Henry was in the middle of a training session with his men when he was summoned by one of the 12 Archbishops that governed the Holy Kingdom of Ezra. As he entered the room, he saw the archbishop engaged in a serious conversation with the Head Paladin. They both turned to look at Henry as he entered the room.
"Ah, Henry! Perfect timing, Her Excellency and I were just talking about an incident that we would like you to look into," said the Head Paladin. "I'll leave it to Her Excellency to brief you on this matter."
Henry turned to look at the slender form of the archbishop, waiting for her to brief him.
"Paladin, we have received word from one of the towns under our vassalage that a necromancer had been sighted," said the archbishop. "I trust you need no further clarification on what it is you need to do?" she continued.
"Indeed, Your Excellency. I shall gather my men and we will set out for the necromancer at once!" said Henry with a salute.
"Good, the town guard that brought us the news will guide you to the town where the necromancer was last seen. He will be waiting for you outside the chapel," said the archbishop.
Henry nodded his understanding and turned to leave the room. He then headed back to where his men were still training and beckoned to his second in command, Knight Captain Leonard.
"Leonard, get the men prepped up. A necromancer has been sighted and we've been tasked to hunt him down," said Henry. "Meet me outside chapel in 30 minutes."
Leonard saluted his superior and went off to gather the knights while Henry proceeded to meet their guide.
David was nervously pacing outside the chapel. The incident that happened almost 3 days ago still weighed heavily on his mind. As he was still thinking about the incident, a brawny man who was clad in full white and gold plate armour approached him.
"You must be the one that brought news of that necromancer," said the man.
"Y-yes, that would be me. I'm David, a guard from Astonsford. The region under Lord Gerald's supervision. And you are?" asked David with his hand outstretched. Clad in full armour, the man had an imposing appearance and gave off an authoritative aura that commanded respect from those around him. This was no ordinary man, as far as David could tell.
"Henry, Paladin of Ezra. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, David. Can you tell me more about the necromancer that you saw?" said Henry as he grabbed David's outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake.
So that explains it, this man was a paladin. One of the few chosen to wield the divine powers of the lady of light, Ezra. David looked upon the paladin in awe, the white and gold armour glowed with a slight, golden radiance and a sigil depicting the goddess Ezra was carved onto both the breastplate and shield of the paladin.
"W-well, he had white hair, blue eyes. We first saw him sneaking into the graveyard at Astonsford three days ago. Which was rumoured to have some sort of undead creature that preyed upon those that wandered in after midnight. He had a s-sword that… that…," David's voice began breaking up as he once again remembered the sword that had caused the death of his fellow guard.
The paladin noticed David's distress and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "That's enough, thank you, David. No doubt that it was a terrifying experience for you. You have shown great courage in bringing the news to us. Necromancers have always relied on all manner of foul undead to do their bidding. They sell their souls in exchange for unholy power. As such, they are abominations that are not worthy of the light of Ezra," said Henry. He then muttered a silent prayer to Ezra to bless this man who had travelled quite a distance to bring them this news.
After the paladin had finished talking, David felt a surge of warmth and comfort enveloping his body. He felt lighter than before, as though a great burden had just been lifted from his shoulders. He turned to look at the paladin, who was smiling kindly at him. "T-thank you," was all that he could bring himself to say.
"You are most welcome," replied Henry to the young guard.
At this moment, Leonard and the 10 other knights under Henry's command had arrived, they were fully geared and mounted on their warhorses. Leonard had also brought Henry his horse, Lightstrider. The white stallion nuzzled Henry gently and Henry returned the affection before climbing onto his horse.
"Men! We now ride for Astonsford! This young guard had travelled far to inform us of a necromancer with white hair and blue eyes. Our task is to hunt down the necromancer before any further harm befalls those seeking refuge in our Holy Kingdom. Are you prepared, men?" yelled Henry. A resounding chorus of "yes" and "let's get him" rang out across the streets. Henry turned his horse around and looked David, who was getting onto his horse as well. "Lead the way, David!"
David nodded and kicked his horse into a gallop towards Astonsford. Henry and his retinue followed suit and the 13 men were soon galloping on the main road leading towards Astonsford.
