The sun shone down on me as I ascended out of the Deep, when it struck me suddenly that I had no recollection of the stairs transitioning into the broad walkway I now strode upon. Confused and curious I turned to see what lay behind me and what had happened.

What I saw did not match at all with what my senses had told me transpired. I could have sworn I had walked straight upward on stairs, which at some point had flattened out, unbeknownst to me. This was not what lay behind me though; the walkway was lost to sight a short distance away as it spiraled in on itself around a central pillar I had not taken note of at all.

I rubbed my forehead as I wrestled with the mismatch between my perception and reality. Frustrated, I shook my head and continued out of the Dungeon, hopefully I would have time later to explore this strange effect.

It did not take long to reach the end of the walkway, which gave way to an open expanse of flat stone, shimmering with a blue tint in the sun.

I spun slowly, taking in the sights outside of the Deep. There was a rather sheer cliff-face behind me, rising to a modest height, whilst ahead the stone gave way to forest some distance away broken up by an expanse of cleared land dotted by a scattering of tents and wooden buildings.

"Guard!"

A harsh voice drew my attention to a Guard standing at the edge of the clear area. His eyes were fixed intently on Charles, who still moved with a disconcerting lack of grace.

An expression I could not quite discern flitted across the Guard's face, but it quickly gave way to a scowl.

"Report to the captain, immediately!"

Something in Charles' posture made me think he was surprised by the order, though personally I could not see anything wrong with it. But then I did not know much of what might be normal or not, in this situation.

The Golem who had been trailing near to Charles all the way out of the Dungeon had slowed down enough to let me catch up. It seemed to throw a glance at me and then sidled even closer, away from the Guard and Charles. Perhaps the Golem was uncomfortable with new people? That idea did not seem sound though, as it had acted quite enamored with Charles earlier, copying his actions and following him far more readily than it had me.

Charles gave a curt nod to the Guard and strode past him towards the cluster of wooden buildings. Hesitating for a long moment, the Golem eventually followed, though it took a detour, its route taking it as far away as possible from the Guard while still moving in Charles' direction.

I followed, not even trying to keep my grin at the Golem's antics hidden.

A shudder went through me as I passed the Guard and it took effort not to turn and stare at him in shock, as undead taint sat as a lump inside of his chest.

I walked past, keeping my face impassive as my mind raced through possible implications. The Guard did not seem to be different from anyone else, aside the Power inside him. While it was hard to make an exact comparison of the magnitude or amount, I could say for sure that he held more undead Power than had been in Charles' wound. Yet he did not seem haggard or worn, carrying himself as if all was well. How could this be?

This made me wonder if people with the undead taint was nothing new. Was it possible that the only thing that had changed was that I could now perceive them, with the new rank of Sense the Flow.

I walked slowly forward, focused on trying to make this idea fit with what I had seen and experienced. But it seemed far more likely that this was something new or possibly reoccurring.

Another interesting question was: what was the difference between the grotesque creatures I had faced and the Guard who seemed so normal?

I hurried to get closer to Charles and further away from the afflicted Guard, catching up to the Golem as we strode on.

We soon came to the largest of the buildings in sight, where Charles knocked on the door to be quickly answered by a call to enter from inside. As he opened the door, he waved his hand at a bench to the left,"Wait here, while I see what this is about." He gave me a small smile before walking inside, closing the door firmly behind him.

I could sense that there was undead taint approaching from behind, just crossing into range of Sense the Flow. Presumably it was the Guard who had followed us.

I moved to the bench and sat, both to get further from the undead-infested Guard and to give me an opportunity to view the rest of the cleared area in sight. I worried that the Guard was not the only one touched by the undead Power.

While the Golem sat down next to me on the bench, with rather hesitant movements, the Guard stood watching us. I threw some surreptitious glances at him, trying to spot anything that was noticeably unusual, which would give a hint at the Power that lay coiled inside him.

By the way he straightened and pushed his chest out, I was not as discrete as I had hoped.

As it seemed the Guard would not do anything beyond standing there and preen, I closed my eyes and turned my attention to what I could sense from inside the building.

