Fire engulfed Aster´s blade as the demon rose from the pool of sludge. At first it's form was unrecognizable but as it rose sludge poured off, revealing the demon within. It was disgustingly horrid. A massive blob of organic material, sewn together with dark thread.

It had five dragon heads, green, silver, red, black, and blue. Their dead eyes, once brilliant orbs of light, had dimmed to sightless stares. Its body was half engulfed by the pool but what was revealed was hideous. It was an amalgamation of stitched flesh made from carpets of multicolored dragon scales, human skin, and fur. Limbs grabbed at the edge of the pool, the main two were massive dragon claws but other borrowed limbs scrambled for purchase, among them were human arms, horse legs, and wings.

It let out a massive roar from its five heads, spittle flying everywhere. Ragh steadied himself as he gazed upon its visage. The thing was massive, as big as a building and built like a truck. It had coils of muscle sewn on that contracted and pulled its weight. All five heads turned to Aster as he stood valiantly against the creature.

As it stared at him Aster faltered for a second. ¨No, no, I changed my mind.¨ He jumped back away as a large black tentacle lashed out from the pool, smacking into the stone where he previously stood.

With a start Ragh raced forward. His spear wasn't going to be of much use here but it was better than nothing. Looking at the demon, it was clear that they didn't really have anything that would affect it.

¨Aster! We need to retreat!¨ Ragh raised his shield as the tentacle lashed out once again. He jumped in front of Aster and dropped to a knee, bracing for the impact. He felt it before he saw it. The appendage smashed into his wooden shield. It broke inward in the middle, the dry wood snapping and breaking into splinters. He was knocked to the ground, his armor grinding against the cobbles. Despite the agonizing pain in his left arm he stood up. It came lashing around again. This time he ducked willingly. It passed over him harmlessly before smashing into a wooden building.

The building´s wall was obliterated. With a groan and a snap of wood it leaned over before falling into the pool. The demon roared, its five heads swinging like maces to smash the building apart.

Aster cautiously backed away before sprinting away from the area. Ragh quickly ran after him. The roar of the demon faded behind them as boots beat into the cobbles. Then gasping for breath they stopped running.

The two were silent as they recovered.

¨What in Yrena´s name was that? I've never seen a demon like that before.¨ Aster broke the silence. ¨Bastard of a demon.¨

The smell from the pool still lingered around them. Ragh was tempted to tell him that they shouldn't have got that close to the pool in the first place. But he supposed that there needed to be risks in order for there to be rewards. The only way to find out was to try. He just wished that they went about it in a more careful way.

¨ That was a demon then? I suppose Banour was not lying.¨

¨Yes, there are demons here. I just didn't expect such a nasty one to be down here. It must be filled with divinity.¨ Aster´s eyes sparkled a bit at the thought of divine power. ¨After all demons store divinity within themselves, while poisonous to them at contact they are able to lock it away. This rots the land, turning it grey as no more life can be born once their soul is consumed and the divinity digested.¨

¨So they are taking divinity and storing it in themselves even though they can't use it? What is the point of doing such a thing?¨

¨Nobody knows but they are forces of evil. It could just be one of their whims.¨ Aster curled his lip in disgust. ¨A demon doesn't have to try to do evil deeds. Its in their nature."

¨I suppose you're right good sir.¨ Ragh´s thoughts wandered back to the demon. It really did seem like it was evil for the sake of evil. Horribly grotesque and made of an assortment of what seemed like borrowed limbs.

Boots shuffled as a group of moaning undead came around the corner of a wooden building. Six of them were armed with checkered gambeson of dark blue and white checkers. Some wore chainmail coifs, others had protective metal helmets that covered the sides of the face. A few had short spears and shields with a silver dragon painted onto them while others had a simple short-sword.

Residing over the soldiers, on the back of a matted black haired war-horse was an armored knight. Similar to Ragh it wore an armet yet this one was more pointed. A burnt plume stuck out haphazardly from the back of its helmet. Its armor was stained ash-black as if torched by a flame. The horse it rode on was also covered in the black armor.

Immediately upon seeing the winded pair the knight raised his weapon. It had a chest-length wood handle wrapped in green leather and topped with a ball of wicked spikes. It was like a mace but much longer and to be wielded with two hands.

With vicious intent the black knight raced forward, weapon primed.

Torn from his shock by the thundering of hooves Ragh raised his shield arm only to find a mangled mess of wooden shrapnel and bent metal. It was in no way functional anymore. The horse was bearing down on him and he didn't have much time. He calmed his breath and faced the charging enemy.

