The day I turned seventeen my life took a turn for the worse, or the better, depending on one’s perspective. It started off just like any other day, I woke up, greeted my parents, and sat down for breakfast that morning. While I knew it was coming, it didn’t make it any better.

“Honey, you know what day it is right?” My mother asked.

“Yes mother, today is my seventeenth birthday.” I replied before continuing to eat.

In the Empire, seventeenth birthdays weren't the same as other birthdays. When the firstborn child reached the age of seventeen they were required to become a Paladin under the guild to combat the undead that plagued the world. 

Although I was excited to become a Paladin after hearing the stories my father told me, I was also sort of dreading it. Being a Paladin was a huge undertaking with many risks and it would be a lie to say that I wasn’t a little worried.

“Well you better eat quick so you can get ready and defend our world from those despicable undead.” My father said in his usual tired and deep voice as he sat down to join me at the table.

“You just want to be free from your duty, and the faster that I become a Paladin, the faster you can retire.” I sighed before continuing, “But you are right. It’s my duty to fulfill my obligation just like every other person in this country.”

“Thanks for the meal!” I said as I got out of my chair.

“No problem, have fun!” My mother gave me a warm smile in return.

Running towards the door, I quickly swiped the sword my father forged for me and continued down the path of my small village of Nearon. Looking around, I took in the familiar and pleasant sights one last time, knowing that it could be awhile until my next visit. Before long, I reached the edge of the village and the main path that would take me to Akriel, the largest city in this region of the outskirts.

After a few hours of running at a leisure pace, a thick fog started to roll in infront of me. I stopped and thought to myself for a moment. I wasn’t too far from the city, so it would be a waste to return now, even though something about the fog felt off to me. 

As I continued walking, I began to get a bit worried. There seemed to be no end to the mist. Eventually, a faint movement caught my attention in the distant gray backdrop. Instantly I raised my guard, something was wrong. And as if proving my suspicions, a Necromancer, surrounded by five skeletons and a zombie emerged from the distance in front of me. 

“Arenam Damnetorium!” the Necromancer screamed out suddenly, its voice vile and broken. 

The fog proceeded to clear into the shape of a circle within the immediate area while the first skeleton jumped towards me. With my quick reflexes, I swung at it with my sword, slicing clean through its spine and causing it to evaporate. 

The skeleton left its essence where it fell, however, I could not observe it for long since the remaining undead came to attack me with increased ferocity. 

As I stabbed one through the skull, killing it instantly, another lunged towards me. In response, I quickly shifted my stance to narrowly dodge its attack. Losing its balance from my sudden action, the skeleton fell to the ground. Immediately, I took the opportunity to end it, however, while doing so, a third skeleton grabbed hold of me from behind.

“Shit!” I screamed out loud, knowing I had made a mistake.

The skeleton pulled me to the ground in a chokehold. Struggling, I desperately tried to free myself from its grasp, but its strength was unbelievable. Initially panicked, I soon calmed myself down and took advantage of the situation by grabbing a nearby rock and slamming it into the defenseless skeleton’s skull. Instantly its grip loosened as I watched it fade away, leaving only essence behind. 

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Standing up, I recalibrated myself as the last two undead charged towards me. Exploiting their reckless approach full of openings, I dashed forward and thrusted my sword straight through the final skeleton’s head. Immediately after, I freed my blade and took a swift sidestep, dodging the zombie who had gotten dangerously close. 

Using the momentum of his missed lunge, I redirected the arc of the blade and slashed downwards at a sharp angle too fast for the zombie to evade. With a cold thud, a grotesque head fell to ground as the zombie joined the rest of his vanquished kin. 

Finally, I was able to refocus on my main target, the Necromancer. Not wasting any time, despite my growing exhaustion, I quickly dashed towards him until…

“OBICE!” The Necromancer cried out, as if furious that I managed to defeat his minions. 

As soon as he finished the word, I was hit with a massive invisible force. I got back up and tried to progress further, but something was blocking my way that I could not see. After the initial shock of the Necromancers trick wore off, I was able to faintly see a pale barrier between us. 

Before I could think of a method to get past it, the Necromancer began a dark chant, “Fluunt ad me animae mortuorum, nam eradicata sunt corpora temporaria propter naturam tuae vitae falsae, confunduntur mecum et renascuntur.”

When he finished, the essence of the undead that I had killed, flew at immense speed through the barrier and into the Necromancer. At first everything remained still, however, an ominous premonition overcame me.

Like the calm before the storm, his body soon began to horribly convulse and shapeshift. Melted down to the bone, what was previously the flesh of a mortal, coalesced into a black wispy sludge. Floating up, the substance began to cloak the now bare skeleton of the Necromancer in a shroud of pure darkness. 

Horrified, I couldn’t help but take a step back. The sinister aura that the Necromancer now emanated was far beyond anything I had ever felt before. 

Every fabric of my being screamed at me to escape yet I couldn’t. In the first place, I wasn’t even sure if escaping was possible. I had a suspicious feeling that the fog had taken me… well… wherever this was. 

I could only fight and end things here. Fortunately, I saw a way to do just that. Looking at the faint barrier between us, I noticed slight cracks where the undead essences had traveled through. Using my sword, I charged forward and struck at the cracked barrier. Like shattering glass, the barrier broke apart, much to the surprise of the Necromancer. 

“How were you able to do that?” The Necromancer asked me in a layered wispy voice.

“I was able to see a faint image of the barrier and the damage that the essence going through it had caused.” I replied reluctantly while preparing myself.

“So he is the third generation, this is our chance to stop this here.” The Necromancer spoke to himself.

Suddenly floating towards me at a rapid speed, I could feel the malice and intent to kill emanating from his ghastly visage. At that moment, I knew I was unbelievably screwed. 

In the face of overwhelming dread, time seemed to slow to a halt and I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Is this what it feels like when you're about to die?’ 

However, before I could embrace my impending demise, my perception of time suddenly returned to normal and instead of despair, I felt amazement as my sword was now somehow lodged into the core of the Necromancer. 

As he began to fade away in equal surprise to myself, he whispered into my ear:

“The Undead shall rise, Anlett boy, and you shall rise to meet them…”

In confusion I responded with, “Everyone in the country does, it’s an obligatory service when one turns seventeen until their child succeeds them.”

“You will understand soon, young one…” he replied before evaporating like the other undead, leaving behind a conglomerate of six essences surrounding his soul within a sealed orb. 

The orb then quickly changed shape into a sharp ovoid, aiming itself at me. Before I could even react, the ovoid launched itself into my right eye. Immediately, an unbearable burning feeling spread out from my eye. The pain was indescribable and for what felt like an eternity, I lay on the ground clutching myself, unable to even scream. 

Eventually the feeling began to lessen and when it did, I noticed the first changes. I was unable to see out of my right eye, however, rather than complete blindness, everything was covered in an opaque purple color. 

After a while, once the pain had mostly faded away, I noticed that the fog had dissipated and I was now standing in the exact spot where I had entered before, only now it was night. 

Deciding that it would be best to continue and reach the city that wasn’t too far from where I was at, I made my way as quickly as my weary body would allow. After about another hour I was finally able to see the faint lights of Akriel. Filled with sudden vigor, I upped my pace and sprinted the remaining distance there. As soon as I stepped foot into the safety of the city, the adrenaline from everything that had happened wore off and I instantly collapsed.