The girl was forced to pick herself back up, knowing that the next few moments had been decided for her.
However, before she could leave the room, she laid the apprentice down so he at least seemed more peaceful than shoved into a corner where he happened to fall as she pushed the door open more.
She felt like she was disregarding life. It made her feel unbelievably guilty.
Could acknowledging life while also being dutiful to the cries that there was a necromancer outside exist hand in hand?
Deciding that people screaming for help meant that there were people left to save was justification enough, she grabbed her sword from where it fell and sprinted out the way she came. Again, she had to avoid flames and climb over rubble, but the screams about a necromancer were urgent.
Not only that, but something impacted the earth that let out a hollow, loud echo across the area, and she felt unbelievably urgent to get to the bottom of the situation.
While knights couldn’t do anything to a necromancer directly, they could at least try to burn them or call in mages to do something. If she were forced to ride all through the night to seek help, she would do so in a heartbeat.
However, the closer the girl ran to all of the noise, the more she realized that there was perhaps truly something to be done directly because, over the tops of a few lower buildings, she saw the shiny skull of an ogre—something she had never witnessed before in her life.
It was the true result of a necromancer’s work, and whether or not the necromancer was still around seemed unlikely. She had read that much in the books Gunnar required them to read when they had indoor duties or time in the winter.
Rather than keeping inside the town where more could get destroyed if the ogre skeleton spotted her, she darted between buildings and ran to the outer edges. There, she finally saw others more familiar.
"Where on earth have you been!?" Sir Gunnar shouted when he spotted his apprentice.
"I’m so sorry, sir," she began, but was quickly cut off.
"No time!" the knight responded. "You’ll explain yourself to me later. Do you still have arrows from night patrol?"
"Do whatever you can to light the skeleton on fire. It’s the only way that we can take it down without having direct access to the necromancer or the possibility of breaking the spell that is keeping that monster upright."
"I will do it," Irene responded dutifully.
Just after she spoke to her knight, her eyes went forward, and the large skeleton walked forward with a stone club in its hands that it swung and knocked over a small shed where food for the winter was likely normally stored.
"Get out of here!" Gunnar said. "Get higher and do what you can while we remain on the ground!"
That meant the girl had to run off and return towards the inner area of the town so she could find a ladder that would lead her up the sides of a building.
However, she also needed fire, so she had to steal a lantern that was already lit on the way up. An oil lantern would have been much better, but a beggar couldn’t be a chooser in that moment.
Considering the town hadn’t been properly cared for in over a day, the candle was almost burnt out, but it was her only hope for the time being. The arrow’s cloth was highly flammable, and she was relying on that heavily.
Her body moved on its own as she went into an alleyway and found the ladder she was looking for. It led her up a building that wasn’t too close to the action, but once she was on top, she could figure it out a lot more easily.
Even if she wasn’t in the direct line of the ogre, Irene got as close as she could, only able to see the monster’s head most of the time.
As rushed and panicked as the girl was, she knew she needed to calm down and move slowly so her shots were at least accurate. It also wouldn’t help if she moved quickly, and the flame of the dying candle caught the wind that was more harsh now that she wasn’t between the buildings.
She opened the lantern and dipped an arrow in. When it finally caught enough for her to close the lantern once more, the girl stood up and faced the direction from which the ogre was leaving.
Could a monster like that see, or was it merely moving and reacting?
A lot didn’t make sense, but what did make sense to her was that she needed to light its head on fire so those on the ground had a better chance of taking it down.
Thinking that she was going to lose her open shot, she decided to release the arrow.
She practically held her breath as the ogre stumbled forward.
To her relief, it caught itself by stumbling backward, and it gave her arrow a more accurate shot.
Unfortunately, it was too accurate because the large ear holes of the empty skull made the arrow merely fly through it.
Seeing as there was something else to react to, the ogre changed directions, and it seemed like it was actually going to start heading her way.
While it meant danger, it also meant a better shot.
She lined up her arrow again.
Since it was facing her, it was much easier to send the fire arrow to the back of its skull. She did it once, then she did it again. The second arrow wasn’t lit until it met the other arrow, and the fire around the cloth grew bigger since there was more to ignite.
When it made it to an area between the buildings, she was relieved to see that it was walking but slowly collapsing as the bones on its feet and legs were reduced to ash. The bones were likely ancient, and the spell to awaken them must have been triggered for an unknown reason.
Relief only came to the girl when the ogre collapsed in a heap. She looked down at the now burnt-out lantern.
She squeezed her eyes shut and quietly thanked it.
Her job wasn’t finished for the night, but with a large threat gone, it was much closer.