Max let out a deep yawn as his body bumped and jostled in the rough wooden cart. Miranda sat to his left, her face illuminated in the morning light, nervously fiddling with her dagger. She traced the many runes inscribed onto the hilt and blade with her fingers. Max knew she was nervous; she hadn't had an opportunity to enchant any more objects since the last time. And he didn't want her to resort to using the ones on her body; he hated seeing her in that much pain.

  Isabella sat opposite them, staring into her palms with a heavy look. She had the eyes of defeat and the posture of a disciplined child. The memory of the night before, when the temple's commander, Helena, stormed in through the giant doors, surfaced in his mind.

  Helena was furious that Isabella had let two ‘unknown and armed strangers’ into her temple. She scolded Isabella for lying to Rossen and interrupting him disciplining a thief, even if her loot was only a loaf of bread.

  “All weeds must be purged to maintain order,” Helena had screamed into the quiet prayer hall, the sick and injured looking at her with wide eyes of terror. Helena gave them a disgusted look before ordering Max, Miranda, and Isabella to follow her. “The Arbiter wouldn't have us stoop to such disgraceful levels.”

  The cart stopped suddenly, jostling the three enough to kick them off their seats. When Max recovered, he looked around.

  They had stopped at the end of a small, old dirt path, right in front of a deep and dark cave. Evergreen trees grew tall and strong next to its opening, almost making it seem welcoming. I doubt it is.

  “Alright, everyone off!” Rossen shouted with a happy grin. He had been their driver to the cave, eager to see the three punished for slighting him. Isabella hopped out of the cart first, followed by Max, then Miranda. Rossen exited too, grabbing a large leather pack. Together, the four of them made a rough camp.

  “It's early in the morning and I have no intention of this taking all day,” Miranda said, tossing her bag to the ground. “Why are we making camp?”

  “Because you will not leave until the job is done, little wretch,” Rossen spat back at her. Max was worried Miranda was going to start another fight with the paladin when Isabella interjected.

  “He’s right, Miranda,” Isabella said with a look that said ‘as much as I hate it.’ “It's best to be prepared. If someone gets injured, we will be thanking ourselves that we will have a site to retreat to.”

  Miranda still didn't seem to like it, but she started helping again. Max didn't mind; it meant more time before they had to delve into that cave. He caught Rossen glaring at Isabella again, with that same hateful look he showed her in Helena’s office.

  Max recalled the small wooden room, lit by an ornate stone fireplace. The paladin knights' new barracks were well made and kept, unlike the temple. The murals were different too. Not images of generosity or selflessness, but of power, glory, and order. Shackles and swords versus healing and shields.

  Helena had them all sitting in large wooden chairs, a couple of stains on them that suspiciously resembled blood. She chewed Isabella out again for her actions in rescuing Gerald, interrupting Rossen, and a few various other occurrences that must have happened before Max and Miranda showed up. From what Max could tell, it seemed Isabella was sort of the rebel of the group. If by rebel you meant breaking the rules to save someone's life or give someone a place to sleep or a piece of bread.

  Helena gave some long speech about seeds of chaos… blah blah blah… order takes pain and blood… blah blah blah. It was hard for Max to listen. Isabella, the soldier that she was, sat at attention nodding along to every insult and every mantra.

  Miranda found a spot on the wall and just stared at it the whole time, a blank look on her face that told Max she was used to being shouted at. And by people I would assume are far more terrifying. Max came from a small lumber town. Someone shouted at you, you shouted back. And the next morning everyone was friends again; it's just how it worked. He had to clench his hands tight to refrain from unloading a torrent of insults.

  Rossen’s words pulled him from the memory. “Alright you three, off you go then.”

  What?

  “Um, sir,” Isabella said with tact. “I believe Helena said you would be going in with us, to make sure we at least come back ‘mostly alive’.”

  “Ha!” Rossen laughed with a dry, hateful sound. “I don't remember that one bit. Don't worry though, I'll be here, and if you come screaming back asking for someone to help or heal you... I'll think about it if you beg hard enough.”

