Akyasha had finished cleaning up the skeletons on the stairway up to where they were on the gate. Good. Still, there were plenty of the buggers left to clean up. The others seemed to have the big enemy under control. She couldn't expect Dragan to keep absolute authority on the battlefield with his command over the lesser undead, especially not whilst their powers were diminished and doubly so while fighting that monstrosity at the moment. Instead, she would just clear the field of hostiles. This was what she had always done, though she doesn't have her divine creatures of Ichor to assist at the moment.

With the tight space behind her as she stepped down to the ground level, she changed the shape of her Blood Weapon from the two heavy maces into one great-axe as she charged into the fray where Dragan's forces were fighting. She made a powerful leap into the obvious group of enemies, landing the axehead down on some poor skeleton. After recovering from the recoil of slamming into the ground, she hefted the axe up above her before swiping it across a number of enemies to give herself some room. She hummed some prayer to herself as she swung left and right, having little problems taking care of skeletons, or, really fragile enemies in general. She had no problem keeping up her pace at the moment, she just hoped the others would be fine taking care of the Paladin.

Location: Alavaris
Cathedral
@Psyker Landshark@Asuras@Erode@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Pyromania99

---

Could an undead paladin even care about its hands being sliced into fine, bloody ribbons? Likely not. The armor was old and weary to be certain, but it was still armor. Steel and once holy blessed by light and silver, even as corroded as it was. The blade cut through the armor, but not enough to sever the fingers or hands of the paladin as it was wrenched from his grip mid lunge that was only stopped by the timely intervention of Illena.

Shadows wrapped around the undead’s limbs, coiling around its legs and arms restraining the former holy warrior and rooting him in spot just as Giselle’s blade found its target. The sanguine blade sliced through the armor deeply, the downward strike cleanly slicing through the armor just as the paladin managed to wrench his left arm free of Illena’s restraints in time to deflect the upwards strike, but leaving him completely open for Dragan.

The hammer met its target, the clang of metal on metal as the already weakened armor gave way, the hammer embedding itself inside of the wound as bones and armor cracked beneath the heavy weapon.

For a moment, the thing did not move, slumping over as its body momentarily went limp. The massive skeletal creature above screeched, as it’d wrench its arm free of Luna’s restraints that had stopped it from finishing off Dragan.

A light twitching of its hand.

The Skeletal beast above screeched once more, its gargantuan arms beight brought down upon the rooftops of the nearby buildings as with its other hand, it’d reach into its own mouth and with the sound of metal grating against bones and a ghastly wail, from somewhere it its chest it would thusly pull a blade, a blade of silver from its maw, aiming to slam it on top of Giselle and drag it along the ground in front of the Paladin.

The paladin too, was not quite finished yet. As Illena’s shadows held fast, she’d feel her shadowy body start to burn as the Paladins armor bega shining, glowing with vestigial holy power as it’d wrench its second arm free from her grasp the shadows retreating from the purifying power. In a swift motion, it’d bring its right arm around, and Dragan could watch as in its right arm, a flash of silver manifested, a silver blade now in its hand as it’d strike out just enough to slice dragan’s arm followed by a rough, powerful kick to the vampire lords midsection that would wrench the warhammer from its position to finally free itself from Illena’s grasp.

Thankfully for him, the silver seemed to be old and weakened, corroded, and the blade seemed significantly blunted. The poisonous silver would only diminish his abilities enough to be a minor inconvenience to his physical might. As The ancient, heavy blade would swing forwards as the undead creature struck towards Dragan, bringing down the weapon in a heavy vertical swing as behind him the massive skeleton swung its own blade in an attempt to catch the rest of the vampires.

Thankfully for them, between Akyasha, Luna, and Dragan’s own minions the tide of the skeletal creatures were being stemmed enough to not cause them any significant problems. Luna’s fluids strikes cleaved through the skeletons and zombies, severing their vestiges of life from their corpses. Akyasha took a far more direct approach, smashing and crushing the undead creatures with a hefty axe, showing no mercy for such rude, mindless undead that could not even recognize their own once goddess.

It was now, then, that her Gorebats would return, bellies full of blood and ichor, and ready to serve to their fullest capacity. They’d chitter between themselves as they’d hover on either side of the cleric, awaiting her command. Just in time, too, it seemed.

From within the mass of skeletons something came barreling out of a nearby alleyway, having apparently heard the commotion. A mass of skeletal arms, leaping from the nearby alley and landing in front of Akyasha. It looked like a horrid mass of skeletal arms, ribcages, and leg bones stitched together in some manner to mimic a spider with eight skulls stitched together to serve as its face.

