POV: Simon (a martial of the vanguard)

LOCATION: The forbidden desert

As you kept walking, you could not help groaning at the growing blister under my boot.

"Keep walking recruit." Captain valourheart barked

"We have to catch those orchis stragglers before they get back to their horde and bring much more."

"Yes but did we really need to dicth the horses sir?" Thomas another recruit asked

"This would be a lot easier if we were mounted."

"Well I can't say you are wrong recruit." The captain admitted

"But that would take a lot of time we don't have."

"But captain, couldn't we have just waited for the horses to rest?" You asked

"You know how hard it is to find our trail back to the outpost in this bleeding sand without the horses."

The captain didn't reply

"The rookie right captain." Thomas added

"Without the horses keen sense of direction, it will take a fortnight to reach the outpost and if we encounter one of those freak sandstorms it might take two or three."

"Do you want your head decorating some orchis shaman spear?" He countered and then brought out a piece of parchment.

"Now quite your whinnying and move."

Now while You didn't know much about magical relics and artifacts, you knew a locater spell when you saw one. You also knew that to get one of those you either had to strong arm a caster or pay those fucking blood sucking merchants.

"Think he bought that?" You asked Thomas

"Does the captain buy anything?" He replied

"Word has it that he's been fresh with one of the mages daughter."

"Oh. So she got it for him?"

"More like daddy used it to pay off the annoying boyfriend." Thomas countered

"Though If you ask me the donkey should not even have bothered wasting his scroll."

"I heard that." The captain called

"Sorry!" Thomas called back but turned to you and whispered

"It's true"

You both shared a laugh at the captain's expense and continued to follow him through the hot sand until he suddenly signalled you to stop.

"Is there a matter captain?" Thomas asked as you both stepped forward.

"Look at the ground rookie." He said to you

"Tell me what you see."

You look at the ground he was pointing and your eyes narrowed as you exaamied the set of foot prints shinning in the sun.

There was the three pairs of large orchis prints you have been following but they were joined by ten pairs of prints that could only be made by horses. The blood stained sand and the strong smell of banecast made it clear that a battle has recently been fought here.

"Do you think our fellows have been here before us?" You asked the captain

"None of our fellows had gone ranging with any casters boy." He answered

"And if it had been a ranger they would have left the body."

"Plus they would have gone south not east." Thomas pointed out

"So what killed these orcs?" You asked with a bit of alarm

"Let's find out" The captain replied and began following the horse trail at a much faster pace.

The horse trail leads you deeper into the desert but you continue to follow it even though it strengthen the blister in your foot. However as the shadows began to lengthen and your quarry are no where in reach, you began to inwardly question the captain's reasoning.

Could he not see that these people were mounted and riding at full speed? How in the blessed saints dose he expects to catch up to them on mere feet?

"Halt!" The captain cried

You and Thomas quickly snapped to attention

"Double down!" He ordered to set you both at ease

"We have found the enemy."

You looked ahead and saw that the horse trail ended at the ruins of an ancient castle twenty paces away. You did not need to look once more to know what castle it is.

"The ruins of Nokmar?" Thomas cried out in shock

"I am not liking this."

"Neither am I." The captain admitted

"But if someone is going into that cursed place, then we owe it to the realm to find out who and why."

So saying he took out his shield, dropped his his pack, put the shield on and cautiously walked towards the ruin. Having no other option You and Thomas quickly did the same.

However as though the saints themselves were trying to warn you against entering, the minute you got to the entrance of the ruins, you encounter a dead horse with all its intestines arranged as a gory and blood soaked symbols of the cracked floor.

You all glanced at each other and with an unsponken agreement drew out your swords before advancing any further.

Inside the ruins, you began to see so many more bodies arranged in this despicable manner that some part of you began to grow used to it. Already you have tried keeping count of the bodies but you lost count at one thousand.

Just who in all creation is sick enough to do this?

You ask yourself

As though in answer to your question, your sharp ears picked up a distant sound. You concentrated for some time and discover that the sound is that of a chant which seems to come from the center of the ruins.

You all follow the chant and end up in a large hall face to face with a very thin man in a red robe sitting in the midst of a large circle made from the entrails of many others who were dressed like him.

When you three entered he did not even look at you.

"Have you come to offer yourself in sacrifice?" He asked

"Excuse me?"

