Yet their attack was faltering. The [Necromancer]’s forces were taking their toll on the living. Sidheag’s undead were being smashed to pieces. She saw a Draug forcing Idelt back as the man rained blows down on its face. But the Draug forced him back, and a Ghoul leapt and knocked a young woman off her feet despite the spear.

“Violetta!”

Sidheag cried out. The undead faltered around her, losing direction. She saw the Ghoul biting at Violetta as her friend screamed and tried to fight it off with her bare hands. Idelt charged the Ghoul, but Violetta was pinned. She cried out as Sidheag saw the Ghoul open its mouth and bite at her—

A pale, transparent blade severed its head. The [Singer] stared. Ser Dalius?

No. The figure rose from the earth. She swung her sword, her armor gleaming. Faded color, black and white and gold, shone on her armor. Even her skin was pale, almost pure white. The skin of someone who had lived her entire life under Noelictus’ skies. Her hair was yet black, but crossed with the faintest streaks of blonde, like veins of gold running through a dark sky.

The ghost rose from the earth and swung her blade again. She speared a zombie through the chest. She turned her head and raised her sword. A sharp face, eyes like a hawk. A voice used to crying out in desperate battlefields. Yet never with despair or defeat. She roared, her voice echoing under the clear sky.

“To Afiele! With me!”

Sidheag saw another glowing form. A spear rose from the earth, held by a figure in armor. A man as old as her late grandfather, hair leaving a bald pate, over which a lopsided helm covered a grim face.

A man fit to be a farmer. Yet a ghost wearing ancient soldier’s armor. Eyes burning cold. The pikeman stepped, bent low, like an arrow, and his huge pike ran through the Draug attacking Idelt. The

[Blacksmith] stumbled back, face pale.

The third ghost swung the pike up, cutting the huge undead apart from the inside. His teeth were bared, and he set himself in a line of one, looking around, confused—but a warrior of a thousand battles Sidheag had never known.

The woman who had appeared first was still shouting, looking around.

“Rally to the Lord of the Fields! Rally to me! Where is the Order of the Shadowed Blooms? Where are the Deathchosen? The Last Regiment? Where are the honor guard?”

Her hair streamed behind her as she and the second ghost cleared a path. Her sword flashed faster than the eye could see; she hacked down the undead around Violetta and Idelt and whirled, attacking while guarding the living.