A Legend Time Forgot

Prologue

The sun beat down harshly on the already scorching desert sand; the warm wind blowing by not helping in the slightest to relieve the heat. The terrain, ever-shifting, was one that a person could easily become lost in. For these reasons, and many more superstitious ones at that; no one traveled directly through the desert. But there was one man who did...

Through the midst of heat waves and sand, a figure clad from head-to-toe in beige linen robes emerged. He carried nothing but a light knapsack on his back, the contents... a mystery. But no matter what he had in the sack it would never be enough to last him his journey.

A lone hyena observed him from a far off dune greedily. "This one seems to be stupider than most, he'll be easy prey." With an eager swish of his tail, and a small whirl of sand, the hyena transformed into an elderly man with a hobbling gait.

The shape shifter tracked the man for hours through the desert, but he never stopped. It was as if the man had an endless amount of energy; that alone was enough to surprise the shape shifter, and that was saying something for a creature like him.

Finally, a full day and a half later, he stopped. It was evening, the sand in the desert was still warm but the air was brisk as the sun disappeared into the dunes. The shape shifter waited patiently for the man to start a fire, his cue to approach before any other creatures became alerted of his prey's presence.

Much to his chagrin, a fire was never lit. After hours of tracking this man and waiting for an opportunity to approach unsuspicious, he wasn't going to just let this prey slip out of his grasp.

In the darkness, the shape-shifter hobbled over to the bundled up man. "Fellow traveler, if you could spare a blanket for a weary old man it would be greatly appreciated."

The man didn't budge as he sat himself, in character to that of an old man, down next to him. Then, a blanket seemingly from nowhere was tossed into the creature's lap.

"Ah, thank you kind sir; I'm lucky to have come across another person so far into the desert. Sometimes, for an old hermit like me it's nice to see another face."

He glanced at the man next to him, a pair of impossibly gold eyes gazed back at him. Other than that, the rest of his face and body was covered. As the shape-shifter looked him over, the man's eyes narrowed. He knew that this was no human. Any human this far out in the desert wouldn't have come near him unless they were absolutely desperate. Not just to ask him for a blanket and make small talk, plus he said he was a hermit. Hermits are solitary people; they come to obscure places to be left to themselves, not to seek loners out.

"If I may ask," the creature eyed him as he licked his lips, "What is such a fine young man like you doing wandering in the desert?"

"That is none of your business... Ghoul."

The ghoul snarled as his disguise peeled away, revealing his true form; a humanoid looking creature with flesh of a greenish hue and peeling skin. Its fingers were long with sharp nails and teeth, along with pointed ears and squinty obsidian eyes.

"How did you know? No mortal human has ever seen through me."

The man glared at the ghoul distastefully as he reached into the knapsack on his back and brought out a long curved sword made from gilded gold and diamonds. He held it against the neck of the ghoul as its eyes went wide.

"I-Impossible! That sword-"

With a single slash the ghoul's head toppled to the ground. He wiped the sword on his robe and placed it back into his knapsack as he watched the ghoul's body disintegrate.

"That is because I am no human."