It was dark. Even though the day had just about begun, there was no light to illuminate the path ahead. The path into the flames, the path to The Tooth. There had been rumors that Furnox, Master Tactician and God of Fire planned to invade Laurel’s Town in order to seize control of the gateway leading to the realms of the Watchers and so a great host of men gathered and took up their arms. Fully cloaked in steel and armed with sharp blades and axes they moved towards the giant volcano. The volcano’s fires burn bright as the ashes rain down upon the empty streets and the decaying houses. Laurel’s Town was once a place full of beauty and music, but now it is a place filled with death and the ugly sound of emptiness. This is the place where Rhux and Laurel first descended to the Four Vales, where they created this world and everything in it, but now the gateway is locked and abandoned. The town was so close to the Tooth that it was simply too dangerous to stay there. Sometimes, Furnox’ demonic creatures would come down from their fiery halls and burn down a few of the empty homes. Rumor has it that the Pyromancers use the town as a training ground now as well. The Pyromancers are Furnox’ servants, they’re fire-mages. With their magical powers they are able to set their enemies ablaze and shape the molten rock into some of the most horrible creatures mankind has ever seen…

‘Are we still following the right track, General Daranis?’

John Daranis looked around, as if searching for something.

‘Ah, yes, we are Rhyddion. Do you see that?’

John pointed at a flag planted in the thick layers of ashes.

‘That is a beacon,’ he said, ‘it was planted by our scouts. If we follow those we will reach the Tooth.’

‘And then we can finally deal with Furnox. That bastard has terrorized mankind long enough!’

The soldiers cheered as if the battle had already been won, but for John, victory was still an uncertainty. There had been no report from the scouts. Maybe they were dead, taken down by some Pyromancers. General Daranis was sure they were slowly moving into a trap. The Master Tactician is cunning after all. He tends to think five steps ahead of his opponents, if not more. John was looking for another beacon when something else draws his attention.

‘Rhyddion, what’s that over there sticking out of the ashes? That’s not a flag.’

Rhyddion drew his two handed greatsword and carefully looked at the strange object.

‘It’s an arm, General Daranis.’

A human arm, or rather what was left of it, was sticking out of the ashes. The skin had been burned and it was as black as coal.

‘It must be one of our scouts, General.’

‘Then it is as I feared…’

Suddenly the ashes started to move. Horrific faces emerged from the pitch black ground. Man-sized creatures were crawling over the ground. Some of them had four arms, some of them, just two. There were also some with more than two eyes and some with less. The one thing they all had in common were the small sharp teeth inside there rotting mouths.

‘Draw swords!’

A flash of steel followed by a few hundred more.

‘Shields!’

The outer ring of men pulled up there shields, blocking the creatures that tried to jump them, but all of a sudden, the ground underneath them started moving as well. Long, thin arms grabbed a soldier’s legs and he was pulled underneath the ashes.

‘Quickly! Defend yourselves!’

The soldiers were furiously swinging their swords, while the enemies erupt from the ground and descend from the skies. Rhyddion’s greatsword cut through the creatures like a hot knife through butter and his strong and sturdy armor managed to prevent the creatures’ teeth from piercing his skin. Meanwhile, John’s shield was filled with dents and his armor started to fall apart. The creatures found their target and were all swarming towards the general, but the general had a secret weapon. A small piece of Arcadium, imbedded in his sword. Suddenly, beams of light started to emerge from the cold steel, cutting right through the creatures and turning them into a new layer of ash. John swung his sword in a circle around him, creating a circle of light that devoured the darkness around him. Soon, the creatures started to retreat.

‘Chase them! Hunt them down!’

