[b]DAY 1: ERIN – STALKER SHADOW[/b]

Erin enjoyed walking around her little hometown, no matter what kind of weather there was. It was still autumn, but the beautiful colors had already faded and only greyness remained. It was the most miserable time of the year; everything was so bare and ugly and so it would be until the arrival of the first snow. But Erin didn't mind this, perhaps her mind was just as gloomy as the late autumn scenery. She did get satisfaction from just wandering around in a comfortable and warm coat and listening to some metal music from her headphones. Sure, she was out with other people, but still immersed in her own little world. And she preferred it that way.

It had been an exceptionally grey day, even for this time of the year. When Erin had started her journey, pale clouds had been hanging over the town, blocking the sun, but there had still been some light. However, the darkness came in sneakily and swiftly before one even realized and in just about an hour the darkness had started to take over the town. Street lights began to do their job to banish this darkness and this conflict sort of made the town look prettier than during the daylight. At least that's how Erin felt. She liked it when the world was a little black, there was certain beauty in it. She felt light and strangely free as she wandered around the darkening town, almost feeling like she was a little girl again who liked to play with shadows.

But the shadows can be vile. And unfortunately, Erin was about to learn that tonight.

Once Erin had decided that she had walked enough for one day, she began to head back home. She was so concentrated in her music that she was completely oblivious to the fact that she was being stalked. Swift shadow was on her trail, moving from one dark spot to another so quickly that it was hard to keep an eye on it. Nobody seemed to notice it at all and even if somebody did, they probably thought that they were just imagining things and would go their merry way. The shadow had taken Erin as its target and it followed her all the way to her home. It clung itself on the woman's own shadow and from that point on it was impossible to notice. Erin had unintentionally welcomed it to her home after she had made her way to her apartment. By the time she had entered her home and closed the door behind her, it was already too late.

Erin noted that something was wrong when she tried to flip the light switch on in her lobby, but nothing happened.

“That's odd…” she muttered to herself and undressed her outerwear. She didn't really think much of it and just gave herself a mental memo of calling her friend Linda later so she would take a look at it. Then she walked to her living room and sat on the couch, took the remote control from the table in front of her and tried to switch the TV on.

More perplexity ensued. She did manage to switch the TV on, but it showed nothing but static. Erin tried to change the channel multiple times, but nothing worked. She tested other buttons as well, but still, the static remained. This was a little eerie and she started to feel anxious.

Suddenly she heard something faint, like a distant howling. She dropped the remote control on the table and she glanced back. In the light of the static TV she saw a shadow dancing on the wall. She could feel her heart beating faster than it should and she was frightened by the entity accompanying her. The howling turned into laughter and it was dripping madness. Erin covered her ears and tried her best to ignore the shadow being.

“You're not here! You're not here! You're not here!” she desperately chanted.

But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that there was nothing, the shadow wouldn't fade away or shut up. Instead, it would only increase the volume of its derisive laughter. It was starting to get so annoying; Erin could feel it resonating in her head and she began to scratch her head frantically. Her fingernails dug deeper and deeper into the skin as she mercilessly scratched herself as if that would help to get the voice out of her head. The nails were all bloody, and it was starting to run down her face and the laughter only became stronger.

Then she finally stood up with a violent motion and screamed: “Shut the fuck up!”

Surprisingly, this worked. Her hands were clenched into fists and she was trembling. But the shadow was slowly disappearing, taking the mad laughter with it. Erin was taking deep breaths and just focused on breathing for a while. She could feel the blood dripping on her face from the torn skin of her head. After a moment she started to calm down a little and she relaxed her hands. She looked at them and saw what a bloody mess they were. Then she collapsed on the couch, feeling strangely exhausted. A show had now conquered the screen on TV.

She needed to patch herself up – and hope that this wouldn't happen again.



[b]DAY 2: MIRSKYN – FREEZING YOUR OWN HEART[/b]

Fresh snowflakes were lightly falling from the cloudy sky. It was pretty common weather here in the northern Human lands. Mirskyn was walking along the road in Haunted Path, all alone. The mild snowfall felt somewhat somber to him and in fact, quite fitting for his mood. Because there he was, completely alone in a vast wilderness, no one by his side. Step by step, it was just his shadow and heavy feelings that were weighing down his soul and heart. And when you're all by yourself with no other company, it's easier for dark thoughts to invade your mind. And unfortunately, that was the Nightshade's case at that moment.