Wherever this thing had come from, it immediately set it sights on Akyasha.

From Dragan's perspective, this was the second time in two days that he'd been struck by silver. Fortunately, there was far less of it this time. And of much reduced quality. The blessed metal still burned, of course. But its corroded state meant that the bulk of his strength remained intact.

The Death Knight hissed in pain as he was cut and knocked back, his hammer still in his grasp. He wasn't given much time to collect himself, as the paladin was on him, blade raised up and drawn back for a vertical cleave. Dragan only narrowly evaded the blow, sidestepping the swing. Given how much the skeletal knight had committed to that blow, Dragan was out of immediate danger as it tried to recover. The only issue was that they were both too close in for him to effectively get a swing in with a two-handed hammer.

Instead, the vampire lord lashed out with his free hand, a plated fist crashing into the skeletal paladin's skull to attempt to knock him back before Dragan took up his hammer with both hands and swung for the open wound that he'd already made with his first blow.

Akyasha smiled as the Gorebats returned. "Go support the ones fighting that monster." The Cleric said, tilting her head. "I have quite the rude one to deal with here." She said hefting her axe onto her shoulder. She looked over this... Creature. It paid no due respect to Ichor by assisting in defending the Cathedral. Well, if it was to get in her way, then so be it. She gripped her axe with both hands.

"Surrender to the Goddess, is what I would say but really, you'll just be yet another that doesn't care for my words today." With that, Akyasha launched herself at the monster. She just needed to distract it at the least until they had finished the other monster. Starting with dismemberment was good. After all, if it couldn't move because it's legs were gone, that made it easier on her. Her axe swung from her shoulders, hands guiding it to strike at one of the thing's "legs" if they could be called that. Meaning to cleave through leg and crush bone to prevent it from possibly reforming.

That was a neat trick, wasn't it?

Shadows retreated in the presence of purifying light, and this time, Ilena fled with it, dissolving into an amorphous blob of darkness as she slid between the legs and limbs of those that still fought, narrowly dodging through the gaps of the giant's furious strikes. So long as the paladin continued to expel its light so greedily, the shadow-witch had no reason to approach. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the Gorebats, so plump with blood that it was a shame to waste it on mere servants when the lords starved, but she stifled her hunger and instead turned her thoughts within.

Within the black abyss that she had kept her two Exsanguinating Skeeters, Ilena began her profane surgery, stripping away carapaces, refolding wings, weaving together flesh and nerves, and instilling it all with shadow and bone. Flesh was but a weapon. And no matter how bright a light was, without heat it could not sear away a monster.

From the puddle of darkness extended a slim hand, pointing towards the paladin's back as Dragan closed in from the front.

"Dragonfly."

And with the buzzing of six wings designed only to propel one forwards, a spear made of insect flesh bloomed outwards from that extended arm, ready to smash through ancient armor with nothing more than physical force.

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

That little set of actions could have gone better, but Giselle didn’t complain. This creature, as pitiable as it was, had still been a paladin. Even if he had never commanded respect for his political or religious views, his skills in combat commanded its own degree of respect, even now. And Giselle was an administrator and a creator, not a true frontline combatant, even if she had picked up some formidable skills over a millennia prior.

She followed her momentum as her last strike was deflected up and away, shifting on her feet just in time to witness Dragan crater in its torso with his Warhammer. She had hoped for a victory then and there, but experience told her that it would not be so simple. Indeed, the skeletal beast reacted… poorly.

Yet, they finally knew where the silver sword was, a fact that Giselle was not particularly appreciating as it was cast down at her, forcing her to rapidly and somewhat inelegantly scramble away from the threat. Nearby, the paladin itself had seemingly conjured up its own silver blade. The fight, it seemed, would only escalate from here.

It took a split-second decision for her to decide to reinforce the male vampire lord. Injured by the silver weapon, she quickly moved to intervene, even as Dragan recovered. From the other side, Giselle double-teamed the paladin. Using the full reach of her scythe to stay out of reach of its blade, she swung out for his head as he was knocked back, intending to loop off his head entirely—or, at least, bring him off his feet, so that he could be smashed into the ground with a follow-up.

Aleksiya danced backwards, the barrier of ice she had thrown up in a bid to deflect a direct attack dissipating simply due to the fact that it would never reach her. This undead paladin, and the great skeleton it was somehow associated with, were proving to be a greater foe then the prior enemies that they had been set against.