The men quickly recovered and pursued the horrific creatures that killed their brothers. Little did they know, that they were running into a trap…

A flash of light in the dust ahead and a huge fireball descended from the skies, leaving a giant crater filled with orange flames behind the soldiers. There was no going back now. The Pyromancers started to rain down fiery flames onto the several hundred men underneath them. Quickly the steel shields were raised again until the mages stopped firing. The shieldwall split apart and John and Rhyddion jumped out of the gap into the crowd of Pyromancers. Steel flashed and fire burned, but Rhyddion’s armor was resistant against the flames and with a massive blow he severed the heads of three mages at once, who instantly turned to ashes. In the meantime, three other mages were raining their fire upon John’s shield, a few meters away from Rhyddion’s blade. The fireballs exploded upon the steel, releasing a massive heatwave that was slowly heating up the cold steel. The shield started to burn John’s skin and he knew that it was time to strike. Quickly he tossed his half-molten shield at his attackers, hitting one them against his chest. The Pyromancer fell down with the still hot shield sticking between his broken ribs. John’s feet guided him through a dense maze of burning fire until he got a hold of a second Pyromancer in front of him and jammed his dagger in the man’s neck. The third fireball missed John’s face only a little, charring John’s skin and turning it black. Another fireball came towards his face and he rolled across the ground, right underneath the fireball, until, with one fast stroke, he cut off his opponents’ legs and plunged his dagger between the mage’s ribs right into his burning heart. John’s army quickly followed his example and slowly they were making their way to the top of the volcano, to Furnox’ inner chamber.

‘Push forward! We’ll see this through till the very end! Laurel’s Town will not fall today!’

A cheer rose from the army, but it soon turned into a scream when they saw the giant beasts that were coming their way. Giant piles of rocks, held together by a body of hot lava. Their faces were made of rock as well and their arms and legs were huge and strong.

‘Golems! Fire Golems!’

They were giants made by the Pyromancers. Shaped from the rock inside the Tooth itself. They were the size of two grown men. The Golems did not rain fire or breathe fiery flames, but their strength was unmatched and their skins could not be pierced by any steel known to mankind. Behind the monsters was a tunnel, a tunnel leading inside the volcano and John knew that if he could destroy Furnox before his men were slain by the Golems, Furnox’ armies would retreat and the Tooth would be lost to the forces of Men. John knew what he had to do.

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‘Rhyddion! Can you see that tunnel behind the Golems?!’

‘Yes, General Daranis!’

‘I must get there before they kill us all!’

The shields went up again and not long after that a giant stone fist descended upon the shield wall, shattering it with one blow. The soldiers were scattered into small groups, one of them lying underneath the stone fist. Rhyddion and John pushed forward, evading the slow blows of the Golems. Ashes sprung up in the air and the sounds of steel against rock filled the dark skies. Suddenly their path was blocked by the biggest Golem they had ever seen.

‘If this fellow wants a fight, he’ll get one!’ yelled Rhyddion.

He rolled across the floor, evading the massive fist that came down on his previous location. A mighty swing of his greatsword, but it was only enough to make a slight crack in the giant’s stone armor.

‘The lava! Hit his weak spots! Behind his kneecaps!’

The Golem didn’t seem to understand those words because suddenly his legs turned away from Rhyddion, exposing the giant’s weak spots, which was turning towards John now. The massive Golem raised his massive fists and tried to crush John, but a sudden flash of light coming from the tip of John’s blade scared the creature off, until it felt a cold sting behind his kneecaps. Rhyddion’s blade stuck into the hot lava. It did not melt and Rhyddion pushed the greatsword even further inside and the burning tip pierced the Golem’s knee. The beast sunk to the ground and John finished him off with a quick flash of light through the now exposed neck. The Golem’s stone face fell to the ground and his terrible body lay still upon the slopes of the volcano.

‘Quickly, get inside! I’ll go and help the others!’ said Rhyddion while guiding John inside the tunnel.

‘I’ll see you on the other side, Rhyddion!’ and John disappeared into the tunnel…

The inner chamber was filled with fiery flames. A courtyard of stone surrounded by burning orange sentinels and in the center stood the God of Fire, waiting.

‘I was waiting for you, John! I must say that I’m very impressed with you so I will grant you a fair chance at defeating me. A duel! To the death…’ said the God.

