“You know, I’m not much of a fan of pilfering corpses,” Sisyphus said. “This isn’t usually in my line of work.” Verlate could see his oak brown eyes darting back and forth, definitely looking for anything that would compromise them. There wasn’t anybody out there. If there was anybody out at this time of night, she was sure that she would see them. She was always surprised by her ability to see, especially in the darkest places. Sisyphus really stood out to her. They were both wearing long black cloaks, but his had to be made out of some expensive material, as even without light, it seemed to shine. Somehow, it made sense for a thief like him to wear something so iridescent to the point that it would give away his location. Sisyphus swung his shovel around. There were dry bits of, something on it, whether it was blood or dirt, she couldn’t tell.

“Just two corpses,” Verlate said, “nobody will realize that they’re missing.” Sisyphus glanced back her way.

“Weren’t they your allies?” He asked.

More than that. Yet there was no way of explaining it. Practically everybody within her order had grown up alongside one another for over twenty years. Their leaders were like parents or aunts and uncles. And they were like siblings.

“Something like that.” She muttered.

Verlate fiddled with her gloves. The leather on them was wearing down a bit, she would probably have to get some new ones here soon. She lifted her shovel off of her shoulder. It was in pretty good condition, sharp enough to dig through the dirt, and with enough surface area to dig up quite a lot of dirt. It was good to keep a shovel in proper conditions, especially in her kind of work.

She looked over at Sisyphus, he wasn’t looking around anymore, but something was definitely on his mind. “What’s on your mind?” she asked.

He startled from the sudden question, yet quickly recomposed himself. “Is, is it true?” He asked.

“Is what true?” She responded, knowing full well the question that she was going to be asked.

“There’s been rumors that undead have been attacking small towns and villages.” His eyes narrowed. “Isn’t your organization meant to stop those from happening?”

Verlate dropped her gaze. “We’ve yet to see any attacks from anything like that.” That was a lie. Yes, there were villages succumbing to them, nothing too major, just a small village here or there. There have also been attacks where the local enforcement has been able to repel them easy enough. They’ve thought it would be better to just, observe for the moment. Sisyphus’ expression softened, and relaxed.

The graveyard was just up ahead. The air was delightful today. It was probably a mix of the rain from yesterday, the spring season, and the absurd amount of flowers left for the dead. Sisyphus dragged his shovel across the ground.

“Why exactly are we going for bodies right now, and why precisely these two?” He asked.

Verlate averted her gaze. “They’ll be crucial for the events to come.” She said.

Sisyphus shot her a concerned glance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Verlate decided not to respond. Sisyphus was noticeably irritated, but it wouldn’t matter. Sisyphus was exceptional when it came to anything that was even remotely illegal. Robing, burglary, blackmail. He was just about okay with anything other than murder and, apparently, stealing bodies. However, both he and her know that he wasn’t about to turn down a request from Alarotha, even if that meant that he would have to help in stealing bodies. Besides, Having Alarotha owe him after this would be far more useful than anything money could buy. He wasn’t about to turn down this job, just because she would refuse to answer a question.

They were close to the graves now. There were a lot fewer flowers here, and the grass lost its green color, now giving way to a dead yellow or brown. She wondered what exactly was causing all of this. Could it be that the rain didn’t hit here? Or that the sun decided not to shine here? It was possible. There was a bit of an overhanging rock nearby that could definitely cause The light, as well as the rain, to be blocked. No, that couldn’t be the case. This village had people here whose very job it was to maintain the cemetery's gardens. They would make sure to keep it as beautiful as possible.

Finally, they were right next to the gravestones. The land around here was utterly barren, just as she remembered them being. The graves were unmarked, but she remembered the names, like they were etched upon her mind.

She remembered the day she first met them, twenty years ago. That morning. That morning was lovely. She remembered smelling the sweet scent of the baking bread in the morning. The sky was cloudy, yet not enough to block the sun's warm rays. She could remember her mother's face. There was something that she couldn’t quite figure out about it. Perhaps it was those hazel eyes. They were glazed and more cloudy than usual. Was it sadness? Maybe her mother knew what was going to happen that night. If she truly did, why didn’t she take Verlate with her? It doesn’t really matter. That would be the last time she would see her anyway.

She couldn’t remember who was attacking her village that night. Maybe it was bandits, maybe it was soldiers from a neighboring country. Either way, they were ruthless in their assault. It didn’t matter who you were, an adult, an elder, or even a child. All of them were enemies that needed to be dealt with.

