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Dark and Light
Chapter 10
Graveyard of the Damned

"To gain eternal life is a dream,
a dream that will only lead to one thing.
The wish of death."

"Zachorias? Wake up. Zach, it's time to get up." A female deer said while her brown fur bathed in sun rays coming through the window. The deer was leaning over a comfy looking bed, she actually wanted to join the hybrid who was still sleeping in it. His ears twitched a couple of times when the deer called his name. "Whazzizid?" The hybrid mumbled while he pulled the blanket over his face and tried to hide his eyes from the sunrays. "Come on! Get up! It's morning!" The deer said cheerfully while a bright light appeared in her hooves, she tried to get more light into the room with a spell, but the hybrid covered his eyes with his paw. "No it's not. It's not morning, it's actually still night and the evil god as made a horrible, horrible invention to lure people to wake up early while it actually is still dark." Zachorias said while he tried to crawl further under the blanket.

The deer couldn't help but laugh while she began to pull the blanket from Zachorias. He on the other paw had other plans, he began to whine and whimper while the deer just continued to to pull. "Victoria! Stop! You're gonna make me fal-Agh!" Zachorias said with a somewhat drowsy voice before he fell down from his bed and landed on the hard wooden floor, with nothing but the blanket covering a little bit of his bare body. Victoria blushed and gasped from the surprise but Zachorias didn't exactly share her joy, without thinking he pointed his paw towards the wall behind Victoria and said with a fairly loud voice. "Female eyes towards the north wall!"

Victoria blushed deeply and began to giggle as she turned slowly around while Zachorias tried to cover up as much of his body as he could. "So, I didn't know that you had access to my room, I keep it locked for a reason you know." Zachorias said while he put on his grey pants and the belt around his waist, then he grabbed his grey robes that he had placed on the chair before he had fallen asleep. "Why is that? Afraid I'll come and sleep with you?" Victoria said while she turned her head a little so she could see Zachorias dressing up from her eye corner. "Please! That kind of behaviour is strictly forbidden inside the school! And no, that is not the reason why I lock my door everytime I leave my room." Zachorias said while he put on his robe and a strange necklace around his neck. The rock glowed brightly when Zachorias touched it and this caught Victoria's attention.

"Zach? What's that amulet you're wearing? It glowed a little when you touched it." The deer said while she turned around and looked at the fully dressed hybrid while Zachorias walked and picked up a few books from the floor, he sighed and thought for himself if she was ready to hear the truth. "It's, a regular crystal I found when I was a kid and after I got here, I linked a light spell into it, I guess it's why it only reacts on me." Zachorias said while he felt a slight sting of guilt in his heart, he didn't want to lie to Victoria, but he didn't want her to get upset about his past, atleast not yet. "Tell me, why did you wake me up? It's Saturday, there are no classes today. So why did you force me out from my sleep?" Zachorias said while he walked in the small bathroom he had in his room and washed his face with some fresh water.

"Well, it actually has something to do with your studies. Since you've had a little bit more 'interesting' past, the teachers and the Grandmaste require you to take missions, just to make sure that you have complet control over your powers." Victoria said while she looked out from the window, the sun was rising and lighten the whole land. "Well, I must remember to thank the Grandmaster that he mentioned this earlier." Zachorias said with a sarcastic tone in his voice, he had begun to go through his caskets where he kept some of his stuff wich he never used.

"What are you looking for, Zach? It's not like you've gonna have any problems with the mission, I've seen how you handle your magical powers and you won't have any trouble." Victoria said cheerfully while she looked over Zachorias' shoulder incase she would see what Zachorias was looking for. "Where is it? I know I placed it here somewhere." Zachorias mumbled for himself while he walked over to his chest where he had all the bigger objects and left the other one open. Victoria crouched to see what the casket had inside. "An old picture of a grown up and a child canine who had a little bit more playful look on him, by them was standing a grown up and a child feline, the smaller one seemed to be hiding a little behind the other feline. His parents?!" Victoria thought for herself while a question poped in her mind. "If that is father and that's his mother, then who is the little girl? He has a sister? He never told me that. I bet he has had lots of contact with them, but maybe he just hasn't had the time to tell me, we have been together only for a few days. I'm sure he'll tell me about his parents on the mission." Victoria thought for herself while she closed the casket and leaving the picture there.

She turned around when Zachorias shouted in triumph while he pulled out a long sword from his chest. "The present I got from my dad when I chose what to study. Man, I can't believe it's been allmost five years allready. Time passes so fast. And I haven't even cleaned it in a long time, if my dad was here he really would straighten me up. Leaving a sword that has been passed down in centuries to dust and never to be used, well. I guess now it's the time." Zachorias said as he studied the long sword and the beautyful craftmanship in the decorations. Even though the sword was nearly six feet long and looked extreemly heavy, it was very light and easy to use. Zachorias swung the sword a couple of time to see if he had any kind of skill with his sword, he did.

The sword seemed to adjust itself to every move that Zachorias did and it felt like the sword had been made just for him. "Wow, my great-great grand father really knew how to craft swords, and I bet that this enchantment to make it extra light and pretty much indestructible. Here, feel how light it is." Zachorias said while he gave the sword to Victoria who had been kinda impressed by how well Zachorias handled a sword. She nodded while she grabbed the handle of the sword with her both hooves. Zachorias was right! The sword looked like it weighed like a treasure chest and only a warlord that possessed enormous powers could lift it, but it was allmost as light as a feather. "You said that this enchantment was made by the wife of one of your ancestors, right? She must have been a really powerful sorceress or witch to have made an eternal enchantment." Victoria said while her eyes studied the sword, from it's handle to it's tip.

"Yes that's true, she is rumoured to be one of the most powerful sorceresses of this millenium. And please don't call her a witch. It's a little insulting towards her memory and my family." Zachorias said while he grabbed a few pieces of cloth he had lying around his room and showed with his paw that he wanted the sword back from Victoria. "Yes, I'm sorry. It was a rather rude thing to say." Victoria said while she felt embarrassed and a little ashamed for what she had said, her cheels blushed a little bit more when she handed the sword over to Zachorias who was holding a small rag in his paw. "Don't worry about it, you could have said something a lot worse but you didn't, so it's all right." Zachorias said with a weak smile while he grabbed a small potion from his desk.

He looked at through the potion into the clear sun rays, the potion seemed to be all right and the yellow fluid bubbled a little, just as it was meant to be doing. "Zach, what kind of a potion have you made? It doesn't look like the usual ones that you can see in the books." The deer said while she slowly walked to Zachorias who was putting some of the yellow liquid in the piece of cloth. "This is a little cleaning potion I've made from lemon juice, water and some roses. Pretty basic materials I know, but they were easy to find." Zachorias said while he sat down on the floor and began to clean the sword while Victoria looked how the sword became more and more beautyful for every stroke he did on it. "But, alchemy isn't a part of the white magician training. Did you study all this by yourself?" Victoria said while she pointed to a pile of books Zachorias had left in his room, some on the table, some on his night table and even some on the floor. "Yeah I thought that the more I study, the better. Besides, knowledge hasn't hurted anyone before. And this is sort of what profession my parents wanted me to choose." Zachorias said while he stopped polishing the blade and looking at his reflection in it.

His brown fur seemed to absorb some of the light that the blade was reflecting, he looked in his eyes. His purple eyes didn't look like they did when he had just walked away from his home, they weren't cold and empty, he could see joy and a strong pulsing power of life. He felt as if he had been reborn when he had arrived here, everything was so peaceful, unlike the world outside the school's grounds. He knew that someday he would leave the school someday and start his journey, but he wanted to enjoy this place for as long as he could. "Zach? Are you ok? You seemed like you were thinking about something." Victoria said while she wrapped her arms around Zachorias and hugged him from behind.

Zachorias could feel the nice yet strong scent of her, he sighed and placed his paw on Victorias hoove. "Don't worry, I was just thinking about what I would do after I finish this school. Maybe I should start wandering around, exploring cities and wilderness. I've heard that many wanderers make their living by looking for old graves and such, then again, I could just try my best and see where it leads." Zachorias said while he finished cleaning the decorative ruby that was in between of the dragon type wings. He let his paw trace the beautyful figure of the sword, even though it was nearly five hundred-years old, it still looked like new. His ancenstors sure had put alot of effort in it.

