Long ago there was a man who in some eyes was a great hero, and in the eyes of others, nothing more than a violent warlike man. There was a war, a revolution if you will, that he fought in for the good of the people. He did well, and led the people to victory. As the war came to its end, a new, more fair king was placed on the throne. That man was the leader of the revolution. Magnus attempted to seek an audience with the king, but was not permitted, and was exiled from the country he had fought so hard to free from the tyrannous rule of the previous king. He left, without a word, only a glance back at the land he had once called his home. He boarded a boat, destined for a land far away, one where no one had even heard of the war. A land where Magnus would be able to begin his life again, a fresh start. Into the sunset the boat drifted away, and so his voyage began.

_________________________________________

The boat landed on the shore of a continent covered in snow. How far north had the boat traveled, Magnus wondered to himself. As the crew of the ship got ready to disembark from the ship, Magnus began to make sure he was ready to leave. He followed behind the ships crew down the gangplank, and took his first steps on a continent he had never been to before. It was cold. The wind whipped about viciously, stinging him to his very soul. The snow came down harder here than he had ever seen it come down in his homeland. Then he noticed for the first time that the ship hadn't even landed at a port, or a town or anything for that matter. Magnus strained to see if he could see anything in the distance, to no avail. He looked around to find the nearest crew member, to see if he could find out if there was any sort of civilization nearby. The closest one he could find was a sorta big guy. He was dressed all in furs, which only added to his size. He had long hair, brown in color and quite a bit windblown. He had blue eyes and pale skin, and a sort of distant look, as if he wasn't quite all there.

Magnus trudged through the snow over to him, the wind resisting him all the way. He tripped over a snow drift, and he cursed at himself. Just as he was about to hit the ground the man caught him, and straightened him up. "You need to watch your step here," the man said in a gruff voice. "You aren't from around here are you?" the man asked him as he looked him up and down as if sizing him up.

"No I'm not," Magnus replied, sort of hesitantly "Which is why I was wondering of you could help me out. You wouldn't happen to know of any sort of civilization nearby would you?" Magnus asked the man. He wondered how far news of the war in Palatinus had traveled, hopefully the man would not recognize him.

The man smiled warmly, or as was warm as possible in the freezing cold. "I would indeed, In fact I'll soon be on my way there after i thank the captain of the ship for letting me tag along on his voyage. You're more than welcome to come along of you want." the man finished and turned away to search for the captain.

Magnus shivered in the cold air. He would have to get used to that if this is where he was going to make his new life. He sighed, and saw his breath form vapor in the cold. He looked around once more and all he saw was snow. Miles of it as far as the eye could see. The man returned and motioned for Magnus to follow. He watched as the man trekked off, and soon he began to follow closely behind him.

"So," the man began, "Magnus isn't it? To what do I owe the pleasure of leading General Gallant?" the man asked with a slight hint of humor in his voice.

Magnus stopped suddenly. He cursed to himself, "So much for that brilliant idea, I guess I can't hide." He said aloud. "I...I came here to start over... but that plan has already failed." Magnus said to his escort.

"Oh I wouldn't say that," the man said with a chuckle. "News like that never travels this far. The only reason I know who you are is because I happened to be in Palatinus at the end of that war. I wont tell anyone about it General. Your secret is safe with me," the man said with a smile that Magnus couldn't see.

The two of them trudged through the snow for some time before Magnus finally spoke, "Who are you?" He asked the man.

The man laughed loudly. "Someone who is keeping any eye on you. I am Tempos. I know why you came here. I however do not agree with entirely dropping your sword. You never know when you will need it, never forget how to fight." Tempos advised him. "We'll be arriving soon" He said as he pointed off into the distance where a small cluster of buildings could be seen.

Magnus listened as the man spoke, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," He replied with a sigh. He saw the buildings come into his field of vision. The weren't at all like the buildings in Palatinus. It looked almost as if this civilization was a few years behind. They mostly consisted of huts, and one building that was a little larger, and had a primitive cross built on it. He assumed it was a temple.

