It had been a few long weeks in the bountiful kingdom of Espia, a large kingdom that had held peace for thousands of years. Little conflict arose with only minor conflicts with other kingdoms. In which it the nobles grew cocky and lazy, confident in their ability to defend themselves from any harm. This included the newest threat, from a single Necromancer. A couple of weeks ago, a Necromancer shrouded in shadow, warned King Rurik to step down from his throne and forfeit it to him. Otherwise, disaster would fall upon the plentiful kingdom. Of course, the king refused to comply, taking the threat with little worry.

After a week, rumors spread of a rising army from the east border of the kingdom, near he little town of Sharlton. The king and the royal council held little worry that a single Necromancer would be able to out number even the troops at Sharlton. Still, due to the high demand from the General in Sharlton, the king set out a hefty army, believing that would be more than enough to wipe the Necromancer out.

He could never have been more wrong.

---

Sharlton was peaceful little beautiful town, full of luscious green and farmland. It was right near the eastern border, close to the more darker kingdom of Nightera, A kingdom that was home to the more darker things in life. Necromancers, evil spirits, and dark monsters. However, most do not cross the border and if anything did, the guards in Sharlton handle it with ease.

Now though, on horseback, a woman clad in armor trotted through the streets of Sharlton. Her name was General Arisa, one of the only women to make it so far in the ranks of Knights. Many still looked down on her for being a woman, but her talents could not go unnoticed and she had earned her rightful title. She wore the heavy knightly armor, a red cape drifting from her shoulders with the Kingdom's symbol upon it. A golden chimera.

A neigh from her white horse pulled her from her thoughts as it reared as children ran before her path, laughing happily. A smile crossed her lips, as she looked at the children before giving a sigh. All the more reason why she had to win this battle. Glancing behind her at the far back of the village stood the large Church of the Sisterhood and to the left of it stood a small building for the Orphanage. A couple house to the right was the Soldiers Quarters and the jail that lay in the basement. Beside it was the Wizard ward and library, where the mages study. The rest consisted of ships and houses for the people.

General Arisa had said her prayers at the Church, praying to the Mother for everyone's safety, and for their victory. Soon she reached the large front gates, opened and revealing the large foot army ready for battle. Taking a deep breath, the general trotted through the crowd, waving her hand to signal the gates to be closed and shut tight. Glancing up the tall stone walls, she saw soldiers lining on top of it, archers reading their arrows as the sun slowly sunk. Sunset was upon them, the dying light coloring the sky sight beautiful colors of red, orange, pink and blue. As she reached the front of the sea of soldiers, she saw what lie just on the horizon. A thick black line that was far as the eye could see, absent glowing blue lights straight toward them. Pressing her mouth thinly together, her emerald eyes watched through her heavy helm as the enemy simply seemed to slowly shamble closer to the town of Sharlton.

At first, everyone was confident, believing this was to be a easy fight like the king predicted, but things changed as their opponents army became more clear. Shambling closer to them was thousands upon thousands of corpses of what was once humans. Some were smaller, the size of children with multiple legs, and others were titans standing of 20 feet that looked like they were made up of a bunch of body parts. Their hollow eyes glowing a blue. What lay behind them appeared to be mountains, ever so slowly moving closer, the tops spewing out more corpses of all shapes and sizes.

When the frontline of corpses were clearly visible, the enemy stopped and simply stared for what felt like hours. General Arisa could hear the choked up breathes of her men, fear emitting from them, some whispering what the hell this exactly was. Some even noticing how these creatures killed all the life where they walked. Wherever the corpses walked, the earth seemed to die with them, the grass and plants turned to ash where their enemy stepped.

Whatever these were, they were dangerous. And they greatly outnumbered them.

Her breathe hitched ever so slightly as three shambling corpses eyes suddenly turned into a yellow light, slowly wandering closer to the defenders of Sharlton. Only the three moved closer, moving closer and closer. The General wondered what exactly this meant, but before she could finish a thought, a arrow flew from above and hit one of the corpses in the forehead. She snapped her head around to look up he wall to see a shaking archer, apparently firing out of fear. Looking back to the corpses, the other two looked at their companion, whom seemed to touch the arrow with a decaying hand, before looking straight at the living people. Their eyes turning red, and their bony jaws opening before letting out a high pitched screetching. At that moment, the army of corpses gave a loud solemn moan before it charged at a incredible pace. Some moving faster than others.

General Arisa tsked before raising her sword foreword toward the enemy. "For Espia! Attack!" she yelled loudly before kicking her house into a full gallop in a charge against the enemy. Her army letting out battle cries as they charged with her. Weapons raised, and breathes sucking in what may be their last remaining breathe. Swords pierced rotting flesh, but many did little damage. Arrows flew from the wall into the giant horde, but few actually fell enemies.

Screams of men erupted and the corpses ripped into the bodies of there living with their teeth, devouring the delicate and delicious skin they once had. What made things worse was to witness as the soldiers died, before coming back to life but as mere corpses. Newly made enemy soldiers, and morale was quickly dropping as the battle raged on.

General Arisa stood on the ground, sword and shield in hand as she skillfully slashed at the corpses and bashed them away with her shield. Her numbers were dwindling, and even now when she glanced toward the walls, corpses were attempting to scale it. The child like corpses succeeding and striking at the archers and the soldiers above.

They were losing...

