Ryra stood outside the haunted grounds of Dori'ba, watching in dismay as the sun began to set. She had been approached by an old man earlier that day as she had been traveling through the Salquedor Grasslands. The old man had asked her and another person to venture into Dori'ba and enter his family crypt in order to recover a few precious heirlooms. She had been a little short on gold at the time and had accepted the old man's offer, but now she wished that she didn't. There was something about the grounds that felt...unnatural to the fire elemental, and she began to wonder if the rumors about Dori'ba's dead coming to life at night were true.

As soon as she had accepted the job, she had rushed to Dori'ba, hoping to take the items and be on her way before nightfall. Apparently, she had been too late though, and it was rapidly growing dark. She turned her head to her partner, frowning slightly as she saw him. When she heard she was going to be working with a vampire, she had been tempted to refuse the job. Then again, what harm could a vampire do to her? It wasn't as if her blood was the kind of blood that he needed in the first place. After all, her blood was hot enough to burn anyone that touched it, so she doubted it would be very nourishing. Still, there was something unnerving about having one undead creature beside you and thousands more ahead of you.

Caught between zombies and vampires, she thought, frowning slightly, What have you gotten yourself into?

She wouldn't have accepted the job at all, if she didn't need the gold. It had only been a few months since her master's death, and she was still getting used to the concept of money being used to by food in Arda. She knew how to buy and sell of course, as she usually ran errands for her master while he was alive, but he had always given her the money that she needed. Now that he was dead, she was hard pressed to find ways to earn it on her own.

She frowned, placing her hand on the hilt of her longsword as she turned to the vampire. If they had to do it, they might as well start and not worry about it the whole night. So what if undead came out. Then she would have no choice but to fight them.

"We should get going," she said, taking a step into the grounds of Dori'ba, land of the dead, as the sun began to fade over the horizon.

Ryra frowned as she watched it, colors of pink and purple quickly taking the place of the vibrant red and orange she had seen earlier as twilight fell over the continent of Ea. It wouldn't be long until night fell, and Dori'ba's famous dead awoke from their slumber.

Valerik stood upon the dead grounds of Dori'ba. The land of the dead. The land of his people. He chuckled upon this thought. His people, undead. It was amusing. He took his unnatural life as a game, a gift. It wasn't his curse, a plauge, no. It was blessing, a gift, strength. Now, vampirism was his life.

The sun dipped below the horizen in the west, the red and pink lights dancing brightly against the barren landscape of the Land of the dead. It was time for the dead to awaken. It was time for the fun to begin. It was time to begin the quest. He watched the sky anxiously as the last bit of sun rays dipped away.

A star poked past what seemed to be an infinite layer of darkness. Valerik jumped, thinking that it was him. 'Only a star,' he thought, disappointed. More and more stars shoved their way through the darkness, peeping onto the ground below. A moon appeared in the dark sky, completing the scene. Night was here.

'Where are you!?!?!' he thought. He twitched slightly as a nervous habit. He bit his lip, only to be startled by a voice. It was his comrade, "We should get going," she said, taking a step into the grounds of Dori'ba. He held his hand out, gesturing for her to stop.

Almost instaneously, a dark form pressed against the dark night sky. It swooped down onto the barren ground, and landed, bending its knees to absorb the shock. The beast was massive. It was Akor, the ash dragon. It stood as tall as a two story house, its wingspan as wide as a its body.

Akor snorted slightly, puffs of deadly smog exiting his oversized nostrils. "Lets fly," Valerik said. He hadn't flown to much, for Akor had only just recently reached adulthood. The dragon hadn't gotten used to extra weight on him, so it was a learning experiance for the both of them. A very large saddle fit smugly on his back, big enough for one.

Valerik shifted akwardly were he stood. He wasn't comfortably staying so to a person he didn't know. He uttered an apology, and then mounted Akor by climbing up his outstrecthed wing. But already, the dead stirred. Hands and heads began to poke out of the earth, moans escaped their mouths. The stench of death permeated the air. "RUN!" he roared. Death was present, awake, and ready to feed on the semi-living.

Ryra opened her mouth, about to lash out in irritation at the vampire's hand blocking her path, when an ash dragon flew overhead, landing in front of them. She frowned, biting on her lip slightly as her temper began to flare up again. He could have told her he had a giant dragon hidden up his sleeve. Then she wouldn't have looked stupid taking a step into Dori'ba like that. The fire elemental frowned, watching as he began to climb up the dragon.