He took his first steps into the town, the few people he saw were going on about their business as if they hadn't seen him arrive. From behind him he hard Tempos speak again, "This is the little village of Brynhile, I'd suggest you go to the temple and seek lodging there Magnus. I've business elsewhere at the moment, but I'm sure we will meet again, I've got my eye on you General." Magnus looked behind him to say his farewells but Tempos had vanished. There wasn't even a trace of him anywhere.

Magnus turned back to the small village and sighed, looking slightly confused. "The temple huh?" He looked for the building with a cross. He made a few steps toward it, and felt weak suddenly. His knees buckled under him, and his vision went black, and he fainted in front of the temple in Brynhile.



_________________________________________

The battlefield had grown quiet, an uneasy calm had overtaken the combatants. Bodies of men and beasts and angels had been strewn about, battered and bloody. Magnus knelt over the body of a woman, in the center of it all. Danika the Demigoddess lay at his feet, covered in blood. "All of this...for power" Magnus muttered to himself.

Magnus's eyes flew open, and his breathing became heavy, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare. His vision was met with a wooden ceiling, as little flakes of snow fell through the cracks, and melted midair in the heat of the room. Magnus sat up a little, he found himself to be in a bed, and scanned the room. There were many benches, an altar, a few other beds, as well as a large fire roaring in a fire pit on the far side of the large room. Finally another being entered his sight.

"Finally you have awoken, you've been asleep for nearly two whole days now" said the being, it sounded male, as it closed the distance between itself and Magnus. "Welcome to the temple of Tempos, this is the village of Brynhile." It continued, "I am Father Orrick, the head priest of this temple. One of the villagers found you fainted at my doorstep, so we brought you in out of the cold." The priest said as he looked over Magnus. "You don't look like you're from around here..." the priest trailed off.

"It's Magnus," he said to the priest, "And I'm not from around here, but It's best you don't know where I am from." He finished. Then he realized something, "You said this was the Temple of Tempos? I met someone by that name on my way here." he said

"You? You met Tempos? Tempos is the god of battles, You should feel honored." The priest said with a smile. "I've spent my life in service to him, and have never seen him." He said with a small hint of jealousy.

Magnus thought back to his encounter with the man, he was a big man, but he seemed too nice to be the god of battles, perhaps it was someone else. He pushed that thought aside. "Is there anything I can do to repay you for taking me in?" He asked the priest.

"That offer is very kind of you, but there isnt much around here that needs to be done, although we did recently lose track of one of the priestesses, but you couldn't possibly replace her." Orrick said.

"Well teach me, I'm sure I can manage." Magnus said with sort of a grin, "I wont take no for an answer" he finished as he stared at the priest.

"You should rest, maybe I'll teach you tomorrow, being in the service of Tempos is no easy task, I'm warning you." the pries said with a smile as he dismissed himself, leaving Magnus to be alone.

Magnus took one last glance around the room before laying down again to go to sleep. He closed his eyes and sure enough he soon found sleep. It was sound for a few moments, and then he was suddenly out in the cold, but he wasn't alone. Tempos, the man he had met and who had escorted him to Brynhile was there as well.

"Magnus, Magnus, Magnus. I thought I told you to not drop you sword, and now you are going to become a priest?" Tempos accused him. The man started to laugh heartily. "You'd do well to listen to me boy," Tempos said, "Do not drop your sword."

"I must, there must be another way besides fighting. That's all I've done my whole life is fight, fight, fight. That was my answer, and look where it has gotten me." Magnus was on the verge of cracking up. "Nowhere, I'm in a land no one has ever heard of before, a frozen wasteland, a poor frozen wasteland." He continued, "I must find another way. Fighting is not my answer anymore" Magnus finished.

Tempos stared at him smiling, laughing all the while. "Have it your way kid, but you'll wish you listened to me instead. General Magnus Gallant, he who has fought and defeated a god, now drops his sword, in order to become a priest" The man continued laughing and slowly began to fade out of existence, leaving only his laugh behind.

Magnus awoke again, it was night as far as he could tell, as there was no light coming from the cracks in the ceiling. He tried sleeping again, but it never came. He laid there waiting for the next day.



