They are out there...HUNT THE DEAD!

Kalan had follow the darkling who has stepped in and saved him from arrest. When they were finally in the building, the darkling had asked his question.

"Save us? I saved you! Those Knights were about to arrest the two of you for trying to break into that dwarven woman's house! Enough of that though. What was that noise? And that loud crash. It sounded like some of the walls of the city came down. And if that happens the undead are gonna be flooding this place soon."

"That's why we couldn't afford to fight the knights. They are needed to defend the city. We can get to the wall from the roof of the building. I plan to stay and defend where I can. You two are free to go as you please. Do not make me regret saving you."


With that Turk'en took off up a ladder that would lead him to the roof. He waited on top to see if the other two would follow.

Herod didn't know who or what lived down here in this underground city. He didn't care. He was cleaning it out. His clan had once been here. He knew that to be certain, but that was many many years ago and he was meaning to claim his home back. He had heard stories of the Frost Keep and the possible evils that lay within. None of that scared him. Not even the cold.

Herod was moving around the city quietly, well as quietly as a dwarf can. He saw the stiff roaming across the courtyard.

Unbeknownst to Herod, the two men watched the stiff as well.

Suddenly a mighty hammer flew threw the air clubbing the walking corpse across the head, which exploded into hundreds of pieces.

Out walked Herod to reclaim his weapon

"Surely yer soul be rest'n better knowing your body ain't movin' no more."

Herod looked around to see where he should search next. There was still a lot of city to go through, not to mention the lower tunnels.

Browden looked at Erron.

"My life hobbie. Do me a favor? If I get bit, take me out before I turn? Would hate to be one. Even for a second."

He then looked down the large cliff.

"Figures we'd come in the back. Wouldn't want this to be easy."

Erron and Browden slowly made there way down the cliff face. It was precarious to say the least, but when they heard the rumblings of the minotaurs not far behind, somewhere in the smoke from the direction they had came, precarious was no longer an issue to them.

Upon reaching the cave floor, the burning city didn't seem to bun all that much. From above it seemed much worse due to the thatched roofs burning, but clearly the entire city was not burning. Only parts of it. But the city was clearly in the midst of being destroyed. And with them spotting the zombie, it wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. Chaos.

Erron and Browden began to make there way through the city. However the more they walked into it, the more they realized, the darkness of the large expanse it rested in hid most of it. This was no city!

It was a metropolis!

The small houses, and stables were just the outskirts of the gigantic metropolis.

"What is this place?" Erron wondered out loud.

That was all it took.

The sound of a living being was all it took.

"RUN!" Erron yelled.

A group of three undead slowly shuffled toward Erron and Browden.

"It's best not to fight them out here in the open. The minotaurs could come upon us at any second. Lure the stiffs to somewhere less open."

At that point though all hell broke loose.

The zombies halted and looked at each other as if curious.

Then they slowly looked at Erron and Browden again.

Erron and Browden both stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

All 3 zombies sprang forward landing on all fours and sprinted after Erron and Browden as if they were wild cheetahs. In fact they were probably faster.

"WHAT THE HELL!?!? RUN!!!!" Erron screamed and took off.

Seeing these "new" undead run that way, Browden didn't need much encouragement to disagree. He ran as fast he could, much faster than in the cold. He stayed with Erron, but those dead were so fast...

I could really use my throwing axe right now...
He turned around and saw the undead.
Maybe...

"Those things 'll catch us quick. If you got any ideas or tricks, maybe now's a good time."

Erron saw the dwarf and remembered noticing him take out the slower normal zombie (if there was such a thing) as they had climbed down the cliff. He ran toward him and grabbed the dwarf by the beard, yanking it hard, and Browden. The cave and black smoke was dark enough.....

When Browden could see again he was vomiting. The dwarf lay on the floor next to him vomiting as well.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Erron whispered, "what were those things? I've never seen a stiff move that fast before."

They were in an abandoned house on the second floor. Erron didn't know where the shadows would take them when he teleported, but anywhere was better than where they were. Erron glanced out the windows and saw the three Stalkers that had been chasing them wandering aimlessly through the streets.

"What is this place?" he asked softly to no one in particular.

The hell happened? Why was he suddenly so sick? Bile was not what he needed right now.

"When I said tricks, who'd think I'd be... well, whatever."

He joined Erron at looking out at those strange undead.

In a whisper he says, "I've never seen or heard of undead like that. Scared the skin off me."

Browden looks at the dwarf.

"Three's company."

"Wait. Look," Erron said gesturing at the three Sprinters.

