'Marcus, come now, we are losing daylight.' Marcus jerked his head up from the chain mail on which he had been casting a spell. 'Yes Damius, I was just working on-' But he stopped when he saw that his master was already walking away from the shady spot under the tree. Marcus sighed and stuffed the armour into his backpack and moved quickly to catch up to Damius. 'It is important,' Damius began, as they walked across the plain 'That you are aware of the facts before going to fight this Demon. Quickly, recite what I have taught you about this quest.' 'We are travelling across the Rosewater plains to find the crypt of the Demon called Tog.' Marcus began, articulately. 'He was sealed in the crypt by Pelethikos the Seer exactly one-thousand-and-seven years ago. He Tog will re-emerge at midnight tonight, the solstice, when the West Star reaches its zenith. Then, we will kill him.' 'Excellent memory, as always, Marcus.' said Damius, not taking his eyes off the road ahead. 'How about your sword, is it oiled and sharpened?' 'Always.' Replied Marcus. 'And your buckler tightened?' 'Yes, of course,' Began Marcus, then clearing his throat 'I also brought my crossbow along. Oiled, cleaned, and with new bolts as well.' Damius laughed heartily. 'Of course, that old crossbow. When will you understand the value of the swordsmanship I have taught you?' 'I value the sword, master. You know how much I train-' Marcus sputtered. 'Yes, I know, Damian began. 'But I also know you spend some evenings tinkering with that bow in the shadow of the courtyard tree.' Marcus went pink. 'There is nothing that you keep from your homeland, nothing you remember?' Demanded Marcus, stopping in the middle of the path. Damius moved towards him, and finally looked him in the eye. 'My boy, I have emptied myself of that place, of who I had been, and you must as well. This is the way of the Sentinels.' 'I know, master. But can't our past, our families, give us strength?' Damius shook his head slowly. 'No, Marcus, you do not know. Your mind has been filled with your past since we met. You must empty it, or be destroyed by it.' 'But master I-' Marcus began, red-faced, but stopped as Damius held up his hand. 'You have said enough today, and so have I. We will be in silence until midnight, when I wake you.' Damius turned and continued walk along the path, followed several moments later by Marcus. Staring at the hills ahead, Marcus practiced the familiar act of letting go of all that was in his mind, and only walking. For a while, his mind was easily silenced. What filled it was the rustle of the grass in the breeze, the soft sounds of their travelling cloaks, and the creak of their leather boots. But soon, thoughts came that were not so easily released. Images of a small town with familiar faces, a smiling man holding a crossbow, and then a field of corpses. Marcus clenched his jaw, and walked on in heated rumination. As the sun hung low and golden in the sky, Damius moved off the path and towards a spot Marcus could see would make a good camp for the evening. Wordlessly, they cleared away some of the brush and Marcus began collecting firewood. He got the campfire going, and Damius surrounded the blaze with a number of stones. Marcus passed him some bread and dried fruit, and took some for himself. They sat there for a while, and when the sun had sunk below the far-off hills, Damius moved quietly to his bedroll, and laid down on it. After a while, his breathing became softer, until Marcus could hardly hear it at all. Getting up from the ground, Marcus retrieved his backpack and moved as silently as he could to a distance away from the camp. Out here, the crackling of the fire was replaced with the song of crickets, and it's glow replaces with the twilight blue of the sky above. Marcus opened his satchel and removed the chain mail shirt. Its links shimmered subtle greens and oranges, but he knew it was not ready yet. Bringing it close to him, be began to whisper softly causing the armour to glow ever brighter. The sky was dark when Marcus snuck back into camp, but the fire was still hot enough to warm him as he layed down on his bedroll. Some thoughts came to him again; the man with the crossbow, the bodies, but Marcus was too tired to follow them, and he drifted into a pleasant darkness. 'Wake up, Marcus.' Snapping his eyes open, Marcus saw Damius standing over him, a blanket of stars behind him. He sat up quickly and looked around, a realization suddenly dawning in his mind. 'Wait, where's the crypt? It must be almost midnight.' Marcus kept his eyes on Damius as he got up from his bedroll. 