The group of adventures took careful and steady steps around the corpses littering their path, each step filled with vigilance as they continued on. Corpses of both goblins and orcs alike lay strewn along the ground, like how a kid plays with their toys, leaving them scattered along the floor in the aftermath. Played with, and disposed of.
“What do you think caused this… What monster...”, inquired the Thief of the group, obvious hints of fear and unease could easily be deducted from her face. She moved her gaze from the disfigured corpses to the others. A Paladin, Earth Mage, and Spearman, meeting hers in return, reflecting the very same emotions of fear, dread, and so many more.
“I don’t know… but we will perhaps find out soon, we’re nearing the end of this dungeon.”, replied the Spearman in response, who raised his weapon in turn with his remark. Aiming it forwards towards the dark, simultaneously, so did the Paladin, as he raised his shield with an even greater vigor and determination. A determination driven by fear, the fear of death. The fear of having the same fate as the corpses, a fate he wished not to share.
By this time, they had rounded the end of this corridor, and to their right, they saw the two doors that reached the height of the corridor, a slight frost covering the steel they were contrived from. However, as they had feared, they were open, as if inviting them inside. But, be it either they were reckless, fearless, or foolish. They marched forth, through the doors, a slight chill grasping at them as they walked on. The Paladin took lead, followed by the Spearman at his side and Thief and Earth mage sheltered behind them.
The first thing to enter their sight was the large corpse that coloured the floor. The floor acted as a large canvas as it was painted in a vast variety of blood, gore and flesh. It was a sight many would dread and feel horror upon. The dismangled and deformed corpse that lay there… even though it was categorized as a monster, still incited their sympathy and pity.
“He-h-hey, w-wha-what is t-that? A de-demon?”, the Earth Mage pointed towards a shadowy silhouette, steps covered in crimson blood trailing behind it as it walked across the room. In front of it, a young woman lay cradled against the wall, weeping in her own despair. The shadowy figure proceeded to stride on until it was but a metre away from the woman. This inciting the woman into looking up into the towering figures eyes, which, in turn, prompted another, more larger, wince to escape her mouth.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Upon viewing this scene unfold, a woman in distress, and a demon attacking her in what seemed to be a form of killing intent. The majority of the group and an individual member, had come to two, sole, conclusions, ‘We must save her’ and 'I need to get the fuck out of here'. As you can see, they were mostly a righteous group of adventurers, a new group of adventurers. So they hadn’t faced true monsters or had felt the loss of another within their group. If they were veterans or had more experience in relation to this occupation, and weren’t the hot blooded youngsters they were. They probably wouldn’t have acted as rash as they did, rushing in without a plan, and into an unknown enemy in addition to that, they would have perhaps gotten the fuck out of there.
But they did.
As the Paladin and Spearman rushed in with weapons gripped tight and held high, followed by the Earth Mage and Thief in tow. They were met in return with a domineering and oppressing aura. An aura powerful enough to stop them momentarily in their tracks, which also acted in repressing their determination and bringing out the fear they buried below it. They began to tremble and pale considerably as they began to feel the aura enshroud them in a more denser and larger amount. The shadowy figure, the demon, being the one emanating this very aura, walked towards the group, closing the distance between them.
The Earth Mage and Paladin, for some reason, were not as influenced by the effects that the aura tried to impose on them. And in response to the demon’s advance, replied with the use of Divine and Earth Magic. The Paladin casted a small buff that encapsulated the group, boosting their constitution and strength. Whilst the Earth Mage manipulated the earth to form spikes which aimed to pierce the Demon, simultaneously causing the earth beneath the demon to loosen.
The Demon in kind, used it’s quick feet to move around the quicksand, dodging the earthen spikes as it advanced on. It soon met the resistance of the Paladin as it tried to slash across the Demons throat. The Demon responded to this by leaning back, causing the blade to be met with air. But as this took place, a spear followed through, striking with a speed the demon could just barely muster as it pierced through its side. The spearman continued with a barrage of strikes aimed at what he hoped to be it’s vital organs, but majorly the body, as he bided for time.
The thief, given this time, had arrived behind her target in but a few steps. Piercing out with her two sharp daggers. One, met with air as the demon swerved to dodge the impact, whilst the second caught onto it’s forearm. Coming into contact just seconds from its throat. The demon, cornered, responded in a flustered panic as it threw it’s knife consisting of shadows through the small spaces in the battlefield, coming into contact with the abdomen of the Mage at the back.
She screamed in pain as she crumpled to the floor, the dagger, dissipating into the air as she began to clutch to the gaping wound. Blood, poured out as if a fountain, as it coloured the floor. The group, having been surprised by the sudden pained scream, had a moment of hesitation. But that moment was enough as the demon followed through with a kick towards the thief, catching her off balance as she fell onto the floor, flustered.
The group realising their mistake, lost their confidence and determination, allowing for the demon to take control of the battle. And with it, their lives.