His armor was made out of rock and his body was formed by the brightest flames John had ever seen. Lava was dripping from his fingertips and on his back rested a giant, two handed blade with a spiked edge. His helmet covered the God’s entire face and flames were running on top of it, like a row of feathers. And his size! The God was massive! Looking down upon John like the puny human he was, but Furnox promised a fair fight so he shrunk down to about John size. His fiery eyes seemed to burn right through the general.

‘To the death it is…’

John drew his sword fast enough to fend off the first blow, not from Furnox’ blade, but from his fiery fist. With the other hand The God of Fire drew his giant blade and swung at John from a sharp right angle. The man managed to turn his blade towards his impending doom and fended off yet another of Furnox’ attacks. Infuriated at the skill of his opponent, Furnox now rolled to the left with great agility and pushed the edge of his blade towards John’s heels, but John proved an even more skilled opponent when he anticipated the blow and jumped right across the sharp edge of the God’s blade. Now, Furnox started to rapidly straight at his opponent from above, but John held his guard. One, two, three strikes and John’s guard was still up. This duel between God and Man was turning into quite the challenge for both of the participants. John decided that it was time to stop receiving blows and start giving them. With one fast stroke of his sword he fended off Furnox’ fourth attack and swung at his opponent’s face. The sword hit its goal and threw Furnox off balance. The God fell to the ground with a loud roar, bright lava pouring from a gap in his helmet.

‘I will not be defeated by a human! I am a God! I am the God of…’

Furnox’ fists started to glow.

‘…Fire!’

Flames poured from the palm of his hand towards the general standing in  front of him. John felt the incredible heat burning through his chest armor as he flew through the chamber against the solid wall behind him. The God was quickly back on his feet again and reached John a lot sooner than the general had anticipated. He felt the stone fingers wrapping around his face, heating and burning the skin underneath them.

‘You will die and all of your men with you.’ said the God as the screaming man’s face melted in his hands.

After tossing his defeated opponent in the hot lava, the God grew to his original size and climbed through the top of the volcano…

Fire rained from the skies. A voice thundered across the battlefield, frightening the slowly dying soldiers.

‘Your brave general is dead…’said the voice ,‘…now you will feel the wrath of a God!’

Massive flames emerged from Furnox’ mouth as the hot streams of lava ran across the slopes of the volcano. The soldiers quickly dropped their weapons and ran, but it was too late. The several hundred soldiers were reduced into a screaming pile of burning bodies as the bright flames licked their skin. All, but one. Rhyddion Lux ran across the slopes of fire towards the empty town on the bottom of the volcano. Flames descended from the skies all around him, but the strong man was also quite agile and managed to dodge his fiery doom. Not even the wrath of a God could stop him! Quickly, he ran through the empty streets, scaring some stray cats and dogs who were quickly reduced to a pile of ashes. The once beautiful streets were now burning with the fires of death. Furnox’ wrath burned through the town, while his minions searched the ashes for Rhyddion, but he was already gone. Or was he? His horse raced through the streets, while the Pyromancers kept firing at him from the burning streets. A fireball hit his face, but the man bit his tongue and kept riding until at long last his attackers seized their pursuit and Rhyddion could finally return home.

Back in Arcadia, the capital of all mankind, King Riven awaited the soldiers’ return, but when he saw the lone warrior returning he knew what happened. This sight, this depressing sight, made him feel the immense pain of the hundreds of men that lay dead upon the slopes of the Tooth. He knew that the fate of Laurel’s Town was sealed and the battle had been lost.

‘They had families, my Lord.’ Said Rhyddion later that evening while he and the King were sharing a cup of wine.

‘I know Rhyddion…’

‘John… John’s wife is going to be devastated…’

‘And what will become of his son?’

‘John wanted him to be a knight…’

‘Will you grant him that wish?’

‘Only if it’s also the boy’s wish.’

‘He would make a fine knight, wouldn’t he?’

‘He would…’

‘But who could train him? I cannot spare any of my trainers now that we’ve suffered such a loss.’

‘My Lord, with your permission, I will train Tristan Daranis…’