Shack

The knights entered the shack, weapons drawn, and saw no one. The room was very small, the air was humid, and there was a faint smell of decay coming from within. Several dusty tools rested on a bench against the wall, which was in terrible condition from wear with a hole in the wall.

Behind the bench was a large bed, on top of which was a tattered gray blanket with faded brown color. There was dust on the bed and a rotten wooden headboard hanging down from above. This place seemed unloved and abandoned for a long time.

"This might be some sort of a setup," Meg observed.

The place gave her a feeling of unease. It was a run-down shack with a bad smell, and she could make out signs of cobwebs on nearby windows.

"Why would the crawlers come here of all places?" Meg whispered to herself, glancing about the room with her keen eyes.

"They are simplistic creatures. They only feed, rest, and reproduce." Fendos added.

"So which one of those attracted them? No signs of cadavers or bones means no food…" Meg said.

"I don't care, but I will admit that I do not like this one bit. Let's go back to the others now that you've had your little adventure, Traveler." Fendos talked with a low voice, as if he was being careful not to wake any crawlers.

Meg walked over and picked up the tattered gray blanket, revealing a single bed with metal springs. She then looked at one of the windows which was covered in cobwebs, but she pulled off the dust from its surface, revealing a broken and rusty window. Meg looked at the Traveler with a look of relief as if saying "See, here lies the problem. The crawlers came through that window to rest. They like to rest in confined places like these."

The Traveler merely hummed as if he was considering the possibilities.

"Hey, Meg. The Captain will be angry if we wait around any longer." Fendos insisted.

"We're already here, Fendos. Might as well investigate in case there's anything of worth." Meg nonchalantly said, as she crouched down to have a better look.

Under the headboard on the bed was an overturned, moldy book. The paper had turned brown and brittle, but the leather was still intact. There was a title embossed on the cover that had once been gold-accented but had dulled over time. The title was: Dance with the Dead: Volume III.

The Traveler immediately snatched the book off of Meg's hands, and she wanted to protest, but the mage put up a hand as if to silence her.

He flipped open the book, noticing the first page was blank. But a second look reveals a series of symbols and diagrams embossed onto the page. These symbols and diagrams were arcane, and The Traveler could feel their mystical power. It felt like they were meant to be used to open a portal to somewhere.

"Why is there a grimoire lying around in the middle of nowhere? How does that make any sense?" Fendos was confused, as he kept stealing glances outside the shack for any movement in the bushes.

"You're not surprised..." Meg said while looking intently at the mage.

"And you're quite perceptive." The Traveler smirked, but then his serious expression returned when he pocketed the arcane tome.

"What now, Traveler?" Fendos asked, still looking out at the bushes.

"This book is meant to act as the catalyst to open a mystical gate." The Traveler said.

"Basically, a portal." Meg rolled her eyes.

"It's not just any portal. Look at the symbols on the first page. This is a portal that leads to a domain of death and decay. There's something else here in this shack with us."

The Traveler rose his eyebrow. He kept finding the same patterns over and over, but with no clear line of connection between them.

Fendos kept looking outside every few seconds. "Are you telling me there are things in this shack with us?" Fendos asked, pulling his battleax.

"No," the Traveler said, and he started to pace. "I'm telling you that this shack is a window to a different world. A world of decay and death. A place where the very air is toxic for mortals. And it's here because of this book."

"Then why are you keeping it?" Asked Meg.

"Why wouldn't I?" For the Traveler, it was a stupid question. As for the knights, his answer almost made them doubt his sanity.

"So then what do we do now, Traveler? Close the portal? But how?" Fendos asked.

"That portal is just a tiny window right now. And closing it would be the same as denying our opportunity to learn more about this… phenomenon which caused the monsters to appear… No, if anything, I would open it. And to open it, I would have to chant a few phrases, draw a pentacle in blood, and sacrifice a goat or something." He paused in thought. "I'm not gonna do that, though. Not now, anyway…"

Meg stared at the book, transfixed by the magic swirling within the tome's pages. The magic flowed from the arcane symbols as if some sort of ancient power were calling to Meg from deep within the depths of the ancient grimoire.

The light shifted, the dark magic within the book's spellbook pulsing as if it were alive and breathing.

At this, the Traveler gave the female knight a slap without any warning. "Snap out of it, girl. You're not used to this kind of corrupt energy. If you stare at it too much, it will start to influence your weak mind, and eventually, it will turn you into another creature of the dark."

Meg staggered for a moment, then looked at the Traveler with a fierce eye. Her anger and disgust overrode her mind, and she raised her hand to slap the dark mage. But the Traveler quickly stepped aside, avoiding Meg's hand as he did. Meg fell to the ground, landing on all fours.

"Meg!" Fendos came to his friend's side and held her back. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, mage?!"

"You just attacked me," Meg coughed. She then felt the dark magic creeping inside her, urging her towards the magic. She felt it beckoning her, urging her to read the book. And she became utterly scared, more so than when she was injured by the winged demon.

The Traveler sighed. "Alright. Time for you both to retreat. I'll handle it from here. Give the Captain my regards."

"Not a chance!" Fendos grabbed the Traveler by the collar of his cloak.

