That day some children came running back to their homes with terrified faces. Seeing their kids in this state the parents inquired about what has happened to them. And they couldn't believe what they were hearing.

It was like every other day. The kids were playing around in a small cave system on the outskirts of tribes. This cave system had small caves interconnected. Children loved to play there. The parents would send their kids to play there as there wasn't any danger in the caves. And the caves were very small so there was no chance of getting lost. Also, they were lit up by a special pigment on the cave walls, so it wasn't dark at all.

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In the cave system, a group of children were playing hide and seek.

"Rishi, it's your turn to seek."

"Okay, but next time you will have to seek."

Rishi had turned nine this year. She had been coming to these caves since she was three. And she knew the whole area like the back of her hand. This was her favourite place to come and play with her friends.

"One...Two............Fifty......Hundred.."

She started seeking around the cave system. It wasn't very difficult for her to find her friends. Half an hour later, she had found four of her friends with only one remaining.

After going through all caves only one was left to search. It was also the deepest cave. She went inside the cave with her friends to find the boy named Visk.

As they reached the end of the cave they saw Visk standing in a small crack on the surface of the cave wall.

"Visk! Visk! You have been found."

Rishi and her friends all yelled at him but he didn't reply. He stood in the same position without turning his head.

One of Rishi's friends, Dai ran up to Visk after seeing that he wasn't replying. But as he reached the crack in the cave wall he stopped there. Finally, Visk had turned around. He started running towards Dai. As Visk was coming near him, Dai clocked something weird.

Dai noticed that Visk eyes had turned red and he also had a grim look on his face. He was feeling a weird sense of danger from Visk. Dai turned around to run away from him but it was too late.

Visk had caught up to Dai. He jumped on Dai and pinned him down to the ground. And started hitting him with a stone in the head.

"Aaaaa.....Aaaggghh..." Dai screamed as he couldn't endure the suffering.

Rishi and her friends watched this entire incident happen. They couldn't even move because of fear. Suddenly Dai's screams stopped and he wasn't struggling anymore. It turned out that he has been beaten to death by Visk. His skull was torn open with blood and brain matter spewing out.

After killing Dai, he looked toward Rishi and her friends. His face and body were covered with blood.

Screams resounded throughout the caves. Similar changes happened to many kids and they started killing other children. It was a bloodbath. Few kids managed to escape and reach the tribes. When adults heard about this situation they rushed to the cave system. But what they witnessed was complete hell.

The dead bodies of kids littered around the caves. The blood was still gushing out of their bodies. Some had open skulls, flesh bitten off their bodies and tears still in their eyes. They truly died a gruesome death.

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This was just a start of a nightmare for the Gnomes. A disease started spreading in the tribes. People started losing their minds and attacking people on sight. They didn't care for their children and family. It was like they were not themselves anymore like a demon has taken their place. They had to be put to a final rest for others' safety.

The fear among gnomes grew. They started distancing themselves from their friends and family. But soon they were able to locate the source of this problem. It was found out that only the people that were getting infected by this weird disease were people going near the cave system.

All the gnomes tribes decided that they were going to make the cave system and its surroundings a forbidden area with no entry allowed. After this rule came into effect, the situation improved greatly. The illness stopped spreading. Finally, when they thought that everything was good.

People who lived near the forbidden area started catching this mental illness and turning to demons. They started killing people by biting them and breaking skulls with rocks like beasts. It was clear they were no longer the same person as before.

After the gnomes did some research, they found out that the illness, curse or whatever it was, it came from the cave system. And it was spreading towards their tribes. If they wanted to survive, they either had to solve this problem or move far away from this place.

In the end, gnomes decided that they would go away from here as this illness had already taken enough lives of their kin. This was the reason why they were attacking the dwarves so relentlessly.

They didn't have a choice, they had to do something. If they didn't take any action, it would be the death of their whole kin. That's why they fought with their life on line to acquire new land for their survival.

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After the Gnome king explained the whole situation, he got on his knees and begged Zain for help.

"Why didn't you ask some other power for help?" Zain asked the Gnome king.

"Who would help us, young lord? We are surrounded by three human empires. They are already busy with their own problems. Do you think they care for people who are not even of the same race? Especially, when they have nothing to gain from us."

"And as for the gnome empire, they are so far away from us. It would take so long to contact them. Even if we did manage to contact them, they couldn't bother to help a small group of tribes. They will just say that we should relocate to Gnome Empire. We have tried asking for their help before. The reply is always the same."

Gnomes were truly in a very difficult situation. They were being forced to leave their home. But they didn't have any choice. If they choose to stay, it would be the same as killing themselves from that strange curse. So, left with no choice they decided to put all their hopes on Zain. That he could get Duke to save them from this crisis.

Now, Zain was stuck in this weird situation as he didn't want to left gnomes who were an excellent resource for the development of Dukedom to die in these mountains. Gnomes with their mechanical knowledge could help him increase the production of wine and come in handy in many other sectors.

But he couldn't take this decision himself so he called Raina for some advice. Raina made a magic dome around them to prevent anyone from ear-dropping.

"So, Raina what do you think we should do?"

"Zain, I am not trying to scare you but there is something in these mountains which is giving me an eerie feeling. Whatever it is, that thing is trying to hide its presence. But for a split second, I felt its presence. It's not an opponent that I can fight."

"So, I say we leave this place right now. I got to talk about this place to your father then we can think about what we should do."

Seeing Raina so worried, Zain decided that they would leave and start shifting gnomes from here to their territory. But just as he was about to talk to the Gnome king, he noticed that Draig wasn't there with them. He looked around to find him but saw no traces of him in the hall.

"Raina, Draig is not here!" Zain shouted.

But Gnome king answered him first.

"Young lord, the boy that came with you just left the hall when you were talking with that madam."

Zain and Raina didn't say anything just ran outside of the hall. The guards they brought with them were standing outside. But before Zain could say something they interrupted first.

"Young master, Draig! Draig! He turned into a dragon and flew towards the cave system. Half of the guards have gone after him."

Zain and Raina were shocked after hearing this. They clearly knew that the cave system wasn't a safe place. And Draig was a legendary powerhouse if he caught this weird curse and goes on a murder spree, it was not gonna end well.

"Zain, you go back to Dukedom with these guards. I will handle the situation here and bring Draig back."

Raina was prioritising Zain's safety.

"No, Raina I am coming with you. Draig is my responsibility. My mother trusted me with him. I can't let her down. And if he had gone mad, I may be the only one who can bring him back to sanity."

Seeing Zain being so adamant about helping Draig, Raina gave in and let him come with her. They ordered the guards to return to the Dukedom and inform Zeidan about it. With the speed of a legendary mage, Zain and Raina quickly caught up to the guards chasing Draig.