The Undead Ruler

T

Trackerofthenorth

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In the year 2207 AD in the seventh month, a rebellion struck among the humans of Earth to destroy the governments of their countries. In an attempt to keep their vice like control, money and power, the leaders came together and formed an alliance in Iran known as the Lion Jaw Act. The people were in an uproar at this, and the rebellion grew and its leaders joined forces worldwide.


When the threat to the leaders reared its head, the government began to draft civilians into a massive army and used them in the war against the rebels. The battlefields were bloody and filled with dead bodies from both sides. No one--not even women, children or infants--was spared from all the death and destruction. It seemed that the world as they knew it was coming to a slow and painful end.


Then, a new leader came about to save them. He promised peace, and the humans of Earth believed him with hope in their hearts. He destroyed the government in one war campaign and made the entire world his empire, but the damage had been done to the world. Everyone was forced back into the dark ages, and they had nothing from their lives before.


Now, there are thirty massive villages all over the world that contain every human known to be alive. There is also a capital where the leader resides with his legion. Each of the villages is governed by a Lord and a Lady who are governed by the emperor. In some of the villages, there is news of yet another rebellion. The forces are slowly learning and growing, but they aren't doing so quietly.
 
"My lord, there has once more been rumors coming from the villages in Europe. Rumors of rebellions. If nothing is done about it, it might actually happen." One of the advisers warned the Arch-Lich. "What should we do about it?" Zar'Vandir sighed deeply. "Humans are never satisfied with anything. No matter the situation, there is always someone wanting to change it. This time I'll visit the village myself. Which one is the one with the most recent rumors?" He asked. "Minasbeld, my lord." Without another word, the Arch-Lich stood up from his throne and walked to the teleportation room.

Zar'Vandir appeared Minasbeld's town hall, in the Lord's office. He simply explained it was a visit to see how the village was doing under his rule. The lord tried to convince him that the village was in perfect condition, yet Zar'Vandir brushed him off and explained that he wanted to see the village with his own eye-holes, before simply walking out of the office.

As he walked through the streets, most of the people bowed down to him. Not all of them knew it was the Arch-Lich himself, yet they knew better than not respecting any of the liches. Zar'Vandir walked around, being disappointed about the state of the village. It truly was one of the poorer ones, and he made a mental note to improving it somehow.
 
Men and women from every family had been coming since the sun rose. Zaria had a good hunt the day before and was passing out portions of meat to families. When everyone had their meat portions, she went downstairs and began feeding the animals starting with her hyena and ending with her Siberian tiger. She had more than thirty animals and was expecting a new litter of wolves in a few months. After she was done, she took out her big Bengal for training.


Zaria was always careful when she brought her animals out into the open for training. She took them to a pen of cinder block and a dried honey glue used by ancient Egyptians. She let the tiger loose and it charged. Zaria shoved it back with a stick and began training it to hunt with and for her. It was making a lot of noise which was expected with a new animal. It lunged again and she used her cattle prod to shove it back again.


A couple of people, mostly younger children, came to watch. It was normal for people to watch her work. Most of them accused her of witchcraft because she worked so well with the beasts, but she always stopped the convictions by stuffing their mouths with food only she could provide. She looked over and saw that man. He'd been coming to her training exercises often, but she never saw him at food rallies.
 
Zar'Vandir kept wandering the village, noticing that a lot of people seemed to be going towards the same place. He did not know where nor why, and so, he slowly started wandering over, towards where so many others seemed to have been going. Yet as he did, the stream of people seemed to diminish. He wondered for a moment if it was because they had seen him, or if it was for some other reason. He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts, however, as he heard a fearsome roar, coming from the small shack up ahead. It looked like that had been the place all the people had come and gone to. And it sounded like there was something or another going on there. He started walking faster, yet he could see that the people gathered around a pen of sorts seemed completely calm. He approached the pen silently, yet a few people stepped aside for him, before he saw what was going on. A woman seemingly keeping a tiger at bay with only a stick of sorts. As everyone seemed so calm, he simply stood there, watching the woman defend herself, in silence.
 
Zaria hit the tiger's flank and it jumped back, growling at her and facing her. She flung a piece of meat in the corner and whistled as it ran. This would teach the tiger to charge at food when she whistled. The tiger seemed to be busy with his meal so she looked at the crowd. She noticed the liche and spat as she turned with a scowl. When she turned the tiger was about to lunge. In a flash, she beat it off and whacked it over the nose.