The minotaurs had made there way into the city. Erron and Browden watched them as the dwarf retched some more.

The minotaurs slowly made there way through the city when the Sprinters noticed them. Once again they dropped to all fours and ran faster than anything Erron had ever witnessed before.

The minotaurs stood their ground. All three undead attacked one of them, devouring him, ripping at his guts and chest. The other minotaurs didn't hesitate. They wouldn't let their comrade die in vein. They quickly put away their longbows and pulled out axes, chopping away at the Sprinters, and ending the existence of the three undead quickly.

However it was too late. Hordes of zombies started making their way into the streets, compelled to see what the noise was. None of these undead were as fast as the sprinters, but the sheer numbers quickly overwhelmed the minotaurs.

The sight was something that would haunt Erron for years to come.

The only minotaur to escape was the first mate. He had ran and Erron watched.

"Oh no...Browden, he's coming in this house. Get downstairs now!"

Browden rushed down the stairs. He wasn't even sure if his feet touched the steps or if he just swung down. He headed straight to the door and slammed it shut.

Placing his back against the door, he attempted to barricade the entrance from the taur. His axe was in both hands, ready.

He wasn't sure what good he'd be able to do like that. If the taur was stronger, he would have a hard time keeping him out, and the undead still might notice Browden...

I don't think I like this place...

Isak ran to the door slamming his shoulder into it. However the door didn't budge for the minotaur. So he slammed into it again. This time it gave crashing down on top of Browden.

Isak climbed off of the door.

"YOU!" he said in surprise, "I don't know who you are but my fight isn't with you. I seek the King of the Undead, Erron Stairin.

The minotaur grabbed the door off of Browden and pushed it up against the door frame.

"We can deal with you releasing The King to me later. For now, we have to stop these undead from getting to us. Help me barricade this--"

Before he could finish, the door crashed in on him, 4 zombies tumbling through into the room. Isak pushed himself off the floor to prepare for battle.

"Don't let them bite you or--"

One of the zombies puked in the minotaur's face.

"Grah! What the--!? GRAHHHHH!" he yelled as he swung his axe cutting through the top of the undead's forehead.

The other three zombies ignored the minotaur and went for Browden.

Isak fell to the floor and began convulsing. What was happening? He hadn't been bitten. Granted, the vomit all over him wasn't a pretty site. What was happening to him?

Then to Browden's horror it understood it all.

Isak looked up into Browden's eyes.

The minotaur zombie slowly stood up.

"guuuhhhh," he moaned and took a step toward Browden.

Aldion stood on the crest of one of the rooftops, Tal'kren in his left arm, Reaver in his right hand. "This is where it starts little one. The hunt is in your blood." He watched as the minotaurs were slaughtered, there was nothing he could do.

The child cooed slightly, "Shh, just like your father, trying to get me killed," he muttered.

He saw one rushing for a nearby building, and thought that perhaps he could help this one. He heard him speak.

Isak wrote:
I seek the King of the Undead, Erron Stairin.


Aldion jumped onto the second story balcony, and swung down using Reaver, through the doorway. He landed gracefully, quickly slicing a zombie in half.

"Whoever hunts Erron Stairin has a fight with me," he said seriously, at this point, Tal'Kren cooed again. "And the little will also want to dish out a hit or two"...

Browden was startled beyond belief when he saw the zombie vomit. He started to back up, axe ready.

As the three started to attack Browden, as well as the dead Isak, Browden wasnt sure what he was going to do...

Swinging in from out and above, a stranger elf uses a scythe to kill one of the zombies. He cries something about "Erron", but Browden doesn't listen as he takes advantage of the arrival's distraction. Browden hefts his axe up and slashes down, crushing a zombie and embedding the axe partly into the floor. Using the axe almost like a lever, he rushes the third undead and kicks the monster into the minotaur.

Then, with some "oomf", Browden pulls up his axe, ready for another swing.

*SIGH* "Let's go steed. He's gonna get himself in trouble again, and I'll have to save him again," Kalan said as he followed Turk'en.

"By the way!" he yelled. "My name is Kalan!"

As undead began to pour in the city two of them heard Kalan yell and looked to the roof.

"But... I... wait..."

Aarowic didn't know many darklings, and he started to see why. He couldn't talk with them!

As if any of this was his fault! He was walking down a street. That was his crime. Punishment? Has to follow two darklings out of town.

He started to follow just as "Kalan" yelled for the whole city to find out where they were. Two zombies looked up and Aarowic just sighed.