"Yeah, my father was an adventurer, he used to tell me about his journeys in caves and cities. Alltough he didn't find any treasures, he admitted that it had been fun, but after my mom gave birth to me, he was forced to find a little bit more profitable work. And thanks to his experience with the forest, he made pretty good money as a hunter. But enough about that! Are you done with your sword? We need to get going." Victoria said while she slowly leaned over Zachorias and looked him in his purple eyes. "We? But wasn't this mission for me?" Zachorias asked while his eyes looked straight back at Victoria's eyes. Victoria giggled a little when she saw the look on Zachorias' face, she rose up and grabbed Zachorias by his shoulder. "We are going to complete the mission together! I got permission from the Grandmaster, so there is no use in trying to tell me that I can't go!" Victoria answered while she began to pull the robes that Zachorias had on. "Aaah! Okay! Okay, just let me get something to eat! I haven't eaten any breakfast!" Zachorias whined while he sheated his sword and bound it with a small chain to his belt that he wore around his robes.

"Good morning!" Victoria said loudly when she and Zachorias walked between the huge tables in the main dining room. Zachorias chuckled when he thought how many of his rooms could fit in this room. They walked past one of the many windows that were colored in many colors and even had figures in them. Zachorias counted all the gods and goddesses he could remember. "Come on! Grab something to eat! The road to the village we are supposed to go is long and we're not going to be there before nightfall." Victoria said while she grabbed some bread and butter from a nearby plate. Zachorias yawned, he wasn't still yet awake, Victoria saw this and put a piece of meat in Zachorias' muzzle while he yawned. When he could feel something touch his tongue, he immediatly shut his jaws and looked at Victoria who was grinning at him. "Hmm...Rabbit meat?" Zachorias asked after he had tasted, chewed and swallowed the little piece of meat. "Yup! Now eat, before I force feed you." Victoria said with a playful tone and smiled while she let her face get warmed by the sun light coming through the windows.

Zachorias grabbed some more meat and a couple of herbs from nearby plates while he warmed the meat pieces with a small flame he summoned into his paw. "What is the mission about? I haven't had the time to read any information about it, so maybe you could fill me up? Where are we going and why?" Zachorias asked while he swallowed a piece of roast chicken and made it easier to slide down into his stomach with a glass of water. "Not gonna tell you, atleast not before we're on our way. Besides, I've got some question I want to ask you." Victoria said while she drank some of the herb tea that she had made. As she lifted the cup, she could feel Zachorias' questioning look in her cheeks, she blushed a little bit, she wasn't used that someone would stare at her. "It's nothing much, just a simple question, Zach." Victoria said while she drank the tea with small sips while Zachorias nodded and continued to chew on his food.

When they both were done, they rose up and thanked their gods of the food. "Well, I need to get some more things from my room, but wait for me at the gates, ok?" Victoria said while she began to run to her room wich was located pretty close to the dining room. "Yeah ok, unless I'll fall asleep on the way there." Zachorias said while he yawned and stretched as she looked how the deer dissappeared behind a corner. "Well, I guess it's time to get going, the cart is propably allready waiting outside." The canine feline hybrid said while he turned and began to walk towards the gate that would lead to the school grounds and outside the school grounds as well.

"Is she coming? I've been waiting forever and if she doesn't come soon, I'll leave her behind." Zachorias said while he leaned at the walls around the school. The wind was blowing a cool breeze through the land. Zachorias' ears twitched a couple of times when the cool breeze hitted them. "Great, here I am, waiting for her, a northern wind blowing at me, while Victoria is propably inside the warm and comfy building, I swear if the mission is up north I'll-"

"You'll what?" A warm, motherly voice came from the entrance gates, Zachorias turned his head and looked who had just entered outside the school grounds. "Oh, hello teacher Serina and Victoria. How are you?" Zachorias asked while he quickly rose up since he had much respect for the white fox who had taught him everything he knew about healing spells. "Calm down, you're outside the school walls, there is no need to be formal. Have you been practicing much? I heard that you had finally be given a mission. Congratulations, it means that the Grandmaster is ready to complete your studies as an apprentice and you can become a full fledged white magician." The white fox said while Victoria had opened her mouth to say something but obviously hadn't. "Now, after you have come back. The library should have some interesting new books for you to read. I've heard that you like to study alot, wich is a good thing since the white magicinas have a better access to books than apprentices." The vixen said with a smile, then she turned towards Victoria who had been quiet ever since they had come out from the school. "Now, miss Krean. Do take care of him, he might sometimes act without thinking but he has never failed to impress me. Not only that, but he is one of the most promising students I have ever had, same goes for you. You remind me of how I once were, full of enthusiasm, good skills and you want to help people. Those along would be more than enough to get you through the apprentice stage, something that the Grandmaster has agreed to. Victoria Krean and Zachorias Furosa, after you have completed this mission, you will both be full fledged white magicians. Now, I must be on my way, I wish luck to both of you." Serina said while she turned around and began to walk back to the school while her long white hair reflected some of the light coming from the sun.

"Victoria? You know what I forgot to say to you?" Zachorias said in a slightly stressed tone while he still looked at the away walking vixen, he was stunned, he would get promoted to a white mage? "No, what?" Victoria answered while she as well looked at the vixen, they were both stunned while their minds tried to comprehend what had happened. "You're late." Zachorias said while a smile spread in his muzzle, Victoria giggled a couple of times and after that she hitted Zachorias in his paw. "Quit it! I can't help it if a teacher wanted to talk with me! Now let's get going!" The deer replied with a laugh, she stepped inside the cart and Zachorias followed her, after the door closed Zachorias yelled to the driver to get some speed on the cart.

"Now, since we are on our way, I think you have a promise that you should fullfill. Where are we going and why?" Zachorias said while he looked at the forest outside. Zachorias thought that the whole forest seemed a lot bigger now than when he looked out from his room in the school. "Well, we're on our way to a small town north east from the white magicans school, reports say that people have been dissappeared, but they have returned later." Victoria said while she adjusted her position a little so she was sitting more comfortable.

"If they have come back, then why are we going there?" The hybrid asked while he leaned his head at the cool window and looked at Victoria's reflection from the glass. There was something in her eyes, something worrysome, there was something wrong with those that had returned, he see it in her eyes. "The people have returned, undead." Victoria said with a sad tone and dropped her head down, she tried to see how Zachorias would react, considering that he used to be a necromancer. But from the corner of her eyes, she could see the strange look in his face. His eyes were glassed and his fur stood up. He was nervous.

"Undead? As in killed people who have been given life?" Zachorias said with an empty tone and his look was fixed in the sun that was high in the sky. The sun rays made the shadows grow and shrink while the cart drove in the narrow forest path. "Yes, they have been killed, their bodies ripped apart. But that's not where it gets really frightening, the wounds have been made by something unnatural animal claws and the Grandmaster thinks it's the work of a demon." Victoria said whie she grabbed a couple of scrolls from her bag. "It's all written in black and white by the Grandmaster. We are going up against a demon. Do you think we are gonna be okay?" Victoria asked nervously while she watched how Zachorias' eyes had stopped moving, even stopped blinking, then suddenly he lowered his head so his hair fell infront of his yes.

"A demon? No, I don't think we will be okay. They have greater magic power than us mortals. So I think we should count ourselves lucky if we barerly survive. Have they identified the demon's name and rank? If it's a lesser demon we might just be lucky to deal with it without any major injuries." Zachorias said while his eyes continued to stare of in the forest. "No, so there is a good chance that it's just a lesser demon. But it might also be a greater demon." Victoria said with a depressing voice, she couldn't bare to talk about the mission when the odds were so much against them, but at that time Zachorias' ears suddenly twitched and he lifted his head. "Wait a second. Isn't there a weakness? I remember that demons don't have an immunity for their own spells, wich means that necromatic and dark spells can hurt them! And if we use them at the right time, we could surprise him and that would leave enough time for us to finish a banishing spell!" Zachorias said while his head turned towards Victoria who had started to smile a little. "Is it true?" Victoria said while an obvious sparkle lit up in her eyes, the mood in the cart got brighter and pair was suddenly alot more relaxed.

"Well, now we can't do anything more than to wait for us to arrive at our destination. How about if we get some sleep? I didn't get my sleep dose and I bet that we are going to work at night since the sightings have been reported during those hours." Zachorias said while he lifted his paws up on the bench, Victoria frowned a little but did the same thing. "You're a real sleepy head, you know that?" Victoria said with a humoured tone while she placed her hoove under her head. "Yes, I know. And I love it." Zachorias replied while he turned on his back and slowly fell back into the nice and calm dreams that he had been forced to wake up from in the morning.

"Wake up! Master Furosa and Mistress Krean! Wake up! Wake up now!" Were the first voices that Zachorias could hear, he quickly rose up and hitted his head in the cart's roof. "Ow! What th- Oh good lord!" Zachorias said as he looked outside the cart, the whole town was over run by the undead. Skeletons, zombies, ghouls and ghosts. Zachorias was horrified, this wasn't the work of a necromancer, nor an lesser demon. "Victoria, get up I need your help. Victoria!" Zachorias yelled while his eyes were still fixed in whole town. "Hmh? What's the matter?" Victoria asked with a tired voice, she lifted her hoove and scratched her neck a little. Surprised and a little bit shocked Zachorias yelled. "The town is over run! Get up!"

