─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Morning arrived, but no one could tell. Dense, dark clouds that had formed overnight masked the sun, casting shadows over the forests. The sun looked black through the filter of the clouds. Breakfast was a hot, stinky pot of perpetual stew. Over breakfast, the doctor hinted that the two arriving Seekers weren't the only ruckus from the day prior. He refused to specify the details until the group received further explanation from a proper source.

Over breakfast, Reisha expressed her appreciation toward the doctor heavily. Corvus acted natural, but he was bothered that she didn't show him the same type of gratitude. I was the one who carried your ass here, he thought. It didn't stop him from attempting to enjoy the surprise-flavored meal. The hot, chunky brew tasted different with every bite.

Although they knew their way around their home village just fine, the doctor insisted on guiding the Seekers to the Village Hall. He also wanted to give his account of last night's story. The group intended to speak with the village's headkeeper. The headkeeper was in charge of the well-being of all the village members and the village's armed forces.

The village was named Rendroven, and a broad stream surrounded it on three sides. There was only one entrance, and it faced a winding path that led into the forest. The forest stretched for hundreds of miles in both length and width. In the center of these woods was a great bog. There were villages scattered on the other side of the forest from Rendroven, and their numbers increased as they approached the Kingdom. 

Rendroven, however, was ruled by no kingdom. The King would never dare send his forces past the forest. Beasts lurk in the woodland, some from beyond our natural animal kingdom. The world of Gondonlan was once a place like any other, but it took a turn for the worse when people discovered relics left by great ancestors or from beings beyond the skies. Who exactly left them is unknown, but what is known is that they weren't of human origin.

Some relics littered throughout Gondonlan have been disturbed over time. The discovery of magic was made possible through relics, but they have caused more harm than good to the planet. They have brought forth beasts from other dimensions and have caused paranormal things to occur. Once, members from a distant village brought home a relic for investigation. When it was tampered with, it cast a curse that rained magma down on the village from the skies. Magma still rains over that area today.

Rendroven was founded on the premise of freedom, away from the King's jurisdiction. Outcasts of the Kingdom crossed the woods and the bog to form a city in a clearing at a river's bend. The village grew as time advanced. It became known as the city for outcasts - even within the Kingdom's barriers. However, the King did nothing to purge this gathering as he wished not to risk his forces crossing the cursed forest.

As the doctor led them down a worn path in the heart of Rendroven, the Seekers discovered their demolished headquarters. The cabin's exterior walls were torn open, deep scratches marked the sides of the building, and parts of the roof had been ripped away. Much of the cabin was scorched, probably not from the beast but from a return fight.

"No! No! What happened to the quarters?" Corvus jogged past his guidance and fell to his knees before the wreckage. 

He was crying silently but made sure no one would know. He stiffened when he felt Reisha grab his shoulder. She, too, had a look of inexplicable loss. Worry struck her face as the same thought passed through Corvus' mind. Did they all die?

"Two perished," Sangoda finished the thought. "The rest survived, but three were also badly injured. Hergalvath blew a hole through the beast, and it took off licking its wounds."

"There are only eight seekers..." Corvus said softly.

That meant only six gathered in the cabin at the time of the attack. Hergalvath was the village's only wizard. The rest of the Seekers were just swordsmen, all caught by surprise. The village healer had his hands full.

After a moment of silence, they continued toward the Village Hall. The building was large, tall, and rounded but only had one entrance. Many windows were open, bringing grey light from the filtered sunshine into the room. It had a domed roof, and unlike most other cabins, a natural draft flowed through the main room, which swirled up to meet the top of the ceiling. They made their way into a room towards the back of the structure.

"Ahh, Corvus." A familiar face greeted the Seeker.

Darven, the headkeeper, was a stout man with a mustache. He was big-bellied, often smelling of sweat and cheese. He was a hard man for Corvus to take seriously, but this was not a time to take lightly. The Seekers present in the room wanted answers. Darven was quick to explain.

"Sit," he said softly.

Two chairs were in front of him, and he stood behind an oak desk. The doctor left the room to grab another chair from elsewhere. In the meantime, Reisha and Corvus sat in front of the headkeeper. As soon as the doc returned, they got the rundown.

"I'm sure you saw the wreckage on the way. That happened yesterday from a savage bear. The guardsmen couldn't tag her. She's not an ordinary exotic beast, either. She's been blackened," Darven explained.

"That's impossible," Reisha nearly interrupted. "The blackened kills animals. No beast can be infected without dying."

"It would align with what you told me, Reisha. That the undying can wield blackened power. Now, the beasts can too. It would make sense," Dr. Sangoda added.

