In the village the warlocks were doing an extra perimeter sweep of the land before going home for the evening. All seemed to be clear in the village no trouble there. They headed onto the forest. As they got further into the woods Richard couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong for them. He could just sense it in his bones. He knew something was up. It looked like the  forest he loved but it felt different somehow. Once they had reached the border of the dark side of the forest, Richard's feeling of danger had strengthened with every step. His warrior instincts were taking over, like it would change him. Jim and Daniel noticed something wasn't the same with him.

"Richard, what's going on?" Jim asked in the need to know tone.

"Okay guys I have had a feeling that something real bad will happen out here. My battle instincts just kicked in about three seconds ago." He explained to them, more serious than he had ever been. He knew his brothers understood exactly what he meant.

As the warlocks were walking through the dark edge of the forest, the dark sorcerer was watching them through his magic cauldron. He wanted to see how things were going with his little surprise. A malicious evil grin spread across his bony face. As the brethren got past the southern stream just before the huge willow tree, an underworld beast leaped out at the three of them. All three warlocks jumped backward in surprise. Then they looked at it closely. It was a ghoul that looked very familiar. The underworld ghoul was Yorku their fallen brother. They just stood, stunned with what was standing in front of them.

The ghoul knew they weren't ready for him. They were caught off guard and the beast took the opportunity to strike the first blow. Richard and Daniel moved out of the way in just enough time, but unfortunately Jim was struck down and long gone to the after life before the other two even noticed he was hit. During the whole ordeal Richard and Daniel darted through the woods and hid behind a huge boulder. They needed a moment to think and come up with a plan of action. These beasts of the dark ones were merciless cold blooded killers.

"Daniel that's not our brother. That's not Yorku anymore. The scratch! " Richard spoke with excitement.

"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked confused by his friend.

"The scratch he got a few weeks before he was killed, it was on his left. It had to be a demon scratch. A ghoul is a side effect from it if you die before you have turned completely." Richard explained to him.

"So that isn't our brother, but it used to be?" Daniel asked in a squeaky voice, not really wanting to hear the truth. After a long pause he took a deep breath and looked to Richard.

"How do we kill it?" He asked, treating this as a job and putting his feelings for his fallen brother out of his mind. Richard handed him a potion vile. He opened it and dipped his arrow tip into the lid. He then peeked around the boulder. He knew there was a clear shot and he took it. He aimed the arrow and struck the ghoul through the heart, killing it instantly.

Stergis watched the entire battle go down through the help of his magic cauldron. He was past irritated. The damn thing only killed one of them? He was furious and needed to find a way to be rid of them. They need to pay for what they had done. They took his sister from him because they were too stupid to get it right. His anger fumed in the empty lair. Then, once he achieved a moment of inner quiet, the dark sorcerer went back to work.

On the dark edge of the forest, Richard and Daniel were  picking the body up and took him home for a proper burial. He fought with courage and died with honor protecting the land and it's people. They took turns carrying him back, mostly in silence. They had been walking for a long time before either of them said anything. Eventually Richard broke the silence.

"How are we to protect the land and the people if we can't even keep our brethren safe?" He asked with fear and grief.

"I really don't know." Daniel replied in a half whisper.

Cr /w