Several weeks before.
Fregoldawae, the capital city of merchant country Freopia.
“It has been really foggy inside the city over the last week. This is my first time seeing such weather at this time of the year,” said a city guard. He walked along the foggy streets next to his partner who always patrolled the same area as him.
“The dark fog is nothing. What I find creepy and unnatural is all the moans and cries of pain coming from the south sector of the city,” said the second guard. He scratched his neck that was bothering him due to its dry flaky skin.
“What were you doing in the south sector?”
“Billy had a severe case of stomach aches and was bedridden, so the captain had me take over his shift for him.”
“Did you hear about the magic guild testing the immortal potion on other people?”
“Where have you been? That’s weeks-old news.”
“Do you know anyone who used it?” asked the first guard.
“Only a friend of a friend. I have no intention of buying one and using it. Who knows what crap is inside of the potion.”
The first guard took out two small potion battles from his coat pocket and showed them to his partner.
“Want one? They’re cheap, I had to dip into my drinking money but if they can do what they say, going a few days sober is worth the price.”
“No thanks, those things are probably what made Billy sick. I won’t be using such shady things.”
“Don’t be a conspiracy theorist. How could there be anything wrong with these potions? All the newspapers praise it as being the best thing since the creation of pineapple pizza. Several of the city’s politicians love it so much they are taking baths in the stuff.”
***
The researchers from the magic guild paced up and down the noisy hospital ward that had popped up to hold all the influx of people that had become severely sick.
“He…healing p…potion please,” asked a man weak from the intense pain racking his body. The blind man reached out from his bed into the air trying to grasp for something, anything. He had lost his sight several days ago and now could only hear, and even that was getting fainter.
The researcher looked to the nurse dressed in a full white gown with a hooded mask to keep away any disease.
“He already had a potion… several of them, so has everyone here. Nothing has changed even after they are given the potion,” said the nurse.
The researcher took a pair of gloves out of his breast pocket and put them on before grabbing the man’s outstretched hand to inspect it.
The man’s arm was black as unpolished onyx stone and when he tapped it was just as hard.
He opened the man’s eyelids and found that his eyes had become a solid black onyx orb.
“What type of pain are you in? How long has it been this way?” asked the researcher as he looked under the sheet and found the rest of the man’s body was just like his arm.
“It burnsss… my stomach… itch… all over… heal me~!”
As the researcher continued to inspect the man, the arm was yanked out of his hands and slammed into his gut knocking the wind out of him. He fell to the ground gasping for air.
“Ghaaaa!” with a pained roar the patient launched himself out of the bed and grasped the nurse’s head with both stony hands.
“Kyaaa!” the nurse screamed in fright and pain.
“GUARDS!” cried out the researcher as he struggled back to his feet and tried to detach the deranged patient from the nurse.
It was no use as the entire population of patients seemed to take the outburst of the first patient as a signal. They all roared and launched themselves at the nurses, doctors, guards, and magic guild researchers in the makeshift hospital.
“KYAAA!” the nurse cried even louder as more and more pressure was applied to her head.
Pop! Pop! All through the room, several loud squishy pops could be heard.
***
Bador, Capital city of Beorin.
King Titus had come to an old friend’s home after finding out that he had become gravely ill. The two were slowly talking with each other inside the man’s room.
“…Not only have I gotten sick…So has my son and wife…” said the old capital noble between pained gasps of breath.
“And you cannot remember where or what could have caused such illness?” asked King Titus. He looked at his old friend with pity. The old noble’s body was completely black and rock hard.
The old noble was silent as he blindly stared at the ceiling not answering the question.
Thump! Bam! Bam, bam!
Sounds from the courtyard gate brought King Titus out of his daze. He hurriedly stood up and walked to the room’s wooden door and opened it. His wife was sewing while waiting with the guards that had accompanied them to the mansion.
“What’s going on out there?” asked King Titus.
“I’ll go check,” said one of the guards as he opened the door to the courtyard.
“Gyaaa!” The old noble defying his old years, jumped out of bed and onto the king’s back.
“What are you do…AHHHH!” the king let out a scream as a large chunk of flesh was bitten from his neck.
The two guards nearest him rushed forward with swords drawn and hacked at the king’s attacker. When the swords made contact they did little damage only chipping off a layer of the black stone skin.
The guards pried the old noble off the king and used the pommels of their sword to bash his head in until the black stone onyx figure lay still on the ground.
“Hurry, get the healing potion,” said one of the guards and he tried to find one in his own pouch.
Two of the most expensive potions were poured out onto the large chunk of missing flesh on the king’s neck.
As they waited for the potions to take effect they helped the king stand back up and inspect him for any other injuries.
“It’s not healing!” said a guard as he pointed at the black infected wound on the king’s neck. The wound had only temporarily stopped bleeding and was now swelling up. The dark infection was spreading out all over the king’s neck.