Up above the walls, hordes of corpses grew to be many as the childlike fast moving corpses devoured the soldiers. One man fought long and hard, doing his best to push against the horde and protect the Sharlton citizens. But, to his dismay, the Guard Captain Vicar was the last one standing in his legion. Already, the corpses were spilling into the city, slaughtering fighting soldiers and civilians alike. The Guard Captain quickly moved down the steps until reaching the bottom of the wall. Bolting through the town, he slashed his way through corpses until reaching his home. Breathing hitching as he saw the wooden door busted into, he quickly went through the wreckage, searching the rooms until he went into his and his wife's bedroom. Freezing at the sight he saw, his beloved wife, his child... Their bodies broken and ripped apart in a bloody gory mess upon the ground, a couple of corpses feeding off the fresh meat. He couldn't breathe, his throat was dry and his mind fogged, his eyes turning black. Feeling entirely numb as his strong body fell to the ground, consciousness slipping from his mind. Barely hearing the rumbling cracking of his home as pillars fell around him, exposing him in darkness from the utter chaos.

Civilians could only flee to the Church for sanctuary, children and women cowering within the strong stone walls of the Mother. Sisters doing their best to calm the poor terrified people, as well as the injured. Thousand of Templars stood just outside the church, fighting off hordes of corpses attempting to get at the fresh meat inside. Some stood their ground inside the Church in case any undead broke inside. Many of the civilians were terrified, some even injured.

The Sister Arria was trying her best to heal the injured, but it eventually drained her gifted healing magic. Still she tried, tried to heal a little boy held in his crying mothers arms. A bite wound right on his wrist, and his small body was already pale, looking much like a mere corpse. The Templar beside the Sister was named Havarr, and he watched the scene before placing a hand on the Sister's shoulder and shook his head.

"It's too late..." Havarr said softly.

"No! No! Please! Lady Arria you have to help my baby boy! You're the only one who can! Please! He can still be saved I know it!" the mother pleaded and begged through her tears, her arms cradling her baby boy close to her in desperation.

Arria could only bite her lip at the sight, her stomach curling tightly in a mixture of emotions. It was then Havarr noticed the boy's eyes open, but they were of the glowing blue hue of the corpses. Quickly, he grabbed the Sister and held her to him, backing away quickly as in a instant, the boy lunged foreword, teeth sinking into his own mother's neck and ripping it out. The woman gave a chortled gurgle, shooing on her blood before she fell limp to the ground, her own son devouring her flesh. Screams erupted from the entire Church and Templars quickly went to vanquish the monster. The child corpse grew extra limps, quickly zipping away from the blades and climbed up the walls. Lunging off of it to latch on to one of the Templar's faces, the sounds of crunching bone and the splashing of blood could be heard alongside the terrified and agonized screams of terror.

Before Arria could even utter a word at the scene, Havarr quickly picked her up bridal style and rushed to the closest door. The door that led to the inner Temple of the Sisters of Peace, where only the Temple Mother of the Church was allowed to enter. But this was a emergency, and right now Havarr didn't care as long as it protected Sister Arria. Shutting the door and locking it with the wooden plank before quickly continuing down the long steps of the temple. Reaching another door, he opened it before entering and shutting it behind him. The temple seemed to glow a holy glow, a large statue of the Goddess stood in the middle of the stone room, water streaming in small little moats around he statue and flowers placed upon the alter as holy words were carved into the pedestal. It was there they would spend the night.

In the underground jail, shouts could be heard outside, and only two occupants resided in there. In one jail cell, was the notorious thief Reza, whom had recently been jailed by the Guard Captain. A act he should be quite thankful for as he stood on his bed and looked at the small barred hole that viewed the foot of the surface. All he saw was the feet of people, skeletons, and the bloody bodies of people that lie upon the ground. Screams of horror echoing from the outside and seeming to fill the quiet cell with dread. Turning away in disgust, he sat on his bed, looking down at his feet.

Just next to his cell, the last cell, resided nothing human nor close to looking like one. A large tiger sized beast stood their, its four paws chained to the wall and it's throat chained to the ground. Even a chain muzzle was placed around its snout. The black mass of fur was prickling at the sounds of terror coming outside, tribal earrings jingling ever so slightly. Blue eyes gazing at the small shred of light that led outside. He could feel it, nature dying... As well as people being slaughtered.

---

~One Night Later: Near Dawn~

The beast tried as it might, clawed at the chains binding him to this place. All had gone quiet outside, there was no more screaming, no more crying, just the silent moaning of those creatures that had done this. The beloved town of Sharlton, was now in ruins. Buildings had crumbled, bodies were ripped apart and discarded... It was a mass slaughter. The only thing remaining were the quiet moans of the remaining corpses that had stayed behind from the large horde of corpses, and the sole survivors. The Guard Captain, The Sister, The Templar, The Thief, and The Beast.

The Sister didn’t know what woke her, but at some point before dawn, Arria’s eyes shot open, and she sat up. Instantly she noticed the aching pain in her back. She’d fallen asleep at an awkward angle. She’d tried to stay awake, but apparently it was no use, and sleep had taken her against her will. Not that there had been any point to staying awake. She was useless down here, locked away by one of her Templars for her own protection, unable to heal anyone. But she’d proven herself just as useless above, unable to heal anyone there either. Just one effort had drained her of all her power, and then she could help no more. And that boy, and his mother…

Arria’s eyes were red from crying, though at some point there had been no more tears to shed. She’d been taken to what was probably the one safe place left in the town, so that she might survive while everyone else died. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Her gift… it had been given to her for a reason, so that she could save the afflicted, mend the wounded, prevent death like this. But against this evil, her gift was nearly useless, and she felt a knife of guilt twisting in her belly. Never before had she felt so worthless.

But she couldn’t think that way. Now that she was awake, she realized she could not hear anything coming from above. Well, maybe there was something moving around, and her ears were admittedly untrained to detecting threats, but it wasn’t the horrible din of slaughter that she’d been subjected to for hours the night before. They couldn’t stay down here forever. They would starve, for one, but besides that, if there were people she could help up there, she had to try. That was the duty placed upon her shoulders.

“Havarr,” she whispered from where she sat against the wall, knees tucked to her chest. She did not want to make too much noise if they were still in danger. “Havarr, are you awake? I think it’s almost dawn. If it’s safer now… I need to leave the Temple. I need to help.”