The loneliest heart is the one which yearns for another to bond with, but is unable to do so. It's a painful experience and Mirskyn had learned that. There was this one Tideborn, Rhynx, who somehow had managed to sneak into the Nightshade's heart. But cursed is that feeling, because a man shouldn't love another man like that. It only caused a torment of conflict in Mirskyn's soul and he couldn't get rid of it. He had tried so hard to kill those feelings, but this inner fight was endless, he had soon realized. There was no way that Rhynx would feel the same, so his only choice was to eradicate those cursed emotions. Mirskyn had begun to prefer being alone, but at the same time, it didn't do much good to his mind.

His heart was like the area where he was now. Vast and bare and with no one to adore. A light chill was getting on his body, it was like the temperature had suddenly dropped a little bit. That wasn't natural, not even in Haunted Path. But he brushed it off, thinking that he was just imagining things and kept going on his lonely road. Though, at some point, Mirskyn started to feel that he wasn't the only one around here. Immediately he began to stay vigilant. Was it a Wraith? Or something else? He didn't know, but it was better to stay wary rather than ignore what your senses were telling you.

Suddenly he spotted something strange on the ground just a few meters ahead of him. It was like a gaping black hole, filled with malice. Mirskyn stopped and got a hold of his scythe, his magical instrument, and prepared himself to encounter whatever was going to crawl out of the hole.

A dark figure rose from the abyss. It was a tall and very scrawny humanoid creature with pale skin. It looked very menacing with its big horns and huge claws and black robes, but it didn't appear to be hostile. It was just staring at Mirskyn with its black eyes and it did smile a little, though it was a slightly unsettling expression. The Nightshade stayed cautious, his golden eyes nailed at the entity before him, trying his best to estimate the strength of this being.

Then the creature spoke with a deep voice: “Do not be afraid, Mirskyn. Put your scythe down, I am simply your guide.”

The Nightshade just glared at the figure. “Guide for what?”

“I know how to make the ache in your heart stop.”

Surprised by this, Mirskyn did lower his scythe, almost dropping it on the ground. With a confused but also curious look he just stared at the being. It was obvious that he was dealing with a dark, possibly wicked entity, he wasn't a fool. But the words really hit him deeper than he dared to admit. The anguish in his heart had been tormenting him for too long already and he wanted it to stop or he would go mad – if he wasn't already.

“I'm listening”, he spoke quietly, still somewhat cautiously.

The creature did a strange bow to him. “Good. Now, the solution is quite simple. You just need to freeze your own heart.”

“Freeze my heart, huh?” Mirskyn had a thoughtful expression on his face. “How can I do that?”

“I know you are capable of controlling ice magic”, the creature said. “I can help you with the rest, as I said, I am your guide.”

The Nightshade dropped his weapon to the ground. His hand got drawn to his chest. Could it really be that easy to destroy the false love in his heart? Why would this being help him with that, anyway? But did its motives even matter, though? There was a clear weakness in his chest and he wanted to get rid of it.

While he was pondering these things, the creature had taken a few steps forward and came close to Mirskyn. Almost in a gentle way the dark being placed its clawed hand on top of Mirskyn's hand.

“Do it. Cast your magic.”

So Mirskyn did. He focused some of his magic on his palm which he was holding against his chest. A faint light blue glow appeared around his hand and he could feel the coldness radiating from it. Then the dark creature did his own part. It gave a hint of purple hue to the glow and soon ice crystals began to sprout on Mirskyn's chest. Then they infiltrated through his clothes and flesh, got drawn to his heart. It was a painful experience and the Nightshade groaned a little as the crystals forced their way into their target inside Mirskyn. He was bleeding from his chest, but didn't really even notice it. The ice crystals reached his heart and he could feel them making a formation around it, freezing it solid. He could feel an agonizing pain inside him, it was like a frigid knife had stabbed him. The magic of the crystals spread all the way to the heart, and at that point, it was covered in the cursed ice that couldn't be melted.

The procedure was complete.

Mirskyn coughed up blood as the creature shifted its hand away. “Now, how do you feel?”

He didn't feel… anything. He was numb. Every emotion that had tormented him was now gone. There was just coldness in his heart.

The creature smirked. “It seems that my duty is done.”

The weird black hole appeared on the ground again and the dark being hopped in, soon disappearing into the dark abyss where it had come from. Mirskyn was left alone, all by himself to carry the weight of a frozen heart.



