Max shivered knees deep in some mud, lost in The Dread Marshes. Like a nightmare brought to life, the landscape stretched out before him, giving him the creeps. The air was thick, making it difficult to breathe, and the smell of decay and the dirty water attacked all his senses, making him want to vomit. Every step he took made a nasty sound in the muddy ground, threatening to suck his boots off with each movement.

The twisted trees hang overhead, their branches touching each other like skeletal fingers forming a dark roof blocking most of the sunlight. Unknown shadows danced around him, making it impossible to know whether they were cast by the trees or by something far scarier lurking in the mud. Occasionally, Max caught glimpses of glowing eyes watching him from the darkness, disappearing as soon as he tried to focus on them.

“Nothing dangerous yet!” he thought. “My arm isn’t yet burning, so that’s a god sign.”

Having a curse wasn’t so bad after all, because he was always warned when a dangerous enemy wanted to attack him.

Snickers dived out of the dirty water next to him, a small animal between his teeth.

“I love this swamp!” he somehow uttered, having difficulty talking because his prey was between his teeth. “So many things to hunt! You could never die of hunger here!”

“That’s the same shit the bigger monsters say when they see you.”

“Well, now you ruined it!”

The flora of The Dread Marshes was just as deadly as the fauna. Venomous plants lay waiting for their victim. Max had to be on constant alert, because he didn’t know which plants were safe and which weren’t, so avoiding them all was the easiest thing to do if he wanted to stay alive.

“Who would’ve thought that once, a long time ago, there was a town here?” Snickers said looking around and then pointing his finger in the distance. When Max followed his finger he could see a couple of roofs pointing out from the mud, forgotten in time.

“You must be shitting me!” Max looked in shock. “How could someone ever live in… this?”

“Well, if the stories are true,” Snickers began explaining, his finger lifted pointing at the sky. “It wasn’t always like this. It all happened because of the Demon Lord, many thousand years ago.”

They continued walking as Snickers continued: “The village was beautiful, once the capital of the Kingdom, if you could call it a Kingdom, it wasn’t even close to what you see now. There were no big, tall, walls to protect humans from other humans, etc. There were only houses because there was peace. “

“Peace?” Max asked.

“Yes, peace. At one moment, for 10.000 years, humans lived with non-humans in peace. They worked together, lived together, slept together if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t want to know what you mean, just continue the story.”

“Okay, okay… So, this was a long time ago of course, when the Dragons ruled this world…”

“Dragons?! They were rulers?” Max couldn’t believe it.

“Everyone knows that. Oh, yeah you’re not from here. Well yes, the Dragons ruled this earth. It was similar to this, one King for every Kingdom, back then, 3 Dragons ruled. Sylnex, Raule, and the black dragon Raygar.”

“That’s cool, not gonna lie.”

“Well of course it is cool!! They’re DRAGONS! Anyways, after many, many, many, many…”

“Yes, I get it, many years ago,” Max interrupted.

Snickers looked at him a little offended by the constant interruptions but still continued: “Yes… the Dragons got in a little, hmmm… war, you could say. They attacked each other, the weak suffered the most of course, and the humans didn’t know what else to do so they reached to the other side, and they summoned Demons.”

“You must be shitting me?”

“No… That’s how the story goes.”

“So, humans are guilty of Demons being in this world, and the Demon Lord wanting to, you know, come and destroy it?”

“It is not THAT simple, just listen, will you?!”

Max closed his mouth, focusing on what Snickers said next.

“Anyways, not only humans summoned the Demons but the other non-humans as well, they all worked in union to get rid of the Dragons, because their war was stupid in some way, not sure about that part, and everyone got killed, villages destroyed, etc. So they all got together and secretly made plans to open the portal and bring the demons into our world. The dwarfs prepared the necessary materials for the portal, the Elves knew about that Demon World so they knew how to talk to them, where they got instructions on how to make the portal and such, and the Humans started building it in this town. The portal worked, the Demon army entered our world with the Demon Lord, and that’s when the shitstorm began. The Demons got rid of the Dragons, some escaped, and there are stories that even Raygar managed to escape somehow. But then, the Demons turned on us, when they were asked to go back to their world. I don’t know the details about the portal, how was it made, and such, but I did hear that a giant circle was dug out around the town with some other things, the portal was made that way. I’m just a kobold, find some mage books if you want to know more. Anyways,” he took a deep breath, getting a little bit tired from all the talking. “What they didn’t know, the humans and non-humans was that for every Demon to stay in this world, someone had to be sacrificed. That’s when the real portal opened, sacrificing everyone in this town, killing them, sending them to the fire, and making the Demon Lord’s army come into our world in big numbers.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“So, that’s why the Demons are in this world and why this town is… not a town anymore? And because of that this terrain changed as well I assume?”

“Yes, and yes, to everything yes! Some say that in these depths of the swamp, some Demonic monsters still lurk, for thousands of years, since they entered the portal.”

“Creepy, but where were kobolds? Did your kind do something bad so I can make jokes that this is all your fault?” Max laughed, trying to calm his nerves with a joke.

“Yes, my kind had the biggest part in all of this,” Snickers answered.

“Really?”

“Well, yeah. Kobolds are descended from Dragons.”

“WHAT?!”

“What? You didn’t know?”

“How could I know?!”

“Oh, yeah, another world and all that. Well, now you know.”

“But, how? Dragons are so big, scary, they breathe fire, fly, and you are so… small and squishy.”

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?! I AM VERY DANGEROUS AND YOU KNOW IT!!”

“Yes, for rodents.”

Snickers had a mad look in his eyes, he stared Max down, and Max got scared for a second.

“Phew,” Snickers scratched his back. “I tried to scare you a bit with my Death Stare, but you are a tough nut to crack my friend.”

