Michael was a tall and burly man. He was 6’4, and quite bulky. Despite the fact that he didn't have a single hair on his head, he had a thick, almost unkept beard. Michael was in his mid 50’s so part of his beard was grey, specifically the center of it, with the rest of the beard being a deep black. In the past he had been a knight, but he had recently retired.

Michael lived in a small village in eastern Poland. The year is 1100, so the First Crusade had just ended. The holy war had caused turmoil throughout Europe, and this Village was one of the only places that wasn’t affected.  Despite the village’s small size, the village is rich in both history and money, with it being the site of many major battles. There was a natural abundance of gold and silver, which the village often traded to barons, knights, and even kings.

“It’s a beautiful day outside.” Michael said, accompanied by his friend Al the wizard.

“Almost a little too good.”, Al said. Michael didn’t think much of this comment that his dear friend had made, but in reality this comment had a more ominous meaning. Al had the ability to feel danger coming, a common power for wizards and witches, and he felt something huge coming.

“Michael,” the wizard said, “There is something coming, and I must go investigate. If I’m not back within 5 hours, do not wait for me and get you and everybody out of the area.”

Michael was about to ask what he was going to investigate, but Al disappeared without leaving a trace.

Michael headed to the pub of the village to get himself a few drinks. It smelled like coal due to the return of the miners of the village. He sat down and ordered for a few drinks which he quickly chugged. Before long, he was blackout drunk, which eventually lead to him passing out in the streets. When he woke up, he was in his house and the wizard had returned. Al looked distraught, as he looked into the distance as the sun slowly set.

“What’s wrong?” Michael said to Al, with his wits finally returning to him

“I feel as if something is coming, yet as far as I could see nothing out of the ordinary was seen. “

Source: https://goo.gl/qAbPWP

“You’re just overreacting, what could be coming? And how would the rest of the country not know if something is coming?”

“Some dangers cannot be seen until they’ve finally hit. Be wary of the skies, for something is coming.”

It had been weeks since the wizard gave his warning, yet nothing had come yet. Al had started to calm down and transition into his usual mood.

“See, I told you nothing was going to happen” Michael said happily. If only he knew how wrong he was.

It was the middle of the night. Michael and most of the community were fast asleep.

Danger was coming towards the village. Al ignored any indications of it, believing that his sixth sense was wrong. Something was coming though, and it was huge.

Michael woke up to the sound of thunder, yet it wasn’t even raining. This woke up most of the community, with only a few being able to tank through the noise. Michael and the town went to outside to see what was making this noise, and when they saw what it was they were terrified.

What was previously hidden by the darkness of night, was now in full view of the populace. Flames were coming out of its mouth, and it had dark beady eyes. Every time it flapped its wings, cries of thunder were released and hurricane tier winds were created. Its scales were black, but they shone like a diamond in the light of the fire. Its tail was the size of 3 houses, and its claws were sharper than any sword.

It was Adok, king of greed, master of Flame, and dragon of the west! The great dragon let out a mighty roar, and its flame changed from orange to blue. The dragon let out a great wall of flames which instantly lit a few houses ablaze. The fire let out a brilliant glow and within seconds the entire town was engulfed in it.

“Let’s go everybody!” Michael said. He was trying his best to escort people out of the village. The dragon landed on a house right next to Michael, and unfortunately for him, a stone that was in the house fell down on his head and knocked him out

The last thing he remembered was the smell of burning wood and flesh, and screams coming from the people. He was quickly knocked out, and the wind generated from the dragon buried him under a pile of dirt, with his nose being the only part not sticking out.

Michael woke up 3 days later. He woke up sore and taut, with his left leg suffering the most. He had trouble getting up out of the dirt, but he eventually got out of it. What he saw when he woke up was shocking: a wasteland of ash, charred wood, and flame. He couldn’t see a single soul anywhere, but what he could see was the burned corpses of the citizens of the village, all of them in a position that expressed agony. His first instinct was to call the name for his friend,

“Al!” Michael screamed, hoping that at least he survived.

“Yes Michael I’m here” Al replied. Michael was not surprised; a dead wizard was a rare sight.

Michael’s next move was to find his mother and father. Despite the fact that Michael was in his 50’s, Al’s magic helped them prolong their lifespan. They could have lived for 500 years, but fate was not so kind. When Michael got to the site of his parents’ house, he was truly repulsed by what he saw. Beneath the rubble, he saw the burned corpses of 2 people, one male and one female, completely black and they had an expression on their face that suggested that they were in extreme pain. Right then, Michael felt a deep hatred in his heart grow: a hatred for the dragon that did this.

