• Part I
    Jerate paced through the village, checking each house to make sure they were safe. You just didn't know these days. Not only that, but there were rumors of the Shadow Lord returning. Jerate really, really hoped that the rumor was not true. But somehow, he believed it was. One stormy night, everyone was here, but the next day 3 people were missing. It just doesn't make sense. He thought to himself. Once his rounds were done, he went to get with the others. Jerate was leaving the village with a few friends. Chances were, none of them were coming back. His friends were Becca, Kunare, Anya, and Esan.

    Becca was the pretty one. She was tall and skinny, with dirty blonde hair extending halfway down her back. She was skilled in archery, and enchanting her arrows with elemental essence. Kunare was her protective boyfriend, tall and strong. He had black hair, and slanted eyes. He was a skilled archmage with a lot of talent. Anya was emo of the crowd. She was alwayts so depressed and lonely. She was excellent with potions, poisons, knives, and other things of that short. When she wasn't depressed, she was happy-go-lucky. Anya was relatively tall, with black hair that extended to a little past her shoulder. Esan was rumored to be her boyfriend. He was strong and good with swords, very capable of enchanting those with elemental essence. And of course, Jerate was the average person. He was the middle of everything, from abilities to looks. He wasn't too tall he wasn't too short, and had average ability. The only thing that made him stand out was the large black rune on this side of his face. It was what gave him power, but also what crippled him in fights.

    Now that he had finished his rounds, Jerate headed back to the hut with the others. Everybody had their stuff packed but him. "Sorry, I had to do my rounds." Jerate apologized. He packed up quickly and they set off. Not long after they began their legendary journey, were they attacked by an Ice Drake. The monster was of decent build and had a strong aura upon it. It attacked Jerate first, sensing him the weakest. To Jerate's surprise, the rune did nothing to stop him from attacking back. He dodged to the side and stabbed the monster's wing from below. The Ice Drake screamed in pain and attacked him relentlessly. He managed to fend the beast off while the others began to think of helping him. "Help me, you idiots!" Jerate screamed. This seemed to wake them up and they too began attacking the monster. After they started helping, it took but a minute for the monster to run. "Y'all are jerks." Jerate mumbled after the monster was gone. They all looked at him questioningly but didn't ask why he was mad.


    Jerate sat at the campfire that the group had made, and wondered, Is this going to be all of the adventure? Just being ignored and neglected? "I'll be back later, I'm gonna go in to town and pick up some food." He was actually going to meet an old friend, who went by the name of Caim. Jerate decided to get some food so they wouldn't be suspicious, but he also met with his friend. He hurriedly bought the food and went a couple huts down to his friend's house. "Hey, Caim, I'm here!" Jerate called into the house. Caim jumped up and said, "Hey buddy! Haven't seen you in a while!" His enthusiasm annoyed Jerate, but he said nothing. "Yeah, what's up?" Jerate asked him. Caim replied, "Oh, wonderful! I've been able to sell some things, as you can see." The room was nearly bare, except for a desk, a table, and a sofa. "Caim, would you like to come with me on my adventures?" Jerate asked out of nowhere. Caim's expression brightened up even more, for he had wanted to adventure for so long. "Of course! You know I do!" Caim yelled. Jerate nodded and led him back to the group. "Guys, here is my friend, Caim." Caim stepped forward for everybody to see, and everybody loved him. They all ushered him into the camp and asked him to explain his life story. This irritated Jerate quite a bit.

    As they were all obsessing over the newcomer, Jerate snuck out of the camp. He would show them, yeah, he would show all of them. He was just as good as Caim. Just because he wasn't as strong as everybody else apparently meant that he was the weakling. Jerate stumbled over a rickety bridge, mumbling to himself. "I'll show them, they are all going to pay..." He hissed. When he got to the other side, a shadowy figure was waiting. "I've been waiting for you, Jerate. It is far past time you met your fate." It hissed. Jerate nodded, he knew what this was about. He was about to become a Shadow Lord, and then no one would stop him. "All you need to do is embrace the darkness. That is what truly makes you a Shadow Lord.." The figure hissed and began taking over Jerate's mind. Soon, the figure and Jerate were one, and no one could stop him.


