Elias stands with his back against the wall, watching the nurses fuss over his friend, Terric. He fiddles with his armour nervously, the Seeker sigil had always sat oddly on him, digging into his chest. A small price to pay to be part of such a prestigious organization, even if it meant he had to travel so far from his home and family, all the way out to his remote land. The posting was easy, as all the hard work was performed by the researchers. Simple initiates like him were only required to perform menial tasks like standing on the walls or cleaning the compound. There was supposed to be no risk at all.

However, Terric had still got hurt. They’d found him earlier in the day, lying along the road between Avonford and the compound, a nasty swelling on the back of his head. His coin purse was missing, so it could have been some thief.

The Lord Seeker would discover the culprit in time, no one could hide secrets from his magics. Of the four mages in the compound, the Lord Seeker was by far the most powerful. But still, the idea that some petty criminal attacked Terric fills Elias with anger. It was so stupid, so short-sighted. Typical of the savages out here on the fringes of the empire.

Elias sighs. If only Terric hadn’t been attacked, he could have seen the free mage turn himself in earlier today. Now that was a sight to see. It wasn’t often that a free mage showed up, and for one to be apprehended so easily was even rarer yet. He’d just waltzed in through the gates, without a care in the world. Quite unusual.

A groan of pain draws Elias’s attention back to Terric. It was worrying, just how sick the man was. When he was found, he’d been groggy, just like anyone who had suffered a severe head wound. Over the day, however, he’d become so much worse, despite the ministrations of the Seeker nurses. People trained in the prestigious institutes in Lightire, they should have been able to cure anything. Yet under their expert attentions, Terric wasn’t getting any better.

Another groan rips itself from Terric’s mouth, followed by a flurry of activity from the people surrounding him. They speak to each other in low voices, gesturing at Terric’s body.

Elias strains his ears and just about manages to pick up a few phrases.

“... lodged in his…” Says a man, his face covered in a cloth mask.

The nurse beside him gestures. “... unable to… removal is…”

A guttural howl from Terric makes Elias jump, stumbling backwards away from him. The man on the bed arcs his back, thrashing about. The nurses around him spring forward, gripping his arms and legs tightly, one of them trying to force a leather strap between the man’s teeth.

Terric strikes out with an arm, catching a nurse across their masked face, sending the person reeling away. The others redouble their efforts to restrain him.

Elias watches in horrified fascination, rooted to the ground where he stands. His friends face is twisted into a snarl of pain, or maybe anger. His eyes are wide, his pupils dilated. Drool runs from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin. He thrashes from side to side like a wounded animal, straining to get free.

Then, with one final rumbling growl, Terric falls still. The nurses restraining him stumble as his body slumps. One of the group places their ear to his mouth for a moment, before waving the others away. Immediately, he begins thumping on Terric’s chest in a rhythmic motion.

Seconds drag into minutes as the man continues his strange pattern but to no avail. Terric doesn’t move, the only sound coming from him the wet crunches from his chest as one rib after another breaks from the man’s ministrations.

Finally, the nurse stops and steps away. Elias falls back into a chair, watching the people all leave the bedside of his friend until Elias is alone in the room with him. With his friend’s body. His corpse.

Elias buries his head in his hands. There wasn’t supposed to be any risk out here. They were supposed to be safe.

It wasn’t supposed to go like this.

***

A noise startles Elias from his thoughts. How long had he been sitting here? Looking up at the window, night has fallen over the compound, a velvety blackness blanketing the world outside.

Another creak. This time, he was sure it came from the bed. Elias rubs at his eyes, letting out a long yawn. He must be exhausted if his mind was playing tricks on him like this.

Again a creak, this time accompanied by a faint grunt. It came from the bed. From his friend.

Elias stands, shaking his head to clear the discomforting thoughts. He should probably return to his bunk, and at least try to sleep. He needed to be up to be on watch tomorrow morning, and being found asleep at his post was a flogging offence. Definitely something to be avoided at all costs.

Just as he opens the door, a shuffling sound comes from the bed. Followed by a low groan. Elias turns back, his heart starting to pound. Terric is sitting upright in the bed, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging slackly.

“T-Terric, are you okay?” Elias asks, his hand shaking slightly.

At the sound of his voice, his friends head snaps around to face him. The man is a pallid corpse-grey, his dark blue veins clearly visible like worms beneath his skin.

Terric pitches forward out of the bed, tumbling to the floor in a tangled mass of limbs. Elias goes to step towards him, but stops, his eyes drawn to a sickening detail. The fingers on Terric’s left hand are twisted in unnatural angles, broken when he fell from the bed. And yet, his friend made so sounds of pain, no signs of discomfort at all. Nothing but the low growl.