In addition to all the things that Michael just saw, any gold, silver, or other precious metals or minerals, were completely gone. A few of the mines had claw prints at the entrance, suggesting that the dragon had gone there. Michael and Al headed inside the caves looking for survivors, and they noticed that it looked like chunks of gold were ripped out forcefully. As they headed deeper in the cave, they heard footsteps, and hope that people other than the two had survived grew. Michael and Al were both dead silent, not only so that they could hear any footsteps or voices, but also because of the fact that silence was a coping mechanism that both of them used. As the cave got darker and darker, the light from Al’s staff had to be increased. Eventually footsteps got louder and louder, and the two began to hear faint voices, confirming the fact that the footsteps belonged to a human and not any animal or beast.

They finally got to a huge amalgamation of rocks, that served as a dead end, and the two realized that the footsteps and voices were coming from beyond this wall. Al casted the ball of light radiating from the tip of his staff away, and used a spell that completely destroyed the rocks in their way. When Al turned the lights back on, he saw three different people.

“Finally, we’re free from this accursed mine!” One of the men said. He was about 5’10, and he looked quite young.

“I can’t wait to get outside and see the sunlight for the first time in 3 days! I hope the pub wasn’t destroyed!” Another one said, but this person was much smaller. He was about 4 feet, which meant he was probably a dwarf, and had a thick beard, and large belly. He wore goggles on his forehead, and black gloves on his hand.

“Judging by what I saw before we got into this cave, the pub and probably every other building in town was destroyed. Sorry mate,” he said in a British accent, “you’re not getting a beer today. Besides, judging by how heavy you are in relation to your height, I think you’ve had enough beers to satiate a man for a 100 years”, said the final one. He was the tallest, and stood equal to Michael and Al, but he was much skinnier and younger than either of them.

Michael and Al watched in shock as the group could be so comical after the events that just happened. The fact that they were so busy laughing to even notice the two amazed them.

Michael, still shocked from not only by the aftermath of the dragon’s attack, but from the attitude of the three they just met, just pointed at them and said, “Who are you?”.

The three survivors stopped talking and looked at them. The dwarf then said, “My apologies for not noticing you good sir. I assume that you two are the heroes that saved us from this cave. My name is Albin, and I am a blacksmith that came from the capital. The tall one is a sellsword named Alex, and the other one is a soldier named Nate. Fun fact: he’s not from Poland, and is a refugee from Britain that fled after the Normans came to power. May I ask what your name is?”

“My name is Michael. I used to be a knight, but I retired. The old fellow next to me is named Al. He’s a wizard that’s been in the town for hundreds of years. He’s the one who freed you”

“Well thank you good sir.”

“I assume you’re a dwarf?” Al replied.

“Yup, I’m from a small hand shaped island in the pacific. It’s a pretty nice place over there, with lots of luscious trees, and great weather.”

“Do you know what just happened?” Michael blurted out, almost holding back tears.

“Yes, the dragon came and destroyed the village. I’d have to be oblivious to not know that.” Albin replied.

“Then how,” Michael said, tears streaming out of his eyes, “How can you be so light hearted?”

“I mean it’s not like any of us knew the people here.” Alex said. He wasn't making a joke.

Michael lunged towards him. He may have been old, but he was still incredibly fast and strong. Al held him back, and if it wasn't for the fact that Michael was holding back he would've easily broken free and Al would've had to result to more forceful methods to contain him. Alex looked at him smugly as he was being held back and chuckled. The 5 soon started to navigate out of the cave, and into the ruins of the destroyed village.

“This dragon must be slain before it causes anymore harm”. Al said. Michael agreed, but he agreed because of his want for revenge and not to protect.

“Aye,” Albin replied, “he’s bad for business”

“But how do we get rid of it? It’s a dragon, a creature with impenetrable scales. Even if we could pierce the scales, it can still fly faster than any human can run.”

“Not every part is armored.” Al said. The others stared at him thinking he was crazy. After all, he did have the appearance of a crazy old man.

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked, “In the stories of heroes slaying them, they were fully armored in their scales and they had to use the divine power of the old gods. The old gods are dead, and the new ones aren’t allowed to interfere with mortal affairs.”

“And that’s why they’re called stories” Al replied. “That is not the truth. All dragons have an area not protected by scales on their left breast, which is also where their heart lies. One attack there and he should fall.”

“But how would we catch up to it? Surely there’s no way to catch up to a creature like a dragon?”

“We don’t have to,” Al explained, “dragons are incredibly heavy sleepers. If we can catch Adok while he’s sleeping, there’s no way he’ll be able to react to us.”