[b]DAY 3: IVORY – YOU'RE JUST A FREAK[/b]

The clock was a little bit past midnight, Ivory noticed as his gaze wandered on the dirty wall where the clock was hanging. He had been sitting by the counter in this little bar for a good while now, a couple of hours at least. During this time he had taken a few drinks, however he had been careful to not become too tipsy; he didn't really like to be completely drunk. Besides, that would make the purpose of him being there a little bit harder. He was looking for company for that night, but so far, he hadn't had much luck with that. And after sitting in this bar for hours, he really started to suspect that he just hadn't picked the right place. Sure, he had seen some women and men he had liked, but they hadn't paid much attention to him and even if they did, they just hadn't clicked. And the rest of the people he had seen at the bar… Well, Ivory simply hadn't liked their looks, he was a bit superficial, he admitted that.

He let out a little sigh as he was twiddling his last drink, staring at the swirls he had put in motion. The stale atmosphere of the bar had started to give him a slight headache. And because he hadn't found any company from here, it was an easy decision whether he should stay or leave. Ivory quickly gulped down the remains of his drink and stood up. He walked through the bar, which was relatively empty at that moment, and nobody paid any attention to him as he passed the tables where some customers were sitting and spending their evening. Soon he was at the door and he yanked it open since it sometimes needed some force to move and he stepped to the outside world.

Once he was out, Ivory breathed in the fresh night air, filling his lungs. It felt great after breathing that musty bar's air for such a long period of time. It was almost like he was purifying his insides by inhaling the chilly night air. It was pleasantly cool outside, which Ivory liked. He looked up in the sky for a brief moment, thinking about going to another bar in hopes of finding what he was looking for. Well, it wasn't too late and he enjoyed the night time in general, so he began to walk, heading to the next bar.

Ivory bypassed some other wanderers of the night, but other than that, he was walking all alone. He didn't mind that, there was something strangely pleasant in lonely night strolls through the town. This was improving his mood a bit and he thought that it wouldn't matter even if he didn't find someone to sleep with during these hours. It was a beautiful night nonetheless.

It took him about a quarter of an hour to get to the other bar he had had in mind. But as soon as he got a sight of it, he noticed that there were two men loitering around the entrance. They seemed to be intoxicated, were loud and obnoxious. But Ivory tried to ignore them and made his way closer to the building, however, his access was denied.

The men had moved in front of him, preventing him from moving forward. Ivory didn't like this at all.

“Excuse me, but could you kindly move out of the way?” he tried to ask nicely.

“Well, we don't like to have bastards like you in here”, one of the men growled at him, his arms crossed over his chest. He tried so hard to look big and threatening – and didn't fail at that.

“Pardon?” Ivory said, not really understanding what the man meant.

The man grunted. “Did your mama fuck with a demon because you're such an abomination?”

Ivory was bewildered by this. Yes, he had certain traits in his appearance, mostly his one wing, that indicated that he wasn't exactly human. But to get this kind of hate for it… It felt bad, obviously. He felt like it wasn't worth it to try to get past these guys so he turned around and took a few steps – before he was stopped. One of the men had grabbed his arm.

“Oh, you're thinking you're better than us, fucker?” the same man said.

“Please, let me go!” Ivory pleaded and tried to break free from the man's grasp.

“No, you're not going anywhere before we're done with you!” the other man said and took out a knife, its blade glimmering in the light.

At this point Ivory started to panic. He tried his best to struggle and get away from this situation, but now the man who had grabbed his arm had taken a hold of him with his other hand as well and his grasp was incredibly tight. His partner got closer with the knife, having a mad smile on his face, and he began to stab Ivory. He yelped from pain as the steel infiltrated his body through his skin time and time again, but was unable to get free from his captor's iron grip. The usually purple markings on his skin had turned black. In only a matter of seconds he was bleeding abundantly because of the multiple stab wounds, but apparently that wasn't enough for his torturers. The one who had been stabbing him hit the knife's blade at his wing. The edge dug deep into this part of Ivory's body, the blade had even struck a bone, causing agonizing pain. Then the man began to do a sawing motion as if he was trying to cut off Ivory's wing with just his knife.

Ivory was crying because of the horrid agony he felt all over his body and he was begging the men to stop, but they acted like they hadn't heard his pleas at all. However, this commotion hadn't gone unnoticed and eventually people started to come out of the bar to check out what was happening. Some of those who were quick to understand the situation acted fast and attacked the two men who had assaulted Ivory. They got knocked down and Ivory was finally free from their torment. He fell on his knees on the ground, trembling uncontrollably. He was so shocked, so anxious that he couldn't really register what was happening around him.