She decided to end it there and got the chain hooked into its collar. With a tiger in tow, she marched back to her home without saying a word and put it in its cage in the basement. However, her mind was on that liche. She broke a rule and let her mind wander while handling a wild animal. It clamped down on her arm and she jerked it out with a grimace. Holding her arm, she walked back upstairs and wrapped up her wound.
 
Zar'Vandir had simply watched, as the woman had apparently been training the tiger. And almost as soon as she had seen him, she stopped the training and brought the beast into her house. Being a bit intrigued by this woman with a tiger, he decided to see if he couldn't learn a bit more about the woman. He looked around her house, and it seemed to have been quite a lot of people here at some point. It even looked like some blood had been spilled on the ground a few places.

Deciding he wouldn't learn anything more from simply looking around, he walked up to the door of the shack and knocked gently on it, almost afraid it'd fall off. "I have a few questions for you, miss!" He said, loud enough to be heard, in the rather emotionless tone most of the undead had at most times.
 
Zaria finished with her wound and went out to meet whoever it was at her door, not caring that she was covered in both animal and human blood. It was that liche from earlier that was calling for her. She folded her arms over her chest and completely blocked her door with her thin body and frowned. Not once did she bow, and she didn't plan to anytime soon. She didn't have the time to trust anyone, and that included any and all authority figures.


"What do you want with me? Let me guess, you're getting more rumors of a witch that talks to animals? That other liche seemed convinced enough when he was snooping about my property," Zaria growled.
 
Zar was a bit surprised by the woman's rudeness, yet he decided not to care too much about it. He had heard the rumors of some witch somewhere, but he had never truly cared about them. He was once but a small time magic user as well, yet he was certain that if she was, and she tried to use her powers to topple him, he'd be able to stop her.

"I care little about what my sub-ordinates say about you being a witch. If you use magic to tame your animals, I care not, as I've been expecting more magic to come to the lands sometime. But what I do care about, is all the blood in the area around here. By the looks of it, something, or someone, has been slaughtered here. I don't suppose it was some sort of... Public lynching of someone talking about things they weren't supposed to?" He asked her, his empty eye-sockets looking her over.
 
Zaria looked around her home with a bored look. She really didn't have time to be listening to a liche's whims, especially when he was searching in her home. Yes there was blood and lots of it in her makeshift home. There was always blood in her home though. It came with the hunting career, albeit she could clean. Zaria didn't have time for cleaning at the moment though. She needed to go to the market and get medicine for her wound.


"First of all, liche," Zaria held up one finger. "I'm not a witch. I use ancient techniques to train my animals, not filthy magic. Second, because of your faulty governing techniques, we have a stingy Lord and Lady using up our money on themselves so I'm the bread winner for this entire village. That means I must butcher a few animals for the entire village every week. Thirdly, I haven't killed a human since last year, so I think you have the wrong girl."
 
Zar listened to what the woman had to say, then thought for a moment. "Very well. I was looking around the town, and it did seem rather... poor, I must admit. I do blame myself for not having been here for far too long. And I apologize for putting a corrupt man as your Lord." He bowed his head slightly for a moment. "And since I will personally be taking care of him, how well do you think you would do, managing this city? Taking time to hunt for other, and I assume, for no payment is quite the noble thing to do. And a noble should act noble, no? And by the looks of it, the city does not need some fat aristocrat taking all the money for himself."

"So what say you? Do you accept my offer to become the lady of town, or do you refuse?" Zar asked, holding out a skeletal hand for her to take.
 
Zaria looked at the bone hand quietly and frowned. She opened the door wide and walked inside, half expecting him to join her inside. This liche wasn't all that bad. At least not as bad as the others were. He seemed to actually like humans at least a little bit. Unlike the others, he hadn't lost all of his humanity yet. She found a vial of liquid and poured it over her wound. The liquid began to bubble and foam white on the wound. Tigers' mouths were disgusting places.

"Sadly, I cannot," Zaria said pulling out a government issued law book. "A liche and a human named...Martin I think...made a deal," she pointed to a newer law. "They went behind the old emperor's back and made this law. It says that Lords and Ladies cannot be removed without their consent. If they're killed, it'll go to a liche," Zaria frowned. "It seems the emperor has a conspiracy on his hands."
 
Zar moved inside the shack after the woman. He watched for a moment, as she poured something on her wound, before going she got a book and explained its contents to him. He sighed deeply, running his hand across his forehead.
"Not only are my Lords and Ladies corrupt, but so are my liches. I suppose there are a few bad apples in every orchard, yet this is not something I shall accept!" He shook his fist slightly in front of himself. "Though, if there are bad apples, they must be removed, for the others to thrive, and for it to not make other apples bad. I shall take care of the Lord. If or when a lich comes to take his place, I shall take care of him as well!" He said angrily, with the glow from his skull somehow seeming a bit brighter.
"If you wish to see a corrupt man getting his just punishment, come along." He said, before he turned towards the door and started walking back towards the city hall.
 
