Deep within a underground and sealed tomb there was an eerie silence that filled the air. No wind blew in, not even a drop of water was heard. The only things within the large and ancient chamber appeared to be two motionless 25 foot tall statues, holding large blades at least half their height with the tips pointed to the ground. The look of them resembling knights wearing steel plate armor. Standing guard as if waiting for someone or something from within to make a move. Between the two giant statues was what appeared to be a stone door close to their height with no clear way of opening it. Just a seal carved within the surface of the entrance. It was unclear how long the tomb itself was hidden, but it was in remarkable condition.
However, nothing can be hidden forever. At some point someone must discover it. The darkness within the cave was soon illuminated by a bright light, and the sounds of footsteps were heard approaching the chamber door.
On the other side of the tomb however, it seemed as though nothing was within it. Nothing extravagant, or ornate. Just a large empty room, possibly a couple hundred feet in diameter and the ceiling reaching about 75 feet. The only thing that stood out was what was in the center of the large nearly empty room. A crystal. A large pure white crystal that protruded from the ground, ending at a tip near the top of the room. Within it was what appeared to be a person... A human male with crimson colored hair, wearing an ancient and ornate red hooded cloak. What was under it was dark colored chainmail and a black shirt. His pants also shared the same color as his shirt along with his shoes. He was at the very least 6'1 in height and his age suggested he was in his early 20's. Possibly 24.
A tapping was heard coming from the entrance of the chamber. Almost as if someone was attempting to find a way into the ancient room. The tapping echoed throughout the room, echoing off its walls. The faint sounds of muffled voices were soon heard, as if a group of people were discussing something among themselves. Eventually, a golden light soon came from the center of the door. The symbol that was carved within the stone door glowing brightly from both sides of the door. Reacting to the magic from someone in the group and began rising. The sound of stone scraping against stone echoing through the room as it continued to rise until it stopped with a loud 'thud'.
Those noises were just enough to cause a stir from the person trapped within the crystal. Their eyelids barely moved as a result. Not opening but enough to make it known that they can somehow hear what's going on outside.
{What's going on..? Why can't I move..?} The individual within the crystal thought to themselves. Slowly but surely becoming aware of their surroundings, yet before they even attempted to open their eyes they tried to process what they can currently feel. {I feel warm... As if my entire body is encapsulated in heat. It feels familiar. It's not fire but something else... Light magic?} He thought, deducing the most likely probability of what he's surrounded by. {I'm in a Sealing Crystal, am I? Was this during or after I fell unconscious?} His thoughts were cut off as he soon heard a tapping against the smooth crystalline surface, followed by the voices of 4 other individuals. He can't quite make out what they are saying, but 3 sounded like males and the other sounded like a female. The three males sounded as if they were telling the girl to be cautious or stay away from the crystal. {Hmm... Whoever out there is quite noisy.}
He soon began to open his eyes, slowly but surely adjusting his sight to what was around him. Just as he thought, a sealing crystal. Given how big it is he's likely been within it for a long time. How long is hard to tell. His eyes soon sat upon the four individuals outside it. Three males and one female.
One of the males appeared to be a rogue. Wearing a dark long sleeved hooded jacket, having dark brown pants and slightly worn brown shoes. He also wore black gloves to help cover his hands. He was holding what appeared to be a serrated dagger in his right hand, and had what looked like a few throwing knives on his belt. The one thing that stood out from it all was what looked like a silver pendant that hung from their neck with a sigil or symbol on it. The crystal made it somewhat difficult to make out the specifics, but he could tell that the rogue had brown hair. He was also roughly about 5'5 in height.
The other male beside him wore little to nothing on their upper body. They were much larger than the rogue, possibly about a foot taller in height and much more muscular. A brawler. This was only supported by the weapons they had, gloves that had what looked like metal plates where the knuckles were. They also had what looked like tattoos on their chest, due to the dark spots on them. They also had a silver pendant on them. They had black colored hair as well.
The last male appeared to be that of a highly decorated knight. The heavy plated armor he wore was white in color, the chest and back covered by what appeared to be religious cloth, and the light that shined off the crystal was also reflected by the bits of armor that weren't covered. There was a symbol on the clothing that was over the heavy plate, but it was somewhat hard to make out. There was what looked like a large sword sheathed on his back, almost as tall as him, which was about 6'3 in height and nearly 2 feet wide. There was no visible pendant. His hair was bright blonde in color.