He grabbed his sword and bursted out from the cart and broke the door at the same time. Victoria jumped directly after him and yelled to the cart driver. "Go to a safe place! Don't come here before tomorrow night!" The cart driver looked horrified but understood his orders, with a loud whip sound the horses infront of the cart began to run as fast as they could, leaving the town behind. "Victoria! Let's make our way to the inn! I can see a light there so it's possible that there are survivors there and they might be injured!" Zachorias yelled while he slashed a zombie in two with his sword, the corpse fell down with a silent 'thud' sound, but the sound was soon replaced by drooling ghouls and moaning zombies. "Zach! There are so many! How could a necromancer or a demon do all this in just a week?" Victoria yelled while she was cutting the undead being's trapped souls.

The ghosts dissappeared like smoke when Victoria had released their souls, the runes on her hooves had begun to glow from the constant spell usage. "This isn't a work of an necromancer or an lesser demon! I don't know what we are facing but it's got one hell of an taste for blood! This town hasn't got anything special!" Zachorias yelled while he summoned a fire wall between him and the undead. "We need to get to the inn! Now!" Zachorias yelled while he gripped his wrist and began to concentrate some of his mana into a sphere on his paw.

"Victoria! Get down!" Zachorias yelled while the sphere had finished forming in his paw. Victoria ducked as fast she could but she didn't close her eyes incase if the undead would attack her, but many of the undead got hit by a strange white light. Victoria looked behind herself and saw Zachorias casting the ray sphere spell and hitting a huge load of undead with it. "Start running towards the inn!" Zachorias yelled while he shot another burst of glowing white rays and creating a path from Victoria to the inn, she understood fully and started to run while Zachorias continued to shoot the undead beings down.

Even though Zachorias kept on shooting down the undead, they seemed to keep on comming, but this only made Victoria run faster and faster. She was fourty meters from the inn, thirty, twenty. Then she saw how the door opened and an adult lion waving for her to hurry up inside. Victoria didn't even think about it, she sprinted as fast as she could and managed to run inside and quickly followed by Zachorias who had runned directly behind her while keeping the zombies and ghouls away. With a bang the door closed and was quickly blocked with chairs and tables. The lion listened first how the undead creatures banged at the door for a while, only to find it futile, so they stopped and the town went completely silent.

A female black wolf walked to one of the boarded windows and checked if the creatures had calmed down, she sighed calmly and turned around to look at the new-comers. Zachorias was looking down at the floor while he was sitting and breathing heavily, he wasn't used to be both physically and mentally strained. He breathed a couple more times before he looked up at the wolfess. She was pretty, but most of her beauty had been covered by stains of blood, dirty fur and small bandages. She was holding a long, straight sword in her paw. Zachorias noticed that she was limping, propably from an injury. He continued to study the wolfess for any information he might find useful. She wasn't fat, pretty skinny actually, with a thick leather armor on her that had been strenghtened with metal plates to give more protection for vital organs and body parts.

"Get up! We aren't safe here." The wolfess said while she grabbed Zachorias wrist to help him up. Zachorias was impressed by how strong her grip was, especially when her body seemed to have very little if any strong muscles. "Come on!" The lion said with an slightly irritated tone while she helped Victoria up and opened a door that seemed to lead to a small closet. Zachorias was confused, what were they planning to do with them? They had come to help, didn't they understand that? But all doubt dissappeared when he saw the lion open a hidden passage with a ladder, leading propably nowhere else than the basement below the closet. With silent steps the group climbed down the ladder, when Zachorias got down, he was even more shocked.

He had thought that the basement would be silent and everyone would be scared and keeping silent incase the noice would attract the undead's attention, but he was wrong. Everybody was shouting and screaming. The children were kicking and scratching their parents, who in turn punished their children with more yelling. "What is this? Has this whole town went crazy?" Zachorias asked himself while he thought how bad the situation was. Several of the males had been injuried, propably when trying to fight the undead, but they were only making the wounds worse by kicking and hitting anything they could.

Suddenly Zachorias felt how his paw was twisted behind his back and the wolfess was holding a dagger at Zachorias' throat. "Now answer me, pretty boy! Who are you and why did you come here?" The wolfess asked with a low tone, the voice was allmost too low to be a females voice, but Zachorias didn't care. He growled while the wolfess twisted his paw even more, then he had gotten enough. His twisted paw was suddenly in flames and the wolfess screamed and released Zachorias' paw. Zachorias saw this as an opportunity and elbowed his attacker in the chest. "Fuck you, you damn hybrid!" The lion roared and jumped at Zachorias, he noticed this immediatly and quickly jumped so the lion dived straight into the wall, causing lots of dirt fall from the small holes between the planks in the walls. "Victoria! These people aren't sane! We need to get out of here!" Zachorias yelled to Victoria while he was keeping a steady eye on the others who had started to behave even aggressively and started to walk towards him.

"Victoria! Did you hear me?" Zachorias yelled again while he slowly backed to the ladder, ready to climb and pull Victoria up, maybe even lock the door leading down. "I heard you damn well! But I don't care! How dare you come here and hurt these people!" Victoria yelled while she began to walk towards Zachorias with a strange look in her eyes, allmost frightening. "What? What did you say?" Zachorias asked while he suddenly froze up, everybody was starting to act aggressive and Zachorias could sense their auras being defiled by something. "You heard me damn well! I think it would be good if you left this place! Even better if you went outside to live with those undead! Considering that used to be a part of them!" The deer yelled while Zachorias was stunned, this was so unlike her. She used to be kind and calm, but now she had become angry and violent, suddenly it hit him.

"She's been infected by the same thing that this whole town has been infected with. It made the people living in the town aggressive. I bet the undead receive their energy from it as well. I must find who ever is responsible and stop this!" Zachorias thought for himself while he felt the ladder hit his elbow, he was at the right place now. "Victoria! I promise that I'll get you all cured, and for what I am about to do, I'm very sorry." Were the last words that Zachorias said to Victoria before he jumped on the ladders and quickly began to climb the few steps it had leading to the surface, with a hoard of unstable and angry people behind him. He could hear them hitting at the ladder and yelling at him like a group of wild animals.

"Ok, now it's time to close and seal the opening." Zachorias said for himself after he had climbed up from the basement and he was looking at Victoria who was swearing at him and yelling, all of this made Zachorias feel even worse, but it couldn't be helped at the moment. He blocked the basement door with a big chunk of ice, sealing it properly, but then he could hear another problem, the undead had noticed him and were banging the door and the windows. They were all out to get him.

"Shit! Just when one problem is fixed another one comes!" Zachorias thought for himself while he stood in the inn, just looking at the problems that would attack him if he would step outside. He slowly retreated to the stairs leading to the first floor of the inn, even though there wasn't much light Zachorias managed to walk up without any problems. Now he was in a short hallway, three doors on the right side and a window on the left side. He tried to open the first door but the door didn't budge, it was locked. Zachorias moved on and tried to open the other two doors but they were locked as well.

"The innkeeper is or was a little smarter than the other. Since most innkeepers didn't bother to buy a lock and key for each door." Zachorias thought for himself while he looked out the window, there was a graveyard behind the inn. It was allmost completely empty, only a lone figure was standing there. Zachorias studied for a few seconds and came to the conclusion that who ever was standing there was a male canine. But he walked different, he walked like normal people. "He hasn't been infected? Who is that guy?" Zachorias thought for himself as he slowly opened the window. No innkeeper is perfect, he had forgotten to lock the window, wich was a good thing for Zachorias, it allowed him to sneak out without breaking anything he might have to pay for later.

With a silent 'thud' sound Zachorias landed on the cold ground, making some of the mist dissappear from the place he had landed on. "The ground is cold, dead perhaps. Most likely from all the summoning of the undead beings." Zachorias thought for himself, he made mental notes about the situation according to his needs. Slowly and undetected he walked on all fours while staying low. He didn't make any sounds as he walked in the mist, making it spread a little.

Then suddenly, the figure turned around. Zachorias was lucky that he had hidden behind a rock when he noticed that the canine was moving, he waited behind the rock for a few seconds before the canine talked in a loud, aggressive and evil tone, Zachorias knew that he didn't want to get on the canine's bad side alltough it seemed impossible at the moment. "I know that there is someone here! Show yourself! Unless you want me to hunt you down!" The canine yelled while he was looking around incase he would notice something unusual. "Damn, he knows that I'm here, propably not where I am though, but his yelling will no doubt attract the undead." Zachorias sighed and gave up, he rose from his cover behind the rock and turned towards the canine.

