The stench was overpowering.

"Oh my god." Janet cupped her hands over her nose and mouth, doing her best to block the rancid smell. "What happened here?"

"Plague demon." Brandon stared out into the town, moonlight filtered through overhead clouds barely bathed the buildings in its glow and seemed to add an ancient look to the town as the group stood before the entrance.

"Where is everyone? The place looks so... deserted and old..." Lucy shivered a little as a small breeze pushed past the group.

Hoof beats. The group could just barely hear them as they seemed to echo around the party. The sound seemed far off but at the same time it came from all sides at once. Janet let out a small yelp and looked around. Menolly latched onto Jason with a shaky arm.

"There, ya hear it? It's 'round here somewhere..."

"Come on," Brandon led the group into the town. "Might as well start looking."

Jason did is best to pry the frightened Menolly from off his arm, offering her a few soothing words as he did. "Don't worry about a thing, I'll make sure nothing happens to you." Menolly smiled up at him thankfully as they made their way through the town.

Rot, decay, a musty stench rose up in the air as the group made their way about the town. Lucy almost gagged as they passed by a building where the smell seemed to waft from the worst. "This is horrible..." the raven-haired windian shuddered as she glanced around. "What kind of plague can overtake its victims this fast?"

"To think this place was just teaming with life earlier..." Ray gazed off into the distance where the Merry Traveler Tavern sat, its form looking shoddy and broken.

"Actually, from the looks of it this place still is teaming with life..." Janet stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted what looked to be a few slumped forms shuffling around in the road ahead of the party. The rest of a group came to a stop, Brandon walking forward a bit and peering into the night at the forms down the road in front of them.

"Something's not right..." Janet took an uneasy step backwards, her eyes fixed on the shuffling forms just yards away from the group. Her slow retreat was brought to an abrupt halt as she felt herself bump into something behind her. Turning around suddenly, she caught sight of what she hit and shrieked.

There behind her stood a corpse of one of the townsfolk staring down at her. The figure just barely seemed to resemble the forestclan man that it had once been. It's furless skin, now a rotten greenish-brown seemed to be hanging just barely off of it's skeleton. Patches of muscle showed where skin had already fallen off, and clothes hung on the creature like shredded rags. The corpse looked at Janet blindly from its sunken eye sockets where little yellow pricks of light gazed down at the windian in a dead stare.

"ZOMBIES!" Brandon shouted out the warning as he leapt towards the figure in front of Janet, a quick swing of his rapier severing the cadaver's head from the rest of its body and sending the form collapsing to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"They're everywhere!" Lucy glanced around in surprise, as suddenly the whole town seemed to be teaming with activity. Hoards of zombies shuffled along the streets moaning and groaning hauntingly as they began to surround the small group. The sound of hoof beats started up again, somewhere closer, and then a wild bray was heard thundering throughout the night, a sudden loud moan from each of the zombies echoed after the wild horse cry and the creatures charged.

"Holy Beam!" Lucy's spell struck one of the zombies and sent it crumpling to the ground instantly with an ear-piercing cry. Instantly more zombies rushed in to take the place of their fallen companion. Two quick gunshots where heard and the heads of a couple of nearby zombies exploded into fragments as Janet turned with a shaky hand and fixed her aim on more of their attackers.

"There's too many of them!" Brandon sliced the head of one of the zombies in half before taking a few steps back. "We'll need to get out of here. Everybody get ready to run."

"You're fucking with us, right?" Jason shouted over his shoulder at Brandon as he fired off a quick fireball spell at a nearby zombie, sending the corpse up into an instant flame. "Where the hell are we supposed to run to?"

"Anywhere away from these things, just get ready to run!" The guard plunged his rapier into the ground and clasped his hands together, lowering his head as he uttered a brief spell. The zombies continued to encircle the group as the windian's left arm suddenly shot up into the air. "FLASH!" At the command, a bright flash of blinding light filled the room, dying away quickly and leaving the group surrounded in blackness. Jason barely heard Brandon shout some orders to him before the howling of angry and confused zombies filled the air.

"Get Janet and Menolly out of here!" Brandon motioned for Ray and Lucy to follow as he grabbed up his rapier and raced through the mob of helpless zombies. Jason took a hold of Menolly's arm and called out for Janet.

"Come on! We need to get out of here now!"

"I know where we can go!" Menolly shook herself free of Jason's grasp as she ran off towards a nearby building. "Come on! Daddy's store should be safe!" The two windians followed after the girl, and soon the three of them made their way to Menolly's home and hurried inside it, slamming the door behind them securely.

"Upstairs," Menolly motioned. "We should be safe up there." The trio made their way up the stairs and down the hallway, finally stopping inside of the guestroom that Lucy and Janet had shared the previous night.

