The town looked like it was abandoned decades ago. The streets were crumbled and broken. The windows of many buildings were smashed in. Some buildings were just crumbled bits of rocks lying on the ground. It was hard to believe that this place was holding thousands of souls almost a few days ago. Verlate took a deep breath There was no sign of any recent activity or struggle. No bodies, no blood anywhere. It was as if the entire town decided to destroy their homes and packed up and left soon after. Nobody even knew that this village had suddenly disappeared, not yet at least. They would know soon enough. This village was sizeable enough that, given another day, or so, there would be an investigation into the area. There was a small town nearby, a few miles away. They were supposed to be delivered supplies from here a few hours ago at this point. She didn’t know just how Alarotha got this information so quickly, she had to of heard about it a few hours before the village had been destroyed. She remembered when Alarotha had called for her.

Alarotha seemed tense, more tense than usual. She kept scrawling her eyes over a piece of paper. Maybe it was a map. Or maybe it was a letter, she had many agents working in the field, and all of them sent her weekly, if not daily, papers on events happening within their assigned locations. She folded the paper, and tossed it on the table, close to Verlate. Verlate grabbed the piece of paper, Alarotha nodded at her. Verlate unfolded the piece of paper. It was a map. The location circled on it was a village, not too far away from their current location, maybe a day’s travel on a horse. She knew that village. Compassiun was assigned there,somebody else she knew from her childhood, and early days within the order.

“You know this area?” Alarotha asked.

Verlate folded the map back up, set it back down on the table. “Yes, I’ve been there before, maybe a month ago or so,” Verlate said.

Alarotha sighed. “Yesterday, the village was completely abandoned. Compassiun is also missing. Tyrannus sent me notice.” She said.

Verlate cocked an eyebrow. “The entire village just abandoned?” Verlate asked.

Alarotha nodded at her. “One day, they were a bustling, thriving economic hub, the next gone.” She said.

Verlate shook her head. “How is that even possible?” She asked.

Alarotha stood straight up. Her silver hair fell to her shoulders. “I was hoping you might be able to help me with that.” Alarotha said.

Verlate shot a gaze towards Alarotha. “I need you to go and investigate this matter for me.” Alarotha said.

Verlate softened her gaze. “Why me in particular,” Verlate said, “shouldn’t we leave this to the proper authorities and not get involved?” She asked.

Alarotha nodded. “Initially, that was my first thought, but the village is known for its large cemetery. If this could potentially involve necromancers at all… ” She trailed off.

Verlate sighed, and lowered her head. “Shit.” She muttered.

Alarotha pursed her bottom lip. Verlate knew that if what Alarotha was presenting was true, this would have dire consequences for her and her entire order. Necromancy, raising the dead, was forbidden throughout the region. The Wilted Rose was the largest organization practicing before it was outlawed. Once it was outlawed, they made a deal to keep their organization alive. With their experience, they would be excellent at dealing with any undead threats that may arise. That didn’t stop people from still blaming them. It didn’t help that the law barely did anything to prevent them from being harassed, or even worse. If there was any indication that necromancers were there, and if they had done anything, it could very well cause the deaths of many of her brothers and sisters. She didn’t want the same fate that befell Sedulur to befall others.

“So you need me to go there,” Verlate said, “what if I get caught?”

Alarotha glanced at Verlate. “I cannot trust anybody else with this,” she said, “and if you get caught.” Her voice trailed off. “Don’t be caught.”

Verlate Shook her head. “Okay, I’ll do what I can.”

Verlate picked up a nearby stone off the ground. It had to have been from a building. She looked around for any candidates. There was one building close by. The door was smashed open, windows shattered, and parts of the house were completely smashed open, as if catapults had assaulted them. A possible case, although not very likely. Some of the other buildings in this area especially seemed almost entirely untouched. The buildings that remained looked almost like they were almost completely built from stone, similar to the ones back in Drunkard’s Folly.

Broer dropped from a nearby rooftop, landing on his legs. He walked over to Verlate.

“See anything out there?” Verlate asked him.

