Sakama once again stood before the message board in central Era, eyes scanning over the lower rank job opportunities. One posting stuck out among the rest, unlike the last time she had taken a job. Reaching out and tearing the posting off of the board, she began to read, learning that there had been sightings of zombies in the forest outside of Era. Believing this job to be right up her alley, the female glanced around the building, looking for the man that had posted the job. Her eyes landed upon a group of Rune Knight soldiers sitting at a table. Making her way over to him, she simply held the ad up for them to see. As the soldiers figured out what she was looking for, they led her to a back room in the building, a burly man sat in a chair behind a desk. He was the man from the ad, one Lieutenant Marwin Awedin. He was an elderly man, something that the picture did not show very well. The wrinkles and scars on his face showed his age and exactly how much he had been through in his lifetime. All in all, the man was not someone that Sakama would ever want to cross for she believed he wholeheartedly that this man could rip her in half with just his hands.

She cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the man. He turned his body towards her, giving her his undivided attention. “I saw your ad. You need someone to scout out the forest?” She asked. The man simply grunted and nodded his head, his eyes scanning her, look of disdain upon his face. She had seen the look many times and she knew that the man did not think a woman of her stature could complete the job that needed to be done. The mage hardened her features as she stood confidently in front of the man. “I assure you, sir, I am perfectly capable of handling a scouting job.” He seemed to measure her up once again and sighed, placing his hand against his forehead before placing a piece of paper in front of her, a report.

“The job is simple. Figure out if the rumors are true or not. Do not engage in any combat or the job will be ruined.” His words were simple and to the point. “And kid, do not make me regret giving you this job.” With that, he turned away from her and went back to the paperwork on his desk. She read over the report as she walked towards the gates of Era. The sun was setting low in the sky and she rolled her eyes. Yet another mission in the dark.

As she reached the gates of Era, darkness had fallen. It was the perfect time to scout out the forest for zombies. Sakama felt as if she was in a horror movie and doing exactly what she yelled at the people in them not to do. She was walking into a potentially deadly situation, yet she did not falter. Her steps were silent as she walked along the forest floor. She was leaning very quickly how to gauge the sounds of the forest, to understand which sounds were animals, and which she should be worried about. At least, she thought to herself, this was good exercise. Her legs were burning as she walked about a mile into the woods at first, stopping to listen to every sound. She walked the diameter of the town and then continued her walk further into the woods.

She wandered for what seemed like hours, walking deeper and deeper into the woods. The brush was getting thicker, scratching her up to the point of nearly drawing blood. She was beginning to hate the woods. She was almost positive by now that the reports were fake, some kids trying to scare the town. There had been no sign of any disturbance in the forest as of yet, and she had been there for hours. She began making her way back towards the gates of Era, only to be stopped by voices in the distance. Turning, she listened to the voices, unable to make out what they were saying. She moved closer until she was almost standing upon the voices. They were chanting in an old language she did not understand.

Opening the bushes a bit to peek out, she was extremely shocked at what she saw. In the center of the clearing stood a large statue of a pagan god. Around the statue stood many people dressed in black robes. She cursed under her breath as she saw them pulling the dead from the ground, placing souls back into their lifeless bodies. She could not watch anymore. The rumors were true. She could not have got out of there faster, running towards the gates of Era.

As she reached the gate, she found the lieutenant leaning against the wall, his soldiers standing around with him. Sakama quickly approached the man and handed him back the report from her shaking hands.

“The rumors are true. About two miles into the woods there is a clearing with a pagan god statue in the center. There was a group of people in black robes, cultist I believe, standing around the statue chanting in some language I don’t know. There were dead people scattering the ground...spirits being thrown back into their bodies. They were walking, listening to the cultist’s commands.” She told the man. He seemed to think for a moment, scratching his chin.

“Hmm, well thank you for your service, ma’am. We shall take care of this. Please, keep this between us as it is a sensitive matter.” He said, handing her a pouch with her reward along with a mug of coffee. “You’ve done Era a great service, we thank you.” Sakama weighed the pouch in her hand and took a sip of the coffee as she made her way back down the dark streets.