But ultimately, that didn't matter.

They would destroy it all the same.

With the smaller undead preoccupied, the diminutive vampire's attention shifted now to the great skeleton, which was not being hindered in any direct way at the moment. Both of these bodies were their enemy, regardless of whatever it was that was the nature of their connection. Thus, both of them were to be taken into consideration.

Taking aim at the monstrous skeleton's head, crystal ice spears formed once again as she sent them hurtling for the empty eyesockets.

@Rune_Alchemist

Location: Alavaris
Cathedral
@Psyker Landshark@Asuras@Erode@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Pyromania99

---

The clang of steel as the paladins helmet rang out against Dragan’s fist, the armored undead taking a few steps backwards but not entirely dazed. His own blade would be brought to parry the hammer, the holy light radiating from the tarnished silver. A stalemate of strength.

Still…if he were still among the living, he might have no problem handling two undead assailints. As it stood, however…Illena lunged forward, a spear made of living insects and flesh lunged towards the knight. She could feel her magic weakening, though from exhaustion and usage more than anything. Perhaps wrapping this battle up soon should be a priority.

Locked in combat, the undead could do nothing to defend. A spear of living flesh struck forth, piercing the old armor and staking the undead right through its chest. A horrible scream as it wailed, almost sounding as though it was making words with its old, now useless jaw. For a moment it looked as though Giselle’s scythe would indeed, take its head…

But then, truly, it was not a one versus three fight, was it?

The giant skeletal creatures blade struck the sides of nearby buildings, nearly cleaving them off entirely just in time for Giselle to aim for the paladins neck. Instead, it would meet ancient bone as the skeletal creature slammed its arm onto the ground by the paladin, the weapon cutting into its flesh but not thick enough to cut it in its entirely as it deflected the blow from Giselle. It immediately followed by making a grab for Dragan, but the skeletal creatures fingers never reached their target.

A spear of ice, a shriek as the icy weapon impaled itself right through the skeletal giants head, burying itself in its lifeless eyesockets. Immediately it turned its attention to Aleksiya, violently hissing and lashing out, slamming its blade wantonly about, angrily smashing everything in the vicinity and carving up the ground next to Dragan and Illena, throwing up chunks of rocks and dirt and putting a pit in the ground between the two undead soldiers.

This, gave the Paladin enough leverage to wrench itself free from Illena’s spear, the weapon of flesh having the advantages and disadvantage of such a fleshy weapon as the Paladin would abruptly turn to face the shadow witch, the weapon still impaled in its flesh, lunging forward, attempting to impale her as she had impaled it.

This, left Akyasha to deal with the undead horde left on her own. By now though, they had thankfully thinned out, most having fallen under the large skeletal creatures own frenzied strikes or being mostly taken care of by Dragan’s horde. This left just the multi-legged abomination in front of her.

The gorebats would nod, though they did not seem too terribly happy about being told to support someone as they’d flit off to aid the others. One, would flit over to Dragan while a second made their way towards Illena, as it stood, they were likely free to use the gorebats as they deemed necessary.

The spider creature hissed, seeing Akyasha’s attack. Faster than she would be, it jumped to the side before quickly making an attempt to charge and run over the cleric with its many legs and larger size.

Dragan been prepared to abandon his attack on the skeletal paladin when the giant reached for him, but fortunately, it appeared that he didn't have to. Aleksiya's assault upon the giant distracted it enough that Dragan could continue his offense without reserve. A quick scan of the battlefield revealed that most of the enemy undead had been taken care of, leaving only the abomination remaining. Dragan mentally commanded his horde to continue slaughtering the stragglers before moving on to the larger targets, freeing Aleksiya to deal with the more threatening elements without distraction.

As the paladin turned to face Illena, Dragan raised his hammer once more, preparing to strike it from the back. The gorebat sent to support him was immediately commanded to distract the paladin from above, and Dragan hefted his warhammer.

"Goodbye, brother. Rest now." He murmured quietly before dashing forward and swinging with all his might, aiming to pulverize the undead paladin's helmet and skull in a single stroke while it was distracted.

It was speedy, that was for sure, but it was just a pile of bones. If it wanted to charge at her, she'd let it. The Cleric spun her weapon above her head, and as the bone spider was about to reach her the cleric, she struck with it. The spinning's momentum transformed into a horizontal strike that would cleave through leg and smash the "creature" across its "face". Continuing through with the movement, she spun with the swing, hefting it up above her mid-spin and then swiftly swinging it down on the hopefully staggered spider. She probably didn't need too many hits on the thing to dispose of it, if the vampire had to make a guess about it at all.

