Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Vesryn kicked off the ground and launched himself far into the air before launching softly on top of a nearby ruined wall as the gray shadow lunged past his previous position. Thin and gangly with pale gray and almost translucent skin wrapped tightly against its bones, Vesryn could spot its former humanoid origin at a glance that has been left to suffer the ravages of time. Several other similar figures charged into the alley and slammed into the wall upon which he was perched, forcing him to leap towards a rooftop on the other side of the alley just as the wall collapsed behind him. Each one appeared almost indistinguishable from the next, as time had reduced them all to little more than skin and bones. The small group of figures turned their heads to look up at Vesryn with white, cloudy eyes.
Vesryn looked to his right and spotted in the distance several dozen more figures swarming out from the direction of the castle. He leaped once more from his position to land on a taller building as he noticed the creatures from in the alley climbing up to the roof, their thin claw-like fingers digging into the stone as if it were mud. Despite their nearly skeletal silhouette, it was clear that their strength wasn't diminished, but rather enhanced.
"Zombies? No, these are too fast. Ghouls maybe?" Vesryn asked as he watched the growing crowd that was beginning to clamber towards the building he was on with surprising agility. He took another glance at the horde that was swarming through alleyways and climbing over rooftops behind him, before looking down at the crowd that was now tearing at the stone of the building he was perched on as they climbed up its surface. Vesryn took a deep breath as he sighed heavily.
"I'm gonna have to wipe out this whole city, aren't I?" Vesryn asked himself as he looked around at his surroundings. From his elevated perch, he could look over most of the city. Rows of differently sized buildings separated by large rubble filled streets that all led towards the castle sitting atop the hill in the city center. Rumbling drew his attention back below his feet to see the undead tearing into the walls and pulling at the vines that had grown around and into the stonework. Vesryn launched himself from his perch as cracks spread up and covered the side of the building, causing the roof to cave in on itself. Arcing through the air, he looked down at the growing horde and looked for any stragglers that were situated further away.
"Let's see what they can do." Vesryn whispered as he landed on an old chimney and launched himself towards one of the undead that was standing at the end of an alley and beyond arms reach of the rest of the horde. In the blink of an eye, he landed in a crouched in front of the undead creature. The skeletal monster reached down to grab the young boy, only for the boy to flip over the reaching arms and plant his feet on the creature's chest. With a violent push, Vesryn kicked out and sent the undead figure flying in the opposite direction of the horde and into the open street, while simultaneously launching himself high into the air to latch onto the top of a nearby wall.
"Oh, that went further than I expected. Guess I'm stronger than I thought." He said, as he watched the creature skid and bounce along the dirt and stone, carving a narrow gash in the ground before smashing into a building on the other side. Pushing off of the wall, Vesryn leapt out of the alleyway and into the open street. A concerned look crossed his face as he saw the undead creature push its way out of the building, as bits of stone and rubble rolled off its body. Despite the force delivered by his kick, which he estimated should've been enough to shatter the bones of a grown man, Vesryn spotted no visible injury on the creature at all. But before he could examine the creature further, the creature lunged forward, forcing him to step out of the way.
As the creature passed his flank, Vesryn reached out to grab its ankle and without giving the creature a chance to respond, he spun the creature around in a circle before tossing it further down the street with all the strength he could muster, away from the horde that was still clambering over and through the alleyways in pursuit. Leaping through the air, he chased after it as it tumbled and bounced along the rubble filled streets before impacting into a mangled mess of rusted iron. As he landed in the empty street, he found the creature impaled on an outstretched piece of iron belonging to the mangled mess that he realized was an old portcullis. A large iron spike pierced through the center of the creature's chest and spine as it slowly clawed at the metal in an attempt to free itself. Vesryn looked over his shoulder to see the horde in the distance that now appeared to have stopped chasing him and were instead making their way inside the abandoned buildings. It was then that he watched as the sky began to brighten as rays of orange light illuminated the distant castle from the opposite side.