Most would underestimate how it feels to stand in front of a charging horse. It was covered in armor and topped with a deadly knight wielding a spiked ball of steel. The animal was massive, its empty sockets staring to a place no one but the undead could see. With tensed muscles he waited, ready to jump to the side.

The horse beared past him as the massive two handed weapon swung. Ragh raised his spear in a bar-like fashion. The pole mace smashed into Ragh´s guarding spear and barreled through, snapping the wood into tinder. The weapon continued its arc, cracking heavily into his shoulder. The spikes slid off the the angled armor with a terrible screech leaving deep gouges in the metal. The force of the blow knocked Ragh off his feet.

Aster ignited his flame once again letting it travel up the blade of his greatsword. ¨Come at me heathens!¨ He raced forward, past the knight and into the crowd of undead. With a deadly sweep of the weapon he slashed into the side of a sword-bearing undead. The arm came off with a torrent of black blood and the blade bit halfway into its chest, organs peeking out. The creature screeched as it caught aflame, clutching at its stomach as it fell back and rolled around to try and put out the flames. The others gurgled and snarled, quickly forming a shield wall with spears poking over the top.

Ragh lost sight of Aster as the black knight reared up on his horse before turning it back around. The horse pawed the ground in preparation of a charge. Ragh dropped the lower fragment of his spear then glanced around rapidly.

There was a mess of wood around him, former supports, boards, pieces of scaffolding. Yet there wasn't really anything that could be used to face down a charging knight. But he was not going to back down and run away, this was a foe he could face. So, he grabbed a wooden board.

The black knight came charging again. The horse was a streak of lightning, its undead body straining with effort. Ragh calmed his raging heart as death came forward. He swung the board at the armored rider, ducking to the side as the horse charged. The board connected not with the rider but the side of the horse. It bounced uselessly off as it charged past, knocking him to the ground. The long-mace wiffed in open air causing the rider to overextend.

Aster smashed the blade of his greatsword into the shield wall of the undead, cleaving halfway into a wooden shield before flames charred the wood black. The undead staggered and was eviscerated by a deadly overhead slash. The blade was chipped so heavily that it more smashed than it sliced, leaving the undead without a head and instead a pile of meaty giblets coated in black blood.

Flame washed over the shield wall with each arc of the blade. It licked at the undead skin and clothing. The cinders were not enough to kindle the clothing of the undead, but it was testament to the intensity of the flame. ¨May Yrena be my witness! Though flame is my weapon my sight lies with the light!¨

The undead retailed with stabs from their spears. A stray spear slid off Aster´s center chest-plate before getting caught in the chainmail surrounding it. He stepped back away from the seeking spears before obliterating another wooden shield with a vicious war cry.

Ragh slowly stood, his entire body was aching. The sludge that burned his body, the fall that nearly broke his bones. The giant sludge beast, then nearly getting run over by a horse. Today was not his day. But, he could make it his.

The horse was a problem. It was an armored war machine. It didn't help that it was topped with an armored knight.

Once again the Knight swerved around and immediately charged. The horse bearing down once again. Ragh dashed towards a tower of old scaffolding and grabbed onto it. He tested the structure with a grunt. Then he pulled, muscles straining with effort as he heaved with all his might. The wood creaked and splintered as the sudden force pulled away from the building it was built around.

The charging knight beared down on Ragh as the scaffolding ripped away from the building. First it fell on Ragh, his armor protecting him from the mess of wooden poles and boards but burying him underneath. The wave of material fell in the path of the charging black knight. With no time to stop it crashed into the wooden boards.

The horse went to leap over the sudden obstruction but its legs were caught by its height. It tripped, smashing into the cobbles, bones snapping. It neighed a terrible sound, letting out sounds of confusion and pain.

The black knight cut itself free from the saddle and looked down at the dying horse. Its hand gently brushed over its snout, caressing it. Then from its side withdrew a dagger and stabbed it through the heart.

Ragh laid underneath the rubble. His entire body ached from the tidal wave of wood. He could feel splinters in the cracks of his armor. With a grunt of pain he heaved against the wood surrounding him. He struggled, the wood felt like a tomb and was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

He ripped boards off of himself with his one free arm. His heart was beating rapidly, his skin sweaty, his mind worried. With a heave of effort he pushed a cascade of boards off of himself and shakily stood from the pile.

