Vandore wonders why he has seen no sign of his peers, who should be closing in on the Citadel as well. Although, this final test was to be a race he feels strong bonds towards those who he has sweat, fought, and bled with. He figured he would have crossed path with someone by now, but maybe that means he is in front of the pack.

With a sigh, he pushed off from the rock that served as a rest stop and started off at a brisk pace towards the Citadel. Not far from where he left Vandore noticed a strange glare from an object that seemed to rise from the sands. He began to jog towards the object and tripped as he approached. As he fell, Vandore realized something had hold of his leg. With razor honed skills, he pushed off hard with his free leg and tucked into a roll. He sprang up and spun to face his adversary. Surprise, fear, and shock were his initial reactions as he faced an undead creature with several more rising from the sands. The creatures looked like bleached skeletons of men held together by some form of aetheric energy. Vandore had never seen their like before nor had his mentors mentioned this part of the trained exercise. In fact, now that he thought about it, his mentors had stated that this was a noncombat training mission. Regardless the undead were closing fast and he did not think he could avoid a confrontation. He drew his ess-saber, the one weapon that had been given to him at the start of his journey. The saber drew on the natural Essence of Zenfar to form an energy blade. Vandore hoped that his microweave armor, would offer protection from the undead attacks.

The blue energy of essence courses up and down the blade of the saber as Vandore prepared himself for the attack. Once the undead were fully uncovered from the ground, they seemed to move with unnatural speed. Fortunately for Vandore they appeared to be unarmed. Vandore waited in a defensive stance with the blade across his body as the first undead approach. It struck out with its skeletal fingers, which on closer inspection appeared to possess claws on the tips. He parried the hand, stepping to the side and executed a downward strike that shattered the arm bones; however, the undead swung a blow with its remained arm that glanced off the micro weave. Vandore took a quick step back and realized he needed to finish this one fast as the other two were only seconds away with several more coming in the distance. Focusing for a split second he drew up his own Flux abilities. Vandore's Flux abilities allowed him to improve his combat reflexes and senses for a brief period of time. He felt the surge of the Flux through muscles and his senses seemed to explode with information. His Flux enhanced vision revealed a focal point of energy within the undead he faced. He aimed his next attack for the focal point and struck with a rolling lunge. As the ess-saber connected to the energy point the undead literally blew apart, leaving only its skull staring up from the sands as Vandore quickly moved on towards its counterparts.

Vandore walked steadily to meet the pair of undead. As the skeletal figures reached him they attacked in unison as if driven by one mind. Vandore leaped backward but one of the creatures scored a hit on his non-fighting arm. Vandore winced with pain at the shallow wound as he backpedaled, parrying a flurry of attacks. As the concerted attack of the undead continued, a pattern emerged that allowed Vandore to counter attack with a split second strike to one of the creature's nexus. Much as the other undead, this one shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. The second fell quickly as one on one the undead were no match for Vandore!

On to the end of Vandore's Journey...

To take control of the fate of Vandore, pick up Zenfar from your local CompUSA! For more on Zenfar check out the Zenfar RPG Rules and Zenfar Background.