Disclaimer: I don't own Rune Soldier or Those Who Hunt Elves.

The Song, "Way of Life", is owned by Jedd Shual-Iyiste.

Soul Games.

The First Challengers/Way of Life.

By Jedd Shual-Iyiste

Louie growled under the weight of all the luggage and supplies thrown on his back. It just wasn't fair. He STILL had to play porter and carry all the junk! No one even glanced back at him as he muttered under breath, either ignoring him or having grown so used to it, they didn't even notice it.

Ila.

Immediately his eyes stung, but he didn't wipe away the tears threatening to come. For her, he would cry. She deserved the tears. So many times she had helped him, and when she needed him, he was off drinking.

He should have been there. There to stop that man... that ghost.

That THING with those eyes. He shuddered. A ghost with the power to kill the living, and trap their souls. The Soul Games.

The stakes were so high. Every soul was on the line. It was a winner take all. If they lost, they would not only die, but their souls would also go to him.

It was do or die. Only this die was worse than death, for death was only the beginning.

"Stop." Melissa's voice rang out from in front of him. Glancing up, he saw nothing of interest, or of a reason for them to stop. They were on a dirt road, miles from any city or town, trees off to one side, hills to the other, and a beggar sitting by a crossroads.

Louie glanced at him, his eyes seemed hidden in the shadows of his brownish black hair, which hung like an uncut, unwashed mess on his head, stretching down to rest between his shoulders in the back. He had a faded, and very beat up brown shirt with widened sleeves, and even more faded blue pants of a strange cloth material that conformed to his skin, and what looked like a type of boot, but not of the kind he had ever seen. It was like a mini boot without a heel.

Melissa stared at him, iced shivers running up and down her back at the feelings. She knew this feeling, but she was surprised by how long it had taken her to actually notice them. She must have been too caught up in her thoughts of Ila and the ghost to have noticed this creature.

A zombie.

Louie called to her, "What's the hold up? It's just a beggar."

Melissa shook her head as the man looked up at her. His face took her by surprise...it was half gone. Not as if someone had cut it off, or that it was missing, for the outlines seemed to be there, but there was just darkness and shadows covering his eyes and upper face. Only his nose and down seem free of the shadows, and even then a streak of shadows came down the left side of his chin. It was as if he was wearing black soot over half his face, but she doubted that. She wasn't sure why, but she doubted it.

Then she looked at the teenage girl next to him. Her silvery hair was strangely cut. Three locks of hair hung on the left side of her face, with a smaller fourth one on those, and there was short hair behind, but only on the left side of her head. On the right side of her head there was only one lock, and long flowing hair on the back of her head.

She wore a white shirt and lose pants, with sandals. It was strange how pale she was, and how despite the heat of the day and the dirt, her clothes held not a speck of dust on them.

She gave a sigh and looked to the zombie and said, "It's time."

Melissa raised an eyebrow, "What's time?"

Everyone looked at her, except perhaps the zombie, she couldn't tell since she couldn't see his eyes.

Merrill poked her side, "Ummm, WHAT'S what's time? What do you mean?"

Melissa looked down at her, surprised. The girl continued to stare at her, as if she wasn't certain what was going on. "The girl, she said 'It's time,' so I asked-"

Louie cut in, "Melissa, what girl are you talking about."

Melissa blinked and looked at Louie, then Merrill, then at Genie, but that all stared at her in equal confusion. "I...uh...you can't see her?"

The girl blinked, then scratched her head, and shrugged, "Whatever, AlleyWay? Be a dear and take care of them, but leave the girl, that one," she pointed to Melissa, "alone. I'd like to talk to her. And make sure you remember what I said earlier!"

The zombie stood up. Melissa swung her staff in front of her, whether or not they could see the girl, she was there, Melissa was sure of that. And she was going to take care of the zombie right now. She began chanting and a ball of light appeared before her, then hurled itself at the zombie that simply stood there...only to dissolve into mist.

She stared in horror at the ineffectiveness of her prayer. How?

"My AlleyWay can't be laid to rest, priestess," came the girl's voice. Melissa started, seeing the girl standing next to her. When had she moved?

Not caring, she called to the others, "It's a zombie! Kill it!" The others nodded.

Louie in particular, "Good, I could use something to beat up and take my aggressions out on!" He dumped their things on the ground and pounded his fist. "Come on zombie thing!"

He ran at the undead being smashed his fist into its face.

"It won't work," the girl said.

Melissa looked at her, "What...are you?"

The girl looked at Melissa from behind silvery eyes, "I'm Senetty. And he's AlleyWay. As you guessed, he's a zombie."

Melissa turned to the girl, glaring softly, "And you?"

The girl looked at her, then turned her gaze, speaking with a sadness, "A tragedy, I guess you could say. We're also two of Sartiss' group. The one he's organizing."

"Sartiss...the ghost?"

The girl nodded, "Yes. He's a ghost. But not like me."

Melissa gave a start. If this was a ghost, that might be why the others couldn't see or hear her. Some ghosts probably couldn't be seen if one didn't possess a special sight or wasn't a priest or priestess. "What do you mean?"

