Christopher didn't realise how long he slept when he awoke to a silent house. After getting ready he headed to the table where they had dinner last night where a note was located. The cursive handwriting was beautiful to look at and read.

'We have gone to run errands and will be back in a few hours.' It read. 'Make yourself feel at home.'

Christopher decided that he would grab a few of his belongings before heading out to explore Cinderash. Since he's stuck here for the time being, he might as well do what he came here to do; explore.

Whilst putting on his tool belt, which held the main things he needed such as his flashlight and knife, he heard a noise coming from outside his room. It sounded as though someone was trying to open a locked door by running into it, using their body weight to push it down. It also sounded somewhat distant. He opened his door to see if anyone was there. After finding no one he brushed it off and continued packing.

He heard the same sound again.

He knew this wasn't a coincidence so he decided to locate the source of the sound. He had a quick look around the house and realised that there was still no one here that could be causing that sound. As he reached his temporary room he heard another thump and then a loud crash. He realised it came from behind a door that he hasn't looked in.

He slowly approached it, his small knife in hand. He reached for the handle and swung it open. He saw nothing but a narrow set of stairs, the bottom fading into darkness. Christopher pulled out his flashlight and descended into the room.

To him all he saw was a place for storage. Various sized boxes littered around the edge perimeter of the room, with one pile that had fallen over in the centre. He began to clean up the fallen boxes, even though it wasn't his fault. The last box he picked up was a small metal one with various symbols engraved in it. He was about to set it down but it was like something was telling him to keep holding onto it. The back of his mind tugged to get his attention, like it knew something. Christopher racked his brain for anything that could resemble the four symbols but found nothing.

He moved his finger over the four symbols, tracing each one individually. He wondered what each of the symbols meant.

Anastasia wasn't far from her house when she heard a loud crash from inside. She instantly dropped the bucket she was holding and ran inside to make sure everything was alright with Christopher.

As she approached the room he was staying in she realised that the basement door was open. She ran down the stairs to see Christopher picking up boxes and stacking them back into a tower. The tower, like most of the others, stood precariously threatening to topple over again.

'What do you think you're doing?' Anastasia asked, startling him.

He quickly moved the box he was holding behind his back. 'I heard a bang and came to investigate.'

She averted her gaze to something seeping out from the box behind him. Christopher's light source presented to her what looked like purple smoke. The smoke slowly billowed around Christopher's feet as it slowly creeped its way out of the box.

'What are you doing with that box?' She questioned.

He pulled the box in front of him. 'Oh this one... I just found it.'

Within a matter of seconds the small amounts of purple that was seeping from the box burst out and began to fill the room rapidly. Anastasia turned around to head back out of the basement but the basement door slammed shut. She was going to climb back up to open it but she was struggling to breathe as more smoke filled the room.

'Ah, some fresh air.' A deep voice said as it exhaled. Anastasia looked around but couldn't see anyone other than Christopher. 'Thank you for freeing my spirit, young sorcerer. I will again have my full power.'

Christopher attempted to close the box but it wouldn't budge.

'What... have you done?' Anastasia inquired between coughs.

The amount of smoke increased. The thicker smoke caused Christopher and Anastasia's visions to fade into darkness. As they fell unconscious, Anastasia heard a deep laugh, one that made her feel unsafe.

Anastasia opened her eyes to her mother peering straight down at her. She instantly started coughing which quickly settled.

'Are you alright?' Her mother asked, concerned.

'I think I am.'

'What happened in the basement?'

Anastasia's gaze glanced around and noticed Christopher laying on the floor beginning to stir.

'Ask him.' Anastasia replies before crossing her arms over her chest. She averted her gaze to avoid making eye contact with Juliana and Christopher.

'Well?' Juliana asked concerned but impatiently. 'Can one of you explain why I had to carry both of you back up here?'

'I heard a few bangs come from behind that door,' Christopher explained. 'I decided to go investigate. When I got there a stack of boxes had fallen over. I thought that it would be nice to clean them up before I headed back up. Then—'

'You almost killed us both!' Anastasia snapped angrily.

'One box started to let out smoke and in a matter of moments the whole room began to fill with smoke.' Christopher continued, 'I tried to close it but it wouldn't budge. Then, well...' Christopher paused.

