Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Fallael clearly appeared to be snake-like in appearance, the way his body seemed to extend forever as it became visible all over the place without his head or tail showing up, the moment he appeared, it was like the forest was change, the scarred bear and the wolf pack stopped their vicious fight, both parties walking away silently without even another snarl.

The birds stopped singing, the trees themselves seemed to grow still, somehow.

"I must admit, I had thought that our encounter had been wiped from your memory, yet, here you are, clearly remembering everything, this must be a machination of fate… What is it that you seek, young swordswoman?" Fallael's body continued to extend as he spoke, as though he was going to constrict the entire forest.

His tone was calm and reassuring, the sensation that he was an ally was clear, an undoubtedly friendly force despite his rather unnerving antics.

"Me? I guess I just want to have real fights, for a dedicated swordswoman, all that peace is honestly torturous, I wish I could find some adversaries somewhere, not in this realm, of course, that would be going against its literal name"

"Mmh…" Fallael did not respond immediately, and then suddenly, from behind one of the trees, his head finally revealed itself.

"Holy- Don't take it the wrong way, but there is something seriously wrong with the way you look, have you tried seeking professional help?"

The serpent chuckled.

"You do not keep anything to yourself, do you? If you do, I don't even want to know what it is, it might actually hurt my feelings"

Fallael was monstrous, a serpentine-like body covered in grey fur was already fairly odd, but his face was far worse, it was some sort of abominable, unholy mixture between snake and human, with both traits exaggerated to the point that it looked nauseous, the worst part was his smile, it seemed like it extended way too far, Lizi almost thought that Fallael was going to be split in half.

His head was also covered in grey fur, his eyes radiating… No colour whatsoever, it was like staring into nothing, an abnormal absence of colour, Lizi did not know whether her brain simply could not comprehend that she was witnessing a colour that she did not know existed, or if there truly was nothing to see at all.

"Mmh… Lizi, right? You are indeed an ill suit for the Peaceful Realm, your talent lies in wielding a sword, to fight and defend- An admirable talent, indeed!" as he spoke, Fallael seemed to be hovering in the air, as though gravity was a mere suggestion to him, sometimes his mouth moved when he spoke, sometimes it did not, sometimes it moved too early, sometimes it moved too late…

"I predict that you will be able to make use of it in the future, that is good for you, but bad for this realm, I am afraid… I am afraid that the decay of this world has grown too advanced now, only people like you can hope to slow it down, and perhaps, with a miracle, push it back" Fallael shook his head in the least natural way possible, as though he was doing his hardest to emulate a person, but was simply unable to do it without appearing abnormal.

"The decay?" wondered Lizi, and once again, the serpent formed a creepy smile.

"Follow me" he said, beginning to move out of the grove, and the swordswoman walked after him whilst noticing something else off about Fallael.

His body was not following his head at all, it was more like his body was growing out of his neck as he moved, only his head was actually moving forward, everything was still, being created out of thin air to give the illusion of fluid movements.

Lizi was taken to another clearing, and there laid the corpse of a giant stag, only, that despite being a cadaver, it was twitching, its muscles were spasming without stop, its eyes flicking open and looking around as though possessing minds of their own.

"Is this…?"

"It is not quite an undead, the decay is stifled here, the influence of the Pale Lady can not reach easily here, it is more so of a one-way road, the dead can move on to Oblivion, death can be taken out, but it can come in… Still, the influence gets stronger everyday, I dare not imagine what it is like in places without protection against it, every corpse would probably be rising back as undeads within just a few moments" Fallael seemed to do something, as the great stag suddenly grew still, all signs of movements vanishing.

"I am here however, and I can combat the creeping influence everyday, preventing undeath from truly taking hold in the Peaceful Realm, but that is only one portion of it, I fear the arrival of undeads from beyond the realm, even with the natural defences of the realm, they will be able to intrude, I simply know it"

Lizi did not say anything.

"Young Lady, people like you are of dire importance toward maintaining peace, when there is peace, there is a looming shadow threatening to disrupt it, and unfortunately, that shadow seemed to only understand violence, only the edge of a blade can convince it to back away"

The grey-furred serpent fell silent, and Lizi scratched the side of her face, leaning forward a slight bit.

"Say… Last time you said that the old carver gave you your name, you were talking about Arzt, were you?" she asked, and Fallael tilted his head.

"Was that his name? I am afraid that he never told it to me, but I doubt that there are many old carvers going around… Indeed, he gave me my name, before, I was not much a being, and more of a force of nature, a mindless enforcer, a physical manifestation of the realm's wish to survive, upon being graced with the name of 'Fallael', I gained my very own mind, although the reason for my existence remains unchanged, I am grateful for the opportunity to think as an independent being"

Fallael suddenly twisted around.

"But let us go back to the subject, Young Lizi… You seek true opponents, do you not? The Peaceful Realm lack enemies that constitute a challenge to you, but I can arrange a few things, come back to the grove tomorrow, I'll have something prepared for you- You may even bring others like yourself, if you so desire, my existence is not taboo knowledge"

Before Lizi could respond, she blinked and Fallael was gone, not even a single trace of his seemingly endless body was anywhere to be found, and the forest returned to normal, like nothing ever happened.

'That… Was quite something, huh?'