As the summer waned and the Autumn began the leaves on the trees changed into a multitude of colors. Reds, oranges, and yellows mixed in together with the leftover greens to form a kaleidoscope in the forest. The ground became cluttered with the leaves that had already fallen and made for crunchy steps on dry days and a mushy slippery mess on days when it rained.

Today it was a dry day, the weakening sun above in the sky shining down its brilliant light. The warmth was not completely gone from the day and anyone out wandering the world was sure to need a healthy water pouch to stay hydrated. The towering Henjuk Mountains had their snow caps growing ever bigger by the day which heralded the coming cold.

It was here in the southern end of the piney Goudihev Forest that the village of Bellumisa stood. Its population was around one-hundred but all of them fierce warriors in their own right. They lived off the land more so than other villages and were quite competent hunters, some would say unnaturally so. Regardless of the validity of the claims made against them one thing was true: here in these lands the unnatural was something one had to be ready to deal with. Strange things happened everyday if one had the wits to notice.

A young man of twenty-two was walking through the tall pines along an old game trail. His name was Remus Illice and he was a proud hunter, out in the woods daily to bring home food for his village. He was wearing thick leather armor and carried a tall spear of fine quality despite its low cost materials of iron and wood. His garb consisted of your average peasant's shirt and slacks with a large belt fitted with hunting tools such as a large dagger and various pouches. His hair was long and butter colored while his yellow eyes blended with his pale skin.

While he walked he noticed with disappointed how little wildlife was in the area. It was rare to see animals in this particular neck of the woods for reasons he was more than aware of. Just up ahead was an old battlefield from a war long since past and the activity there as of late had driven the animals away. This was his mission at the moment: to investigate what manner of movement disturbed the old bones of the fallen.

He was not alone as his comrade in arms walked about one hundred feet behind him. An older man in his late thirties by the name of Geminio Robin who was dressed similarly, though armed with a short sword instead of of a spear. His hair was also quite long with deep red color and his eyes shone a bright sea blue

Geminio called forward to his younger companion.

"We're nearly there. Do you see any of them yet?"

"Not yet brother" Remus replied. "I'm sure we will soon." He then muttered under his breath. "If any of the bastards are about..."

The sound of crunching bone startled Remus as he took another step through the undergrowth. Looking down he saw the skull of a human exposed in the dirt. It nearly caused him to jump out of his skin at first, though of course this was just a skull and couldn't move.

No it was the ones that moved that were the problem. The skeletons of warriors from hundreds of years ago that scrabbled up out of their shallow graves and wandered the battlefield of centuries past, their bony fingers still clutching their rusted weapons as their garb hung rotting from their frames. The walking dead.

This was the plague to be inflicted upon his village for the last fortnight: a cursed army rising from the earth to blight the land with unholy terror. The animals of the forest fled as they should, though the village still remained in hopes they could destroy the menace. The skeletons couldn't move quickly and had no intelligence to speak of, only wildly striking out at anything that passed too closely, thus it was the decision of the elders to try and eliminate the threat instead of flee.

Remus wished he was out here at night. He had to come during the day though as there less activity in the undead when the sun was out. The angry orb that haunted him as well with its harsh judging gaze. There was no glory to fight a weakened enemy, he wanted to be out here in the moonlight fighting the monsters in his prime.

Now he could see the open field coming up through the trees, the forest thinning out as he approached a prairie. There were scant few skeletons in sight from the direction they were coming from, all standing around motionless as they tended to do. Every night the warriors of the village came to wipe them out but by the next night there were more still, even some they killed that had stood up again. Well if killing the dead could be considered a thing anyway.

"I see some" Remus called back. "Looks about twenty so far."

There was no need to be quiet. The dead couldn't seem to hear and they weren't sure if they could even see.

Geminio jogged to close the distance and catch up to his younger companion. He then took up position at the edge of the treeline and peered out into the prairie.

"Yea I can see that. Look out there further you can see more of them. Just standing around as usual. There's only one explanation for this you know, the elders just refuse to accept it."

