"Are there any changes?" Anfey asked as he walked up to Suzanna.
"What are you doing here?" Suzanna asked, turning around. "You should be getting some rest." Suzanna frowned when she saw Anfey’s bloodshot eyes. He had been very busy for the past few days and only had slept for a few hours that morning. She knew he had to get some rest or else he could get sick.
"I’m worried," Anfey said quietly.
"You’re always worried," Suzanna said. "You need to worry more about yourself." She sighed and smoothed out some wrinkles on his shirt. There were still mercenaries around and she did not want to do anything that may be deemed inappropriate.
Anfey shook his head. "I’ll be fine," he said.
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
Suzanna sighed and shook her head. She knew there was no use trying to convince him to do anything he did not want to do.
"Let’s go take a walk," Anfey said, pointing down the wall. "I’m sure the necromancers will attack again at some point. They need to take us out before Fernando arrives, or else it would be almost impossible for them to wipe us out."
"The attack never stopped," Suzanna said with a frown. "But that’s different, isn’t it? They’re just trying to figure out how much manpower we have."
Anfey nodded. "This coming fight…it’s going to be worse than all these small skirmishes added together. They’re serious about taking us out."
Suzanna opened her mouth a few times but only sighed and did not say anything.
"What is it?" Anfey asked.
"Never mind," Suzanna said. "It’s nothing."
"It’s never nothing," Anfey said. "What are you keeping from me?"
Suzanna shook her head.
"We promised each other we’d never keep secrets, remember?" Anfey said. "You can talk to me about anything. Plus, you’re never this hesitant."
Suzanna grabbed Anfey’s arm and moved closer to him. They walked in silence for a few minutes. Anfey knew that it was no use pushing her, but she eventually would talk to him. She always talked to him because he talked to her. They rarely keep secrets from each other.
"Tell me, Suzanna," Anfey said.
"Have you…have you planned for the worst?" Suzanna asked quietly. "I know you’re not the kind to prepare for that, but…"
Suzanna knew that it was a difficult thing to think about. No one wanted to think about the worst possible situation when planning for a battle. Even one as meticulous as Anfey might not have a backup plan when the worst happened.
To Suzanna, there were certain people she wanted to protect and there were people she wanted to protect but could not. Riska and Blavi were her friends; and Ozzic, Shinbella, and the mercenaries were loyal followers. She wanted to protect all of them, but she knew that even as a top level power she could not protect everyone. If worse came to worst and the zombies broke into the city, she would need to make sacrifices.
Suzanna knew she was not a hero and could not sacrifice herself for others. Anfey wanted glory and fame, but she just wanted a peaceful life. She could do anything to protect those who were important to her, but not the ones she deemed irrelevant to her life.
Ye was hurrying over and caught what Suzanna said. He paused, unsure what to do. Ye knew what Suzanna was talking about, but this was a private conversation and not one he should intrude into. Whatever Anfey and Suzanna talked about was their business. He should stay away.
Anfey spotted Ye and waved him over. Suzanna pursed her lips when she saw Ye.
Ye hesitated, then hurried over. "Lord Blavi told me to look for you, sir," he said.
"You heard what we were saying, didn’t you?"
"Yes," Ye said with a nod.
"That is the issue I wanted to talk to you about," Anfey said. "If the worst happens, we need a plan."
Ye nodded. "I’ll follow your every order, sir," Ye said, "no matter what happens." Ye knew Anfey and knew that as long as there was a glimmer of hope, Anfey would not abandon his men. If it really came down to it, it would not be Anfey’s or Suzanna’s fault. A few survivors would still be better than no survivors.
"Don’t be so pessimistic," Anfey said with a grin. "Don’t forget about Warner and the Book of Life."
"You mean…"
"I’ve talked with Warner a few times," Anfey said. "He said that it is hard to activate the Book of Life. As long as we can keep the zombies and the necromancers away from him, he can hold out for a long time. I think that is more than enough. But in order for Warner to use the Book of Life, we need to take out the priests. I can’t call Ozzic back, so you need to be the one to do it."
"But sir, if we take out those priests…"
"Warner and the Book of Life will be our last resort," Anfey said. "As long as there is hope, I won’t use him. You know how powerful that book is. If we have that book, we won’t need those priests."
Ye nodded, looked at Suzanna, and turned to leave. Before he could get far, he stumbled. He glanced outside of the city and his heard grew cold. Several dozen specters were floating just outside the wall. They would attack the wall quickly and soundlessly before hurrying away. They made no noise, but the ones they attacked could hear loud screams. A few mercenaries were stumbling already. The priests that were present hurried to cleanse them.
Suzanna frowned. She turned to Anfey and saw that his entire body was tense and he was shaking as if enduring great pain. "Anfey?" she asked quietly.
"I’m fine," Anfey said through clenched teeth as the specters retreated. "Let’s get out of here." The specters had an unpleasant effect on him, and their magic made him strangely angry. He knew that the specters shouldn’t affect him, but he could not block them out. It wasn’t pain or discomfort he had just experienced. The specters had awaken the part of him that wanted to fight.
"You said that we don’t keep secrets," Suzanna said. "But you are keeping things from me. Now that Ye heard what I just said, he must be thinking that I’m a horrible person."
"Ye’s not that kind of person, you know that," Anfey said. "He understands there are choices we must make."
Suzanna wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by a sudden howl. Thousands of zombies surged towards the wall from the forest like moving water, howling and clawing, ready to kill any living thing in front of them.