For a moment Elias stands there, watching his friend get his legs back beneath him, slowly pushing himself back to his feet, ignoring his instincts screaming at him to flee. Then, Terric’s eyes meet his. The bloodshot orbs contain nothing but a ravenous hunger, rage, and hate. Terric’s mouth opens wide, and once again that horrifying growl rumbles out.

It was enough. Elias spins and sprints out of the room, running down the hallway to the entrance. There would be help there. There had to be.

He barrels into the entrance to the infirmary building, almost slamming into a nurse walking in the other direction.

“Help! Please!” Elias shouts in the man’s face, grabbing his shoulders. “My friend, he was dead and now… Please!”

The nurse pushes Elias hands away, stepping back. “Calm down. Just breathe and take me to him.”

Turning, Elias leads the man back up the corridor. As they round the bend, Terric comes back into full view, shambling down the corridor. He seems to have regained better bodily control, no longer looking like he’s about to collapse at any moment.

The nurse holds his hands up, walking towards Terric. “Are you okay? Come, let’s get you sat back down. How are you feeling?”

Looking at Terric, Elias’s instincts scream out again. Something was horribly wrong, he should run, flee as fast as his legs could carry him. Elias shakes his head. No, the nurse would solve things. Make his friend better. Maybe they’d made a mistake when they’d pronounced him dead?

Suddenly, Terric explodes into furious motion, flinging himself towards the nurse. The man shouts out before the pair of them slam into a wall with a thud that reverberates along the corridor. Terric falls on the man in a frenzy, teeth and nails tearing. The nurse didn’t stand a chance.

In a moment, the man lies still, blood pouring from his mutilated face and neck. Slowly, Terric stands back up again and begins walking towards Elias, as if nothing had happened. His face is covered in blood, one eye ruptured and leaking from where the nurse’s finger had caught it in the struggle. The wound didn’t seem to slow Terric, or even bother him. He just continued his slow walk toward Elias.

Then, the nurse twitches and begins to stand, a low growl rumbling from his mouth too. The same as Terric.

It’s too much.

Elias turns, and this time flees properly, sprinting as fast as he can go, the sound of his pounding heart and his panicked breaths filling his ears. He slams into the building’s outer doors, throwing them open to smash against the wall, before sprinting through and out into the cold night air.

The compound is silent, devoid of the people normally filling it during the day. Elias sprints on, past building after building, only stopping when the wall towers over him.

Putting his hands on the cold smoothstone of the wall, Elias bends over, struggling to get his breathing under control. What was that? What had happened to Terric and that nurse?

He must have been dreaming. Must still be dreaming. There’s no way that was real. Shaking his head, Elias closes his eyes, trying to will himself awake.

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.” He mutters to himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

A scream breaks the silence of the night.

Elias snaps his eyes open, looking around. He was still in the dream. Why wasn’t he waking up?

Another scream, this time from another direction. Elias looks back at the infirmary building. It was connected to the research centre on one side, and the barracks on the other. A horrible thought springs into his mind. What if those… things walked that way. The other initiates would be lying in their bunks, asleep. Vulnerable.

He had to get to the Lord Seeker. He would know what to do.

A low groan sounds from his side. Elias’s body locks up, and he turns his head slowly, dreading to look.

Terric stands there, half-hidden in shadow. He steps forward again, towards Elias. With one trembling hand, Elias fumbles at his side, struggling to pull out his shortsword. A sob rips itself from his throat as he tries to draw the blade, unable to tear his eyes from his slowly advancing friend. Why hadn’t he practised this more, why hadn’t he actually tried during training?

With a final yank, the blade pops free. Elias swings it over to point at his former friend, gripping it in both hands to try to stop his shaking.

“Terric, please, don’t come any closer. I don’t want to hurt you!” Elias shouts, his voice shrill in his panic. “Just go back… Go back to being dead… Please!”

Terric pays no attention, just walking steadily closer. Elias freezes, all his training fleeing his mind in the moment of terror.

Then, an opening. Terric stumbles a little, his foot catching on the ground. The momentary sign of weakness breaks Elias from his daze. With a yell, he springs forward, swinging his blade at his former friend.

With a screech, it hits his mail armour and skids off, failing to break through the metal. Elias steps back, his mind numb, detached, focusing on irrelevant details instead of the horror of the situation he found himself in. He’d always wondered how effective the mail was, how it would fare against someone with a sword. Well, now he knew.

He raises the blade again and thrusts. The tip of the blade catches in Terric’s mail, sinking into the man’s chest with a wet thud.

Terric steps back. Only a single step. The blade barely seemed to phase him.

Then his face comes up to stare at Elias, his eyes filled with that hateful anger. Elias stumbles back, the sword dropping from his hands, forgotten in the face of his terror.

Then, Terric is on him.

Then, it’s over.