"The undead are wielding power? And that's what you think happened here with this bear? Instead of being just infected, they are now wielding the power? Becoming more in control?" the headkeeper asked.

"It seems to be that way, sir," Reisha confirmed.

"What was the beast like?" Corvus asked.

"We're calling it a surgebear because we don't know what to call it. It's an infected bear, but the infection has turned it more intelligent. We think it was dead before its blackening because it has rotting flesh. It strategizes attacks and seems to target specific people. The infection has also made it larger and stronger than the average bear. Scouts are additionally reporting bipedal infected wolves in the forest. The disease seems to be mutating them. Instead of werebear or werewolves, we use the forename 'surge.' The 'were' wouldn't make sense because they aren't half man, but are demonic."

"The Dark Surge caused all this?" the doctor asked.

"We believe so. Since days after the Dark Surge disappeared, the blackened has only grown more potent. A week after the Surge, a scout ran into our first undead. That was only a few days after the skies became normal again. Now, we see undead beasts of the forest affected by the blackened. And is the Surge back again? Who knows?"

"Tell him what you think it is," Corvus eyed the doctor and motioned toward the headkeeper.

"The wizard needs to hear this too," Sangoda advised before continuing.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Hergalvath pulled up a chair. The party was now in a larger room within the Village Hall. The skinny wizard stroked his long, thin beard nervously. The last time he was in a gathering, he had to jump to action and save the day unexpectedly. His nerves were still uneasy. Surely, the wizard had an explanation for why the sun didn't rise, the rest of the group thought.

"I believe a Vampire Lord has arisen," the witch doctor suggested. "There are many signs. The Dark Surge, which blackened the skies, was him entering Gondonlan. He must've summoned a portal from another dimension, or someone used a relic to bring him here. My theory is that he is awakening the dead, and now it seems he has the power to awaken dead beasts. His strength grows throughout the beasts, and his radius of power extends."

"That... is an interesting theory," the wizard said. He stood up to add more. "And it is probably true, considering tonight marks the 75th day since the Surge. This marks the second blood moon of the year. His coming was premeditated. It takes a vampiric being a blood moon cycle to increase their power under certain rituals. He can only open a portal to his dimension on those days."

"Where did this information come from? Why did it take us so long to draw these conclusions? Couldn't we have predicted these things if we knew we were dealing with a vampire?" the headkeeper asked.

"The last known vampire roamed the lands 2500 years ago. It took the joint effort of many kingdoms to extinguish him," Hergalvath said. "It would be difficult to draw such conclusions in today's era, especially given the lack of recorded information."

"I thought of this just a few days before the incident with the beast. I thought it was farfetched, but once I heard of the undead wielding blackened power, that confirmed it for me," the doctor advised. "I used to be a heavy reader before getting involved in the arts of medicine. I recall reading about a portal from the skies opening and their ability to summon forces through portals."

"We may be dealing with a different kind of vampire now. That vampire from history summoned physical beings through his portals. They were vampiric humanoids who drank the blood of man. These vampire minions could only go to the end of a certain point as far as the Dark Storm stretched. We called our version of that the Dark Surge..." the wizard wandered off in thought. It all made sense now to all of them. History was repeating itself but in a slightly different way.

"So, this vampire cannot summon physical beings from his dimension. It seems his minions have no physical form, so they must inhabit something dead. They're not strong enough to infect someone living and take over the body. Well, yet..." Corvus added.

They all frowned at his logic of possibility. Since the last blood moon, the Blackened have become more powerful, and there are now undead beasts. It also appears that the Dark Surge has returned. There was no telling what could happen before the next blood moon. If the undead hordes didn't get them, the undead beasts could. The actual vampire was the last thing on their mind, at least for now. They needed a plan to defend the city from his hordes.

"We need to convene with the Seekers," Reisha said.

"Agreed, but not tonight. They just got ambushed. Tonight, we should be with our families and rest. Go home with Corvus, but stock up first at the bladesmith. And have Corv rebandage your shoulder; that doesn't look good," Darven suggested. Then, he pulled open a desk drawer and dropped a bag of coins on the table. "Here. For your discoveries."

The doctor took his leave, and the married couple went to the smith's store. Sangoda had kindly offered to take their horse left at his cottage to the nearest stable for them. If one didn't know Corvus and Reisha personally, they wouldn't say they were married. They didn't give each other nicknames or hold hands in public. They met as hardened adventurers, and they would keep going as such.