It was finally over, they wouldn't hurt him anymore. But he stayed on his knees, being almost frozen and bleeding to the ground. He tried his hardest to understand why this had happened to him, why these men had decided that he deserved to suffer. Was it really just because he wasn't completely human in their eyes? He tried and tried to comprehend it all, but ultimately failed, and cried some more.



[b]DAY 4: WILLOW – ATTACK FROM THE SKY[/b]

Willow had woken from his nap just a little while ago. It was evening and to him it was a perfect time to hunt. And so he had emerged from his tiny but cozy den, stretching his limbs before he headed out. He was weaving his way through the woods, shadows and beams of sunlight dancing on his fur. He kept a low profile as he moved among the vegetation, attempting to be as silent as he could. It was important that he would spot his prey first, not the other way around. But with his keen senses and with the skills he had learned from his mother, he was sure to triumph. The hunt was on and he was as ready as a fox like him could be.

He had been sneaking around the woods for quite some time, not really encountering other living beings other than birds, but they were safe by sitting on the branches of tall trees. But Willow was patient, he knew that sometimes it would take time to find prey. Few times he had stopped to listen, trying to hear even the faintest sounds rodents could make, but still, nothing. He had kept going, staying aware of his surroundings. And at some point, he noticed that he had come to the border of the forest. There was a field ahead. Carefully he tried to take a peek over the tall grass, but didn't really spot anything, no danger, but also no food. However, he knew that this kind of field was a perfect place for rodents and a thought about gobbling up some mice was really tempting. He looked around, ears all perked up, but he didn't sense anything that warned him of danger. And with that, he slipped imperceptibly to the field, blending almost perfectly with his surroundings.

The setting sun's last rays made Willow's fur glow in golden color. He trotted through the field, keeping a low profile, being as attentive as he could possibly be. And it did pay off; a lone mouse did stray on his way and before the rodent even had a chance to react, Willow had already snapped his jaws around it and gobbled it up. He licked his lips, thinking to himself that this was a good start. He could probably find more food from here, so he began to wander around again, hoping to find a big, juicy one next.

But Willow failed to notice that something was keeping an eye on him, seeing him as a meal. It wasn't until he heard a horrid screech above when he finally realized that he wasn't safe. He did make the mistake of glancing up in the sky to see what was attacking him, and as soon as he did, something hit him in his right eye, causing an agonizing burning feeling in it; it was like his eye was melting right in its socket. He cried from pain and started to run away instinctively as soon as he had been attacked. He could see with his healthy eye that a shadow of something big – bigger than him, at least – was gliding above him. He tried to run as fast as he could, but despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to get away and soon felt how sickle-like claws dug into his flesh and then a heavy weight pinned him onto the ground.

The creature was basically shredding his back open. Even at this point Willow wasn't sure what was attacking him because he hadn't got a clear glance at the being. But he knew it wasn't a regular animal; there simply wasn't anything this big that had the ability to fly. He didn't know how to defend himself, so he kept struggling, but the creature was clinging onto his flesh, tearing him apart. And as he was bleeding to the ground, he started to wish that the creature would kill him already, to end this suffering.

This was how he was going to die, huh…

When he was at the verge of giving up his life, he heard something. The creature let out a horrible shriek, it was making Willow's ears hurt. Then the weight was lifted from his back, the claws left his flesh be. For some reason, the creature had left him alone.

“Dad! Come here, quickly!”

In his weakened state, Willow looked up once more with his left eye. He could see a human, a young woman getting closer to him. But he was too weak to attempt an escape. If this human was going to take his life instead, so be it.

But to his surprise, the young woman crouched before him and held his head up.

“Don't worry, little guy”, the human spoke to him softly. “We will take care of you. You'll get better, I promise.”

Willow's vision got hazy, everything started to fade to black. Soon he lost consciousness, not knowing at all where he would wake up again, if he ever did.



[b]DAY 5: KNAERGIRI – MADNESS WILL PREVAIL[/b]

Oh, the sweet little town, getting ready to sleep. The sun had almost disappeared beyond the horizon, taking the light with it, forcing the world to face darkness. And where there is darkness, there are also monsters. There would be a full moon tonight, but although it did offer its gentle silvery light to the humans, the same applied to beasts as well. And one of those was Knaergiri, a dragon who had now made the nearby mountain as his lair. He was laying at the entrance to a cave, which gave him a perfect little home temporarily. And from that spot he could watch the town that was located in the valley. He had a perfect view over the settlement and for the past few days he had been keeping an eye on the town, plotting something sinister about how to toy with the lives of the townsfolk.