Pulling out a special arrow, the "fuse arrow" as he called it, and shot it down into the eye of one. He then turned and hurried after his two leaders. The explosion he expected never came. The fuse sputtered out. Somewhere, there was a zombie with an undetonated arrow in its eye socket.

Kalan saw the aniver fire the arrow, only to see a disappointed look on his face.

"Come on! There's plenty more arrows in the world, Steed! Lets get to this roof, before my fool apprentice gets himself shot with a crossbow by a Knight!"

The ram shackle group stood upon the roof, arrows flew about them, dropping multiple zombies at a time. It was merely like spitting on a fire. The horde poured through the gaping hole in the wall, the knights tried to muster a barricade, but it did no good, they simply fell and added to the numbers of undead.

The Brutes were no where to be seen by the "companions', but the ground still shook, and the growling of the beasts could still be heard. Upon the rooftops surrounding them, they could see figures crawling and leaping from building to building.

Genesis walked the street freely, letting his minions clear the way for him. He walked past a freshly turned knight, and bit deep into the already rotting flesh. The beast fell to its knees, briefly, its appearance slightly changing, then stood and starting climbing for the rooftops.

One of the stalkers leapt through the air, sprung off of the chimney, and pounced Turk. It was almost smiling as it started clawing into chest. A bullet sailed cleanly through the air, catching the monster in the neck, the second lew off its head.

A dark robed figure stood next to Turk, the barrel of his pistol hinged down as he shoved in two more bullets. He helped up the fellow darkling, "Name's Akarmis, not that it matters at the moment, just going through this so you won't kill me," he said looking at the group.

He fired with both pistols at a zombie trying to bite one of the knights, killing it barely in time, "Anyone have any kind of idea?"

Akarmis wrote:
"Anyone have any kind of idea?"


"Run?" Kalan said, all hope clearly dying in his voice, as he pulled out his repeating light crossbow and fired hitting a Horde zombie through the mouth.

"What are our chances of escaping the city?" he asked firing at another undead.

"I'd guess about the same odds as me joining a group, excluding me, without darklings..."

Aarowic pulled out a journal and held it in his teeth. He pulled out a arrow and shot in an ally away from the four. After a moment... nothing. The anivir took out his journal and started writing.

"If perchance, I die and one of you lives, would you mind taking this journal to the Arrow Engineering company in Peregren? There's a message inside with the address and everything, just in case."

*BOOM!*

In the ally several yards away, the arrow made a huge bang. Aarowic jumped, startled, and started to cross out and rewrite, while seeing the undead's reactions.

The ground shook violently, the brutes were rampaging somewhere, they all surmised. Akarmis was firing off rounds, taking down the ones he could that were approaching their building.

He started to reload, addressing Kalan while he did so, "Our chances of escape are terrible to be quite honest, but they beat trying to defend a completely open rooftop, agreed?" he asked.

The darkling looked at his kinfolk, and Sherbert, "If we stay here we're dead, but we are close to the walls, if we make it there, we might be able to escape."

He could see indecision on a few faces.

It was then the aniver fired some strange looking arrow, landing in the midst of the horde. "Whats it do?" asked Akarmis, jerking his thumb in the direction of the arrow.

It was silent, "Nothi-" but he was interrupted by a loud explosion.

The rumbling stopped.

"You didn't hit one of those behemoths did you?" he asked the aniver. The words no sooner had left his lips, then the rumbling started again. But it go worse.

Two buildings collapsed, on either side of them.

"Oh shit."

Another two, these were closer.

"They're coming this way!" he warned, aiming his pistols.

The buildings adjacent collapsed, and the two brutes were chaging straight for them, one still having half of a torso in its mouth.

Akarmis started firing, but the bullets seemed to do no good, the beasts continued, angrier if possible. One disappeared with a loud crash, obviously crashing into the building, the other lunged, landing a large hand on the roof.

It started to pull it self up, when another hand crashed up through the roof, causing splinters to stab deep into Akarmis's thighs and forearms.

He winced in pain, and fired for the hand that was on the edge of the roof, "I'm not really a plan guy, more for making guidelines," he said, "So if someone has a good idea of which way to go, I'd be more than happy to listen," he told them, reloading again...

"We'll get out." Turk'en said matter of factly. Deftly he moved over to the ledge where th brute was climbing up. The beast started to pull itself up, getting it's head higher than the ledge to see the group. Turk'en, with one fluid movement pulled out his long daggers and stabbed them right into the brutes eyes making it lose it's grip on the roof and started to fall. Turk'en looked over the edge and saw that it landed with a crash, but wasn't dead.


Then Turk'en saw him. The one the other undead parted for, the sentient zombie with the tattered cloak. They locked eyes for a brief moment and Turk'en ducked back towards the group.