"Who are you?" Zachorias asked while he tried felt how his fur began to fluff up because of the negative energies that the canine was sending. The canine growled and showed his sharp, long teeths. "My name is not important, but since you were to foolish to venture here and you even dared to try and sneak up on me, I will tell you. My name is Irascus, I'm one of the Seven Deathkeepers. And you, I know who you are, necromancer." Irascus said while he slowly began to walk towards Zachorias. "What? Necromancer? How did you-?"

"Know it? Please. I can sense the mark in you, the dark beast that has been locked. It wants to get out." Irascus said when he looked in Zachorias' shocked, purple eyes. He could smell his sweat resulting from being nervous and afraid. Zachorias, on the other paw did not sense anything. His ability to move had been numbed from the negative energies surrounding the inn's backyard. "N-no. I won't allow it, I won't allow that. The beast will stay locked! He has done enough damage to this world and me!" Zachorias said with a hysteric voice while he grabbed a hold of the rock to stop him from collapsing. He couldn't feel his paws. "Done enough?! Hell no! He hasn't even begun! The killing of your parents? It was just a start, it is going to get your friends killed. Rip them apart, tear their souls, eat their flesh." Wratch said while he stopped only a few meters away from Zachorias who had started to shake.

"No! Shut up! I won't let it out! Never! I didn't kill my parents! I didn't do it!" Zachorias yelled, suddenly waking up from his trance. Irascus looked disgusted but then he suddenly smiled and began to laugh in an unearthly tone. "Hahaha! You didn't kill your parents? Now that's a big lie. Didn't your whore mother teach you not to lie to people before she died?" Irascus laughed while the mist started to slowly circle around Zachorias, Irascus didn't notice this since he was laughing and his eyes were closed.

"Shut up! Don't you even dare to name her! Don't you even dare to name my mother ever again!" Zachorias spat out while he unsheated his sword and took a defencive position. Irascus stopped to laugh but still kept on smiling. "Or else? You can't threaten me, pup! You're mother was nothing than a filthy whore who mated with a poor, unworthy and disgusting creature! Your father." Irascus laughed while he crouched down and placed his paw on the ground while dark purple lights began to circle around his paw and slowly descended into the cold earth below them.

"I will make you pay for your words, mutt! Noone insults my parents! Noone!" Zachorias yelled while he could feel how the adrealine had been released and started to wander around in his body, filling his every cell with energy. Then suddenly the crystal he had used to lock his parent's souls from wandering on the earth forever, started to glow bright red. His parent's had heard the insults and they didn't like what they were hearing. Their souls were furious. Now Zachorias could feel, for the first time in his life, when the purple flames began to grow around his paws. Slowly covering up his whole body, but the flames didn't make it harder for him to breathe, even though he was covered in flames. His breathing was heavy but not troubled. He held the sword with his both paws now and he could feel how it began to change, it had reacted with the flames and from the dragon wings had started to come several sharp claws.

"Oh? What are you gonna do now? Try and scare me with your dark mana? I don't think so. I'll help you to your whore mother and your poor father by ripping you apart and watching you suffer!" Irascus yelled while the dark energies concentrated under his paw and he lifted a spear out from the ground below him. The spear had been made from bones compressed together and it had resulted in an material harder than steel. Zachorias started growl while his paws started to shake, not from fear. But from the lack of control.

Without a sound Zachorias began to run at Irascus while holding his sword ready to slash his enemy in half. He jumped and was certain that his attack would have succeeded, but Irascus was extreemly fast. With a loud 'crack' sound Zachorias' sword contacted with Irascus' spear, but Irascus was several years more experienced in fighting and he gave Zachorias a powerful blow in his chest. Zachorias flew backwards and hitted the ground while he was coughing, the blow had really taken the air from him. After a couple of more deep breaths he had regained his air, only to notice that Irascus was running towards him and preparing a soul shredding spell. He didn't think of any better plan, so he made up a wall of ice between him and Irascus.

"Clever. Alltough you didn't stop it completely." Irascus said while Zachorias looked at Irascuss paw that was only a couple of inches away from his head. Irascus had attacked so hard that the ice wall couldn't hold it, but since Zachorias was still releasing mana into the ice wall, it had grown around Irascus' paw, slowing it down. "Not good enough!" Irascus said while he released a shockwave through the ice wall, making it shatter instantly, leaving him crouched on the ground.

Irascus rose up slowly before he dissappeared before Zachorias' eyes. He didn't even notice him while he flew at him while thrusting his spear but managed to evade Irascus' attack, only to get hit in the neck when Irascus turned behind his back. Zachorias fell on the ground and he could feel the taste of blood in his mouth, suddenly he got an idea. He spat out some blood in his left paw and grabbed his sword while swinging it blindly around him. Irascus jumped backwards since it would be crazy to stand near someone who was in a blind rage. Zachorias unleashed a loud growl while he jumped directly at Irascus. "Jumping straight at me? I missjudged you, you are even more stupid than I thought, no matter. I will gladly kill you and release you from this mortal realm." Irascus thought for himself while he prepared his spear to pierce Zachorias' body.

"Hhmmhh, not quite." Zachorias said when his body dissappeared from Irascus' view, just like he had dissappeared a moment ago. "What? He can't be that fast!" Irascus said for himself before he felt a sword slash his side open and in the same movement cut his right paw off. Zachorias landed infront of Irascus who was yelling in rage and pain. "Damn it! God damn you, hybrid! How did you get that speed? It shouldn't even be possible for you!" Irascus yelled while he dropped his spear and held on the bleeding paw. Zachorias chuckled and opened his left paw. There was a symbol that looked like a circle with strange wave forms going to the center. Irascus blinked. "You cursed me?! A reaction decreaser curse no doubt. But when did you cast it?"

"When I swinged my sword at you. You might not have noticed it but it doesn't change the fact that I did it. But the curse wouldn't have slowed you down enough so..." Zachorias said while he the other side of his paw. "...So I casted an speed increaser spell on myself. But now, I have some pay back to do." Zachorias said while a cruel smile spreaded across his muzzle. Zachorias struck his sword in the ground, only a few inches away from his paws. He placed down his paws and let some of the necromatic powers out. A lone bone pilar came out behind Irascus and before he knew it. It had pierced his paws. Making him immobile.

"Let me go! Let me go and I'll tear your heart from your chest and eat it!" Irascus spat out while Zachorias rose up while grabbing a hold of his sword and hed it at Irascus' throat. "Now let me hear you begging. Beg me to spare your pitiful life." Zachorias said while he began to concentrate a healing spell incase his neck had been seriously injured when Irascus attacked. "Never! You will pay for this!" Irascus yelled while he began to glow. Zachorias could see how a huge wall of dark flames suddenly appeared behind Irascus while he chanted in some strange and ancient language.

Irascus transformed into a part of the inferno and it seemed to grow larger and larger, burning everything it touched. All the trees and some of the rocks, everything got burned down. Zachorias tried his best and tried to convert the purple flames into the shield that he had done when he was in the necromancer school. "Come on, come on!" Zachorias thought for himself while he tried his best to remember how he had made the shield, but before he knew, he was feeling calm and relaxed, making the dark flames shrink back inside him.

"I'll give you a one way trip to hell!" Zachorias could hear Irascus yell from inside the inferno, slowly gaining speed and moving towards Zachorias like a tidal wave. "No, I've got to do something! Anything!" Zachorias said for himself while he began concentrate the mana in his body. He thought that it would be better if he did something and possibly have a chance of surviving, than to not do anything and die.

"Die!" Irascus yelled while he bursted through Zachorias who yelled in pain while the inferno burned his body. Suddenly a huge explosion took place, at the exact moment when the inferno touched Zachorias. "What the? No! No, don't!" Zachorias could hear Irascus scream, but soon the voice died out and Zachorias was left on his knees. His robes were burned and torned, smoke coming from several places of his body and his fur had been burned away in his face and paws. He opened his mouth and let out long breath of smoke before he fell on the ground. Even though the inferno had only touched him, it had still injuried him severly. He had large wounds in his thighs, a large burned wound in his side and he was allmost covered in bruises. He fell slowly on the still warm ground, but he could feel how the mist slowly began to withdraw. "I bet the undead will come soon. We made so much noice that it would be a miracle if they didn't show up and devour me." Zachorias thought for himself while he closed his eyes. The ground felt like heaven and it was propably the best place to rest in at the moment. He could someone running nearby, he could see a blurry image of someone crouching over him and trying to talk to him. Suddenly he recognised the person.

It was Victoria who had been freed from the infection and had managed to break out from the basement, then the sounds most likely attracted her attention. Zachorias couldn't understand a word that she was saying but he knew one thing. The town was safe and everybody was getting better, he slowly closed his eyes again and his mind drifted into unconciousness.

End of Chapter 10
Dark and Light...