_________________________________________

Over the course of the next few days Magnus had begun his learning of the Priesthood, specifically, a priest of the god of battles. Magnus learned all sorts of prayers, and healing arts, and the history of Tempos. He had been given a small house near the edge of Brynhille to live in while he was a Priest there. Living amongst the people of the small town he quickly learned the name and face of all of its inhabitants, man woman and child alike.

The children all looked up to him with wonder in their eyes having never seen anyone from outside their town. Occasionally when Magnus had a few spare moments, and he caught the kids following him around, he'd tell them stories of his homeland, having been friends with the prince. None of the children knew what a prince was so Magnus did his best to explain it. It was hard for him, as they didn't really have a hierarchy system of any sort here as far as he could tell, so he just told them that the prince was an important person.

The women followed him around, but the look in their eyes was different. To them, Magnus was exotic, he sort of had a mysterious air about him as far as the women were concerned. However all of the women were married, or the closest thing to it, so he had to avoid them at all costs lest he end up in tangles with the men of the village.

The men of Brynhille, were all workers. Fisherman mostly, generally just to support the life of there village. None of them looked as if they ever wielded a weapon in their entire lives, but it seemed that they didn't need to. They lived in a remote town, in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Magnus assumed that Tempos must protect them from whatever passing dangers there maybe, if there were any at all.

One day, Magnus accompanied the men to the frozen lake, a little distance away from the town, while they went to work. He had made friends with one man in particular named Gith. Gith was far as Magnus could tell, was one of the more worldly people of the small village. He knew more than the average villager, and Magnus wanted that knowledge.

Magnus wanted to know if there was any other civilization nearby, or if there were any dangers that they had to fear here, aside from frostbite. So Gith answered. "The only other place where people live around here, is far to the north. There stands the great castle city of Arxea. It's ruled by a queen, that the people of the city all love. Her beauty is flawless, or so I hear, I've never seen her. Queen Meridia The Beauteous they call her." he explained as they walked ever closer to the lake.

The men all began to go about their daily work routines. Magnus oversaw them, not having ever fished before, and not wanting to ruin their catch. He prayed for a good catch for the fishermen. Gith started to answer Magnus's last question about danger. "Here, there is very little danger. I mean, we've never had to fear of robbers or monsters before. We have Tempos to protect us." Gith started. "Recently however, I've been seeing tracks around outside of town. Tracks I haven't seen before, but I'm not worried, Tempos will protect us." Gith finished.

Magnus listened to him while continuing his prayers. It sounded a little unsettling, but if they haven't had any trouble before, they shouldn't have any now. The men began to draw in their lines and nets, and it was quite a bountiful catch. Enough to feed the whole village for at least a week. Magnus smiled, "Praying works," he said to himself. Magnus followed behind the men as they made their trek back to Brynhille.

It was quiet, and cold as usual. It would still take time for Magnus to get used to the weather. Magnus suddenly got feeling that something was off. He stopped for a moment, and looked around. He couldn't see anything wrong, or any sign of trouble, but the feeling didn't dissipate. He rubbed the back of his neck and uttered a small prayer, and continued walking on behind the men back to the village.

When they returned the women all rushed out to greet them, and to take the catch and put it away and preserve it, or make the nights meals. The children all rushed out as well to greet their respective fathers. Magnus bid Gith farewell, and the men returned with their families to their homes.

Magnus went to the house that had been given him, and he looked around still with that uneasy feeling. He didn't know what it was but he couldn't shake it. Maybe it was nothing. He ate the food that had been left for him, and uttered a small prayer again afterward. It had grown dark by now, and Magnus had grown weary. He laid himself down on the bed provided for him, and attempted to fall asleep and forget that uneasy feeling. Soon he had drifted off, if only for a little while.



_________________________________________

NOTE: There is no picture for this part of the story, however I do have music. Scroll to the bottom for the youtube link and play it while you read.


Sleeping in his bed, wrapped in furs, Magnus was being tortured by nightmares. Dreams of the past, dreams of battles, dreams of deaths. There was little he could do to have prevented it though. All of the lives he had taken, were not taken lightly, even so, he couldn't stand it now. And so his subconscious was haunting him, and torturing him in ways no man should have to be tortured.

