The grass in front of Karn was covered in bugs. Brown, green, black, red. He poked at them despodently with a stick. “No wights.”
“No,” Laurus said in a tiny voice.
“No skeletons.” Karn lifted a long stalk, sending bugs tumbling. “No demons riding dire wolves.”
Laurus hugged his grimoire and hoped Karn would not explode.
“’Army of Evil’, that was the plan.”
“Well, yes. I needed to cut one syllable to make it scan.”
“Oh, I’d be happy enough with an evil army. But this undisciplined lot couldn’t even cause a crop failure.” He stomped off. Laurus breathed again.