'Look again.' Marcus surveyed the surroundings again. He opened his mouth after a moment, but promptly closed it when something caught his eye. About a hundred paces west of the camp, something large was beginning to take shape in the darkness. It was as if stone-coloured sheets of paper were growing and replicating themselves from the ground up, or perhaps like tiles were falling away from the air itself, forming the base of a massive pyramidal structure. The geometry continued, growing taller than any building Marcus had ever seen, and eventually forming to a high peak. Marcus could see a faint beam of white light forming a line between the point of the pyramid and the bright West Star on the horizon. For a moment, all the hairs on Marcus' body stood up. 'We don't have long.' Damius said, gesturing to Marcus as he ran off in the direction of the monolithic structure. As the pair slowed down and approached the base, Marcus could now see a wide trapezoidal passageway cut sharply into the stone, leading into darkness. 'Be ready.' Damius said quietly, unsheathing his sword. The jog, having pushed the fatigue out of his mind, allowed a thought to suddenly come to Marcus. 'Stop a moment, I forgot something.' He slung his backpack off his back and began to rummage through it. 'We don't have time for this! Draw your sword and follow me.' Damius had slowed down, but continued to move deeper into the tunnel. Marcus pulled the glittering chain mail shirt out of his bag and quickly draped it over his body. He grabbed the backpack and ran quickly to meet Damius, who was almost totally obscured by the darkness. Marcus followed beside him without speaking, and a moment after the last light from the entrance died away, Marcus saw a silver-blue orb ignite above Damius' outstretched hand. Damius broke the silence. 'What do you think that chain mail is going to do for you here?' He asked, eyes ahead. Marcus felt slightly warm. 'Well, it's supposed to help protect me.' 'You have enchanted it?' 'Yes, I did. Actually, it's an enchantment I created. It's meant to protect against dark things like Tog.' 'Marcus,' Damius shook his head. 'This is not a place to test out new magic. We have one chance to stop Tog from waking, or there will be unimaginable destruction.' Marcus' stomach turned. 'What do you mean, unimaginable destruction?' 'I have told you enough. Be silent until we reach the middle chamber.' Marcus stopped walking. 'This is outrageous!' Marcus shouted. 'Calm yourself, we are almost upon-' Damius began, but Marcus cut him off. 'It has always been to 'trust the way of the Sentinels', and 'be silent and receive the blessing', but then you keep important information away from me? Tell me to forget my family, forget who I am?' Marcus' voice echoed aggressively through the tunnel. 'This is not the time, Marcus!' Damius' eyes pierced through the dim light. 'You are an apprentice, and not all information is for you to know.' Marcus continued as though he did not hear. 'I saw them all die, Damius. Raiders killed every last one. You just want me to go on as if none of that happened?' Damius moved closer to him. 'You think you are the only one who has suffered? Why do you think I have never told you of how I ended up in the Sentinels? Because you wouldn't be able to stomach the details if I did.' His face contorted in the dim light, and Marcus pulled away from him. 'But none of that matters now. A choice will come, Marcus. You will have one chance to choose between a duty to the Sentinels, or attachment to what will never again be.' Damius turned around, but as he did, the tunnel began to shake violently, and a low moan echoed through the passageway. 'Quickly Marcus, we are running out of time!' Damius began sprinting down the corridor with his apprentice at his heels. Soon, a dim light could be seen at the end of the hallway, and the pair burst into an enormous open space. It had the same pyramidal shape as the outside of the temple, though smaller. There were three other doors leading into the space, one on each of the walls. From all sides, the floor sloped slightly upwards to the centre, where a raised platform stood. What caught Marcus' eye, however, was a massive, inverted pillar pointing downwards from the center of the ceiling. It reached nearly halfway down, and as Marcus continued to stare at it, he realized the end of it was beginning to glow. 'We must deflect the beam, Marcus!' Damius huffed as he ran towards the center platform. 'Deflect the what?' 