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

So close.

In a vacuum, Giselle would have ended the fight right there, but large skeleton destabilized the ground briefly enough that her blow didn’t strike true. It did damage, clearly, but the majority of it had been deflected… but it was clear that the undead paladin was not going to weather the fight. The three of them had done far too much damage to it, and if it wasn’t Giselle, then it would be another that would deal the ‘mortal’ blow.

Indeed, it didn’t take long for the paladin to become distracted once again, and Giselle saw Dragan move in for the final blow. It was just a bit poetic, and she decided to stand aside to allow him to deal with his brother, moving her attention to the larger skeleton in the event that removing the paladin from the board would simply allow it to free-roam instead. Keeping her weapon at the ready to strike at it in case it didn’t collapse, she placed herself in between it and Dragan.

Location: Alavaris
Cathedral
@Psyker Landshark@Asuras@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Pyromania99

---

The paladin grabbed Illena, its silver blade piercing the shadow witches heart. Faded holy power flared. Shadow fled from the light as Illena’s body burned from within, cracks of light forming on her features as the blade burned the undead creature and her remaining insect abominations away. As it pulled the blade from her body, it immediately made a move to swipe at the bat that was assailing it -

thunk

Dragan’s hammer came down right on its skull. A feral hiss, as its entire body immediately crumpled as it was smashed from above.

In an instant, it was over.

The paladin hit the ground, unmoving its sword clattering to the ground. The skeletal beast that had been roaming from above would shudder, its bones and body creaking…and then, falling in one swift motion as the paladin had, draping its massive body over the roof of the city and crushing the buildings where it fell.

Dragan could tell that though it was defeated, it was merely sleeping. Dormant, for now.

Akyasha made short work of the rest of the horde too, and in an instant, the fighting was over.

Yet, despite their victory, perhaps it was not one they wanted.

Illena’s shadows had yet to reform. Where she had been stabbed by the paladin instead, was now the warm, still bloody serpents heart she had hidden away in her mass earlier - but no sign of her shadows or voice reforming. The only consolation would be the paladins old, tarnished silver blade itself. Old and worn, but likely still effective against the creatures that roamed here.

“Oh…oh, you managed to defeat it…” Fra quietly interjected. “...it was not without complications, but well done my lords! That thing had been making surviving here difficult…” She shook her head. “Still, we must move onwards…there’s a village not far from here. Humans live there, not well, but they manage it between the madmen and the beasts nearby. If you don’t mind, my lords, once you’re ready I can tell you how to go there.”

It seemed like Fra didn’t wish to leave the city herself, but that would be entirely up to Lady Luna at the moment.

They'd lost one of their number already, before even leaving the city. Dragan was no master of Ilena's own brand of magic, but he could tell that even if she by some miracle hadn't faced the final death for a second time, she was at least in no state to continue on with them. Damnably unfortunate.

The skeletal giant was another issue. He could feel that its reanimation still held, merely in suspension without a necromancer to command it. And Dragan knew he didn't have the strength to wrest control over it yet. Even if he had, the logistics of traveling across the land with such a beast would be...difficult. With that in mind, he cut the link between himself and the remainder of the undead horde he controlled, allowing their reanimation to fade and for the shambling bones to crumble back to the dirt.

"This...was not part of the plan." He gestured towards the spot where Ilena had fallen. "Though we must move on." The Death Knight glanced to Luna. "In lack of a better guide, your subordinate's suggestion seems our best course of action for the moment. Thoughts, anyone? Objections?"

The wince that Luna bore upon Ilena's grave wound was short lived, for even as the vampiress was alight in silvered flame, Luna held out hope that the girl would return. Or perhaps, it was mere denial -denial that so quickly they'd lose one of their own. If their numbers were to drop so quickly and easily, their prospects in the coming journey seemed grim. Such thoughts stayed deep in the back of Luna's mind.

Were her body still capable of physical exhaustion, Luna might have sighed then. Dragan and Akyasha finished the battle, and Luna remained standing beside the site of Ilena's fall; waiting, praying that her enshadowed form would coalesce once again, injured or not. When she did not, Luna fell to her knees in prayer, and drew within her thoughts even as Fra offered advice.

Luna stood and hummed, taking a moment to recollect what her thrall had said.