Knaergiri had found this place just a few weeks ago. He had paid a couple of visits to the town during night time, just to scare the people a little bit. He hadn't done anything drastic, yet, but he yearned to bring the insanity out of those poor wretched souls, because he lived off madness. But he liked to take it slow, he wanted to taste every drop of their fear and desperation. It was a form of art to break the minds of people at a perfect pace, it wasn't something you should rush. The longer you can cause suffering, the more delicious their hearts, souls and minds become. Knaergiri had honed his skills in torturing people for a couple of centuries, so he knew how to do it properly.

But his few visits to the town hadn't gone unnoticed by self-proclaimed saints. These people would deem anything they didn't understand or just didn't fit in their picture of a perfect world as evil and wanted to eradicate any beings that they thought were wicked and didn't deserve to live. These types of people weren't strangers to Knaergiri, he had encountered them before. This is why he wasn't surprised when a mage came to him before the darkness devoured the world completely.

“My, my, look at you”, the dragon tauntingly spoke as he examined with his gaze this little man who definitely thought that he was a hero of some kind. It amused Knaergiri more than anything. He didn't even bother to get up.

“Do not underestimate me”, the mage said defiantly. “I am stronger than you think. Now, I want you to leave this mountain immediately or else, I will use force.”

This made the dragon laugh. “You are a bold one, I will give you that. But I am not going anywhere.”

“I suspected this much”, the mage stated, taking a weird stance. “I do not like to take lives from any creature, but sometimes it is necessary.”

“You think you can kill me?” Knaergiri taunted. Crimson fire started to build up at the corners of his mouth. “Try it. You will die.”

The mage's response was quick and violent. He had casted a circle of ice spikes that hurled at the dragon with incredible speed and hit him at his neck. It did make him recoil a bit, but that wasn't enough to infiltrate through his scales. Knaergiri then opened his maw and spit a stream of fire at the mage. However, the fire did no damage because the man had casted a barrier to protect himself. Knaergiri stopped breathing fire and only then the barrier disappeared. Now, this made the dragon a little huffy, but still, he didn't get up.

Then the man casted two swords made from his magical energy. Wielding them, he charged at the dragon and was prepared to thrust them into his flesh. Knaergiri curved his long neck and tried to snap with his jaws in order to bite the man. But the mage's movements were quick and as soon as Knaergiri's head was near him, he thrusted one of his swords through the dragon's snout, cutting him as easily as if he had been made of paper. Blood was gushing from the wounds now that his jaws were impaled and he started to furiously shake his head to get the sword out. The mage did pull it while thrusting another one through Knaergiri's neck where it sank, infiltrating deeper and deeper into his flesh. The dragon roared angrily and finally got to his feet and tried to swipe the man with his sharp claws, but the mage managed to cut off that limb. Then he struck his free sword at Knaergiri's chest, aiming for the heart. The dragon was shrieking, blood splattering everywhere as the mage twisted his swords in the two deep wounds. Knaergiri tried one more time to bite the man, but then he swiftly pulled the sword from the neck and struck it through the dragon's skull. Knaergiri writhed for a little while before his body hit the ground and his motionless body lay there, blood still gushing out from the wounds and staining the ground red.

Staring at the slayed dragon, the mage's magical swords faded away. He had done it, he had saved the town from a monster. He decided to leave now that his work was complete.

But then he heard mad laughter behind him. Quickly he turned around to see what was going on and he saw that the dragon's body was now gone. Instead, there was a pale green cloud of smoke floating in the air and from that cloud, a deformed face of a dragon was having a mocking expression.

“What the…?!” The mage was utterly dazed.

“You cannot kill me!” the dragon screeched and laughed some more.

And before the man managed to do anything, the dragon had rushed at him with incredible speed and covered him in the smoke. Immediately he started to hear voices all around him, they were crying, screaming, roaring – they were the voices of the damned, people that had died under the influence of madness. Then he could see dark figures appearing, getting closer to him. They all had terrifying claws and with those, they took a hold of the man while wailing horribly. The mage was horrified, unable to do anything – he couldn't cast his magic to save himself. The many claws were tearing him apart and he tried to struggle, and managed to get free from their grasp. He started to run away, but because he couldn't see anything past the smoke, he had unintentionally run to the edge of the cliff and his body fell down from the mountain.

Knaergiri laughed at this misfortune. Then he decided that he would like to enjoy toying with the fragile minds of people some more and his cloudy form began to fly towards the little town in the valley. Tonight, he would bring more madness into the world.