Well, with the upcoming holidays I find myself even more short of time. I'm releasing some of my current project because I'm not entirely sure on when I'll be able to get back to it. But I haven't forgotten about it! I just don't have the time to crank them out on a regular basis. Still, enough has been done that I can at least get the ball rolling a little bit. So for now, Chapters 1-8 are up. It's a writing excercise with the plotlines of 4 different characters. (Different character per chapter)

It's potentially a logistical nightmare for me keeping track of all the plots; but so far, I think I have a handle on it. Only time will tell though.

Usual disclaimers:
I don't own Maplestory and I make no profit from this story. It's purely a pulp writing exercise for fans of the MapleStory world. As the concept and plot does come from me (even though its heavily and in some ways shamelessly inspired from other Non-Maple works-after all who doesn't like a good zombie flick? ;) ), this story should not be reproduced without my permission. Yada yada yada....

For relatively mature subject matter, this story is probably PG-13 or so.

I hope you enjoy it and I'll try to return to it after the holidays.



MAPLESTORY: THE MASTER OF DEATH


Prologue

Desperation had not affected him yet, but the warrior knew that it was only a matter of time. Some helpful adventurers of Perion had mentioned that he was not ready to take on the fire boars yet, but he had paid them no heed.

Hey, no guts, no glory.

Now he wished he had a little less guts and a little less glory.

The hot flames from the fire boar seared into his flesh, wrenching a scream of pain from the warrior. A last desperate thrust managed to dispatch the beast, but the heat under his helmet was stifling. A safe ledge was within reach and he lunged for the nearby vine even as another group of fire boars charged toward him.

Sitting down, he gasped for air as he ripped off his Iron Burgenet helm and feverishly groped inside his leather pack. A couple of red healing potions were quickly drained as he settled back onto his portable relaxer chair with a relieved sigh. Below him, the boars shuffled angrily. They still hovered around though. There was no way out except through them and unless he had a magical return scroll, they knew it was only a matter of time.

The warrior looked down sourly at the mob and angrily kicked a few pebbles down at them.

A sudden metallic clink made him pause as his armored foot struck something. The warrior paused and picked up a black helm sitting innocently next to him on the ledge. It was carved in black onyx and shaped in the form of the bone helms from Ossyria. A smile appeared on his lips at the discovery. Could it be some discarded treasure? The workmanship was exceptional and regular bone helms fetched a hefty price as it were on the open market! With a shout of glee, he eagerly placed his new treasure on his head and waited to see its effect. Would it enhance his strength? Grant him knowledge and wisdom? Maybe even increase the speed of his step!

Suddenly pain shot from his head and shot all throughout his body. His nerves lit up as if they had been set on fire. The warrior screamed as he held his hands up to his eyes. What was happening? His screams grew even louder as blue veins popped out, stretching tightly against his skin. Then they darkened into a deep black and everywhere they touched, skin blackened and festered.

Below him, the fire boars paused for a few seconds gazing up on the ledge. The screaming had stopped and their prey was now slowly climbing down toward them. The smell of death was all the animals could now sense from their former prey. Not fully understanding, the alpha fire boar of the pack charged at the very quiet and still figure of their prey. Arms of newly decayed flesh shot forward and lifted the animal up with strength beyond anything life had to offer. The boar squealed in fear and surprise. The rear hooves kicked futilely in the air as it looked into the dead eyes shining with insatiable hunger moments before sharp teeth tore into its throat.


Chapter 1

Benjen

Perion as a city had always been overly described as hot and dry. A description given by well-meaning veteran adventurers that was probably as oppressive to newcomers as the actual heat itself. On that particular day, nothing seemed otherwise unusual. The long lines of petitioners to become warriors still lined up at the door for the chieftain’s approval; various folks warped in and out of the Free Market portal searching for rare items to buy and sell; and random visitors from neighboring cities like Kerning, Ellinia, and even Sleepywood simply strolled down the dusty streets for no other reason but to chat with a few friends.

Perhaps it was for these reasons that nobody paid attention when the first creature arrived in Perion. Strange monsters and weird occurrences were uncommon, but not unknown in the world. Occasionally, some random amateur couldn’t help but open a magic summoning bag that sent folks screaming. So nobody was really alarmed on the first day of the end of the world.

“What in the world?” Mr.Wang frowned as a small crowd gathered nearby. Business was brisk as adventurers continually needed his services to store their spare items.

“What?” asked Benjen. He retrieved his Rising Axe from the storage rack and turned around to look at what Mr.Wang was talking about.

His Dragonknight friend, Ralstan, was passing the time flirting with a group of young female archers from Henesys. He was used to the attention. Sure, it attracted the occasional beggar and they’ve had to deal with an occasional “You Suck!” from a jealous onlooker, but overall the two reveled in their hard-earned powers of Crusader and Dragonknight. Benjen first knew something was different when the normal buzz of the crowd died down to a soft silence of whispers. He peered toward the Deep Valley portal just down the way and at the peculiar figure that had just appeared through it. Gaunt and disheveled, the figured seemed human, perhaps even a swordsman. It stood there motionless and hunched over. Long black hair hung over its face, obscuring any details. A mysterious-looking black bone helm still protected the head, but it seemed as if the being wearing it was not alive.