"You mean the legend of the demon mage?" Remus asked.

Geminio nodded.

Remus shook his head. It really was the only reasonable explanation at this point.

"Yeah I guess. It just seems so hard to believe. Next thing you'll be telling me the goddesses have returned to end the world."

"Don't tempt fate." Geminio replied.

The warrior then took a few steps forward and peered out of the treeline, not keen on getting too close to the skeleton that was standing less than thirty feet from them. He was squinting and holding his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Damn the sun!" he spat. "At least the moon shows mercy to your eyes! What is that out there? It looks like a person."

Remus's eyes widened in surprise and he came up behind his friend.

"What? Where?"

Geminio pointed out into the field.

"Over there. By that group of dead."

Far out into the prairie, perhaps three hundred feet or so, there did appear to be someone standing out in the daylight. They were very close to one of the skeletons in fact and the corpse wasn't making any moves to attack them. It was a person of some kind, someone dressed in a dark cloak. Should they call out to them? Something about it put a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.

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"Oh look!" Geminio said. "They're coming this way! Quick hide!"

Remus took his elder's advice and quickly moved to hide among a nearby bush. He only caught a glance at the approaching figure as he dove for cover. That feeling of dread had risen up into his chest and pressed into him like a stone pushing down on his lungs. A feeling he wasn't happy to have vindicated.

It all happened so fast. Within what seemed like only a dozen seconds the mysterious figure had closed the distance to their position and struck into the foliage like a thunderbolt. The thick black cloak whirled in the air and revealed the person beneath. The sight was enough to take one's breath away even as the nightmare descended upon them.

There was a beautiful woman, her cloak hiding away quite a quality skirt and fanciful dress shirt of dark coloration. The skin on her thin body was deathly pale, almost white, and her frame while healthy looking was only of average height for a woman her age. She looked no more than a day over twenty and yet the glint in her dark gray eyes was one of madness or rage. The hair on her head was curly and reached her shoulders, its color that of congealed blood. It was her mouth however that truly caused confusion and fear: for her incisors were much longer than they should be, now sharp and deadly fangs.

Within an instant she was upon Geminio, tearing into his leather armor with fingernails like claws. He barely had time to let out a shout of surprise before she straddled him and went for his neck with jaws open wide.

"Run!"

Remus took the advice of his comrade and leapt to his feet, his legs carrying him faster than he had ever ran before. The adrenaline rushed through his blood and he almost threw away his spear to run faster. No he needed it should that thing come for him. The last gurgling cry of his companion fading into the forest as it got further away.

He ran and ran, faster than he thought possible. He kept going past the point he thought he'd collapse, he ran without looking back. His lungs burned and his legs felt like they were on fire. Every muscle in his body screamed in pain as he dashed through the forest towards his home. The branches of the trees slashed into his face as he careened full force through them without stopping. He had to live, he had to warn the others. Geminio's sacrifice could not be in vain.

Against all odds the monstrous woman wasn't following them, this thought one of the few able to pass through his head as the adrenaline drove him. Time itself seemed to stand still as his vision became a blur of green. The sweat and blood running over his eyes as he barely shielded them from the branches. The demon mage was real. She was coming for them.

Eventually Remus reached the outskirts of his home: the village Bellumisa. How long had he ran? He had no idea. The adrenaline was running out though and as he saw the rooftops coming into view he felt his body giving out. He could run no more, his body had gone beyond its limit. Darkness consumed his vision as he felt himself falling, falling down and hitting something firm.

-----------------------------

Remus opened his eyes. Where was he? Where was that demon woman? His heart jumped in his chest but quickly settled down as he felt his body refuse to move. He just couldn't move, he was too exhausted. Was he too late? Quickly he looked around to get his bearings.

He was laying on a bed in a small room, the place decorated in simple furniture as were all the homes in the village. There was a window on the far wall and the light coming from it was tinted red. It was either sunset or already dusk. Night was almost here and the hunting party would be heading out.

