Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 11

       The group trudged back from the graveyard into town. Ara' Sei let the guard captain know that they had fought by the cemetery with six undead, and the guards began an investigation on the graveyard. Then, all four of them gathered in the girls' room, where Ara' Sei ordered food for the group. All of them were hurt and exhausted. But, all of them smiled.

       "So, we stopped those undead!" Ella declared proudly.

       "Yeah, that was horrible, I hated it." Cedric countered.

       "Well, if it's any consolation you'll feel great by tomorrow! Besides, we're closer to being paid." Ella said, trying to cheer Cedric up.

       "Yeah, money. We'll have so... so much of it when we're done with this." Eris muttered to themself.

       "Yeah... well, all of you did great. And no one died." Ella said with a smile. The door opened, and Ara' Sei walked in.

       "Ara' Sei, you have some powerful magic." Eris said.

       "Thank you Eris, I wish I could have been more useful sooner though." Ara' Sei said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

        "Well, that's out of the way, but, we still have one more thing we have to do." Cedric said.

       "Can you remind me?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "The man who was going to the cemetery. He's the one we have to find. Once we find him and defeat him, we can get our money." Cedric said.

       "Well, how are we gonna find him?" Eris asked. Cedric closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

       "I can go back to that grove and talk to the owl again. I was in a hurry, and I think I could find out more from them." Cedric explained.

       "There's another thing, what are we going to do with the man when we find him?" Eris asked.

       "Well, his actions have resulted in the death of three people. And I remember Eris mentioning that these guards are ill suited to magical threats such as this man we're up against. I'm not sure if I like it, but we will have to kill him." Ara' Sei explained. The others nodded in agreement.

       "Eris, you seem to be the most intelligent regarding magic of this nature. Do you know if the shadows will stop obeying him once we kill him?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "No, they won't, we have to kill him as well as any undead he's summoned." Eris answered.

       "Well, that makes this far more annoying." Ella said.

       "I know, it would be far easier but that's just not how that kind of magic works. Anyways, you all did a good job today. I'm sorry I couldn't take the blows for any of you."

       "That's okay! My job my whole life has been fighting for other people. At least you're actually good at fighting!" Ella pointed out. Eris smiled.

       "Okay, let's eat and go to bed, I'm starving and I'm tired." Eris said. When dinner came, the group devoured their meals and went to sleep. When all of them woke up the next day, something was different. Something about that day changed them. They felt stronger, more ready, more alert, more powerful. They knew that as daunting as it sounded, they were ready to face the mysterious man who was at the heart of the problem.

Author's Note: This is where the characters level up from level 3 to level 4. Just in case you've never played dungeons and dragons before, a level up means a character becomes stronger, sometimes in more ways than one. Also, another note. In dungeons and dragons, most wounds can be healed by simply having a good night's sleep. These are just two good things to know that are just now becoming relevant and will become much more relevant as the story progresses.