Darkness, that was all Vicar could see, nothing but eternal darkness. The sounds were muted, as the air was stale, and he simply felt numb. It seemed the world had simply ceased to exist. This must of been the end for Vicar, those monsters must of done to him what they did to all of his friends...to his family. This was probably a good thing he supposed. I mean lets be honest now, was there anything worth living for? Would it even be worth it to survive that nightmare? To live in the hell that shall surly fallow? No. This was a good death fighting for the survival of all that he loved and held dear, yes this was a good death as good as any that could be had. His life was that of a good faithful man, surly the Goddess would reward him for it. Hell all he would have to do now is wait to be reunited with every one he had loss. Yes it was over now, now it was time for the Goddess's embrace.

Suddenly though that dark numbness was pierced by a shot of pain, his whole body arched as cursed that pain. Not because he couldn't handle it, no it was mild, but for one simple fact. It only hurts to live, death is painless. So he was alive. At that moment his eyes opened as he let out a groan and could feel something heavy around him and it felt as though he was buried. Everything started to come back to him as he pushed up, lifting out of the wreckage of his home and he looked forward dawns first light yet to break the horizon as the chilled early morning air hit him.

His eyes swelled as he could feel the water running down his cheek. In a burst of energy he dashed forward "no..no" he kept repeating yelling lifting up beams and tossing them aside as he tried to un-burry what remind of his family. He must of seen it wrong, he was under stress form the attack, they were fine as they were simply knocked out like was when the building collapsed, they were fine.

So he tore through the rubble tossing it aside, and his hopes were looking good as some of the rubble shifted and he could hear a grown "Delilah I knew you were alive" he said rushing over and pulling the rubble off looking down he saw his wife, holding there two children. Only it was a scene that few should ever witness. His beloved eviscerated as the two monsters that had attacked her were that of his children. There bodies mangled from the collapse of the building they could barly move and clawed at him groaning. "I'm sorry..I'm so sorry, I couldn't protect you" he said as the tears rolled down to his cheek and he fell to his knees. With out a weapon he found a broken splintered round piece of wood. From the battle he saw these things survive so much, but stabbing them in the head, or cutting it off seemed to put them down for good. So he grabbed his children and stabbed that stake through there heads and then moved to his wife finishing her off.

The deed had been done as he stood up and he looked at the stake, the thick congealed blood didn't even drip as he was entertaining the thought of simply driving that stake through his own heart. Let death truly come to and take him away from this place. But he couldn't so he simply dropped that stake and fell to his knees and looked up closing his eyes. He was filled with guilt for surviving after so many had died.

As he sat first light broke the morning haze and he could feel the warmth of the suns rays wash over his face as his eyes opened once more. He was reminded of what he was, of who he was. He was a guardsman. He swore his life to this place, and though it was gone he couldn't of been the only survivor. Duty, that was all he had left, he needed to warn the kingdom. Nothing else mattered anymore. So he searched through the rubble until he found his sword and his shield, puting the sword in it's sheeth around his waist he strapped the shield to his arm.

He moved heading towards the Berrecks, where the jail cells were. If anything it was one of the most secure buildings in town. There might be survivors, as well as extra equipment. He pushed opened the door as it swung on the hinges, not a good sign. Walking through his heavy steps feel on the wooden floor creaking it as he looked over. The keys for the cells hung on the hook, which meant no one opened the door, more bad signs. Grabbing the keys he went over, opening the large metal door that lead down int the cells as he walked down those dark steps and out to the cells. It appeared that the only guest were those who were already there.

He looked from beast to thief. Reza was his name, and this wasn't the first time that Vicar had arrested him and they were fairly familiar with each other. At least enough that if Riza didn't know what happened he should be able to notice the difference in Vicar himself, the his once happy and warm face seemed replaced by one much colder as those eyes that could almost be childish now looked simply dead "You're free to go, Everyone else is dead, and the monsters that killed them our still out their. I don't like you, and you don't like me. But I need to warn the kingdom, and for that I need help. After that is done I honestly don't care what you do" With that he unlocked the cell.

Next was that large beast, looking at it he paused for a moment. Trusting the thief, was one thing, but this was some sort of killer animal. Looking at that large creature as he didn't even notice but he had unlocked the cell. Slowly he walked in watching that animal, "Remember me, I fed you" at that moment he was struck with a memory of only day ago. His kids wanted to see this monster that the guard found roaming around so he brought them. His daughter for some reason seemed completely unafraid of it. Maybe that was why he was doing this, letting this thing free. Casue he honestly didn't undersand it himself. Soon though he was un locking it's chains "easy' he said as soon they were all undone and he would be able to shake them off.

Havarr had not slept that entire night instead he sat and watched his ward sleep, what happened that night burned into his mind and shaking him to his core, but he had to not let it show if the sister saw his fear, then she would fear. But how could he not fear when he saw the boy attack his own mother like he did not recognize her, how could he not fear when he had to kill his own comrades. For Arria and The Mothers sake he had to remain strong.

The room was quiet almost maddeningly so, so Havarr kept occupied by going over the templars oath over and over again in his head. It had been ingrained in his brain after his latest failure. And this was just another failure he knew if he returned home and he told them about the deaths of an entire army of templars they'd take his head, there would be no lashings or branding that would save him from a second failure. But he would have to get Arria back even if it damned him.

Arria calling out for him brought him out of his world of self pity and oath swearing. She wanted to go back up and Havarr knew that if they stayed down here they would die of dehydration, before hunger set in. He listened in he thought he heard faint thuds upstairs but maybe it was his imagination going wild, those things probably passed long ago in search of other people to kill they were nothing but beasts.