Wait a minute, thought Benjen. It…wasn’t alive!

Decayed and desiccated skin hung from the pale grey arms. Several fingertips had been worn away, leaving the bony claws exposed. A zombie! Benjen had faced the zombies of El Nath before, but something was different about this one. Something not quite right. His skin prickled with unfamiliar fear as his instinct’s alarm bells went off within his head.

“Just a zombie!” Ralstan declared as he hefted his Omega Spear. “Someone must have had a little fun with a summoning bag!”

Everyone in the gathered crowd laughed. That is, everyone laughed except Benjen who quietly retrieved his things from Mr.Wang and began slowly backing away cautiously.

“Kill it, Ralstan!” somebody in the crowd called out. “Yeah! Kill it!” Everyone started getting into the spirit of things.

“Yeah! Get rid of it!” laughed a young attractive assassin clad in blue. The crowd began to call out for Ralstan to quickly dispatch the creature. Ralstan played the crowd for a moment more before bringing up his spear. He paused a bit. Benjen held his breath. Ralstan was a powerful Dragonknight who didn’t get where he was by being careless. Benjen could see the hesitancy. Ralstan could sense something was amiss yet his ego had effectively trapped him into a corner. His eyes met Benjen, subtlety pleading with a way out. Benjen nodded back as he took the hint.

“Hey, Ralstan!” Benjen called out. “Maybe we should get a firemage to fry that thing, don’t you think?” Ralstan looked back at him, a slight grateful smile on his lips. Leveling his spear at the still motionless figure, the Dragonknight backed off slowly.

“I need some fire wizards here!” he called out.

“Geez, the legendary Dragonknight Ralstan afraid of a freakin zombie?” a wizard dressed in a red chaos robe sauntered up with arrogant bravado. “Listen up and watch as I, the great Shantarera, will quickly and efficiently dispatch the creature!”

Shantarera regarded the motionless monster with a contemptuous smirk as he drew out a fairy wand from the folds of his robe.

“This thing isn’t even dangerous!” The fire wizard poked the zombie in the chest with the tip of his wand to illustrate his point.

Without warning, skeletal hands covered in parchment-thin skin grabbed the startled wizard in a vice-like grip. Putrid teeth chomped down on the arm, tearing off a chunk of flesh. A high pitch scream of pain and terror rose from Shantarera’s throat as his eyes widened as the creature swallowed and feasted with another bite. Benjen rushed forward as the screaming crowd dispersed. Ralstan thrust his spear into the torso of the creature, running it completely through. The zombie dropped the mage’s arm and grabbed Ralstan’s arm, actually hoisting itself up the shaft of the spear that impaled it in order to sink its teeth into his hand. Ralstan swore as bright red blood splurted into the air a moment before Benjen’s axe severed the creature head from its body. The horrid head still lived and gnashed its teeth as it tried in vain to bite something. Another firemage finally stepped forward and incinerated the thing into ash.

Shantarera’s was still screaming as the two warriors rushed to his side.

“It hurts! It hurts!” the mage screamed in animalistic pain. Benjen rushed a white potion of healing to the magician’s mouth. The wound looked terrible. The edges seemed already green and gangrenous with pus oozing from the concentric bites. “My stomach! I can’t stand it!”

Stomach? He’s not even feeling the bites on his arm? Benjen wondered.

“Benjen, he’s getting worse,” Ralstan said. “Try an antidote!” A green tinged bottle was quickly emptied into the screaming mouth.

“I don’t get it,” muttered Benjen. Shantarera coughed up blood and antidote as he doubled over, his free hand clutching his stomach in pain. “Try and stay still! Holy water!” Benjen ordered.

“Forget that! Time to bring out the big guns!” Ralstan’s bleeding hand reached into his pack and pulled out a blue bottle. Benjen nodded in agreement. The medicine in the blue bottle was an all cure potion would knock out any known condition. The liquid quickly disappeared down the mage’s throat as the crowd that had fled the scene a few minutes ago gathered around them in quiet concern. Shantarera suddenly stopped screaming and stood himself up. He stood quietly and hunched over, still clutching his stomach.

Benjen and Ralstan backed away slowly even as the crowd stepped forward in curiosity.

“I can’t stand it anymore! I’M HUNGRY!” the mage looked up with eyes glazed over with death. Teeth flashed as he grabbed the young blue-clad assassin and chewed into her face as he gripped her in horrid lover’s embrace. Two arrows sprouted from the creature’s back and it turned and smiled grotesquely at the archer who fired them. Dropping the twitching body of the young assassin, he leapt with surprising speed onto the hunter and bit into his shoulder.

“Everyone out of the way!” Benjen ordered as he brandished his axe. The body of the assassin was already rising and unless the creature that was once the fire mage Shantarera completely consumed his current meal, Benjen guessed the fallen archer would be next. “Ralsten! You take the Sin and I’ll take Shantarera!” He quickly stopped in his tracks when no response came from his friend. “Ralstan?”

He looked back at the Dragonknight who was looking down at his wounded hand. Blood still dripped from where the zombie had bitten him. Ralstan looked up at him with milky white eyes that stared into space with unblinking death. A hungry look began to form over the Dragonknight’s face that was both animalistic and savage. His strangely elongated and sharpened teeth seem to flash as he came toward Benjen with the leading edge of the Omega Spear aimed for his heart and an outstretched hand reaching for his neck.