It wasn't that she was scared of dragons, per se, merely that she was a little bit wary about climbing up a creature that could split her in half with his jaws. She wasn't particularly worried about whether or not this particular dragon breathed fire. Fire never caused harm to her, be it candle fire or dragon fire. It was the teeth and claws that worried her.

At this rate, you're going to make yourself look like a coward, Ryradine, she thought, scolding herself. With a slight shake of her head, she made her way towards the vampire and the dragon. Night had already fallen, and she took weary steps, looking around her for any sign of undead activity.

Suddenly, almost as if awakened by some unseen force, hands and heads began pushing their way out of the earth like grotesque flowers, flesh rotting off bone as they began taking shape. Ryra's eyes widened slightly in horror. There wasn't much that scared a creature made of fire, but the sight of a large amount of human dead coming towards her made her heart stop for just a moment. She heard the vampire's shout to run, and didn't think twice about obeying.

Ryra turned, running towards the ash dragon. A hand closed around her ankle as she ran, sending her sprawling forward and onto the ground as an undead creature pulled its way out of the earth, hovering over her and grabbing hold of her arm. The creature was soon followed by more of its fellows, grabbing onto arms, legs, and hair. Ryra cursed rather loudly, struggling to break free. Anger flared up inside of her and she took a deep breath, the fire she was made of rising to the surface.

Flames erupted all over her body, burning undead hands. The smell of burning flesh rose up into the air, and combined with the scent of rotting bodies, it was enough to make the elemental wish she hadn't eaten earlier. The flames worked however, if not because of their heat than because of the light, and they drove the undead creatures back just long enough for her to get up to her feet. She drew her sword, the flames on her body fading away as she ran towards the ash dragon, pulling herself nimbly up and behind the vampire.

"Damn zombies," she cursed, rubbing her shoulder where one zombie had gripped her particularly hard, "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Valerik watched in horror as his ally was tripped by a vicious undead. Right as he began to dismount to aid her, she erupted in flames and destroyed the blood thirsty abomination. Charred flesh and rotting skin co-mingled in a horrible stench, causing Valerik's eyes to tear and his nostrils to flare. Out of the barren earth, more and more appendages began to rise.

A massive horde was already in front of Valerik and Akor when his ally gracefully mounted. Before Valerik could attempt to stop the assaulting horde, Akor raised a mighty hand and swung it at the horde. Sickening crunches and snaps of bones were heard when the massive paw broke their bones. Immediately after, the mighty dragon flapped his huge wings and become airborne.

Valerik looked down at the barren earth below, only to see tiny brown specks that the vampire assumed to be zombies and wraiths. The dragon rider shivered at the thought of being on the ground at the time of the undead's awakening. There were a myriad of undead down below, shuffling on the ground, moaning a song of death and agony.

What could of desecrated a land to the point were the dead was raised? What evil could of taken place in this land that desecrated it to the point of unholiness were the zombies awoke through no spell! Whatever evil had taken place on the grounds of Dori'ba, it had to be vile enough to destroy all its purity. Dori'ba was the definition of abominations.

Could a dark god of been spawned at this spot? Had Raku been born here? Was a cult of dark sorcerer's powerful enough to cast a powerful spell that was so vile it would desecrate the land forever? Was Dori'ba's curse due to dark gods crying or bleeding over it, tainting its soil? Or was it because of Lothlomendil's will? Did the goddess desire it to be so, a challenge for all her admirers and priests? How could such a place be so unholy? Not naturally, Valerik hoped.

Akor soared through the sky. Valerik observed were the crypt could be. It had to have been made before the incident when Dori'ba had been overrun by evil and undead. To both sides of the flat lands were mountains, each as barren as the ground. But on the other side of the mountains were forests and grass. 'That must be the extent of the taint,' Valerik thought.

On one mountain was a large stone structure. It was simple, just an entrance way. A very large entrance into the side of the mountain. Valerik pointed to it and said, "That must be were the crypt is." 'Well, they must of been a wealthy family!' he thought with a smirk. Akor swooped down and landed at the mountains steps. Valerik dismounted, only to be struck down by a tackle. He drew his sword and struck the zombie on his back.

A horde of zombies were on the move, with a well garbed skeleton in the back. It was holding a staff, with a ruby on the top of it. 'Lich,' Valerik thought with dismay. "You get the lich!" he said, pointing to the robed undead, "Kill it by destroyed its soul! They contain it in something dear to them!" Valerik thought hard what the container could be.

He swung his sword and dismembered another zombie. "THERE!" He roared, pointing to the tip of the dark wizards staff.