Brittany couldn't believe her eyes. Sam's appearance looked pale and ghostly, but besides that difference he was somehow still alive!
"How..." she croaked and winced in pain.
Behind him a dark cloud rose up with flaming red eyes and there were two horns on its head made up of smoke.
The Leviathan!!
She tried to force herself to move, but it was no use. She lay there helpless in a pool of her blood.
The creature spoke with a guttural voice, “Yield thy soul unto me! I will heal thy wounds, and shall give unto thee new powers!”
A now-familiar system message then popped up in her augmented vision:
The Leviathan has offered to consume your soul. Do you wish to accept?
Yes | No
Brittany felt defeated, and felt as though she had no other choice. With the remaining strength she had left, she reached up and selected "Yes".
She watched in horror as a white flame erupted from her chest and floated in mid-air above her. The Leviathan leaned in, opening it's orange flaming jaws. The dark beast grew larger as it inhaled the thick smoke emitting from her soul.
Sam's figure stepped back into view, and a wicked smile formed on his lips as he said, "See you soon."
She sucked in a deep raspy breath before the darkness took over and she passed out.
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She woke up in a dark place, but her body wasn't hurting. In fact, she felt amazing. Her wounds were healed, and she'd gained a new class! She looked at her character sheet to see that her class had changed from “Ballistics Expert” to “Shadow Walker”, otherwise the rest of her stats remained the same.
“Interesting…” She muttered aloud.
Sam’s face suddenly appeared in the dim moonlight. "Hey Brittany. How do you feel?"
"Better than ever." she answered honestly.
Sam smiled. "Good. That’s the power of the Leviathan you’re feeling. Let’s get moving - I have some people I want you to meet.”
As Sam walked Brittany followed close behind him. She saw the moonlight shining above, and realized they must be heading deep into the Lost Zone forest. In front of her, Sam started walking into the darkness. As she did, the moon disappeared completely. She could hear the sounds of rustling leaves and branches breaking all around her. She wanted to turn back, but a nagging thought in the back of her mind told her she needed to keep going.
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They continued walking for what seemed like hours until she finally asked, "Where are we anyway?"
"We're in the Lost Zone, where monsters roam freely. There's also a very large group of people who dwell here."
"People? Like humans?"
He nodded. "Sort of. They used to be humans, but now they are the living dead. We live in a community known as the Shadow Coven. We call ourselves Shadow Walkers."
"Why are they here? I mean, why would they choose to stay in such a dangerous place?"
"It's safe, and they're very powerful.” He explained, “It's actually quite nice having so many friends. Now hold on. I'm going to take you to meet some of them."
Brittany looked over her shoulder nervously at the trees and bushes ahead of her. "Are they all friendly?"
"Mostly. But only if you're one of us. Which, you are now."
Just then, she heard a loud roar echoing in the distance and several creatures rushed past her. She jumped in fright and grabbed onto Sam's arm.
"Relax. They won't bother you if you don't mess with them."
"But how can I know?"
"Trust me. Just let them pass."
The beast roared again and stopped right in front of her. She felt the ground shake under her feet and a wave of fear washed over her. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't budge.
A creature stepped out from the shadows of the forest. He was massive, standing at least 7 feet tall. His skin was dark green and covered in thick fur. A long snout protruded from the center of his face and sharp teeth jutted out from between the creature's lips.
"Nothing can hurt you here.” Sam assured, “You’re already dead.”
The beast looked right through Brittany as if she weren’t there. Then he turned and resumed moving forward.
Sam held up his hand and said, "You know you're safe with me. Come along."
As they walked she noticed the ground was covered in bones and skulls. Some of them were old, but most were fresh. Some even had rotting flesh attached to them. She looked closer and saw they belonged to animals, not humans.
"This is the graveyard. The forest goes for miles. The Shadow Walkers leave dead carcasses here as a warning so that other monsters won't venture too close to our compound.”
"Gross." Brittany replied.
After passing by numerous other beasts they came upon a clearing with small huts. She saw several figures moving about inside. Each one had a grim expression on their faces. They were wearing simple robes and carried swords. From the looks of it, these people lived out here alone.
"These are the Shadow Walkers. The ones who your guild was recently defending themselves against."
"Wait, you mean these are the zombies?!”
“That’s an offensive term here.” Sam explained, “We prefer to be called Shadow Walkers or Children of the Darkness.”
“I see… and do all of the Shadow Walkers live here?”
"Yes. Well, some of them do. You might be surprised to learn that the majority of them are somewhere else, but they are still very much a part of the Shadow Coven. They have their own purpose, which is to ensure the protection of the compound locations and making sure no one interferes with our work."
"What kind of work?" Brittany asked.
"The work of our master, the Leviathan. The Shadow Walkers are made from the souls of the dead. Sometimes when a person is on the brink of death, the Leviathan will consume the embers of their soul which makes them now subject to the will of him, our new Master, and they don't simply stop existing. Instead, their soul lingers on and begins to transform. If it's strong enough, it can become a Shadow Walker. They don't always look like the person they once were; sometimes they gain unnatural abilities and can use magic."
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