Ryan pushed the old creaky door of his small house open and muttered loudly as the rain was still clanking down loudly on his soaked bronze platemail arms.
As Ryan pulled off his wet helmet and tossed it towards his bed he was hit by the strong smell of pie.. But it wasn’t just any pie , it was blueberry pie which happened to be his favourite.
As Ryan started to scan the room for the delicious smelling pie his search came to an end when he saw his roommate Tiberius lying on the ground with a bottle of ale in one hand and the empty plate with a few pie crumbs in the other.
Oh fer the love of the Avatar… ‘ow could this ‘ere day be any worse?!Sighing heavily and stroking his left hand through his hair Ryan started to unclip the leather bands holding the platemail arms together.
Ryan smiled relieved as the platemail arms slid off his shoulders and hit the ground with a loud clank. Those platemail arms weighed a ton and even while wearing a shirt underneath the heavy metal parts they would still leave bruises if he kept them on for more then half a day.
Glancing at his snoring roommate one last time Ryan shook his head and mumbled and turned towards his bed.
After a long day of patrolling and having gate duty for more then three hours in the pouring rain his bed was a very welcoming sight.
As Ryan stood in front of his bed he let himself fall face down on the small bed causing it too creak and moan under the weight but Ryan couldn’t care less , he wanted sleep and it was coming to him very very fast.
As Ryan’s eyes closed slowly he caught sight of the figure of Tiberius laying on the ground one last time until he was greeted by the darkness of sleep.
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Look out!!!At those words of warning Ryan quickly ducked his head and not a moment too soon since the giant sword of the Balron could be heard swinging just above him.
As soon as Ryan tried to stand up straight again he could feel the heavy hoof of the Balron slam against his chest causing him to fly backwards and hit the ash covered ground with a loud thud.
Gahh! Stand up sah! Ye‘s going to get yerself killed!Ryan could feel Kas tugging at his arm trying to help him up again and it finally worked even after a fair amount of groaning and muttering coming for Ryan.
As soon as his sight focused again he could see the other guardsmen trying to fight off the gigantic Balron who was swinging its swords franticly at the guardsmen.
Uggh… fer Avatars sake… that thin‘ if wipin‘ the floor with us.. When I get meh ‘ands on the commander.. I‘ll strangle ‘im fer sendin‘ us on this suicide mission!Ryan’s cursing towards the commander was suddenly interrupted at the Balron caught sight of his unfinished target again and started to charge towards Ryan at full speed.
Ryan was frozen to the ground as he saw the raging Balron charge at him with its giant claw reaching towards him with the intent to grab him and probably make him its next lunch.
As the Balron made its grab towards Ryan he could feel himself being pushed aside by someone and hit the rocky surface of the volcanic land.
As he glanced upwards he caught sight of the person who had just thrown himself in front of him to save his life and it was none other then that damned wytch Kas.
As much as Ryan hated wytches he couldn’t help but like the little guy and now he even threw himself in front of an attack that was directed towards himself.
As the Balron opened his giant mouth and moved Kas towards it his private dinner was interrupted by two arrows which were now stuck in the back of its head.
As the Balron screamed in pain it gave enough time for Kas to summon a pike of solid ice and launch it into the the open mouth of the screaming Balron.
As Ryan crawled up and looked towards the Balron he could see the creature was finally losing its battle and was now wobbling unsteady with a large ice pike coming out of the back of its head.
The wobbling of the Balron was enough to give the guardsmen new hope and they all charged the Balron at full speed swinging their weapons franticly at it.
It wasn’t long before the giant daemon gave a final scream and fell down lifelessly on the ground.
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Ryan was suddenly woke up from his dreams and slowly opened his eyes catching sight of Tiberius searching franticly for something.
Gahh!! Where‘s me whacking tools?! I know I left it here somewhere!!Ryan groaned at the sound of metallic items being thrown into the air and landing down on the floor again with a loud clonk.
All Ryan could do was grab his pillow and cover his head with it hoping it would block out the noises of his noisy roommate so he could finally get some sleep again.
Yarghh!!!! Where is it!?!Pressing the pillow harder down on his head to block out the noises Ryan slowly closed his eyes and started to drift away into a sleep again.
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Ryan’s mouthed filled with the coppery taste of blood as the fresh wound he had made in the wryms stomach was now spraying its blood into his helmet.
The large wyrm roared at the pain the newly caused wound in its stomach caused and lifted one of its enormous legs trying to crush Ryan under it who was still stabbing wildly at the creatures stomach.
Ryan was just able to move out of the way of the giant paw coming down towards him which was trying to make him as flat as a pancake.
The wrym wouldn’t give up easily though and started to pursue the guardsmen who had been poking holes into his stomach.
