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Description
Chapter 11

To my distaste, we left early in the morning.  The squid thingies let us go, causing me to start craving calamari.  Not a whole lot better than calamari rings seasoned and deep fried.

Dreyfus and I decided not to go through the mountains to reach the lake, but instead, we started around them.  We walked along the beach for what seemed like forever cause I was constantly getting hungrier and hungrier for calamari and eventually we came across a huge mass of gray clouds.

"Race ya to the shade!" I told Dreyfus and took flight towards it.  Dreyfus turned into his deer form and raced behind me.

Dreyfus managed to beat me this time.  I blame the wind.  If it hadn't been windy and rainy I would have won.  I landed and we continued into the rain.  Though Dreyfus didn't wanna get wet so he turned into a fox and I carried him, holding my wing over him like an umbrella.  I didn't mind the rain.  I like the rain.  It was way better than being out in the sun.

Before long we reached a forest.  This must have been the Carrol Forest the squids mentioned.  We saw almost no animal life in the forest.  They must have all been under shelter from the rain.  Every so often, though, I'd hear a moan or an echoing inhuman cry from somewhere around us.

One particular moan sounded very close, almost immediately to my left.  It sent a chill down my spine as I turned my head to see what it was, but saw nothing.  I was reminded of some ghost hunter show that I saw in Drey's world.  Drey was the ultimate skeptic though and said it was all staged out.  I found that ironic since he'd been a ghost at least once since I'd met him.

I faced forward again to keep going and suddenly stopped.  In front of me was what appeared to be a young woman.  She was even more pale than me and almost seemed to glow in the dark of the forest.

"Don't look at me!" she wailed.  "I'm...  I'm..."  Her skin suddenly seemed to rot away.  She screamed and almost seemed to fade away completely, kneeling on the ground with her rotting hands covering her hair, which started to fall out.

"I'd do what she says if I were you." said another voice.  Dreyfus and I turned to my left to see an older man who looked like he had grown up in a cave.  Or at least a cabin out in the middle of the woods.  "You could catch it from her.  I did."  Before our eyes his skin started to rot away from his face as well.  Though instead of curling up in agony like the girl he merely stood there and stared at them as the flesh fell away from his face, leaving a skeleton.  "This place..." he moaned.  "You can catch it..."  He reached out towards us.

Something inside my brain sort of snapped.  I dropped Dreyfus and drew my Fire Blade.  "Get away!" I cried, slashing at him.  But the fire only went through the man, not harming him at all.  Dreyfus got to his feet and hid behind me.

I felt a tug on my wing.  I looked down and saw the girl grasping it and looking up at me.  Her face was half gone, her eyes no more than empty sockets.  I could actually feel her.  And her ghostly hands were slimy.  I wished Alaesia were there.  Alaesia could have taken care of these two without breaking a ghostly sweat.  All I could do was illuminate them with the Fire Blade.  For a moment I wondered why Dreyfus didn't just eat them, but then I realized he probably wasn't because he didn't want to catch whatever they had.

"You'll be one of us soon." said another voice.  Behind me appeared a woman about the man's age, but more horrible looking than the two ghosts put together.  She reached out for us.  "Just like us..."  All hope of escape seemed to be lost in that moment.  It was as if the forest itself drained all the hope out of me.  I couldn't just fly away, for the trees were too close together and my wings wouldn't fit through them.  Besides, these things would just follow us.  I remembered how fast the ghost in the lighthouse was in that one episode of that ghost hunter show.  Even I wasn't fast enough to outrun something like that.  I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst.

"Wow!" I exclaimed.  "What a great escape!"  Dreyfus and I reached the end of the forest.  The clouds stretched on and the rain continued.  And we were still alive and disease free.

"Yeah." Dreyfus agreed.  "I bet we won't have anything quite that amazing and exciting happen to us ever again.  Well it's over now.  So let's keep going."

"Right." I said.  "...Where are we, exactly?"

Dreyfus turned to his human form and took the sexy GPS out of his pocket.  "Looks like we're in the Valley of the Cows." He said.

"Moo." I impulsively said and set off into the valley.  Dreyfus turned into a deer and followed.

