As Cain Wyrmscale looked around the courtyard, he was slowl overcome with grief. Surrounding him were the bodies of his students; Knights, spell-swords, and mages; people he had sworn to protect. When he returned to the Acadamy, dead bodies were not what he was expecting.
When he first drew near to the walls, the first hint was the scratches along the walls. Individually, they meant next to nothing, but togather they formed a magic circle, blocking out spatial magic, and connection to the inmaterial planes, effectivly sealing everything inside from magical escape. The massive runecovered gates were standing ajar, one nearly ripped off its hinge, giving him the next hint of the carnage that waited within. And once he entered...
In the entirety of his life, Cain had never seen bodies savaged so bad, limbs torn off, torsoes ripped apart, and similar gore, far beyond anything animals would cause, and too savage to have been torture. After a brief moment of recovery, Cain started on the grim task of iling the bodies to burn them. While he went about his duty, he inspected his body for any sign of the perpetrators, but all the bodies left behind were from the students and guards, with pools of blood leading to the gate, indicating where bodies had been dragged off. When the last body was on the make shift pyre, he lit it with a small gesture, igniting a series of runes on his gauntlets.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Then, he sat down and mourned. It was not the first time he had cleaned after a slaughter of this sort, nor the first time the bodies were of people he knew. But this time... He had thought he was strong enough to prevent this, that he had left enough wards to warn him in time. Enough power to do... something. And it had all been for naught in the end. All his works, all the money spent of wards, guards, bribes. The time spent to erect a Great Mythal, to build the walls, and to train his people. Was for nothing. After he came to that realization, something inside him broke, and he began to cry.
After several hours, he finally rocked to his knees, and prayed for the first time in his life.
"Please... If anyone, if anything is listening, give me a second chance."
And... after a time, a darkness came over him, and he saw a faint light, and a blue screen.
Will you make a contract for your soul?