KNIGHT MASTER WARD COULD BARELY MOVE.

In the square—with Castle Wardland looming in the distance—he tried to move, but every time, his body experienced a time delay. He had been hit with a slowness potion by the witch, the potion having broken on his iron armor and splashed all over him. Now, he could only try to shake off the potion’s effects.

The witch took advantage of his incapacity. She kept throwing potion bottle after potion bottle at him, the most concerning of all was the poison potion. Knight Master Ward already felt his hearts turn green . . . and decreasing with every moment.

“My master will destroy you!” she screeched as she continued tossing potion after potion at him. A potion of harming landed on him, and he screamed out and grimaced in pain. His hearts decreased even more. He fell to one knee—so weak he had become.

The witch’s eyes flashed evilly upon seeing him, ready for his destruction. She stepped forward, clawed hands extending out. “Now, it is I who will end your wretched life!” she screeched. “Hahahahahahaha.”

As Knight Master Ward felt the pain while he was on one knee, the witch brought her hands close together. A fireball began to grow and grow, ready to destroy him.

***

Over in another part of town, Alex was finally getting situated in her new apartment. It was a good-sized room with a bed, chest, and even an oven, along with plenty of wall space to put up a painting, a banner, or whatever she could come up with. The best part, though, was the views. Her apartment was in the Wardland Apartments, an old castle converted into apartments, so it was mostly made of sturdy stone brick walls, located just a bit outside downtown Wardland. The views outside this night from both the castle windows and balcony gave a full sweep of Wardland. From such a high vantage point in one of the old castle’s towers, her apartment could see Castle Wardland, the Nether Temple, the Cathedral spires, and the wild environment beyond the walls. Torches and streetlights illuminated the city this night.

At that moment, she had tidied up her new apartment and had just placed a set of clothes into her chest. She looked around her new digs. Not a bad place. Still, she was disappointed earlier. None of the people seemed interested in her becoming a knight. They had encouraged her to find a job, and they had steered her into being a shop girl at a flower shop . It was nice for them to do that, but it wasn’t for her. She really wanted to become one of those knights. There were no girl knights, though, as far as she knew. Will being a girl be a problem in becoming a knight?

As she put away the last of her clothes into the drawer, a chill wind brushed past her, causing goosebumps on her arms. Brrrrr. The wind wiggled through her body for a moment.

The chill passed as suddenly as it came. What was that? She shrugged her shoulders. Oh well. The chest closed and she looked around the new apartment. Let’s see what else is there to do?

***

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The fireball gathered above the witch’s head. She had raised both her arms up and readied to bring the deathblow. The fireball crackled above.

“Time to destroy you!” she screeched.

The fireball barreled down at him, and at any moment, it would hit him. He didn’t have many more hearts left. He wouldn’t survive this if it made impact.

Knight Master Ward, still on one knee, didn’t have time to think. At the last moment, he took out a sand block from his inventory and held it high up, using it like a shield.

It worked!

The fireball seared into the sand block, and it was so hot, it actually transformed.

As Knight Master Ward gritted his teeth, as well as sweating inside his iron armor from the heat of the fireball, the sand gradually became a block of glass right before his very eyes.

The witch watched with stunned horror at what just happened. He took his chance. Though he was running so low on hearts that he was shaking, he managed to get up and smash the glass block on the witch. The glass block shattered on her, catching her off guard, and he then kicked her in the gut, which sent the witch falling to the ground.

Knight Master Ward immediately drew his sword on the fallen witch. She lay back on the ground and finally eyed the deadly sword pointed straight at her. He had won the fight.

***

The door opened into Knight Steve’s room, and he stumbled in. He was more pallid than ever, and his heart beat so fast he thought it would jump right out of his body. Sweat broke out all over and his hands were actually shaking. He couldn’t believe it, he was actually here, and he was so close to the diary. His diary.

Outside his room in Castle Wardland, the night had fully come into its own. Darkness filled the sky with the stars dim and the moon high above.

He fell on his knees in front of the chest. Finally. He was finally here.

The chest opened with a creak . . . .

The diary, it was there, right on top of his stuff. Just where he had left it. He didn’t know why he ever left it.

He picked up the leatherbound diary and held it up, admired it from every corner. For a moment, he thought it wasn’t going to be there. That it had gone missing somehow. But it was there.

Holding the diary in his hand, the whispers came fast.

Hafashafashafasha. Hafashafashafasha. Hafashafashafasha.

They didn’t need to tell him anymore. He was going to open it. It was clear on his mind.

This was it. He would finally do what the voice told him. What he told himself. He was going to open the Diary of Lost Souls.

With a shaking hand, he reached for the diary’s cover and slowly the cover opened . . .

***

Knight Master Ward pointed the sword at the witch, who lay on the square’s cobblestone ground. She looked hurt as she looked up at him.

“Do you feel any remorse, witch?” he said, giving her a chance to repent. “Before I end you?”

Only hate came from the witch, and then her eyes veered to the side as if noticing something. Knight Master Ward felt it too, a slight disturbance in the air as if something was very wrong with the world.

The witch began to cackle. “Hahahaha, you’re too late,” she gleefully sneered. “The diary has been released. My master is coming, my master is—”

Knight Master Ward’s sword plunged into the witch, and as he breathed in and out, she slumped back. The witch had finally met her demise.

He pulled out the sword, but when he did, he turned to look up as a shaft of light exploded out of Castle Wardland. The beam of light shot straight into the sky, and what he felt shook him to his very core. There was dark power there. Very, very dark power.

***

“What in the world?!” Alex said. She was on the balcony of her apartment, and she looked outward at the beam of light that shot out over Castle Wardland. Though it looked like a light, it actually punched through the castle’s structure, causing a huge hole where the light had shot out. Down below on the city streets, other citizens of Wardland looked up at the unexpected light.

What was that? she thought, still awestruck at the sight before her. The shaft of light went straight up out of Castle Wardland and into the night sky above like a malevolent beacon.

Alex was so preoccupied with the sight that she didn’t notice something coming after her. A baby ghast creature, flew up and into the balcony. It opened its fangs wide, ready to devour.

Alex turned and finally noticed when it was just upon her . . . .