“FOOD!”



Chapter 2

Samuel

“You think we’ll find him this time?” Samuel complained as he trudged down the dark tunnels. Ant Tunnel was always full of adventurers battling the variety of horned and undead fungi, but the numbers tended to thin out further down. In the dark depths, many powerful parties went to hunt Jr.Balrog monsters. Biggest trouble was that Jr.Balrogs didn’t exactly breed like rabbits and everyone who could hunt a Jr.Balrog generally was hunting a Jr.Balrog.

“Can you quite complaining? Help us clear a path!” Sharah the Priest ordered. She surrounded herself with green healing magic as the cold eye monsters kept swarming around them.

“Clear a path to what?” Samuel continued sarcastically as he raised his crossbow and shot an iron arrow through a group of 6 cold eyes. “We know it will be an empty cavern or another group complaining to us that they were there first. Do we even know that there are any Jr.Balrogs living down here?”

“Sam, everyone knows they live down here,” Sir Daysun the White Knight said reproachfully.

“Well ‘la de da’, Mr. Know-it-all! You know what they say about folks who believe everything they hear?”

“Stop that right now!” Sharah said sternly.

“That’s not what you were telling me last night, sweetcheeks.”

“You passed out drunk during dinner and we put you in a room by yourself until you woke up!”

“Yeah, whatever reason you need to get through the night, honey.”

“Ugh! I’ll never understand how you joined this group!” Sharah sighed in exasperation.

“Taurospears.”

Samuel leveled his crossbow and peered into the cavern. Quentin, their ice mage, had spoken in his low deep drawl and now stood in front of the Entrance to the Cursed Sanctuary chamber.

“What? I don’t see anything!”

“That is exactly my point. Where are the larger monsters? The Taurospears and the Tauromacis? Even the cold eye creatures seem to be thinned out.”

“Aw crap. It’s obvious isn’t it?” All eyes turned toward Samuel. “There’s someone down here already! Face it folks, we’ve been through a lot to get here, but we’re S.O.L.”

“I vote to go in anyway. We’ve been itching to find a Jr.Balrog for a few weeks now. No harm seeing if there is one still.” Quentin said calmly.

“Yeah, yeah…” Samuel waving his hand in mock indifference. “All right, I vote to go on too. What’s the worst? We go in and get told off by a bunch of people on how they were there first right?”

The group quickly entered the Cursed Sanctuary. They had been here numerous times before on the rumors that Jr.Balrogs spawned in this very cavern. Total silence filled the air was eerie in a forbidding manner. Even for a place that housed one of the most dangerous monsters on the continent, the air seemed thick with death.

“Yo, junior! You down there?” Samuel’s shout echoed in the cavern.

“Geez, will you keep it down?” Sharah hissed. Samuel stepped down from the portal defiantly as to prove his point.

“Why bother? It’s obvious there’s no monster here. Someone’s got this Jr.Balrog before we di….” Samuel’s voice trailed off as the body of a great winged creature came into view. Shreds of meat hung from the giant ribs of the junior Balrog and all the internal organs had been removed. A group of adventurers huddled around the body. One of them looked up at the new arrivals. Decayed shredded skin hung off the dead warrior’s cheek exposing bloodied teeth that still gnawed on a giant femur. A black bone helm capped the creature’s head giving it an even more demonic appearance. Skeletal clawed hands grabbed a black-bladed Doombringer sword as a guttural voice croaked to the others. One by one, they all stood up and regarded Samuel’s group. Horrible wounds, decay, and desiccated skin were all over them as well as the junior Balrog’s blood that stained their mouths and clawed fingers. Samuel was right. Somebody got the junior Balrog before they did. He was also wrong when he said there were no monsters left.

“MEAT!!!” the zombies rushed forward as Sharah screamed.


Chapter 3

Kimber

“Stupid, fricken, dumb, idiot…” Kimber thought of a few other phrases as she eyed the laser emitter mounted on the wall. Two other beams of light above her flashed as she continued to count and curse under her breath. It had seemed like she had been doing this for days. For the fortieth time she held dark thoughts of what she should have told Shumi when she asked her to find her lost bag of money. For the forty-first time, she thought up a new anatomical part she wished she could have told Shumi where to stick her bag of money rather than bother her with this assignment.

“3….2….1….Now!” she yelled and shimmied up the rope. A burning beam of light narrowly missed her cheek, but she kept climbing. A quick pause saved her from being blasted by a second flash of light, before she hurried up further. Two more missed laser blasts and she managed to press her body down on the next platform. Rolling over, she looked up at the light show of light beams crisscrossing above her.

An emitter suddenly flared to life next to her and she cried out in frustrated surprise as she leaped toward a nearby service ladder.

“Arrgh!” she grunted in pain as the energy beam burned through her light armor and into her shoulder. The force of the blow rocked her back and she almost lost her grip. Gasping loudly, Kimber forced herself to keep climbing as the defensive lasers kept flashing on and off around her. She finally got to the next platform and collapsed onto it. Her face misted with heavy perspiration, with her uninjured hand she grabbed a white healing potion from her pack and casually uncorked it with her teeth before drinking the contents in one gulp.

