The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 2: The Hero's Refusal

Alexander steadily opened his eyes. He couldn't see. There was only darkness. Nothing more.

'What the hell is this?'

Confused, he sat up. And there he sat, surrounded by silence and darkness.

Storm clouds began to rhythmically crackle overhead, lightning shooting in between the clouds. It was then that a momentary, yet immense pressure enveloped Alexander.

Was this... fear?

Crimson light began to pierce the thick storm clouds, exposing the mountains before him. Silent streams of the same crimson light descended from the skies, intersecting onto him. There was no pain, no feeling, no sensation at all.

It was then when he realized where he was sitting. A puddle of water.

No, not water. It was too thick to be water. Its stench is too strong. The smell of rotten fish and rusted iron. The sight, the smell, everything about it was so maddeningly nauseating.

This was blood.

His heart began beating faster, thumping in his chest, as he swallowed his saliva. "This is just a dream, right?" he muttered to himself. "Yeah. Yeah, this is just... Just some weird nightmare."

Alexander stood up, his feet pushing down against the bloody mud. He turned around, staring at the flat, barren land, beginning to grit his teeth in fear and anticipation.

'Something's happening.'

A low-pitched rumbling reverberated through the ground, trembling the earth. He turned his head, searching. Nothing.

The rumbling grew stronger, louder before the ground slowly began to crack. It burst apart, shattering as a gargantuan serpent blasted from the ground.

'Run. Run!' he urged himself. But... He found himself unable to move.

An idyllic light burst from the skies, striking the serpent down, followed by the sound of roaring thunder.

He managed to press his hands against his ears as the strident sound sent dull vibrations throughout his body.

As the thunder dissipated, Alexander spat out an exasperated sigh, before falling to the ground. 'I need to get out of here.'

He stared at the crimson mountain and the steaming serpent carcass right next to it.

"Wake up," he commanded himself. That didn't work.

Alexander took in a deep breath, before slamming his fist into his chest. That didn't work, either.

Another large flash of light descended from the skies. But this wasn't lightning; this light came and remained.

It illuminated the area, granting him a clear view of everything. From here, he saw the shadowy figure on the mountaintop. He could just barely make out what it was.

It was... A person?

The shadowy silhouette appeared to be a man, sitting upon a horse. As the light got brighter, he could see it clearly. A man on horseback. The light grew brighter, illuminating the mountaintop.

The "person" sat upon a red horse, with a sword in his hand.

The sound of thunder resonated once more as the man raised his sword to the skies, pointing at the light. With it, came a descending burning bloodlust.

As the light grew dim, the man on the horse began to fade.

Soon, all that remained was the crimson light slowly growing brighter. The same light that had been here since he woke up.