Chapter 5: What Were We Thinking

"This all seems so cliché if you ask me." Allium said as the three of them stood at the entrance to the Windy Tree graveyard.

"What are you talking about?" Clavidicus asked.

"Well look, we have an extremely weather worn wooden fence, a gate hanging half off the hinges, and billowing fog rolling from somewhere deeper in the graveyard. Is it really that much effort to take care of the fence, maybe replace it when it gets too worn?"

Clavidicus examined the gate a bit closer. "You have a point, this gate was supposed to keep people out at night. It doesn't seem like it's serving that function anymore, so whoever was locking it, just decided to stop?"

"Maybe it was locked to keep something in" Nadia added. "And whomever was locking it at night didn't manage to lock it fast enough one night before something got out and got him."

"Why do you say things like that, you're really creepy you know that?" Clavidicus said as he looked wearily over at Nadia.

"I'm not saying that that was what happened, though it's an explanation all the same." she retorted.

Allium cut in. "Well explain to me the swirling fog and mist but no apparent wind to be moving it like that."

Clavidicus nodded. "Yeah Nadia, explain that." He paused for a moment before realizing maybe he didn't want to hear her explanation.

"Despair."

Allium and Clavidicus both said "What?" pretty much at the same time.

"What, oh it's varying differences in temperature close to the ground that cause localized air movement which is pretty much undiscerable to us."

Clavidicus groaned. "Whatever, can we get on with this little trip? I'd like to get some sleep before day break."

Allium added "Yes shall we?"

The three stepped through the open gate into the graveyard. The graves consisted of roughly cut headstones and in many cases, loosely packed dirt patches. Clavidicus bent down to investigate one such dirt patch closely. "Doesn't anyone else find it a little disturbing that so many of these graves have recently disturbed dirt?"

Nadia answered "I don't" and Allium just shrugged.

He continued "I'm just saying this sort of thing would only be caused by a few situations, none of which seem all that comforting. Either recently a whole lot of people in town died, which doesn't explain how old these headstones look. And who is dying exactly? Maybe they don't like visitors all that much and we're about to be waylayed by a mob of townfolk which can easily push us into an open grave. After they dispense of us of course. Never been a big fan of being buried alive."

Allium cut in. "What better a way then to be killed by the earth's loving embrace?"

Clavidicus looked over in Allium's direction. "You're officially on the same list as Nadia for level of creepiness Allium." Allium winked at Clavidicus, or he thought she winked. It was getting harder to tell what anyone was doing as the fog was obscuring what little light his torch was providing. "The other possibility is that there has been a large group of grave robbers here recently which is a little easier to handle for me. Men I can kill, in smaller amounts then a town-wide crazed mob at least. Perhaps that dwarf in the inn is somehow involved. All I know is if that dwarf comes at me, I'll give him something to bleed about."

"You're leaving out a third possibility" Nadia said ominiously. "You probably don't want to know what it is."

Clavidicus felt a chill go down his back. "Yep don't tell me, I'd rather not know."

The three continued cautiously down a worn dirt path deeper into the cemetary. It wasn't long before their trip got interruptted by a group of skeletons that seemed to be animated still long after whoever's bones they were had died. "And this would be the third possibility" Nadia said as she reached into her dress for her necklace.

"I would have been ok not ever seeing reanimated bodies in this lifetime" Clavidicus shouted as he drew his weapon. "Hopefully Nadia, you really can defend yourself as good as you say you can. And Allium, stay back unless...oh you have daggers, nevermind."

The undead approached with unrelenting vigor with clawed hands flailing emitting horrible noises as they attacked. Clavidicus was able to place a couple well placed hacks into one while Allium took focus on another with precision cuts.

Nadia got close to her two companions as another two skeletons approached them. She held her necklace out shouting "You will stop before me, for returning to the dust awaits you!" Both skeletons stopped their approach and just crouched cowering in front of Nadia. "Finish them off, they shall resist no longer" she said to Clavidicus. Clavidicus did as was requested and before long the three of them were scattering the bones of the redeceased looking for anything of value.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Nadia asked of Allium and Clavidicus.

"Now that I know what I'm up against, it's not so bad I guess, but I think maybe I would have declined had I known ahead of time" Clavidicus said as he picked up a dented piece of jewelery.

"My weapons aren't nearly as effective as I'd like but if more wealth is to be got, I say bring em on." Allium was showing a whole lot more energy and excitement now then when they had first met her. She really seemed to be in her element out in the middle of the night.

"That's the spirit" Nadia said excitedly. "Lets see how deep this path goes."

They hadn't traveled too much further before they ran into more skeletons as well as some undead that still had flesh hanging off them. As the three fought these creatures, Allium asked "What are these with the flesh still hanging on their bones, my weapons seem to be slightly more effective."

Nadia answered "Those are zombies. They're more resilient, and use a slightly different kind of magic to animate. They have more surfaces to attack, so your weapons should do more damage to them in the process of attacking."

Clavidicus though it was quite disturbing how knowledgable Nadia seemed about these things. He was a little too caught up in the battle to give it too much thought, but less and less was surprising him every moment he spent in her company.

Adjusting for the new kind of enemy, Allium and Clavidicus along side Nadia were able to take down the whole lot of undead as they approached. As they were looking for things of value upon the fallen foes, a large wolf sized rat creature with a disturbingly large toothy maw showed up and started feasting on one of the zombie corpses. Allium pointed from a good distance away at it. "What is that thing?"

Nadia responded "That's a corpse eater, a distant relative of the common rat that grows excessly mutated and large by feasting on tainted flesh and bone. They're pretty dangerous, so we'll keep our distance if we can help it."

"You don't have to tell me twice" Clavidicus said as he hid from the creature behind the two women. All three backtracked a little ways away from the creature.

Seeing as the battles they had endured started to take their toll upon the adventurers, they agreed to call well enough alone and take what treasures they had found and go get some rest.

It was well into the night before they managed to make it to their room at the inn. They all but colapsed into the beds after securing what they had found in a chest in the corner and drifted off to sleep.