Magnus walked through the halls of the fortress, his footsteps echoing off of the stone walls. It was dark, there was very little torchlight, he had to squint to see too far in front of him. He walked even further, seeing a room illuminated at the end of the corridor. He set his jaw and drew his sword, preparing himself for what may await at the end of the hall. As he took a step into the light he could hear something cut through the air, and he ducked instantly. Behind him he heard something hit the stone wall and fall to the ground. He turned to look, and saw a simple wooden arrow. Magnus turned his gaze back to the lit up room and saw in front of him a woman all dressed in red with a red feathered hat, wielding a large bow, preparing to aim another arrow. "The lives of so many of my friends and countrymen you have taken. I will never forgive you." The woman said as she let another arrow fly. Magnus rolled across the floor narrowly dodging the arrow. He stood up quickly and readied his sword as another arrow flew at him, and barely in time did he move his sword in its path to protect himself.

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness," Magnus started in a cold voice, "I will send you to see them soon enough." Magnus charged at the woman dressed in red, swinging his sword at her. The woman sidestepped quickly and punched him hard in the jaw. His mouth began to bleed as he turned quickly to swing at her again. She wasn't as quick this time and there was a huge gash made across her chest.

"You're a monster," said the woman through gritted teeth in a voice full of pain. "Taking the lives of people...who can not fight," her voice became weaker the more she talked, she was slowly bleeding to death. She collapsed in a pile on the hard stone floor, dropping her bow which caused an echo. "The gods... will surely...smite you....for..this..." Her voice trailed off as she breathed her last. Magnus stood over the body of the woman, almost as if he had regretted what he had done. He closed his eyes, and sighed.

When his eyes reopened they were staring at the ceiling of the house he had been given in Brynhile. He glanced around and caught a glimpse of the window. It was still dark out, but it would be morning soon. Then he heard it. A scream that pierced the night. He sat bolt upright, and in a flash jumped out of bed. He quickly put on his boots and ran out of the hut, and looked around. There was fire everywhere, The town was being burnt to the ground. He rushed to the nearest hut and looked inside, and didn't find anyone. He ran over to the temple and peered inside and found no one. No one was in the village, it was almost as if it had become a ghost town. Magnus became panicked, as he tried to figure out what was going on. He ran through the entire village looking for any sign of life. There were none to be found. He fell to his knees in the snow."This can't be happening" he muttered to himself. "My life was just beginning..." he whispered.

Something in the snow caught his eye. He looked closer at it, and by the light of the burning village he could tell it was a foot print of some sort. It wasn't human. As he looked around he could see many of them. All over there were so many tracks.

Again a scream in the distance came. It sounded like a woman from the village. Magnus stood up and looked off in its direction. He could see a faint amount of light, almost as if it were torchlight. It soon faded from view as it got further away. "Something must have taken them," He said to himself, "They must still be alive, I have to save them." Without a second thought he ran back to his hut and wrapped himself in furs. He looked around for a weapon, but forgot he had abandoned it long ago. That didn't stop him however. He ran from his hut in the direction of the screams, following the inhuman tracks in the snow.

The night was slowly fading, and the tracks became easier to see in the approaching light of the morning. Magnus hadn't been paying attention to how long he had been following them, no did he realize he had come close to the edge of some mountains. How far had he gone he wondered. He continued to follow the tracks, and was a little surprised when they led him to cave. He peered into the darkness, unable to make out how far in it extended.

By now the sun had full risen into the sky. Magnus took a final look around and appeared to be alone. He looked back to the dark cave, and grit his teeth. He took a deep breath and stepped into the cave, being consumed entirely by the darkness.


Morning Is Here

_________________________________________

Below the earth, roughly a hundred feet or so under where Magnus had been standing, existed a set of large tunnels. Existing in those tunnels was a creature older than the tunnels themselves. Most had even forgotten of its existence. It was slumbering away, sleeping ever so soundly. It had not been awaken in years, despite the tribe of lizardmen who had taken up residence in the cave above the tunnels. The lizardmen Had discovered it one day, but retreated in fear, for the creature was far larger and undoubtedly much more powerful than they were. Silently they retreated back to the cave above, fearful of waking up the creature and incurring its wrath. Still it sleeps ever so soundly, dreaming of treasure.



