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[img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/legends-of-anvaris/images/2/21/Highwater.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170415043848[/img]
[h1][color=white][b][u]Into the Grey[/u][/b][/color]
[color=gold][b]Tera Valenci[/b][/color][/h1]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22MpXAD_uwU][Mood Music][/url]
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[Interaction with [@Celsius] and [@Legion02]]
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Tera looked over her shoulder when she heard movement coming up from behind her. She spotted Sarah and smiled lightly at her. Tera wasn't too acquainted with the young huntress on a personal level, but the few words exchanged between the two had helped break the ice while on the road to Seren's Folly. [color=white][i]“You should return to your carriage, your grace. This is no place for a princess.”[/i][/color] Serah had told her.

Tera raised her hand to wave off the suggestion, and then to ease the other huntsmen in the church. She was about to speak, but was then cut off by the stranger as he warned them of a puddle of his own vomit. Tera looked down and spotted it, making an attempt to move around it. Dale eased off the drawn bow and watched the man warily as Tera moved further into the desecrated church. [color=white][i]"My lady?"[/i][/color]

Tera glanced back at Dale, [color=gold][b]"I'm sure if this man was behind the destruction here, he'd be attempting to run away or fight his way through us. Am I correct to assume so, stranger?"[/b][/color]

The princess was frightened by the mysteries of Goldencrest's fate, but she knew that she had to put on a strong face for her followers to keep them, at the very least, sound and hopeful. The hood of Tera's cloak shadowed her face in the dark church, making it difficult to spot any distinguishing features. Father Wyn spoke up shortly after Tera had asked the man her question, [color=white][i]"You are speaking to Princess Tera of the Royal Valenci bloodline. Speak truthfully and respectfully."[/i][/color]
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[h1][color=white][b]Tallia Seraph[/b][/color][/h1]
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[color=white][b]"It was witches, no doubt. The marks on these bodies indicate magic."[/b][/color] Tallia said, her arms crossed as she looked over a pile of corpses. Most were burnt to a crisp, but some were spared from the fiery demise.

Another huntsman nodded, [color=white][i]"I suppose that ruins our plans for staying here. What with the rumors and all..."[/i][/color]

Tallia let out a long sigh, [color=white][b]"It's not like we have much of a choice. Prepare to make camp, we will sleep on the road- around the carriage."[/b][/color]

One of the newer huntsmen, a young man named Leon who showed a lot of promise, had a skeptical expression on his face. He looked to Tallia and the other huntsman, [color=white][i]"What do you mean by rumors here?"[/i][/color]

Tallia looked over to him, [color=white][b]"You haven't heard? The dead have been rumored to walk these parts. That's why the local hunters burn the bodies. We aren't the first hunters to come upon Goldencrest in this state."[/b][/color]

Leon gulped, and then pointed to the few bodies that weren't burned. [color=white][i]"Then we should burn the rest, yes?"[/i][/color]

Tallia nodded and began to make her way out of the ruined tavern. [color=white][b]"Aye. There's no telling how many more bodies are laying around in this town. We'll need to be extra careful tonight. Double the usual guard."[/b][/color]

Leon and the other huntsman immediately went to work at gathering up the remaining corpses. They all froze what they were doing when they heard some brittle burnt wood shuffle and break near one of the holes in the tavern wall. The huntsmen dropped the corpse and put their hands on their weapons. Tallia did the same, her hand gripping tightly at the hilt of her sword. [color=white][b]"Come out! Sneaking up on huntsmen of the royal court will only end badly for you."[/b][/color] Tallia warned. Given the circumstances, Tallia could hardly afford to be trusting.

Then the church bell tolled again. Then again. And then again. Tallia felt no wind licking against her this time. The bell continued to ring with each interval coming sooner than the last. Tallia looked to the carriage, and had remembered that Father Wyn had left to go and take Tera to the church. [color=white][b]"On your guard, men."[/b][/color] Tallia said to the other hunters in the tavern.