The 5 agreed to the plan. While a dragon rarely sleeps, their schedule is extremely predictable. The wizard tracked the dragon’s location to the Iberian Peninsula and they'd arrive shortly before the dragon starts its long slumber. Michael would then deliver the final blow, killing the dragon once and for all.

But before any of that, they needed equipment. The 5 traveled over to a nearby town that wasn’t affected. There, Albin forged armor for everybody except Al due to him preferring to just wear robes. Despite the fact that Albin and Michael were on terrible terms, Albin made a magnificent shield and sword for Michael. The sword’s blade was made with steel and the handle fashioned from gold. The hilt depicted fire, which may have been a way to spite Michael.  The shield was rather large, and a crest that Albin had personally made was on it, which depicted a shield split into four boxes with the first box having a sword, the second one a staff, the third one a hammer, the fourth a bow, and in the middle a giant knight’s helmet. This same crest was also drawn onto the jet black cape that was made by the tailor of the town.

The group was all geared up, and after a nice and hardy dinner, they departed the friendly town that took them in in their quest to slay the dragon. But little did they know that they were being watched, and if they weren’t vigilant their stalkers would end their journey.

Chapter 2

It had been 5 days since they left that welcoming town. There had not been a single threat so far. Not even a single wild animal. While mostly everybody had relaxed, Al was skeptical of how long this peace would last. Al stood watch during the night when everybody else was asleep, and in the morning he went to harvest food. Due to their lack of horses, they could only carry enough food to last them a few days. When Al could not find anything edible nearby, he traveled a great distance to find something.

While Al was out roaming to find food, Michael and the gang were relaxing. Albin, Alex, and Nate were all talking to each other, and Michael was taking a nap. His older age and lack of magic made him more prone to exhaustion than the rest of the group, and in addition to that, one of the blacksmiths of Zachod had given him a very large case, one that was as large as himself, that contained something that was extremely heavy. This put a lot of strain on poor Michael and caused him to be even more tired.

All of a sudden, a deep rumbling sound was heard and Michael was awoken. Al was nowhere to be found, and the other 3 were too busy being chatty to hear it. Michael looked over the horizon, and there he saw a terrifying beast approach him. It had the body of a titanic boar, the head of a colossal lion, the horns of a humongous Ram (except that they were blunt and they went past its head), the eyes of a monumental spider, and the tail was a enormous dead snake. Albin and the others quickly took notice of the huge beast, and within seconds they had all bore arms. The beast began to tilt its head down and when it came, it flicked its head back up. Albin was a master blacksmith, with his armor and shields famed for being able to be able to have multi ton objects fall on it yet escape with only a dent. Yet despite this, when that beast hit it, it shattered and broke with the pieces of the shield flying everywhere. If it weren’t for the fact that Michael landed under its belly he would have been crushed. When the creature turned to face Michael, he charged and jumped up trying to stab the monster’s head while falling, but alas, when the sword made contact with the head, it broke. Michael, now without any way weapon or armor, had to dodge the beast’s attacks to survive, unable to go on the offense. Michael easily did this, but he soon started to tire out. If he couldn’t find a weapon to defend himself with soon, he would be dead, and that would be the end of the journey.

When the beast tried charging forward with its horns again, it accidentally stepped on the box that Michael had, which destroyed the box but not what’s inside. When Michael saw what was in it, his eyes lit up. What was now on the ground was a giant sword, at least 6 feet long and 2 inches thick. The sword was so shiny that you could see your reflection in it, and its edges seemed to be sharpened to razor like proportions.

Michael quickly lunged for the blade, and when he got it he saw that the beast was right on top of him. While on the ground, Michael quickly swung the sword in a large sweeping manner, which decapitated the beast and ended the fight instantly. The others were not hurt as the beast only went for Michael, but they were still awestruck by what they saw. Not only did they just witness the destruction of Albin’s crafts, but they just saw Michael decapitate a giant monster with a lengthy sword. The group realizes that armor and shields won’t do them any good, and that the extra speed gained by wearing their normal clothing will help them much more in the long run. Michael suddenly felt a sharp pain on his arm.

“What is that smell?” The wizard said as he returned. He was smelling the rotting corpse of the beast Michael had slain. “Anyways, there’s a village near here. It is very close to the trail we have to follow, and the inhabitants were kind enough to let us stay and to feed us for free.”