Broer shook his head. She was surprised by how much he was able to communicate. Almost every undead that she had raised previously had little to no understanding of what she was saying. They would also have little initiative to do anything without being given strict orders. Yet he seemed to take the initiative, even making some decisions on the spot without her needing to provide a direct order. She had never seen an undead that was so autonomous before. She would have to project a direct order to many other undead or directly tell them to do something. She wondered if they could regain full autonomy. Verlate shook her head. The chances of that were impossible. She had never seen something like that before in her life. Yet if it could, perhaps some primal form of immortality could be achieved.

“Keep looking out for anybody,” she said, “see if there’s anybody, or anything around here. Something had to cause all of this.”

Broer nodded his head, and walked over to the closest intact building, and started to rapidly climb the building. The modifications that she had done to him seemed to be working well. She had done what she could with her magical capabilities. She was able to strengthen his bones, and his muscles. With those few modifications, he would be in peak physical condition, at least for a while. It was the mechanical modifications that she was most proud of. She had the idea for a while to make an undead, with exceptional jumping and climbing capabilities. She was able to implant springs within his upper shins. She was hoping that it would add a little bounce to his step, and also allow him to absorb some shock before it goes to his knees. She had also done some more minor modifications to his arms and fingers. She had sharpened bits of metal to a knife’s point, and screwed them into his ring and pinky. That would give him extra combat capabilities, if he needed it. She had also strapped bars of metal onto his body to create some semblance of armor.

It had been a success for the most part, but there was still some tweaking in order. She might even be able to find something of use within the ruins of the city, there had to be some scrap lying about somewhere. But she needed to investigate the graveyard before she could look around, quite a task at that. The cemetery was absolutely massive, it would take the entire day to scour the whole place. Verlate decided to start with the outdoor graves, if there were any disturbances, she would be quick to find them.

Cobwebs and dust got caught in her throat. She immediately seized up, and closed her eyes. She started coughing uncontrollably. This was the last coffin in the crypt, and, of course, it still had remains inside it, exceptionally old remains. She was absolutely covered in filth and grime and sweat. She wondered where exactly Broer and Sedulur were right now, either of them would be useful right now. Sedulur should be around, she had him looking out for her, if there was anything or anyone about, he would have come and got her. Sedulur didn’t retain some level of autonomy like Broer did.

She put the lid back over the casket, and hoisted the casket back into its resting place. This was absolutely tiresome work. She felt her muscles aching. Just how many caskets had she pulled? However, many, it was clear that there wasn’t anything here for her to find. She dusted herself off and walked out of the dark and dusty crypt.

She was surprised there was still sun out, but it was quickly waning. There was no reason to suspect there being any necromancers in the area. She didn’t know if she was relieved, or scared. There might be an even bigger threat out there. She shook her head. She was completely covered in dust, dirt, and sweat. Most of all her muscles were aching. She would barely be able to ride a horse out of here. Maybe she could find a ewer or a jug nearby, she remembered there was a stream close by, it wasn’t ideal, but it would work. She pulled out a journal that she was keeping for this mission. She hadn’t written too much in it, but now would be the time to write what she had encountered.

The village was in ruins. She wrote. I didn’t see any bodies lining the streets however, only broken buildings and other pieces of debris. When I located the cemetery, none of the graves were disturbed, and the crypt’s only activity was from insects. I have no reason to suspect there to be any necromancers, I recommend letting the appropriate authorities handle this situation, we shouldn’t get involved, unless we want to draw more attention to ourselves.

She closed her journal. She remembered when Alarotha would take notes out on the field. Alarotha wrote in a journal so much that she would go through one in a month or even less. She wondered where she kept all those journals, or what she wrote in all of them. Maybe she was cataloging events she saw, or maybe she had just an idea that popped into her head, and she just needed a place to write it all down.

Verlate looked around, No sign of Sedulur and Broer right now, just where exactly could they be?. She knew Sedulur had to be close, but Broer could be off hunting something right now. She lifted her hand to the air. Dark magic swirled around her wrists, and into her hand. It pulsed out from her out into the open. She hoped that that would be enough to call them back to her, it had worked before on others. She sat down on the dirt street. She would finally be able to rest a bit, if even for a moment.