But Senetty shook her head, "You'll learn, perhaps. But like I said, this isn't a fight you can win."

But it looked as if Senetty was wrong. The zombie, AlleyWay, hadn't even put up a struggle. Louie kept smashing the thing down as soon as it got up.

"If that thing is meant to beat us, I think you're in trouble. It's pathetic."

Senetty chuckled, "As far as raw strength, you're right. But he's a rank three" Melissa gave her a blank look and Senetty chuckled again, "A priestess that doesn't know? Perhaps they don't understand zombies here..." She seemed to be speaking to herself. After a moments thought, the ghost spoke again, "There are three basic ranks of zombies. One, two, and three. The first rank is the easiest to create, and are pathetic. It's fairly easy to kill, and they stink to high heaven. The second are smarter, and carry some of the abilities they held in life. Then there's the third. AlleyWay. As a rank three, he retains his soul in his body, has every ability he had in life, and is fully capable of thinking for himself. Basically he might as well be alive. AlleyWay posses a regenerative power through his...rebirth. As long as his focus remains, any injury he takes will be undone. No magic or prayer can lay him to rest, so long as his focus remains."

Senetty smiled softly. Melissa stared at the girl. Why was she explaining all this to her? Enemies weren't supposed to do this! "Why are you telling me this? You're supposed to be with Sartiss!"

Senetty shrugged, "Well, for one, I haven't had anyone to talk to except AlleyWay, and that gets kind of old. His memory span only counts for the last eighteen years, so I have to keep explaining things to him, it's gets old saying the same things again and again to the same person... and as for Sartiss? We're only working with him as a payment for a favor he did us. We don't like him, nor what he's doing. And personally, I'd rather see you win than him. But he did help us, and we make it a point to always clear our debts. ALLEYWAY! Time to fight back now! "

Melissa stared as AlleyWay sudden grabbed Louie's fist, smashed his elbow into the larger man's throat, kneed him in the stomach, and jumped back as Merrill stabbed at him.

Ducking the thrown knives, he charged the thief. Moving with a surprising speed, he bent and rammed his shoulder into the small girl's midsection, then lifted her up, carrying her as he rammed her into Louie.

Louie and Merrill fell in a heap.

As the zombie turned, Genie's sword calmly slid into his ribcage. No blood came from the wound. One hand darting out, he grabbed Genie's wrist, then calmly walked forward, pulling the blade deeper into his chest. Genie stared in shocked horror as the scene in front of her, until the creature oh so calmly slammed his fist in her stomach, then her chin.

Pulling out the sword, he let the blade fall to the ground. The three fighters didn't get up.

Melissa shook with a new fear. This...power... it was uncanny. Immune to physical, magical, and holy attacks, and with the skill to be deadly. This being was invincible.

"Like I said, it's no use," Senetty said sadly. "Luckily, we're just here to test you're abilities...and I've seen all I've wanted. But know this, when we do meet again, we'll fight with both hands, so to speak. And with the rest of the group. I wish you luck, adventurers...I truly do."

Melissa stared as the zombie and ghost walked off, leaving them. They had just been beaten, so easily, by only a part of the group they had to beat...and the zombie hadn't even been trying? And also, why had Senetty been so...informative?

Her friends lay there, unconscious. Night was approaching, and with it the predators of the night...but yet there was a strange calm now in the air. As if they were...being guarded? Melissa set about making the camp alone. It took a bit of work, doing it alone, but she finally got it done even as the sun set.

As she sat down by the crackling fire, she realized three things: The undead were guarding them. She realized that as she saw the faint glow of the ghost girl in the distance. This night, the two stood watch over them. Second, that Senetty truly wanted them to win, and had been giving her information to increase their chances of winning. The third...She was a ghost, of a different sort, and she was also AlleyWay's focus for his powers.

The ghost and zombie, working together had achieved a type of immortality. And now they wanted to finally have peace, to be laid to rest.

She laid her head down on her pillow, and closed her eyes, but as she did, she could swear she hear a man singing in the darkness of the night...AlleyWay.

"I thought I would just curl up and die,
You thought I was just, lay down and cry.
It never occurred to me to ask you why.
But now I know that you'd just smile and lie.
But now you dare ask me why

I'm, the AlleyWay.
A way of life.
A life of hate.
Hate of the betrayed.
You betrayed me and,
And I won't forget
Nor will I forgive
What you did
To me.

I screamed, begging you not to do this.
But all you did was smile and say I wouldn't be missed.
And now I'm gone, I feel her faint kiss.
And I stand up again, knowing death will soon be his.

I'm, the AlleyWay
A way of life.
A life of hate.
Hate of the betrayed.
You betrayed me and,
And I won't forget
Nor will I forgive
What you did
To me.

And I know, that I wasn't the only one you
Crushed like a bug underneath your shoe!

We're, the AlleyWay.
A way of life.
Lives of hate.
Hate of those betrayed.
You betrayed us and,
And we won't forget
Nor will we forgive.
What you did,
To me."

Melissa shivered. So similar, was their way of life now. A life crushed under a shoe, and they certainly wouldn't forget, nor forgive Sartiss for his betrayal of life. That was their way of life for now.