Chapter 1: Prologue

The sounds of footsteps and the heavy breathing of many echoed around the small cavern. As the sound increased, the flicker of a torch could be seen, illuminating the rocky walls. With the light came a group of men dressed in leather armor and armed with swords. They stopped before a set of imposing doors that were double their height and decorated with extravagant metal inlays that looped and curved, having no beginning or ending.

 

“We finally found it,” one of the men said while looking at the doors with awe and greed in his eyes.

 

“That doesn’t mean shit until we get what we came here for,” said the man in the front of the group with his hand reaching to the door. “Demon shrines are death traps. When we get out, then we can relax.”

 

This man who seemed to be the leader of the group then pushed on the doors. As if it was expecting them, the door open without the slightest resistance or sound. What was revealed behind the majestic entrance was a wonder of wealth, with golden treasures and jewels laid out on various pieces of furniture befitting for a king. The most eye catching were the five golden stands that formed a pentagon surrounding the centerpiece of the room, a stone statue of a beast that was so detailed that it looked as if it was going to jump off of the pedestal it stood on.

 

Upon seeing this amazing display of treasure, the men raced forward with intense hunger in their eyes without any regard for safety. They immediately began to shove treasures into the bags they brought with them while laughing at their good fortune. One man however, dressed on a long robe, didn’t follow his comrades. On his face there was a look of worry.

 

‘There is something wrong here,’ the mage thought. He knew how old this chamber was, or at least how old it was supposed to be. But the doors opened so easily and when his men ran into the chamber, a deep feeling of foreboding was released from the demon shrine. The mage thought that this didn’t make any sense as the demon that previously inhabited the shrine should have been gone for hundreds of years. Unable to shake off his fears, he went to the leader of the group.

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When the leader noticed him, the mage said, “We should leave right now, Boss. I don’t think we should stick ‘round here.”

 

The Boss wasn’t a stupid man. He survived until now because of his caution and the trust he had in his men. When he heard the words of warning from the one mage in his team, he immediately began to yell at his people to pack up. With much complaining, the group headed out of the chamber. But one kid had his eyes on one of the treasures in that room, the gold stands inlaid with diamonds that surrounded the statue. As the youth grabbed one of the stands, the mage saw him and what he was holding. Seeing what was etched on the stand, the mage’s eyes widened.

 

“YOU! DON’T TOUCH THAT!” the mage screamed with a panic-filled voice but it was too late.

 

The moment one of the pillars of the seal was displaced, a cry powerful enough to shake the earth could be heard. It could be felt throughout their bodies, shaking their very core, paralyzing them. The entrance to the shrine slammed shut but the men frozen stiff with fear couldn’t even utter a word of panic. One by one they fell as their life force was sucked into the statue that lied in the in the center of the chamber. With his last breaths, the mage watched as the statue exploded with a brilliant light.

 

A new demon was born. And the vague form of it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, the cavern collapsing on itself moments later.