“For a second I thought he’s gonna breathe fire!” Max decided to keep this for himself.

“Anyways, that is some of the history of this world. If you ask that mage of yours when we get there he will probably know a lot more than me. Let’s keep walking now, we don’t want to be here when it gets dark, the demons come out then.”

“You don’t have to say that to me twice!” They rushed to get through the swamp.

Max and Snickers moved slowly through the swamp, the mud making it difficult to walk. The further they went, the more it became clear that Snickers had lost his sense of direction.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Max asked, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

“Left, then right… no wait. Maybe it was right, then left,” Snickers muttered looking at the map with a puzzled expression.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?”

Snickers opened his mouth to respond, but a sudden chill ran down Max’s spine as the sun dipped below the horizon. Night had fallen, and the swamp seemed even scarier in the darkness.

“We need to find shelter,” Max said, his voice shaking.

Max’s hand started to burn, and see-through figures emerged from the shadows. The ghostly silhouette of people who once lived in the now-forgotten town floated toward them, their faces twisted in eternal agony.

Max’s heart raced, and he grabbed Snickers’ arm. “RUN! NOW!”

They broke into a run, their footsteps splashing through the muddy water as they tried to escape the pursuing ghosts. The ghosts moved silently but swiftly, their screams echoing through the swamp.

They stopped behind a giant tree, trying to catch their breath.

“What- How?” Max looked, scared to death.

“No idea, but…” Snickers couldn’t finish what he was saying. He stopped, and looked in the distance, looking into nothing. “Mother? Father? Why are you here?”

“No time for jokes Snickers, we should continue running!”

“You came to rescue me?! I’m coming!” Snickers wanted to run towards the dark, what stopped him was Max grabbing his tail and not letting him go.

“Get back to your senses you idiot! There is nothing but darkness!”

“No! My parents, they are standing right there,” he pointed with his finger. “Just look!”

“What could this be? Why is he seeing something that isn’t there? Fear? Did he get poisoned? Mad? Illusion?!” Max asked himself all these questions, but he didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know what to do!”

Then he decided to do, what he does best.

“FIREBALL!!” straight into the darkness. A monster scream echoed through the swamp. Snickers slowed down.

“Wh-where did they go?” He asked confused. “They were standing there moments ago!”

“I think we are in some type of illusion!” Max said. “A monster that uses illusion, fuck, how can we beat that?!”

The demon roared, and then it appeared before them. Glowing red eyes looked at them. The demon roared once again, and it created multiple illusions of itself, each one just as terrifying as the original.

“Which one is real?” Snickers yelled, panic in his voice.

The demon lunged at them, its illusory forms attacking from all directions. Max dodged, casting defensive spells to block the attack. He aimed his wand at the nearest illusion and fired a Fireball, but it passed through harmlessly.

"This isn't working!" Max shouted.

“I’ve got an idea! Keep it busy!” Snickers shouted.

Max nodded, continuing to cast Fireballs. Snickers climbed a nearby tree, using his sharp claws to reach a higher vantage point. From there, he scanned the area, trying to spot any differences between the illusion and the real demon.

“Anything?” Max yelled while casting Fireball. “I’m running out of mana!”

“Nothing! They are all the same…” Snickers slowly began to give up when he realized something. “They all look the same, so that means…” he looked around himself, at the trees, and then he saw it. “THERE!” Snickers shouted to a tree. “Shoot at those branches, now, fast!”

“FIREBALL!!” Max followed Snickers’ direction and cast his spell. His magic struck the branches, hitting something that screamed in pain. The illusions flickered and then they vanished, leaving a small green monster lying on the floor, injured.

Max and Snickers approached it.

“What are you?!”

“Please don’t hurt me!” the monster screamed in pain. “I didn’t want to hurt you guys! I just wanted your food!”

“Let me kill this green snot!” Snickers pulled out his dagger. “He almost made me shit my pants!”

“What kind of creature are you?” Max asked.

“I’m an Imp,” he said. “I have lived in these parts for a long time, I heard your conversation and decided to play a small joke on you guys Ha-Ha-Ha…” it laughed, but Snickers and Max didn’t.

“And then to kill us and rob us?!” Snickers yelled.

“No! I am weak, I could never kill someone! I never killed someone!!! Can you please help me, I-I think I’m dying!” it screamed in pain once again.

“You don’t look like a normal imp,” Snickers said. “And where is one, there are more of you, almost always!”

“I’m all alone, I was always a loner because I’m different from the others!”

“That was a powerful illusion spell, even I know that. If we save you now, could you teach me?”

“You must be joking,” Snickers said. “You have all those scrolls you don’t need him!”

“I can’t read those scrolls, or learn them, I’m too weak, and you know it!”

“Well kill him and he will give you enough of that stuff for you to level up!”

“But that won’t be enough!”

“Uhm… guys,” Imp talked again.

“WHAT?!” Snickers and Max screamed at him.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I’m kinda dying here.”

“Oh, right. Here. Healing Light!”

The imp soon after jumped on his feet. “Oh, thank you, boss! I owe you one!”

“You owe me one too for not killing you!” Snickers yelled at him, but the imp ignored him.

“My name is Lett, nice to meet you, Max! And Snickers.” Lett gave Snickers a weird look. “I will teach you everything I know about illusions! Bring me with you, Max. Please!”

“I’m not sure that is a good idea, I mean you attacked us and all,” Max admitted.

“I know the way out of this swamp.”

“Welcome to the team Lett!!” Max shook his hand. “We will follow your lead!”

“HE JUST TRIED TO KILL US AND NOW WE ARE FOLLOWING HIM?!” Snickers said, he couldn’t believe it. But they were already moving swiftly away from him. “WAIT FOR ME!” he ran to them.