"Alright" He said quietly "But stay behind me." He got up and drew his claymore from his back scabbard it came free with a rasping sound, the blade threw reflections around the room it was relatively clean as his brothers told him to only fight when they needed him. They died before they needed him, he walked to the door and leaned against the wall waiting for Arria to fall in behind him.

Reza stared down at his feet for a moment in silence he wasn't sure what he had just seen, but it clearly wasn't something normal. He felt panicked internally but didn't show it despite no one else being there, he sighed. Reza looked up, of all the times he hadn't snuck a lockpick on him, he was somewhat happy about he wasn't sure he wanted to see everything that was happening. He stepped over to the gate and looked around, the guard on duty had left when he heard the commotion, and hadn't returned, from what Reza saw he probably wouldn't be returning.

Reza went back to his cot and sat down on it. He couldn't quite fall asleep but he wasn't sure what else to do, he needed to think. Surely enough the sweet embrace of unconsciousness covered Reza after a few moments. Reza stood in the middle of a dark field with shadowy figures all around him, it sounded like groaning an yells in the distance when though they were practically touching him. He tried to move but his legs couldn't move, before he knew it the figures were on him and the groans and yells were right on top of him but much, much louder.

Reza shot up as the sound of the gate creaked open. He didn't really have the time to reflect on his dream and the memory of it was already beginning to fade. He looked up nervously and after a second of letting his eyes adjust he saw a familiar figure, it was none other than the viligant Vicar, his favorite guardsman. Except something was different... Reza made direct eye contact with him as he sat up, they were vacant, he had the look of a man who'd lost his soul. They weren't on great terms, as one would expect, but Reza had some profound respect for the man, he had caught him, in fact he was the first to ever catch him. After he said his piece Reza walked over the face him he looked at the keys in his hand, eyeing the one to the chest which contained his belongings.

Vicar handed it to him silently, given the current situation there was little else to do. Before he went to the chest Reza stopped. "I'll help." He said shortly then proceeded to unlock the chest and equip himself. "There was a tense silence before Reza spoke again " What happened?" Reza said with pain in his voice, instead of a proper response Vicar went to the other cell and began to speak to the... Thing that was chained to the wall, he had seen it when he was brought in, and tried to get a rise out of it then, but was met with silence. Whateve had happened it was clear the help was going to be no small task. Reza stood back a bit, his hand on his knife, he wasn't sure what would happen but he often prepared for the worst case scenario.

The beast, unknowingly known as Samir continued to chew at the chains, his fangs the best he could with the metallic muzzle upon his mouth. He knew he had to get out of here. It would only be a matter of time before he perished by starvation, dehydration or if one of those moaning creatures actually came down here to feast on what may be the last remaining life forms in this broken town. It was then his ears perked as the sound of a door opening down the stone hall, and he instantly curled his lips back in a silent snarl and eyed his cell door. It could be one of those moaning creatures. But soon after he recognized the solid steps of a living man and heard the opening of the cell door beside his, releasing the thief that had been caught not too ago. The thief had tried to rile up the beast, but Samir simply ignored him, finding it would be pointless to follow what the thief wanted like the mindless monster they thought he was.

After speaking to the thief about needing help, Samir watched through narrowed eyes as the Guard Captain came to his cell door and paused. The beast curled up his lips ever so slightly like he usually did whenever seeing one of the humans. A silent growl, but despite his usual fierce look, he didn't ever actually lunge at one of the guards or actually make a racket. Didn't even utter the sound of a growl, only curled his lips back like he was growling. He figured now, the humans would leave, few would dare try and save what was believed to be a savage animal rather than save their own skin in this situation. To his surprise however, the Guard Captain unlocked the cell and started slowly approaching him, whispering words of ease to try and have the Beast understand who exactly this was and what appeared to be meaning no harm.

At this, the large animal tipped his head to the right ever so slightly what might be considered as curious confusion. He knew this man... Well... The man before all of this at least. This man used to come to his cell much more cheerful with a somewhat curious smile whenever it was time to feed him. Even telling a joke or two. Now though, he was cold and almost seemed to be a sort of walking corpse himself. And Samir could guess one solid reason why.

Family.

Just a day ago, this man had brought his curious children to see the caught monster. Now, Samir disliked humans, but he did like children of all types. They were so innocent and pure, it was quite hard to have any distaste for them. And he had to admit, this man had quite lovely children. The boy didn't seem quite as interested in him as much as the guards, so he quickly left him to bother the guards. However, the daughter was very curious and cheerful towards him. A very sweet girl that thought him more cute rather than frightful. Her alone, he spoke to, to her utter surprise and joy. They talked about their day, how she did in school, complained of her brother but then praised him in others, and spoke her of undying love for her father and mother. Samir listened as she spoke how she was sure her father would take care of him, even if he was a animal. Her father was a good man she said. After that, she said her goodbyes when she had to return home, promising to visit again soon.

Guilt ran cold through his body, as Samir realized that promise most likely could not be kept any longer, and it made him wish he could have done something to prevent the tragedy that befell this man's family.

Blue eyes trained on the Guard Captain as he neared until he was right at striking distance.

He's a good man.

A voice murmured to him before he relaxed his body, watching the human as he released the chains that held the beast. Once free, he looked himself over as the Guard Captain shook away the remaining chains before looking again at the Guard Captain. Behind him a bit further away was the thief he got a glimpse of when he was brought here.

This man was risking a bit setting a unknown animal free, considering most believe him to be a savage monster from Nightera. Confusion ebbed his mind at the reason this man had decided this and he wanted to ask but was unsure if he should break his long silence toward the humans for the question. He broke it for the daughter because she was a sweet child, but the adults were different. Humans seemed to freak out a bit if he suddenly talks and shows actual intelligence. Some try to kill him, some try to experiment on him.

However, this current situation was not a great one. If the Guard wanted him dead for petty things, he would have just left him here to die. So as such.. This man deserved somewhat of his respect and gratitude.