Description
Dark and Light
Chapter 10
Graveyard of the Damned

"To gain eternal life is a dream,
a dream that will only lead to one thing.
The wish of death."

"Zachorias? Wake up. Zach, it's time to get up." A female deer said while her brown fur bathed in sun rays coming through the window. The deer was leaning over a comfy looking bed, she actually wanted to join the hybrid who was still sleeping in it. His ears twitched a couple of times when the deer called his name. "Whazzizid?" The hybrid mumbled while he pulled the blanket over his face and tried to hide his eyes from the sunrays. "Come on! Get up! It's morning!" The deer said cheerfully while a bright light appeared in her hooves, she tried to get more light into the room with a spell, but the hybrid covered his eyes with his paw. "No it's not. It's not morning, it's actually still night and the evil god as made a horrible, horrible invention to lure people to wake up early while it actually is still dark." Zachorias said while he tried to crawl further under the blanket.

The deer couldn't help but laugh while she began to pull the blanket from Zachorias. He on the other paw had other plans, he began to whine and whimper while the deer just continued to to pull. "Victoria! Stop! You're gonna make me fal-Agh!" Zachorias said with a somewhat drowsy voice before he fell down from his bed and landed on the hard wooden floor, with nothing but the blanket covering a little bit of his bare body. Victoria blushed and gasped from the surprise but Zachorias didn't exactly share her joy, without thinking he pointed his paw towards the wall behind Victoria and said with a fairly loud voice. "Female eyes towards the north wall!"

Victoria blushed deeply and began to giggle as she turned slowly around while Zachorias tried to cover up as much of his body as he could. "So, I didn't know that you had access to my room, I keep it locked for a reason you know." Zachorias said while he put on his grey pants and the belt around his waist, then he grabbed his grey robes that he had placed on the chair before he had fallen asleep. "Why is that? Afraid I'll come and sleep with you?" Victoria said while she turned her head a little so she could see Zachorias dressing up from her eye corner. "Please! That kind of behaviour is strictly forbidden inside the school! And no, that is not the reason why I lock my door everytime I leave my room." Zachorias said while he put on his robe and a strange necklace around his neck. The rock glowed brightly when Zachorias touched it and this caught Victoria's attention.

"Zach? What's that amulet you're wearing? It glowed a little when you touched it." The deer said while she turned around and looked at the fully dressed hybrid while Zachorias walked and picked up a few books from the floor, he sighed and thought for himself if she was ready to hear the truth. "It's, a regular crystal I found when I was a kid and after I got here, I linked a light spell into it, I guess it's why it only reacts on me." Zachorias said while he felt a slight sting of guilt in his heart, he didn't want to lie to Victoria, but he didn't want her to get upset about his past, atleast not yet. "Tell me, why did you wake me up? It's Saturday, there are no classes today. So why did you force me out from my sleep?" Zachorias said while he walked in the small bathroom he had in his room and washed his face with some fresh water.

"Well, it actually has something to do with your studies. Since you've had a little bit more 'interesting' past, the teachers and the Grandmaste require you to take missions, just to make sure that you have complet control over your powers." Victoria said while she looked out from the window, the sun was rising and lighten the whole land. "Well, I must remember to thank the Grandmaster that he mentioned this earlier." Zachorias said with a sarcastic tone in his voice, he had begun to go through his caskets where he kept some of his stuff wich he never used.

"What are you looking for, Zach? It's not like you've gonna have any problems with the mission, I've seen how you handle your magical powers and you won't have any trouble." Victoria said cheerfully while she looked over Zachorias' shoulder incase she would see what Zachorias was looking for. "Where is it? I know I placed it here somewhere." Zachorias mumbled for himself while he walked over to his chest where he had all the bigger objects and left the other one open. Victoria crouched to see what the casket had inside. "An old picture of a grown up and a child canine who had a little bit more playful look on him, by them was standing a grown up and a child feline, the smaller one seemed to be hiding a little behind the other feline. His parents?!" Victoria thought for herself while a question poped in her mind. "If that is father and that's his mother, then who is the little girl? He has a sister? He never told me that. I bet he has had lots of contact with them, but maybe he just hasn't had the time to tell me, we have been together only for a few days. I'm sure he'll tell me about his parents on the mission." Victoria thought for herself while she closed the casket and leaving the picture there.

She turned around when Zachorias shouted in triumph while he pulled out a long sword from his chest. "The present I got from my dad when I chose what to study. Man, I can't believe it's been allmost five years allready. Time passes so fast. And I haven't even cleaned it in a long time, if my dad was here he really would straighten me up. Leaving a sword that has been passed down in centuries to dust and never to be used, well. I guess now it's the time." Zachorias said as he studied the long sword and the beautyful craftmanship in the decorations. Even though the sword was nearly six feet long and looked extreemly heavy, it was very light and easy to use. Zachorias swung the sword a couple of time to see if he had any kind of skill with his sword, he did.

The sword seemed to adjust itself to every move that Zachorias did and it felt like the sword had been made just for him. "Wow, my great-great grand father really knew how to craft swords, and I bet that this enchantment to make it extra light and pretty much indestructible. Here, feel how light it is." Zachorias said while he gave the sword to Victoria who had been kinda impressed by how well Zachorias handled a sword. She nodded while she grabbed the handle of the sword with her both hooves. Zachorias was right! The sword looked like it weighed like a treasure chest and only a warlord that possessed enormous powers could lift it, but it was allmost as light as a feather. "You said that this enchantment was made by the wife of one of your ancestors, right? She must have been a really powerful sorceress or witch to have made an eternal enchantment." Victoria said while her eyes studied the sword, from it's handle to it's tip.

"Yes that's true, she is rumoured to be one of the most powerful sorceresses of this millenium. And please don't call her a witch. It's a little insulting towards her memory and my family." Zachorias said while he grabbed a few pieces of cloth he had lying around his room and showed with his paw that he wanted the sword back from Victoria. "Yes, I'm sorry. It was a rather rude thing to say." Victoria said while she felt embarrassed and a little ashamed for what she had said, her cheels blushed a little bit more when she handed the sword over to Zachorias who was holding a small rag in his paw. "Don't worry about it, you could have said something a lot worse but you didn't, so it's all right." Zachorias said with a weak smile while he grabbed a small potion from his desk.

He looked at through the potion into the clear sun rays, the potion seemed to be all right and the yellow fluid bubbled a little, just as it was meant to be doing. "Zach, what kind of a potion have you made? It doesn't look like the usual ones that you can see in the books." The deer said while she slowly walked to Zachorias who was putting some of the yellow liquid in the piece of cloth. "This is a little cleaning potion I've made from lemon juice, water and some roses. Pretty basic materials I know, but they were easy to find." Zachorias said while he sat down on the floor and began to clean the sword while Victoria looked how the sword became more and more beautyful for every stroke he did on it. "But, alchemy isn't a part of the white magician training. Did you study all this by yourself?" Victoria said while she pointed to a pile of books Zachorias had left in his room, some on the table, some on his night table and even some on the floor. "Yeah I thought that the more I study, the better. Besides, knowledge hasn't hurted anyone before. And this is sort of what profession my parents wanted me to choose." Zachorias said while he stopped polishing the blade and looking at his reflection in it.

His brown fur seemed to absorb some of the light that the blade was reflecting, he looked in his eyes. His purple eyes didn't look like they did when he had just walked away from his home, they weren't cold and empty, he could see joy and a strong pulsing power of life. He felt as if he had been reborn when he had arrived here, everything was so peaceful, unlike the world outside the school's grounds. He knew that someday he would leave the school someday and start his journey, but he wanted to enjoy this place for as long as he could. "Zach? Are you ok? You seemed like you were thinking about something." Victoria said while she wrapped her arms around Zachorias and hugged him from behind.

Zachorias could feel the nice yet strong scent of her, he sighed and placed his paw on Victorias hoove. "Don't worry, I was just thinking about what I would do after I finish this school. Maybe I should start wandering around, exploring cities and wilderness. I've heard that many wanderers make their living by looking for old graves and such, then again, I could just try my best and see where it leads." Zachorias said while he finished cleaning the decorative ruby that was in between of the dragon type wings. He let his paw trace the beautyful figure of the sword, even though it was nearly five hundred-years old, it still looked like new. His ancenstors sure had put alot of effort in it.