This time he slowly turned around to face you and his green eyes seemed able to peer into your soul.

"Have you come here to die?"

Without waiting for an answer he waved a wand you had not noticed and a lightning bolt from nowhere sent you flying off your feet.

Without giving you a chance to recover, he quickly wove another one that would have crushed all resistance had it not been for your partner's shield.

"Get up your hyni rookie." Thomas barked

"Let's kill this caster."

"Yes sir" You replied and jumped to your feet.

You then charged at the caster with your shield in front of you but a lightning bolt put a stop to your recklessness. Luckily the caster could not focus on you as both Thomas and the captain were trying to flank him from both sides. This forced him to keep sending lightning their way in order to keep from being outflanked.

To be honest you had expected the caster to evade your attacks and strike from a superior range or at least use his far more deadly set of spells but the man simply stood where he was weaving lightning bolts that often crashed dangerously against your bane woven shields. Eventually you were able to surround the caster and the captain finished him off with a stab to his stomach.

However just as he was about to die, he spoke one last time

"The sacrifice has been made. The ritual is complete. QUEN DO HAMON"

(He expired)

"If I did not know any better captain, I would say they were trying some sort of ritual here."

You said hurriedly while trying to stomp the chill that came from the dead caster's threat.

"Isn't it obvious rookie?" The captain countered

"Let's get back to the outpost and bring those churaisers here. Hopefully they will know what to do with....whatever the hell this is."

"Yes sir."

Without another word the three of you start walking towards the entrance of the ruin....

Only for the earth itself to raise up and shut it in your face.

At that time a sound like the humming of ten thousand voices filled the cave and the flames of the thousand candles scattered around the ruins began to shake. To make matters worse the ruins began to shake as if by a great earthquake and the many bodies you have seen so far turned to dust.

Shocked and speechless, you struggled to keep your footing as you watched the dust from the dead bodies and blood that poured out from the cracked earth rushing together to the center of the ruins.

Eventually the dust finished gathering and a strong wind from nowhere filled the ruined hall and knocked you all off your feet.

When you managed to stand, you end up facing a very tall man who stood naked at the center of the hall.

"Who in the name of all the saints are you supposed to be?" Captain valorheart asked as he stepped forward with his weapon at the ready.

"Speak!"

The tall man simply looked intently at your captain as though searching for something within him. Upon finding it he said in a deep rich voice

"Do you serve?"

Just like that your captain whom you knew feared neither saint nor man, fell on his one knee and said in a voice that was not his own.

"I have served. I will be of service."

With a slash on his lips that was nothing like a smile, the tall man pointed to you and said

"Kill all intruders!"

You had expected to see some resistance from your captain, to see some level of the famed willpower of house valorheart but your hope was shattered when he steered at you once with those green eyes and broke into a charge. It became clear to you that whatever that man had done, none of the man your captain was survived it.

"Haaaa"

You quickly braced your shield for the shield bash but the captain pivoted at the last moment and send his shield bashing into your side with a strength you have never seen.

This sent you crashing into the ground and the captain tried to follow through with a stab but Thomas sword intercepted the blade.

Thomas began delivering strikes after strikes to keep the captain on the defense until the captain dodged one of his blows and countered with a heavy kick. Not giving the captain a chance to follow up, you leapt from the floor where you were and buried your eleven handwidth of steel deep into the captain's unprotected back.

You made sure the wound was very deep and even if it was not the size of that blade should have been enough to kill him.

But he did not die

And when he turned to look at you it was not a look of pain but rather one of mockery. Alas before you could recover your presence of mind enough to pull your sword, the captain swung his sword and you felt pain in your right hand. When you tried to draw your sword, you watched helplessly as your entire right hand pulled away from your elbow.

"Ahhhhh!" You scream as the pain hit you like a banecast.

"Simon!" Thomas cried and then tried to defend you.

The man tried his very best but against an opponent that could not die his best was less than useless and without you to balance the scales, it did not take long for the captain to stap the man and cut deep into his stomach thereby letting out a huge flow of blood.

When he was done with Thomas he turned to you, cut off your other hand and used a dagger to cut open your flesh in order to let out blood.

As you feel your life ebbing away the thousand voices that once hummed now spoke together in a loud clear voice

"Let the red stain the earth and bring order to the land.

Let the one who is dead rule as king forevermore.

QUEN DO HAMON

BEWARE THE NIGHT."