An adventurer's pride [Prologue]

A dark scream penetrated the cold night air in the small town of Ravenloft, a scream not of pain or sorrow, but of joy. It did not sound like a human scream either, but the kind you would only hear in your nightmares. In the real world, it sounded… unnatural to say the least. If you yourself had been there that night however, you would not care about the scream, as the owner of the shrill sound certainly was expressing his joy because he had found prey, human prey. This… thing looked humanoid in shape, but was taller and more slender. It's eyeless face was one that not even a mother could love, sporting teeth that were needle-like, dripping with fresh blood from a previous kill which it had evidently ripped apart with its massive claws that even a dragon would kill for.

Its skin on the other hand resembled the colour of a scab, which also shared the same texture. Now, human screams could be heard, stampeding like herd of buffalo after seeing their predator. Blood cover the cobblestone streets, scenes of apocalyptic destruction hit you in the face no matter where you look. The lucky ones were those who died first, as they did not have to see the same thing happen to their loved ones. Upon seeing this, some gave up their will to live, crashing to their knees, awaiting their inevitable death. These monstrosities showed no mercy whatsoever, from a man with a pierced stomach, suffering a death few magic spells could rival in terms of pain, to innocent children. These images may sound very disturbing, but to the monsters It was like how humans hunt cattle, albeit using its natural weapons.

Ravenloft was a beautiful place before this attack, surrounded by luscious fields and long, winding streams. The town itself was a network of cobblestone roads with Terrence housing. It was located on the edge of the map, only a mile from the sea. As such, few merchants or soldiers paid a visit. At the town square there was a fountain dedicated to their god, functioning as both a source of water and a place to meet up. A mansion belonging to the local noble towered over it, almost appearing intimidating. These monsters had managed to decimate the fountain, maybe mistaking it for a human in its desperate bid for food.

Some of the humans did fight back however, arming themselves with improvised weapons such as pitchforks, spades and hoes. They even managed to kill a few of the monsters, however this did not stop them from being eaten like the others. The town guards were doing their best to protect the noble who ruled over the town, Gordon Loutwater. He was a short, fat man with blond hair, adorned with a fine tunic with his coat of arms, a green treant. He only cared about his own life, ordering his men to ignore people who were being attacked, but few men complied.

“Are you serious?!” a senior officer bellowed. His shoulder plates showed his rank, the red marking him as captains of one of the many groups of guards who had protected Ravenloft. Unfortunately he was the highest ranking guard alive, the corpses of the others littered the town. Seeing this side of the noble did not surprise him, as he was half expecting this to happen the minute he heard the ominous town bell that was used as a signal to all the guards that they needed to report to their headquarters, where they ordered to protect the noble and his servants. The building was relatively clear of the monsters, and they could rest. He had only heard the bell once before, and that was during a drill to test the procedure.

“Silence Albert!” the noble bellowed, dripping with sweat and drenched in fear. “I am thy lord, and a lord is more important than a bunch of commoners”. If the town were not in such a crisis, Albert would have been executed on the spot for “challenging a noble”. Normally in other towns the perpetrator was severely reprimanded and maybe locked up in the cells for a few days, but lord Loudwater was an incredibly firm belief that commoners should “know their place”. Ironically, he was actually very near the bottom of the hierarchy himself, controlling only a small town in the middle of nowhere.

“A leader should not expect his subjects to die for him so that he may live longer!” Albert retorted, “Come, comrades, let us leave this fool to die while we save those this man would rather to leave behind, it is his own fault that he cannot run”. At first, no one moved. Finally, a close friend of Albert's, Norman, walked over the senior officer. Then a rookie who had only joined three weeks ago joined the two men. Slowly, more and more men walked over to where Albert and Norman were standing.

“Is this mutiny?!” Lord Loudwater bellowed. In truth, he was scared. He would never admit it, but he needed his men to survive, even if his pride still forced him to see them as inferior. “I will have you hung for treason!”

“Hung for treason?” Albert was seething now. “Look around you, milord” he said mockingly, “chaos is everywhere, those things are ripping your people apart. Unless you’re up to arresting and hanging every single one of us”. The noble was one his own now, looking slightly strange without his guards to make him look rich and powerful.

