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The last imp exploded in a burst of dark crimson as the glowing red beam of energy penetrated it's chest. Scattered remains of him and his brethren painted the walls of the cavern. A very satisfying, but messy way to dispose of my enemies.

It is my love of this particular spell that has provided me with my enemies undivided attention.

Although I am talented at all Magics - I particularly enjoy casting disintegrate into the midst of my enemies. There is something extremely gratifying about watching several demons simultaneously explode under my power!

My former teachers, the Vizjerei Mages, were too afraid to even discuss the use of such a spell with me as it is performed by manipulating primal forces that have long been forbidden to tamper with. Hah! They were forbidden because they were so powerful the ancient mages deemed the spells too dangerous to control...too dangerous for them maybe, but not me!

Call me a Wizard, if you like, but I choose to embrace the dangerous arts! I disagree with the Vizjerei and believe they do not practice disintegrate and other spells of its nature because they are too weak, too inept to muster the energy to control such power!

Even if they could somehow match my energy, none could match my intellect. I have proven this by defeating the powerful Yshari mage, Valthek, by casting a simple time manipulation spell which sent the old man flying head first into a wall. It was never my intent to cause him any long term harm. However, he threatened to punish me which is a very bad idea as I have always had a very short temper...

After the incident with Valthek, I decided to leave the Vizjerei school in fear of the punishment that awaited me if I stayed. My only choice to ensure a safe escape was to journey far away - mostly alone, mostly by foot.

I now find myself in a lush exception of the north eastern corner of the Kehjistan Desert. By luck alone, I have stumbled upon a small but relatively wholesome town simply named Keegla. Surely the incident with Valthek would not reach a little town such as this. After two days here, resting and eating until I could rest and eat no more, I decided it was time to really test my knowledge and skills. And what better way to do this than to confront the foul inhabitants of what the locals here have come to name 'the Fallen Cavern' in open combat!

While preparing for my quest the night before I was visited by several of the older near-by residents who told me their tales of previous heroes whom sought glory in the caverns. The brave souls they spoke of were grand in their recollections - 7 feet tall, wearing glowing armour and wielding grand weapons. They told me their tales because none of these 'heroes' were ever seen again. ..

As is my nature, I smiled and assured them that none before me would have wielded the knowledge, power or skill that I possess. To which they responded by staring at me blankly - quiet, with their decrepit jaws seemingly dislodged by my proclamation. In fact, all the locals I have spoken with were astounded by my blatant disregard of their warnings, all but one. A small boy with the strangest red hair I have ever seen. When the boy heard of my plan to cleanse the fallen cavern and return with the rich contents that are surely hidden deep within the caverns depths, he jumped up and down joyfully, ecstatic with excitement. The boy's response brought me little satisfaction as I had hoped for a similar response from more of my audience. It seems my unsuccessful predecessors had robbed the locals of their hope and they were uncomfortably upfront with their low expectations of me.

Now, a full day later and deep within the cavern, I find myself confronted with a family of the fell demons we call 'The Fallen.' Their oily skin is blood-red and they have the stink of a rotting dung pit. An enemy easily disposed of in small numbers and hardly worthy of my attention - but good sport none-the-less!

After successfully disposing of several fallen in a quiet-strategic manner, I decided it was time to really test out my skills by disposing of five Fallen imps whom were mumbling around a small fire.

To make myself known I sent a rather unnecessarily powerful disintegrate spell into their ranks and watched as they exploded. As this particular section of the cavern was relatively empty it seemed harmless enough to draw attention to myself.

After successfully slaying the five imps I decided to spice things up even more and cast my ever-strong 'electrocute' spell into a congregation of eight Fallen gathered to my right. The group contained 6 filthy Imps, a Shaman whom looked to be in meditation and one of the biggest-ugliest Hell-Hounds I had ever seen. Fortunately, the gigantic Hound looked to be in a deep sleep which I hoped would allow me to take care of his kin before worrying about him!

Unlike the previous groups of Fallen I had disposed of today, the imps were well aware of my presence and already charging towards me, infuriated by my intrusion. I smiled wickedly at their challenge, closed my eyes and reached deep inside myself - searching for the built up energy that I have always felt in my heart. All other thoughts faded from my mind.