There wasn't much to the valley.  It was flat.  And rainy.  And a sense of paranoia came over us, getting stronger the further south we went.  I began to wonder why it was called the Valley of the Cows.  We didn't see a single cow.

I looked over my shoulder several times.  I kept feeling like something was watching us.  Though there weren't any hiding places for predators and the like to stalk us, I couldn't help but think about those ghosts.  Could this valley be haunted as well?  It was getting dark.  And the falling rain made it difficult for even me to see clearly.  It was completely possible that someone was following us.  Dreyfus felt it too, apparently, cause every so often, I'd see his eyes look left and right.

When lightning flashed, I couldn't help but laugh.  "Found out where the cows went." I said.  Through the rain I could just make out a neon sign that spelled letters in some unknown language.  The lightning had illuminated it though, and I could see that it was a burger place.

"Let's go in and dry off until the storm ends." Dreyfus said.

Feeling soggy after all that rain, I agreed.  Together, we entered the restaurant.

Words could not describe my surprise as we went through the doors.  All around us were cows.  Cows stood in the lobby.  Cows sat in the chairs at tables and booths.  Cows were behind the counter.  A cow was mopping the floor.  They all looked strange though.  More like zombie cows than normal cows.

Each one stopped what they were doing and looked at us as we walked in.  Dreyfus and I silently agreed that the rain seemed a lot better than this place and we started backing up toward the door.

Unfortunately, the cows closest to the door blocked our path.  The others grabbed anything they could use as a weapon and started coming at us.  I drew my Fire Blade, not intending to become a burger.  Dreyfus snorted and hoofed the ground, acting like either an angry bull or what I assumed could be an angry deer.

Despite the odds, I suddenly felt invincible again.  "CHAOS!!!" I screamed my battle cry and dove into the nearest group of zombie cows to me and began slashing maniacally.

The battle seemed to be going smoothly until something hit the back of my head.  I struggled to regain consciousness but started slowly blacking out.  I panicked, fighting to stay awake, desperate to not get eaten.  But it did no good.  Just before I blacked out, though, the cows released me and started mooing franticly.  Dreyfus cried out in surprise and I saw some dark shadowy figures flood the lobby.

Description
Chapter 11

To my distaste, we left early in the morning.  The squid thingies let us go, causing me to start craving calamari.  Not a whole lot better than calamari rings seasoned and deep fried.

Dreyfus and I decided not to go through the mountains to reach the lake, but instead, we started around them.  We walked along the beach for what seemed like forever cause I was constantly getting hungrier and hungrier for calamari and eventually we came across a huge mass of gray clouds.

"Race ya to the shade!" I told Dreyfus and took flight towards it.  Dreyfus turned into his deer form and raced behind me.

Dreyfus managed to beat me this time.  I blame the wind.  If it hadn't been windy and rainy I would have won.  I landed and we continued into the rain.  Though Dreyfus didn't wanna get wet so he turned into a fox and I carried him, holding my wing over him like an umbrella.  I didn't mind the rain.  I like the rain.  It was way better than being out in the sun.

Before long we reached a forest.  This must have been the Carrol Forest the squids mentioned.  We saw almost no animal life in the forest.  They must have all been under shelter from the rain.  Every so often, though, I'd hear a moan or an echoing inhuman cry from somewhere around us.

One particular moan sounded very close, almost immediately to my left.  It sent a chill down my spine as I turned my head to see what it was, but saw nothing.  I was reminded of some ghost hunter show that I saw in Drey's world.  Drey was the ultimate skeptic though and said it was all staged out.  I found that ironic since he'd been a ghost at least once since I'd met him.

I faced forward again to keep going and suddenly stopped.  In front of me was what appeared to be a young woman.  She was even more pale than me and almost seemed to glow in the dark of the forest.

"Don't look at me!" she wailed.  "I'm...  I'm..."  Her skin suddenly seemed to rot away.  She screamed and almost seemed to fade away completely, kneeling on the ground with her rotting hands covering her hair, which started to fall out.

"I'd do what she says if I were you." said another voice.  Dreyfus and I turned to my left to see an older man who looked like he had grown up in a cave.  Or at least a cabin out in the middle of the woods.  "You could catch it from her.  I did."  Before our eyes his skin started to rot away from his face as well.  Though instead of curling up in agony like the girl he merely stood there and stared at them as the flesh fell away from his face, leaving a skeleton.  "This place..." he moaned.  "You can catch it..."  He reached out towards us.