By the time they got to the town, the sun was setting. While the others were drunk and merry, Michael couldn’t stop but think that something was coming and about where the beast had come from. While a beast like that would be quite common in the middle of nowhere, domesticated areas never have such vicious things. When the sun finally set, Michael felt that same pain he felt earlier, but some blood started to trickle out. He noticed that in the place where the pain was coming from, there was a claw shaped scar which was what was bleeding. Michael thought that was just a scar he gained when facing the monster. What he couldn’t explain was how the blood from the scar was coming out. The blood first formed a circle around the scar, then it dripped down Michael’s arm and stopped at his wrist. Every time Michael tried to wipe the blood off his arm, nothing would happen.

Michael went to sleep curious. He knew he could not ask the wizard as his senses are gone due to his heavy drinking and everybody else would be just as oblivious as him.

Michael awoke to cries of agony and his scar hurting even more than usual. When he went outside, he saw white wind that had faces in it. These faces looked sad and tormented. Al suddenly busted through the door to Michael’s room

“We must leave this village! Ghosts have infiltrated it and-” But he stopped as he saw Michael’s claw shaped scar, “The Mark of the Cult” Al said in awe, “That must be what’s attracting these spirits.”

“The Mark of the Cult? What cult?”

“The Cult of 6. It’s exact intentions and what it worships is unknown, but what is known is that its made up of those who deal with dark magic and necromancy. They command forces of the dead and demons from the deepest depths of the inferno. That mark you have, is what they mark those who are targeted by them. The formation of your blood is a depiction of the bleeding sun, their symbol.”

“But what exactly are the ghosts doing? It doesn’t seem like they’re interacting with people”.

“Yes but they inject memories of torment and sorrow into people. Soon it will be too much for them and they’ll throw themselves into the lake. These ghosts live on another plane of existence. There is nothing we can do to help them. We must get far away. When they do die, the ghosts possess their bodies and they become zombies fueled by rage and sadness.”

Michael and Al rounded up all the other party members and got any supplies that they’d need. Michael got his sword (now named DemonSlayer). They hurried out of the town, but Michael felt very guilty knowing that he was technically the one causing all the pain that was happening back there.

Albin sensed this and tried to comfort him,

“Cheer up man, it isn’t your fault. I mean it kinda is, but it’s not like it’s your fault that it’s your fault”.

“Gee, thanks for the emotional support.” Michael replied sarcastically

“Look, all I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t feel so bad about it, we’ve all done things that end up hurting someone, and while the effect usually isn’t this disastrous, a person should be able to do something bad accidentally and not feel bad about it.”

It was midnight when the party was walking through a field. The field was bare, and it suspiciously quiet.

Al suddenly stopped and said, “Wait a minute I know this place”. “This was the site of a major battle.”

Michael’s mark started to bleed again, and arms began to claw their way out of the ground. The difference between these arms, and regular ones, is the fact that the ones sticking out of the grounds had no flesh on them.. Within seconds, full bodied skeletons armed with swords and shields popped out of the ground.

When Michael unchained his sword and cut 3 skeletons in half, he noticed something strange: that their parts would magically heal and reassemble themselves together.

“What the heck?” Michael said as he mowed down 3 more skeletons.

“These skeletons can’t be killed by brute force! The only thing that can kill them is sunlight.” Al explained.

And so the party fought all night, with Michael using his Demonslayer, Albin using an axe, Alex using two daggers, and Nate using a bow. Al was not actually fighting, but instead using spells to ensure that the other four don’t get tired. They battled till sunrise, and when the sun finally rose, the skeletons just disintegrated.

It had been a month now. Sleep had become a thing of the past. A journey that would ordinarily take 12 days, has lasted an entire month. Instead of progress, days were filled with long battles. But they had finally reached their destination: the Iberian Peninsula.

“We’re finally here”. Michael said. Michael was feeling the worst out of everyone in the group. What he had seen in the last month had horrified him, and to know part of it was his fault put a heavy burden on his heart. He was just glad that the journey was almost over.

“We may be here, but there’s still one more obstacle we have to face: the Labyrinth. The dragon wakes up in 30 minutes, but do not fret, time moves slower in the Labyrinth. 5 hours in there is about the same as 30 minutes everywhere else.” Al explained.

They entered the Labyrinth, and when they did everyone, even Al, was amazed at the maze. They could see stairs leading up outside of the Labyrinth and to the dragon’s resting place on the other side.

Nate tried climbing one of the walls, but to his surprise, as soon as he was about to reach the top, the wall grew and so did all the others. Nate climbed back down,

“This is interesting. It seems like the Labyrinth responds to your actions,” Nate said.

“That is right. Navigating the Labyrinth used to be a sport, and to prevent cheating not only did they make each wall indestructible, but they also prevented people from climbing it by having every single wall rise when somebody tries.” Al replied.

Source: https://goo.gl/5nY4J5