My concentration was infallible and with little effort I released the built up energy into my body. As the spell began to materialize, I felt a deep burning sensation scorch my hands and then - an ear popping crack filled the cavern. Angry electricity shot through my arms and in a burst of florescent light, lightning exploded from my outstretched hands and engulfed the closest fallen. The twisted strands of electrical energy jumped from the first imp onto his neighbor and one by one the 6 imps fell to their knees under the shock of my spell. As I watched my prey squirm in the grip of raging blue light an overpowering sound ripped through the cavern and made the very ground shake!

The gigantic Hell-hound had awakened!

I felt the charge of my spell reduce to nothing as the last imp fell still. On the other side of the now crispy imp corpses stood the overgrown Hell hound that towered over his tiny shaman master. The black smoke rising from the dead bodies polluted the enclosed cavern and made it hard to breath without choking. I quickly wrapped a spare piece of cloth around my nose and mouth to try filter the air. Although my brow had begun to sweat and my breathing had quickened, I felt battle ready - maybe more than I ever had. The adrenalin that comes with unleashing my power to its full extent is a feeling like no other!

The shaman let out a high pitched squeal that pierced my ears and struck the hound with his gnarled staff. The hound grunted aggressively in acknowledgment of his master's command and began his ferocious charge. As I prepared to dispose of the behemoth running towards me the shaman summoned a ball of scorching flame and launched it at me. Caught unawares I sent a quick, ineffective, magic missile in retaliation and produced a dome of time manipulation that slows all foreign objects within its borders. I jumped to the side and rolled back to my feet unsheathing the Vizjerei's sword of sorcery - a prize possession of the Vizjerei and my "departing present' from the school.

By this time the ball of flame had hit my slowing dome and was no longer a danger to me as it passed harmlessly by. However, the shaman had now resurrected one of his fallen imp brothers and the charging hound was dangerously close. The gigantic fel-beast leaped towards me with his jaws opened wide. For the first time today I feared for my life!

The source of my danger was obvious - the Hell-hound needed to be slain, and fast. As the hound began to enter my protective slowing dome, his speed slowed immediately giving me precious time to react. There was no time left to cast a spell powerful enough to kill the beast, no, I would have to fight this demon with my bare hands! I had hoped for another option but there was but one! Throwing all caution to the wayside - I jumped to the side of the slowed mass of the hound and swung my sword full circle into the top of the fiend's neck. The sharp blade sliced through the hell hounds red leathery skin like it was water and before I knew it my sword was free and so was the hounds head. I watched, eyes wide, as the gigantic head of the Hell-hound exited the opposite side of my slowing dome and rolled across the ground.

I had never killed with a blade before and the experience felt very unnatural to me. Such a dirty- barbaric way to fight, I could never get a taste for it. Despite my hatred of CQC the Vizjerei sword seemed to respond to the taste of demon blood and I felt it's energy course through my arm and into my body. This sword has power!

With only the shaman and his resurrected brethren to dispose of now, I looked around to assess my position. There was now another resurrected imp who, frightened by the sight of their freshly beheaded pet, was running back toward the Shaman with his Fallen comrade.

From across the cavern I stared at the shaman and for the first time I could see the fear in his pearl black eyes! With all my strength - I swung the sword over my head with both hands, closed my eyes and teleported next to the shaman. As I emerged, the shaman was turning to run away but with all my strength I forced the sword down into the back of skull! The shaman let out a final whine before impact and then he too was silent. I placed my foot on the back of neck and yanked the embedded sword free. Again - I felt the sword surge with energy and flow into my body. The blade now produced a faint sky-blue glow.

Turning around to face the two resurrected imps, I was stunned to see the cavern empty. Only the dead bodies remained. I ran over to find their tracks and discovered their escape route. The messy footsteps led to a blackened man-sized crevasse in the wall of the cavern. The edges of the crevasse were slimy and there were what looked like several crushed bones laid in front. As I approached the entrance, I began to hear sounds that struck fear into my heart. The fearsome sounds were coming from within the black hole into which the imps had escaped. However, these sounds were not the Fallen. Not like anything I've heard today. No, these sounds are something else entirely.

Sticky-wet-crisp sounds - like that of giant arachnids!