The darkness awakens.

Artham awoke one night to Esben shaking him. "Follow me. Quickly." Artham tried to shake the sleep out of his head as he followed his brother. Esben led them down deep into the castle. Into the places where secrets are hidden. Some not meant to be unearthed.

"What is it?" Artham asked, confused by his brother's urgency.

"The rumors are true." He said, as he flicked through all sorts of old books and scrolls laid on the hundreds of shelves in the castle treasury. A place only a select few were allowed to enter. "What do you mean?" Artham asked, still confused.

"The rumors are true! There is an evil growing in the Killridge mountains Artham. The Green Hollows folk told me about a scouting party that went into the forests there. Normally there are a few dangerous creatures. But this is different." "What are you saying?" Artham asked, seeing the desperation and fear in his brother's eyes.

"Artham. Only one man came back." He said, and the words dropped like a weight. Artham was fully awake now. His mind racing.

"What? Only one man? Es, how can that be possible? They send their best riders on these scouting missions! We are talking about the top trained Durgan guild members!"

"I know."

"Well, what did the man say?"

Esben sat down across from his brother.

"He acted like a wild man Arth, he said there were creatures and monsters in their beyond imagining. Horrible things. Malformed, crossed between different animals so many times you could not tell what they were!" Esben's hands were shaking like mad, and he had to take a breath. "But that's not the worst part!" He continued. "They escaped into a cave near the bottom of the Killridge mountains. They followed it and found themselves inside a secret dungeon. It was some sort of workshop as well, but not any you and I have seen before. Oh no, creatures were being held there! Animals of all sorts. And some humans Artham! They were caught and put in a cell. The man watched as the rest of the party were turned into these things. They looked like lizards crossed with humans. Horrible ugly beings with venomous fangs. The people who dwelled there were strange, wearing black cloaks and mumbling in forgotten languages."

Esben sat back in his chair. "They let the one man go, and they gave him a message." He paused fear creasing his face.

"Anniera will fall." He whispered.

Artham sat back, unsure of what to say. His mind raced and pounded.

"Esben, are you sure? Are you sure this is not-"

"Artham how could it be fake? What would one man gain in making up a story like that? And these men are not rattled by anything! You know that." The two sat in silence for a long time.

"What do we do?" Esben asked quietly. Artham felt all the steady unease and foreboding crash down on top of him like a tsunami.

"We send another search party. Have some of our own men go with the Hollows folk, just to be sure. Then plan from the information they bring back." Artham replied.

"Ok, I'll get some men right now." Esben got up and started to walk off. But Artham grabbed his arm.

"Es, it will be alright. I promise, I'll keep everyone safe. No matter what."

"Thank you, knowing you have my back eases the fear in my soul." And Esben left. But Artham felt fear crawling up and down his spine. He focused in on his own wors and whispered to himself. "I will protect them. I will protect Janner and his new brother Kalmar. I promise. I won't let harm come to them." A single tear dripped down his cheek as he thought of his nephews and family. Protect. The word was emblazoned in his mind.