Jana shouted, looking up at Ranchefus. "We surrender!" She was on her knees, trying to keep her sword between herself and the zombies. "We surrender!" she shouted again, not nearly so loud. Her eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she fell over on side, her sword still clasped loosely in her hands. Now that their victim had stopped moving, the two zombies lumbered in the direction of Blacky, Etienne, and Aloysius.
"Somebody help Jana!" Echo yelled, or more accurately squeaked, to those in the courtyard below. "The gates are open, so go if you can!" She turned and ran from Ranchefus.
Before Echo could get very far, Ranchefus muttered another prayer and said something to her. She immediately slumped to the roof of the keep. Etienne's arrows hit him, but it was too late to stop his spell. The priest moved to the fallen woman's side.
Before Echo could get very far, Ranchefus muttered another prayer and said something to her. She immediately slumped to the roof of the keep. Etienne's arrows hit him, but it was too late to stop his spell. The priest moved to the fallen woman's side.
Blacky's axe caught the zombie that had been fighting Etienne and cleaved it in two at the waist. Both halves of the zombie fell to the mud. The rotting stench that came from the remains of the monster was almost unbearable.
Aloysius faced off against the zombie only to realize that his dagger supply had already been depleted. He made yet another dash and tried to recover one of his daggers from the zombie that Etienne had cut down. The sudden movement once again seemed to throw the mindless undead off, and the swipe that the monster made at the mage missed.
"Damn!" cursed the mage, as he ducked under the zombie's claw. "Eric! I could use some assistance!" Trying to keep an eye on "his" zombie as well as those that were approaching as best he could, he tried to withdraw the dagger from the felled zombie's body and stab the one that pursued him.
Etienne kept the hail of arrows going at the priest, "Cyric must be in bad shape if all the followers he can find are already dead!!"
Blacky interposed himself between the mage and 'his' zombie, swiping at it with his axe. "Take care of the ones approaching if you can!" He said to Aloysius, hoping the mage could fell at least one of the approaching creatures.
Aloysius flashed a doubtful look in Blacky's direction before continuing his frantic search for a dagger (or two).