No! They couldn't go there!

He found the strength to sit up in the bed only for his arms to shake and collapse. His whole body felt like jelly and he fell back down onto the bed. This commotion brought movement from the other room and soon a woman appeared in the doorway.

"Oh! He's awake!"

The woman was Ellen, one of the mothers in the village. She was in her thirties and there was kindness in her pink eyes. Her skin was pinkish and her long blonde hair fell behind her back. The sounds of her children could be heard coming from other room.

Remus found he could speak still, probably because they had given him something to drink while he was out. He struggled to push himself into a sitting position using the wall as support.

"Ellen... They can't go out. The culling team."

Ellen quickly rushed over to the bedside and put the back of her hand on his forehead. She had a look of concern on her face and frowned down at him in a stern manner.

"Who can't go out now? Boy you've run yourself ragged! We saw you collapse and rushed you to my house to care for you." She then removed her hand and stepped back. "You're parents are quite worried, as are the rest of us."

Remus touched his forehead and didn't feel anything wrong. He then remembered Geminio and jumped up only to groan and flop back into the wall.

"Geminio! He..."

"What about him?" Ellen asked crossing her arms over her chest. "He still hasn't returned. What happened out there?"

The memories rushed back and he had to control himself as he started choking on the emotion. The demon woman, the death of his companion, it was all so much.

"Geminio is dead..." he started. "When we were scouting the field... There was someone there, a demon woman. She leapt upon us and before we could react she was ripping into his neck... I ran! He told me to run! They can't go out there!"

Ellen stood there and listened to his emotionally charged explanation. Her face was made of stone without a hint of expression as she glared at the boy. Not that she was angry, but that she understood what this meant. She turned around as her husband appeared in the doorway.

"Oh he's awake!" the burly man said. "What's the boy got to say for himself?"

She replied in a serious tone.

"He was attacked by some woman who killed Geminio. The elders aren't going to have a choice now."

Her husband Pittenbar stepped into the room. He was a tall man in his thirties with short brown hair and a thick beard. His green eyes were full of burning anger.

"Is that true boy?"

Remus nodded and looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry sir. Sh-She was so fast. It happened so quickly, she just fell on him and started ripping him apart." He closed his eyes. "The skeletons didn't attack her, like she was controlling them. There were more there than I've ever seen in a single day. We can't send out the culling team..."

Pittenbar put his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"You go take care of the young ones."

He waited for his wife to leave the room and addressed Remus again.

"Thank you for your report. I know your just a hunter but you've been a good scout for us in this time of chaos. I'm sorry you had to witness a loss of a comrade, its something warriors must all face eventually. What happened wasn't your fault boy."

Remus just sat there in the bed with his head lowered, the emotions of it all still flowing through him. The fact his elder wasn't angry at him was actually something that helped keep him from putting the blame on himself.

Pittenbar continued.

"I'll go alert the culling team as they haven't left yet. We'll have to get the elder's permission before leaving tonight but I don't see why they'd change their mind. The warriors will have to take one last look at the battlefield themselves before we decide if we have to move the village or not. I'd hope it doesn't come to that. It'd mean moving closer to humans. You know what that means don't you boy?"

"Yes sir" Remus replied.

"You stay here and recover" Pittenbar said turning away. "You've done well today. Be proud. This demon woman won't have surprise on her side this time."

The tall man left the room and left Remus alone again. He sat there on the bed and looked down at his still trembling legs. What was the future for him and his village? They didn't do anything wrong to deserve this. This curse of walking bones. Now there was a horrific monster out there in the form of a human, something that could kill one of their warriors so easily. He worried about the team of warriors that were heading out tonight. Surely even this demon woman couldn't stand up to several of them at once? It was just too much of an unknown to be sure.

He was still tired and the night was soon to begin. He'd have to get up soon, at the very least to go to his own home. The seasoned adults and elders were in control of this now and they would certainly avenge Geminio. All he could do is hope that everything worked out for the better.