".....Why did you help me?" Samir's voice spoke quietly, so quiet that the thief probably couldn't even hear it, blinking slowly as he looked up at the human. His body more relaxed now rather than aggressive.

---

In the Church, slain corpses littered all over the area, blood soaking the once pristine floors and splattering against the walls. Two corpses stood, wandering the empty room. One was once a Sister, though she was missing a arm. The other was a Templar, his left armored leg haven been bitten through by several bites. Another Templar corpse sat beside the front door, groaning ever so slightly, jaw agape and blue glowing eyes hollow.

Draping her white hood over fiery red hair, Arria fell in behind her Templar Havarr, soft leather boots echoing ever so slightly off the floor as they moved up the stairs and prepared to exit their sanctuary. Sisters would not fight, so in such matters she had to defer to Havarr’s judgment. The night before she had questioned it, wondering how many others had been locked outside when they sealed themselves in the inner sanctum. She didn’t bring it up, though. If they had opened those doors, they probably would have died. According to everyone around her, Arria’s life was somehow worth more than the others, for her gift. For a long time she had been tempted to agree with them. Not any longer, though.

When Havarr opened the door, the Sister was able to lay her eyes on the aftermath of what had occurred. There were so many bodies, most of them too torn and ravaged to even return as enemies. And there was so much blood. Arria had often gazed at terrible wounds, severed limbs, opened bellies and horrible diseases, and she had learned not to flinch at such sights… but this was another matter entirely, and it hit her heavily. The blood of children covered this floor, and her fellow Sisters. She felt sick.

“Goddess, no…”

Unable to stop herself, Arria braced herself against the wall, doubling over and clutching her stomach as she heaved. There wasn’t much to spill, considering that she had not eaten well the night before, but she coughed and sputtered all the same.

The sound, as well as that of opening the door, was enough to draw the attention of the still walking corpses in the room. Havarr would have to deal with them. Even if she were in a better condition, Arria did not fight. To do so would be to compromise who she was as a person, and taint the gift that had been imbued in her by the Goddess.

As soon as the door opened eyes turned to them. They lurched after them their groans filling his ear, he took a couple of strides forward and let the closest beast reach the distance of his blade. With a sickening thwack he brought his blade through the neck of a sister, the next up was one of his brothers, who was the only one who ever spoke to him he was a kind templar and was a veterans of many wars. He actually felt bad as he kicked the templars knee and broke it sending him to the ground, what came next was impalement with his blade.

With the sister and the templar dispatched he looked to his brother leaning against the door, the templar captain, even covered in blood and missing chunks of flesh he recognized him. He straightened his blade and sent it through the side of his skull, giving him the mercy he did not show Havarr. "What a waste" He said to the air and the goddess herself.

After he was sure all of them were dead, he put his blade back in it's scabbard and walked over to Arria. "M'lady close your eyes and sing a song." He said and picked her up like a bride on her wedding night and held her close and walked into the streets, looking at the streets he instantly regretted ever leaving the sanctuary as it looked like a scene out of his worse nightmare.

Havarr was not built for stealth, even if he was his armor would draw everything within a mile radius like a dinner bell, so he had to think, to make a plan that wouldn't get him caught. He looked around crossing off buildings as he looked. The inn would be a blood bath and the cramped quarters would not leave him much room to swing his blade around, but it might have food and shelter for a night while him and Arria discuss what's next. The guard barracks would have spare weapons and maybe some food. But he wondered as to the exact number of wounded who expired and came back in there. And the orphanage would be the last place he would want to take Arria.

Soon those chains were shaking off of the large beast. The guards man was still alive and had yet to be mauled so it appeared this wasn't as bad of an idea as he thought. He was surprised though when that beast spoke and looked at him, though he was less shocked then one might think. "Because I have faught real monsters" he said as he left the cell and looked over to the thief. "we will need supplies" was all he said before walking back up the stairs.

Soon he was rummaging through the rations and supplies finding a bag as he started to fill it with whatever he could. That sachel was thrown over his shoulder as soon as he had it filled. He didn't even check to see if Reza was following suit but since he figured the man liked to eat he was sure that he did. He had all that he could carry. It was time to simply leave this place.

Once back out onto the empty street he looked up and down that corpse littered stretch of dirt and a chill rand down his spite. He had seen his friends get back up after being killed, yet bodies were everywhere. Those that were to torn to recover. So where was that horde? where were those who fell and rose again? more and more questions rose but a least some could be answered. They left, they are not the mindless horde they appear to be. That just makes things more complicated as there must be some form of organization.

With each moment things simply seemed to get worse, maybe he should of simply died. Let this nightmare end. His thoughts were interrupted however by the sounds of groaning. A corpse that was missing it's lower half was crawling ahead of him. He pulled out his sword and walked towards it pushing his blade down down through the corpses skull, not even looking at it as he walked forward heading toward the edge of town.

Soon he was approaching the church as he looked to that large building "A lot of good you were" he said to himself. Getting closer he could see as a man in heavy armor left carrying what appeared to be a body in his arms. At least he had the looks of a fighter about him. Approaching the pair "If she is dead you should simply let her go, If she is alive and can't walk she will get us killed" he said as even he was a bit surprised by how cold and cynical that was.

Reza was pleasantly surprised that the beast didn't do much, and Vicar had already already made his way upstairs. Not waiting to see what the beast would do, Reza followed behind The guardsman allowing a decent space between the two. Under any other circumstance he would have ran, in fact he would have been gone the second the gate had been opened but something was very clearly wrong. It wasn't until Reza stepped outside for the first time since the incident that he saw just how bad it was.

The air was thick with the smell of blood, you could practically taste. He had to keep himself from vomiting for a brief second. Vicar, a few feet ahead of him trudged through in and plunged his blade into... Something, but he did so hollowly, as as though he regretted it. Reza drew his small blade and kept it close to himself he really didn't know what to expect now. He unconsciously looked around for anything of use but then immediately felt wrong, he'd stolen from the dead before but they were usual long dead by the time their goods were his.