"Yeah, my father was an adventurer, he used to tell me about his journeys in caves and cities. Alltough he didn't find any treasures, he admitted that it had been fun, but after my mom gave birth to me, he was forced to find a little bit more profitable work. And thanks to his experience with the forest, he made pretty good money as a hunter. But enough about that! Are you done with your sword? We need to get going." Victoria said while she slowly leaned over Zachorias and looked him in his purple eyes. "We? But wasn't this mission for me?" Zachorias asked while his eyes looked straight back at Victoria's eyes. Victoria giggled a little when she saw the look on Zachorias' face, she rose up and grabbed Zachorias by his shoulder. "We are going to complete the mission together! I got permission from the Grandmaster, so there is no use in trying to tell me that I can't go!" Victoria answered while she began to pull the robes that Zachorias had on. "Aaah! Okay! Okay, just let me get something to eat! I haven't eaten any breakfast!" Zachorias whined while he sheated his sword and bound it with a small chain to his belt that he wore around his robes.

"Good morning!" Victoria said loudly when she and Zachorias walked between the huge tables in the main dining room. Zachorias chuckled when he thought how many of his rooms could fit in this room. They walked past one of the many windows that were colored in many colors and even had figures in them. Zachorias counted all the gods and goddesses he could remember. "Come on! Grab something to eat! The road to the village we are supposed to go is long and we're not going to be there before nightfall." Victoria said while she grabbed some bread and butter from a nearby plate. Zachorias yawned, he wasn't still yet awake, Victoria saw this and put a piece of meat in Zachorias' muzzle while he yawned. When he could feel something touch his tongue, he immediatly shut his jaws and looked at Victoria who was grinning at him. "Hmm...Rabbit meat?" Zachorias asked after he had tasted, chewed and swallowed the little piece of meat. "Yup! Now eat, before I force feed you." Victoria said with a playful tone and smiled while she let her face get warmed by the sun light coming through the windows.

Zachorias grabbed some more meat and a couple of herbs from nearby plates while he warmed the meat pieces with a small flame he summoned into his paw. "What is the mission about? I haven't had the time to read any information about it, so maybe you could fill me up? Where are we going and why?" Zachorias asked while he swallowed a piece of roast chicken and made it easier to slide down into his stomach with a glass of water. "Not gonna tell you, atleast not before we're on our way. Besides, I've got some question I want to ask you." Victoria said while she drank some of the herb tea that she had made. As she lifted the cup, she could feel Zachorias' questioning look in her cheeks, she blushed a little bit, she wasn't used that someone would stare at her. "It's nothing much, just a simple question, Zach." Victoria said while she drank the tea with small sips while Zachorias nodded and continued to chew on his food.

When they both were done, they rose up and thanked their gods of the food. "Well, I need to get some more things from my room, but wait for me at the gates, ok?" Victoria said while she began to run to her room wich was located pretty close to the dining room. "Yeah ok, unless I'll fall asleep on the way there." Zachorias said while he yawned and stretched as she looked how the deer dissappeared behind a corner. "Well, I guess it's time to get going, the cart is propably allready waiting outside." The canine feline hybrid said while he turned and began to walk towards the gate that would lead to the school grounds and outside the school grounds as well.

"Is she coming? I've been waiting forever and if she doesn't come soon, I'll leave her behind." Zachorias said while he leaned at the walls around the school. The wind was blowing a cool breeze through the land. Zachorias' ears twitched a couple of times when the cool breeze hitted them. "Great, here I am, waiting for her, a northern wind blowing at me, while Victoria is propably inside the warm and comfy building, I swear if the mission is up north I'll-"

"You'll what?" A warm, motherly voice came from the entrance gates, Zachorias turned his head and looked who had just entered outside the school grounds. "Oh, hello teacher Serina and Victoria. How are you?" Zachorias asked while he quickly rose up since he had much respect for the white fox who had taught him everything he knew about healing spells. "Calm down, you're outside the school walls, there is no need to be formal. Have you been practicing much? I heard that you had finally be given a mission. Congratulations, it means that the Grandmaster is ready to complete your studies as an apprentice and you can become a full fledged white magician." The white fox said while Victoria had opened her mouth to say something but obviously hadn't. "Now, after you have come back. The library should have some interesting new books for you to read. I've heard that you like to study alot, wich is a good thing since the white magicinas have a better access to books than apprentices." The vixen said with a smile, then she turned towards Victoria who had been quiet ever since they had come out from the school. "Now, miss Krean. Do take care of him, he might sometimes act without thinking but he has never failed to impress me. Not only that, but he is one of the most promising students I have ever had, same goes for you. You remind me of how I once were, full of enthusiasm, good skills and you want to help people. Those along would be more than enough to get you through the apprentice stage, something that the Grandmaster has agreed to. Victoria Krean and Zachorias Furosa, after you have completed this mission, you will both be full fledged white magicians. Now, I must be on my way, I wish luck to both of you." Serina said while she turned around and began to walk back to the school while her long white hair reflected some of the light coming from the sun.

"Victoria? You know what I forgot to say to you?" Zachorias said in a slightly stressed tone while he still looked at the away walking vixen, he was stunned, he would get promoted to a white mage? "No, what?" Victoria answered while she as well looked at the vixen, they were both stunned while their minds tried to comprehend what had happened. "You're late." Zachorias said while a smile spread in his muzzle, Victoria giggled a couple of times and after that she hitted Zachorias in his paw. "Quit it! I can't help it if a teacher wanted to talk with me! Now let's get going!" The deer replied with a laugh, she stepped inside the cart and Zachorias followed her, after the door closed Zachorias yelled to the driver to get some speed on the cart.

"Now, since we are on our way, I think you have a promise that you should fullfill. Where are we going and why?" Zachorias said while he looked at the forest outside. Zachorias thought that the whole forest seemed a lot bigger now than when he looked out from his room in the school. "Well, we're on our way to a small town north east from the white magicans school, reports say that people have been dissappeared, but they have returned later." Victoria said while she adjusted her position a little so she was sitting more comfortable.

"If they have come back, then why are we going there?" The hybrid asked while he leaned his head at the cool window and looked at Victoria's reflection from the glass. There was something in her eyes, something worrysome, there was something wrong with those that had returned, he see it in her eyes. "The people have returned, undead." Victoria said with a sad tone and dropped her head down, she tried to see how Zachorias would react, considering that he used to be a necromancer. But from the corner of her eyes, she could see the strange look in his face. His eyes were glassed and his fur stood up. He was nervous.

"Undead? As in killed people who have been given life?" Zachorias said with an empty tone and his look was fixed in the sun that was high in the sky. The sun rays made the shadows grow and shrink while the cart drove in the narrow forest path. "Yes, they have been killed, their bodies ripped apart. But that's not where it gets really frightening, the wounds have been made by something unnatural animal claws and the Grandmaster thinks it's the work of a demon." Victoria said whie she grabbed a couple of scrolls from her bag. "It's all written in black and white by the Grandmaster. We are going up against a demon. Do you think we are gonna be okay?" Victoria asked nervously while she watched how Zachorias' eyes had stopped moving, even stopped blinking, then suddenly he lowered his head so his hair fell infront of his yes.

"A demon? No, I don't think we will be okay. They have greater magic power than us mortals. So I think we should count ourselves lucky if we barerly survive. Have they identified the demon's name and rank? If it's a lesser demon we might just be lucky to deal with it without any major injuries." Zachorias said while his eyes continued to stare of in the forest. "No, so there is a good chance that it's just a lesser demon. But it might also be a greater demon." Victoria said with a depressing voice, she couldn't bare to talk about the mission when the odds were so much against them, but at that time Zachorias' ears suddenly twitched and he lifted his head. "Wait a second. Isn't there a weakness? I remember that demons don't have an immunity for their own spells, wich means that necromatic and dark spells can hurt them! And if we use them at the right time, we could surprise him and that would leave enough time for us to finish a banishing spell!" Zachorias said while his head turned towards Victoria who had started to smile a little. "Is it true?" Victoria said while an obvious sparkle lit up in her eyes, the mood in the cart got brighter and pair was suddenly alot more relaxed.

"Well, now we can't do anything more than to wait for us to arrive at our destination. How about if we get some sleep? I didn't get my sleep dose and I bet that we are going to work at night since the sightings have been reported during those hours." Zachorias said while he lifted his paws up on the bench, Victoria frowned a little but did the same thing. "You're a real sleepy head, you know that?" Victoria said with a humoured tone while she placed her hoove under her head. "Yes, I know. And I love it." Zachorias replied while he turned on his back and slowly fell back into the nice and calm dreams that he had been forced to wake up from in the morning.

"Wake up! Master Furosa and Mistress Krean! Wake up! Wake up now!" Were the first voices that Zachorias could hear, he quickly rose up and hitted his head in the cart's roof. "Ow! What th- Oh good lord!" Zachorias said as he looked outside the cart, the whole town was over run by the undead. Skeletons, zombies, ghouls and ghosts. Zachorias was horrified, this wasn't the work of a necromancer, nor an lesser demon. "Victoria, get up I need your help. Victoria!" Zachorias yelled while his eyes were still fixed in whole town. "Hmh? What's the matter?" Victoria asked with a tired voice, she lifted her hoove and scratched her neck a little. Surprised and a little bit shocked Zachorias yelled. "The town is over run! Get up!"

