Bringing his hand to the pale blue flame, warmth radiating off — it sparks to life.
The flame coils around his outstretched hand, slithering down to his shoulder and weaving its way to his helmet.
Without a second to think, the flame dives into Undead's barely opened mouth, forcing its way down his throat.
Yet it doesn't burn, instead it restores. The persisting feeling of weakness — gone. Memories he didn't know he had — returned.
Yet the memories lost were nothing important. Perhaps that was why he felt no change. Just him and Leaf walking through the barn. Just fragments of walking and Alice spread through his barren mind; spreading life throughout his body.
What just invaded his body was… his soul? Not all of it, just a fragment — yet it is undoubtedly his soul.
Why — how did this happen? The soul can be fragmented? This doesn't feel right. Undead can't help but feel something is deeply off with his fragmented soul.
"Uhhhh, you saw that too, right?" Leaf tilts her head, trying to process what she even saw.
"Well, it did happen to me," he dryly retorts, stretching his now warm limbs.
"Tch, just making sure you saw it too."
A small ding rings out as she kicks his helmet.
Picking her up by the wings and letting her body hang, he says, "Don't do that."
Letting her go, he sifts through his 'new' memories. Leaf and Undead were going north of the ranch where the three brothers reside, hoping to get permission to pass through. Simple enough.
He sets his sights on the massive barn in the distance — probably a day's walk, maybe even more depending on how many demon beasts they encounter.
——
Walking until the moon slumbers and the sun wakes, it's a peaceful walk. A calm breeze drifts by, carrying the smell of fresh grass and the warm rays of the sun.
It's too peaceful. Not a single demon beast can be seen, as if something scared everything off weeks ago.
Unnerved, Undead picks up the pace. The walk to the barn doesn't take too long, arriving half a day faster than expected.
Knocking on the door, they wait for a few minutes. Nothing. No reply, no shuffling on the inside. Just silence.
"Helllooooooooo! Anyone hommmmeeee?!" Leaf yells out, a surprisingly loud voice coming out of something so tiny. Yet still, there's no reply.
Knocking on the barn door once more, the wood is fragile — rotten, easy enough to punch through.
With a single punch, an armoured fist smashes through the lock, wood splintering onto the floor.
Sliding the door open with ease, he expects some dramatic scene, but it's surprisingly ordinary.
Just an empty barn with three sets of clothes strewn across the floor. No blood, no corpses. Just a barn and a few pairs of clothes.
"Hmmm, it smells like pigs…" Grumbling under his breath, Undead passes through the barn, making his way to the clearing at the back — the gate that blocks his way to Rapunzel waiting there.
Leaf takes a deep breath and exhales before grinning at Undead. "Grime, do you smell that? That's the scent of freedom! The scent of…" Pausing, she takes another deep breath, this time her face paling as she quickly hides behind Undead. "The scent of a wolf."
As if on cue, a single howl escapes from the roof of the barn as a shadow dwarfs them. Leaping off the roof and landing in front of the pair, a wide, toothy grin spreads across its face — tongue raking over its pointed teeth.
"So I missed a few cattle? How… unfortunate."
It taps its clawed hand on Undead's chest, dragging it along the metal as a grating screech follows its trail.
"Get your filthy hand off me, mutt," Undead says while grabbing the werewolf's wrists.
"Mere cattle think they can refuse me? Laughable."
With a grin that meets his eyes, the wolf bites down without warning. Used to being bitten, however, Undead predicted this.
He kicks the mutt's stomach, using the momentum to dodge backwards.
"Leaf, just keep attacking from afar. When I give the signal, boost my steps with wind."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Retreating further back, Leaf starts shooting arrows of wind — thinned down to the width of a needle. Something she had been practicing while they walked.
Bearing his sword, Undead rushes forward, stabbing — but he leans too far forward and loses balance.
Dodging with minimal effort, the wolf slashes downwards, claws piercing the armour with a screech.
"A bit too skilful for regular cattle. Congrats, you've been upgraded to the head of cattle!"
A mocking laugh escapes its maw as it approaches at a leisurely pace, effortlessly dodging the arrows of wind shot by Leaf.
"A mutt thinks they can label me? Hah!" Spitting in its face as he walks towards it again.
With a steady pace, Undead slashes diagonally. Expecting the beast to dodge, he swings again, letting the beast track its sword. Once certain the beast is tracking it, he swings his left fist.
Head snapping back, the wolf glares down. "...Complacent," The wolf mutters to itself
Undead doesn't even blink yet the wolf is gone — in its jaw is half a fairy, mangled but still alive.
Leaf doesn't scream. She can't scream. Her intestines hang from the wolf's teeth, blood slowly dripping onto the floor.
Amused by Leaf's silence, the wolf chews her legs — or what used to be her legs — a sickening crunch leaving his lips.
"... This isn't good." An oddly calm voice leaves Undead.
He despairs, overridden with it. Yet he doesn't give up. The despair he feels right now does not compare to the helplessness he felt when fighting — it can't even be called a fight — when he was brushed off by the Helkaiser.
Taking a deep breath, feeling life bloom in his rotten lungs, he runs away — stumbling as he does.
He rolls to his feet and bolts towards the barn, slamming the door behind him and leaving through the front.
"Where do you think you're going?"
A cocky voice appears in front of him, like how Alice did. But it would be an insult to Alice if he compared such an angel to a mutt like that.
Throwing dirt into its face, Undead stabs forward, but the dull blade barely penetrates the muscles of the wolf. Still, damage is damage.
Letting out a pathetic growl, the wolf slashes at his side. Letting go of his sword, Undead ducks down before launching himself up, uppercutting it.
The wolf stumbles a few steps back, brain rattled. Undead pursues this moment of weakness and stabs his sword deeper, piercing through its back.
"Know your place, mutt."
He continues to push until the hilt of his blade reaches its stomach. Undead tackles with his shoulder, taking it to the ground, resting his weight on its neck.
In a pitiful sense of resistance, the wolf claws at his sides, breaking his armour and stabbing into his ribs.
Rotten blood flows to the ground. Undead doesn't stop until the wolf breathes its last breath.
Watching its body go limp, claws driven into his sides, he releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Bark like a dog, die like a dog."
Spitting on its corpse, Undead grits his teeth, taking out the claws stuck in his sides.
"Krghhhh," yet a groan still escapes his lips.
Panting, he uses his sword as a cane, limping towards Leaf.
Her lower body, wrapped in wind, slowly heals. Like a bear being stuffed, her entrails are woven back into her body, her lost blood replaced with wind, and her mangled legs are blown up like a balloon, forcing any dents or wounds out.
A short while after, Leaf groggily sits up, yawning like she just woke up from a long rest. "Did I die again?" she says casually, like this is a common occurrence for her.
"Gruesomely at that," Undead adds, observing as Leaf's bloated legs deflate.
"Ughh, don't remind me," Shivering as she rubs her arms, face pale as she recalls being treated as nothing but a chew toy.
"Don't worry about it. The wolf is dead already."
"Good, I knew the knight I chose wouldn't die so easily," she says proudly — for something she didn't even do — before weakly flying over to Undead's head, lying on it.
"Just take me out of here. Stupid barn, what type of idiot even suggested going here?"
Staying quiet, finding it best not to respond, he limps his way towards the gate leading to Rapunzel's tower.