The door moved. Something was throwing its weight against it. Not a Draug. Not yet. A Ghoul. Crypt Lords wouldn’t make it up here…

Another impact. The door rattled. Lord Lantal saw himself, sword in hand, exhausted, bloody, guarding his family. It was exactly perfect, as it should be. So wrong. It should have never been this way.

He had one last thought. The [Lord] searched around. He lowered his sword as more bodies struck at the door. And he looked up. He should have looked down, but he cried out anyways.

“I am Lord of Afiele! [Deathkeeper] and [Lord of the Fields]! I call for aid! Please.”

He shouted, he screamed for help. For the Gravewarden of Afiele’s Tomb to come. Culin, Sasi, Risel looked up, for a second hoping.

But then the door rattled. The dresser shook. Nothing happened.

No one came. His words fell on the ears of the dead. Lantal closed his eyes. He glanced up as something made a sound. He heard the sound of thunder.

A fist hit the stout door. The wood cracked but held. Even a Draug’s strength…it struck the door again.

Again. And still, the wood held.

But the stone was weaker. It began to crack. Lantal saw the door edging open. He saw the bed, dresser, jumping back. Wood splintered.

The undead entered the room. First one, crawling through, a Ghoul. Lantal stabbed it through the head and it died. Then the Draug, forcing itself through with a roar.

Lantal attacked it, screaming. He hacked at it with all of his strength, cutting through flesh and bone. He heard a shout and saw Risel striking at it from the other side. The thing was tangled up in the dresser, the remains of the door. It too died. But then a zombie appeared, skeletons, another Ghoul—

Step. Slash. Step. Cut. The world became a single task: keep them from entering. Lantal had no potions.

No regard for his own life. His life was just to stop them. He saw Risel fighting, hitting a skeleton with the shield. Culin and Sasi threw things. Pillows. Toys. Lantal brought his blade through a skeleton’s skull. He saw it lunge, spasm, and stepped clear of the sword.

He heard Risel gasp softly and turned. It was the first sound Lantal had heard since the undead had broken the door. The [Lord] of Afiele turned and saw the blade buried in his wife’s chest.

She dropped the sword and shield. Lantal stared at her. Something bit him. He swung his sword. Looked around. The remains of the dresser. He forced it towards the door. A group of zombies was pushing forwards. Lantal heaved and forced them back. He didn’t feel the effort. The door sealed for a second time.

“Risel?”

She was lying there. Lantal stepped towards her. Knelt. Fumbling for a potion neither he nor she had. His eyes were focused on her.

“Risel? Speak to me.”