A yellowed-eyed ghoul pounced into the air, ready to slash and rend with their wicked curved claws and sharp fangs. Impetitus caught the creature in mid-flight by the neck and slammed it hard onto the ground. Holding the ghoul in place with a heavy booted foot, the templar reversed his grip and stabbed his sword downwards through the creature's head. It stopped squirming. Swinging his sword back into a regular grip, he chopped a second pouncing ghoul in half as it leaped toward him.

"I hate this place," he growled.

Markham had switched out his hammer for his axe, as the undead were without armor. With his steel shield, he bashed one ghoul to the side as it tried to tackle Viridal. The dwarf swung his axe and removed the head of another ghoul.

"Duck down," Viridal said, and the dwarf glanced up at him from over his thick shoulder. The dwarf came barely to the tall mage's chest.

"Oh right, never mind," the spellcaster said and pointed his two fingers forward. An arc of lightning shot outwards and blasted several flying specters into misty bits.

"Stand close to me!" Ordered Verene. The mage thief completed a series of hand gestures and then placed her hand on the ground. A shadowy field engulfed them and then obscured them from sight.

In moments, dozens of specters swooped in and circled above the group. The creatures were unable to see the party, so they flew off. When they were gone, Verene raised her hand off the ground and gasped. The shadowy field faded away, and she was sweating from the exertion.

"That was awesome!" Feelix, the Hafling cried. She was their newest member that they picked up at the second Adventurer Encampment. She had curly red hair and wore a thick brown padded jacket. A short sword was strapped to her side. In her tiny hands, she held a slingshot.

"Yer kind supposed to be quiet," grumbled Markham.

"What do you mean by that, huh?" Feelix said and stormed up to the dwarf. She barely came to the dwarf's black bushy beard.

Impetitus separated the two by imposing his large armored form in between them. The blonde templar turned to look down at the halfling.

"Can you find us the portal?" He asked.

"Right!" Feelix began scouting the ground and searching for tracks. They were in the Old Cemetery, surrounded by tombstones and mausoleums. A continuous rolling mist swirled around them, obscuring their long-distance vision and making it hard for them to find their way. They have been in the cemetery for hours and made it to the ghouls' section. The halfling perked up.

"I found some interesting tracks!" She exclaimed and hurried along a twisty path between crumbling tombstones.

"What do you mean by interesting?" Queried Impetitus.

"Uniformed tracks. Like a common walkway. 'A commonly used path will take you someplace important,' my grandpa used to say." The halfling scout answered.

"How far do ya think the portal is?" Markham asked. The dwarf was getting a little nervous.

"They change every time. I did read that there are static portals that the denizens of the wasteland use. I never saw one, though," answered Viridal.

"Deeper we go in, the harder the beasties get," Feelix said with a chuckle.

"Ye jess pay attention to that Talisman so that we can get out of this cursed place," the dwarf grumbled.

"Jeez, are you scared? The big burly dwarf is afraid of ghosts?" Teased Feelix.

"Hah, that's rich! I'm not scared for meself, wee one. I'm more worried bout ya."

"Wee one! We are nearly the same height!" Feelix cried, stopping to walk back over to the armored defender. The halfling was just half a head shorter.

"That's enough. Focus on your job," ordered Impetitus as he nudged the smaller halfling forward.

"Why is she carrying a slingshot? And a short sword? Makes no bit of sense. She's tiny. The way she is equipped, I reckon she will more likely get herself Returned than make it to the Dungeon," the dwarf observed.

Impetitus shrugged his large shoulders, and they kept walking. Verene rolled her eyes. She was beginning to get tired of the dwarf's complaining, though she agreed to some extent. It was difficult recruiting an adventurer with tracking and awareness skills that were willing to go into the Dungeon. The skilled ones either already made the run or were working with another team. The sane ones would say no, and only the crazy ones accepted. That was how they ended up with the red-haired halfling. Feelix had a keen eye, and from what Verene could observe, the halfling was very good at tracking. Unfortunately, she also had good hearing.

"Just so you know, my people are deadly accurate with the slingshot. We fought off goblins and orcs for generations in the Rolling Hills. We even kept out the Imperium for decades. Now the empire recruits us to serve as scouts," Feelix said proudly, showing off the insignia on the shoulder of her padded brown jacket. It was a red fox imposed over a bow and arrow.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Markham laughed and pointed, "Even yer badge has a bow! Now a bow, or a crossbow, is a sensible weapon."

Feelix fumed, balling her small fists by her sides. She didn't notice that the Talisman in her pocket was glowing green. Verene saw it, and the mage thief walked over and took it.

"The portal is near," Verene said quietly, holding the Talisman to scan the area. It would glow brighter to indicate the direction they should head.

"See! I helped you find the portal," Feelix taunted the dwarf.

"I didn't doubt yer tracking skills. Jess yer choice in weapons," the dwarf retorted.

Their arguing was why they didn't notice the pack of ghouls being led by a red-eyed vampire creeping up on them. Verene was focused on the glowing Talisman. Viridal was always lost in his own universe, and no one knew what he thought about it. Impetitus was the first to spot their attackers.

"Ghouls!" The templar roared and, without hesitation, went on the offensive.

