Rain had continued to fall down well into the night, silencing everything other then the occasional shufflings of poor souls working the graveyard shift. 

Although the town looked still, a hubbub of activity sprung from every corner.

Guardsmen discussed their day in quieted conversation while little rats scurried in between hidey holes, desperate to escape a watery grave. Rain constantly ran from their cloud prisons, falling and eventually seeping into somewhere very hot.

Lwon just listened. Anything to escape his memories.

Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter.

Whines whistled out, almost indistinguishable with the rain. The dog looked for a shelter.

It stared at the skeleton not sure what to make of him. Being given treats by the local shopowners made it familiar with humans, but Lwon was far more different then anyone it ever met.

Lwon put out his hand for a pet while rain dripped through the cracks. It tickled.

Fur tangled into bunches in his grasp, a warmth deep inside radiated outward. He could feel the steady movement of its chest going in and out.

Touching his own chest with his other hand, he only felt a deep void. There was no life, no breath. Only death.

A humid breath turned into hot slobber as the dog began to lick. Lwon let out a little laugh as he took the dog in his embrace.

It was a warm night. Criminals hid in undercover areas to plan their next move while a child had nightmares about snakes with snake feet. Something noticed the beaming skeleton.

It held a cold gaze which picked like pin needles at his back, prompting Lwon to look back. He saw a shadow.

Footsteps blended in the rain.

Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter.

It blew a kiss, carrying with it an absolute command.

All of a sudden, his shoulder felt as if it were in an invisible vice. The arm shook violently, then detached itself.

Her laughter cut through the rain.

Lwon turned pale. He felt the flow of magic in his bones interrupted.

The woman in the distance aimed at the dog as she made an incantation.

The power came as a gust of dark wind when it blew across the dog. Grabbing the arm, it went back to the woman. It still breathed, but was no longer warm.

"Lets play... fetch!" She laughed as they disappeared into the dark.

Lwon quickly jumped out of his corpse wagon and followed the sound, running into dumpsters and piles of trash smelling of wet rot.

He jumped over large puddles and alnost tripped on a discarded mattress, catching himself in time.

Lwom fumed like a kettle on high heat. Using an animal like that for a stupid game? He'd free the dog and show that thing a lesson.

Mana pathways pumping, He chased and chased.

Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter. His footsteps blended in to the rain.

The dog was out of sight, and the rain made it hard to hear. Lwon kept running, determined to save it.

Lwon could still feel his arm. The drool, the wind, hot breath, he could feel it all. He could even move it. He had it grab and scratch anything it could reach, making it an easy task to follow.

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A two forked pathway lay ahead. The left leading to more side alleyways while the right came into the main street.

A small scratch marked one dumpster on the left.

A couple patrol men noticed the commotion.

Catching sight of the dog, Lwon struggled with his arm. It was about to cross a gate.

The arm in its jaws held on to the bar for dear life. It struggled against the mutt, initiating the weirdest tug of war in existence.

With some effort, the dog compromised and divided the arm in half, settling for the femur. The fingers were left gripping the fence.

More laughter.

Lwon grimaced and was about to climb over when whistles and shouts stopped him.

He did not have time for this.

"Excuse me mister. What are you doing, running around at this time of night. You know curfew is in place?" asked the first. "Only criminals and guardsmen are out here, and you don't look like any guard I've ever met.

The figure kept looking at the gate, not turning his head.

"I... didn't know..." replied the figure, his voice strained and hoarse.

"Thats not an excuse, what's the rush?"

The hooded figure seemed to ponder, then motioned to speak.

"I saw.... a monster..."

The guards frowned. Undead couldn't have existed this far into the city.

"It dropped an arm...." The figure pointed to the gate.

"So.. you saw an arm. That still doesn't explain why you're even up to see it. Watch him, ill take a look.

It was dark, so they couldn't see it from that far. One of the guards kept watch on the figure while the other went to check.

The second guard shifted uncomfortably. He had a bad feeling. 

"Let me have a good look at you, take off your hood." He said. The blackness coupled with the rain made visibility poor.

As the guard inched closer, the figure moved his hand toward his head.

Meanwhile, the first guard approached the gate.

"There really is an arm here!" He exclaimed. 

It lay perched on the bottom part of the fence. Lwon made his move.

It suddenly grabbed the leg of the first guard. 

"Huh? HuaAAAAAHHHHH!!! GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!"

The second twitched as he went to help.

"What? OUGH–"

Lwon headbutted the second guard while he was distracted by the cry, following up with a blow to the chin.

He fell unconscious, not knowing what hit him.

The first tried to kick the hand off when he saw the figure up close.

"Skeleto-"

The first went down in the same way. It came naturally to Lwon. Where to hit, when to strike, it all seemed too easy.

He hid for a while, but no guards came to follow. 

Lwon briefly checked if the two were ok, then examined the gate.

Ornate carvings of an eastern style dragon, degraded over the passage of time, surrounded the fence. The metal chipped and twisted, but never broke as it converged to a large red gate, locked with a heavy grey padlock. Past it was a lone pathway, illuminated by a small black lamp.

With the guards out of the way, all Lwon needed to do is find a way to break in.

Climbing was impossible, and although Lwon was skinnier then the average person, he'd never be able to go through the rungs.

Unless..

He took the hand that grabbed the guard and threw it over the fence.

Landing with a thud, it began to drag itself along the ground like a thirsty man in the desert.

He hesitated. Lwon wasn't sure this was gonna work.

He pulled on his head, twisting and turning until it popped off. After confirming the location of the key, he threw his head over to the oter side.

Disorientated, his head landed on it's side, looking back to the headless body.

He'd never get used to the sight.

Rolling his head with the hand, he managed to get into the groundskeepers office. After a few tries, his hand managed to scale the mountain and claim the key.

Rolling back to the entrance, the arm handed the key back to the main body, which unlocked the gate.

Reattaching his head took a few tries before he succeeded. It'll take some getting used to, but maybe this body wasn't so bad afterall. He thought.

Streetlamps glowing too bright lead up the winding pathway, eventually leading to a large manor in disrepair. Moss clung to the sides of the house while cracks and chips lay scattered among the doorstep. Weeds grew in the gardens and a window or 2 lay broken.

His remaining arm bone felt a fires heat. 

Sneaking around the grounds, he found the front door to be unlocked.

Lwon peered through the door opening. Inside was even brighter. An almost redundant amount of lit candles were by the doorstep.

Lwon stepped in.

In front of him was a staircase, with one side going up and another going down. To his side was another room with a fireplace glowing an deep blue.

He felt something extremely powerful upstairs. He didn't know what it was, but all his senses screamed at him to get away.

He had to rescue the dog! Feeling emboldened, Lwon jiggled the missing arm.

He heard a thud by the door downstairs. 

After listening for any other sounds, He descended.

The stairwell was steep. Every step one felt like they would trip at any second. In the candle light by the sides of the staircase, old paintings of long dead relatives lined the walls. One person was the most prevalent, a friendly looking man with balding red hair that seemed demonic in the light. 

Lwon felt they were staring at him.

He reached the bottom. In front was a thick wooden door that was slightly ajar. A red glow leaked under the cracks.

He jiggled the arm again, and again he heard it come from the room.

It's definitely here.

Reaching for the handle, a slightly warm gust of air blew in his earhole.

"What are you doing?"

All of a sudden, the candlelight snuffed out.

Lwon hurriedly turned around. Pitch black.

Holding his other arm like a club, he figured he could knockout the newcomer before he made too much commotion. 

Then everything became tinged with blue.