Death

A cloak of calamity shrouded the castle. It was like the vitality had been drained from every atom in the building. It was a large desolate building. 

Sarah Foster tore through the multiple veils of snow, on the course to the castle. She landed at the top of the mountain, on a snowpiled ledge that led to two massive doors. The doors seemed to be made by some colossal creature, given its titanic size. 

Sarah Foster ventured forth, right through the storm. She reached the doors and placed her hands against them. She pushed. 

CREAK! 

The giant doors creaked, as they were slowly pushed open. They were soon wide open, to reveal a dark, dingy, and oversized interior. 

The captain let out a sigh, her breath exhaled a wisp of frozen poetry, a silent speech written in icy script. 

Sarah Foster began to go forward, intending to venture deep into the drab building. There were many dark corners, too many. Anything could be there, anything but light. That unsettled her. 

Sarah Foster was ready, ready for a monster to ambush. Hell, she was even ready to be ambuscated by the darkness.

After what seemed like a decade of walking, Sarah Foster found some form of luminance. On the side of the wide corridors, were lamps in the form of flame torches. 

Light, with light, came shadows, and the shadows in that dismal corridor were interminable. 

Left, right. Up, down. Front, backward. Danger could be anywhere and everywhere. 

The danger was everywhere. 

A rodent-like cry materialized deep within the dungeon, where her eyesight could not reach. To her, however, the sound could reach. 

The cry rang out once again, reverberating within the cold corridors of the castle. It was uncanny and animalistic, and it filled Sarah Foster's heart with discomfort. 

The next time, it was not just one creature, but many. Cry, after cry. It was like a song. A terrible song that made your stomach twist and turn. At least that's what Sarah Foster felt. 

It grew closer, and it grew closer. Soon, it was so close, that to Sarah it felt like the calls were within her head. 

Captain Sarah Foster, the most fearless ranger, who was a symbol of peace and fearlessness. She felt fear. She felt conflict. She was human after all. 

Sarah Foster felt like laughing aloud. 

Embarrassing. 

Step. 

Step. 

Slowly, she neared whatever lay at the end of the corridor. Was it the boss? Was it an S-class behemoth that would be miles stronger than her?

Would it rip her to shreds, or would it carve hideous scars into her flesh? Would it swallow her flesh and form rivers would her blood? 

Was she no longer invincible? 

She saw it. 

The behemoth.

The mons... 

~°~°~

Brilliant blue, angry fumes. 

They filled every fraction of the sky. 

It was impossible to see through it, it was impossible to know what lay deep within. 

The ground had turned orange, and every grain of sand seemed to dance under the influence of the fiery flames. They were like slave girls dancing for their master, a very mighty master. 

Slowly, the flames began to evanesce away, just like a passing memory. The flames were like performers who, after a brilliant performance, gave away the stage to the next performers. 

Among those performers, was a man in a scale-like armor the color of a raging sunset. His long, blood-red hair was like a flag of danger as they danced around. His eyes, his ember-like eyes were fixated on his fellow performer.

His armor body armor covered every inch of his body, and they were the color of midnight. The white from his cape and his plume were the color of ash. He stood a distance away, probably to avoid the heated surface.

Alden levitated in the air, away from the heated surface. He hadn't been able to control his output of energy, and he had simply let out all of his energy. He, however, did not expect it to be THAT hot. Well, there was not much he could do but continue to fight.

Alden readied himself, his attack which had been hot enough to turn the rocks into molten, did not injure the knight? That was worrying to him. It would take a lot to put down the Knight. He didn't think he'd be able to face the boss if he got out of this scuffle. He would probably have no energy or strength remaining to do so.

A deep breath in. A deep breath out.

"Let's go."

Like a spear piercing through the air, Alden bolted toward the knight. Gravity energy whirled around his body, like a tornado. Moon energy mixed in with it, and it created a perfect symphony of blue.

The knight corrected his stance, and his sword was raised before him. Alden raised his spear.

CLANK!

A metallic sound filled the air, as the two weapons clashed. Sparks flew, coloring the already bright atmosphere. Alden felt a warm pain squeeze through his muscles, as he struggled against the knight.

He gritted his teeth as he felt himself being pushed back. He was pushed backward in the air, and he immediately prepared himself for the counter.

WOOSH!

The knight leaped into the sky. He swung his sword. Alden held his sword-staff with both hands and held it out before him. With a thunderous sound, the sword struck the sword-staff's surface.

CRACK.

Like some sort of horrid insect, dread crept up Alden's back, its cold limb nearly causing him to tremble. He struggled to absorb what had just happened. It slowly sunk in, however, like water into a dry ground.

His sword-staff.

It had broken.

...

Hideous creatures crept towards her. They were a personification of nothing less than horror. They were, however, so much more.

