The landscape changed ever so slightly as the world seemed to speed by her at breakneck speeds as she mentally nudged the horse to control it as needed. The undead horse responded well to her orders and desires and seemed to instinctively move at her slightest suggestion or even the anticipation of an order. It slowed down to a more canter than the racing gallop as if it sensed her wanting to take in the area.

She saw a large building up ahead as they neared a small town that had been built into a hillside. A few buildings stood tall and proud while many looked old and worn, though they were all constructed of stone and mortar. They were also mostly made of wood, though some of them were of a different material such as brick or clay. Some were larger than others too; one had three stories with multiple floors, and another was only two with just enough room on each floor for what appeared to be several families living there. There was no sign that anyone was home though since there were signs of recent activity and debris strewn about.

Skully slowed down to a trot as they entered the outskirts of the village and Serena took the time to sense if anyone was nearby.

One of the things she could enjoy about being alone to drive the horse was that she could practice Hemomancy more easily without drawing attention to herself. Ravana offered suggestions on how to tune out specific conditions and know how to search for certain heartbeats and blood. Overall the Presence of Blood worked best if there was a huge amount of blood being spilled, or if it had stained the area enough and recently to be tracked. However, if she focused inward she could almost hear her heartbeat and blood, or what sounded like it. From there, she used it as a focusing tool to narrow down to locating living humanoids or potential threats

It only took seconds before she found a pair of hearts beating nearby and felt their pulses through her fingers as well as heard them with her ears. However, that was only for the two men in the wagon. There wasn't a sign of human life...

No. That was wrong.

There was a faint beating of a heart and the roaring of blood coming from the center of the village. Shifting the sensing ability from Animancy to Necromancy, Serena picked up a few dozen signatures that felt similar to Skully. They seemed to be undead of various capabilities and that lead to her ordering Skully to halt.

The Risen Horse quickly slowed down to a stop, and Serena got off the driver's seat. Skully bumped her with his head as she tended to him for a moment. She ran a hand through his mane, pausing at the exposed bones underneath her fingertips.

"You should relax, but be ready for a quick escape if we need it," Serena said, her voice gentle as she drew away from Skully.

Skully whinnied as she entered the wagon.

***

The second she stepped into the wagon, Fion and Lucian turned away from their card game to give her their full attention.

"What is it?" Fion asked after taking in her expression which looked grim.

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"We are about to enter a hillside village that has only one source of life in it. It is surrounded by undead throughout the complex, at least from what I can sense. I am unable to tell what kinds or if they were the ones that caused the village to be seemingly empty."

Lucian's eyes widened and then narrowed in thought before speaking. "In some of my visions, I saw someone doing research in various villages that had been afflicted by one of the illnesses that have been spreading around the neighboring countries like wildfire." He shook his head slightly while looking at the door. His gaze shifted back toward Serena's face for a moment as he considered something else. "If the village had been destroyed by sickness, it could spread to us."

Fion's lips curled up into a slight smile. "If we cared about that, we wouldn't be anywhere near Votara or these accursed countries."

"I didn't have a choice in traveling here," Lucian said, his normally calm and polite demeanor fading away. His words were more of a snarl, and Serena could only imagine what his expression would have been under the black cloth covering him.

"And I didn't have a choice in being born into nobility," Fion countered, his tone bright and airy. He looked back at her and then acted high and mighty as he gave his order. "Be a dear and take us into the village center. Then you can investigate and ransack the pitiful village for whatever worth they have."

Her right hand twitched at the urge to punch this bastard, but she decided to leave them to their game. If they wanted to risk their lives for possible profit, then it was nothing to her.

Serena nudged Skully into action again once she got back into the driver's seat and the Risen Horse galloped off towards the center of town.

***

The buildings grew larger and older as she approached the central plaza which held an old fountain surrounded by benches and stone tables with chairs surrounding it. The water within it seemed to be clean enough that it would be safe to drink if one so desired it. It had been well-maintained over time despite not having anyone tending to it recently. Serena couldn't see any signs of undead lurking around or inside the immediate area; however, there were some on top of the nearby hill that had been used as lookout points when humans lived here before. There were also a few scattered throughout the village proper...

She turned away from a few skeletons that stood watching the wagon approach and stop in the central plaza. The animated skeletons were mostly made up of bones, but they still moved as living beings should. They wore simple clothes, most likely what people had worn while alive, and carried various tools in their hands such as knives, axes, hammers, and even a shovel. A few other ones were carrying or dragging away the villager's bodies.

Serena glanced back at them once they passed and saw their eyelights follow her until she was out of sight. She was surprised and somewhat unnerved by how much life these dead things seemed to have left within themselves—they could move just fine without being bound by magic, which meant there might be more than one necromancer here who kept this place going for whatever reason. Or perhaps there are several different types of undead wandering about?

"Oh my! I didn't expect to come across someone else alive and well here!" A bright and friendly male voice called out to her, bringing her attention away from the undead to a figure who left his spot at one of the stone tables. He stood tall with a thin build under a black cloak that hid all but a portion of his face from view. What was slightly visible was that he was wearing a mask. The mask had an odd design on it that reminded Serena of a plague doctor. Even the clothing he wore resembled plague doctor more. There wasn't much visible skin but what she saw was pale.

Serena glanced toward the suspicious man as she asked, "Are you another traveler?"

The cloaked person nodded in reply as if pleased by something. His hooded head turned as far as possible so that she could see him better before saying, "I am. I did not expect to find a fellow researcher into Dark Magic and Necromancy in such a location."

He spoke with such confidence and heartfelt that she wondered what she'd gotten herself into now.