"I am to assume that this village dismisses these madmen and beasts with pitchforks and cutlery, and not with words and gestures -so what are their defenses like?" she asked Fra before tilting her head, "And am I to assume you wish to stay here? What business do you still have?" Luna leaned down to take the serpent's heart Ilena left behind. She had no baggage, and no ethereal form with which to hide the heart within, and so for the time being kept it gripped in hand.

Of all of the lords that Aleksiya would have been perfectly comfortable with losing, Illena was not among them. The sight of her seemingly dead, body entirely vanished, was hardly a welcome one.

The small vampire lowered her arms. The ice spears she had embedded in the monstrous skeleton's eye-sockets, as if as a final(albeit ultimately pointless) revenge for what had just occurred, explosively shattered, bone splintering from the force and leaving a far larger hole punched in the collapsing figure's head.

The only consolation was that her death was perhaps not as permanent as it might have seemed. Not only because of her bizarre nature, but also due to the fact that they had been reborn once before. Perhaps such a thing was not off the table again.

Perhaps.

Wordlessly, she listened to the voices of her compatriots. Normally she would be far more intent on offering her opinion, but at the moment she didn't particularly feel like speaking. Besides, this village seemed like their best option, even if they had lost someone already.

Her small fists reflexively tightened.

@Rune_Alchemist@Asuras

After Akyasha had ended the spider-like bone abberation, she at first felt a small bit of relief... That is, until she had noticed that one of their number were missing. As it would seem, she had been pierced by the silver sword and... The cleric looked down as she dismissed her weapon and walked to where the woman had once stood. Without a word, she gave a small prayer for her. It was a somber moment but... They must be on the move though she stopped to listen to what Fra had to say about defenses. There was a lot they didn't know about this current world. How different was it? Akyasha shook her head and called her Gorebats to her. "Welcome back. Good work you guys." The Cleric said, petting the both of them. She wondered to herself if it was time to take the blood from these and summon more. Maybe in a bit.

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Not in the plan, indeed.

Giselle had lived for over a thousand years, and she had seen countless deaths, and prevented countless more. Even with the downfall of the very last days, there was little comparison to being struck down in victory, with Illena being felled by the undead creature’s last unnatural gasp. It was an unnatural reminder to how vulnerable that she, along with her fellow vampire lords, had become to be struck down in such an unfitting way.

With the battle finished, seeing her fellow lord fail to rise, she lowered her head in a moment of silence for her fallen comrade.

Were circumstances more normal, she would have created a grand sepulcher for the fallen lady, but this was anything but. She had neither the time, luxury, nor power to create a fitting tomb or even a burial. In the future, perhaps, she could return in better times—or, given their current mission to resurrect the remainder of her fellow peers, she would help Illena to rise once more when the right time came.

Seeing Luna take up the heart that their fallen peer had been safeguarding, she summoned up a portion of her remaining meagre blood. Swirling the small ball of ichor suspended above her open palm, she created a simple crimson box. With another touch of energy, she concentrated on the small container before the shade of metal washed over the object, the box turning from blood to thin tin.

Stepping over to Luna, she wordlessly opened the box with an outstretched hand for the songstress and the serpent's heart. “Here. This simple box is hardly a fitting vessel for such a priceless artifact, but for now, it will have to do.”

With a shake of her head, she moved to the spot where Illena had fallen, together with the paladin. Briefly kneeling, she took custody of the silver sword in her hand. While she was still too weak to restore the holy weapon, it was still a potent weapon, even if it has been tainted with Illena’s blood and that of potential countless others of her peers and friends.

At the very least, someone had to take it lest it fall into improper hands.

Approaching Aleksiya, she held out her scythe for the shorter lady, recalling her preference for the scythe. “I have no use for this now. If you would like it, it is yours.”

If she could still properly sigh, she would have then. “I suppose we’ve stayed here long enough, as somber as this victory is. Shall we?”

Location: Alavaris
Cathedral
@Psyker Landshark@Asuras@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Pyromania99

---

“O-oh uhm, well,” Fra fidgeted with her dress. “Someone should look after the cathedral…it would be a shame for it to be empty, even for only a little while…” The thrall couldn’t meet her mistress gaze as she’d reply. It was hard for Luna to get a read on her, but it didn’t seem like she was being dishonest, just timid. “Uhm, as for defenses…its not a big place. I’d say roughly a few dozen people or so live there. An old stone wall runs along the south and eastern sides of the village, but the northern gate was destroyed at some point the west has a river next to it. They don’t have many people capable of fighting…mostly, if something attacks they usually just try and hide, waiting it out…”

She shook her head.