"Dawn. So they don't like light?" Vesryn questioned as he looked at the lone undead creature squirming in front of him. He watched as it was slowly pulling itself up the length of the iron spike, its legs still kicking and flailing despite the destruction of most of its spine.
"Physical trauma doesn't seem to stop them, and it looks as though they avoid sunlight. Maybe fire works too, then?" Vesryn muttered aloud as he looked back to see the horde now completely dispersed as bits of light began to shine down on the forgotten city. He turned his attention to the creature in front of him as he pointed his hand out in its direction. He mentally conjured the image of a raging fire and felt the familiar energy in his chest once more flowing towards his hand, only for nothing to immediately happen. Confused, Vesryn looked around before noting the lack of floating lights in his immediate vicinity. Looking back towards the castle, he could see the lights were still present in the city center. It was only when he turned his attention back to his front that he noticed several motes of light, that were previously unseen, slowly gathering in front of his hand before eventually erupting forward in a burst of fire.
Flames washed over the undead creature in front of him and intertwined with the twisted mass of metal. The iron slowly turned bright orange as the creature thrashed about in an attempt to both free itself and put out the fire. As he watched the creature's squirming slow to a halt, Vesryn noticed that he felt more exhaustion controlling the magical fire than he did after crossing half the city.
"Maybe I should test this out before I try to take on an entire city of undead without a weapon." Vesryn remarked as he looked down at the palm of his hand, his breathing slightly labored as though he had just gone through a short period of exercise. Although he now had an effective way of dispatching the undead, the drain on his stamina was something he could not overlook unless he wanted to leave himself vulnerable in the center of a horde of monsters. As he thought about his next steps, a grumbling in his stomach reminded him of a different problem.
"I'll figure it out later. I should find something to eat." Vesryn said as he looked back at the abandoned city.
"Yeah, pretty sure there's no food in there. Maybe fish?" He questioned as he looked towards the waterside.
"Yeah, fish sounds good. Haven't had fish in forever." He muttered as he started to make his way towards the large body of water with the hope of finding something to eat. As he set out to find something to ease his hunger, across the water three hooded, dark-robed figures stood huddled together inside a house on the edge of the town. Piled up in a corner of the unlit interior were a group of bodies, a brown haired man in a suit, a red haired woman in a simple sunflower dress and a young teenage boy that seemed to bear a familial resemblance to the other two. All three lay lifeless on the ground with their eyes wide open and their faces forever frozen with fear and despair.
"Useless Muggles. Now what?" One of the hooded figures, a short, stocky man with red hair, muttered as he kicked the leg of one of the bodies.
"We stay hidden until nightfall. We're so close to finding Him, I know it. We can't afford to get caught now by going out during the day." The tallest figure, a man with messy, long, brown hair, responded as he peeked out of the covered windows through the curtains.
"We've been looking for him for damn near ten years. What makes you think Lord Voldemort would be anywhere near all these muggles?" The third figure asked, pulling down their hood to reveal a woman with black hair.
"Maybe he has a plan for them. I don't question our lord's decisions." The tall man responded as he stepped away from the window.
"Our marks haven't had any reaction in ten years. Why are you so sure he's not dead?" The shorter man questioned as he sat down against the wall next to the dead bodies.
"Are you saying you actually believe the hogwash they gave us? That Lord Voldemort was defeated by a toddler? No, if our lord was actually killed they would've said he was killed. They only spread that ridiculous story to break us." The tall man responded as he slammed his fist against the wall.
"Then what do you think happened?" The woman asked as she paced back and forth.
"I think I was right. We never should've trusted that rat. He probably led Lord Voldemort into a trap and that's why he's been missing for so long. Because he's recovering from his injuries." The tall man answered as he brushed his hair out of his face before looking towards the window.
"And now he's ready to return. That's what that surge of magic was last night. That's Lord Voldemort calling us. And we're going to be the first ones to answer his call." The man continued as a smile spread across his face.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
HuntingFate
HuntingFate Going to be posting this on Royalroad as well.
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