One more platform and her goal would be reached. Kimber sighed. The healing magic of the potion took the pain away from the injured shoulder. She wanted to go home, get something to eat, and order some decent pizza somewhere. Instead, she’s been stuck all alone in this hell hole wasting her time because the famous Shumi of Kerning City lost her money. Kimber groaned at the memory. If she hadn’t been so hard up on mesos coins, she would have never even spoken to such a stuck up tramp! It was just too frustrating. Kimber had been up this way over twenty times and for over twenty times it was either a misjudged jump to the next platform, some magical ball that came flying out of nowhere, or an errant beam of energy that sent her plummeting to the hard floor to start all over. It was the kind of task that had driven more than one adventurer completely out of their mind. Kimber did not want to be one of those folks.

“3…2…1…Now!” she breathed as she stood up and leapt athletically to the next rope. It had taken her a few falls, countless burns, and a few white healing potions to figure out the sequences of the lasers and she couldn’t wait to finally get to the end. Another dodge and her hands grabbed hold of the missing money bag. Exhausted, Kimber hoisted herself up to the money platform and gazed down at the height that she had climbed.

“Finally!” she called out. She looked at the bag in her hands. It was a small leather purse: small, barely functional, borderline cute. Much like Shumi, come to think of it, Kimber thought. “Shumi, I hope you never bother me again!” She summoned the recall spell that would send her back to the beginning.

Silence greeted her as the subway entrance came into view.

“W-what?” Kimber gasped. Garbage and loose paper flew around blown by an errant wind. The subway ticket worker and the conductor to New Leaf City were nowhere in sight. Most surprising of all, the subway tunnel to New Leaf City was completely collapsed. Huge blocks of rubble were piled as if some giant earthquake had knocked them loose from the ceiling. The only other ominous sign was dried blood staining the stairs. Another spot of crimson was splashed on the wall of the stairs that went up to the street. Icicle throwing spikes appeared in Kimber’s hands as she slowly made her way up. Bright sunlight shown down on the city streets, but only silence greeted her. Kerning City was empty.

How long was I down there? Kimber wondered. What happened? She walked around the subway entrance and gagged at the huge bloodstain that lay where Shumi usually hung out. Bone and bits of flesh still covered the sidewalk. A red baseball cap adorned with little pink hearts lay in the pool of blood with large claw marks ripped in the fabric.

The hand that held the Icicle throwing spike shook with fear as she looked around her.

“Pull yourself together!” she chided herself. A whispered word of mystic power and she faded from view as her Dark Sight power cloaked her from sight. Like a specter, she walked down the silent streets of Kerning City marveling in horror at the sight. Occasionally she came across some evidence of a brutal end to some of the citizenry. Lakelis’s bloodstained staff lay abandoned near the sewers. JM’s discarded blue jogging suit had deep cuts. Even the Merchants were gone, their merchandise strewn about in their abandoned stores. Kimber helped herself to some remaining potion bottles and replenished her throwing stars.

She stepped out of the store and surveyed the empty street. Was there nobody left? A soft rumble came from the Kerning City taxi. Someone had turned the engine on, yet apparently was not able to use it to get away. Kimber went up to the running car and tried to see if anyone had been in it. It was empty. She was truly alone.

There remained one place she had not checked yet. She stepped over broken glass and avoided the occasional bloody remains of some unfortunate as she made her way to Fusion Bar bathroom where her teacher, the Dark Lord resided. She had not been down here since he made her an assassin those many months ago. Even then, his presence made her shiver with unconscious fear.

Fluorescent lights flickered softly as she climbed down. It seemed almost a forgotten memory where the streets of Kerning bustled with activity and legions of disciples of the Dark Lord lined up at the door with hopes of obtaining the power of the legendary Hermits and Chief Bandits. There in the corner, still hanging upside-down, the eyes of her teacher looked at her.

“Hmmm. You’re Kimber, aren’t you?” he said in a soft and rough voice. Kimber nodded as she stepped forward and bowed with respect.

“Dark Lord, what has happened here? What happened to Kerning City?” The Dark Lord suddenly unfurled the cloak that he usually kept wrapped around his body and stepped down onto his feet.

“I’m afraid my dear disciple, it’s the end of the world.”


Chapter 4

Serena

The Dark Guiltian covered Octogarn’s face from the sun as he relaxed in the shade of the great trees. His right lapel still had some pizza sauce on it, but the sun was warm as was the tankard of grape juice that lay by his side. Suddenly a shadow appeared over him.

A shadow that wouldn’t move.

A shadow that apparently was tapping its foot in agitation.
Only one person could be this annoying on an otherwise perfect day, he thought.

“Yes, Serena?” he asked sleepily without even lifting up his Guiltian. Serena reached over and pulled off his hat and shoved it into his lap. Octogarn blinked in irritation as he looked up.

“I thought we were going to the Forest of Golems today to train,” she spoke a little haughtily with her arms crossed and her arc staff brandished. The exact mirror of Octogarn, she was everything he was not. Her clean and pressed Dark Calaf was the latest in style, while he was still wearing rumpled off the rack blue Chaos robes from when he first learned his fire arrow spells. She kept the shining jewel in her Flame Golden Circlet polished, her long blond hair neatly styled, and her Thorns staff ensorcelled with several scrolls of power. Octogarn used his battered Guiltian as a pillow at night, his robes were always wrinkled and usually stained with his last meal, and his Arc Staff should have been replaced years ago. There was even a decent Evil Wings that they saw together at the Free Market, but he had declined buying it saying his magic was “just for fun” anyway.