Grinning, Zaria ran downstairs to her basement, found her four best lions and put on their leashes. The beasts were practically dragging her as she caught up with the liche. The Lord was always scared of her lions most of all. They were beasts of malice and justice; it was something he never knew. She pulled back once she caught up and the animals grunted as they tried to run down the path. The villagers were terrified and made a path. Zaria spoke to the lions as they struggled and they calmed slightly.

"The Lord is terrified of lions. He won't even allow meat hunted by them in the village," Zaria sneered. "They are law enforcement symbols, and it scares him senseless."
 
Zar grinned slightly. "Lions kill their prey quickly, to eat. I, on the other hand, I am not that kind. He shall suffer before I let your pets have their way with him. He will regret ever having gone against my wishes! Both he and the damn traitorous lich!" As he walked, he grasped the thin air in front of him. A puff of green smoke appeared, as a staff formed in his hand. It was a dark staff, with a obsidian skull containing a shiny, green jewel inside its head.

The lich flung the doors to the city hall open before them, marching in. "Mark my words! None cross Zar'Vandir and lives!" His voice seemed to be echoing through the halls, strengthened by his magic. "The lions of justice has come, yet you need only fear the hand of death!"
 
Zaria let out a low long whistle and the lions began tracking. They lurked down the hall and stopped at the office door, scratching at its knob. She pulled them back, interested in what this lich was planning to do. He was by far one of the strongest she'd seen so far, and he was the nicest one she knew. The fact that he was willingly ready to help was an oddity.

"Found him," Zaria cooed in a sing song tone.
 
Zar approached the door Zaria stood beside. He gently tapped the tip of his staff against the door, and it started to rot away as soon as he removed the staff again. As the last part of the door seemingly rotted out of existence, Zar stepped through the doorway, staring at the fat man sitting behind the desk.

"Please, Arch-lich! I've done nothing wrong!" He begged, as he hid behind his desk. Zar walked up to the desk, running one hand across it. He never took his eyes of the fat man, as he spoke. "This office... It has all of the finest luxuries a man could wish for. Yet the people of the city starve. Do you call that *doing nothing wrong*?" Zar asked, his voice echoing, even though the room was well furnished. His free arm quickly sprang out and grabbed the lord around the throat, then lifting him off the floor. "Going against my will for your own personal gain... Is as wrong as it gets." He said, before ever so gently touched his staff against the man's forehead.
The lord's hair suddenly started becoming grey, his face wrinkly and his hands seemed to lose a lot of their muscle and fat. The man had seemingly aged a great many years in only a few seconds. Zar pulled his staff away from the now, old man, and tapped it once on his chest. The man clutched his chest and groaned in pain, as the cloth around where the staff had touched seemingly eroded away, revealing a large, dark spot on his chest, where his flesh was rotten.
Zar threw what was only moments ago a fat lord, but now a half rotten old man, towards Zaria and her lions. "Enjoy." He simply said, as the man screamed a ragged scream as he was almost face to face with the big felines.
 
With a grin, Zaria let go of the chains, making the man flinch. The lions only stared at him with hunger and curiosity. She chuckled darkly and whistled, sending the large beasts into action. They charged and lunged, each tearing open a piece. The man screamed as he was eaten alive. Once the screaming stopped, Zaria snapped and the lions stopped their feeding. She whistled and pointed to a nearby door. They barged in and attacked the Lord's wife. She screamed for what felt like hours, but the screams eventually died off. Zaria snapped again and they returned to her.

"So, what's your plan now, emperor?" Zaria asked as she grabbed each of the lions' chains.
 
"First of all, I'm going to take care of traitorous lich. Then, I will remove the law that the bastards came up with. Then, I'll set you into power, I suppose. Either that or find another person to take the role." As he spoke, Zar slowly walked towards the chair of the lord. He sat down in it, and with a flick of his wrist, his staff disappeared, and a small dagger appeared in it's place. "You might want to hide in a neighboring room, as the lich will most likely out up a bit more of a fight." He said, as he placed the blade of the dagger between his ribs. "Don't want any unnecessary casualties, do we?" He asked, as he swung around in the chair. The moment before the back of the chair would block the view, he seemed like usual. When he came into sight again, he looked just like the lord, but with a bloody wound on his chest where the dagger was. He swept his right arm in front of him, and both the body on the floor, and the blood, seemed to fade out of sight.
 
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