The undead knight stood, blackened armor silhouetted against the flames Aster engulfed the undead legionnaires with. The long-mace the black knight wielded was held in one hand. As it approached, it gradually added another hand to the grip and leveled the weapon towards Ragh.

For a second the two stood facing each other. One in pale sunbaked armor, the other in armor black as ash. Ragh´s grip tightened around the spear half that he still held. It was his only choice and only hope of winning against such a foe.

The black knight stomped forward. Its greaves crushed wood underfoot as it climbed the mound of wooden boards. The long-mace swung like a pendulum crashing into Ragh guarding arms. His armor deflected most of the blow but the resounding force strained the bone beneath.

Grunting in pain, Ragh staggered back. Relentlessly the black knight leaned into another strike. Ragh tucked his head into his shoulder. The long-mace which was headed for his head slapped against his shoulder

The mace was reflected off but not without leaving a kiss of pain. The force of the blow was transferred through the armor and left Ragh with excruciating pain in his left side. His teeth grit and he pushed forward through the pain. He tackled the black knight to the ground. The armored figures rolled down the pile, struggling for a hold.

Blood boiled in Ragh´s ears as he struggled against the black knight. He stabbed downward with the spear end he held. It screeched across the armor peeling away ash residue and revealing a familiar pale plate beneath.

There was one weakness of an armored knight. That was either the impossibly small gaps in its armor- or the small leather strap hidden away under the collar of its plate. Unless this black knight had a dragon-scale helmet strap- it could be a weakness.

Ragh stuck his hand around the plate collar and grabbed blindly. His hand snagged a leather piece. The two struggled on the ground with renewed efforts. Ragh slammed the black knight to the ground and straddled it. Then used the spear-tip he held to brutally cut the leather strap.

He ripped off the helmet, revealing the teeth-baring face of a blackened undead. It snarled and struggled, its teeth snapping blindly. Ragh stabbed downward into the open helmet. Black blood splattered against his armor and hands. He continued to ruthlessly stab until the movements stilled.

Ragh staggered back away from the body. He was exhausted and felt the urge to just drop to the ground there and then. He shook his head, the adrenaline wearing off as his battle ended. With the rush fading, pains in their entirety returned. His head throbbed and his body ached from the beating it had taken today.

His gaze wandered over to Aster. The undead saw their fallen leader and retreated, shields raised. Thankfully Aster did not give chase and instead wandered back over to Ragh.

¨You okay brother?¨ Aster approached, he was clearly tired as well. The flame emitting from his blade was starting to flicker from the constant use. With a wave of his hand it extinguished.

¨I… i'm fine.¨ Ragh remained standing despite wanting to fall over. ¨I could use a moment to rest though.¨

¨I second that. Thankfully the undead are still bound by their urges otherwise we might have had to fight them all off.¨ Aster glanced over to where the undead infantry had disappeared. ¨One of the only weaknesses they have, though I guess it could also be counted as a strength.¨

Aster looked down at the corpse of the black knight. He kneeled down next to it and inspected the it. ¨This is good armor, I could use some of this.¨ His hands traced over the armor. ¨Looks like whoever this was died in dragon-fire.¨

Ragh didn't like the idea of looting the dead but saw how in these circumstances it might be necessary. It was hard to get anything when there was no one left to sell things after all.

¨Good sir, we should make haste and find a place to shelter for the night.¨ Ragh gestured towards the sun which had nearly completed its arc for the day.

¨Yeah, yeah, make sure to grab a weapon then we can get going.¨ Aster mulled over the parts he had pulled from the body. Gauntlets and greaves as well as vambraces.

Ragh looked over the bodies of the infantry undead. It was gruesome but he knew that they would regenerate with time. He grabbed a few swords and spears but their points were worn and chipped by time and use. They were mostly just blunt. So, he went back to the black knight and grabbed the long-mace.

It was hefty but that wasn't always a bad thing. The spikes were not the sharpest thing in the world but the weapon had good weight and bludgeoning ability. It would probably work well against armored targets. He shouldered the weapon, letting it rest. The green leather was comfortable to hold. For a moment he wondered which weapon he had used in the past before he lost his memory. But for now, there was no use thinking about it, it would only discourage him.

¨Let's be off then.¨ Aster left the gauntlets and greaves there and only held the vambraces. ¨The gauntlets and greaves don't fit me so there is no way the rest of the armor would. "You don't know how lucky you are to have such a suit.¨

¨How lucky I am....¨