"Great." Janet plopped down on one of the beds with a sigh. "Now here we are, and Ray, Brandon and Lucy are all stuck out there somewhere."

"We should stay in here..." Menolly glanced around nervously from Jason to Janet. "It's safer in here. I'm sure those three will be fine."

Jason sighed and shook his head. "Nah, we need to get out there and find them. Not even Brandon is going to be able to stand up against a town full of zombies for long."

"Well ya'll should at least stay here a while and rest." Menolly gave Jason a pleading look. The windian considered her thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head again.

"You and Janet stay here and rest, I'm going to head out and see how many zombies I can clear out of our way. We're going to need to find the others soon." With that, Jason turned and slipped out of the room, vanishing down the hallway. Janet sighed and stood up again, making her way to the window.

Great, I knew we should have gotten out of here sooner... the windian gazed out into the night, scanning the streets below for any sign of the other three. Mobs of shuffling forms was all she could spot.

"Ya won't find them out there." Menolly's voice wasn't much of a comfort. "There's no way those three are going to stand up against a town full of zombies and a plague demon."

"Aren't you little Miss Optimistic?" Janet muttered her back to the girl. "I thought you were wanting us here to take care of this demon anyway?"

"Somethin' like that..." Menolly's voice was quiet as she replied and Janet could hear her shuffling around behind her. The windian ignored her as she continued to train her gaze on the dark town below her.

Something didn't seem right about the town. There was something a little too familiar in the way the moonlight made some of the buildings glow. This is just how the town looked last night... the thought sent a shiver up Janet's spine. But if this was what the town was like last night, then that means... the memory of the scratching noise and the hoof beats came flooding back to her suddenly and the windian's breath seemed to suddenly get caught in her throat. That means that Menolly was lying... the town was already-

A loud cracking noise shattered Janet's thoughts and she whirled around in time to see Menolly land hard on the ground just in front of her, Jason standing just behind the fallen girl, his crossbow raised up and loaded.

"Janet, get over here." Jason's voice was low and seemed to tremble a bit as his eyes shifted from Janet to Menolly.

"Jason?? What the hell are you-" Janet was cut off by a loud groan from Menolly and suddenly she felt Jason reach over and grab a hold of her arm, pulling her roughly towards him and shoving her in the direction of the door.

"Get out of here now!" Jason raised his crossbow up in shaky hands and pointed it at Menolly as the girl slowly pushed her way up off the floor.

"Jason..." Menolly stared at the windian with wide, bewildered eyes. "What are you doin'?"

"Stay the fuck away..." Keeping a shaky aim on the girl as he backed towards the door, Jason motioned to Janet again. "What are you waiting for, get out of here!"

"Jason are you insane?" Janet shifted her gaze from Menolly to Jason as she slowly took a few steps back. I can't believe he's doing this... he's finally lost it... I'm stuck in a room with a mad man and a creepy girl.

"Jason..." Menolly started again. "Why are ya doin' this? Didn' ya say you were gonna protect me?"

"What I said was to stay the fuck away, and I mean it!" Jason held his ground, the loaded crossbow resting in his shaky hands as he pointed it at Menolly. "Not one fucking step closer!"

"Jason... I-" Menolly's words were stopped abruptly by the arrow that lodged itself right between her eyes. Janet let out a scream as the girl fell backwards and hit the ground. As Menolly's body lay motionless, Janet turned to Jason with a wild look of fear in her eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-"

Jason put a shaking hand over her mouth and motioned to where Menolly lay on the floor. Janet slowly turned her gaze back to the ground and let out a cry of surprise. "Oh my god..."

Menolly's face around where the arrow hit slowly caved in, revealing an empty skull. Within seconds the girls skin seemed to shrivel and discolor, taking on a rotten appearance. The smell of death filled the room and Janet turned away with a gag, her figure shivering.

"Oh my god... she was a zombie... How did..." Janet slowly turned her gaze to Jason. He didn't look any better off then she did. His eyes were wide with fear and Janet could see that he was shaking uncontrollably. His hands, too slippery from sweat were unable to hold the crossbow any longer and the weapon clattered loudly to the ground, causing Jason to jump in surprise.

"SHIT!" Jason reached down and snatched up his weapon, then grabbed a hold of Janet's arm and pulled her out from the room. "Come on, we've got to find the others."

Ray, Lucy and Brandon were out in front of the Merry Traveler Tavern.

"This isn't right." Brandon staring at the buildings around them. "These buildings look like they've been out of use for a while... no plague demon is going to cause damage like that to buildings in just one night."

"How many plague demons have you run across?" Ray rubbed the back of his neck lightly. Brandon just shook his head at the dragon.

