This is the prelude from a story I was writing a long, long time ago.

The material contains reference to copyrighted material owned by TSR and now Wizards of the Coast. Disclaimer, blah, blah, blah.

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“Arrrhhhh!” The scream of the dying dragon filled the cave and rattled it to its very foundations. The wounded warriors collapsed onto the mounds of gold to recover. The stench of poison gas still hung in the air like a haze of rotten carcasses. It was all worth it, though, because of the treasure. They would finally be able to settle down.

*****

Rest. That was all he craved. After weeks of restless camps, standing guard for half of the night, and hiking miles through forests, swamps and mountains, he could use any rest that he could get. His sword, however, had other ideas. Illent Des silently sighed as he found out what his future held.

*****

The walls were closing in. He had to get out. He had to leave and release the magical fires that ripped through him. A rarity in his race, Telrin the Dwarf was a Star Gazer. He had bonded with a spelljammer, connecting his life with its. The pain welling from his wound mixed with the fires racing through his veins. Telrin screamed out in pain and frustration because he knew that he had to contain the fires within him, no matter what the cost turned out to be.

*****

Cerin called out to him. Cerin, his master, had a purpose for Nym Zoland, one of the few Dark Elf worshippers. He knew that he would soon be meeting his purpose and his god. Nym didn’t fear death, for Cerin waited for him. Nym knew that he was getting powerful. The power scared him, for it might turn him into something as ugly and as evil as what he had just helped to kill. He knew that his purpose had something to do with the Shadow-Creatures. It tortured Nym not to know what lie ahead.

*****

Flard Snet felt a certain kinship with Telrin, yet a certain alienation presented itself as well. Flard was an Inanimate, a controller of the Non-Living. He took his powers seriously, too seriously according to his friends. If he took them too lightly, he felt, he would be consumed by them. He wasn’t afraid of his powers, just wary. Would he have to be more serious as he gained more powers? The thing Flard was afraid of was the future.

*****

Ahh, peace at last, thought Zet Unt as his leg went numb. The dragon had seen right through his most powerful illusion. Maddened, it had maimed him with a scaly claw. The creature had almost missed, but Zet hadn’t been quick enough. He flinched at the memory of his tearing flesh. Zet believed he was going to die. He had dealt with illusions all of his life, always running away from what was real. Now he faced death, which happened to be completely real. Zet wondered what was on the other side. Would he be a ghost, wandering the universe forever, or would he be at rest on an exotic plane of existence? Zet Unt welcomed both options.

*****

The ravaged party looked at each other with nothing but a sense of premonition. As they healed the wounded and collected the treasure, they walked as if they were in a deep sleep. All of the tasks that should have excited and grieved them actually brought about no response whatsoever. They realized that they had vanquished only a minor evil compared to what was really out there.