"We have to go!" he shouted as another fist came crashing from the floor below. Turk'en took off towards the left jumping from roof to roof moving towards the direction of the wall.

Turk'en had stabbed the Brute in the eyes sending it crashing to the ground. It was Kalan's turn.

The Brute got to it's feet and jumped grabbing the roof again. this time hosting itself, halfway up. Kalan tossed his crossbow to the side, planning to pick it up later, and shot out his whip (snapping Aarowic in the back of the knee in the process) and wrapping it around the neck of the Brute.

"I've got him! Don't worry I'll pull him down off of the roof!" Kalan yelled to the others.

With his whip still around the Brutes throat, Kalan jumped off of the building, swinging with his whip.

The Brute didn't budge.

Kalan kept swinging.

Kalan hung from is whip, his whip clinging tight around the neck of the beast. It looked over shoulder, then dropped to the ground, landing on, and crushing the half- darkling's legs. Kalan screamed in pain.

Zombie's came almost immediately, trying to tear him apart. A stalker pounced him and started to cut open his stomach, but the brute knocked away it and the other zombies. It had its claim on this snack.

Kalan recognized the black robed figure as the one he saw on the rooftop, but with his stomach nearly split all the way open, and a Brute actively crushing part of him, he found it hard to say anything.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" ssaid Genesis, walking nearer to Kalan. "They were once the weak mindless beasts that you see filling this city, but I changed them. I gave them power, I made them stronger and faster!"

"They are still incapable of their own thought," said Kalan, blood pouring out of his mouth.

"True, they do just wish to eat, and its only through my will power that I control that Brute to let you live as it is."

"Why do this? You need to feed? Why would you share your feast with more?" the half darkling asked weakly.

"I can eat anywhere, no no no, this is not about hunger. This attack is about vengance! Justice!" exclaimed Genesis. "I was turned by the evil deeds of my father, I was made into a beast that can never be happy, will always know hunger and nothing else! Is that fair?" he asked, but waited for no answer, "NO! Its not fair. But I will make it right. I don't need a cure, I will make them all suffer, this city is only the start! I am Genesis, I will start a new breed! I will change the world! I WILL have what's right!"

Kalan laughed and coughed at the same time, blood spilled on his chest. He tried speak but couldn't.

"Devour him, alive." said Genesis angrily, turning to storm away.

Akarmis started to try to save him, but Kalan weakly shook his head. The darkling nodded, and followed Turk and the others away. He tried to block out the screams.

The horde collapsed on him, digging their teeth into him, ripping flesh and intestines. His lungs were being devoured, and he was suffocating, on top of everything else. One zombie bit off his ear, another had torn off his arm. Blood pooled under him, and still he screamed. The brute swept away the others, and picked up the man, the first bite cut him in half, still alive, the second put him out of his pain.

Akarmis and the feared they would never be able to forget the screams...

Aarowic stood there stunned. He died... The darkling just died. Horribly too. Ears pinned back, fear and resentment building, Aarowic felt like jumping down after Kalan. There had to be something he could do. He just started pulling arrows and firing. Some at the brute, some at the smaller ones. He even fired at the leader. Aarowic didn't care who that guy was.

The anivir started pulling his special arrows. He fired a fuse arrow. He shot one of the rope arrows. He fired one with a green bulb with a vile liquid inside.

Only after Akarmis started running did Aarowic stop. He followed the two other darklings. However, as they fled, he wondered if maybe he'd send the others to their damnation, like he had Kalan...

The ship had sailed for two long months, but what was two months to one who had waited so very long to see the one she thought had been lost to her forever? As the mighty sails caught one last great gust of wind, the lights of the city of Port Skell could be seen.

"Finally," she whispered smiling.

She remembered it was only two weeks ago since she had last seen him. The wizard Gerald had helped form the arcane portal that had taken him back to the time where he belonged. After Popurum had left, she felt so very empty inside. Gerald stayed at the cabin with her and their son, Aldion for those two weeks, helping her tend to the garden, and to also help fillet some trout caught in Azure Lake. He was a kind wizard, who was nothing less than a complete gentleman. But gentleman, or not, it was hard having a man at the house, when that man was not Popurum.

Two weeks after Popurum had stepped through the portal, a knock was heard at the door. She had been in the bedroom nursing Aldion, when she heard Gerald.

"Ummmm....you have...company???" he had said sounding far too confused.

"In a moment," she replied from the room.

"It's alright, I can wait," the visitor said smiling.