Finally, the female. She was the closest to the crystal and much easier to make out compared to the rest. She wore what appeared to be a mages robes and boots, light blue in color and decorated with mystical symbols. Unlike the rest she had no weapon. In truth if she did, it'd be somewhat surprising since most skilled mages can cast spells without the use of a staff. She also wore a pendant around her neck, much like the rogue and brawler, but thanks to her distance it made it easy to make it out. It was a symbol of two wolves chasing one another in a circular pattern, with both of their mouths close to their tails. A possible guild symbol. Her eyes were a sky blue color, her skin fair and white, and her hair a dirty blonde color. Her age must have been either 18 or 20. Although this detail was not important, her chest size was a large size C. She was rather attractive. A 7/10.
With what he had to go on, the man within the crystal can only assume that three out of his four visitors were adventurers. Possibly hired by the knight as support. Though it was difficult to make out the expression of the other three the female had one he can tell was that of surprise, shock and possibly fear. Likely because he had finally opened his eyes and they never expected him to be alive. She had quickly backed up from the crystal and to the side of her party members. They all seemed to be on guard, all except for the knight. He got in front of the three adventurers and spoke with his back turned against the crystal. His voice was muffled but he can tell that the man was trying to tell the three he was unable to move or escape.
{Hmm... Hard to make out what he's saying, but he clearly thinks I'm unable to escape. For any other being that may be the case. However...} He thought to himself and attempted to move his right hand and arm. Anything is better than being stuck in this cursed thing. It was taking some effort but eventually he heard something. A crack. One that continued to grow more and more as he moved his fingers, eventually being able to form a fist. With what bits of crystal that was crushed into dust in his hand, he channeled what power he could into his free hand. Creating a sphere of pressurized and concentrated air in his palm. {A simple crystal cannot hold me. It may be hard to fracture it from the outside, but if I use enough power and cast a spell, I could destroy it from in the inside.}
The four outside the crystal heard what was happening and the three adventurers including the knight, looked at the area where the cracks had formed. They of course reacted by either trying to run for cover or brace themselves for what was to happen.
As they did, the pressurized air soon expanded from his palm. Pushing against the crystal with immense force and rapidly fracturing it until it erupted in a violent manner. The crystal fully shattered, turning into pieces of dangerous shards that flew out in all directions. The air that accompanied the shrapnel continuing to expand, hitting the roof of the room and continuing outside the door. Causing the entire area to shake from the shockwave. The brawler and knight were able to handle the shrapnel thanks to their natural toughness and their armor. The air however made the brawler fly back about 30 feet or so, tumbling across the ground. The knight was able to stand his ground, but only barely as he had an arm raised to shield himself from the gust of wind and the shards of crystal. Still the knight was pushed back about 15 feet. The rogue and the mage however managed to protect themselves using a barrier that enveloped them in a dull yellow light.
Once the air has settled down and the shards were no longer an issue, the rogue was the one to speak up first. His voice sounding as if he was no more than in his early 20's. "I thought you said we were safe while he was in there!!"
"I.. I thought we were. I don't know how he was able t-" The knight spoke, his voice filled with confusion. Not knowing how it was possible that the crystal was shattered. Even dragons weren't supposed to be able to escape such a powerful object.
"I'll tell you how. All I needed was to do was create a weak point within it then expell the proper amount of power. Child's play really. Plus it doesn't help the fact that it wouldn't have been able to hold a lesser dragon." Spoke the man that destroyed the crystal. He was currently stretching, leaning backwards to crack his back. Making it pop then moved onto his neck, placing his left hand on its side then popping it as well. "Ah... That's better. My body felt unusually stiff. Guess I was in there for quite a while. Oh well, at least I had a good rest." He said, this time placing his hands behind his head. Acting in an unusually calm and casual manner.
The knight, who was clearly displeased by the fact he was interrupted, and looked back at the man with a glare. Reaching back to grab the hilt of his two handed blade, pulling it out and planting his feet firmly to the stony ground. Getting into a battle position. He then said, "Then I think it's time you take another long nap, devil. Permanently." He threatened, making it clear he intended to fight.
The man however simply looked over at him with an eyebrow raised, and placed his hands on his hips before saying, "Me? A devil? Now I know I'm not a hero, but I'm certainly no devil. What's your name knight?" He asked, continuing to act in a relaxed and casual manner. Clearly unthreatened by the knight before him.