“Uhm…there is this one woman though. I-I think she’s a blacksmith or something? She tries to hunt things near the village where she can to help keep it safe. She’s uhm…well she doesn’t like me, aha…” Fra rubbed her arm nervously. “They usually light the village with silver lamps. I don’t know how they work, but they seem to be able to keep most small creatures away from the village. I apologize I can’t be of more help, Mistress…”

Akyasha’s gorebats alighted on her shoulder, chirping pleasantly, but seemingly restless. Might be best to keep them around for now, or send them out scouting ahead in case they ran into anything on their way to this supposed village.

For now at least, it seemed as though nothing else needed to be done in the city. They could consider rebuilding and strengthening the city itself once they had the manpower, thralls, and other lords revived and willing to help.

With the still oddly fresh and bloody heart safely secured, once everyone had made their preparations and were ready, Fra would point them in the proper direction. Out the nearby city gate, down the old, dusty path that once would have allowed traders and people through, around the old, gnarled forest, towards what would have at one point been a riverside town. From the way she described the journey, it would likely take a few hours and be an overnight trip or two…for an average mortal, at least. They didn’t have as much need for rest, now did they?

Regardless, Fra would not wish to come unless she’d be forced to by the lords. The trip would be blessedly uneventful, the darkness of the world around them hiding little from their vampiric sight. Where humans would hear noises and creatures scampering, howling in the distance, the vampires only saw ragged beasts, who in turn, saw them, and cautiously stalked their presumed prey for some time.

Of course, they themselves soon became the prey.
And soon, the village would finally come into view. Lamps lit two ruined pillars, giving off the only source of light for miles. A number of corpses of four legged creatures that looked like some amalgamation of deer and wolf, with antlers sprouting from their head but possessing a body structure more like a wolf with an elongated muzzle and far too long limbs littered the area near the pillar.

Beyond the stone pillar, they could see a number of shoddily built and old dwellings. Some looked like they had existed since the Ophidiel Era with quick repairs and patchworks to keep them mostly livable, while others seemed completely hastily constructed. The tallest of the buildings they could see had a lamp atop it, illuminating someone standing up there.

They could hear some people jovially talking not too far away, though they were just out of sight in a nearby building.

It was a somewhat long journey, though it was hard to tell sometimes. Perhaps it was the curiosity of the situation they were in that made her anticipate going and once they got there, she was slightly amused by the sight of the odd deer-wolf hybrids. "If most people here dont fight, then it must have been that blacksmith girl that slew these creatures, no?" The cleric mused, looking around. "She would make a fine addition to our depleted forces."

Akyasha thought on the situation forbsome small seconds before turning to her bats. "Stay hidden but I want you two to find try and find the blacksmith or where that girl might be. Additionally, tell me the general layout of this place and any other bits of interest." There was quite a bit the Vampire wished to know, but it shouldnt be too difficult for her two Gorebats. She gave them both a small nuzzle nefore she sent them off.

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Perhaps the journey was long for a day trip, but Giselle spent most of the time keeping a keen eye on all that they passed. In the absence of major threats, with what existed merely acting as inferior food for the her and the other lords, she could spare the time to investigate the state of what the world had turned into. It was a luxury that she unfortunately didn’t have to examine in detail in the city proper given the state of Alavaris.

Sadly, the state of the world had become as drab as Giselle expected. In the absence of Light, most living beings of the good and proper variety had long died and withered to dust. The state of vegetation, sadly, was in a dire state, and it was a miracle in and of itself that humans and more wretched beasts managed to eke out an existence in this dead world.

Even so, aside from speaking with the other lords on details and musings on things that had happened since their slumber, she occupied most of her time keeping a mental journal on all that she saw.

Nonetheless, she was glad when the human settlement came into sight. She observed the architecture, noting its familiarity with buildings from her era, and then the ramshackle repairs and inferior new construction. More importantly, she kept in the mind what was likely a sentry of some type at the settlement’s highest vantage point. If they hadn’t already been observed, they would be seen soon—which meant the time to make a decision would be short.

And short it would be indeed, given that they could already hear voices of the people inside the village. Perhaps surprisingly, they seemed rather happy.

Giselle turned to her fellow lords as Akyasha sent off her gorebats. “I suppose it’s time to see how the humans of this era will react.” If there were no objections from her peers, she would approach the village entrance, a story already crafted in mind. With absence of any gate guards, she would speak to those speaking, but not without being cautious. She remained casual, but alert, and elected to make enough noise on her approach as to not startle before she appeared.

“Greetings. Perhaps you might spare time for questions from some travelers?”