Three days prior to the departure of David, Henry, and Henry's retinue from Ezrania. That is to say, soon after David's departure from Astonsford. Vaezar was walking towards his true destination, the mining town of Copperdale. He had heard rumours of a mysterious tragedy that had recently occurred there, which had caused the disappearance of many of the workers in the copper mines from which the town got its name from. The rumours that he had heard all had different theories, ranging from bandits kidnapping the miners to demons that had snatched the miners away to be devoured. But the thing that was fairly consistent about the rumours was that those that entered the mines, were never seen again. This led to the closing of the mines by the local lord while the local militia and guards were sent to investigate the cause behind the disappearing miners.
As Vaezar was deep in thought, a weeping sound caught his attention. Curious, he turned toward the source of the weeping and began walking towards it. The weeping came from a small clearing that was quite some distance away from the main road. If not for the weeping, Vaezar would have most certainly missed it as it was blocked from the view of those that passed through the main road by the many trees that grew on both sides of the road. As Vaezar approached the clearing, he saw a spectral figure weeping over what seemed to be the ruined wreckage of a cart.
Yet besides the ruined cart, a couple of dead horses, and crushed beneath the wreckage of the cart were the unrecognizable, mangled remains of what most likely would have been the spectre's body in life, there were no other bodies in sight. Yet as Vaezar looked around the clearing, he could tell that something was off. There were blood stains splattered all over the clearing, suggesting that some sort of conflict had occurred here.
"This isn't right… The blood and the number of bodies don't add up…," pondered Vaezar. He then turned towards the weeping spectre. "Hey, you! What happened here?" he asked.
The weeping stopped and the spectre turned to look at Vaezar. The spectre had the appearance of a middle-aged lady who must have been quite beautiful in life. The spectre's eyes widened as she saw the white hair and blue eyes under Vaezar's hood.
"YOU!!! YOU DID THIS TO US!!! YOU MONSTER!!!" screeched the spectre as she dashed towards Vaezar, attempting to grab him and strangle him. Vaezar made no attempt to dodge and the spectre passed right through him. Confused, the spectre lunged at him again and again but with no avail as she passed right through him every single time.
"Calm down, lady. I mean you no harm, I don't even know you. I don't know who you mistake me for, but I am not who you think I am," said Vaezar calmly.
"THE ONE THAT DID THIS!!! HE HAD WHITE HAIR JUST LIKE YOURS!!! AND EYES AS BLUE AS YOURS!!! YOU ARE HIM!!! YOU CANNOT DECEIVE ME!!!" she screeched again as she once again tried to attack Vaezar.
Her words got Vaezar thinking. If what she said was true, that would most certainly explain why there were bodies unaccounted for, and that would also mean that he was on the right track. Vaezar pulled his hood back. Giving the spectre a clearer look at his face.
"Was this truly the face that you saw?" he asked.
The spectre paused.
"No…, It is not. The one that did this looked older. His hair was longer. And his face, I will never forget his face," replied the spectre as she calmed down slightly. Then she resumed her weeping. Wiping imaginary tears from her eyes.
"What happened here? Tell me, so I can help you," said Vaezar.
The spectre looked at him again. Then said in between weeps: "We were headed for Copperdale, we had heard that they made the most wonderful copper mirrors and we were hoping to get one for our wedding. It was such a happy moment for us… I-I never thought it would end this way. W-we w-were supposed to l-lead a happy life…" Apparently the memories were much too painful for her, the spectre broke down and began crying again.
"And then what happened?" asked Vaezar. "Let me guess, a guy with white hair and blue eyes appeared and with him came zombies or walking skeletons that massacred your groom and the guards? Then, the corpses of the groom and the guards stood back up and then began shambling over towards Copperdale?"
"H-how did y-you k-know?" asked the spectre, still weeping.
"Because this isn't the first time that I've seen this. My family has had a long-standing history with the people that cause such atrocities," answered Vaezar.
The answer seemed to satisfy the spectre and she returned to her weeping. Still this raises a huge issue. It would seem that his parents were right about this lead. He had no time to waste. He was tempted to raise one of the horses to quicken his journey to Copperdale. But he needed a soul for that, and the souls bound to Animensis couldn't be released. He scratched his head as he tried to think of a solution. "Wait a minute," he thought to himself as he looked towards the weeping spectre. Then towards the dead horses. Then back to the spectre again.
"What was your name again, spectre?" he asked.
"M-Marie," she replied, sobbing.
"Say, Marie," he started. "Would you like to get revenge on the one that did this to you?"
The spectre stared at him blankly. Then she nodded and Vaezar grinned.