The knight couldn't help but feel as if he was being played with. No one in their right mind would take a man like him lightly, and act as if this was some game. Still he had enough honor to respond to the question. "You're really asking that? Very well... My name is Gabriel Lionus."
"Ah. Pleased to meet you then Gabriel. I am-" The red haired man was interrupted by Gabriel this time, being stopped before he could properly introduce himself.
"I know who you are, and I don't intend on letting you leave this place. You're going to be sealed again. Even if it costs me my life." He said, his right foot shifting slightly. Getting prepared to rush onward and attack him head on.
"I see.. Well before me and you do our little dance, mind if I deal with those two first?" The man said, pointing over at the direction of the entrance.
Gabriel soon looked over his shoulder to see the two statues that were outside were now moving in through the doorway. Moving as if they were living breathing beings, ducking their heads under the door frame and moving towards the center of the room menacingly with their large blades dragging against the ground. Each step they made caused a light 'boom' thanks to the weight of their heavy stone bodies.
The brawler was being helped up by his fellow adventurers, aided by the rogue to get back up on his feet and the female mage casting what one can guess is healing magic to heal whatever wounds he suffered. Though their gaze turned to look at the moving statues that wandered towards the direction of the crimson haired male and Gabriel, and while they were surprised, the female showed concern for the knight. Yelling at him, "Gabriel! Get out of their way!"
Gabriel however didn't move. Not due to fear but because he can feel where their attention was shifted towards. The red haired man. His suspicion was proven correct as they simply walked past him, and continued moving towards the man. Stopping nearly halfway between him and the red haired devil. "Huh. Whoever put those Stone Guardians here was smart. A decent security measure, especially for ancient times." He said, having a small smirk on his face and slowly exiting his fighting stance. Planting the tip of his blade into the ground before saying, "I don't know how much power you used to break out of that crystal, but I think you used more than enough to let these two take care of you."
"Hm." The red haired man simply said, observing the Stone Guardians as if he was sizing them up. "Ill admit, I had a feeling I used more power than I should have in order to destroy that little rock, but I think these two will make for a decent warm up." He said, gaining a small smirk of his own before getting into what appeared to be a martial artists fighting stance. His left foot planted behind him, and his right foot in front. His right hand, also being in front of him, turned into a fist. Given his grin, he appeared confident in taking on the Guardians.
Gabriel noticed this and the smirk he had faded for a moment. He stared at the guardians, unsure if they would be able to defeat the man. He then shook his head, figuring if they couldn't then he would at least be able to attack once the battle is over. He soon walked over towards the adventurers he came with, standing next to the brawler who managed to get back to his feet.
The brawler looked at Gabriel, somewhat curious as to what he knew about this guy and why he was so aggressive towards him. He hasn't seen such aggression from a knight and he didn't tell him about why he needed them other than to be back up. He then asked, in his deep voice, "Hey Gabe. You clearly know about this guy. Something we should be aware of?"
Gabriel didn't answer. He simply kept his eye on the fight to happen, but was soon spoken to by the female mage. "Hey! He asked you a question. It'd be better for us all to know who we're dealing with. So at least give us something!" She said, urging Gabriel to tell them so they can get a better idea of who this guy is.
"Hm.. Fine. As you know I work under the Chruch of Iros as their paladin. I was tasked to bring seasoned adventurers with me to ensure a specific location was safe. However, that's only partly true. My other task was to ensure that the being sealed in this tomb is to never escape, lest they run amok outside the tomb. That man is no one other than the devil that Iros himself fought." Gabriel explained, informing the group as to what his full mission was and letting them know it's now their mission as well since he hired them.
"Wait.. You mean..." The mage asked, looking over at Gabriel and back over towards the red haired man. Appearing to have some knowledge on the subject.
"Yes. The red devil himself. A champion of the old divines who turned his back on humanity, and threatened to destroy the world. His real name? Dracul Pendragon." Gabriel said, crossing his arms as he kept his eyes on the Stone Guardians and Dracul. The three soon looked towards Dracul as well, almost baffled that a myth like him was there before them. Still, they now realized the present danger. The one thing they hoped is that they don't have to fight him themselves.
Dracul kept his eyes on the Guardians, who slowly raised their blades over their heads. Prepared to swing their blades down onto him. Dracul simply chuckled lightly to himself and spoke, his voice filled with confidence. "Alright... Let's dance."
To be continued...