Zellach was standing outside his magic teacher's tower with his brother Driskoll when he saw a messenger running toward them. He seemed to be in a hurry. Either he was delivering an important message or he was just a nervous rookie.
"Pardon me," he said to them when he reached the tower.
There was sweat all over him and he seemed rather nervous. Judging by his youthful appearance, he was indeed a rookie. He pulled a wax sealed letter out of his sack.
"I am here to deliver this letter to the Great Zendric from the Cremation Service." He said. "However, I am very behind in my deliveries, so could you give this to him for me?"
"Sure." Driskoll replied, as he took the letter from the messenger.
Then the young man hurried away; he was running like there was a pack of hungry wolves after him. Not surprising, if you knew the chief of the messengers. She could be very scary when she got mad. Zellach wondered what was written on the letter. Perhaps he would ask Zendric about it. He could see a strangely written "V" on it. Part of him was tempted to open it, but he knew that would make Zendric furious.
Zellach was a sorcerer in training being taught by Zendric, one of the most famous wizards of Curston, his home city. His hair is long and blonde, his eyes are dark brown, and he wears a red wizard's robe. Despite his young age, he hates being treated as a child. That is why he is being trained by Zendric. One day, he will become someone important in Curston. In the sack he had with him was a spellbook that had belonged to his mother.
Driskoll is Zellach's little brother. Like Zellach, Driskoll has blonde hair, only much shorter. Unlike Zellach, he has deep blue eyes, much like their mother's. He wore an old green jacket, a white shirt, and shorts. Secretly, he kept a dagger in his boot. It had become a habit since he, his brother, and their friend, Moyra, were made Knights of the Silver Dragon.
Over a week ago, the three of them saved Zendric's life and stopped a conspiracy to take control of Curston. Due to their heroic and selfless actions, they were given the title of an old order of knights that died out decades ago. All of them were overjoyed at first, but they have not had any other adventures since then. Life had returned to normal, which means they were bored.
"Good morning." Zendric said when he opened the tower door.
If it really was Zendric. He looked like he just got out of bed because he was still wearing his night robe. His hair was messy and he seemed half asleep. However, Zendric still had his usual scowl on his face. The two boys did not know what to say. Neither of them had ever seen Zendric in such a state.
"What is it?" He asked with a yawn.
Zellach did not know what to say. He had gone there for training, but his teacher did not seem to be in any condition to teach him. It was Driskoll who found his voice first.
"We have a letter for you." He said holding it out.
Without any of his usual grace, Zendric took the letter and opened it. While he was reading it, he seemed to fall asleep. The brothers could tell because they heard him snoring. After a minute of staring at the drooling legendary sorcerer, Driskoll tapped him on the arm and he woke up instantly. This startled both of them. Then Zendric finished reading the letter.
"You two, take care of this." Zendric said as he shoved the letter back into Driskoll's hand.
Before either of them could say anything else, Zendric walked away. He did not even bother to close the door. The two brothers slowly walked away, not knowing what else to do.
"Well that was weird." Driskoll said when they reached the end of the street.
"How did that even happen?" Zellach replied. "Zendric has always been so graceful and dignified, no matter the situation."
"Maybe he had a rough night?" Driskoll suggested.
"More likely he accidentally inhaled a sleeping powder he made." Zellach said.
"Will he be alright?" Driskoll said.
"We should check on him later." Zellach replied. "First, he gave us a task. Hand me the letter."
According to the letter, someone named Victor Frankenstein was found dead in his home this morning. Apparently, he had made an agreement with Zendric on the matter of what would be done to his remains. It was a list of strange requests. His body was to be cremated, then his ashes were to be divided into four separate piles of equal size. All four piles were to be placed in a green jar with orange symbols painted on it that could be found in his house. After placing a pile in the jar, wait five seconds, then place another pile into it.
Zellach told him what the letter had written on it. He too seemed confused by the requests. Why would a man leave such instructions for what to do to his remains?
"Who is this Victor Frankenstein?" Driskoll asked.
"I honestly do not know." Zellach replied. "Never even heard the name. Let's just complete the task. Afterwards, I am going to make Zendric give us some kind of assignment as knights as payment for making us do something he was supposed to do."
"I don't think that will be necessary." Driskoll said, trying not to let his brother know how scared he was of the idea.
True, Driskoll was an official knight of the Silver Dragon, but he was terrified of going on a mission. He has never thought of himself as all that courageous. Also, he could be a crybaby at times. Just the mention of his mother made him want to burst into tears. His father always got mad at him because that. He is always telling Driskoll to stop acting like a baby. The brother's father is always very strict and sometimes he is a complete jerk. Though, Zellach calls him many worse thing when he is not listening.
Zellach and Driskoll walked to the Cremation Service building. They were too busy thinking about the task they had been given and Zendric's strange behavior to notice the weirdness around them.
Meanwhile, Moyra was having a slow business day. There were hardly any people out in the the streets for her to steal from. Moyra is a pickpocket; she has been one since her father got sent to the city dungeons. Today, she hoped to steal something to sell at a high price. She needed money to buy a good present for her mother. However, all the stores were still closed and there were very few people on the streets. Moyra needed it to be crowded, otherwise she would be caught the instant she started.
As the day went on, she slowly began to realize something weird was going on. There were no adults to be seen. Most of the houses were still locked up, like they were at night. Only now, it was almost noon. Her feeling drove her to go to Zendric's tower. Something was wrong and needed help to figure it out. Curston was beginning to look like a ghost town. However, on her way to Zendric's tower, Moyra encountered some children wandering the streets.
Hey, kids!" Moyra called out. "Where are your parents?"