“Enough! We head back to the castle immediately!” said the king. He clasped his hand over the wound to block his wife and the guards from looking at it.
As they exited the old nobles’ room two doors on opposite sides of the hallway slammed open and two hairless black stone humanoids shambled out of the rooms, one of them was wearing a nightdress.
“AHHHH!”
The guard behind king Titus cried out as his ankle was crushed by the hands of the old noble that had his head bashed in.
The guard fell onto the old noble unable to stand anymore.
“Go!” shouted the king.
The remaining guards ushered the king and queen out of the house and into the courtyard where the sound of hammering and thumping on the gates was even louder. They slammed the door to the house shut to try and block the infected inside from getting out.
“Your majesty, there are a few of those infected people outside the gate! We’ll have to fight our way past them. We can push them back and create a space for you to escape. We’ll hold them off so that they can’t catch you after you get past them!” said the officer in charge of the guards.
The gates were pushed open knocking back the few infected that were right in front of the gates. The guards rushed out and plowed a path through the rest allowing the king and queen to pass. The noble’s guards joined them in combating the infected allowing for a few of the guards to escape the melee and escort the king and queen.
The king’s neck was now completely black and his chest and head were starting to turn black as well.
As they reached the next intersection the queen let out a scream, “Kyaa!”
Every street was full of shambling black stony figures. They all stopped what they had been doing for a second and looked towards the queen who had shouted.
The king quickly put one hand over his wife’s mouth to silence her and used his other hand to pull out his sword that was on his hip. The guards stood in front of them tensing up waiting to see what the infected would do.
The damage was done and now there was no use in trying to hide. The hoard rushed forward arms outstretched as they reached and grasped for the queen.
“We push through!” shouted the king as he ran forward while holding his sword in one hand and his wife’s hand in the other.
The guards rushed forward to spearhead into the crowd and open another small path for the king and queen.
King Titus hacked at any of the reaching hands that got close as he ran forward dragging the queen along behind him.
“Kyaaa!” the queen let out a frightened scream as an onyx hand grabbed onto her dress halting her movement forward.
King Titus hacked down at the hand but it was no use, ten other hands grabbed onto her dress. He was forced to use his sword to cut the dress allowing the queen to escape.
Their reprieve lasted only a second as more hands got past the guards and grabbed onto the queen’s hair pulling her to the ground before the king or guards could do anything.
“Titus save me!” shouted the queen as she was dragged into the large mass of infected.
King Titus could do nothing as he was fending off the infected that now surrounded him. All he could do was watch in horror as she was devoured alive.
***
“Prince! The King has returned and demands that you go see him immediately!”
“Father-in-law has returned from his visit?” asked Rodger. He wiped away his sweat from training with his sword.
“It is an emergency! Hurry!” said the guard whose face looked almost as white as fresh snow.
“Should I call the princess? What is wrong?” asked Rodger as he sheathed his sword.
“No, he only called for you right now. I can’t explain, it is too… just hurry and you will see,” said the guard. Rodger was surprised when the guard actually grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the castle gates.
Rodger did not complain and ran along with the guard as they headed to the guardhouse.
As Rodger entered, what he saw stopped his breath. All words escaped his mind leaving him speechless as he looked at the king.
In the middle of the large common room, two tables had been pushed together and the chairs had been thrown to the side. The king lay on top of the tables.
The guard pushed Rodger forward until he was standing next to the bald onyx stone man that laid atop the table.
“Rodger is that you?”
“Yes, father. Where is the Queen? What happened to you? It looks like something ate large chunks out of you and the rest…”
“Take this,” said king Titus as he reached out blindly, unable to see any more.
In king Titus’s shaky hands, was his crown that was now stained with blood and flesh.
Using a handkerchief, Rodger grabbed the crown and wiped it down.
“..and this..” said king Titus as he fumbled with a necklace around his neck. After a minute of fruitless fumbling, Rodger helped him remove the necklace.
The necklace had several keys along with the seal of the king for official documents and the pass used to give orders to the army commanders.
“…You… king… take care… Ruth… Beorin… Plage,” King Titus stopped talking. His face, arms, legs, and body started to inflate at an alarming pace.
“Protect the King!” shouted the guardhouse captain.
All of the guards near Rodger pulled him back and pushed him down to the ground as they used their bodies to protect him.
The guardhouse captain jumped atop the inflating body and wrapped his arms around the old king, both of them rolling off the table away from Rodger.
BOOM!
“AH~,” “AHHH!” “Uuuuuhhh!” several cries of pain rang out as the inflated King Titus blew up sending rocky flesh shrapnel outwards.
The guardhouse captain stood no chance and was shredded to pieces by the explosion. His sacrifice was enough to blunt the force of the explosion that hit everyone else.