She remembered being hustled out of her house by one of the local guards.

“Hurry, and follow the others!” He shouted. Although his eyes were hidden by his plate helmet, she could tell that he was in genuine fear. He removed his hand from his chain mail glove, and yanked her out of the house. There were many others running as well. Some running with the guards, other running away somewhere into the wild, and some were running into the houses, at least the houses that were not on fire, or not crumbled under stones. There was one boy that she saw. He had to be around three years old, half her age. He was sitting over a dead body, eyes staring vacantly. She didn’t know if the body was his parent, or somebody else. Whoever it was, it was clearly somebody important to him. She remembered his name, it was forever etched into her mind, Sedulur.

Sedulur. Verlate gasped a bit, as she was standing over his grave. Sisyphus turned to view her.

“Are you okay?” He asked her.

She glanced back over to Sisyphus. He was already bringing the shovel down to Sedulur’s grave.

“Yes, I’m fine.” She said. Of course, she wasn’t okay. She didn’t even realize how much this would affect her until now. Tears welled within her dark-brown eyes. How could anybody be okay with digging up their dead brother? She thought she was used to this type of work by now. This wasn’t her first time digging up a body, and she was no stranger to digging up the bodies of people that she once knew. She took a deep breath, and pushed her shovel into the dirt below.

Sedulur, his eyes kept flashing in her mind. What was that expression? Was it fear? Or was it something else? Emptiness, she finally knew how to describe it. The look in his eyes was pure emptiness. In an instant, he was pulled up by his arm and thrust alongside her. I could see past his eyes as if they were windows. Nothing was there. Pure, empty vessels.

The building they were being hurried through was just up ahead. It was the only pure stone building erected in the entire village. It was the chapel, ironic. They hurried through the enormous doors, and the few guards who accompanied them slammed shut the doors, locking the children, and a few adults, in the chapel. The adults accompanying them had barred the door shut with whatever they could.

Verlate scanned the room. The chapel was far bigger than anything she had ever seen before. There were rows of seats, enough to fit a hundred or so people easily. And some glass panes on the chapel walls. All the walls were carefully laden with stone, with wooden pillars supporting it all. The kids in the chapel were either crying, rocking back and forth, or in utter shock. The kids had a few expressions: disbelief, fear, or plain emptiness. Sedulur was one of those pairs of eyes showing emptiness. Another boy was sitting right next to him. His eyes showed disbelief and something else. He wasn’t sitting idly or crying, but she could see a tiny glimmer. Was he happy? Relieved? Either way, it seemed like he was trying to comfort Sedulur. She cautiously approached the pair of boys. The more lively one looked about four years old, two years younger than her.

From where he was sitting, she had to have looked like a giant in his eyes. His eyes roamed up to hers. She sat beside the boy. He gave her a soft smile. Maybe he was trying to reassure her.

“I saw a horse being born this morning.” The boy said softly. “It was really gross, and it smelled awful.”

Sedulur looked ahead, eyes as empty as ever. She looked at the other boy. She didn’t know if he was trying to comfort them or just horrible at reading the situation. Either way, it did lift her spirits a bit. She gave him a small smile.

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“Yesterday I found a cool bug” Verlate blurted, “It was red, and had tiny black spots on it.”

“Ladybug.” Sedulur said. Verlate and the other boy looked at him. “You found a ladybug.” Verlate moved over to the boy.

“What’s your name?” She asked. The boy looked back up at her. His eyes no longer showed pure emptiness, there was something else. A flicker of something, she couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

“Sedulur.” He said. His gaze when right back to looking at the ground.

The other boy perked up and looked her way. “My name is Broer!” He said, far too chipper for the situation they were both in.

Verlate looked at Sedulur, then looked at Broer. “I’m Verlate.”

The shovel dug into flesh. Verlate immediately recoiled. “Shit!” She exclaimed.

Sisyphus looked back at her. “What’s up? What happened?” He asked.

She started scratching the dirt away from Broer’s grave. “I hit him with my shovel!”

Sisyphus sets down the body that he was carrying. “Hey hold on a second!” He ran over to Verlate, and pulled her off the grave. “You’re gonna hurt your wrists and hands!”

Sisyphus grabbed Verlate’s shovel and started carefully digging away at the loose dirt. “I knew that they meant more than you were letting on,” he whispered.