“I’m kind of tired of Golems,” he yawned. “You want to take a trip to Florina? Take a load off? Stretch your toes in the sand? We can grab a few crabs for dinner at night and have a campfire by the beach.”

“Why don’t you ever care about training?” she asked.

“Not particularly.” She sighed and pulled out her own relaxer to sit next to him under the shade. Serena could never really be mad at him. He was her best friend. She was more mad at the fact that he never took anything seriously, yet he was well above her in power and frankly, happier. She didn’t know whether to admire, pity, or envy him. “Grape juice?” he offered.

“No. I just wanted to learn a little more magic today.”

“You got to live a little, Serena. Life was meant to be lived, not to master magic.” Serena looked at him like he was nuts.

“My Thunderbolts are coming up in power! I’m sure a bit more practice with the golems will help me refine the spell!”

“I swear, why I didn’t become best friends with a nice quiet priest is beyond me,” he laughed.

“Is that a sexist joke?” she asked with a challenge in her voice. “I should be nice, quiet, cute, and ready to heal and bless just because I’m a girl? I’ll have you know that I fully intend to kick your butt in magic one day!”

“And what makes you think I’ll even care if you do?”

Serena glared at him, but bit her lip. Octogarn was right. He was a fairly powerful fire wizard and while he seemed a flake, Serena knew him to be extremely proficient. It’s just that he’s never found himself in anything that he really cared enough to show his full abilities.

A sudden shimmer in the air above was the only warning they had before a score of people appeared. Folks who traveled by scrolls were not uncommon, but Serena had never seen so many suddenly appearing. She looked over the trees of Ellinia and everywhere the scene was widespread. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of folks were appearing throughout the tree city. Even more remarkably, they started rushing toward the Airships to Ossyria.

“What’s going on?” Octogarn asked a panicked-looking warrior.

“We got to get out of here! They’re killing everyone!” the warrior’s eyes were crazed with fear as he wrenched his arm out of Octogarn’s grip and fled toward Sixtopia station.

“What was that about?” Octogarn muttered.

“Oh my God! He’s infected!” a shrill scream rang through the air from below followed by a great chorus of horror as hundreds of voices joined in. Serena and Octogarn looked down below from their ledge. Below, a crowd was fleeing away from an injured apprentice mage. His brown training shirt lay in tatters about him and chunks of his flesh bled freely.

“We got to help him!” Serena cried as she put one foot over the vine to lower herself down.

“No!” Octogarn yelled, but it was too late as she began to climb down. The vine shook as she climbed down alerting the apprentice that help was on its way. It was only as she neared the bottom that she looked down at the mouth full of sharp teeth opened wide, a mere moments away from her dangling legs. The apprentice eyes were black and dead, but gazed up at her with a ravenous hunger.

“Oh no.”


Chapter 5

Benjen

The blade of his Rising Axe clashed with the Omega spear as Benjen wrestled with the creature that was once the great Dragonknight, Ralstan.

“BENJEN! IT HURTS SO BAD! I NEED TO EAT!” Ralstan roared with gnashing teeth, inches away from Benjen’s nose.

Benjen didn’t know what terrified him more: The fact that this thing was trying to eat him or the fact that it still knew him.

The multitudes of people around Benjen began to wink out of sight as they fled using magical traveling scrolls. A few made a run for the Perion Street Corner exit. Axe stumps and snails far more preferable than ravenous plague zombies.

His rage power lent him extra strength and he managed to throw off Ralstan. Benjen turned and ran, already noting he was hopelessly outnumbered. The other zombies had already recruited around 20 more victims and they were spreading throughout the streets of Perion.
“Crusader! Over here!” a dark figure called out. Benjen leaped over another zombie who was too involved feasting on poor Mr.Wang to notice and ran toward the figure. As he clambered up the stairs, he saw it was Arturo, the medicine man of the Perion items shop. A group had begun barricading themselves in the items shop as fleeing people ran around looking for safety. Occasionally a zombie appeared and was promptly destroyed with a barrage of magic, arrows, and throwing stars launched from the hidden defenders inside the store. Benjen was quickly let into the store and found himself staring at a group of nearly 100 frightened people huddled in the crowded store. Most of them were beginning adventurers and holding weapons hardly more dangerous than a fish spear. A few mages, archers, and maybe a dozen Sins completed the group as screams of horror continued outside. Benjen grimly peaked out the barred window cracks as the screams gradually began to die down. Gutteral and primal roars were heard as well as the unmistakable sound of some animal eating something. Bones cracked and monstrous voices groaned with pleasure as they munched on their meals. People broke into tears from fear and horror and more than one person had to be restrained as panic started to set in.

“BENJEN!” yelled a sinister, yet familiar voice.

“I think they just figured out there’s more things in here to eat,” muttered Arturo. He rushed around his counter and started pulling everything he could find out. A trunk was unlocked and hundreds of green-tinged scrolls were hastily dumped on the floor. “Travel scrolls to Ellinia!” he announced. “Everyone take one and let’s get out of here!”

