The creature stopped ten paces away.
It tilted its head, the empty void of ash where its face should have been swirling faster.
It smelled of old blood and burnt hair.
Daniel's hand hovered over his weapon.
His palm was sweating against the leather grip.
"Don't breathe," he whispered.
Lily nodded slightly, her eyes wide, body pressed flat against the cold stone.
The Ash-Walker lifted its rusted blade.
The metal scraped against the gravel as it took another jerky step forward.
It wasn't looking at them.
It was tracking the heat of their badges.
Daniel could feel the silver emblem burning against his chest, a searing point of pain.
The protection wasn't hiding them.
It was acting as a beacon.
The creature lunged.
It moved with terrifying, unnatural speed, closing the distance in a single heartbeat.
Daniel rolled to the left.
The rusted blade shattered the black boulder where his head had been a second before.
Sharp fragments of stone sliced through the air.
Lily sprang up from the dust, her blade flashing in the dim light.
She drove the steel straight into the creature's chest.
There was no blood.
Only a thick cloud of gray soot that billowed out from the wound, choking the air.
The Ash-Walker didn't even flinch.
It swung its arm backward, striking Lily across the shoulder.
She flew into the dirt, coughing violently as the ash filled her lungs.
Daniel scrambled to his feet, drawing his own weapon.
He didn't aim for the body.
He remembered the academy lessons on the undead—if there is no heart to pierce, you take the limbs.
He brought his blade down hard on the creature's knee.
The bone snapped with the sound of dry wood.
The Ash-Walker collapsed to one side, but its arms were still thrashing, the rusted blade swinging wildly.
Daniel stepped inside its guard.
He drove his blade vertically down through the center of the swirling ash void.
A high-pitched, metallic shriek echoed through the valley.
The creature stiffened.
Then, the tattered academy cloak deflated, collapsing into a harmless heap of gray dust on the gravel.
Daniel stood over the pile, his chest heaving.
He offered a hand to Lily, pulling her up.
She was pale, coughing up the last of the gray soot.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I've been better," she muttered, rubbing her shoulder.
She looked down at the dust at their feet.
Among the gray ashes lay another silver badge.
This one was snapped perfectly in half.
Daniel looked up toward the swirling clouds above the highest peak.
"We can't wear these anymore," he said.
He reached for his cloak, his fingers gripping the hot silver emblem.
With a sharp tug, he ripped the academy protection from his chest and threw it into the dirt.