Ladislaus found himself once again walking through a hostile enviroment, though this time not the desert, or an island full of privateers, this threat was much more deadly. Ladislaus had been scouting out the forests near the mountains, but after several hours, he had managed to become disoriented. He knew this was deadly, because if the monsters didn't kill you, then starvation and dehydration would. He continued stumbling through the forests, not thinking of what direction was traveling in. He stumbled over a few more tree roots, and noticed that a foul stench was filling the air. He continued onwards, and found the cause of the smell. A carcass. From the looks of it, a very large spider. It appears to have several slash wounds on its abdomen, leading Ladislaus to think that perhaps the spider had been killed by a human. He continued on throught the dense woods,until he reached a cavern, which appeared to go on for quite a while. Reasoning that it most likely was a tunnel, he entered the tunnel. He walked onwards, but he soon was in a rough situation, as he had run into a dead end. Observing his surroundings, he noticed that although he was very far into the tunnel, light somehow still seemed to shine there. He also noticed that against the wall was a small pedestal. Examining it further he noticed an inscription neatly carved into it's wooden side "Beware, great enemies preside beyond this threshold. Only a being who knows how to stop the darkness may pass." Ladislaus did not fully grasp what the inscription meant, and wondered what "great enemies" lied beyond the gate. After a few minutes of thinking, he decided to make camp in the cave. Setting up his makeshift camp, he noticed that there were scraping sounds coming from the other side of the gate......

Valerik was wandering around the mountains, looking for a hunting ground for Akor, so the growing hatchling could master hunting, for Valerik would not give him his food. The dragon was now just as tall as the vampire, his scales some what corroded with the poison flowing through his body. Akor was maturing rapidly, and on random occasions spurted out ash and smog.

Valerik was keeping a keen eye out for prey for his training dragon, but none came to his sight. But suddenly, Akor rose out off the ground, and sped forth, weaving in and out of the trees. Valerik ran at his top speeds, the environment whizzing behind him, his hair whipping his face as he ran.

Akor collided with a magnificent stag, bringing him to the ground. The dragon began to devour it and its insides. Several moans of pain escaped the dying deer, but all in vain. After its meal, the dragon looked up at its master with a proud look, blood smothered across its face.

Valerik grinned, telling Akor "I'm proud of you! You can hunt," The dragon chirped in glee, happy of his masters approval. Valerik turned his concentration away from his dragon and back towards the environment. A huge smash crashed into his chest.

He fell to the ground, not knowing what it was. A cold, piercing sensation came into his shoulder, making it go numb. Soon, the creature fell off him, dead. Valerik opened his eyes finally, only to a blanket of smog and poison over him. Akor had saved him.

The vampire stood, and turned to see the dead creature, a very large spider, about the size of a dog. It was massive for an arachnid! It seemed that the force that hurt him was fangs. Valerik immediately focused his attention to his shoulder, seeing brown liquid oozing out of the side.

The poison had no effect on Valerik. He had no blood, so it would not circulate through his body. He bent his back at a ninety degree angle, allowing the poison to drip out of the wound. Brown liquid oozed onto the ground, killing some of the underbrush.

The vampire looked back to observe the environment. There was a cave nearby, with a light shining through. Valerik gestured to Akor, and headed towards there. It was a makeshift camp, with a familiar face. It was the murmillo from the desert. The one who saved Akor. "Why hello!!" he said, taking a seat, Akor placing his head upon his shoulder.

Ladislaus had just finished making his camp when he heard some commotion outside. He started to walk out of the cave when a familiar face appeared in the threshold. The vampire. "Why hello!" Ladislaus said, still trying to be hospitable, even in a place like a cave in the middle of the jungle. "Your dragon has grown quite a bit! But anyways, how are you?" Ladislaus questioned. "Not too bad, We were looking for a hunting ground when I was attacked by a large spider. It was then we saw this cave" the vampire explained. "I see....... I saw the body of one of those spiders a while back. They did seem slightly........overgrown." The two continued small-talk for a while, while the dragon waited near the cave entrance. Ladislaus showed him around for a while, before reaching the pedestal. "This pedestal has been here since I came here. It has some strange inscriptions on the front if you look, as well as a strange indent on the top......" Ladislaus continued, "the inscriptions say..........wait a second....... last time I checked, it said something about a light and great enemies........ how odd". The vampire bent down, studying the inscription for a while before standing up. "Hmmmmm........" he mumbled, thinking deeply about the pedestal. All of a sudden, many loud noises were heard coming from the cave entrance. Ladislaus asserted himself "Wait here. I'll go investigate". He hurried up to the cave entrance, where he saw the dragon. He also saw several wolves outside of the cave, attempting to overpower the dragon. "Hey! You must hurry! Some canines have appeared, and they are assualting your dragon!" Ladislaus yelled back into the cave, drawing The Oath, and preparing to defend this man's dragon yet again. Just like good ol' times.............................

Vencrest rode freely on the back of his dragon, comfortably seated on his saddle, the wind blowing over him, the sky cold, and the land below distant. He felt secluded, alone, and free, the feeling of being alone had over whelmed him. It was just him, and the thing he loved most, Zekbel. Together, they were whole, flying over the massive landscape, away from the horrors of the land below, away from all that were good, all that hated him, all that wanted to hurt him, and most importantly, all who wanted to hurt Zekbel and his family.

His feelings were short lived, for the sun began to set, signaling the decent of night. He would fly forever, but his hunger, and thirst was over whelming, and the need to rest. He cursed himself silently. He had mostly the needs to become all powerful, yet he still had to perform petty tasks like sleeping, eating, and cleaning. These almost mortal tasks were foolish, and almost degraded him from his status of immortality. With a sigh, he pressed his knees downward, and descended toward the ground below.

Zekbel landed with a loud thud, causing birds to fly up everywhere. Vencrest slid off, and landed, brushing himself off gently. Zekbel's head turned to face Vencrest, a pathetic look across his face. "Go find some food," Vencrest said to him, rubbing his head. Zekbel seemed to nod with affection and set off, not traveling to far. Vencrest wondered for a moment, while Zekbel had shown so much affection when he had petted him. Surly his thick scales wouldn't allow the sense of touch to pass through, yet he still seemed to acknowledge every time that he had petted him. Vencrest laughed, for it was the reson that he had shown the attention, not weather Zekbel had felt it or not.

After a minute or so, Zekbel returned, a long hairy leg hanging from his mouth. Vencrest watched in humor, and horror as the giant dragon slurped up his remaining dinner. With a laugh, he began to walk through the forest, Zekbel at his side in search of a form of shelter, when he was interrupted. A huge spider, about the size of a horse lunged at Zekbel, giant fangs dripping with poison. It landed on his massive scales, his fangs trying to pierce his impossibly hard skin. Zekbel merely reached his head around, and grabbed it, and swallowed it whole. Vencrest stood mouth agape as he heard a shrill scream, which must of been the spider, who would be digested to death. Vencrest pondered some more, wondering why the spiders venom had not killed Zekbel yet. He slapped himself on the forehead. Of course it wouldn't affect him, he was a giant plasma dragon!

They continued to walk through the forest, when they came upon a cave, along with a small dragon. Upon further inspection, the dragon was that of his ally Valerik, and it was surrounded by wolves, and the mercenary Ladislaus, whom he had meet on a mission. Vencrest ran forward, his dragon running behind. They reached the wolves, and Zekbel unleashed a massive roar, and swiped at the wolves, causing all to be destroyed in a massive blow. Vencrest faced Ladislaus, ans said ", Why hello, nice day isn't it?"