He grabbed his sword and bursted out from the cart and broke the door at the same time. Victoria jumped directly after him and yelled to the cart driver. "Go to a safe place! Don't come here before tomorrow night!" The cart driver looked horrified but understood his orders, with a loud whip sound the horses infront of the cart began to run as fast as they could, leaving the town behind. "Victoria! Let's make our way to the inn! I can see a light there so it's possible that there are survivors there and they might be injured!" Zachorias yelled while he slashed a zombie in two with his sword, the corpse fell down with a silent 'thud' sound, but the sound was soon replaced by drooling ghouls and moaning zombies. "Zach! There are so many! How could a necromancer or a demon do all this in just a week?" Victoria yelled while she was cutting the undead being's trapped souls.

The ghosts dissappeared like smoke when Victoria had released their souls, the runes on her hooves had begun to glow from the constant spell usage. "This isn't a work of an necromancer or an lesser demon! I don't know what we are facing but it's got one hell of an taste for blood! This town hasn't got anything special!" Zachorias yelled while he summoned a fire wall between him and the undead. "We need to get to the inn! Now!" Zachorias yelled while he gripped his wrist and began to concentrate some of his mana into a sphere on his paw.

"Victoria! Get down!" Zachorias yelled while the sphere had finished forming in his paw. Victoria ducked as fast she could but she didn't close her eyes incase if the undead would attack her, but many of the undead got hit by a strange white light. Victoria looked behind herself and saw Zachorias casting the ray sphere spell and hitting a huge load of undead with it. "Start running towards the inn!" Zachorias yelled while he shot another burst of glowing white rays and creating a path from Victoria to the inn, she understood fully and started to run while Zachorias continued to shoot the undead beings down.

Even though Zachorias kept on shooting down the undead, they seemed to keep on comming, but this only made Victoria run faster and faster. She was fourty meters from the inn, thirty, twenty. Then she saw how the door opened and an adult lion waving for her to hurry up inside. Victoria didn't even think about it, she sprinted as fast as she could and managed to run inside and quickly followed by Zachorias who had runned directly behind her while keeping the zombies and ghouls away. With a bang the door closed and was quickly blocked with chairs and tables. The lion listened first how the undead creatures banged at the door for a while, only to find it futile, so they stopped and the town went completely silent.

A female black wolf walked to one of the boarded windows and checked if the creatures had calmed down, she sighed calmly and turned around to look at the new-comers. Zachorias was looking down at the floor while he was sitting and breathing heavily, he wasn't used to be both physically and mentally strained. He breathed a couple more times before he looked up at the wolfess. She was pretty, but most of her beauty had been covered by stains of blood, dirty fur and small bandages. She was holding a long, straight sword in her paw. Zachorias noticed that she was limping, propably from an injury. He continued to study the wolfess for any information he might find useful. She wasn't fat, pretty skinny actually, with a thick leather armor on her that had been strenghtened with metal plates to give more protection for vital organs and body parts.

"Get up! We aren't safe here." The wolfess said while she grabbed Zachorias wrist to help him up. Zachorias was impressed by how strong her grip was, especially when her body seemed to have very little if any strong muscles. "Come on!" The lion said with an slightly irritated tone while she helped Victoria up and opened a door that seemed to lead to a small closet. Zachorias was confused, what were they planning to do with them? They had come to help, didn't they understand that? But all doubt dissappeared when he saw the lion open a hidden passage with a ladder, leading propably nowhere else than the basement below the closet. With silent steps the group climbed down the ladder, when Zachorias got down, he was even more shocked.

He had thought that the basement would be silent and everyone would be scared and keeping silent incase the noice would attract the undead's attention, but he was wrong. Everybody was shouting and screaming. The children were kicking and scratching their parents, who in turn punished their children with more yelling. "What is this? Has this whole town went crazy?" Zachorias asked himself while he thought how bad the situation was. Several of the males had been injuried, propably when trying to fight the undead, but they were only making the wounds worse by kicking and hitting anything they could.

Suddenly Zachorias felt how his paw was twisted behind his back and the wolfess was holding a dagger at Zachorias' throat. "Now answer me, pretty boy! Who are you and why did you come here?" The wolfess asked with a low tone, the voice was allmost too low to be a females voice, but Zachorias didn't care. He growled while the wolfess twisted his paw even more, then he had gotten enough. His twisted paw was suddenly in flames and the wolfess screamed and released Zachorias' paw. Zachorias saw this as an opportunity and elbowed his attacker in the chest. "Fuck you, you damn hybrid!" The lion roared and jumped at Zachorias, he noticed this immediatly and quickly jumped so the lion dived straight into the wall, causing lots of dirt fall from the small holes between the planks in the walls. "Victoria! These people aren't sane! We need to get out of here!" Zachorias yelled to Victoria while he was keeping a steady eye on the others who had started to behave even aggressively and started to walk towards him.

"Victoria! Did you hear me?" Zachorias yelled again while he slowly backed to the ladder, ready to climb and pull Victoria up, maybe even lock the door leading down. "I heard you damn well! But I don't care! How dare you come here and hurt these people!" Victoria yelled while she began to walk towards Zachorias with a strange look in her eyes, allmost frightening. "What? What did you say?" Zachorias asked while he suddenly froze up, everybody was starting to act aggressive and Zachorias could sense their auras being defiled by something. "You heard me damn well! I think it would be good if you left this place! Even better if you went outside to live with those undead! Considering that used to be a part of them!" The deer yelled while Zachorias was stunned, this was so unlike her. She used to be kind and calm, but now she had become angry and violent, suddenly it hit him.

"She's been infected by the same thing that this whole town has been infected with. It made the people living in the town aggressive. I bet the undead receive their energy from it as well. I must find who ever is responsible and stop this!" Zachorias thought for himself while he felt the ladder hit his elbow, he was at the right place now. "Victoria! I promise that I'll get you all cured, and for what I am about to do, I'm very sorry." Were the last words that Zachorias said to Victoria before he jumped on the ladders and quickly began to climb the few steps it had leading to the surface, with a hoard of unstable and angry people behind him. He could hear them hitting at the ladder and yelling at him like a group of wild animals.

"Ok, now it's time to close and seal the opening." Zachorias said for himself after he had climbed up from the basement and he was looking at Victoria who was swearing at him and yelling, all of this made Zachorias feel even worse, but it couldn't be helped at the moment. He blocked the basement door with a big chunk of ice, sealing it properly, but then he could hear another problem, the undead had noticed him and were banging the door and the windows. They were all out to get him.

"Shit! Just when one problem is fixed another one comes!" Zachorias thought for himself while he stood in the inn, just looking at the problems that would attack him if he would step outside. He slowly retreated to the stairs leading to the first floor of the inn, even though there wasn't much light Zachorias managed to walk up without any problems. Now he was in a short hallway, three doors on the right side and a window on the left side. He tried to open the first door but the door didn't budge, it was locked. Zachorias moved on and tried to open the other two doors but they were locked as well.

"The innkeeper is or was a little smarter than the other. Since most innkeepers didn't bother to buy a lock and key for each door." Zachorias thought for himself while he looked out the window, there was a graveyard behind the inn. It was allmost completely empty, only a lone figure was standing there. Zachorias studied for a few seconds and came to the conclusion that who ever was standing there was a male canine. But he walked different, he walked like normal people. "He hasn't been infected? Who is that guy?" Zachorias thought for himself as he slowly opened the window. No innkeeper is perfect, he had forgotten to lock the window, wich was a good thing for Zachorias, it allowed him to sneak out without breaking anything he might have to pay for later.

With a silent 'thud' sound Zachorias landed on the cold ground, making some of the mist dissappear from the place he had landed on. "The ground is cold, dead perhaps. Most likely from all the summoning of the undead beings." Zachorias thought for himself, he made mental notes about the situation according to his needs. Slowly and undetected he walked on all fours while staying low. He didn't make any sounds as he walked in the mist, making it spread a little.

Then suddenly, the figure turned around. Zachorias was lucky that he had hidden behind a rock when he noticed that the canine was moving, he waited behind the rock for a few seconds before the canine talked in a loud, aggressive and evil tone, Zachorias knew that he didn't want to get on the canine's bad side alltough it seemed impossible at the moment. "I know that there is someone here! Show yourself! Unless you want me to hunt you down!" The canine yelled while he was looking around incase he would notice something unusual. "Damn, he knows that I'm here, propably not where I am though, but his yelling will no doubt attract the undead." Zachorias sighed and gave up, he rose from his cover behind the rock and turned towards the canine.