“BENJEN!” Ralstan the zombie had appeared in Benjen’s sight as he moved into his view. The left half of Ralstan’s face was gone. Only a hideous and featureless skull remained. A half-eaten hand still gripped an Omega Spear and it was pointed right at the door of the store. Behind him, hundreds of zombies began to gather. “YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ME, OLD FRIEND! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME QUENCH MY HUNGER! I NEED YOUR FLESH!”

Benjen quickly scooped up an Ellinia scroll off the floor even as people in the store began winking out of sight as the magical traveling scrolls whisked them away to safety. He looked sadly at the monster that had been his friend.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered sadly. He turned to see Arturo arguing with Sophia.

“Sophia, you have to go with the others!” Arturo kept shoving a travel scroll into the young woman’s hands, but she kept pushing it back at him.

“I’m not going until you come with me!”

“I’ll be there! I’m just making sure everyone else gets out first!” Benjen sighed as he turned to spy on what the zombies were doing outside.

“Oh my Go…” Benjen’s eyes widened as he noticed glowing fields of magical power from the zombie horde. Whatever disease had turned them into monsters; it had apparently left their powers very much intact. In addition, they had a fully powered Dragonknight with them….

”EVERYONE DOWN NOW!!!!” he yelled as the full force of a Dragon Roar’s sonic energy blew the barricaded door to splinters. Howls of glee rose up from the dust-filled air and shambling feet sprinted toward the shop.

“Get out of my store!” yelled Arturo as he swung his staff at the first zombie that stepped through. The cudgel crushed the skull with a satisfying thunk, but the creature continued, flailing blindly as it managed to grab Arturo’s right arm. “We’re closed!” he screamed. Then he cried out in pain as another arm of scarred flesh grabbed him. Three other zombies closed in on him with sharp teeth. “Sophia! Get out of here!!!” he screamed as more and more came through the door for new prey. Spying the frightened Sophia, they closed in on her.

“Get out of here!” Benjen yelled at her. Rage filled his vision as his Crusader powers filled his muscles with mystic energy beyond his normal range. Two swipes with the Rising Axe and he had severed the two creatures closest to them in half. The rest of the mob began surging forward. He cut down the first, then another, a quick slashblast knocked back 4 of them, but the creatures kept coming.

Sobbing and too scared to even scream, Sophia unrolled the travel scroll and quickly vanished.

“She’s safe,” breathed Arturo in a faint voice. Then his eyes rolled back and he was still. But it was only for a moment as eyes already pooling with blood that no longer flowed in living arteries flew open and stared at the now vanished Sophia in hunger. “I’LL JUST HAVE TO FIND YOU LATER…” the zombie that was once Arturo roared. With large pieces of his neck ripped out, the former proprietor of the Perion items shop used his hands to turn his head to face Benjen. Benjen stared in silence as Arturo opened his mouth and came at him. “TELL SOPHIA, I’LL SEE HER SOON….”

“I’ll tell her you were a good man and you’re resting in peace!” a power strike with all his fury behind it quickly ripped into the side of the monster and the zombie that was once Arturo went down. Benjen gave the head a few more strikes for good measure before pulling out his travel scroll and disappearing as the rest of the monster surged in.

Chapter 6

Samuel

A thunderous blast of an Iron Arrow blew through the creature as it came at the group. A great hole appeared in the head of the attacking zombie. For a moment, the body kept upright. Then it toppled over. The other zombies rose up from the remains of the Jr.Balrog, wiping off meat and gore from what was left of their lips.

“Nobody! And I mean Nobody touches me!” Samuel called out. “Of course if you’re hot, we’ll be sure to talk.”

He paused as he regarded a red-haired priestess with only a mild bite on her neck, but dead eyes, a blood stained mouth, and an expression every bit as murderous as the monsters around her.

“Maybe you, if I was REALLY drunk….”

“Cut that out!” Sharah said sternly. She turned to face the zombies who had paused in their feeding for the moment. “What happened?”

“We had to feed!” the zombie priestess said in a hissing voice. Samuel looked at the body of the Jr.Balrog with disgust.

“Did it taste like chicken?”

“I said, knock it off!” Sharah hit the back of his head with her wand. “Why did you have to feed?”

“It was the hunger…” the priestess voice trailed off as she gazed greedily at the group. The other zombies started rising and taking a few steps forward.

“Try to talk to me!” said Sharah firmly. The zombies paused. Samuel could see the struggle in their eyes as they fought some terrible instinct.

“We have just fed, so it’s not as bad right now.” The zombie priestess motioned toward zombie warrior that Sam had killed. “LeBrajon found the black bone helm on our way down here. He tried it on and then started to change. We all tried to remove it, but he kept changing. Then he kept biting. Then we all wanted to bite and to feed.”

“What this thing?” Samuel reached down at the zombie whose head he just perforated and picked up the black bone helm.

“This sounds like a cursed item,” Sir Daysun muttered.

“I don’t know. A few flowers and it could make a decent planter in the kitchen,” Samuel remarked.

“Will you let us try to help you?” asked Sharah kindly. She cautiously held out her hand. The zombie priestess reached out with dead tears forming in her eyes. A grateful smile almost seemed to touch the face that had not yet showed too much decomposition.

