**Liam Edgard Drikson**
_"If I'm not wrong , three days passed since we entered the lost land , this thick fog covers the sun light , it's impossible to know if we are early in the morning or late at night , Without the thin light that was able to cross the fog , we would not even be able to see the road , and this weather which become colder and colder as we advance deeper in this land , but even under those conditions , my companions didn't complain and followed me in here ,I'm really grateful to them . The first time I met that bunch of weirdos , I was only thirteen years old , staying in the palace was boring so, time to time I sneaked out to explore the capital , one day I stopped at the gate of the adventurers' guild , then I saw them walking out leisurely from the guild , laughing and discussing with each other , I was really curious about the adventurers that why I approached them , they were gentle, a little weird but funny , I was comfortable around them ,and as days passed, we become friends , I didn't want to hide secrets from them , so I told them about my identity and despite the fact that I am the fifth prince of the kingdom , and they are only commoners , they still treat me like one of them , great friends , aren't they ? Also, they were the only ones who accepted to go with me in the dangerous lost land , even my own father didn't help me, I still remember those cold words that came from his mouth when he refused to help me" .
One week ago;
the envoy of the fifth prince was attacked by several assassins , the guards were able to push them back ,but unexpectedly , one of the assassin ,before dying, used a forbidden technique that target the soul , to protect the prince his loyal bodyguard sacrificed himself and got severely injured in both body and soul .
When they returned to the palace , many doctors and priests tried healing the bodyguard , for the injured body it wasn't a problem , but for the damaged soul, it was another story , no one was able to fix it, they all said helplessly that he won't be able to live until the end of the month .
Liam , didn't give up , he would never let someone die because of him, let alone his childhood friend . He spent all his resources to search for a way to save him , until he found an ancient book which referred to a plant that is able to cure the soul , he hurriedly went to beg his father to lend him some men to fetch the flower , but as soon as the king found out that the only place where we can pick the flower is the lost land he declined immediately , and with his coldly voice he said:
_ I won't sacrifice the life of my own son and my men to save a mere commoner, Even without this , as your bodyguard he should be more than honored to give his lowly life for his prince , but I know how stubborn you are , that why I will make you under house arrest until the bodyguard die . Guards ! Escort the prince to his room and if somehow he managed to escape under your watch , I will take you for responsible .
All the guards flinched at the king's threat , with their lives at the line , they will surely make sure the prince doesn't escape .
After this order, Liam was not able to step out of his room , he was trying to set up a plan to escape without anyone noticing ,suddenly , his assistant came into his room to deliver his meal ,a young shy boy at the same age as him , when he saw him , he got an idea , he asked his assistant to take his place and stay at the palace , the young boy was trustworthy and very loyal to the prince despite going against the king's order , he accepted . They exchanged their clothes and Liam used an illusion on himself and the boy , then he opened the door to quit the room , the guards looked once at him, but they didn't notice anything wrong, they only saw the familiar face of the assistant who just entered , Liam was very pleased that he was able to fool them easily, but before he turned away to leave he told the guards that the prince was in a really bad mood , and he ordered them to not let anyone enter the room even the servants . As long as the prince didn't order them to let him leave , any other orders must be executed that why the guard didn't ask much and just nodded .
Liam left the palace , discretely, and headed to the adventurers' guild seeking for help from his friends, and without any hesitation , the group accepted to help him even Jane who was afraid of the undead followed them .
And here they are , walking for three days without even seeing the shadow of that mysterious flower.
The group advanced , they only encountered some weak zombies but what troubled Liam, was the monster that is following them , although he is hidden his presence , he can't totally hide his powerful aura , and Liam was able to detect it . But seeing that he didn't attack them ,and was just following them , Liam didn't take any actions , it would be troublesome if he fights a powerful monster before finding the flower .
Some minutes later , Liam stopped at a strange plain before him with a lot of tombstones , he doesn't know why but his instinct tell him that this place is more dangerous than it seems but if they want to go further , they must cross the plain , he looked at his companions and so the same expression on their faces , they also noticed that something is off .
Liam was the first to step in and followed by his group , they started walking through the tombstones ,suddenly , zombies started appearing from the underground , the assassin was the first to react and with his speed he slaughtered them in a blank of an eye . But the number of zombies continued to increase , all the group started fighting , the girl launched some fire balls beside supporting her companions with reinforcement spells, the archer shooted many arrows at an abnormal speed and all of them reached the zombie's heads perfectly , meanwhile the tanker protected them with his heavy shield , Liam charged at the front , and the assassin killed the zombie at the back . It was a great teamwork , but it was just the beginning ;
The first one to get caught by the sneaky hands was the girl ,Jane . From the start she was afraid of zombies but now being caught suddenly by a hand , any other girl (beside Melanie) would have been frightened on the verge of fainting , she screamed , and all her companions turned towards her , the archer who was beside Jane tried to free her but was also caught . The tanker was able to free the girl who just fainted and caught her before she felt on the ground , the assassin used his speed to arrive before the archer but another zombie surged from underground in his back and made him fell on the ground , the tanker was in a bad situation , beside protecting the girl and freeing his companions , he must take care of the zombies surrounding them , Liam rushed toward them , jumping from a tombstone to another he forced his way through the mass of zombies , with one move he freed the assassin and turned to slaughter the other undead , meanwhile the assassin saved the archer and supported the tanker. In a mere second ,the situation was returned , the group won't fall again for this trick , they all stepped on the tombstones , fighting without landing on the ground , and quickly the number of Zombies decreased , but when they thought that the fight was about to end ,an ear-splitting howl resounded not far from them ,and the next second , they saw an undead much bigger than a zombie running towards them , it was a ghoul .
Liam then said at the others:
_"I will fight the ghoul , all of you , take care of the zombies , and if you got a chance, retreat immediately".
When they were about to refuse , the assassin named Cal stepped forward and said :
_"I will help you , with the two of us it will be much easier .
Liam smiled , he wasn't sure he would be able to take down the ghoul alone , also this ghoul was of a high level" .
The archer and the tanker looked at each other , they don't want to leave them there, but they have no choice , they are weaker than the assassin and Liam ,they will only slow them down and Jane must be taking in a safe place to rest . So reluctantly ,they agreed .
The ghoul was coming closer and closer , Liam and Cal charged towards it , with his dagger Cal injured the right leg of the ghoul , not pleased at all , the ghoul was about to attack Cal, but she was stopped by Liam 's sword and again it was injured in her arm . After making sure , that all the ghoul attention was on them , they both ran in the opposite direction from the rest of the group . Angered , the ghoul followed behind them .
Ghoul looks like zombies but their bodies are much bigger , and they are much faster , also they can feel pains and be angry, and they don't attack blindly ,Ghouls are very sensitive to smells, and the smell of humans attracts them , because their favorite meal is human's meat.
The fight continued , the ghoul injured Cal's leg ,and made him fell on the ground , the ghoul extended her fist to launch another attack at him , but was blocked mid-air by Liam , he used his sword to stop the fist, but he can't last long , the ghoul was stronger than him ,she continued pushing the sword ,on the other hand , Liam was about to flinch but suddenly a big wave of air send the big Ghoul flying some meters away before landing heavily on the ground .
Cal and Liam were surprised by this powerful wave, they turned their heads in the direction which it came from, but they could not see anything, only the sound of footsteps approching them could be heard, and slowly a tall shadow formed in the fog.