Chapter 3

It was after midnight, and I couldn't sleep. I decided to take a little walk around Amityvale. I passed a narrow lane and saw a dog. It's Artix's battle pet, Daimyo!

"Yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap!" Daimyo jumped around and wagged his tail when he saw me.

"What is it, boy?" I asked him.

"Yap yap yap!"

"Artix? What about Artix?" I asked.

"Yap yap yap!"

"Oh no…Artix fell down a WELL?" I exclaimed.

"Yap yap!"

"He's DEAD?" I exclaimed, shocked.

"Arf! Yap yap yap yap!"

"Oh…he's FIGHTING UNDEAD! I see. We'd better go help, lead the way, boy!" I followed Daimyo to a well.

"Hello down there! Are you alright?" I shouted down the well.

"NOOOOOOooooo!" Someone howled down there. ??? Who was that? It didn't sound like Artix.

"What's wrong?!" I asked.

"There is some Paladin down here and he is wiping us all out!" Oh. So it was an undead talking to me. Maybe Artix is not doing so badly down there.

"Be still fiend! Prepare thyself for the divine, holy, retribution exorcism aura of justice!" Artix shouted from down there.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh!" The undead screamed.

This isn't going how I imagined. "HANG ON, ARTIX, I'M COMING!" I shouted down. And then I jumped into the well.

After tackling down several skeletons with Ash and Twilly, I finally found Artix. He was facing a huge skeleton with an axe.

"Well met, friend! Your timing is amazing…this next fiend looks like the BOSS!" Artix greeted me.

"You know, Artix, normally in a rescue quest the hostage is not fighting his way to the boss with the monsters fleeing in terror." I said drily. "I mean, seriously…what are you doing down here?"

"Well, this spooky little girl told me to jump down here to get her ring. She said I only had 7 days, so it must be important!" Artix explained.

I sighed. "Now we are going to have to make a list of people (and things) not to take quests from…alright, let's battle!"

After several minutes, we finally manage to kill the Boss, BadBones. Apparently, I have saved the captive Artix from becoming the necromancer's next victim…sort of.

We decided to travel back to FalconReach. We reached the FalconReach Inn at midnight. Serenity rushed at us when she saw us.

"Thank goodness you have come. We have a bit of a ghost problem in the tavern!" She exclaimed.

! Ghosts!

"It figures that I would buy an inn that is already haunted. I can't make a single gold at this rate! I knew it was too good to be true! Please, would you investigate and see what you can find out, maybe you can put a stop to them." Serenity begged me. I relented and agreed.

We killed several spirits and wisps before we reached a room. I opened a door

and saw the ghost of a girl.

"Greetings, traveller, have you come to rest at the inn?" The spirit asked.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Mary Grey. I own this inn and tavern…or I once did. Things have become very confusing lately." The spirit said.

"You might be more confused than you think. The owner of this inn is Serenity, and you look like…well, I can see through you." I said.

"Ah yes, that's right. I often forget…I died, didn't I?" Mary asked.

"Looks that way. I'm sorry." I said.

"Oh, it's alright. At least I get to stay in the inn that my family built…and I have plenty of company." Mary said.

…? What?

"Can you tell me what you know about all the ghosts wandering around the halls of the inn?" I asked.

"It seems as if there is a great darkness growing in the land. All these spirits are answering the call…" Mary said.

"Call? What is calling them?" I asked.

"I'm not certain. All that I know for sure is…Doom. Just the word 'DOOM'." Mary said.

…! My mind flashed back to the stranger who called himself the Doom Master, who sells all those Doom Weapons. Could he be the…?

"The spirits are normally like me, peaceful. They are happy to remain where they can roam in peace. Being drawn here has made them forget. I can remember… most of the time…because I am still here in my home, but the others are misplaced and have grown angry." Mary continued. "They have lost their way and their minds and they are lashing out at you, the living. I hope things can go back to the way they were. I miss the peace of my inn."

"I will try and take care of them for you." I promised Mary.

"Thank you, Mage. I would like that very much. But take care, the Soulkeeper resides in the attic. He is a powerful spirit and will not leave peacefully. Good luck." With that, Mary disappeared.

I seeked out the last few spirits and called it a day, after banishing the soulkeeper. He's easy. Then I returned to the inn to sleep.