Magnus's eyes slowly adjusted to light level in the cave. It was still incredibly dark, but now at least he could see in front of him. There was no telling however, just how deep the cave went. He inched ever slowly forward, with the utmost caution. It was not enough, as Magnus had tripped over a rock and fallen hard on his face he cursed. "Damn it.." he muttered as he climbed back to his feet, his face still throbbing from the impact. He shook his head an reoriented himself, and proceeded further into the cave.

He could see a faint amount of light coming from ahead. He got closer to the light, and started to hear what sounded like voices, although they didn't sound quite human. It sort of sounded a little like hissing, almost snake like. Magnus found a spot not drenched in the light and tried to get a better look at the two speakers. They were creatures he had never seen before. They stood upright like men, but were covered in scales. Their eyes appeared reptilian, yellow with a black slit in the center for the pupil. They had a long tail that protruded from behind them, also covered in scales. They reminded Magnus of lizards. Magnus stared on in shock, as they began to speak more.

"Have the ssslavesss been sssubdued?" the first lizard man asked in a low raspy voice. He was glancing about warily almost as if he knew someone besides his companion were in the room. "Yesss," The second lizard man started, "They have at lassst quieted down." The second lizardmans tounge had darted out of his mouth, as if he were tasting the air. He began to look around as well, "Ssssomeone isss here," He hissed to the first lizardman. Both of the lizardmen readied their weapons, one a sword the other a spear, and stalked about the cavern searching for their intruder.

Magnus began to sweat, for multiple reasons. He had no weapon, as well as even if he did, he made a vow to never fight again. Magnus Sighed, and that was possibly the biggest mistake he could have made. Almost instantly the two lizardmen rushed at the direction the sigh came from, the one with the spear in front. Magnus gave up his hiding position and stepped out into the light. The spear wielding lizardman charged at Magnus point first. Magnus dodged out of the way of the point, and grabbed hold of the shaft and pulled backwards with all of his strength. The Spear was wrenched from the hands of the lizardman as he tumbled to the ground after losing his balance.

The other lizardman had begun to make his move and rushed after Magnus Swinging his word. The lizardman had swung the sword to high, giving Magnus plenty of room to duck. As Magnus was squatting, he thrust the spear straight up into the lizardmans heart. Blood began pouring out of the wound as Magnus dislodged the spear. First to fall was the sword, and the clang of metal on the stone floor echoed throughout the cave. The lizardman was next and hit the ground with a thud. Magnus turned to look at the first lizardman, as it was getting up. It hastily grabbed for the sword that his parter had dropped but Magnus was quicker, and jabbed the spear through the creatures arm pinning it to the ground. The lizard man screamed out in pain, and with its other had clawed at Magnus's chest. The cuts the claws made on his chest weren't to deep, but it was enough to cause him to wince. Magnus ferociously kicked the beast in the head, which caused it to black out. It collapsed onto the floor, still breathing. Magnus freed the spear from the beasts arm, and sighed. "I wonder how many more times I'll have to break my vow." He muttered to himself

Magnus looked around the room once more and saw another passageway deeper into the cave. He grabbed one of the torches off of the wall, and proceeded down the passage in search of the villagers. With the aid of the torch, travel through the cave was much easier, Magnus didn't trip over any rocks this time. Ahead he could hear more voices, more of the reptilian ones. And then a scream, of a woman. The scream pierced through the cave and made Magnus shudder. He moved faster now, he needed to save the villagers before it was too late.



_________________________________________

He came upon what had been the largest room so far, and he stopped outside it. It was crawling with lizardmen, at least ten of them. Magnus could see the villagers on the far side of the cave. The woman who had screamed was in the clutches of one of the lizardmen. He stared for a few seconds, but there was no way he could watch what it was doing to her.

