The Dead World

A Fight

The dungeon was not as bad as Hardwin had feared.

He has expected something like a vast cavern, with a tiny house built on top to conceal the gateway to the hells beneath. Or, he had foreseen some maniacal dungeon, chains and torture devices lining the walls which still echoed with the howls of tormented souls. Instead, it was a perfectly ordinary cellar - Hardwin saw wine barrels to his left, and salted meat dangling from hooks to his right. At the back wall, however, was the woman.

Now, Hardwin knew this was a trap. He'd suspected from the fear of the "client", and been sure when the door closed. Rather than breaking it down with a single kick and fleeing, he had walked directly into it: it was, after all, his life's goal to destroy the putrid stench of undeath wherever it hid. The only question until he'd walked into the basement was what kind of trap it was - seeing the sobbing, beautiful, naked woman manacled to the far wall made it obvious. He drew sword and advanced with purpose.

"Woah, wait a minute!" shouted Don, while Sister Alys simply looked shocked. "What do you think you're about to do to that amazingly gorgeous woman!?" the cheap con-man made the mistake of laying a hand on Hardwin's should, in a feeble attempt to pull him back - had Don not been under heavy illusion, Hardwin would have broken that hand - instead, he span and pushed the man back into the basement wall. Staring into angry, confused eyes, he hissed his response.
"I'm killing it. It's not a woman, you utter fool, it's some form of undead, thinly disguised as one."
"How do you know? How could you possibly know?" Don looked more scared than angry now, staring as he was at Hardwin's angry face, rather than the oddly enchanting figure at the other end of the room. He was no stranger to the female form, but only as it left him did he realise the unnatural passion that had gripped him. He let out a small "Oh."
"You spellbound idiot." Hardwin's voice softened almost imperceptibly. "If it's your first time, it helps to resist if you close your eyes."

Hardwin looked around, and saw that Alys was still frozen in shock. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"It's... Horrible..." a quiet stutter escaped from her lips.
"You can see through the illusion?" Hardwin was amazed - he had been fighting the undead for three years and, while he could tell when an illusion was being cast on him, he had never seen directly through it - and this must have been Alys's first contact with the undead. Just how strong would she become with a little field training?
"It's horrible." Alys had spoken again, with new resolve. "How do we kill it?"
"I like your attitude, girl." replied Hardwin. "I'm going to put my sword in it, and see what it does."
Don, his arm held dramatically over his eyes, spoke up. "How wise is it to blindly attack a monster, when you don't actually know what it is?"
"We're about to find out." Hardwin resumed his fast stride towards the rhythmically sobbing figure. "Do not hide in human form, foul beast!" Hardwin called out. "Show me your true form!" the handcuffs melted away, the skin boiled off, and the eyes turned to pure flame. The monster now had rotting flesh, long nails, and matted, hairy feet. It lept onto the ceiling.