We finally arrived at the location. It's a shack a bit outside of the village, it doesn’t even look like there are any zombies around. I am at the ready and so are the priests but more likely they’re anticipating a giant dog to pounce at us at any moment since the footprints stopped showing up. Either way, a necromancer might jump out at any moment, but it might also be unprepared to find 3 priests and a guy with a sword and at his remote safehouse in the middle of the night.

Honestly, it would probably be a good idea to wait a bit until the dawn strikes, not only for the undead to become more manageable but also to replenish our strength. We’ve been up since sunrise and only had a bit of midday to rest, and Guy didn’t even get that much. He must be running on fumes. The problem is that the undead are too active for us to rest, inside the town at least, outside the town there isn’t enough shelter and if another huge hyena finds us we might not be so lucky as to strike another deal.

“I don’t know, Fren, this looks like a trap.” Guy is wary, even at his tired state he is sharp.

“It might be, but I think we might be able to surprise whoever is inside if we act quiet enough.”

“What do you think, Lisa?” Grey asks her but she is so stoic inside her hood, I think I hear a ‘hmm’.

“As expected of such a professional, she is already one with the silence.” Grey continues, this was all a clever way to make a joke. I refuse to be surprised every time he makes a joke at the worst of times.

We close in on the shack and make sure we aren’t in angle to the window. When we finally get there Guy looks at me. “Should I look through the window?” He asks me, with a bit of fear in his words. I am unsure what to do. I think for a bit… I would like to set a trap, but we don’t have the time, nor can we be too noisy.

“hmm… Alright, I think I have an idea. You’ll look through the window. I’ll be at the door so that if he runs after you I can slice him. Grey will be with me to support me ready with a spell and if he-”

“It’s a prayer, not a spell.” I get corrected by Guy while explaining my plan.

“- Oh, right. Anyway, if he tries to consolidate You and Lisa distract him at the window and I bust through the door.”

“What does consolidate mean?” Grey asks, Guy stands silent for me to explain.

“If he stays and tries to make a plan of his own I rush in and kill him. But I will only do it if you yell ‘rush!’. I think that covers most everything. ”

“Umm… what if there is more than one?”

“Well… I guess we’ll…” I think for a moment, and a moment more and then-

“It’s empty.” Lisa stands starkly in front of the window and peering through.

“Do we need to make a plan for no enemies?” Grey jokes again.

We just stand up and walk inside one by one. It's empty from people, but also nearly empty completely. It has a single chair and desk, a bed and a closet, there are clothes on the floor and some letters scattered all over the room. Other than that there isn’t anything, not a sign of necromancy that I thought there'd be. I imagined spellbooks and runes but it’s just a shack with no purpose, what is this place? The only clues are the few papers scattered around. It's a bit difficult to read in the moonlight through the window.

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“You already got payment, our agreement is done.” Guy reads something on a piece of paper.

“I found something, it says ‘Fine, 30 gold pebbles, just get rid of’...uhh” Grey reads a note he found.

“of what?”

“I don’t know, it's scratched and torn here.”

“Lisa, do you have anything?”

“It says ‘I have a matter to ask of you, I’ll pay handsomely but it needs to be hush. And fast too.’ sounds like someone hired a woman for some unholy things, or a man.”

“I don’t think the dead will rise over such a matter, keep looking!”

hmm… I think I found something important. It’s the only one with a name.

“This one says. ‘To Denver’ do you guys know this name?” Guy looks at me and checks the letter I’m holding.

“Denver is the n-was the noble who ran this town, he’s also the one who requested priests to come cleanse the town. What else does it say?”

I read the letter from start to finish

“To Denver

I can’t do this anymore, I told you the town priest is a fool, he can't know what's going on!

She’s not happy, she’s coming back, I can hear her scream at night, it’s getting louder.

I don’t want more money, I want you to protect me, what good is the money if I’m dead so just let me stay at the mansion and turn to the main church, call the paladins.

I wish I never accepted your offer, now I'm marked and you are probably next.

I can hear her right now too, she’s closer than before”

That’s the end of the letter. Horrifying, I can feel my skin crawl when I read it and a chill running down my spine. We all stand terrified at the letter. I can see the fear in everyone's eyes. Lisa’s nonchalant expressions are replaced with a sharp face and wide eyes, Guy’s confident attitude is absent, even Grey doesn’t let a peep out when I thought he’d make a joke, he looks like he’s in shocked of being stabbed in the back, the look of regret rises on everyone's face, regret they came here.

“That’s all… did he…?”

“Most likely… It’s the only letter that looks to be to Denver and not from… he probably didn’t have time to finish it, let alone send it.”

“I think we need to back down, I don’t think we can win here…” Guys shattered confidence is demoralizing, but he might be right, actually he most likely is. “This is beyond us. If this was a lone necromancer we could have a fighting chance but… this is too much. I don’t…” He stops talking, he probably doesn’t know what to say. No one is disagreeing with his decision.

“We can count ourselves lucky to escape with our lives.” I look at everyone, as we plan to break it off. None of us have any courage left to face such a thing, I don’t know if I should, what will happen if we leave? Who will face this peril? and what consequences will it have to the surrounding villages? to Duhndale?

WWWAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

We all hear the same screaming voice we heard at the church building at dusk, it’s most likely the same as the one the unfortunate guy who wrote the letter heard before his death. but… it’s different this time, this one sounds like a painful one, it’s almost like an angry scream, like retaliation after being struck. That’s when we see a light from the window, it comes from the town, around where the mansion is at.

“Is that coming from… the keep?”

“Is someone fighting? Is it a priest like you?”

Guys eyes open with shock and with concern he almost shouts “The reinforcements!”