Magnus tried thinking of ways that he could save them. There were so many lizardmen though, there was no way he'd make it through alone. All he had on him was the spear he had recently acquired, the clothes on his back,, and one other thing. A piece of fruit. The fruit was the only thing he had brought from Palatinus. It was the fruit of the netherworld. It was given to him by an opposing general during the war in an effort to bribe Magnus. Why he had saved it he had no clue. If he ate it, he would gain inhuman power, however there was no telling what the consequences would be.

The woman screamed again. There wasn't anytime to think about it now. He fished for the fruit, and found it. He pulled it closer to his face. In the torch light it looked almost like a plum except that it was larger, and darker. Again the woman screamed, and Magnus took a bite of the infernal fruit.

Magnus felt funny. As if something were taking control of him. Power was surging through his body, so much so that his appearance began to change a little bit. His hair now had shocks of white, his eyes were now blood red in color. It was as if the Netherworld itself had possessed him. His blood began to boil, causing him to scream out in pain, only the voice this time was much deeper than usual. The spear in his hand had changed as well. It had become thicker, heavier, the color of it had changed to a deep red color, the point of it even became sharper, and the edge around it looked as if it had acquired a blade to it.




Magnus lost all control, his body was no longer his. He turned the corner and confronted the lizardmen. He screamed again with that inhuman voice and every eye in the room was staring at him. The lizardmen looked shaken and the villagers looked frightened. Magnus charged the nearest lizardman and cut his throat, with a slash from the spear, and charged on to the next nearest one, running him through. The death of the first two brought the rest to their senses and they all squabbled for their weapons, which gave Magnus the chance to take out two more of the lizardmen. He took a quick look around there were only six of them left.

Again came the scream of the woman, and instantly Magnus's head turned to the lizardman holding her in his clutches. That lizardman became his next target. Magnus charged at the lizardman, point first and thrust the spear all the way through its body.

Not only was there a death cry from the lizardman, there was also another scream, that of the woman. Magnus had pushed to far. Everything for a few moments it seemed stood in silence. He had also impaled the woman. Magnus withdrew the weapon, seeming to regain his senses for a moment. The beast dropped the woman to the ground, and the collapsed on top of her. Magnus was beside himself, and the villagers could do nothing but stare.

The lizardmen began screeching behind Magnus, and that brought him back to his "infernal" senses. He was up as quick as he could be, and the lizardmen charged him. Just then the ground shook, knocking them all to their feet, the lizardmen, Magnus, and the villagers. The ground continued shaking, and a vicious roar seemed to emanate from deeper within the cave. The lizardmen all had looks of fear painted across their faces. Magnus however was not in a normal state of mind, he got up despite the roaring, and charged after the lizardmen, and impaled one of the five remaining. The nearest one got up back to its feet, and attempted to bash Magnus with it's fists. Magnus was quicker, and instead caught the beasts fists in his own. He stared into the eyes of the lizardman, and smiled an evil grin. Magnus began to squeeze with all of his strength. The creatures hands began to break, the popping and cracking noises of the bone echoed disgustingly throughout the room. The beast screamed out in pain, and Magnus let go. The beast attempted to bite at him, but Magnus was too fast. Magnus sidestepped and bashed the beast on the head, cracking its skull causing its death.

The roaring from deeper in the cave came again, this time sounding closer, and the ground began to shake more violently. Magnus payed it no mind, the lizardmen however became more and more frightened. One of them got up and ran past Magnus out of the cave, the other two however were not so quick, or lucky. Magnus turned his back on the lizardmen for a moment to retrieve his weapon from the corpse of the one impaled. He turned to face them again, and Magnus thrust it at one of them, impaling it through the head. Magnus turned to the last fear gripped lizard man and picked him up. He stared into its eyes and began to grin. But then he caught something its eyes, a reflection.

Magnus turned to face, a beast he had not seen in ages. He dropped the Lizardman as his jaw dropped. Before him had stood a dragon. A very large dragon, larger than the ones he had ever seen. Magnus could see the rage in the beasts eyes. If his state of mine had not been altered, Magnus himself would be shaking a little, now however he had the courage of the Netherworld.