The bell's speed increased even more, and Tallia could see that the fixture holding the bell was beginning to give way. [color=white][b]"Oh no... Princess Tera! Get out of the church!"[/b][/color] She yelled and began sprinting toward the stone structure.
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[h1][color=Gold][b]Tera Valenci[/b][/color][/h1]
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Tera and the others heard the call from Tallia, but the warning came too late. The stone cracked and gave way to the large brass bell. Father Wyn ran forward and grabbed a hold of Tera, shielding her with his body. Dale quickly reached out and pulled Sarah into the building just in time before stone, metal, and glass tumbled violently where she was standing. The bell slammed into the ground, giving one final [i]PANG![/i] as it did. The exit was completely blocked off. Tera's ears rang from the loud sound. The others coughed as stone dust filled the church. Tera pushed herself from Father Wyn when the chaos had passed, [color=gold][b]"What happened?! Is everyone okay?"[/b][/color]

Before she could get any answers, she heard Tallia on the other side of the rubble, [color=white][b]"Princess! Tera! Are you hurt?"[/b][/color]

She called back, [color=gold][b]"No! Thank the Divine..."[/b][/color]

Tera thought back on Father Wyn's words, that the church was still consecrated despite the condition it was in. The Divine's light most certainly still shined on the ruined building. Then the bell began to toll again. The clapper in the bell was moving on its own and slamming against the brass object. Each time the clapper made contact, the bell's wall dented and made a distorted sound that no normal bell could possibly make. Each toll of the bell seemed to shake everything. Even the fog twisted and rolled. As the bell rang, the fog closed in, eventually becoming so thick that the people outside could barely see ten feet in front of them.

The church remained safe. The fog seemed unable to roll inside. Tera turned to the stranger, [color=gold][b]"What is happening? You know, don't you?"[/b][/color] She tried to put on a strong voice, but it was easy to tell that she was terrified.

Tallia then called out, [color=white][b]"To arms! Fight for your princess!"[/b][/color] The sound of metal singing as it was pulled from a scabbard could be heard over and over again. There was an [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gL4XqkQOFU]unholy scream[/url] from something in the fog, a scream loud enough to be heard for miles.

Father Wyn drew his warhammer and called back to Tallia, [color=white][i]"Are there witches?! Tallia?![/i][/color]

Another scream echoed through the town, and fighting could be heard directly on the other side of the rubble. Tallia let out a grunt as the sound of her blade slicing through flesh and bone filled everyone's ears. Tallia said with a heavy breath, [color=white][b]"The dead walk."[/b][/color]

Other screams could be heard now, some belonging to the voices that Tera knew. There was a battle outside. Father Wyn looked back to the others, including John, [color=white][i]"The church is the safest place we can be right now. We must fortify the hall."[/i][/color]

Dale immediately worked with Father Wyn to stack the ruined church pews into a barricade. Tera stepped in to help, but Dale held his hand out, [color=white][i]"We can take care of this, princess. Perhaps you can look for another way out of here in case you need to escape."[/i][/color]

Tera didn't like the way he suggested that only she needed to escape. But given the circumstances, she kept quiet and started looking for a another exit within the church.

Outside, Tallia had grouped up with a few other hunters at the ruined church entrance. A shambling dead man let out a sickening screech and picked up its pace to charge at the hunters. Tallia gripped her longsword in both hands, ready to meet the undead abomination. The shambler was cut off by another hunter with a shield, smashing the metal heater against its open torso and sending it spattering into the mud. Tallia nodded to the huntsman and swung in a downward arch to behead the dead man. Another huntsman beside Tallia had just finished dispatching his own foe. A quick double strike at the undead's legs had immobilized it and made for an easy target to crush with his plated boot. But the dead came through the fog in greater numbers. Some of them looked like they had been buried underground for years and were little more than grub infested skeletons.