The first thing to draw my attention was even more undead taint. There were four clusters of Power in the room just inside the door, three of which held the undead Power.

Putting my surprise aside, I presumed that the only one free of taint was Charles, as that cluster of Power held what he had in place of Mana, making the supposition credible.

All four clusters seemed to be very close to each other, strangely so even. Were they grappling?

For a short moment I hoped that they were sharing in some manly hugging, not having seen each other for a long time or some such. That hope faded quickly though, as I sensed the undead taint spread and move into the core of what I presumed to be Charles' Power cluster.

I gasped loudly as a sense of dread started to rise. The possible implications of this were more than I could easily sort out. I felt exposed and afraid, thinking of someone assaulting me in such a way. I recalled the feel of the undead tendrils of Power with a disgusted shudder.

I was pulled away from thoughts as two more Guards walked up to the one that watched over me and the Golem. They both had undead Power burrowed inside their chests.

The two new Guards only stopped for a moment, sharing a few words, before throwing a glance my way and moving on.

I did my very best to keep up a calm appearance and breathe slowly. Was this why the Order had offered me Sense the Flow as a direct reward instead of a choice? So I could perceive this?

Quest!

Flee into the Deep with your Golem!

Reward: Adventurer's Satchel.

I took in the quest with both dread and relief, it almost felt as if I had been given confirmation of my thoughts from the Order. But it also indicated strongly that I was in danger where I was, which did not bode well for Charles.

I looked out over what I could see of the tents and buildings, noting that there were quite a few people around. Were all of them afflicted? What did that even mean? What would happen to them? The clusters inside the building moved further away, three staying near to each whilst one moved ahead, soon leaving my range.

Were they dragging Charles?

For a moment I was tempted to rush inside and try to free him but I squashed that idea, there was no way I could hope to be successful.

I very carefully did not look at the Golem as I began to give it instructions.

The Golem rose swiftly and started to walk back toward the Dungeon, though with less grace than it had when it moved on its own accord.

"Sit here and wait!" The Guard stepped in front of the Golem, no doubt intending to stop it, only to get knocked over as the Golem just kept walking. I wondered what the difference in weight between me and the Golem was. Had I walked into the Guard in such a manner I would have been the one to fall.

The Guard scrambled backward a short distance before getting to his feet. I rose as well, rushing after the Golem as quickly as I could while still giving it instructions.

"Stop! Come back here!" I did not shout too loud, not wanting to draw more attention than necessary, but still wanting the Guard to be confused, thinking me willing to stay.

As the Guard had not shouted for others and seemed quite confounded in general, I did not slow as I reached the Golem, instead I started to sprint. My instructions to the Golem got jumbled up and I stopped trying to control it, hoping it would follow and not do anything stupid.

To my great relief I could feel the cluster of Mana, that was the Golem, following me as I crossed over onto the stone expanse around the Dungeon.

"Stop!"

I took a look over my shoulder as I started down the incline that would take me to the first floor of the Deep, to see that the Guard had stopped at the edge of the stone. He stood there, red-faced and scowling as I began to move downward.

The experience of entering the Dungeon this way was quite interesting. The whole thing seemed to play with my perceptions, as all of a sudden the walkway was stairs, yet I did not stumble, instead I moved with a rhythm as if I had been on stairs all along.

I stared around me, taking in what should have drawn my attention immediately, but had not. Instead of the stone I would have expected, the stairs and walls were wood. There were pieces of both the walls and stairs missing, showing only darkness. Looking ahead, some parts even seemed rotten.

I turned around, facing back to where I had come from. I could see the Golem following me, walking down the stairs that rose behind it into darkness. Which was decidedly disconcerting as I could have sworn that just moments ago I had been on the stone walkway.

I shook my head as I continued downward, walking out of the dungeon again did not seem the most brilliant of ideas. Even if it would be interesting to observe more of the effect.

Why had the Guard not followed? There was no guarantee that we would end up in the same part of the first floor if we both moved down the ramp, but why stop so far away? Why not make more of an effort? Perhaps me getting away was of far less importance than I had felt myself.