They entered the sword and armor shop, run by the bladesmith's son. His son, Romulus, forged the armor for the shop. Mounted steel weapons filled the cabin's walls. Corvus and Reisha split paths as Corvus took an interest in the cudgels and Reisha the armor behind the seller's bench. After feeling the weight of a few items, they purchased what was necessary, which to them was almost all their new earnings in gear. Reisha saved some coins to visit the archer shop next door.

Romulus also ran the archery store. His mother shaped the wood, and his father tipped the arrows. The family dog had followed the pair of Seekers from store to store. As battle-hardened as the two were, they spoiled the mutt with pets in between their task of shopping. Some decorative clothing was also available. Reisha purchased a red robe with golden trim to wear over her new light armor set. She also bought a new longbow, arrows, and a back quiver decorated similarly to the robe. Corvus purchased a black heavy armor set and a cudgel with a shield from the steel and armor store.

Next, they visited the tailor to spend some of their prior earnings on new clothes and hit the village market for food. The mutt favored the group and followed them to "help" finish their errands. Romulus didn't mind and made no effort to stop the pup. They noticed the empty paths between the food stands when they approached the market. The attack the day before scared the village's citizens, who stayed indoors. Some stands were closed.

After stocking up on food and supplies, they retired to their home cottage at a far back corner of the fenced-in village. Dr. Sangoda's lived just a few acres away from them. Rows of sturdy tree stumps treated to withstand extreme weather conditions encircled the village. The 25-foot-tall fence was seen during the daylight from their cottage but not during the ongoing night that the Surge brought.

They immediately sunk into the warm atmosphere once they broke the barrier of their home's ambiance. A small fire was burning in the hearth, and a steaming cauldron warmed the air above it. Corvus made his way to the pot and took out a knife to start chopping a stick of meat he had bought from the market. Reisha called out for their daughter.

"Aleveah! Aleveah, where are you? I need you to bandage me while your father prepares supper."

On cue, their nineteen-year-old daughter sprinted out of a room and squeezed her mother tightly. Reisha hissed in pain, but quietly enough so that her daughter would not take offense. When Aleveah pulled back, she only gave her father a nod before returning attention to her mom. She glanced over her mother's wound.

"What happened to you, ma? You're bleeding through. We best get you patched up again. Come on."

"Just an arrow's scratch, my dear. Nothing a wash and a new cloth can't handle," Reisha replied while being led into a distant room.

Corvus continued chopping ingredients, dropping them into the stew. Now, he had moved on to slicing some sweetroot when suddenly he heard the dog scramble up to its feet and bark a few times. Finally, the mutt ran out the front door, left slightly ajar for the occasion. However, Corvus hadn't expected his temporary companion to leave so abruptly. He heard the dog's whine as it ran away in the distance back towards the center of the village.

Slightly concerned, Corvus walked to the entry door and pushed it open to observe outside. It was pitch black as the natural light had fallen again, making the darkened skies even darker. He heard a commotion in the distance, and the dog's whine got fiercer. Then, it abruptly broke into a high-pitched yelp. Before the yelp, it sounded like something scurried after the dog and caught it.

Corvus quickly grabbed an unlit torch mounted to the exterior side of the doorway. He ran inside to light it with the fire from under the cauldron and returned to the scene. A part of him thought it was unwise to flash a sudden light outside, but he fought through the feeling as he knew the dog from a pup and cared about its well-being. He took the other torch from the door's exterior and touched the two together. He threw a torch into the black abyss. The scene surprised him more than he had expected, and his expectations were high from the prior night's story.

He saw many shining eyes turn to look in his direction even before the torch hit the ground. As the torch flew past the figures, he discovered what many of them were. The beasts were all the same; they were surgewolves, and one was now feasting on the belly of Romulus' dead pet. The observing beasts made snarls and grunts as some made their way toward the cottage.

"Fuck!" Corvus yelled as he slammed the door closed and slid down a wooden slat to fortify it. 

He had been preparing for a moment like this to some degree, but not versus a small army of surgewolves. The cottage had no windows, only a fireplace, and an entry door. Corvus quickly lifted the lid of a storage bench next to the door, revealing chains within its interior for additional fortification. He used the chains to secure the edges of the slat within its groves and wrapped the chain around the slat, which he hoped would make it stronger should they try to break the door.

"What are you doing?" Aleveah asked fearfully. Her mother was standing behind her, observing the scene.

"Shhhh. Shhhh." Corvus hushed them as he walked past and put the flaming torch under the cauldron for safekeeping. 

He then turned to his family and put a finger over his lips. He motioned for them to squat down by the fire. Once they all were low and quiet, he continued. "A pack of surgewolves are at our doorstep."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───