  Isabella looked at him with shock. “If Helena hears about this—”

  “I really don't think she will care; you disappointed your mentor too many times, initiate. Now…” Rossen said, pulling a curved long dagger from his boot. “Get. Going.”

  Isabella prepared a torch at the cave entrance, Max and Miranda right behind her.

  “Ready?”

  “Let’s just do this,” Miranda said bitterly as she moved into the cave, guided by the faint light from Isabella's torch. Max and Isabella followed right alongside her.

  The cave appeared to be an abandoned mining shaft, with rotting wood beams supporting the cold, damp tunnel. Max smelled the blood almost immediately. It wasn't the heavy stench of rot that he had experienced already several times in the last few days. It was an aroma of death. Blood, bile, and other fluids creating an odor more nauseating than the corrupted farmhouse.

  They only had to travel for ten minutes down the winding tunnel of guts and gore before they found the first one. Max stopped abruptly when he first caught sight of it, Isabella and Miranda coming up beside him. It’s just like the woman described it.

  Bluish-grey skin, tough as elk hide. No ears, no nose, wide yellow eyes with a grin full of spike-like teeth. The humanoid creature was hunched over a miner's fresh corpse, holding the limp body down with its long claw-like hands. He ripped at the dead man’s flesh, taking whole chunks at a time and gulping them down. Max wanted to vomit; he wanted to run. Can't really do that seeing how Isabella and Miranda are both already drawing their blades.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “She was telling the truth,” Miranda said with disbelief. She sneered at the creature for the gross abomination that it was.

  Max recalled the old woman’s screams, the one that barged into Helena’s office just as the paladin was deciding how to handle the three of them.

  “Ghouls!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, as another paladin came racing in behind her, his breath heavy as he clearly had been chasing the spry old woman for a few minutes. “Ghouls have taken the miners!”

  And that settled it. Helena only had to think for but a moment.

  “Well, my team is not prepared to handle a nest of ghouls; we need time to prepare,” She said strategically. Although Isabella gave her a look that told Max she wasn't exactly being truthful. “What we need is a small party of three eager and well-armed individuals to route these ghouls while the rest of us prepare.”

  That night had been the second worst night of sleep in Max’s life. He laid next to Miranda and Isabella on the hard wood floor of the paladins' barracks, under a watchful eye. They left for the cave that next morning.

  “It sees us!” Isabella shouted, ripping Max from the memory once again. “Damn carrion feeders. They must have spawned from a lost miner. We must kill them quickly before they turn the other corpses.”

  “Max, I don't know what's got you this morning, but get your head out of the clouds and focus,” Miranda hissed at Max before moving off to their flank. Max caught just the flash of green as her blade ignited in necrotic energy before the ghoul charged her. It didn't scream like the vampire in the guardhouse; it just snarled and sniffed the air. Then it ran, fast like a well-trained athlete. It came right for Miranda, not even stopping as she curved her blade in a deadly arch.

  A large gash hissed on the ghoul's skin as it split him open. No blood spilled, just the aroma of fresh meat. The ghoul didn't seem to care that it was injured, just swiped at Miranda with those long claws. She blocked it just in time and kicked out, sending it reeling for a few feet.

  “They have no regard for their own safety!” Miranda shouted. Well, that’s horrifying. But Max leapt in anyway. Just as the ghoul recovered and was about to lunge at Miranda, he sprinted forward, hoping his sudden movement would take the creature by surprise. It worked. The ghoul only had a split second to shift his gaze before Max’s knife plunged into its chest. At first, it just turned to Max, stunned. Then the nullification started to come into effect.

  The ghoul's flesh turned silky grey where Max’s blade had pierced it, and the beast howled in a pain it probably had never felt before. It grasped for the knife's handle but never got the chance. Max noticed Miranda coming in for another attack and he ripped his knife free just as her blade sank into where the ghoul’s heart would have been. The creature shuddered, its face locked into a silent scream, then it paled, its eyes losing that yellow color. The ghoul's body dropped to the ground without a noise. Magic immune and magic nullification. Not bad.