    Caim looked around, trying to find Jerate. "Have you guys seen him? I know he was here earlier." He said. They all shook their heads and Becca said, "Oh, he's probably out somewhere, doing something. It's not really my job to keep up with him." Caim rolled his eyes and replied, "Well, I'm going to look for him. Anybody who wants to come may." Caim touched the ground with two fingers and then smelled them. He took off in that direction, tracking down Jerate. Suddenly, the trail ended. Caim was at a rickety bridge, and nobody was here to help. "He was right, they are snobs." He mumbled. Caim ran over the bridge, not giving it a chance to break on him. Caim picked up the trail again and took off towards a cave. He really hoped that Jerate wasn't there, but he had a strong feeling that he was.

    Caim entered the cave, and looked around. There were a couple of lanterns on the wall. He began to walk deeper into the cave. Caim noticed that the temperature of the cave dropped slowly the further he went, so he surrounded himself with his cloak. He hurried down and saw a shadow not too far away. "Who are you?!" He screamed. The shadow moved away from him, causing Caim to chase after him. When Caim was close enough, he tackled the shadow, bringing it down to the ground. The shadow clawed at his face, causing Caim to let go. The shadow escaped, leaving Caim bleeding in the cave.


    Caim realized with mixed emotions that the shadow was Jerate. What had happened to him? Why was he such a monster now? Caim slowly got to his feet and began limping towards the entrance of the cave. It took him a while, but eventually Caim was out of the cave and almost to the bridge. He stepped onto the bridge, but right as he did so, it began snapping. Caim could see smoke in the distance, so he rushed across the bridge, hoping it would not give way. As soon as he crossed the bridge, Caim saw that his friends were being chased by a Void Dragon, a beast made up of essence of the Underworld. The creature jumped through the air, and almost landed on Caim. Caim rolled quickly away, but did not forget his injury. He healed it quickly, but soon regretted it. It momentarily took his breath away, the breath he could have used to kill the beast. The monster jumped on him, puncturing his lungs. The Void Dragon took a chunk out of Caim's stomach. Kunare quickly took action and blasted the creature with fire over the edge. He healed Caim, who had amazingly survived the attack. Caim said, "Thanks. But I have some very disturbing news to tell you guys."

    After Caim had told them what had happened, their mouths dropped. "I knew something was wrong with him." Esan muttered. Caim turned to him and punched him so hard, he went flying through the trees. "Don't talk about my brother!" He screeched as he jumped on top of Esan, continuously beating him with his fists. Kunare, Becca, and Anya pried him off of Esan, but not before Caim had broken Esan's nose. Caim looked like he was going to assault him again, but instead he did the opposite. He just walked away; from the camp and everybody else. He kept walking until his feet bled, but kept walking after that. Eventually, he reached a town, where he spent the night in the inn.


    Caim woke up very early, just before dawn. He got up and went back to where the group was. He held a knife behind his back; Caim intended on killing Esan. He went over to Esan's sleeping body and drew the knife. He positioned the knife over Esan's heart quickly, making sure it would be a quick end; something in his opinion that Esan did not deserve. Before he could do it though, Kunare got up and blasted him with a stream of fire. Caim looked at him with hate in his eyes. He lunged at Kunare with his knife, trying to remain silent. Before Caim could get to him, Kunare summoned a wall of stone. Caim tripped it and fell on his face, breaking his nose. The crack from when his nose broke was loud enough to wake up the others who quickly summoned their weapons to their sides. "You'll all pay for making fun of him; for mocking him. When I kill you, you will all be sorry!" He screamed. Caim ran and jumped off the edge of a cliff, plummeting to the ocean below.

    Kunare stared at the spot where Caim had just been standing. "I think we should move. We still have to find the scrolls, and the time to get them is decreasing more and more we wait." He said. "That's true, but what about Caim and Jerate? They're bound to be out for us now." Becca pointed out, bringing them all back to reality. Kunare's expression hardened, "We kill on sight, unless we know they have no weapons, which is almost impossible." Becca, Esan, and Anya all nodded in assent. While they had been talking, Anya had healed Esan's broken nose, which she saw as an injustice.