Meant more to me than I ever realized. She thought. She never knew just how much both of them meant to her, even when they died she never realized it. Yet seeing them here did something to her. Maybe it was that she finally has a chance to grieve, if only for a moment.

Sisyphus had nearly gotten Broer’s body out of the ground. She wondered what his face would look like after just over a year of being buried. Sedulur didn’t look good when they pulled him out of the ground. His body had most certainly decomposed a fair amount. His skin was rotting and had pockets of worms in them. There were patches of his skin that were eaten out by insects as well. His hair was long, longer than when they buried him. She wondered if the hair still grew after somebody died? Maybe, she never really noticed that on other bodies before, but she never really cared to look at their hair. The worst part about it though was his eyes. Those ocean blue eyes were gone. She wished so dearly to look into those eyes again.

Sisyphus had finally pulled Broer’s body fully out of the ground. He shared many of the same symptoms as Sedulur, even though he was buried for nearly half the time. His eyes too were missing.

She felt a mix of so many emotions, and all of them, overwhelming. Anger, fear, relief, sadness. Happiness? She chuckled. Maybe the strongest emotion was happiness. Was this what people feel when they have a funeral? She never attended an actual funeral, it was always either mass graves or quick burials, like the ones that happened here. Sisyphus noticeably relaxed after the bodies were finally dragged out from their graves.

Verlate grabbed Sedulur’s body and hoisted him over her shoulders, He was much lighter than she was expecting. Sisyphus grabbed Broer’s body and threw him over his shoulder. She stared at the lifeless body for a few moments, she could almost envision him smiling.

“Hey, you coming?” Sisyphus asked.

Verlate shook her head. “Yes, I’ll be following right behind you.”

The streets were utterly empty, which was quite surprising given how large the town was. Verlate gave a glance up to the gigantic stone buildings. She smirked. She was glad that many of the buildings being built now are made of stone, rather than pure wood. Sisyphus signaled to go left. She saw a lantern light from a distant building’s window right in front of them. They were far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to see them. She wondered what someone would be doing up at this hour. Maybe they couldn’t sleep. Maybe their shift just ended at their workplace. Or maybe they had a child wake up in the middle of the night, and they were trying to get it to sleep. She followed Sisyphus left, down the alleyway.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Verlate asked Sisyphus.

She noticed the thief’s pace slow. “My people and I were the architects for this village. I was there to oversee the blueprints, I know this place as if it was the back of my hand.” He looked back at her. His gaze was strong and steady, he seemed almost proud of his work. That was enough confirmation for her. If anybody knew this area, it would be him.

It wasn’t long before they hit a small strip of homes. She noticed that many of the homes here are still wood. Even worse is that some of them had rot, or were burnt and chipped, a few unfortunate ones had a combination of all three. There was trash littering the dirt streets, or on the sides of roads. There were plenty of lights here too, along with people in the streets.

“Why are we heading down here?” She asked Sisyphus. “Shouldn’t we turn down a different path?”

“Relax,” Sisyphus said, “They’re on my payroll, they ain’t gonna do shit to us.”

“You could have had one of these goons help us dig up the bodies?”

Sisyphus shot her a pompous gaze. “Yep.”

Verlate gazed at the people she was passing by. They had all sorts of different clothes on them. Some wore regular civilian clothes, mainly bits of cloth or leather. Others wore urban armor, like pieces of leather that offers protection, but not to the point that it would look suspicious, or that would hinder their movement. A few were wearing rags, probably beggars, she imagined. Although they all looked radically different from one another, one thing was common amongst all of them. Their eyes felt like they were burning her flesh with their gaze, it was only slightly relieved when they saw Sisyphus approaching. There was something else too, a certain familiarity with all of them. In an abstract way, they all reminded her of Sedulur or Broer.

“What happened to all of them?” She asked.

Sisyphus’ gait shifted. He hunched his back forward, and quickened his step. “They lost everything.” He said through gritted teeth. She dropped her gaze, she knew exactly how that felt.

“What all did they lose?” She asked.

“You want a list?” He scoffed. “We were a small farming town at first, if you would believe. Then, we found out we were sitting on a mine, Literally!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, almost knocking Broer’s body off of him. “We were contracted to construct more buildings here, and in turn, we would be paid a hefty sum of coin, as well as having massive homes, all paid for by our work.” He shook his head. “It truly was too good to be true.”