He trailed off a bit from Vicar and after a brief search found a small ceramic jug that was still sealed. He shook it gently and heard water slosh around in it. He unsleaed it and took a long drink from it before looking down at where it had been only to see the empty hand of woman who's body had been torn in an indescribable manner, Reza frowned and splashed what was left over his face.

Moments later Reza was right behind Vicar again who either didn't notice or care for his brief vacation. Before he could say anything and large man carrying a woman stepped forth, and Vicar spoke. He was cold and callous, very unlike himself, which perturbed Reza. He was surprised how didn't recognize them as a Templar protecting his sister. Reza stood silently behind Vicar a few steps struggling to make eye contact with anything other than the ground.

The beast blinked a little as the Guard Captain seemed to hardly react and gave a simple reply. Whatever was out there was much worse than the beast himself. Saying no more, Samir followed the hollow man, taking a glance at the thief before moving on ahead. Moving ahead first as the Guard Captain got supplies. Once stepping outside however, the sight disheartened him... Mangled and torn bodies lay waste throughout the broken town. So many broken bodies, some children, women, and soldiers... This was truly a horrific scene... One he did not wish to look upon too long. However, the beast remained calm as he walked beside the Guard Captain toward a large building.

The ground was brown and filled with ash, but however if one paid attention, Samir's large pawsteps left a patch of green wherever he walked. It was small, but it was perhaps the only lighter color in this scenery. For all the grass and flowers seemed to die under these monsters slaughter.

Flicking his furry ears at the Guard Captain's mutter, he snorted a little at the insolence of humanity. "She is suffering just as us." he whispered, as he sadly looked to the ground, scooping up some dead plants with his right paw. Though the brown withered plants slowly returned to a green color under his touch. Dropping it, he continued walking until he saw a large heavily armored man carrying a robed woman.

Blue eyes glancing to the Guard Captain at his cold words, he gave a dissapproving grunt. He could sense the magic from the woman... And warm magic... One that healed.. And that was never useless and was almost worth carrying her everywhere. Especially since she looked pretty light, Samir knew he could carry her easily if he wanted to.

Deciding to leave the talking to the humans, the large black beast with white markings, paws and underbelly turned away and started sniffing the air. Before bounding along at a incredible speed. Climbing up broken buildings and sniffing around them. Perhaps he hoped to sniff out any more survivors... But he just found a crushed corpse of a child at the torn apart Orphanage. It curdled and moaned, the soulless creature trying to reach him desperately. A frown appeared on his muzzle before open his powerful jaws, eyes glowing slightly as suddenly a blue glow emitted from his jaws. Two blades shooting out from either side of his mouth, almost looking like he was carrying a long double edged blade right by the middle. With a swing of his head, the right side of the blade decapitated the head of the once human child, before stabbing it right through with the tip.

After the deed was done, the magical energy disappeared and he lowered his head, whispering some words before continuing to cover the area.

Coughing and sputtering still, Arria wasn’t exactly in a position to sing a song, as Havarr had suggested when he scooped her up into his arms, but she did shut her eyes, at least until they were free of the temple. There was no escaping the images of death, not unless she struck out her own eyes, so she was resolved to look, to harden herself against it. This was what she needed to fight, in her own way. Not with swords and arrows, but in a more meaningful way. She would have to find a way to cure the disease, not merely treat its symptoms.

When she heard the voices of others, speaking to Havarr, she turned her head to see them, settling her blue eyes on the captain of the guard, a man she’d had scant interaction with since arriving in the town, as well as a smaller man with a small blade that she did not recognize. And there, bounding away towards the buildings, was a large creature of some kind, one that the others did not pay much heed to, so she assumed it was perhaps more intelligent than the average animal. Her mind was too clouded by everything else to really think on it.

“I’m fine now, Havarr,” she said quietly. “You can put me down. Thank you.” None of the living here looked to be infected, and Arria was glad to have found at least some other survivors. If they had been infected, they would probably be dead by now, and Arria didn’t know if she would be able to cure them, even just one of them. When she was on her feet again, Arria fretted with her robe a bit, smoothing out some folds and adjusting the hood. More out of habit than anything. There was little point in looking presentable here.

“We shouldn’t stay here,” she gently suggested, glancing around. “There’s nothing left but death.”

As he eased Arria down, he studied the other group of men. The one who spoke to him coldly was obviously a guard, the other he couldn't quite put his finger on but that small knife would probably have to go at some point, their last companion was a beast that seemed to be highly intelligent but Havarr didn't get to study it for long before it bounded off.

"Wherever my lady goes, I obey and follow." He said moving a bit closer to Arria, he kept his eye on the men and he was ready if one of them was to try to hurt her. "Which i suggest we start by heading home." He said quietly, only Arria could hear him as he finished the rest of his thought "They will only slow us down M'lady." After he finished his thought he returned to a rigid stance like a tin soldier standing at attention.

Havarr turned his attention back at the church a small frown on his face as he noticed the templar captain lying there, the night before, whatever this was. The templars had been talking and laughing, he remembered the captain talking the most.

"I can't wait until i get home." Said a templar who was sitting on his bed sharpening his sword. The next up to speak was the templar captain "I wish i could stay here forever, some of ladies here have me feeling a little stiff if you know what i mean." The captain said everyone laughed except Havarr, who didn't do anything except listen. "Look at Rand, he didn't even crack a smile." Another templar said, at that moment all attention turned toward Havarr. He was now the center of attention and he did not like it. "Are you into men Rand?" The Captain shouted.