The villagers however were not so calm and began to scream. The dragons head instantly turned and in a moment the room became a raging inferno. The villagers were burned alive almost instantly from the dragons breath. Magnus looked unaffected by the sight, a result of the fruit. The lizardman had gotten up and fled, not wanting the wrath of the dragon brought upon himself.

There were only two beings left living in the cave. Magnus and the dragon. Magnus gripped the spear and smiled that infernal smile of his, "This spear hungers for your flesh, and I your soul" Magnus said in that deep voice he had obtained from eating the infernal fruit. The dragon turned his head back towards Magnus and roared, the wind from its breath blowing ruffling Magnus's hair. Magnus simply began to laugh, as he charged the dragon spear point first.




_________________________________________

As Magnus charged at the monstrous beast before him, possessed by the spirit of the infernal fruit, the dragon swiped one of his large forepaws across the room, sending the warrior priest flying back first into a wall. Magnus made contact with the stone wall hard, a guttural groan emitting from his lips, and then he fell to the ground landing on his hands and knees as he coughed up blood. Even with the power he had received from the netherworld, the dragon would be no easy opponent. The warrior priest began to grasp in vain for his spear. He looked up to see where it had gotten too, and to his horror it was laying on the ground in front of the beasts giant head. Magnus grimaced in pain and grabbed at his waist as he cursed himself for dropping his weapon. He stood up and gritted his teeth against the pain, and tried to come up with a plan to get him back safely to his weapon. He knew he would have very little to know time to think one out though.

Almost as if to reinforce the point, the dragon opened his gigantic maw, and breathed a furious gale of fire at the warrior priest. Magnus's time was up. He cursed as he ran around the cavern searching for some sort of protection from the flame. He found it, and breathed with relief as he jumped at the last moment to hide behind a stalagmite. He sat up and leaned his back against the hard surface of the stone. Once the flames had started to die down he glanced out from his hiding spot to see what the beast was up too. The dragon was looking about the room trying to find the intruder, sniffing at the air trying to find any trace. It was a lucky break for Magnus, the beast was to busy trying to kill him it lost track of where he had ended up. This bought him a little time to think of his next move, and more importantly how to get back to his weapon. He watched the beasts movements for a little longer, searching for any opening, any way to get close to it. Then for a moment, it turned his back to him. Thats it, Magnus thought, Now is my chance.

Magus crawled from behind the rock he was hiding, and ran as quietly as he could, almost skipping across the stone floor of the cave to reach his spear. The weapon was finally in reach, and he grabbed it and leveled it at the beast just as it turned his head to face him. Their eyes met for a moment, and at the instant, all of the infernal power had left Magnus's body, and now he was as he was before. There he was, staring the titanic dragon down, with only the power he had had prior to eating the fruit. But not for a moment did Magnus falter, he stood his ground, and thrust the weapon forward hoping to score a hit. But what really happened took him by surprise. The dragon opened his mouth and caught the spear between its teeth, and shook it furiously, Magnus swinging in the wind as he refused to let go. However his grip wasn't as strong without his infernal strength, and he lost it, in the midst of the beasts upward swing of his head. Magnus hurtled through the air and landed on the beasts back. The dragon spit out the weapon, and started to rampage across the room, swinging it body and thrusting is claws, causing all sorts of damage to the cavern. The ceiling started to give in, and rocks began to shower down from above, revealing light from the outside. The dragon howled, and unfurled its large might wings, and shot through the hole into the sky, Magnus holding fast to to the scales on the back of the beast.

The pair hurtled through the sky, Magnus holding on for dear life trying desperately not to be flung to his death miles below. The dragon tried with all his might to shake the man, doing barrel rolls, flying upside down, violently shaking, anything it could think of to get rid of him. And it was working, Magnus's grip was loosening. He was struggling to hold on, fear of plummeting to his doom, when the dragon issued another violent shake. Magnus lost his grip and fell through the clouds. As he plummeted to the ground the last thing that issued from his mouth was a prayer to Tempus. The warrior priest fell through the sky as the great beast flew away, free from the mans grasp.

_________________________________________