"I'm not asking. Either leave or die." The Traveler said ominously, as he pointed with his finger at a group of shadows that were bundling together in a swirl of purple light outside the shack.

"What are those?!" Kenneth shouted, as the shadows swirled together and began to rise into the sky as if forming into some sort of black portal.

"As a veteran knight who was trained to kill them, you should know exactly what those are," the Traveler said with a smug look. "Those are crawlers being born, right in front of your eyes."

The two knights felt their blood freeze at the utterance of those words. Meg's legs trembled, and Fendos had to blink several times to make sure he was not hallucinating.

"And? What is to be your choice, my allies? Will you stay with me and meet your deaths, or will you run back to your horses, and rush to your friends at the entrance of the forest?" As the Traveler questioned them, he began casting a few magic circles under his boots. They were light blue in color.

Meg looked into the Traveler's eyes. She knew she did not have enough combat experience or knowledge of magic to defend them both against the coming threat, and the wave of despair hit her. She did not want to be alone if she died here. She wanted to be with her friends, and she also wanted Fendos to be safe.

"Run!" Meg and Fendos both shouted as one. Abandoning any thoughts of fighting the black mass of growing monsters, the two knights sheathed their weapons and rushed out of the shack, running as fast as they could, heading back towards the forest in the direction where they came.

As Fendos and Meg turned and ran out of the shack, the Traveler lifted up a glowing blue sphere with the power of his magic. The sphere, along with the magic of the Traveler's spell, began to pulse violently. Once it had reached a critical level, the pulsing and light of the sphere exploded with enough force to blow away the front door of the shack and blow out the windows. With a tremendous surge of energy, the sphere began to take the form of a gigantic chain.

'Time to get me some answers…' The Traveler smiled in a way no ordinary mage who used the Light affinity should.

The Traveler waved his finger and cast the spell Chain Shot. Within a blink of an eye, the chain shot out toward the forest in a spiral motion. It broke through the tree trunks, creating a large hole through the forest as it ripped through the leaves and branches.

It reached and began to shackle the black mass of corrupt energy that was gathering, and it appeared to react violently to the blue light of the Traveler's chain spell.

As the chain wrapped more and more tightly, a part of the black mass shot out at the Traveler.

'Don't even think about it.'

The Traveler then cast another spell called Soul Shield. The Traveler summoned a blue magical barrier around himself, and used it to deflect a barrage of black magic that came flying his way after he attacked those monsters. He also cast a spell called Magic Drain, which absorbed the dark magic to restore his Mana that had been running low for some time.

The black mass then began to pulsate harder as the dark magic inside of It desperately tried to break free of the chains and attack the Traveler. But the magical chains remained strong.

Once he knew he had managed to subdue the energy, the Traveler spoke in a mysterious dead language. "Tell me, beasts. Who is your master?"

No response. The black mass of corrupt energy simply continued to writhe in agony. In response, the Traveler continued to channel more magic into the chains, trying to draw more information from the writhing energy.

The dark energy became so unstable that its power exploded like a nuclear bomb. The black mass exploded with such a powerful force, sending a shockwave that demolished the shack completely.

The shockwave slammed into the two fleeing knights and knocked the wind out of them. They were launched into the air and sent flying back several meters until they struck a tree, landing painfully on hard ground.

As for the Traveler, he remained standing unharmed within the ruins of the shack, surrounded by a swirling blue mist, his staff aimed toward the sky as he tried to summon another spell.

But then he was interrupted.

A rumble echoed, and something evil stirred within the forest. It moved quickly, crushing trees and smashing its way through the forest.

"It seems I have caught the attention of their master," the Traveler said, a smile playing across his lips.

Out of the woods burst a giant monster, ten times more massive than a crawler. The humanoid monster was covered in black fur, its hands were large enough to crush a small house. Its legs were enormous and thick, its body was large and powerful. The monster let out a deafening roar, which could be heard echoing across the land, all the way to Saint Lucien Village.

It was a gigantic beast with a head covered in huge sharp teeth and claws. With a deafening roar, the monster let loose a discharge of purple blaze from its mouth and charged at the Traveler.

The monster's large fists slammed into the Traveler's Soul Shield and shattered it instantly. Then, as the roar died down and became a low growl, the creature swung its claws again. They were sharp and serrated. With another swipe, the Traveler brought up a blue tower shield to block the attack.

The blow was so severe, the shield shattered underneath the force. Then, with a second strike, the monster brought its fist down and slammed it into the Traveler's chest. The attack seemed to break the last layer of defense he had placed on himself prior to the fight.

A tremendous blast of wind sent him flying back into the trees, crashing down into a rock. A large tear appeared in the Traveler's cloak, but otherwise, he stood there completely unharmed.

"That's the best you got?" He scoffed as he threw his backpack away from the battlefield to avoid having it destroyed.

Then, the Traveler lifted his staff, aiming at the monster's chest with both hands. A bolt of bright blue lightning shot out of his staff and into the monster.

The lightning bounced all around the monster's black fur, sending blasts of electricity all over its body. The monster howled in pain, its legs giving way as it kneeled to the ground.