Aieeee!!! This isn‘t meh daaaaaaaay!!Hiding in a nearby crack in the mountain Ryan was able to escape the wryms fury but the gypsy doomsayer who had followed them from their camp wasn’t so lucky.
Behold foolish people!! The great dragon shall crush you all! None of you shall… Ohhh hell!!And with those lasts words Ryan could see the paw of the wrym coming down on the gypsy causing the gypsy to disappear under the paw of the creature followed by the sickening sound of crunching bones.
The gypsy’s death caused the wrym to be distracted for a moment though giving the opportunity for the guardsmen to come out of their hiding places and start their attack on the creature once again.
As the weapons of the guardsmen caused new wounds to form on the wyrm the creature started to lose its balance and a heavy blow towards its front leg with Gimbly’s mace was enough to shatter the bone and causing the monster to fall down on the ground with a loud thud.
As the wrym hit the ground the guardsmen slowly started assembling around the body of the once great creature which was now laying deadly still on the ground.
Woohooo!! Take that you ugly snake! We did it!As John placed his boot on the wryms head and took on a pose the eye of the once so silent wrym suddenly snapped open and it raised its head but not before catching the once so proud guardsman who was posing on his head in its jaws.
The rest of the guardsmen stumbled back in a panic as the enormous beast stood up once more and started to limp off while shaking the helpless guardsmen in its jaws around.
I..it wasn‘t dead!?!As the rest of the guardsmen recovered from their shocked state they charged towards the wrym which was desperately trying to limp away from the screaming horde behind it.
Once the guardsmen neared the creature once more it quickly turned its head towards the group and threw the trophy he held between his jaws towards them trying to distract the group with it.
The wrym succeeded into distracting half of the group charging towards him but the remaining half continued to scream their war cries and charge at the beast.
It wasn’t long before the wrym was once again overwhelmed by the force in its weakened state and fell down on the ground causing the earth to shake for a short while.
Ryan growled towards the wrym who was lying hopelessly down on the grass. As he walked towards the dying monster he unsheathed his cutlass and shoved it down into the wyrms belly till the blade disappeared all the way to its hilt.
A few dying moans came from the once great creature until its life finally left it.
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Ryan slowly opened his eyes as he could feel warm breath coming down on his face and he could smell the sent of fresh flowers around him.
As Ryan focused his view he was greeted by the smiling face of the woman he had spend the last few weeks with and he forced a slight tired grin on his own face.
So…. This is where yer at.. Ye know ye got duty in a few hours… so don‘t sleep too long alright?Nodding slowly towards her he grumbled as he could feel her ruffling up his hair and giggling as she walked off.
He hated when people messed up his hair but he was just too tired to straighten it all out again now.
As Ryan heard the door of his house slowly close he moved his arm in front of his eyes and sighed faintly trying to catch some much needed sleep again.
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Ryan stared down at the old crumbling ruins in front of him , there was something very very wrong inside there and it wasn’t just the fact that there were deadies down there it was something that kept sending shivers down his spine.
Glancing around himself Ryan could see he wasn’t the only person who got the creeps because of this place. Even though their numbers had increased after their small visit to the barracks Ryan still had second thoughts about heading into the ruins.
Snapping Ryan back to reality was Kas pointing his thumb towards the entrance of the ruins and grinning nervously towards him.
In there sir… Taking a deep breath Ryan and the group gathered their courage and stepped into the unknown darkness of the ancient ruins before them.
The group was instantly met by a series of insane inhuman cackles and as the cackling continued it started to move closer and closer towards the group.
C…c..come on!! Lets get movin‘ ye lot! We shouldn‘t sit ‘ere like a bunch of eijits! As the torch light flickered across the room Ryan’s eyes were greeted by slithering shadows in the distance and ancient occult structures.
As the group travelled the ancient halls of the ruins more strange noises started to fill the air around them , varying from the soft shuffling of feet to the painful screams of torture.
When the group reached a large open chamber Gimbly raised his hand and motioned the group to remain in place.
Alright lets make sure we haven‘t lost anyone! Fall in! Ep ep ep!As the group started to form up in front of Ryan and Gimbly the cackling behind them grew stronger and footsteps could be heard approaching them through the darkness.
Taking a deep breath Ryan glanced towards the group and raised his sword in the air and attempted to speak some courage into the shaking and shivering men.
Alroit… lets wait fer em to show their undead faces.. And chop it off! We will outlast em this day!!Just after Ryan finished speaking to the group a strong rotting hand gripped itself around his arm and pulled him off into the darkness.
Ryan could hear the men screaming his name as the darkness started to surround him and Ryan could smell the rotting sent of the lich as it started to stroke his face with its free hand.
Nysss worry little flessshy… You‘sss will die ssssoon! As the lich raised its sharp claws in the air ready to rip Ryan’s face off a axe came flying towards it and hit it right in the forehead causing the lich to fall backwards on the ground while screaming in anger towards the guardsmen who were now approaching it.
