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[center][color=gold][h1][b]Tera Valenci[/b][/h1][/color][/center]
[center](( [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t54e9NKg-xE&t=1299s]Mood Music[/url] ))[/center]

[color=gold][b]"Seren's Folly! Seren's Folly! Seren's Folly!"[/b][/color] Tera continued to repeat as she ran through the woods. The fog was still thick and she could have sworn she heard somebody calling out behind her. Tera's immediate thought was, despite the woman's warm tone, not to trust anybody. If what Tallia said about witches being near was true, she didn't want to take the chance.

She was nervous. It was the first time she had ever been on her own outside of the palace. She was alone and in the most infamous region of her kingdom. She felt weak and helpless without her retinue, without Tallia, by her side. Her heavy breathing broadcasted her fear to whatever waited just beyond the fog. She had no idea which direction Seren's Folly was. For all she knew, she could have been running further from it. But she ran like she knew where the town was regardless of her direction. Tera was so caught up in simply running from that spectral knight that she wasn't exactly watching where she stepping.

At first, it was solid earth. Then in an instant, that earth became a sea of gray. Tera yelped, unable to stop herself in time before she went tumbling down a steep hillside. She rolled once, hit a rock with her arm, rolled again, smacked her ankle on another rock, and rolled some more. Before she knew it, Tera was at the base of the hill. It was a thirty foot drop, she was lucky there was soaked, spongy ground moss at the bottom to break her fall. Tera lay there for a moment, her teeth clenched, and her eyes held shut. She couldn't cry out in pain, lest she announce her position to the undead, witches, or even the knight. [color=gold][b]"Seren's Folly..."[/b][/color] she muttered to herself and tried to get herself on her feet.

She stood on one foot first, then as Tera put weight on her other, she groaned in pain and tumbled back into the mossy ground. Her ankle exploded with pain, Tera could only ball her fists and grip tightly into the moss. She looked at her ankle and saw blood seeping through her leather leggings where she had bashed her ankle on the rock. She didn't know if it was just badly cut or broken, but whatever the injury was, it immobilized her. She could feel her warm blood coming from the wound, she'd bleed out sooner than anything else if she didn't tend to it. Thinking quickly, Tera drew her shortsword and sliced off a long strip from her cloak. She tied it tightly around the wound as a bandage. The pain was still sharp, and the first aid didn't do much to help her move. She started searching the area around her for a strong looking branch, [color=gold][b]"I can make a splint... Just like Tallia taught..."[/b][/color] she thought out loud.

While she searched for a branch, Tera heard a heavy thud behind her, just beyond the fog. She caught her breath and remain motionless while looking toward the source of the sound. She heard a gurgle and a groan first before seeing the silhouette of one of her hunters crawl towards her. [color=gold][b]"Dale! I've never been so happy to see you in my life!"[/b][/color]

Then she remembered. Tera had seen Dale die, slain by the knight with a slash to the neck. Studying Dale in front of her, she could very easily see the breach in the man's chainmail and the fountain of arterial blood that never seemed to stop pouring. Dale's eyes were as gray as the fog, his skin ale white from the loss of blood. There's no way he could be moving after a blow like that. Another gurgle came from Dale as it continued to slowly crawl toward Tera. He was undead. The witches, or the knight, or whomever was responsible for the attack had risen him from his eternal rest. Tera crawled away from Dale, [color=gold][b]"Get back! Stay away!"[/b][/color] she cried.

He didn't respond, he only approached. Tera kept crawling away until Dale had gotten a grip on her wounded ankle. There was no care and the pain mixed with the terror finally caused Tera to scream loudly. With her short sword in hand, Tera swung at the undead creature, slashing across Dale's forehead. There was no more blood in his face to leak from the wound. It snarled and tried to pull Tera by the leg. Tera was glad that her leathers were crafted so well when Dale tried to bite her leg. The leather stopped his teeth from making contact with her skin, but it still hurt. Another cry of pain came from Tera. She struggled to shake free from his vice grip, so she kept swinging her short sword ineffectively at the undead.

[color=gold][b]"Help!"[/b][/color] Tera called out into the fog, though she was convinced nobody was out there.
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[@shagranoz], [@WeepingLiberty]