"It's probably just squirrels, General,” Tordun said. “Just throw-"

At that moment, the soldier heard a rumbling, tearing sound and the ground seemed to open up. A scant thirty feet ahead of him, Quelgrum saw a humanoid figure arise from the very earth, emitting a bone-chilling groan of hatred and anguish. The General felt the short hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention. Flakes of earth dripped from the unearthly creature, and hot resolve replaced cold disquiet.

Quelgrum squeezed the trigger of his weapon and launched a trio of bullets into the being as it stumbled towards him. The creature staggered, but it did not slow in its advance.

Erik's weapon spat fire towards the advancing, shambling entity, cutting it in half. The two halves of the creature fell in opposite directions, each hitting the ground with a dull thump. However, no spray of blood accompanied the destruction.

"A zombie,” Numal said in a tremulous voice, “one of the Undead! And yet I don't see any sign of Necromancy; what's causing this?"

Quelgrum saw three more beings arising from the ground: one bore a mantle of grey-green slime and dripped a rain of pale maggots; the other two were bleached skeletons. This time, the General and the Sergeant did not wait for the creatures to find their feet before firing. Swaying their weapons back and forth in sawing motions, they bisected the undead monsters in an instant.

Another tremor rumbled, and more zombies appeared. Quelgrum squeezed his trigger again, and a scant five bullets emerged before he heard a dull click from his rifle. As the creatures advanced further, he forced down his rising emotions, ejected the spent magazine and pushed in another. He heard Erik's weapon run dry as Shakkar ran forward.

The monsters scored deep gashes in the demon's sides as he tore them apart, and the Seneschal roared, perhaps more in defiance than in pain.