'The light from the West star! It will be funneled into this temple, and he will manifest here!' Damius slowed as the reached the platform. 'Help me up.' Marcus boosted Damius up, and he grabbed the edge of the platform and pulled himself out of view. 'Damius, how do I get up?' 'Just wait there, he is almost upon us!' Damius called back. Marcus walked back several paces, and was then able to see the scene above him. In the time Marcus' view had been obscured, a beam of silver light had shone silently down from the pillar above them, and was widening. Damius approached, with his sword drawn. 'With the divine blade of the Sentinels, I cut your link from this world!' Damius called out, before sliding his sword into the beam. For a moment there was a bright spark, and then half of Damius' sword promptly fell to the floor. 'What is going on?' Marcus called out, now trembling. 'No, this can't be right. By God, he is too powerful!' Damius was backing away from the beam slowly, the hilt of his sword held weakly in his hand. 'We're too late!' 'I have an idea!' Marcus blurted out, before taking a few steps back and sprinting towards the platform. He jumped towards it, rebounded, and grasped the upper edge. When he pulled himself over, Damius looked at him. 'It's too late, he is upon us!' Damius backed towards the edge, but in an instant, the beam widened into a black slit, and something shot out, hitting Damius squarely in the chest. He stumbled backwards and began to fall of the platform. As he did, he quickly turned to ash, and only cloud of dust floated down Terrified, Marcus looked at the void that had opened, when something hit him as well. The was a bright flash, and the force pushed him backwards, and he fell off the platform. He hit the ground hard, knocking the breath from him and sending a dagger of pain through his head. But these sensations told Marcus that he was far from dead. 'Well done, child.' A soft, hollow voice echoed throughout the chamber. Marcus looked up and when he saw was stood on the platform, he scrambled backwards. A tall humanoid figure stood where the dark slit had just been. It was black as well, but it was silhouetted in light, and strange forms danced throughout its body. Marcus blinked, and suddenly it was mere feet from him. He wanted to get up, to run, to scream, but he could not move. 'He was a fool.' Tog said. 'His sword, his ancient magic, it was nothing against me.' Marcus then felt the pain in his body fade, and he was lifted to his feet by an invisible force. 'But you are not like him. Look at your armour, child.' Marcus looked down at his chest, and saw the center of his cloak had been burned away, but the chain mail stood fast, however charred. 'Why did it protect me?' 'You have a gift for magic. It would not have sustained another hit, no. But it was a powerful charm.' Being closer, Marcus could now see that the forms in Tog were fields of stars and clouds of many colours. 'What do you want from me, then?' 'It is I who should be asking you that question.' 'You're a demon, you're going to trick me.' Marcus clenched his firsts, but he felt like an insect before the dark figure. 'Is that was those old hermits told you? The same ones who told you to forget your family? Who squandered your talents through ritual and tradition?' Marcus was seeing memories flash before his eyes, like someone flipping through an old book. 'I can bring them all back, you know. You family, your friends, everyone.' Marcus felt a wave of strange anticipation. He looked up to where Tog's eyes should be, but there were none. 'You can do that?' 'Yes. Watch now, child.' Tog brought his arms up towards the ceiling, and a great shock wave shook the pyramid. Suddenly, Marcus found that the floor was now sand. 'Look' Tog said, and pointed. Marcus looked, and the sight took his breath away. From the sand, people crawled upwards. One by one they stood up, and Marcus recognized all of them, despite how much their bodies were decayed. Two stood at the front, a man and woman, smiling at Marcus with rotting teeth. He approached them. 'Father, mother. Is it really you?' He was barely holding back tears of joy. The man spoke. 'We're here, Marcus.' We're so happy to see you.' 'We've missed you so much.' Said the woman. 'I've been keeping something. I want to give it to you now.' Marcus said, as he slung to crossbow off his back and handed it to his father. 'My bow! Thank you, Marcus.' Said the man, smiling even wider. Marcus looked to Tog, tears in his eyes. 'I-I don't know how I can ever thank you.' 'Don't worry,' Tog replied, walking towards the exit tunnel. 'You will soon enough.'