> Dave

>

> Cursed Castle

>

> 11th of Cycle 3, 1015

Droplets of water dripped down in short intervals, creating an eerie atmosphere as we carefully stepped through the archway. Grey waved his staff, and a bright orb of light illuminated the expansive interior of the castle, revealing roots growing within the stone walls and vines hanging from the ceiling. A few of the vines moved behind us and blocked our exit.

The remaining vines detached from the ceiling and formed into a ball at the center of the room. Using its appendages as anchors in the ground, it rolled toward us at increasing speed, and my mind finally caught up to what was happening.

I dodged to the side, and the ball rocketed past me, but it didn’t let itself hit the wall. Instead, it used its momentum to spin around and slingshot back at me. Its speed built up more and more each time I evaded it, and it was getting to the point where it was too fast for me to keep up with.

I drew my bow and took aim, but before I could fire a shot, a torrent of flame erupted from beside me. I looked at the source, and, to my horror, Grey was breathing fire like a dragon. The flaming mass of vines slammed into the stone wall, and Grey took a swig from a bottle in his hand before approaching it. He held his staff up, which produced a small flame, and blew out the drink he took earlier.

I’d seen entertainers do this kind of ‘fire-breathing’ trick back on earth, but I never thought I’d see it actually used as a fighting tactic. “Nice work, Grey,” I said as the mass of vines shriveled up.

“Kii, Kii.” He puffed his chest up, obviously proud of his strategy.

Tree roots in the wall nearby moved methodically, opening a passageway to another room. “Come,” A deep, resounding voice called from within.

Grey sent an orb of light inside, which was dispelled as it crossed the threshold between the two rooms. He cautiously approached the opening, and after some careful inspection, he walked inside. I shrugged and followed suit but stopped in absolute shock when I saw the other side.

It felt like we had just stepped into a different dimension. The crumbling, unkempt castle was nowhere to be found, replaced by sparkly clean marble floors and Roman columns. At the end of the lavish room stood an empty throne. Above it was a pulsating blue mass shaped like a heart. That must be the core.

A shadowy figure clad in black armor materialized next to the throne. “Welcome to the Holy Castle. The king is not present, but I will act as a substitute until he returns.” He snapped his fingers, and a long red carpet unfurled from the throne all the way to our feet. “Approach.”

“Hey, Grey,” I whispered. “Is that the one you guys fought?” He nodded, and I gulped as we approached the throne.

“I feel quite stupid in asking this since you wear the ring of thieves, but what is your purpose here?”

“Ring of thieves?” I asked.

“The ring on your finger, boy. It is the mark of those who would enter this castle to satiate their greed. I ask again, what is your purpose here? Know that a shallow answer will incur my wrath.” His words sent a chill down my spine.

I need to think of something, fast. The plan was for me to distract him, and he seems like a knight of some sort, so maybe…

“I… I am here to reclaim the honor of those who you have wronged.”

“Hoh, is that so? I assume that means your friend here, in which case you have nothing to reclaim. They had no honor when they entered.”

“Your words do a disservice to their courage.”

“And you intend to make me pay for my words, do you?”

I took a moment to carefully consider my next line. If I could provoke him into a one on one fight, Grey would get the perfect chance to attack the core.

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Here goes nothing.

I mustered up the most knight-like voice I could, put my fist across my chest, and proclaimed, “I am Dave, honorable scout of the first order! In accordance with my code, I cannot let your words go unpunished. I challenge you to a duel for the honor of all those you have cursed.”

The armored knight stood there, silent and motionless as embarrassment and fear washed over me. It took all my effort to keep my eyes locked with his helmet.

“It has been a long, long time since anyone has dared challenge me to a duel.” He drew his greatsword slowly with one hand and pointed the tip toward me. “I am Raktar Ichti, servant of the one true God and guardian of the realm above. I accept your challenge. What about that monstrosity next to you?”

I looked over at Grey and came up with the best excuse I could. “It is uh, customary, in human tradition, to have someone to act as a spectator for any duel. He will serve this purpose.”