It was maybe about five minutes before she saw Broer leap from a nearby rooftop. She stood back up. Broer walked over to her.

“See anything out there?” She asked Broer.

Broer shook his head. He didn’t see anything.

Verlate sighed. “Whatever’s out there isn’t our problem, at least right now anyway.” She said.

She looked around more. It was odd that Broer came here before Sedulur. Sedulur was supposed to be watching her at all times. It would take maybe a minute at most for him to get here. Perhaps he somehow didn’t get the first signal. She sent out another one and waited a few more moments. She looked around more, nothing. She grabbed her knife out of her sheath. Sedulur wouldn’t take this long to get here, unless something was amiss. Then she saw something. She could see a figure approaching, running on all fours. It definitely wasn’t a beast. It had the body of a man. That must be Sedulur. Verlate put her knife back into her sheath. Many of his modifications were similar to that of Broer’s, except where she wanted Broer to have an able body for combat, Sedulur’s body was much more suited for reconnaissance and mobility. She had strengthened the muscles in his arms, legs, and his core muscles. She had also removed parts of him that weren’t required, like kidneys, or the stomach. Being undead he no longer needed to eat, and any diseases he was harboring could be kept at bay with routine maintenance, a little magic, and maybe some alchemy.

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He slowed his pace to a crawl. He didn’t seem like he had any injuries on his body. Verlate walked over to him. She put her hand on the top of his head. Sedulur wouldn’t be able to convey to her at all what he’d seen through any sort of non-verbal communication, she would have to, invade his mind, see what exactly he had seen recently. Necromancers could see in the minds of either undead, or the recently deceased. This aspect of necromancy, thankfully, wasn’t outlawed, at least not yet. She felt a cold shock run up her spin, and into her mind. She closed her eyes.

She saw herself going into the cemetery from a window of a building. Sedulur must have went inside a building to look at her from a distance, without being spotted himself. It was a perfect spot, not too far, and not too close either. He would definitely be able to run to her if there was any danger, so why didn’t he come when she first called him? There had to be something else she was missing. She pressed further into Sedulur’s memories. He was in a different building now at this time, and it was starting to become sunset, maybe around ten minutes before she left the crypt. It wasn’t too long until Sedulur was violently pulled backwards by a figure. He was slammed down onto the ground, and the figure straddled him. She recognized the clothes they were wearing. She knew them all too well. They were the Robes of the Wilted Rose.

Sedulur fought and clawed at the figure to try to throw them off of him, but they were good. They knew exactly what to do. They pinned Sedulur’s hand to the ground with their own knife. It pierced through the wood below. Dark black sludge flowed from the newly created wound. Verlate took her hand off of Sedulur’s head. She leaned down, and grabbed Sedulur’s hand. It was still bleeding, and the smell was rancid. Energies swirled around both of their hands. In a flash, the wound was healed, with no blood dripping from it anymore. She should definitely armor the hands more, especially if he’s running on all fours. Who exactly were they? She couldn’t even get a glimpse of their face. They were wearing a cowl, from what she could see. What was their hair like? Was it even showing at all? She could have sworn that she saw some strands of gray, or maybe even silver hair. She had to press deeper into Sedulur’s mind. She put her hand back onto his head. He was still struggling against them. She could see their hair. It was silver! They were able to hold Sedulur down completely. Finally, she could get a better look at their face. They had silver hair and sharp features. Their eyes were bright green. She knew that face from anywhere.

“Sedulur?” Tyrannus said. ‘How did, why are you?-” He muttered before Sedulur was finally able to break free, knocking Tyrannus off balance. Sedulur sprinted out of the room and down the stairs. The rest of the house was a complete mess. Tables smashed, chairs were broken, and anything that could be broken was, except for the actual house itself. Sedulur looked around the room, trying to find any sort of exit. There was a window smashed open. He darted towards it, almost there! Sedulur was stopped abruptly. Tyrannus had a firm grasp on his ankle. The grip wasn’t very tight at all. Sedulur was able to break free from it with ease, but not before Tyrannus could do something. There was a flash around Sedulur’s ankle. It almost immediately turned to black. There was nothing.

