As Ezmerelda galloped down the road, a raven flew alongside her. Remembering an old saying that the raven's caw warned of danger, anytime she heard ravens among the trees nearby, she would avoid the area they sounded from.
She could hear the Undead sometimes screaming like a banshee somewhere in the woods. It unnerved her and she wondered just how stupid she was for traveling in the dead of night when it was the most dangerous.
The light orbs she had summoned hovered around her, lighting the way, flickering out whenever she needed to blend into the darkness.
The going was slower when she neared a large horde after a few hours of traveling. The Undead were scattered around the area towards the edges of the horde. She listened to the sounds of the ravens letting out danger-filled caws as she did her best to slip through and avoid the scattered ones.
It shocked her that there was a horde this large, of about a hundred at least, so close to Kladruber City. She was struck with being torn between right and wrong. The right thing to do would be to alert the royal family and her own about the problem. The wrong thing to do would be to just continue on her journey.
She chose the latter, knowing alerting the city would just give herself away and ruin everything. She wondered if any guard patrols were walking nearby on a protected road. It wasn't close enough for anyone to notice the shambling rotting corpses but was close enough that if she shot a danger flare, they would see it.
She reached into one of her saddlebags and fished out one of the bright red sticks. She would need to make a run for it as soon as she lit it. It would alert the Undead and who knew how many of them were Runners.
Runners were undead that could run incredibly fast. They were a nightmare for an unlucky traveler. Most people died to them, unable to escape the Runners.
She gripped the stick and held it above her head. She used her other hand to hook a finger into the small looped ribbon on the bottom. She sat there, frozen, scared to pull it, for a few slow seconds.
During that time, she could hear the ravens go silent and the Undead making strange noises all through the area.
Forcing herself to just pull the string, she yanked it down. The ribbon pulled free, triggering a sizzling sound from within the stick. Red smoke began billowing out as a bright red-white light shot through an opening in the treetops and high into the sky.
A loud pop filled the air as the lit flare left its container.
She wasted no time in dropping the stick and kicking her horse into a gallop. Her mare snorted in complaint at the sudden pop and now urgency but kept silent for the most part, trained to handle situations like this.
Ezmerelda lowered herself to avoid the branches that grabbed at her, trying to snag her and slow her down.
The Undead had started chasing with hungry fury. She didn't dare look back. A single orb of light was all she used to guide her. She wondered where the road was. She found herself lost as she fled.
The raven that was still beside her flew ahead of her and she followed it, deciding to trust it. She knew it was controlled by the God of Death but she wasn't sure how. As far as she knew, the God of Death was gone.
If there was a replacement, she would eventually hear about it after she was free of this situation.
"How dare you bastards chase my second warrior!" shouted a familiar voice from above. It was the same voice that had told her to go on this journey.
Explosions sounded behind Ezmerelda yet she still refused to look back at the scene. She stayed focused on not falling off her horse and chasing the raven. She weaved through the trees, her heart pounding in her chest.
Time seemed to pass by so slowly, filled with the attacks of the goddess and the Undead screaming as they were kept away from Ezmerelda.
When the raven finally stopped and landed in the branches of a tree, she had reached a clearing. Her horse was breathing heavily as was she. She numbly dismounted and fell to her knees. Her body was shivering with her fear.
The sound of explosions had long since stopped and she could no longer hear the Undead. The only thing she could hear were the usual sounds of nocturnal life.
She caught her breath before setting up camp, feeling far too exhausted to keep going after that scare.
She removed her thick coat after getting a fire going, feeling too hot. The chilly night air felt amazing when it pierced through her sweater. She rolled up her sleeves and sat down by the fire.
"Get some rest, Ezmerelda," came the melodic voice from across. "You're going to need every moment of rest that you can get. There will no doubt be more hordes you will find on your journey."
Ezmerelda nodded. "Thank you for protecting me, Goddess of Darkness," she said. Her mind returned to when the goddess had called her a second warrior. "If I may ask, who is your first warrior?"
"Kail is my first chosen warrior," Izabella responded. "I will see to it that he leads this world toward a better future."
"A better future?" Ezmerelda echoed. She realized she had asked without meaning to and quickly apologized.
"Don't worry about it. You are curious and that is understandable. There is a lot more to why this world is slipping towards destruction. In fact, there is one person behind it all." The goddess went silent for a moment. "You will probably not believe me. Several of the living do not."
"Who is it? Please, tell me." Ezmerelda figured it might be some living person who was causing such a problem. It had happened a few times before in written history.
Yet the words that struck her ears was not what she had expected.
"The Goddess of Light."
Elsewhere in the massive forest, Kail sat with Nova and Spider next to a fire. Kail was struggling to stay awake but he was failing. The two elves urged him to get some rest and Kail decided to finally give in to his exhaustion.
They had traveled far thanks to the speed of the two elves. Kail was carried the entire time. He felt a bit embarrassed by it but there was nothing he could do about it. He was still in a child's body and could never keep up with them.
He laid down and gazed for a bit at the fire. Soon sleep claimed him and he opened his eyes to find himself standing in a small camp. Before him was a fire and sitting next to it was his mother.
He was shocked to see her. He called out to her but she did not respond. Though she was talking to someone he could not see. She was staring across the fire at empty air.
"The Goddess of Light?" Ezmerelda asked the empty air. "How is that possible? She's the one who has given us so much hope in these dark times!"
"No, child. She is the one who caused it. She trapped the God of Death and proceeded to use the Undead to cull the living. She is aiming for a world where she will be the only divine existence in the eyes of the living."
Kail recognized the responding voice. "Izabella?" The goddess did not respond to him either. "What is going on?"
"Welcome to the spirit realm," said a feminine deep voice from behind.
Kail spun around, startled. Standing before him was a man wearing a glittering dark blue dress. The sleeves hung low on his shoulders. It had a slit on each side of the skirt. The dress reminded Kail of a night sky.
The man had a thin feminine figure. His face was covered in a light array of glittering blue makeup and his glittering blond hair was draped over his left shoulder. It was shaved like a buzzcut on the right side.
He had black irises that, if you looked closely, had white shimmering specks that resembled the night sky.
This man was floating off the ground, his bare feet barely just above it.
"Who are you?" Kail asked as he smelled a sweet scent begin to bloom in the air.
The beautiful man smiled brightly. "For one, I'm a woman. As for your question, my name is Serena. I am the Goddess of Dreams."
Kail was startled to find that the goddess had read his mind. His confused thoughts made her laugh.
"Yes, I can read minds but only that of the living and spirits. Divine are a complete mystery to me," she explained.
Baffled yet finding the power intriguing, he looked back at his mother. Izabella was currently trying to convince her to betray the Goddess of Light. "Why did you bring me to my mother? Why is she even out here?"
"Well, Izabella chose her as her second warrior," Serena replied as she floated over to Kail's side. "Your mother is quite surprising. She is scared of the darkness element yet she is more concerned about your safety. Izabella wishes for her to join your group if you will allow it."
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