Something inside my brain sort of snapped.  I dropped Dreyfus and drew my Fire Blade.  "Get away!" I cried, slashing at him.  But the fire only went through the man, not harming him at all.  Dreyfus got to his feet and hid behind me.

I felt a tug on my wing.  I looked down and saw the girl grasping it and looking up at me.  Her face was half gone, her eyes no more than empty sockets.  I could actually feel her.  And her ghostly hands were slimy.  I wished Alaesia were there.  Alaesia could have taken care of these two without breaking a ghostly sweat.  All I could do was illuminate them with the Fire Blade.  For a moment I wondered why Dreyfus didn't just eat them, but then I realized he probably wasn't because he didn't want to catch whatever they had.

"You'll be one of us soon." said another voice.  Behind me appeared a woman about the man's age, but more horrible looking than the two ghosts put together.  She reached out for us.  "Just like us..."  All hope of escape seemed to be lost in that moment.  It was as if the forest itself drained all the hope out of me.  I couldn't just fly away, for the trees were too close together and my wings wouldn't fit through them.  Besides, these things would just follow us.  I remembered how fast the ghost in the lighthouse was in that one episode of that ghost hunter show.  Even I wasn't fast enough to outrun something like that.  I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst.

"Wow!" I exclaimed.  "What a great escape!"  Dreyfus and I reached the end of the forest.  The clouds stretched on and the rain continued.  And we were still alive and disease free.

"Yeah." Dreyfus agreed.  "I bet we won't have anything quite that amazing and exciting happen to us ever again.  Well it's over now.  So let's keep going."

"Right." I said.  "...Where are we, exactly?"

Dreyfus turned to his human form and took the sexy GPS out of his pocket.  "Looks like we're in the Valley of the Cows." He said.

"Moo." I impulsively said and set off into the valley.  Dreyfus turned into a deer and followed.

There wasn't much to the valley.  It was flat.  And rainy.  And a sense of paranoia came over us, getting stronger the further south we went.  I began to wonder why it was called the Valley of the Cows.  We didn't see a single cow.

I looked over my shoulder several times.  I kept feeling like something was watching us.  Though there weren't any hiding places for predators and the like to stalk us, I couldn't help but think about those ghosts.  Could this valley be haunted as well?  It was getting dark.  And the falling rain made it difficult for even me to see clearly.  It was completely possible that someone was following us.  Dreyfus felt it too, apparently, cause every so often, I'd see his eyes look left and right.

When lightning flashed, I couldn't help but laugh.  "Found out where the cows went." I said.  Through the rain I could just make out a neon sign that spelled letters in some unknown language.  The lightning had illuminated it though, and I could see that it was a burger place.

"Let's go in and dry off until the storm ends." Dreyfus said.

Feeling soggy after all that rain, I agreed.  Together, we entered the restaurant.

Words could not describe my surprise as we went through the doors.  All around us were cows.  Cows stood in the lobby.  Cows sat in the chairs at tables and booths.  Cows were behind the counter.  A cow was mopping the floor.  They all looked strange though.  More like zombie cows than normal cows.

Each one stopped what they were doing and looked at us as we walked in.  Dreyfus and I silently agreed that the rain seemed a lot better than this place and we started backing up toward the door.

Unfortunately, the cows closest to the door blocked our path.  The others grabbed anything they could use as a weapon and started coming at us.  I drew my Fire Blade, not intending to become a burger.  Dreyfus snorted and hoofed the ground, acting like either an angry bull or what I assumed could be an angry deer.

Despite the odds, I suddenly felt invincible again.  "CHAOS!!!" I screamed my battle cry and dove into the nearest group of zombie cows to me and began slashing maniacally.

The battle seemed to be going smoothly until something hit the back of my head.  I struggled to regain consciousness but started slowly blacking out.  I panicked, fighting to stay awake, desperate to not get eaten.  But it did no good.  Just before I blacked out, though, the cows released me and started mooing franticly.  Dreyfus cried out in surprise and I saw some dark shadowy figures flood the lobby.