"Who are you?" Zachorias asked while he tried felt how his fur began to fluff up because of the negative energies that the canine was sending. The canine growled and showed his sharp, long teeths. "My name is not important, but since you were to foolish to venture here and you even dared to try and sneak up on me, I will tell you. My name is Irascus, I'm one of the Seven Deathkeepers. And you, I know who you are, necromancer." Irascus said while he slowly began to walk towards Zachorias. "What? Necromancer? How did you-?"

"Know it? Please. I can sense the mark in you, the dark beast that has been locked. It wants to get out." Irascus said when he looked in Zachorias' shocked, purple eyes. He could smell his sweat resulting from being nervous and afraid. Zachorias, on the other paw did not sense anything. His ability to move had been numbed from the negative energies surrounding the inn's backyard. "N-no. I won't allow it, I won't allow that. The beast will stay locked! He has done enough damage to this world and me!" Zachorias said with a hysteric voice while he grabbed a hold of the rock to stop him from collapsing. He couldn't feel his paws. "Done enough?! Hell no! He hasn't even begun! The killing of your parents? It was just a start, it is going to get your friends killed. Rip them apart, tear their souls, eat their flesh." Wratch said while he stopped only a few meters away from Zachorias who had started to shake.

"No! Shut up! I won't let it out! Never! I didn't kill my parents! I didn't do it!" Zachorias yelled, suddenly waking up from his trance. Irascus looked disgusted but then he suddenly smiled and began to laugh in an unearthly tone. "Hahaha! You didn't kill your parents? Now that's a big lie. Didn't your whore mother teach you not to lie to people before she died?" Irascus laughed while the mist started to slowly circle around Zachorias, Irascus didn't notice this since he was laughing and his eyes were closed.

"Shut up! Don't you even dare to name her! Don't you even dare to name my mother ever again!" Zachorias spat out while he unsheated his sword and took a defencive position. Irascus stopped to laugh but still kept on smiling. "Or else? You can't threaten me, pup! You're mother was nothing than a filthy whore who mated with a poor, unworthy and disgusting creature! Your father." Irascus laughed while he crouched down and placed his paw on the ground while dark purple lights began to circle around his paw and slowly descended into the cold earth below them.

"I will make you pay for your words, mutt! Noone insults my parents! Noone!" Zachorias yelled while he could feel how the adrealine had been released and started to wander around in his body, filling his every cell with energy. Then suddenly the crystal he had used to lock his parent's souls from wandering on the earth forever, started to glow bright red. His parent's had heard the insults and they didn't like what they were hearing. Their souls were furious. Now Zachorias could feel, for the first time in his life, when the purple flames began to grow around his paws. Slowly covering up his whole body, but the flames didn't make it harder for him to breathe, even though he was covered in flames. His breathing was heavy but not troubled. He held the sword with his both paws now and he could feel how it began to change, it had reacted with the flames and from the dragon wings had started to come several sharp claws.

"Oh? What are you gonna do now? Try and scare me with your dark mana? I don't think so. I'll help you to your whore mother and your poor father by ripping you apart and watching you suffer!" Irascus yelled while the dark energies concentrated under his paw and he lifted a spear out from the ground below him. The spear had been made from bones compressed together and it had resulted in an material harder than steel. Zachorias started growl while his paws started to shake, not from fear. But from the lack of control.

Without a sound Zachorias began to run at Irascus while holding his sword ready to slash his enemy in half. He jumped and was certain that his attack would have succeeded, but Irascus was extreemly fast. With a loud 'crack' sound Zachorias' sword contacted with Irascus' spear, but Irascus was several years more experienced in fighting and he gave Zachorias a powerful blow in his chest. Zachorias flew backwards and hitted the ground while he was coughing, the blow had really taken the air from him. After a couple of more deep breaths he had regained his air, only to notice that Irascus was running towards him and preparing a soul shredding spell. He didn't think of any better plan, so he made up a wall of ice between him and Irascus.

"Clever. Alltough you didn't stop it completely." Irascus said while Zachorias looked at Irascuss paw that was only a couple of inches away from his head. Irascus had attacked so hard that the ice wall couldn't hold it, but since Zachorias was still releasing mana into the ice wall, it had grown around Irascus' paw, slowing it down. "Not good enough!" Irascus said while he released a shockwave through the ice wall, making it shatter instantly, leaving him crouched on the ground.

Irascus rose up slowly before he dissappeared before Zachorias' eyes. He didn't even notice him while he flew at him while thrusting his spear but managed to evade Irascus' attack, only to get hit in the neck when Irascus turned behind his back. Zachorias fell on the ground and he could feel the taste of blood in his mouth, suddenly he got an idea. He spat out some blood in his left paw and grabbed his sword while swinging it blindly around him. Irascus jumped backwards since it would be crazy to stand near someone who was in a blind rage. Zachorias unleashed a loud growl while he jumped directly at Irascus. "Jumping straight at me? I missjudged you, you are even more stupid than I thought, no matter. I will gladly kill you and release you from this mortal realm." Irascus thought for himself while he prepared his spear to pierce Zachorias' body.

"Hhmmhh, not quite." Zachorias said when his body dissappeared from Irascus' view, just like he had dissappeared a moment ago. "What? He can't be that fast!" Irascus said for himself before he felt a sword slash his side open and in the same movement cut his right paw off. Zachorias landed infront of Irascus who was yelling in rage and pain. "Damn it! God damn you, hybrid! How did you get that speed? It shouldn't even be possible for you!" Irascus yelled while he dropped his spear and held on the bleeding paw. Zachorias chuckled and opened his left paw. There was a symbol that looked like a circle with strange wave forms going to the center. Irascus blinked. "You cursed me?! A reaction decreaser curse no doubt. But when did you cast it?"

"When I swinged my sword at you. You might not have noticed it but it doesn't change the fact that I did it. But the curse wouldn't have slowed you down enough so..." Zachorias said while he the other side of his paw. "...So I casted an speed increaser spell on myself. But now, I have some pay back to do." Zachorias said while a cruel smile spreaded across his muzzle. Zachorias struck his sword in the ground, only a few inches away from his paws. He placed down his paws and let some of the necromatic powers out. A lone bone pilar came out behind Irascus and before he knew it. It had pierced his paws. Making him immobile.

"Let me go! Let me go and I'll tear your heart from your chest and eat it!" Irascus spat out while Zachorias rose up while grabbing a hold of his sword and hed it at Irascus' throat. "Now let me hear you begging. Beg me to spare your pitiful life." Zachorias said while he began to concentrate a healing spell incase his neck had been seriously injured when Irascus attacked. "Never! You will pay for this!" Irascus yelled while he began to glow. Zachorias could see how a huge wall of dark flames suddenly appeared behind Irascus while he chanted in some strange and ancient language.

Irascus transformed into a part of the inferno and it seemed to grow larger and larger, burning everything it touched. All the trees and some of the rocks, everything got burned down. Zachorias tried his best and tried to convert the purple flames into the shield that he had done when he was in the necromancer school. "Come on, come on!" Zachorias thought for himself while he tried his best to remember how he had made the shield, but before he knew, he was feeling calm and relaxed, making the dark flames shrink back inside him.

"I'll give you a one way trip to hell!" Zachorias could hear Irascus yell from inside the inferno, slowly gaining speed and moving towards Zachorias like a tidal wave. "No, I've got to do something! Anything!" Zachorias said for himself while he began concentrate the mana in his body. He thought that it would be better if he did something and possibly have a chance of surviving, than to not do anything and die.

"Die!" Irascus yelled while he bursted through Zachorias who yelled in pain while the inferno burned his body. Suddenly a huge explosion took place, at the exact moment when the inferno touched Zachorias. "What the? No! No, don't!" Zachorias could hear Irascus scream, but soon the voice died out and Zachorias was left on his knees. His robes were burned and torned, smoke coming from several places of his body and his fur had been burned away in his face and paws. He opened his mouth and let out long breath of smoke before he fell on the ground. Even though the inferno had only touched him, it had still injuried him severly. He had large wounds in his thighs, a large burned wound in his side and he was allmost covered in bruises. He fell slowly on the still warm ground, but he could feel how the mist slowly began to withdraw. "I bet the undead will come soon. We made so much noice that it would be a miracle if they didn't show up and devour me." Zachorias thought for himself while he closed his eyes. The ground felt like heaven and it was propably the best place to rest in at the moment. He could someone running nearby, he could see a blurry image of someone crouching over him and trying to talk to him. Suddenly he recognised the person.

It was Victoria who had been freed from the infection and had managed to break out from the basement, then the sounds most likely attracted her attention. Zachorias couldn't understand a word that she was saying but he knew one thing. The town was safe and everybody was getting better, he slowly closed his eyes again and his mind drifted into unconciousness.

End of Chapter 10
Dark and Light...