  “Wow,” Isabella said, her hand held tightly to her steel shortsword. “That was awesome. I have like so many questions for you two. Is that necrotic?”

  Movement and snarls from further down the cave pulled their gaze away from her.

  “It'll have to wait,” Max said, positioning himself in a defensive guard.

  “Can you fight, initiate?” Miranda shot to her with a teasing smile. Isabella smirked.

  “I may be an initiate,” she said confidently. “But you haven't seen what else the Lady has to offer.”

  She was right. Max almost didn't notice the three new ghouls that poured into the small section of tunnel they were in as Isabella began a soft chant. She closed her eyes and whispered a small prayer. Similar to the Conclave asking for Fate’s sight. However, Isabella didn't whisper a singular name; Max could make out just a few words.

  “My Lady… surrounded by undead… be your light… radiance!”

  Suddenly the room glowed a brilliant bright white light. Every crevice was revealed, every horrific detail of the dead pile of miners in the corner observable. This is a place that needs no light to bear witness. Max and Miranda both recoiled from the blinding light; the three ghouls were literally knocked from their feet. The light didn't die; it dimmed, slowly receding to just a few feet from Isabella as her shortsword glowed in that soft white light.

  “Radiant light,” Isabella said with a smirk, as Miranda and Max stared in awe. “Works better than necrotic energy.”

  “Well, I guess it comes down to the better user then,” Miranda shot back like a friendly challenge.

  “Let's just focus on staying alive you two,” Max said, his eyes locked on the ghouls. “I think they are getting up now.”

  “And what do you have, farmer?” Isabella asked as she took her own defensive posture. “Is that blade you carry silver? How do you damage them?”

  “For now, let's just say it is,” Max shot back quickly just as the three ghouls charged in, each one attacking a different person. Max had spared no focus to monitor his team; he readied himself. Then the creature finally bridged the gap and jumped forward, the unexpected leap taking Max by surprise.

  “Ah!” He shouted as he pivoted backwards and dodged the leaping undead. It hit the ground hard and jumped back to its feet in an instant, spinning to meet him. Max was ready, and lunged forward, slashing across the ghoul's upper arm. The blade cut deep, severing ligaments, almost getting stuck in the bone. Max was barely able to pull it free and recover to block a swipe from the ghoul's other arm with his buckler.

  He kept slowly giving ground, as the creature's attacks came in solely from its right arm. I must have crippled the beast. Its left arm flapped loosely as the ghoul jumped around and lunged with attacks. It didn't even care if it died; its only concern was for its next bite of flesh.

  Max lashed out with a few more safe cuts, each one threatening to undo the magic that held the ghoul together. Grey lines started forming in the bluish-grey skin. The ghoul got slower and weaker. Max risked a look to his companions, who were faring well.

  Miranda had lopped off her ghoul's arms and was stabbing its gut repeatedly, trying to end the beast. Gross. Isabella was almost already done killing hers, her blade in its chest as the radiant light started burning it from the inside out. The ghoul made another lunge, so slow Max knew he had to make this the last.

  The ghoul dove forward, that one outstretched hand curving wide. Max dipped underneath and brought his knife up under its armpit, right into where the heart would be. It shuddered, screamed in pain, and began convulsing. The ghoul's flesh started to split where Max never cut, its joints popping as the creature began to disassemble into an organic mass. Finally, Max pulled back, his knife pulling with it a trail of sticky slime. Ugh, I miss my farm. I'd rather be assisting a calving right now.

  Max stepped away from the puddle that used to be a ghoul, Miranda and Isabella standing, breaths panting from their kills, staring at him with concerned looks.

  “That's gross,” Miranda said flatly.

  “Thanks, not too fond of it either,” Max retorted with a dry grin.

  Isabella looked as if she was going to say something else as well, when more growls moved their way up the cave. That doesn't sound like three; that sounds like a dozen. The three companions shared glances and shrugged before pulling up their weapons.