With each wave, the undead appeared more and more coordinated and functional. The first few shamblers hardly knew how to walk. Now they were running and carrying planks of shattered wood as weapons. One dead man wore torn robes at the back. He let out a gutteral scream as he raised his hand. Hands bursted out from the ground around the robed undead. Tallia watched as undead began to pull themselves from the muddy earth. [color=white][b]"Stand fast, huntsmen! We've faced far worse!"[/b][/color]

Even as she said that, Tallia could hear the pained screams of a huntsman list in the fog being overwhelmed by the undead. The sickening sounds of bladed and blunt weapons could be heard hacking and beating against the poor man's body. Another scream from the robed undead pierced the ears of the defending hunters. One of the huntsmen in the defensive line shrieked and keeled over, weakening the line and exposing him to a flurry of deadly attacks. Woodcutting axes buried themselves into the huntsman's back. [color=white][b]"Shit! Somebody needs to deal with that robed one! Dale! If you can hear me in there, find a way to get a shot!"[/b][/color]

Dale heard Tallia and looked back to Father Wyn as they placed down another pew. The priest nodded to Dale, letting him respond to Tallia's request. Dale quickly vaulted the barricade and ran for a set of stairs leading into the ruined belltower. He sprinted up the stairs three steps at a time, and eventually came to the new top of the ruined tower. Looking out, he could see the five huntsmen and Tallia who had formed up at the door, as well as the undead horde that had appeared seemingly from nowhere. Dale called down below to Tallia, [color=white][i]"I'm here!"[/i][/color]

Tallia swung horizontally and lopped the head off of another undead before looking up to Dale. She pointed at the robed one, [color=white][b]"It's calling more dead to fight! Kill it!"[/b][/color]

Dale spotted the silhouette of the robed undead in the fog. He knew a normal arrow wasn't going to do much against a walking corpse. Dale reached into a pouch hanging from his waist, and pull a few special arrowheads out. The archer set the spares down on a broken piece of stone, and then fitted another on the tip of his arrow. The arrowhead had a small glass container on the tip of it, which held a dosage of holy water. He nocked the arrow and drew it back, [color=white][i]"Hear me, Great Divines... Allow this arrow to banish the darkness and deliver us from death..."[/i][/color] He took a deep breath and loosed the arrow.

It whistled as it sailed through the air. The arrow punched into the chest of the robed undead. It let out another high pitched shriek, and began to crumble into dust. Dale called back down to Tallia, [color=white][i]"It's dead!"[/i][/color]

Tallia called back as she crushed in the skull of a skeletal undead. [color=white][b]"Good work! Get back to the princess!"[/b][/color]

Dale nodded, gathered his holy water arrowheads, and began to climb down the stairs. Tallia and the remaining huntsmen made quick work of the undead marching on them. Another hunter had died in the melee, leaving only four of them left. They looked around in the fog, hearing and seeing nothing. [color=white][b]"Two of you. Start clearing the rubble. We need to get inside and join with the princess."[/b][/color]

Then another noise had rung up in the thick fog. Horses whinnying in a panic.
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[h1][color=white][b]Leon Holden[/b][/color][/h1]
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Leon was separated from the rest of the huntsmen. When the fog had closed in on Goldencrest, Leon and the other huntsman he was burning bodies with became disoriented. The unholy screams of whatever prowled the fog set them into a panic, and completely scrambled their sense of direction. Suddenly, the bodies they hadn't yet burned began to stir. Leon watched as the other huntsman drew his sword and slashed at the belly of one of the dead men. The creature didn't even seem to notice, and tackled the huntsman to the floor. Another undead, this one a woman, leaped onto the pinned huntsman as well, taking bites out of his arm. He screamed in pain and tried to force them off of him, but those attempts were quickly washed away as another undead piled in as well. A fourth shambled into the tavern and looked Leon directly in the eyes.

Leon started hyperventilating, and acted more on instinct than anything else. He got to his feet and ran from the tavern, not entirely sure which direction he was heading in. Leon looked over his shoulder as he ran, not seeing the undead anywhere. When he looked forward again, he found himself running straight alongside the carriage and approaching the horses. The horse whinnied and kicked its leg back, smashing Leon in the face and sending him to his back. The horse shook and moved more, breaking free from the straps and ropes holding it to the carriage. The horse shrieked out again and ran off into the fog. Blood rushed from his broken nose and badly split lip as he rolled in pain. He heard another undead gurgle not far from him. He looked into the fog, and spotted five silhouettes approaching him with weapons. One was missing an arm completely.