“Strange, I’ve never heard of anything like that, but I suppose I haven’t dueled a human before. It matters not.” Black wings sprouted from his back. “May you realize the insignificance of your traditions and honor when you lie on the edge of my blade, Dave.”

Grey moved to the side, leaving the red carpet open for our battle. The plan was going perfectly. I just had to survive until Grey got to the core. I looked up at the slowly approaching harbinger of death and shuddered.

Easier said than done.

I fired an arrow at him, aiming for the small gap in his helmet, but he moved his head ever so slightly to the side and evaded it. He raised his sword and appeared in front of me in a flash, bringing it down with such fury that without hyper-accelerated vision, I wouldn’t have even seen it. Using the upper limits of my reaction time and speed, I stepped backward and drew my dagger. His flurry of strikes continued as I backed up more and more, hanging onto my life by a thread.

Just as my vision skill was about to end, I stepped forward and put all my strength into a parry. I knew that my dagger couldn’t hold a candle to his greatsword, but I didn’t have many options left. There was a moment of reprieve when our blades connected, but a swift kick to my side sent me flying into one of the stone columns.

I heard a loud crunch from the belt of potions Grey had given me before we entered. When I looked down, all three vials were smashed, and a few shards of glass were stuck in my side.

So much for that.

The death knight approached me menacingly. “Was that the extent of your resolve, boy? After all that blabber about honor, I expected at least a little more.” He raised his sword high up again but turned around suddenly and swung at a lunging gremlin. His blade passed through, and Grey faded away like he was never there.

The loud crackling of electricity attracted my gaze to the core, and a smile crept onto my face when I saw Grey straddling it. Without a word, the knight dashed toward it at full speed, reaching it within a second. It was too little too late, though, and a flash of blue light blinded me as the core exploded.

In the middle of the madness, a hand grabbed my shirt and pulled me up to my feet. Stones fell from the ceiling, and columns collapsed as we ran back to the opening in the wall. An inhuman screech echoed across the hall as I followed Grey into the unkempt section of the castle. The vines were visibly wilting, and the tree roots were retracting out of the walls. Luckily for us, that meant our exit was open, so we sprinted out of the archway and arrived back outside the castle.

The gremlins were waiting for us there, and I couldn’t help but notice that they were growing at an alarming rate.

NOTICE

You have completed the quest ‘Cursed.’ Curse of the Fallen(unique) has been added to your skills.

Before I could pump my fist into the air and rejoice, another screech erupted from the castle, and I turned around the face the approaching knight. He sat atop a black horse and rushed out with unprecedented speed.

Time to test this skill.

As I activated it, I felt a sinister chill run throughout my body, and words instinctively came out of my lips. “Suffer a fate worse than death.”

The knight’s wings retracted as his horse vanished like a mirage. He tumbled onto the ground and took a long time to get back up to his feet. “You… how dare you use that curse against me! Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!”

Shards of ice and balls of fire flew past me and slammed into him as a few naked dark elves charged at him with weapons in their hands. He swung wildly, but his movements were much slower than before, so the elves dodged and slashed at him with ease.

Driven into a corner, the knight pointed the tip of his sword to the sky and yelled, “Taste the punishment of God, you mongrels!” The dark elves backed up and waited for his attack, but nothing happened. “So you’ve forsaken me too, God?”

He laughed like a maniac and charged at the elves again. One of them stood in his way with a jeweled staff in hand. “Shackles of hell, bind his soul to the eternal fate of damnation,” He said, and purple chains erupted from the ground, forcing him to his knees.

A dark elf approached him from the back. “Give me the strength to punish the deserving.” He brought his axe down, severing the knight’s head with a single stroke.

We stood in silence as the gears in my head started turning. The gremlins were gone, replaced by a group of naked dark elves, and one of them had a jeweled staff. I came to an inevitable conclusion rather quickly.

Of all the things they could’ve transformed into…