“The feeding keeps the hunger at bay,” agreed the priestess as she stepped forward. “BUT ONLY FOR A MOMENT!”

Sharah screamed as priestess opened a maw of teeth bloodied from balrog meat. Before she could bite, Sir Daysun swung his sword. The crimson blade of the Red Katana was swift and true and the zombie priestess’s head fell to the floor still gnashing its teeth in frustration.
The other zombie rushed forward though and the group started dispatching them left and right.

“Healing doesn’t seem to hurt them!” Sharah screamed. Green healing light surround them all, but unlike the undead corpses of El Nath, these zombies seemed completely unaffected. Out of desperation, magic claws crisscrossed deep cuts into the zombie as Sharah desperately tried to kill the thing before it got too close.

“Do it the old fashion way!” Sir Daysun grunted as his Red Katana swung again and again even as Sharah screamed. Most of the blows merely tore flesh from the zombies, but didn’t do anything else to slow them down as they bore down on him with sheer numbers.
Another zombie grabbed Quentin as he used his thunderbolts to electrocute the area around him. The zombie twitched, spasmed, and was finally still.

“I have a feeling its going to have to be the head!” Samuel cried. A near-skeletal figure rushed toward him wearing only a Dark Maro and a Napolean Cape. Tattered remains of an archer’s outfit lay in shreds as did the flesh that still hung from the skeletal ribs. A shining bolt of a charged Arrow Blow splintered the skull and the monster fell to the ground. “I think that’s all of them!” he yelled triumphantly as he turned toward his group.

Sharah, Quentin, and Daysun looked back at him with blank eyes, each clutching mild bite wounds on their arms, legs, and shoulders. Sharah and Quentin each had terrible bite wounds that had ripped out the side of their necks and Daysun weakly held up his shield arm, chewed off at the elbow.

Sharah smiled exposing her teeth in a frighteningly hungry expression.

Samuel began to back away slowly while raising his crossbow.

“Oh crap.”

Chapter 7

Kimber

Kimber felt cold all of a sudden and she knew it wasn’t just the temperature. The Dark Lord looked at her with a mixture of keen interest and compassion.

“What do you mean it’s the end of the world? What happened to the city? Where are all the people?”

“The city was invaded by zombies. As for the people? They were eaten.”

Kimber’s jaw dropped. Out of all the possibilities that floated through her imagination, man-eating zombies was not high on her list.

“I must admit, I find it amazing that you have survived. Many people far above you in terms of raw power fell before the hordes. Priests, Crusaders, Chief Bandits…it didn’t matter. Sooner or later, they were all eaten or turned. How were you able to escape?”

“Escape?” she whispered. Her head seemed so light and the world seemed to have gone mad. Her voice started rising in fear and frustration. “I don’t know anything. I was down below for the last day or two getting hit by traps and lasers. I was climbing and falling and climbing again. All I was trying to do was find this stupid bag of money!”

“Calm down. You must escape from here. This place is not safe.”

“But what HAPPENED?” she said as she fought back tears.

“I don’t know. Some folks had entered the sewers on a quest for a rumored magical item of incredible rarity. I don’t know what happened to them, but when they came out they had changed. They were all dead, yet not dead. They were infected with some magic beyond my understanding. One bite, one nick. That’s all it took to start changing people. For every one we cut down, his friends made 5 more. I tried to contact Grendel of Ellinia as he knew more of magic than I, but no response ever came.

We tried to fight. I gathered everyone I could find. The Thieves of Kerning, Mages from Ellinia, Fighters from Perion. It didn’t matter. One by one we were picked off and then when there was nobody left to fight, the feeding began. There was nothing left I could do, so I came down here to wait it out.”

Kimber looked at her teacher’s face mask that hid every feature except his eyes. No one had ever seen the Dark Lord’s face. Kimber certainly never really took a good look herself, but her instincts kept telling her something was amiss.

“You mean…they ate every...?" Kimber wasn't even sure she could go on, but she forced herself to continue. “Master, I must know. How is it that you survived?”

“I didn’t.”

Kimber’s eyes widened in shock as the Dark Lord pulled off his mask. Whatever his face may have been had been eaten away. A skull’s permanent grin was all that was left of the Dark Lord below his eyes. Kimber reflexively brought out her icicle throwing spikes and backed away. The bathroom was too small of an area to move around, she realized. If the Dark Lord wanted to feed off her, there was no way she could make the exit before he got her.

“Please. I’m still myself. At least for now.”

“W-what?” stammered Kimber. “You mean you’re not going to try to eat me?”

“I was…um…not quite fully alive even before I was infected. You may have noticed that I could never go out into the sunlight and hanging upside down all the time did not mean I was a big into gravity boots,” he replied a little matter-of-factly. So it was true then. There were always rumors that said that the Dark Lord had a little vampirism in him. “My special nature enabled me to resist the hunger, at least for a while longer. I can still feel it though. It’s like a pain that keeps growing. A pain that you know can only be stopped if you can taste flesh…”

“So what can I do?”

“Nothing. I am finished. If you stay here much longer I won’t be able to help myself. You are in danger the longer you stay here. When I finally am no longer able to resist the hunger, I plan to walk out into the city streets one last time to see the sun. There is no way I will be one of them. I’ve forgotten how beautiful the sun was…” he drifted off. He had no lips left to do so, but Kimber could almost see him smiling as he was lost in his own thoughts. His eyes suddenly moved toward her. “I have something for you though. Look into the chest by the door.”