I did wonder though, did you end up on the last floor you had defeated when re-entering the Dungeon or always the first floor?

The stairs soon ended in the kind of room I had come to expect, a square with the stairs I came down and a door on the far side. Though this room was made of dilapidated wood and not stone as on the tenth floor.

I stepped into the room, catching a face full of cobwebs making me shudder in disgust.

As I finished wiping my face free of the cobwebs I saw that in the middle of the floor rested a satchel.

You have entered the first floor of the Deep!

You have completed a Quest! You have been awarded an Adventurer's Satchel!

Looking around as I moved toward my reward, I could not help feel exposed. The darkness showing through the rotten and broken wood gave me a strange sense of being watched, this room had a far more ominous feeling than what I had experienced so far in the Deep.

While the tenth floor could no doubt have killed me in short order, it had not seemed as imposing.

Getting a hold of myself I crouched down to take in the satchel I had gained. I should be safe in this room until I left it, no matter what I felt at the moment.

While the satchel that held my enchanted objects was of rather fine make, the adventurer's satchel was even more so. No doubt wearing it would make a rather stark contrast to my dirty and somewhat worn attire.

The Golem moved up and crouched down next to me, seemingly also to study the satchel, making me smile in amusement. The Golem seemed to become more and more alive as time went on, at quite an astonishing rate really, considering how it had started out just a short while ago.

Turning back to the satchel I opened it to see if it held anything interesting, only to stare in confusion.

Inside there were tiny apples the size of small strawberries, several pieces of bread the size of my thumb, along with what looked like miniature water skins the size of my fist. Just looking made my stomach rumble in protest and I grumbled under my breath at the cruel joke.

Since a small amount of food was better than nothing I stuck my hand into the satchel and grabbed what must have been a water skin by the size of it and brought it out into sight.

I stared at the normal sized apple I held. I looked into the satchel, seeing only tiny apples and then back at the one I held.

I put the apple on the floor as I held the satchel at eye height before slowly lowering my free hand into it, watching carefully. As my fingers crossed the plane of the opening they seemed to bend at an angle rather than go straight down.

It was really difficult to make out, my mind seemed to rebel at what I saw, but my fingers were smaller past the the rim of the satchel.

Inside, small fingers. Outside, normal sized fingers. I could understand when the transition that should be taking place happened. I was sure it happened at the edge of the satchel, but I could not see it happening. There was no large part of a finger connected to a smaller one. I could perceive one or the other, but not both at once.

As if my elated curiosity brought on my worries, I let out a shuddering sigh, as I wondered what was happening with Charles. What about Logate? Had the undead taint spread there too? That seemed very likely, I mused. For a fleeting moment I wondered if Sharon was alright. I did not think I would be comfortable living with her if she had been afflicted as well.

I brought out a loaf of bread and a water skin before sitting down against a wall to eat and think. The Golem stayed crouched, watching me with its expressionless face. Was it curious? Could it be curious?

Why did I not get the quest earlier? Could I have saved Charles if I had? Or did I not know enough at that time to qualify for a quest?

I took a bite and chewed while shaking my head.

Had I been too accepting of the notion that rules governed the Order? I did not actually know that, though the hypothesis seemed very sound.

I ate as I wondered just how far this undead infestation had spread. Had Logate been overrun completely? If so, what would that mean? What was the difference between the undeath of the Champion of Truth, the rabbit, and horse on one side and the Guards on the other. What about Charles' wound?

In all of those, the Power I had felt was the same, so why did the effect vary? Had I not felt the undead taint in the Guard I doubted I would have noticed anything strange about him.

Had I not sensed what happened to Charles inside of the house, I might have once more wondered if the undead Power was any concern of mine. It was not as if I cared much about what happened to the people of Logate anyway. Bad things happened all the time, undead Power or not.

I felt uncomfortable as I considered if that might be why I had been given the quest after Charles had been afflicted. So that I would be there to sense it, making the memories of those undead tendrils fresh and harder to ignore.