Foolisssh flessshbagsss!! You cannot defe- Before the hissing lich could even finish it sentence a strong blow from the church squires sword cut the lich in half and it fell silently on the ground.
As Ryan crawled up he glanced down at the corpse of the once great ancient lich and shivered faintly. If the other guardsmen had not acted as fast as they did he couldn’t be standing there now with his boot placed on the slain lich’s skull.
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Ryan’s dreams were rudely ended by a loud bonking coming from his front door followed by an occasional yell towards him to open the door.
Grunting loudly Ryan stood up and stumbled towards the door in his sleepy state. As Ryan opened the door three young guardsmen recruits were standing in front of him who were holding their weapons tightly and observing the surroundings with nervous looks.
What the ‘ell do ye lot want?! And this ’ad better be good or ye’ll be doin’ push ups until ye got yerself a beard that reaches to yer feet! The smallest guardsmen of the group who had been knocking on Ryan’s door earlier stood on his toes and straightened his back to make himself look a little more impressive while glancing towards Ryan.
Uhm.. W..well sir were looking for an escaped convict.. Goes by the name Jack Oederys or also known as One Eyed Jack.. Groaning to himself Ryan started to rub his tired eyes and took a small step backwards preparing to throw the door shut in the faces of the young guardsmen.
I nay saw ‘im alroit?! Now get the ‘ell out of ‘ere and let meh sleep!And with those towards Ryan slammed the door shut in front of the group of guardsmen and stumbled back towards his welcoming bed.
As soon as Ryan fell down on the moaning and creaking bed again sleep caught him quickly again in his tired state.
*********************
As the group assembled in front of the dark cave the smell of sulphur filled Ryan’s nose , it had been a very long day and all of them had escaped death more then once and now it was time for the last creature on their list.
Alroit everyone! We ‘ave come all this way and none of us get emselves killed ‘’yet‘’! So lets keep it that way alroit..? This ‘ere will be a simple mission compared to em others but nay get cocky!
As the men behind him unsheathed their weapons and screamed their war cries Ryan ran into the dark cave with his torch held high.
As the group entered the cave they were almost instantly met by a giant dragon’s paw swinging towards them from the darkness. This would have been the last mistake the dragon made in its existence because after it missed its attack towards the group of Covian guardsmen they started swarming over the dragons like ants causing wounds on its body as they moved around it.
It wasn’t long for the dragon to surrender under the large amount of wounds it had endured from the group of Covians and the dragon slumped down on the ground never to raise again.
Har Har!! So much fer that thin‘! Well done everybody we completed our li-Before Ryan could finish his victory speech the shadows around the group started swirling around it and a heavy breathing could be heard by all.
As the group moved closer to each other forming a protective circle a young man dressed in a uniform from the Skara Brae militia ran towards them at full speed while screaming.
Run!! Run fer your lives! Its coming after us!! Its coming after us!!Not a moment after the young man passed the now shaking and shivering group the shadows of the cave started to wrap themselves around him freezing him in his tracks.
As the shadows grew darker around the young man his screams slowly started disappearing along with his skin and armour leaving only a small pile of bones where he once stood.
By the Avatar what the ‘ell is that!?! Forming from the shadows a gigantic dragons head emerged followed by the rest of its body as it started to approach the group.
As the shadowy dragon neared the group they gathered what courage they had left and started to charge towards the beast swinging their weapons at it but only hitting thin air.
The dragon swung its massive tail towards the guardsmen sending at least half of the group attacking it through the air.
Bloodi ‘ell! We can nay even ‘urt the damned thin‘! Were doomed… doomed I tell ye!!As the group almost gave up hope a small miracle in the form of a wytch aided the group.
The whole time the shadowy dragon had been distracted Kas had been busy flipping through his spell book trying to find a clue on how to destroy the deadly creature and he had found it.
A few magic words was all it took and the shadowy creature had started becoming more and more visible towards the group and it was now forming real skin which could bleed when attacked.
It didn’t take long to destroy the once invincible creature now that it had become mortal due to the magic spell cast on it and as it fell down on the stone cavern floor it send a shockwave throughout the dark cave.
W…we did it! I nay bloodi know what the ‘ell we just beat… but we did it!! Woohoo!As the men cheered in victory Kas opened a safe crackling moongate in front of the group to return them all to Cove for a debriefing and a victory party.
*********************
Ryan slowly opened his eyes and started to stretch as he yawned loudly. It wasn’t an interruption that had woken him this time but it was a good night worth of sleep and the first rays of the sun were not shining through the small window of Ryan’s house.
Well… lets see what this ‘ere day will brin‘ meh!And while grinning at those words Ryan picked up the pieced of his armour littered on the floor and made his way towards the door to set off on another day of the duties of a Covian guardsman.
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