[h3]Balian[/h3]

Balian took note of those following him as he traversed through the town streets, following the guards. There was an eerie atmosphere in Galloway and the ranger was glad he would not be alone in confronting what awaited them. A Beastman horde was irrational, he had come to this conclusion and now  was curious. Whatever it was they were getting themselves into was surely not to be taken lightly with the amount of attention it had drawn from the state soldiers who watched over the town.

It seemed like forever they had been running, anticipation killing Balian when the noise of commotion filled the night air. He drew his bow as the guards slowed up pace, women, men and children running frantically away from the area, pushing past guards a couple tripping and hurting themselves in the process. "[I]What's going on here?[/i]" Balian placed his palm on a guards arm, grabbing his attention.

"[i]I don't know...[/i]" The guard looked anxious, "[i]There's talk of the dead rising from their grave, unable to be shaken...  The more of us that fall, the more of them rise and apparently they reanimate when they've been struck down![/i]" It was obvious to the ranger that this man was not one of the state soldiers, just a conscript, probably a farmer or prisoner. They didn't have as much armor as the state soldiers who filled their ranks in the crowd. Balian thought this strange, it was unusual for a town to have  conscripts except in time of war and as far as he was aware, there was no war going on right now or had the  political upheaval reached a new level? No. He would have heard about it by now. The undead? It looked like the rumors were true, it came as a shock to the ranger, the thought of the undead sent a shiver through his body and made the hairs on his arms stand to attention. Just as it was all beginning to sink in an older man with a fantastic beard and mustache, white as snow, armored like the regular state soldiers but with a plume of blue feathers on his helmet began to speak, obviously a commanding officer of some sort.

"[i]Right boys! We've got a shit storm on our hands here. I don't care much for your feelings. Now is the time to draw on your courage, we have to hold these bastards 'til morning![/i]" It seemed as if he was about to go on but his attention was drawn by the first few undead  stragglers, splintered from their group. He looked back at the men with him, "[i]The time is now![/i]"

The heavy bell toll continued to resound around the city and for a few moments the character of this commanding officer had drowned out the commotion and panic that surrounded them, it all began to flood back in and as the ranger watched the undead he noticed how they moved quickly, fiercely but still managed  to keep a sluggish look to them. The level of decomposition varied but the majority of the dead before them were mostly bone. A small child, seperated from his parents came into view, running as best a toddler can screaming for his mother or father, a bear held in one hand for dear life. Balian's eyes widened, knocking an arrow he forcibly tried to push past the soldiers whose attention was elsewhere, however it wasn't easy to get through the armored guard and the ranger found himself being pushed back as two of the skeletal beings closed in on the child, still desperately waddling away, screaming and crying louder now. Not able to push passed, Balian cursed and loosed the arrow his aim thrown off not able to get a clear shot, the arrow flew past the first of the undead taking chase on the boy, snapping in two as it made contact a wall. The ranger cursed again, louder this time and loosed another arrow, still unable to get a good shot this one however pierced the skull, the bones dropped to the ground in a pile but the second skeleton had caught up to the child and now was on top of the boy. "[i]The child![/i]" He roared as he finally broke out of the group of soldiers, drawing his sword and running towards the boy and the undead. By now the kid's cries were frantic but growing weaker.

The ranger let out a mighty cry as he brought his sword in an upward swing, severing the skeleton at the spine, the bones crumpled to the ground and despite the growing horde that spilled from the side streets, Balian lowered his sword. The boy was dead... An overwhelming sadness filled him. This was not right, he knelt down on one knee and wiped the snot and spit from the child's face, closing his eyes as the expression was haunting. Punching the ground, Balian looked up and saw they were almost upon him, he stood to his feet once more and raised his sword.