Juliana continued to stare at him until he finished.

'I heard a voice, now I don't know if I'm going crazy or—'

'I heard it as well,' Anastasia admitted.

Juliana was a little hesitant to respond but proceeded to ask, 'What did it say?'

'A spirit was freed and now he will again have its full power.' Christopher answered.

'Don't forget the other part, "young sorcerer".' Anastasia added.

'This can't be possible.' Juliana mumbled. 'He's not even part of our bloodline.'

Anastasia was a little confused by her mother's comment. Why was bloodline so important? She would have to ask about it later.

Before Juliana could bombard them both with dozens of questions a small rumble was felt beneath their feet. Anastasia and Christopher both stood up and followed Juliana outside. There, many neighbours gathered to see what was going on. Everyone looked in the direction of the castle.

Another rumble was felt beneath their feet, only this one was stronger. A large amount of purple and black smoke crawled from all sides of the stone castle and gathered on the top landing.

'Bow before me!' A deep voice boomed across the town. It was so loud that Anastasia thought that the whole region Cinderash was located in could hear it.

Instantly, everyone gathered next to Anastasia dropped to the ground. Anastasia, Christopher and Juliana all follow followed their example.

'I have begun to regain my power.' The deep voice explained, its voice still almost as loud. 'I will be your leader once more.'

No one said a word. No one knew what to think of this.

Anastasia felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. 'This couldn't be him,' she thought, 'it can't be that easy to bring him back.'

The deep voice laughed, sending a shiver down her spine. She inched her body closer to Juliana's in an attempt to comfort herself— to feel safer.

She could only point the blame at one person— Christopher. This only happened because he came here. She had a sudden desire to strangle him but it quickly vanished since doing that would cause another screw in the works. If the stories her mother used to tell her were correct, Cinderash needed him.

Her thoughts were disrupted as she glanced back towards the castle. All the purple smoke that had congregated at the top of the castle began to disperse from the castle and ran across the near dead land. The smoke covered the floor where everyone knelt, consuming everything in its path. Anastasia grasped her mother's hand and closed her eyes as the smoke approached them.

'Fear me!' the voice boomed again. 'For I, Skobex, will rule over you as all of you do my bidding!'

The smoke dispersed into the ground as well as toward the castle. Everyone fled back inside their homes.

'Why did you do this?' Anastasia asked angrily.

'I... I didn't mean to!' Christopher defended.

'Do you know what you've done?'

Christopher was about to answer but Anastasia kept talking.

'The Lich was defeated and sealed away, he could have remained that way. But then you come here and change that.'

'Anastasia, I'm sure it wasn't—'

'Yes!' Anastasia snapped, cutting off Juliana. 'It was his fault. I saw it all happen.'

Anastasia sat angrily at the table with her arms crossed.

'I... I'll fix it.' Christopher stuttered.

'You better.'

'He might need your help, Anastasia.' Her mother said.

'He caused this, he can fix it!' She argued before storming off.

Christopher was speechless. He wasn't sure what he should say to Anastasia or her mother. He wanted to make sure that he didn't say something to make everything worse. Especially since they were kind enough to offer their hospitality to him. Even if it seemed like he would be kicked out of their house at any moment.

'You must forgive her.' Juliana apologised. 'She isn't usually like this.'

'That's alright, she has a right to feel that way.' He replied. 'Besides, I'm the cause of all this.'

Christopher began to walk into his temporary room, even though it seemed like it would be permanent at this rate.

'Do you have any idea of what to do?' Juliana asked before Christopher had walked too far away.

He hesitated. 'Sadly, no.'

He closed the door behind him and slid down the back side of the door to the floor. He didn't even know where to begin. He'd never had to solve anything like this or something of this size. He racked his head for anything that could be of use. He had a sudden realisation that without knowing about the Lich he wasn't any help for anyone.

Christopher quickly ran back to Juliana.

'Is there a library here?'

'Yes, it's on the other side of town.'

'Thank you.'

He ran outside and found his way toward the library, even though he wasn't aware of where it was exactly. He knew he would find it. He just hoped that he would find the answers he needed.