All of them said that their parents were asleep. Now Moyra knew what was wrong. The adults of Curston were either asleep or struggling to stay awake. Moyra told the children they needed to go home and stay there until all the adults were awake. Unfortunately, she could not take the time to make sure they all went home. She was busy running to Zendric's tower. Though, she stopped twice to take some gold coins from collapsed adults. Everyone living in the slums could use a few extra coins.
When Moyra reached Zendric's tower, she saw the door had been left open. Now she was seriously starting to feel worried. Inside the tower, Moyra found Zendric collapsed on the stairs. Luckily for her, he was still half awake. Even if she could not get help from him, Zendric could still tell her where Zellach and Driskoll were. They were not adults yet, so they should be awake. By now, Zellach should have been by the tower for his magic lessons. That explained the open door and Zendric sleeping on the stair. Zellach must have come by and Zendric must have been trying to fight off the sleep. Moyra kneeled down and asked Zendric where her friends were.
"Cremation building." Zendric mumbled.
"Why are they at the Cremation building?" Moyra inquired.
However, by the time she finished her sentence, Zendric had fallen completely asleep. She tried to shake him awake, but it did not work. Left with no other options, Moyra moved Zendric to his couch and started heading to the Cremation building; but not before she took some useful items from Zendric's tower.
By the time Moyra had left Zendric's tower, Zellach and Driskoll were already at the Cremation building. The guards let them in without so much as glancing at them. Yet another strange occurrence. They were able to find Victor Frankenstein ashes easily. Also, the ashes had already been divided into four piles by someone there. Oddly, the place seemed rather deserted. There was the jar mentioned in the letter on a table with them.
"So, which of us puts the ashes in the jar?" Driskoll asked his brother.
Clearly, neither of them wanted to touch the ashes. So, they flipped a coin that Zellach had in his pocket. He won thanks to his two-headed coin. Carefully, Driskoll picked up each of the piles and dumped them into the jar. After he finished, the brothers were about to leave when there was a sudden earthquake. Zellach fell to his knees and Driskoll landed on his rear. The quake lasted about one minute.
"What was that?!" Driskoll exclaimed.
"I am relatively sure that was the first earthquake to hit Curston since the breaking of the Seal." Zellach replied.
Then they heard a rumbling noise. The floor shook again, but this time for just a few seconds and not that strongly. Driskoll did not know what was happening, but Zellach had a vague idea. When the ground shook once again, his idea became clearer.
"Run!" Zellach shouted.
Before Driskoll could react, something burst through the wall. The entire wall was destroyed and bricks scattered everywhere. What came through had the form of a large, muscular man with ghostly pale skin. All over its body were stitches that seemed to hold it together. There were black chains wrapped around its legs and arms. Covering its face was a dirty cloth. The only part if its face that was visible was its bloodshot eyes. In its hands, the creature carried a rusty shovel. It wore tight black pants that only reach its knees.
Both Zellach and Driskoll were frozen where they stood. The creature did not seem to pay any attention to them. Instead, it appeared to be looking for something. When its gaze moved away from them, the brother's slowly backed out of the room, never once taking their eyes off the creature. While they backed away, the creature moved towards the jar containing Victor Frankenstein's ashes. It picked up the jar, then crushed it in its hand. When the creature opened its fist, both the creature and Zellach saw that the jar was empty. No ashes. At that moment the creature became enraged.
The creature throw the broken pieces of the jar at the wall. Then it turned around and looked directly at the brothers. That is when they started to run. The creature charged after them. All of them ran down the corridors of the Cremation building. It swung the shovel in its hands at the young knights. However, the brothers were able to keep just out of its range. They ran as fast as they could, but it stayed right at their heels. Also, the creature roared and barked at them, like a wild animal.
As they left the building, the creature managed to grab Driskoll's arm. It lifted him off the ground and held him close to its face. Driskoll could smell the creature's breath; it smelled worse than cow manure.
"Where are Frankenstein's remains?!" The creature asked in a rough voice.
Instead of replying, Driskoll kicked the creature in its face. It barely seemed to notice. However, it was mad that Driskoll did not answer its question. Using its free arm, the creature punched him in the gut. Driskoll felt like it pulverized his stomach with that one punch. His vision became blurry, but he could still hear Zellach chanting. Then he heard a lot of squawking and the creature crying out in pain. Suddenly, the creature dropped him, but he did not hit the ground. Zellach caught him. Next, he felt a liquid which tasted like apple juice go down his throat. His vision then cleared up and the pain in his gut eased.
"Can you move?" Zellach asked.
Driskoll nodded. The two of them began running down the street. When Driskoll looked back, he saw about half a dozen falcons attacking the creature and a pile of feathers and bones at the creature's feet. Not long after the brothers made it to the end of the street, something grabbed their feet. It was the creature's chains. They had extended and wrapped around their ankles. The brothers were being dragged back towards the creature by the chains.
Zellach tried to break the chains with his magic. Driskoll tried to do the same thing, except he used his dagger. Neither of them could so much as scratch the chains. Also, Zellach was using too much magic. He could feel his strength fading already. Things were beginning to seem hopeless.
"Hey!" They heard someone shout. "Release my friends!"
The brothers looked to the source of the voice and saw their friend, Moyra. She was wearing golden lightweight armor that shined in the sunlight. Moyra had an arrow aimed directly at the creature. When the creature let out a horrible roar, Moyra released the arrow. It went straight into the creature's left eye. Clearly, the creature was in pain; it fell backwards, kicking and swinging its arms around. While the creature was in agony, Zellach and Driskoll managed to slip out of their chains. They ran to Moyra, who had already drawn another arrow. As the creature got back up, it pulled the arrow out of its eye. The young knights readied themselves for battle.
Then the creature just disappeared. Literally. One second it was there, and the next … gone.
"What was that thing?!" Driskoll asked his brother.
"I honestly don't know," Zellach replied. "But I am going to find out."