They were 4-legged, with a stature like a dog. They, however, had no fur. Their oily skin was as black as coal, and their mouth opened across half their face. Within it, rows of sharp bloody teeth sat. Their eyes were like tiny pitch-black marbles, and they never left Sarah Foster.

Unconsciously, a sigh of relief left her mouth. These creatures looked terrifying, but they were not a threat to her. She further confirmed it when she saw what they were.

"Death dogs? I think they're at A class."

She had been nervous for nothing.

A blue glow lit up the dark dungeon corridor. Like a stream full of wisp-like contents, the energy poured forth from Sarah Foster's hands. It enveloped the creatures in its brilliant glow. Then, Sarah Foster closed her palm into a fist.

Without even as little as a cry, bodies dropped to the ground. The ground was littered with corpses of Death dogs. It was like a graveyard, and all of them were created by one person. Sarah Foster stepped over the corpses, and ventured further into the dungeon, ignoring the massacre she had made.

She had one mission, and that was to kill the boss. Otherwise, who would? Only she had the capability to save her party.

Every step drew her closer to her fate, and every breath reminded her that she could soon breathe her last. It was like a movie, where the scene had been perfectly set up to match one theme. The suffocating darkness matched her grim mood, and the dying flames of the torch represented her possibly impending fate.

Then, she found it. Two giant doors led into another room. She raised her hands and pushed at the doors. They groaned as they were dragged open, revealing the interior.

Sarah Foster traipsed into what seemed like a courtroom. The ceiling was extremely high, and the room itself was the size of a large field. Giant statues sat around the walls, each one made to look like different types of hideous creatures. What Sarah Foster had long searched for, however, sat on a throne at the end of the dungeon.

Her eyes widened, as they sat upon the boss of the dungeon.

...

One more strike aimed for his neck. Alden raised his hand, and the blade struck his arm. Sparks flew. Alden winced, he felt the impact of that attack. He was sent through the air, and into the ground.

CRASH!

A crater formed in the ground. Right at the center of it, lay Alden.

"Damnit!" Alden sat up and solemnly looked at the broken sword-staff. He didn't have a weapon now. His father's dagger was around B-class, so it wouldn't do enough damage. He'd have to use his hands.

"Do you understand, now?" A voice asked. It was the knight, who was walking toward him. Alden stood up, his body in a crouching position. The knight finished his sentence. "Only a few can have honor. Not the strong, and not the weak."

He raised his sword.

"Only those who strive."

"If that is so," Alden's knees bent. "Then there is nobody as honorable as me!"

CRACK!

The ground below his feet broke and he launched himself off the ground. He was like a rocket as he rose into the sky. Alden sailed through the sky before he was heading straight toward the knight. The death knight swung his sword toward Alden in a horizontal arc.

Alden performed a flip in the air. He evaded the attack and found himself landing behind the knight. He had a large opening for him to utilize. Alden sprang forward. He swung his arm. However, the knight spun around. He hit Alden's arm away and swung his sword.

Alden crouched, dodging the attack. He tried to launch a spin-kick at the knight's legs, forcing him to leap backward. The knight immediately tried to counter, for he had shot forward and swung his sword downward. Alden evaded.

The knight took a step forward and swung again, and Alden launched himself backward. The knight drew closer, and thrust his sword at Alden. Alden tried to lean to the side to avoid the attack. The sword grazed his armor. Sparks formed at the contact.

He wasn't ready for the counter.

The sword swung again, hitting his ribs. Alden let out a gasp, at the force of the attack. The attack would surely have been lethal, had it not been for his dragon-scale armor. A piercing pain followed, nearly bringing him to his knees.

The next attack was straight to his neck. The knight was about to end him.

Alden raised his hand, blocking the attack. He felt the bones in his arm break, and he stumbled to the side. The knight came at him again, like a bat attacking prey.

For the next dozen seconds or so, Alden was blocking and dodging countless attacks. The sword was doing damage, and Alden wasn't sure how much longer he could hold the Half-dragon form. It was the only thing keeping him alive at this point.

Alden bared on with patience, as he continually searched for an opportunity to counter through the barrage of attacks. 

It never came.

What did come, however, was truly unfortunate. 

The scales protecting him began to fade away, and the color left his hair and eyes. He could just watch on in horror, as all of his protection crept away.

"Oh no."

The knight wasted no time attacking. His sword made a sharp whistle as it tore through the air. Alden felt like the sound alone could cut through his fragile, exposed body. 

Alden ducked, avoiding the attack. 

A downward diagonal swing followed. Alden stepped backward.

He avoided it.

An upward swing made him lean back.

Alden again avoided it.

The knight spun around and thrust his sword, it was as fast as lightning. It seemed unavoidable. It was unavoidable.

The blade pierced de ep into his body.

Alden could just stand there in shock and horror.

Undeniably, his time was up.