"I-uh...that is...I-I'm sure you have all the time in the world to wait," Gerald replied, not knowing what else to say.

A few moments later, after Aldion had fallen asleep, she emerged from the bedroom, looking down at her waist, as she tied a robe around her, and not really paying attention to the scene around her.

The visitor stood.

"Hello, Calhera," Calhera said.

Calhera looked up startled to hear her own voice address her. She stood face to face with herself. Or rather a version of herself, but slightly older with silvered hair, hips a bit wider, bosom a bit fuller, and a few signs of age around the mouth and eyes.

"I know what you're thinking. At least I hold up well and am still beautiful, even 355 years older," the older version of Calhera said smiling, "Oh come...we're elves! Did you honestly think we wouldn't live that long?"

The younger version of Calhera was stunned.

Gerald was speechless.

"Allow me to explain. As time passed our son Aldion grew into a fine young man. He had children of his own in fact, a boy and a girl. However the girl, Sellek, died a short time after childbirth due to drowning in Azure Lake. The remaining child, Aldion later had his own son and he named him Aldion. That son had a son and named him Aldion Sellek after himself and his Great Aunt who had died so many years before from drowning.

That is the same Aldion Sellek who would one day fight the undead who would ravage all of Aeon that Popurum told us about."

"Wait, let me sit....this is so confusing," the younger Calhera said as she grabbed a stool, and as Gerald went to make some tea, "You're telling me that my Great-Great Grandson fights the undead?"

"Fights them?" the older Calhera said in surprise, "He's known as a hero all across Nerin Toth."

"Nerin Toth? But why wouldn't he be here in North Krest?" the younger Calhera asked.

"When The Ravaging of The Undead first occurred, mass chaos took effect. many people from Nerin Toth sailed here. And many people from here sailed to Nerin Toth. All over the world people were fleeing their lands in hope of something better."

"I see. Go on," the younger Calhera said.

"You see I have lived to see the plague strike this world. I will not live but maybe fifteen years more. Twenty if I am lucky. Just enough time..." she said smiling.

"Do-do I...do I die in pain?" the younger Calhera asked.

"Oh I don't know that. Although I do doubt it. Popurum and Aldion have brought so much joy to our lives, it's hard to imagine what pain is like with them as a part of us. None the less I have lived long enough, longer than most elves even, to see the plague. And during that time, another fights...Popurum."

"Popurum!" the younger Calhera said in surprise, "Is he alright?"

"No...not at all. No one is alright during that time. Every waking minute is a fight for survival. And every sleeping minute could be a person's last. He is definitly not alright. I have watched Popurum for sometime. From a far. Afraid he would turn me away if he saw me as i am now, no longer young and beautiful as I once was...as you are now. Finally my heart could not stand it any longer. I knew what had to be done. I knew that if my past self could spend even one more moment with him, even in the hellish nightmare of that time, it would be worth it. It took me several months, but finally in The Epicenter of Aeon--"

"The what???" Calhera said confused, not realizing that The Epicenter had not yet been built.

"Nevermind. Eventually, I was able to find a wizard powerful enough to send me back here." the older Calhera said.

"B-But Gerald isn't all that powerful..." Gerald's mouth dropped wide open in shock at hearing these words while in the kitchen eavesdropping and making tea, "and he was able to send Popurum through time," the younger Calhera said with confused tones.

"Gerald's gift of magic, was not coincidence. The same wizard who had sent me through time, was also an older version of Gerald, who had learned arcane arts to extend his life. The older Gerald, from Popurum's time helped cast the spell to send Popurum back to his own time in an astral form."

"I see," said the younger Calhera now understanding, "How can I see him?"

"That is why I am here. Gerald's future astral form is with us in this room," the older Calhera said, as Gerald looked around and spilled tea, in worry, as if he were being watched, "As I said I have maybe 15 or 20 years left....just enough time for me to raise Aldion....while you travel to Popurum's time to be with him, your love, forever."

"I...How...How did you know I would want this?" the younger Calhera asked.

"Because," the older version of herself said smiling, "I'm you."

The lights of Port Skell grew closer. Calhera had heard Popurum mention this town before, and she had hoped to find him here. As thee ship came closer to the harbor, fires could be seen in Port Skell.

"Wh-what's happening," Calhera said feeling numb.

She ran to the railing of the deck and looked on to see the town in Chaos.

"CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG! SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY--"

She felt something grab her hand. She looked down at the railing to see an undead creature, possibly at one time a dwarf grabbing her.

It then opened it's mouth wide.

Calhera screamed and turned to run as she felt warm vomit splatter across her back...