Kimber spied the old chest and opened it. Shining Ilbi stars, keen Steely spikes, and various potions lay within.

“As you are the only one left, these are yours. I have taught thieves for longer than I remember. You are to be my last student. I hope you use my final gift well by using them to keep alive. Escape from here and find a place of sanctuary.”

Kimber gathered the Ilbi and Steelies into the secret pockets in her vest. The potions and scrolls she left in the chest as she closed the lid and picked it up. She began climbing up the stairs and took one look back.

“Tell me, is the sun shining bright today?” The Dark Lord asked. He looked noble even at the end. A lone skeletal guardian in a dead city.

“It is. It’s a beautiful day,” whispered Kimber sadly. She climbed up and left leaving the Dark Lord once more to himself.

“I can’t wait to see it.”


Chapter 8

Serena

Oh crap, I’ve really stepped into it this time haven’t I?

Serena’s thoughts tended to be a little self deprecation even at the sight of her foot, inches away from a zombies’ maggot-filled mouth. The hungry snapping jaws of the monster came ever closer as she continued to dangle helplessly at the end of the climbing vine. Suddenly, a flame arrow shot down from above and engulfed the head in flame. The jaws tried desperately to clamp down on Serena’s leg even as it was moments from being burned to ash. Serena quickly kicked at the burning skull and it broke apart into fine powder.

“I cannot BELIEVE you didn’t even wait!” Octogarn yelled as he lowered himself down. Serena was a little taken aback at how angry he sounded. No, she realized. Not angry. He’s scared. Scared for me? But, I…we’re just….She barely could sort through the rush of confusing thoughts before he took her up in a big bear hug.

Ooookkkaaayy….I hope this isn’t going to be too awkward, she thought as she clumsily patted his back.

“Are you all right though?”

”I’m fine! Let go of me!” she ordered. He released her looking a little embarrassed.

We’re just friends. He may feel differently underneath, but we’re just friends. She quickly shook herself out of her musings as more and more people began to flood into Ellinia. “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”

“Probably has something to do with this,” Octogarn reasoned. The lazy tone in his voice was gone and he sounded serious as he examined the still-smoking headless remains of the zombie. “This was not your normal zombie. It was much too quick and I could see it in its eyes. It was aware. It wanted to get you.”

“If it’s a zombie, then it has to do with magic. Anything to do with magic, Grendel would know about it.”

“Agreed. I think we better do it soon. If one zombie came here using a traveling scroll, I imagine others will too.” Serena looked at the ever growing crowd lined up at Sixtopia station. The various docked airships, so used to following their set schedules, were all being hauled out of dry dock and loaded up. “We better do it soon. If those things get into Ellinia, it’s going to be a smorgasbord with all these people here.”

The two ran across the platforms and shimmied up the vines to get to the palace of Grendel the Really Old. A group of Mages were already present. Serena recognized some of them as wielding far more power than either Octogarn or herself.

“Are you all here to see Grendel?” Octogarn asked.

“Supposedly, but Grendel the really decrepit isn’t letting us come in,” complained one Mage.

“I don’t get it!” exclaimed another. “There have been rumors that the zombies of El Nath were caused by some magical accident that Grendel knows about. Surely, he would know more about what’s going on here than anyone else!”

“You know that some folks even say the mess in El Nath was caused by one of Grendel’s magical experiments that he screwed up years ago.”

“You heard about that too? I heard one reason he’s so helpful on our quests is for us to find long lost books of power to fix that screw up.”

“Well, I don’t know about you folks, but I’m not waiting for him to come out. They say Perion and Kerning City are ghost towns full of walking dead and Henesys and Lith Harbor are evacuating. I saw them at Sleepywood crawling out of the Ant Tunnel and I tell you for every one I got with my ice magic, 5 more were popping out of the woodwork!”

“We can’t beat them then?” Serena asked.

“Sure we can beat them! Aim for the head. That seems to be the best way to stop them. Healing magic doesn’t seem to affect them so Priests should stick with their Magic Claws or Holy Arrow spells. But beating them isn’t the point. How many of us have every hunted and not received even a single nick?” Serena shifted uncomfortably remembering even the small snail the other day that nipped her ankle. The mage nodded knowingly as he continued. “One little bite and you’re finished. My friend got bitten and nothing he used could stop the change, poor bastard.”

“We might also be optimistic about beating them too,” the first Mage noted. “There was an infected DragonKnight in Perion I saw. He had full use of his powers even as a zombie. Can any of you imagined what any one of us could do if we were infected?”

Without warning, the door to Grendel’s domain opened.
Dressed in white robes and floating several feet above the air, Grendel the old motioned for the group of Mages to come in.

Serena and Octogarn stepped curiously into the house. They had not been there since Octogarn was elevated to Wizard status. Serena also remembered that day as the first day she swore she’d be more powerful one day.

“Master Grendel!” Octogarn called out as the white robed master floated above to his standard seat. “Haven’t you noticed the zombies that are overrunning all of Victoria?”

“Yes,” nodded Grendel the Old wisely. Then his dark eyes seemed to flash with excited glee. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”