Leon drew his sword as he lay in the mud. His whole word was turning from the horse's kick. He knew he wasn't going to be able to fight like this. [color=white][i]"Come on, abominations! I'm right here!"[/i][/color] he screamed out to them.

But the dead stopped and simply watched him. Leon used the carriage to pull himself to his feet. [color=white][i]"What are you waiting for?! Come and kill me!"[/i][/color] he said hysterically.

As he stood there with his sword in one hand, the second horse still harnessed to the carriage began to shriek and whinny in fear as well. This time, the whole carriage shook. Then the sounds of bones snapping and flesh tearing could be heard. Leon hesitantly looked over his shoulder, seeing that the second horse was gone, and the front of the carriage was covered in its blood and entrails. The coachman who was told to wait on the carriage was still there, only his head was missing from the jaw up. Leon felt a another presence, a far colder one. [color=paleturquoise][b]"If you wish for death that much. Then you're asking the wrong creatures. However..."[/b][/color] the mysterious, ethereal voice pauses, [color=paleturquoise][b]"I happen to be the perfect one to grant your wish."[/b][/color]

The fog in front of Leon began to twist, twirl, and darken. He squinted, thinking it was just his concussed mind playing tricks on him. He watched in disbelief as the fog seemed to start taking the shape of a knight. It became clear to Leon that he wasn't seeing things. The foggy knight's armor continued darkening until it was pitch black. It stood tall at seven feet. Two ethereal blue eyes glowed in the visor of the helmet. Its unholy visage was enough to immobilize Leon with fear. The knight began to move, its heavy plated boots not even disturbing the mud as it stepped. Wisps of dark fog twirled off of the knight's body, blending with the gray surroundings. Leon tried convincing himself that he was seeing an illusion in the fog, [color=white][i]"I- it's a trick! The fog is toying with my head!"[/i][/color]

He watched as the knight drew its bastard sword. The blade glowed the same ethereal blue as the knight's eyes. The energy emanating from the blade clung to the occasional weed growing out of the mud. The weeds would wilt and die as their life was sucked from them. The voice spoke again, but it wasn't coming from the black knight, [color=paleturquoise][b]"Oh I can assure you, Leon Holden. What you see is no illusion. Now... It is time for me to collect what I'm owed."[/b][/color]

Leon dropped his blade as his head pounded from the horse kick. He clenched his teeth and leaned against carriage. [color=white][i]"Owed? Wh- what is that?"[/i][/color]

[color=paleturquoise][b]"The same thing all life pays me eventually. Be a good mortal and accept my collector's judgment."[/b][/color]

The knight took one final stepped before Leon, this time the mud splashed and displaced from the heavy footfall. Leon looked into the eyes of the knight as it raised its blade overhead. Fear had crippled Leon, stopping him from moving. The knight didn't take time to listen for Leon's last words. It simply dropped its head blade in a downward arch, its ghostly blue energy trailing behind. The blade sliced down through Leon's skull and into his chest, getting caught on the sternum. The energy of the blade sucked away at Leon's spirit, pulling it from the ruined body. the spirit of Leon let out a echoing scream as it tried to cling to the split corpse. The knight pulled the sword away from Leon's body, taking the spirit with it effortlessly. Leon's corpse slumped against the side of the carriage and slid down to the ground, leaving a streak of blood alongside the white aspen wood of Tera's carriage.

Leon's spirit eventually melded with the blue glow of the blade, and before long, Goldencrest was silent again. [color=paleturquoise][b]"Very good, my knight. But there are still more in the town. And one very important artifact. Kill them all."[/b][/color]

The knight stepped away from Leon's body and faded back into the fog, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared before the huntsman. The icy presence in the fog, invisible once again, began slowly moving toward the church.
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