Nothing until when she first saw Sedulur running back out towards her. She bolted up from her crouch. Tyrannus was, or more likely, still is here. Verlate didn’t know why he was here, but she’d get that out of him before she left here. She pulled her knife from her scabbard.

“Tyrannus.” She yelled. “Come out here!” She stood in silence for a few moments.

She turned to look over to Broer. “Find Tyrannus, and bring him to me.” She said. “Don’t let him get a hold of you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Tyrannus said. Verlate turned towards him.

Tyrannus had his hands help up in the air. “I’m not here to cause any trouble.” He said. Verlate put her knife away.

“Why are you here?” She asked.

Tyrannus put his hands down, and scratched the back of his head. “Same as you, I hope.” He said.

Verlate started walking towards Tyrannus. “I’m here to find out why the entire town was suddenly abandoned.” She said.

Tyrannus frowned. “Yeah, bad bit of business that,” he said, “you need any help?”

Verlate shook her head. “I’ve been here all day, and turned over the whole cemetery, whatever caused this is not our business.” She said.

Tyrannus chuckled. “You know, you sound a lot like Alarotha.” He said.

“She practically raised me, you know that.” She said.

The two were close to one another now. Tyrannus outstretched a hand, Verlate took it. “I know, kid.” He said.

Tyrannus looked her over. “You alright?” he asked.

“Fine,” Verlate said, “just too much dust down there, and been there for too long.”

Tyrannus let go of her hand. “You sure you don’t want me to take a look with you, if there is anything, and I mean anything at all, it could look really bad for us. “He said, he turned his gaze to the two undead following right behind her. “Horrible for you, especially.”

She nodded. “If you want to take a look, go right ahead.” Tyrannus motioned for her to follow. They made their way towards the cemetery. Tyrannus looked back at Verlate.

“You’re still practicing?” He asked. Verlate looked at Broer and Sedulur.

“Yeah, I still am.” She said.

“And, forgive me if this is too much of a question, but why Sedulur, and Broer?” He asked.

Verlate looked back at the two undead following her. “Given their history and their marks on their records, they would be great catalysts to raise.” She said.

Tyrannus nodded. “Truth be told,” Tyrannus said, “I’m sort of, relieved that you’re still keeping the old culture alive, at least to some extent.”

Verlate scoff. “Only out of necessity. If they didn’t need me, I wouldn’t be doing this.” She said.

Tyrannus looked right back at her. “I’m sure you are.” He said. What did that even mean? Was he practicing still himself? He was still a big proponent in advocating for their rights, but he still vowed to never practice himself.

They both made it to the cemetery. Precisely as she left it, The graves were undisturbed, and the crypt was still filled with cobwebs. Tyrannus went to a nearby gravestone.

“Eliana Atburough, lived for seventy years, this one.” Tyrannus said. He crouched down over her grave. “You ever wonder what our grave is gonna be like?” He asked.

Verlate never really wondered what her grave would be like. “I always assumed that I was going to be buried in a trench, maybe left a small marker.” Verlate said. Tyrannus stood back up.

“I always assumed that I would be used in experiments. I don’t think I would have minded that.” He said. Tyrannus scrapped at the dirt when the gravestone met the earth. “Yet now, I’ll be lucky if I’m not burned to a crisp once I’m dead, not even food for the worms.”

Verlate shook her head. She remembered the day that Sedulur died. They wanted to burn him. She felt angry. Angry at the town, angry with herself, and even a little angry at Sedulur. She remembered Alarotha that day. Her hair was unkept, and dirtied. She had to have been riding for almost a full day straight. Her clothes were caked in dirt. And her eyes were sunken. Alarotha begged the townspeople to hand Sedulur over to her, a plea that almost didn’t work. Verlate’s fist bunched around her dagger, and her knuckles turned white. Whatever happens, they would get that body back. Maybe it was out of pity, or maybe they felt like they were in danger, but they handed over Sedulur’s body. Alarotha draped the body over her horse like it was a freshly killed deer. Verlate walked up to Alarotha. Alarotha looked at Verlate, tears were welling within her eyes. Alarotha sighed and closed her eyes.