A particularly bloodthirsty shriek disrupted their argument. The men spun round. It was the rookie who rose the alarm.

“Something is outside!” he gasped, turning pale and putting a quivering hand to his sword. The atmosphere became tense, as they could now here the heavy, tortured breathing of the thing outside the window.

“Get down!” Albert ordered in a whisper. Even the noble complied. Had it seen them? The creatures were not the smartest beings known to man, by a long stretch. They did not realise that humans were the ones that lit candles, nor did it really care, but rather acted on its instinct and smell. This was however a small advantage, evident by the situation faced by the surviving residents of Ravenloft.

Suddenly, the window closest to the window broke as a large black blur smashed through it, small spatters of blood flying into the room. It had taken a swipe of the newbie’s jugular before his brain registered the sound of the window smashing. The noble’s maids screamed. The noble himself huddled up into a little ball, a pitiful beggar in the hierarchy of combat. Albert quickly got up and drew his sword. Lying down on the ground was useless now. A few of the other guards including Norman followed Albert, ready to avenge their fallen comrade. They heard an intake of breath.

“Stop it before it signals to the others!” Albert ordered. They charged at the monster. Eric from the 2nd squad was first to strike, sweeping his sword from left to right at the monster’s chest, catching it off guard, cutting into the monster an inch deep gash across its chest. Surprisingly, the monster was down to its knees from that single slash. Overjoyed, the 2nd squad guard raised his sword for the finishing blow, and the others stopped their charge, letting Eric have the final blow. Or so they thought. The monster instantly lashed out at the unsuspecting guard, knocking him to the side, saved by his armour. “A feint?!” Albert thought. “Who knew they could be that clever?!”.

A young maid pointed out the window, screaming. Spinning around, he saw another monster, just about to scream out to its friends that it had found more food. Not one of the guards could do anything to stop it, the piercing shriek weighing heavy on his heart. Now Albert knew it was over. It was simply impossible. They could deal with a few, but there was no way in hell the guards would be able to resist the attack they knew was coming. The headquarters were in the centre of the town, so there was no running from the horde of monsters advancing towards it. They were only town guardsmen after all, with no real training to speak of, as it was too expensive. However, Albert would not go without a fight.

The things came from everywhere, some bursting through the doors in front of which the maids were cowering and others joining the first. The men did their best, but many fell. Albert himself managed to take quite a few down, beheading those that were busy with the former bodies of his friends. He did a quick headcount. Loudwater was dead, a single maid was alive, guarded by the half a dozen guards, which to Albert’s relief included Norman. This was not surprising for the guard, as he expected some of the more cowardly to resign to their fate, letting the enemy rip them apart.

Albert blocked a blow that would have otherwise decapitated him, countering with a kick to the monster’s torso, sending it reeling. He sensed a motion behind him and wheeled round to see another monster coming towards him. It was drooling. But the first monster was already on its feet and he only had one sword. Time seemed to tick by in slow motion as the second lunged toward the senior guardsmen. He quickly side-stepped to the side, sending the creature flying into the first, almost comically taking out two birds with one stone. He was about to run towards his fellow guards until he saw it.

It looked like any other of the monsters, but it was more muscular then any of the others. It was covered head to toe with scars and seemed to be a sort of leader among them. “The leader!” Albert thought in horror. “If I am going to kill any monster, it may as well be the leader!” He charged at the beast, bringing his sword down in a diagonal movement. The leader stepped back in order to avoid the attack, but the guard had anticipated this. Halfway through the swing of his sword, at the point where the tip was point at the demon’s chest, he transformed the attack into a lunge, plunging his sword into what he hoped was its heart. Lunging with a sword is strictly prohibited even when fighting monsters, due to the suicidal nature of attacking in such a way. Luckily for him, the sword impaled the leader, cold blood erupted over the victor. “ALBERT!” Norman yelled. The world seemed to become visibly darker. Looking down, Albert saw why Norman was shouting. He saw a deep gash in his stomach. He suddenly became aware of the pain, keeling over. He could see one of the creatures above him, preparing to make the fatal swipe at his neck. That was the last thing he saw.