She remembered hearing about the Drunkard’s Folly construction project. She had no idea that Sisyphus was a part of it, although she had never heard of him until the project was finished.

“What else happened?” she asked.

Sisyphus scoffed. “What do you think happened? The mine completely dried up, and we were completely shafted. They hired some cheaper company to finish what work was left, and didn’t give us anything in return.” He chuckled. “I bet they’re feeling sorry for kicking us out now. The new company barely did any work! I bet they don’t even have enough money to find another one!”

Verlate sighed. “Sorry to hear about that.” She said.

“I’m more sorry for the folks here.” He said. “I was always a bit of an outlaw, so my job’s secure no matter what, but most of these people can’t go back to farming as most of the fertile land’s been covered by stone at this point.”

They were coming up on the end of the slums, back to the stone homes and cramped alleys. If Verlate ever felt like retiring, she felt like Drunkard’s Folly might be a good home for her, if it ever gets finished.

Finally, they were out of the large village and out into the vast, covering foliage. This would be more than enough cover, at least for her purposes. “This is good here, Sisyphus, thank you.”

Sisyphus looked relieved. He flopped the body down onto the ground with a sudden thud. She shot him a searing glare. “What,” he responded, “I’m not used to carrying around a body for hours on end!” True, this was something more up her alley, but she thought that he would be used to carrying around a lot of weight.

“You can go now.” She said.

Sisyphus scoffed. “What, we just dug up some bodies and plopped them out here. That’s all we needed to do?” He said.

“No,” She said, “that’s all you’re needed for. You’ll get your pay.” She pulled out a knife from her hip scabbard. “Or stay, if you want.”

Sisyphus shook his head. “I’m not too sure what you and your people are up to, but, promise me that my people, they’ll be fine” He said.

She pondered for a moment. What she was doing right now, was simply setting up countermeasures in case anything were to happen. She felt like she couldn’t truly promise protection, but if it meant comforting him at all. “Yes, we’ll make sure that your village is well protected, especially your people.” She said.

She saw Sisyphus’ shoulders drop and relax. He put his hands inside the pockets of his black pants. “Okay.” He said. “Do what you have to do.”

With that last message, Sisyphus disappeared into the brush and the foliage. Verlate waited until she could no longer hear the rustling of the bushes, just the wind breezing through the trees, along with the birds of the night making their calls. She looked at the bodies of Broer and Sedulur. Both of them looked like they’d been through hell, and in a way, they had. She felt pain swell in her chest. A part of her really didn’t want to do this, but another part of her desperately missed them. She knew that whatever part of them returns wouldn’t be how she remembered them. But, it needed to be done. With their experience in life, they would make for excellent catalysts.

Verlate closed her eyes, in preparation of what was to come. She brought the knife to her palm, and sliced it. There was no going back now. She dripped the blood over both of their bodies. She felt a cold shiver spread across her body, something that was both strangely foreign and familiar. She opened her eyes. The world was pitch black. She couldn’t see, yet felt there were hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes staring right back at her. Her breathing was shallow, her arms hugged against her body, and her heart was racing. She knew this feeling all too well, she thought that she would be used to it at this point. She slowed her breathing and steadied her arms. She had to focus on her mission. She stood up as tall as possible, and started walking forward. Well, what she assumed to be forward, in reality, directions were meaningless here. She felt very claustrophobic here, even though she has yet to find any sort of wall, or object in her way. It wasn’t long before she could see the two bodies of Sedulur and Broer right in front of her, the only two bodies that were visible. She knelt down and put her hands on both of them.

At first, there was nothing. Then, she felt Sedulur breathing. She tried her best to remain calm. This place tries anything to get you to lose your nerve. There was no bringing them back, not alive at least. Then it finally happened. Black, worm-like being burst forth from her hands, and wrapped themselves around the bodies of Sedulur, and Broer. For the first time in at least half a year, their eyes opened.

She gasped for air. The sudden rush of colors, sights, sounds, and smells nearly made her vomit. She collapsed to the ground, her whole body aching. Had she done it? This was the same thing that happened every time, and yet she never really knew for sure. She stood back up. The bodies of Sedulur and Broer were still lying down, yet their eyes were open. She smirked and flicked her hand upwards. Both of them shot upwards, surprisingly more agile than she was expecting. They would both need to be modified, of course, but the base was very good.

“Broer, Sedulur.” She said. They both flicked their heads to look at her. “We have work to do.”