"It's not that, it's just that I know about the magic demons like this use." Brandon sighed. "Evil magic, unholy biased. Spells like Animate Dead or Mind Control, spells created specifically for the purpose of controlling the life essence of another creature." Brandon motioned to the town around them and turned to Ray. "A demon like this, a plague demon, would be using those types of spells on a larger scale, but spells like that aren't going to affect inanimate objects." Brandon motioned to the Merry Traveler Tavern. "Those spells aren't going to cause wear and tear on these buildings. Only time is going to do that."

"So what are you saying?" Lucy glanced at her brother curiously. Brandon sighed and looked out into the town again.

"I'm saying that this town has been like this for a while. This wasn't an over night thing."

"But Menolly said..." Lucy's voice trailed off as Brandon shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"Maybe Menolly didn't know. It's possible that she was safe from the spell. Maybe she was out of town when it first hit or something, and as long as she was inside and safe at night then she would have been okay. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

Brandon shrugged again and turned to his sister. "Unless Menolly was lying to us."

A loud bray cut through the air and the three glanced up in shock. "That sounded pretty close..." Ray drew his sword and glanced down the streets that stretched out around the tavern. The sound of hoof beats was suddenly heard, echoing up from all of the streets as the noise grew louder, it's pace growing quicker. Brandon drew his rapier and stood ready as he scanned their surroundings.

"Where is that coming from?" Lucy almost had to shout to get her voice to be heard over the pounding sound of hoof beats. Brandon was about to respond when suddenly the building in front of them exploded, sending rubble spraying everywhere. The trio ducked down, shielding themselves from the flying debris and scrambling to regroup together. Another wild bray blasted through the air and Brandon looked up to see a large black horse, its details not too unlike those of the zombies the group had already encountered. Patches of fur missing to reveal sickly skin, parts that had rotten away now exposing muscle and bone, the ghastly form that barely even resembled a giant black horse as it gazed down at the trio, it's oily mane and bare tail lashing around in some unseen wind as stocks of blue fire burned brightly were the creatures eyes would have been. The rotting phantom, hovering almost two feet above the ground regarded the group for a moment before rearing its head back. A rumbling growl resounded from the demon's throat as the creature opened its gaping maw, exposing rows of sharp, yellowed teeth, and let out another echoing bray. The group had to throw their hands over their ears to keep from going deaf at the sound as the horse phantom reared up and charged them. Brandon barely had time to shove Lucy out of the way before the creature trampled over where they were once standing.

"Suppose that's the plague demon then?" Ray jumped up into a standing position, brushing himself off as turned to Brandon. "What do we do?"

Brandon watched as the demon circled back to charge again. "Right now I'd suggest we move."

The trio turned and ran as quickly as they could down the streets, the hoof beats of the phantom horse pounding after them as the demon rushed behind them, catching up quickly. Brandon led the group around a sharp turn and down into a small alley between a few of the buildings as the demon pounded past them, the smell of rotting flesh and disease wafting by them as it passed. Lucy leaned up against one of the buildings as the trio worked to catch their breath.

"That thing..." she started, pausing to take in a gulp of air. "I remember reading about that in that book... I believe it's called a Nightmare."

"Original." Brandon sighed heavily. "Did it say anything about how to get rid of it?"

Lucy thought for a moment. "I'm trying to remember... plague demons were pretty strange, you couldn't beat them like you might normally suspect you could kill a plague demon."

"What do you mean?" Ray gave her a curious look. Lucy shrugged.

"Well, it's pretty much undead, so you'd assume that something like Holy would work great against it." Lucy shook her head. "But it's not like that at all. It's something else." She sighed loudly as she thought. "Plagues travel through infested creatures... to get rid of a plague you have to destroy whatever is infected..."

"So to stop a plague demon, you have to destroy it." Brandon glanced out of the alley, scanning for the demon. "Yea, so? We know this already."

"Well I'm thinking!" Lucy sighed. "You can't use holy, because for some reason that just helps it."

Brandon shot his sister an impatient look. "So what do we use?" Lucy was about to reply when the wall next to her exploded, sending dust, dirt, and bricks flying. With a shout, the three made their way quickly out of the alley as the Nightmare thundered past them. They were greeted back on the road by a hoard of hunched over zombies that lurched towards them. One of the closest corpses reached out a bony hand to grab at Lucy. Brandon pulled his sister out of the cadaver's reach just as the whizzing of an arrow cut through the air, the projectile slamming into the head of the zombie with enough force to split the creatures head. Gun shots where heard and three more zombies lost their heads. Brandon turned to find Jason and Janet rushed towards them.

"Where's Menolly?" Brandon called out to Jason as they approached.

