'Town' was probably not the most apt name for the sight in front of us. There were buildings and roads, even people and animals… but everything was made of pure white stone. Statues on the streets with faces twisted in pain and fear, arms and legs bent like-

  "Looks like they were running away." Piercing Gale murmured. He stepped forward, right up to the edge of that white stone and poked it experimentally with the toe of his boot. When nothing happened, he put his foot down ft on the stone. He slipped, his arms wheeling wildly to keep him from falling over. Once he was stable again, he put his hands on his hips, the tips of his ears red and announced, "it's a little slippery."

  I stepped closer, my arms wrapped around my middle, "what kind of demon could do this?"

  "This isn't demon magic." I looked back over my shoulder at Death-Bringer. She looked paler than usual, her dark eyes wide, and with her unkempt hair framing her face she looked a bit crazed, "it's Uling's"

  Hesitantly touching a stone tree near the entrance of town, Piercing Gale asked, "how can you be sure?"

  For a good minute Death-Binger didn't answer him. She slowly stepped ito the town, right up to a 'statue' of a little boy on the ground, curled up on his side with his arms hugging his head. She crouched down, covering his hand with one of hers. "it's the same spell she cast on the Demon Lord right before Ves'hil'n stabbed him with Bloody."

  I followed the other two onto the strange stone ground, my brows furrowed, "but he only paused for a few seconds when she-E!" my voice cracked as I slipped on the smooth stone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Piercing Gale smirking at e as if he hadn't slipped far worse. I gred at him, barely managing to keep from sticking my tongue out at him like a child. I cleared my throat and continued, "when she cast it. For Uling to have cast this spell, it would mean it's sted for well over a hundred years."

  Death-Bringer's fingers ghosted across the frozen boy's forehead, as if she was trying to brush his hair out of his eyes. "That was the Demon Lord, these are normal people. And unlike the other heroes, Uling would've only gotten stronger with age."

  I found myself staring into the terrified eyes of a fleeing woman. Saliva pooled in my mouth and I swallowed it down with an audible gulp. "But Uling is a hero, a kind-hearted person. Why would she do this?"

  Piercing Gale turned his back on the two of us, stalking deeper into the town, "if we want to learn anything we should find the center of the spell."

  As we made our way deeper into the town ew could see that not everyone was fleeing in fear. There were some statues peeking curiouslt out of front doors and gncing through windows we could see people going about their daily lives, frozen in pce.

  There was nothing special about the center of town. Piercing Gale paused in his blind march forward, turning back to Death-Bringer to finally ask with his lips pressed tight together, "do you know where Uling lived?"

  "She lived on a small farm on the outskirts of town." Piercing Gale pointed the direction he had already been walking with his eyebrows raised. Death-Bringer nodded and Piercing Gale resumed his march, a bit quicker this time.

  It wasn't until we reached the other side of the town that we saw color again. A dark spot ying against the statue of a cow ying in the fields outside of town. As we got closer I could tell that it was clearly a man with long bck hair draped loosely over the back of the stone cow. I also realized, with a wrinkle of my nose, that the man was buck naked, every inch of his tan skin fully visible.

  Piercing Gale stopped, grabbing my wrist when I stepped up next to him once more deciding it was his job to hold me back, to direct my action. I would have stopped anyway. And I gred at him opening my mouth to say as much only to sourly snap my jaw shut when Piercing Gale turned to me with his finger to his lips and his brow furrowed so tight there was no space between them. "That's Killing Intent."