“We all have to do our part.” Alarotha said.

“We all have to do our part,” Verlate mumbled.

Tyrannus made a motion towards her. “You’ve got a shovel on you, by any chance?” He asked.

“Where is yours?” She asked.

Tyrannus waved his hand dismissively. “Lost it not too long ago, fought against some wolves with it,” he turned to look at Verlate “Left it behind to get out of there faster.”

Verlate grabbed her shovel from her back. “Here, take it.”

Tyrannus took the shovel, and nodded his head. He pressed the shovel deep into the ground. Verlate flicked her hand towards the grave. Both Sedulur and Broer started to help Tyrannus dig the grave with him. Tyrannus smirked. “I remember these two, they were some of the brightest minds we had.” Tyrannus looked back up to Verlate. “Look where that got them.”

Verlate narrowed her vision. What did he just say? Was he implying that they deserved what they got? Verlate tightened her fists. Her knuckles were going white. Verlate closed her eyes and started to breath slowly. Tyrannus must have noticed.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he said, “I know just how much they mean to you, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Verlate unclenched he fists, and looked down to the floor. Tyrannus went back to shoveling the dirt. “In any case. We shouldn’t even be having this discussion.” He said. “Sedulur, and Broer should have been able to live their lives without persecution, that's what we fought for, right?” He said.

Verlate glanced at Broer and Sedulur. The future that they were promised, that she was promised was ripped right out from underneath them.

“This happens when you leave it up to our leaders.” He said.

“You’re blaming this on Alarotha?” Verlate asked.

“No!” Tyrannus blurted. She could see the shock on his face, but it soon softened. “Not entirely anyway. She’s a part of it, but, well, she’s doing the best she can, given the circumstances.” He threw the shovel down to the ground, sighed, and looked at Verlate. “I blame the council.” Tyrannus shifted his gaze. “The bastards.” He mumbled.

Verlate nodded her head. “You’re not the only one.” She looked over to the grave. “You know just how often I’ve been hearing that recently.”

“What do you think?” Tyrannus said.

Verlate stared at Tyrannus “I think I’ll be dead before I see any real change.” She said. I hope I’ll be. She thought.

Tyrannus smirked. “Come one, let’s check the grave.”

Verlate waved her hands. Both Broer and Sedulur scrambled out of the grave. Verlate peered inside the hole. Although it was night now, she could very clearly see that there was nothing there, not a coffin, not a body, not even a scrap of cloth.

Verlate followed Tyrannus over to the grave, although they weren’t more than five feet away from it, Tyrannus was even closer. He looked down in the grave, and shook his head. “Exactly what I thought.

Verlate looked inside the grave, empty, no body, no bones, not even a scrap of clothes. “How?” Verlate whispered.

Tyrannus turned to Verlate. “You’ve never seen something like this before?” He put his hand on Verlate’s shoulder. “You’ve never fought other necromancers, have you?” He asked.

She shot her gaze to Tyrannus. “Fought them, yes.” She looked back down at the grave. “But i haven’t seen anything like this before.”

Tyrannus started walking away from the grave. “You should brush up a little bit on our history, This is an old tactic. What we’re dealing with here, has been in the works for years now.” He said. He leaned up against a nearby fence.

‘What do you mean by that?” Verlate asked.

Tyrannus motioned over the entire cemetery. “Take a look around, every grave here’s been empty for years.” He said

Verlate’s breathing became shallow and rapid. She snapped towards another grave, and Broer and Sedulur started digging.

Verlate looked at Tyrannus. “How do you know that?” She asked.

Tyrannus shrugged. “Seen it before, I guess,” he looked over back at Verlate, “not too long ago either.”

It wasn’t long before Broer and Sedulur dug up the next grave, empty, too. “Shit,” Verlate muttered.

“What was that?” Tyrannus asked.

Verlate steadied herself. “Nothing, it’s nothing.” Verlate looked back to Tyrannus. “I-I’ve got to get back to Alarotha. I’ve got to report this.”

Tyrannus shook his head. “Alright, kid, just be careful. I feel like things are going to get much worse.”

Verlate knew he was right.