"Don't fucking ask me that right now!" The windian reloaded his crossbow and took aim at another zombie. There was a snapping sound and the arrow was sent flying through the air, landing dead center in its target. Once again a bright flash of light filled the area and sent the zombies into a confused rage as Brandon hurried the group to a safer area.

"Lucy, you figured out what we're supposed to use on that thing yet?" The windian guard turned to his sister as the group stopped once again out in front of the Merry Traveler Tavern. Lucy nodded weakly as she worked to catch her breath.

"Yea, I think you're supposed to use evil magic on it."

"That would make sense..." Brandon tapped the hilt of his rapier thoughtfully. "If holy really does help it, then it would only make sense that it's opposite would harm it."

"Well then, no harm in trying right?" Ray cast a glance around the group.

"Yea sure." Lucy shrugged lightly. "No harm unless we're wrong and evil just helps that thing out more then we could ever imagine. Then there is a bit of harm in that."

Brandon sighed. "Looks like we're going to have to find out." The windian guard flexed his wings briefly before grabbing his rapier and plunging it into the ground before him. Folding his hands together and lowering his head, the windian began chanting quietly. A black glow seeped around his form and streams of magical energy, like dark fire swirled around him. The sound of hoof beats started up again and began to grow faster as it raced towards the group.

"Shit..." Jason glanced around, looking for where the Nightmare was charging from. "Can't he cast any faster then that?"

Lucy shook her head. "Brandon hasn't used his evil based spells in a long time, he's not as skilled with them."

"Well if he doesn't hurry this won't do us any good." Janet let out a shout as the phantom horse seemed to materialize out of the darkness in front of them, charging towards the group. As the others leapt aside, Brandon barely had time to draw his rapier from the ground as the Nightmare slammed into him, tossing the windian into the air as it charged along. Brandon's wings snapped out, beating in a flurry to control his wild fall as the windian landed hard on the back of the giant demon. The creature turned quickly, attempting to buck the windian from its back as it did but Brandon held his place, plunging his rapier into the back of the beast in order to steady himself. The phantom let forth an angry bray and charged wildly again, attempting to shake the windian off its back. Holding tightly onto his weapon, Brandon finished chanting the rest of his spell, holding his left hand up in the air as he prepared to cast.

"Death Chime!" The black aura that had surrounded the windian guard expanded suddenly, enveloping the Nightmare in its glow. With an ear-piercing cry, the phantom bucked up once more, finally dislodging the windian from its back and sending Brandon crashing into the ground as the Nightmare charged off in a fury. Lucy raced over to where her brother was laying.

"Brandon! Are you alright?!"

"Get back!" Brandon motioned quickly for his sister to move as he stumbled up to his feet, his eyes trained on the phantom horse ahead of him. Once again the demon circled around, letting out another wild bray as it charged towards Brandon and his sister.

The creature never made it. As the black aura continued to envelope itself around the Nightmare the creature stumbled and fell to its knees, its decaying back limbs having finally broken free from the rotting body. With an enraged cry the demon continued to struggle, pulling itself along with its forelegs as it lurched towards the windians. Piece by piece the decaying corpse broke apart, rotten masses of its flesh falling to the ground as its bones snapped and littered the floor. Rearing its head back for one final deafening bray, the creatures neck finally gave out and snapped in half, sending the horrific head of the demon crashing to the ground before Brandon, it's gaping maw laying open to reveal the sickly yellow teeth as the demons fiery eyes slowly burned away into nothing, the Nightmare's last angry cry echoing away into the night. The others slowly approached the spot where Brandon and Lucy stood staring down at the defeated demon scattered out before them. Janet was staring wide-eyed at the Nightmare's head, holding her hand over her mouth.

"Oh... I think I'm gonna be sick..." The windian turned away and shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the image.

"That was..." Ray heaved a sigh. "That was a rush."

Brandon was about to respond to the dragon when a gasp from Lucy attracted his attention. His sister pointed a shaking finger at the demon.

"I saw it move..."

The group stood uneasily, watching the dismembered form of the Nightmare that was spread out in front of them. Sure enough, a flicker showed once more in the creature's eyes.

"Oh great..." Brandon took a step back and Ray drew his sword out, holding it ready and glancing from Brandon to the demon. The group continued to watch and wait.

Suddenly a violent shudder ran down the back of the demon. With a cry, Janet leapt back as the fore legs of the demon twitched and tried to upright themselves. The creature's head jerked up and nodded just slightly, its mouth opening and closing silently as a viscous shiver ran through the demon, and finally it settled again, its form crumbling into a thick, grey dust before the eyes of the group. A cold wind kicked up, spreading the dust out into the darkness until none of it was left. The group stared in silence, watching the empty street in front of them as the sky above them slowly took on a hazy blue tint, revealing the first rays of the morning sun.