Verene and Markham were seasoned adventurers, and they flipped the switch to combat in mere moments. Verene pocketed the Talisman, drew her sword, and was ready with shadow spells in a flash. The dwarf immediately fell back to guard the mage, who was just snapping out of their daydreaming.

Two ghouls pounced on Verene with savage claws. Her cloned image disappeared in a puff of shadow. The real mage thief slinked out from behind a tombstone to stab one through the back of the neck. Its long tongue gurgled as its yellow eyes faded away into their next death.

Impetitus recklessly rushed past a couple of slashing and grabbing ghouls. His large armored body powered through their attempts to hurt and hold him. The templar swung a mighty blow of his two-handed sword toward the vampire, and it floated out of his reach. Its red eyes stared into him.

"My mind is pure from the Blue Flame," Impetitus growled as he sliced the head off one of the ghouls and shoved the other back so that he could continue advancing toward the vampire. One of the ghouls grabbed his legs. As he wrestled to free himself, the vampire rushed in and slashed with their wicked claws hard against Impetitus's helmet. The templar fell onto his back.

"Viridal, there is a vampire!" Markham roared as he hacked a leg off a ghoul and shoved it onto its back with his shield.

"Oh, wonderful," the mage said in exasperation as if he was bored. The wizard mumbled an incantation and twirled his fingers around in the air. A glowing nimbus flashed briefly around the party's heads and then faded. Feelix was mesmerized, and after Viridal's spell, the halfling blinked their eyes and was free from the vampire's hold.

"Your minds are all protected," the mage observed.

Feelix began to fire small metal balls from her slingshot. She caved in the head of one of the ghouls pinning the templar down. It fell back, clawing at the hole in its skull. Impetitus was able to rise to his knees and gripped the blade and the handle of his sword as if it were a stick, and used it to shove the vampire off of him. The creature was hissing with sharp fangs looking to bite his mail-covered neck.

Verene danced around with one ghoul and deflected the creature's claws with her sword. Repositioning her wrist, she lunged on her front leg, her free hand extended behind her as she executed a devastating thrust through the creature's chest. The ghoul gasped and hissed as it tried to claw at the sword. Verene smoothly pulled her blade out and sliced it across the monster's neck. With a high kick, she removed their head.

Impetitus was the one in the most trouble. He was pinned down by the powerful vampire. Three more ghouls were furiously trying to rake through his armor. Feelix was peppering the ghouls with her slingshot. The balls thudded loudly against their thick leathery skin. She aimed for their heads, but they raised their gnarled arms in protection. One turned and rushed the halfling. Markham was staying back to protect the mage.

"Can ye help Impetitus?" the dwarf grumbled at the spellcaster.

"Oh, fine," Viridal said with a roll of his eyes. He thought the pack of ghouls and the vampire were very close to the templar, which meant his lighting bolt spell was out of the question. The mage's eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers. A spell he has not used in a while. The wizard bombarded the undead with fire darts. One ghoul collapsed in a fiery wreck. The other stumbled away, and this allowed the templar to rise to his feet and engage fully with the vampire.

Feelix fired a few more shots from her slingshot at the rushing ghoul. Its gnarled and leathery arms were covering its face as her strikes thudded painfully into it. Feelix dropped the sling and drew her short sword just in time as the creature tackled her to the ground. She was stabbing it viciously in the side.

Markham pulled his axe free from a ghoul's head as it collapsed. Feelix gave a screech as the ghoul on top of her began to rip past her defenses. Markham could see the ghoul's hunched back as it gnawed on the halfling. Verene appeared behind the creature and removed their head with her sword. The mage thief looked away when she saw the dying remains of their scout. The halfling's body had disappeared by the time Markham arrived. The dwarf shook his head.

"By the Blue Flame, I send you back to the hells you spawned from!" Impetitus roared, and he stabbed the vampire with his sword, engulfed with divine blue energy. The vampire gave a final hiss before crumbling to dust. Viridal destroyed the remaining ghouls with the last of his fire darts.

Verene pulled out the Talisman and went in the direction where it glowed the brightest. The others hurried after her. They ran through the graveyard and came upon a weed-filled courtyard where the Talisman was growing very bright. Verene focused on it, and a blazing purple portal appeared. Surrounding the portal were dozens of skeletal specters. Standing a few meters to the side of the portal was a tall, bald-headed figure wrapped in a shadowy cloak.

"Chalal," hissed Verene, her hand going to her neck from when he drained the life out of her.

Markham banged his axe against his shield in a challenge. Viridal readied his spells.

"No time for that," Impetitus said and strolled into the courtyard's center. The templar stabbed his sword into the ground and roared, "By the Blue Flame!" A nova blast of pure blue energy emitted outwards from him.

The specters were washed away like sand from a wave. The necromancer covered their face and was forced to stumble backward. His black cloak was charred from the holy energy.

"Go!" Screamed Verene as she jumped through the portal. The others followed, and the portal blinked out of existence.

When the light faded, the courtyard resumed its dim darkness. Only a few specters survived the Nova blast. The necromancer rose up to their full height. Wiping the dust from his robes with thin, long-fingered hands. He shook his bald head.

"I'm sorry, my friends, that I could not have stopped them," he said quietly to where the portal was moments earlier.