"No sir."
"Are you sure your not a tally whacker?"
Rand was getting angry but he kept it down, he was going to say something maybe insult the captain. But the veteran templar he killed, had spoken up in his defense. "Rand is not into men, I've seen the way he eyes the priestess we guard." The captain chuckled "Ahh, so you like looking but not touching."

"Too bad, were bound by the same oath while we are on the job." The sword sharpening templar uttered

"Hey I'm not saying, act on it, but men can dream right?" The captain shouted throwing his arms wide. Havarr couldn't stand this conversation any longer and left the room. He didn't feel like he was a templar anymore anyways. His failure still haunted him, he was kept in the back when it came to guarding Arria. But still he looked back towards the room listening to his brothers all laugh one more time, and headed out into the streets.

If Havarr had known that was going to be the last night he heard his brothers laughter he would of stayed. The next night those things came and killed everyone. Only his quick thinking had saved him and Arria from being like them. He couldn't help but think any of those templars would of been a better guard then him, but he was the lucky one because he was stuck in the way back and when they broke through he was able to grab Arria and run, that's all Havarr has ever been good at is running, be it chasing the bandits who killed the last sister he guarded, or running away from a horde of those things to save Arria.

And he was set to run again, run away from a threat that could probably wipe this whole planet clean of life. So he could get Arria home, so he could wait there for weeks, or months while the order would debate about sending in templars. And at that point it would be to late they would be scratching at the door, but all of that would come later, right now his only focus was getting Arria home.

Vicar watched the pair as the girl was set down. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was a templar, which meant she was most likely a Sister. Though their responses were, well, less then useful. The woman simply pointing out the blatantly obvious, and the templar just saying his job. "Right..." he said looking at them wondering if they were simple of the mind. But then he remembered they were religious types, meaning they had no practical skills beyond what they were trained for and common knowledge was simply lost to them. He watched them for a few moments, the man whispering to the woman. Though he would of liked another good fighter along, the girl wouldn't be of any use. Mostly just another mouth to feed.

After a few moments he decided that in all honesty, he simply didn't care. So he reached into his satchel from the barracks and pulled out an apple taking a bite into it and started walking "Look our options aren't that complicated.Stick together, or die apart" He was slightly annoyed that he actually had to spell this out to them "But to be honest do whatever the hell you want. I'm sure the goddess will spare you a horrible death like she did everyone else in this forsaken town." he said walking away from the church heading towards the edge of town and he didn't really think they would last long enough to see that horde again, considering they would probably die before that.

The beast sniffed around the broken houses until finding the one that smelt like that Guard Captain. Wandering around, he found the three broken bodies, one a woman who'd been ripped to shreds, the others were two small children with smashed skulls. His family had indeed died and confirmed the reason for his broken soul. Looking around the broken house, his massive paws dug under the rubble to find a bracelet made of colorful beads. It was pretty simple but pretty, and seemed to be made by a child. Picking it up between his teeth, he bounded out and headed to the broken down gate of the town. Eventually being broken down by those undead creatures. Seeing the open terrain, left barren and lifeless after those things were gone. No longer the lush greens it once was when Samir had come here. This was bad... This was very bad. More so than the humans realize or perhaps comprehend. Whoever was the cause of this... He had to put a stop to them quickly before it was too late.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the humans talking before the Vicar turned and walked toward him. He frowned, watching them carefully. The Guard Captain was a kind man deep down, but he now was a broken man. Hollow and almost devoid of life and emotion. He had lost his faith, both in the Mother and himself. Perhaps no longer caring if he would die or not. He was a liability... They all were. Samir could hunt, he could run faster, and he had a better nose to tell where the death lay. He highly doubted any of these humans were hunters, religious folk don't seem to bother with it, guards let the archers do it, and the thief smelled like he never even left these walls.

The bigger human with the woman would be slow and probably a noisy in that heavy armor, the woman looked like she wasn't a fighter, the thief probably could sneak around and scout or steal supplies, but their fighting was limited, and the Guard Captain was a broken mess. They would either die by starvation, killing one another like humans always seem to do, or get eaten by those creatures and turned into one of them. It would be better if Samir just left them and continued on his own, but abandoning them would make him no better than cruel humans. And he did owe the Guard Captain his life. Plus... He had been in this situation before, just it was he was the only survivor after the humans slaughtered his kind. These people were at least lucky enough to have this amount of survivors together.

With a snort, he bolted a across the broken body filled town to the woman and bigger built man and stopped right in front of them. His blue eyes stared up at them, fur ruffled ever so slightly, before nodding after Vicar. The beast said nothing to them, not fully trusting these humans yet, but also feeling like he shouldn't leave them to certain death. They wouldn't last long without traveling together. The black and white creature then bounded back toward the gate, sniffing the air outside.

"....They are heading west. Toward the Capital." Samir spoke towards the Guard Captain.

Arria could understand that the guard captain was in pain. He had lost his family, his entire life, as any other survivor of the previous night would have. Arria had lost many friends herself, Sisters that she had known, ones she had looked up to, and ones that had looked up to her. She’d lost all but one of her Templars, men she had traveled with ever since setting out to spread her gift. She was close friends with many of them, and now they were all dead. Havarr was relatively new to her detail, and she hadn’t yet had time to get to know him. Now it seemed as though he was her only remaining ally.

She was resolved to not become callous to the world like the guard captain, not while there was still a difference she could make. “I’m not going home, Havarr,” she said quietly back to him, as the captain stalked off. “I’m sorry.”

She followed some distance behind the captain, watching as this beast rejoined their company. Traveling the world as she did, Arria had witnessed a number of things most humans would deem strange, so she was not entirely taken off guard by the creature when he spoke, but she still found him curious. Magical, even. He seemed calm, at least, so she was willing to guess that he wasn’t a threat to them.

