The forest that once bustled with life was now only filled with an eerie calm only disrupted by the movements of trees and bushes alike. The church was veiled by the forest, rundown and overgrown. The crystalline butterfly disappeared into the church via a hole in its roof with Pier and everybody else following soon after.
“Is this it?” Ser questioned.
“Seems like it,” Pier said in response.
“It’s odd for a church to be out here though. Unless… Unless this church is the dungeon itself.” Gourd brushed his hand over the wall of the church as he spoke.
The large doors of the church creaked open as a voice came out from within.
“I welcome you, friends of the magician. I do hope you have brought a sufficient answer with you.”
Through the doors, nothing but darkness could be seen. One after another, they stepped inside. Upon crossing the threshold, the dark mutated, twisting into new colors until the entire scene had changed. The grass was an ashy gray and the sky was veiled entirely by clouds, only letting the littlest of light through. A lone, charred tree sat next to a collection of gravestones with a lone entity sitting in front of the tree.
“I must thank you, guests,” Drone said as he emerged from the shadow of the tree, “You have made the trek to our domain, in spite of all of your oppositions coming from the weaklings of your people.”
The entity next to Drone was like a silhouette, without proper depth or shape. Two sky blue, hexagonal pupils emerged from the silhouette, speaking to no one in particular.
“What was it?” A voice both ethereal and shaky spoke, “There was something I fought for… What was it?”
Drone rested his hand on the shoulder of the entity.
“Worry not, I have brought you an answer.”
The entity’s eyes shifted from the floor to Drone and then to the four humans standing on the other side of the field.
“Now then, my guests. You and my creator shall be answering the very same question: What do you fight for, and why?”
“How are we to answer this?” Gourd questioned.
Drone raised and dropped his axe, cracking the ground as it landed.
“Through combat, of course. You and my creator will battle it out until you have found your answers. Begin.”
The incomprehensible silhouette stood, revealing its true shape. Standing at 7 feet tall, it was a humanoid armed with the silhouette of a sword.
“Ah, how familiar…” The silhouette whispered.
“Familiar? Good, good, then please continue.” Drone praised his creator.
“Seems like we’re fighting, draw your weapons,” Ser commanded.
The silhouette held its sword lazily, though its movement betrayed any notion of amateurism as it swiftly closed the distance between Ser and it. Ser stared into its blue eyes as a swing from the right came quickly approaching. Just narrowly blocking the swing but failing to stop the blade’s momentum, Ser lost balance and was knocked over. Before an overhead swing could connect with Ser, Pier came between the two, deflecting the incoming strike. The silhouette stepped back, putting space between it and Pier, though this safety was thwarted as a ball of volatile light slammed into the side of the entity, exploding it and sending it flying back towards Drone.
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“Impressive,” Drone huffed, “However, you’ll need to do better than that.”
The shadow stood back up, unphased by Lyos’s spell. In an instant, it rushed past Ser and Pier–entirely ignoring the two–and threw out an overhead swing towards Lyos. With a clank, Gourd blocked it with his shield and countered via a jab towards its abdomen. Pier followed up by stabbing it through the back.
“Bright. Blight. Blaze. Collapser! Back up!” Lyos prepared the spell once more before commanding Pier and Gourd out of the way. The ball shone a brilliant light with its center a contrasting dark shadow, as if she had summoned a miniature black hole. Pier and Gourd removed their blades and leaped out of the way as Lyos swung her staff, launching the ball towards the shadow. Once more, the shadow was knocked by the explosion, landing near Drone again.
“Do you remember anything yet?” Drone asked, “Do you remember the feeling of battle?”
“I see it, I feel it… The smell of terror, the taste of death… Something is yet missing.”
“Who did you fight?”
“Clad in red, they were ruthless… They posed a threat to our peace… I had to join, but…”
“Hmph. Good. You may take pause.”
The shadow rested the tip of its blade in the ground as Drone stepped forward.
“I thank you, guests, you’ve successfully answered my creator’s question.”
Everybody looked at each other in confusion as Drone gave them a slow applause.
“How?” Gourd called out.
“‘How?’ you ask? I see, I suppose you wouldn’t know. I may be a creation, but I am more than that. I am a past ego, given a personality without context, without past. This silhouette you have fought against is the true identity behind my speech patterns, my choices, my everything. He has simply forgotten all about it, so I was created. Inheriting his ego, and acting as a reminder of his past. Now that he has remembered enough of his past, now he may once more take in his ego. I bid you goodbye and I introduce you to Unda, Knight of Deprivation.”
As Drone introduced Unda, his form slowly dissipated, turning into meer particles and fusing with the silhouette. Once his entire body had been assimilated by the shadow, the veil of darkness began to fall off. Like a thick liquid, the shadow slowly dripped off of the silhouette, leaving behind a knight clad in white armor. Not a single part of his skin was visible, hidden away by the dark underdressing and white armor. The shoulder plates were shaped into spikes protruding out behind the knight, and the higher corners of the helmet’s visor too were shaped into thin spikes. His once thin sword morphed into a white blade with one of the most extravagant guards anybody present had ever seen. The visor of the helmet was exceedingly thin, though Unda’s eyes could be easily seen darting between everyone that now stood opposite to him with their blue brilliance.
“I welcome and thank thee, brave guests,” Unda rested his blade against his hip as he spoke, “How long has it been since I perished, I wonder… Well, I suppose I owe you all a story, do I not? Afterall, I’m sure you have many questions, though I am unsure how many answers I can give. I have lived for… an extended amount of time, as have many others among your human populations. I, just like many of my brethren, spent my time traveling and learning about the world. However, I soon tired of these travels as the world’s advancements slowed to a standstill, so I found a quaint town and settled down.” Unda turned to the graveyard that rested behind him, a sad nostalgia taking over his voice, “I lived there for a long while, and it was wonderful. I met my lover, started a family, and felt satisfied for once in my everlasting life. That was, until an invading force, connected to our lands through a land bridge, took over the reigning kingdom. In response, the lesser domains of the kingdom formed a large army and went to war with the invaders. I joined them, and we won. However, the battle was long and took me far away from my home. When I returned, I found the remnants of the invaders raiding the town, desperately trying to reestablish a foothold. They spared no one.”
There was a long silence before Pier spoke up.
“Are these their graves?”
“Perhaps, I do not recall burying them. In fact, I do not recall much after that. Perhaps I remained there, grieving my losses. Maybe I returned to the army and continued to serve. Or, just maybe… I too died there on that day.” A light chuckle could be heard from Unda, “Ahhh, how tragic. How tragic indeed. Now then, I believe this place still holds two of your associates here, does it not?”
“Yes, will you please release them?” Lyos pleaded.
“Hmm… I have a new question for you four. Who will fight for your loved ones, when you’re not here?” Unda took up his blade with both of his arms, holding it out towards his new challengers. “I have high expectations, do not disappoint me.”