Baz trudged through the darkness, holding his flame close, just barely letting it tickle his clothes, pulling it away when the sparks got too close. Penny followed a ways behind him, staying just at the edge of the shadows, trying to be silent. Simon was behind her, walking in a sedated way. He couldn't believe he had, that he could do that. And to Baz. To Baz of all people. He had thought the spell would just calm him, just to make him calm enough to stop kicking things. He hadn't expected it to literally force him to the ground, to paralyze him. He didn't think that he had used that much magic. He wanted to take it back, wishing it had never happened. He wanted to lunge forward, to grab Baz and hold him, to beg and plead for forgiveness, and yet he stayed in the back, head down, lost in though. He glanced up when the other footsteps stopped. Baz's figure was silhouetted against a dark, blood red door with runes carved into it. Baz slowly extended a hand and grabbed the handle, turning it so agonizingly slow. The door swung open in squeaky hinges, causing them all to cringe slightly. A few candles sprung to life as they entered the room, causing grossly elongated shadows on the walls. The candles flames themselves were dull, flickering halfheartedly. The room smelt dusty, as though nothing in it had been disturbed for years.

"Keep your eyes open" Baz murmured as he stepped farther into the room, wand out. Simon and Penny stayed a few paces behind him, hanging closer to the door. They all jumped when something snapped in the shadows around the room. None of them moved until Baz took a few steps towards it, wand out.

"Baz!" Simon cried, but it was too late. From behind Baz, something lunged out and grabbed his arm, dragging him down and throwing him off balance. With that one, more and more followed, seeming to pour out of the shadows. It took Simon a moment to recognize them, though his mind instantly rejected the thought. They weren't real. They couldn't be real. And yet, here they were. The only word Simon could think of to describe them was zombies. Their bones were poking out from under brown, dried flesh, stretched and warped grotesquely. They shambled almost comically, their eye sockets empty and faded. While they varied in size and stature, they all had the same symbols carved into the stretched and rotted skin on their chests. It was the now familiar pentagram with four wings and two points at the bottom. Simon and Penny took a step back as the grotesque figures flooded the room, pushing them back.

"Baz!" Simon called, pulling out his wand and trying to locate Baz in the crowd of animated corpses.

"Snow! Go! Run! There's too many of them!" A strained voice shouted back.

"We're not leaving you!" Simon called, just seeing Baz's panicked face disappear in a mob of bodies through another door. Simon clenched his teeth and planted his feet.

"Pen, get behind me" he growled.

"W-what?" she squeaked back.

"Get behind me!" he roared, causing Penny to scramble a little ways back into the stair well, the only place without the zombies. He placed a hand to his hip and let the old enchantment wash over him again, the sword of mages materializing in his hand. It started as a tingle running through his bones, which grew into an all-consuming fire, burning with power. He lifted his sword above his head, glowing red. With a swing of the sword, the first rows of zombies were thrown back into the farther ones, crumbling into dust. Swing after swing, every zombie that came into contact with the burning red blade met the same fate, slowly melting together before being blown out of existence. Simon had forgotten what it was like to go off. He couldn't see anything but red, but he could feel everything, sense them. It was like he stopped having a physical form, and was instead just energy. Angry and violent and powerful. While it wasn't exactly something he liked, it did make him feel powerful and graceful, never missing a beat, never missing a step. Never missing an enemy. They fell swiftly and easily, almost effortlessly. Finally, Simon stood alone in the room, panting hard.

"S-Simon?" Penny asked from the doorway. Simon's leg wobbled dangerously, and he fell over, falling out of consciousness.

A/N: Yay conflicts n' shit. Hnnng what is wrong with me. Help. And by help I mean review, cuz fuck the world.