“Then we follow them,” Arria declared, when the beast stated which way the horde was heading. “You see, Havarr? We cannot simply go home. In time, this will find us again, and there will be no home to go back to, when this same fate befalls each city in its turn. We must do something. If we cannot find a way to stop them, then at least we can try to get ahead of them, and warn the Capital. They have no idea what kind of danger is coming their way.”

She would not let this darkness overtake the entire land and simply do nothing. Not while she still had life and breath in her.

Reza watched as Vicar began to make his way presumably out of town. He looked over to the Templar and his sister both of whom seemed to pay him no mind, he saw the beast from earlier come out of nowhere and go towards Vicar. It must've been thankful for being set free earlier, suddenly the gears in Reza's head starting turning and he remembered something that would be of use. "Hey, Vicar did you ever wonder where I would go when you couldn't find me in town?!" Reza shouted towards Vicar, he wasn't sure about the sister and her Templar, more so the Templar. He had a soft spot for the sisters, and was willing to help Vicar for once. "I've a place that can house us for the time, and it has supplies for a week at best!" Reza continues to shout, that last part may have been an exaggeration, but there was plenty of room and some things of use.

Reza was reffering to his hideout just outside of town, landmarked by a large rock, he had never told another soul about it and never planned to, but given the circumstances heay as well. If Vicar could hear it then so could the Templar and his sister, he didn't have much of a choice at this point, that beast however worried him, it seemed friendly enough, no one had been maimed by it yet, but still something unsettled Reza.

Reza took a bite from a hunk of bread he had stolen right from the bag Vicar had been carrying, he knew he didn't notice and he knew it would make him mad, but he didn't claim to be the best thief with out reason.

Arria was not a warrior, yet she wanted to push into the thick of it. "M'lady that's why I take you home and you warn the order about what happened here. Then they will give you a full legion of templars, and then we can end this threat." He said "My job is to keep you safe and I can't keep you safe if you want to march into the thick of it with just a few people." His tones were getting angry and he was quite frustrated.

But he persisted in trying to get Arria to change her mind. "The templars that died. They were my comrades to and if they were alive they wouldn't want you doing this, without a full army behind your back." That was the last of his argument before he went silent.

Truthfully he was like her he didn't want to go home in fear of what would happen to him if he told them about what happened here. But Arria needed to be safe and his own worries would have to be put away so he could keep her safe, If she persisted then he would probably relent and follow her anyways as it was his duty. Even if it meant marching into the very jaws of hell it's self he would follow her.

He studied his companions once more. Him and the captain would be doing the brunt of the work, while the beast would probably be support, he wondered how the beast killed these things and hoped that he didn't bite down on any of them, The man with the knife would probably slow them down if he didn't get a proper weapon, Arria would be the most useful here and he hoped in due time the captain would realize that her healing powers would be useful to them.

Here they were a small group of people hoping to deal with a threat that outnumbered them probably a 1000 to one, and to top it all off if any of them fell they would join that enemy. The thought of Arria being one of those things sent a shiver up his spine, it was dark thought yes, but a very possible dark thought, and all he could do was do his job, try to protect her and pray to the mother that she guided his hand on this undertaking.

Vicar saw the beast walking up to him as he looked down to it "you are rather well informed for a beast" he said as he walked toward the ruined town gate. Soon the woman was fallowing him as the templar started to protest. He turned and looked over towards him as he glared "The templars are what, a thousand strong? Two thousand?" he said walking back towards him "The real army numbers more than triple that." watching him he turned looking to the thief "Good, We can fill up on supplies there, but we should only stay the night and move in the morning. The horde is slow moving, and they may divert for the towns on the way." he paused for moment looking to everyone "There are three towns between here and the capital, with any luck we can reach the second town before the horde and start evacuating the last two towards the capital and all of the guardsmen each guard counts at least a thousand to add to the capitals already standing forces." he said nothing for the town that will be sacrificed.

He turned his back once more walking out heading for the towns gate "or you can run home like a coward, chances are you will die before you ever get near it." he said walking once more as he noticed the others that were following him. "and from the looks of it you will be making that journey alone." He was done with the conversation as he looked visibly angry. Stepping out through the portal of the town he followed the road out without bothering to look back "Reza lead the way" he said slowing down so the thief could get in front of him as he noticed the bread but at this moment ignored it as there were worse things to deal with.

The beast glanced toward the sister who had overheard him, having not wishing to hear him. Still he guessed it would only be a matter of time before they discovered his ability to speak fluently. He glanced back toward the Guard Captain who noted his well informed mind and simply twitched his whiskers in response. Humans... Even now they were such egocentric creatures.

"More knowledge than you humans care for." Samir said calmly, but a little firmer, as if he was doing the same and calling humans beasts in turn before he pawed along the the barren land, taking multiple steps in a attempt to leave some patches of green grass and even some flowers behind him.

Humans... They were always judgmental toward those who were different, and it didn't matter who. They always thought they were the bravest, the smartest, the strongest... And looked down upon other races. Be it elves, dwarves, Moonbloods, or his kind. It annoyed him the most about these creatures. Now, he knew some were not like that, some had that what one would be claimed as humanity and treated others equally. But that was rare it seemed. Or maybe he just had bad luck. Because he knew, his words of advice would simply fall on deaf ears, so why waste them.

Flicking his ears at the plan, he was unsure what to think of it. Using a town as a sacrifice was quite cold hearted, yet it made it possible to save the other two. It wasn't a easy thing. What irritated Samir the most was the King of the land. He had sent so few troops he knew, he listened to the cocky words of the guards. The king didn't even send a quarter of his imperial army. Perhaps this could have been avoided if there King's pride wasn't so large.

At the note the thief was leading the way to the supply area, Samir flicked his ears as he moved along ahead, sniffing the area and surveying it before returning. Obviously having a lot of energy and could easily move from place to place like a fully trained thoroughbred.

"There are some undead under the wakes of the earth.... Tread carefully." he warned them all before continuing to move.