[b]DAY 1: ITCHY – RED RED FINGERS[/b]

An absent-minded man was slowly eating a piece of meat. He was chewing it leisurely, not really feeling even tiniest bit of hunger. It was like he was gnawing that flesh of an unfortunate animal out of boredom. There wasn't much to do in this place, after all.

For how long had it already been? Where he was kept, actually? He had no idea. One day, he had just woken up in this room, having no memories. He didn't know who he was, what had happened to him or what kind of life he had had before his awakening. To him, the only existence was this room. It was rather tiny and desolate. There was only this hard bed and toilet, and a flickering light that emitted ominous crackling. The surrounding, dirty and gray walls were depressing and had some claw markings on them, telling a story about the previous occupant of this room. It also had smelled like sewer, but he had already adjusted to the stink, so it didn't bother him that much anymore.

Then there was the rusty metal door. It was cold and repulsive, had no door handle and he had never seen it open. But there was a small hatch at the bottom. That's where he got food from. When he had first woken up in here, he had spent a lot of time screaming through the hatch, begging for somebody to help him, or at least answer him. He had done this especially during feeding time, trying to get the attention of the person who had brought him the food. But they had never cared. He could only see their feet and how they walked away from him, leaving him alone with himself.

Since his attempts to understand what was going on failed time after time, eventually he stopped trying. He accepted his fate and just sat in his little room – in his little world – in a melancholic manner. His only companion was his own shadow. And to keep himself somewhat sane and avoiding madness, he created stories in his mind: what kind of life he would have, where he would live and what sort of adventures he would experience. And also, what would his significant other look like. These little tales made his heart feel warm.

And then there were these days when he was feeling just completely apathetic. This was one of those days. So there he was, sitting in a corner and chewed at his piece of meat that somebody brought him just a little while ago. Eventually he did finish his meal and then he just sat there staring blankly at the wall. After few moments, he sighed and started to conjure up some stories in his head.

What would he do today? Perhaps some fantastic adventures with a dragon friend. They could soar the skies and collect some treasures! Maybe this was a little childish daydream, but he liked to imagine adorable stuff every now and then. Such things were an effective antidote to his otherwise rather miserable existence.

Few moments later, however, he felt quite bad itch on top of his head. He scratched it and it did relieve it for a little while. But then it returned, being slightly worse. He scratched it again, mildly annoyed by it. Once again, it disappeared. But just for a moment. Then it came back, causing even worse discomfort. So, as expected, he kept scratching. The itch kept gradually becoming severer, eventually reaching such stage that it wouldn't go away, no matter how much he tried to get rid of it. But he couldn't stop. With his long finger nails, he continued scratching the horrible itch, ultimately resulting in him tearing his skin open and making him bleed. But he barely even noticed that. His nails dug deeper and deeper as he carried on, trying to achieve the sweet relief that wouldn't come. He couldn't stop.

Why? Why was this happening? There probably was something in the meat he ate… He couldn't think of any other reason.

The itch developed so bad that he started to scratch with another hand as well. His fingers got dyed red from all the blood, his nails shredding the skin. His head was all bloody, and tiny pieces of skin had started to fall off. His head had turned into one red mess. It was disgusting. But he couldn't help it. His shadow had gained a life on its own and was now laughing at him. It was swirling around him, reaching the gaping wound on his head with its claws, wanting to get few drops of that red nectar of life. And when the shade had sunk its claws on his head, the tormenting itch suddenly stopped. Just like that. Not really understanding what was happening, he looked stupefied. The shadow shifted in front of him, grinning a little. Then, it pressed its lips against his own.

This draining kiss caused him to lose his consciousness and collapse.

The moment of suffering was over. But who knows what kind of horrors a new day would bring. Until then, he would sleep soundly and dream of better days.



[b]DAY 2: HORNS – SUMMONING OF VER'ROTHI[/b]

The night was perfect for the ritual. It was autumn and there was a crispy scent in the air and the fallen leaves had made a soft path for the five travelers to tread on. The moon was full in the sky and a little amount of its mysterious light infiltrated through the branches and touched the forest's deeper parts. Five young women were wandering around the woods, heading to a specific clearing. Two of them were holding torches, illuminating their path. One had a rope on her hand, leading a goat. The other two were carrying various items, such as logs for a fire, a huge and sharp knife and some religious ornaments depicting a figure with horns of a moose. Clearly, they were up to something extraordinary.

The nocturnal sounds of the forest were ominous, but these five weren't afraid of them. They were excited more than anything. While heading to their destination, they were chattering joyfully.

Maybe a month or so ago they had been exploring a castle's library. All of them worked as servants there, but on that day, they had been slacking off for a while. Then, they stumbled upon this one peculiar book. It was clearly old and crumbly. Carefully they browsed through the book, eventually spotting this article about a powerful being called Ver'rothi. It was stated that with a simple ritual, this entity could be summoned and it would grant wishes for those who offered a blood sacrifice for him. Getting excited by this, the five young women decided to try performing this ritual. So they gathered the necessary items they needed for it. They got some logs for a bonfire and crafted ornaments representing this entity that should be baptized in the blood of a sacrifice and then burned. The ritual had to be done during full moon, so they waited for that night to come. And when the night was right, they stole a goat from one of the villagers' and headed to the forest where they could perform their ritual.

Little did they know, that the information in the book wasn't accurate.

It took them almost two hours to get to the clearing. Without dawdling, the women started to set up the ceremony. They piled up the logs neatly and placed one of the biggest ornaments to the center. Then they set it on fire. Next, they brought the goat near to the flames. One woman wielded the knife, got it close to the poor animal's throat. With a swift motion, she slashed the goat's throat open, letting it bleed to the ground. Then they dipped few of the ornaments in the pool of blood, throwing them then to the bonfire. The women backed off, standing as a ring around the bonfire, holding their arms above their heads. They started chanting.

“Ver'rothi! Ver'rothi! Ver'rothi!”

Nothing seemed to happen for a while. There was only the crackling sound of burning wood and the chanting of those women. They kept calling out his name, but there was no response. Since not a single thing ensued, the women went silent and set down their arms, glancing at each other, confused.

But suddenly, the flames of bonfire burst and changed color to purple. This startled the five women and captured their gaze. Then, a shadowy figure did rise from the fire, glaring at the mortals who had summoned him with his white eyes. The looks on the faces of the women changed and they seemed to be pretty thrilled, since the ritual had worked. Still, it was quite overwhelming to stand before such a powerful entity.

One of the women stepped closer to the bonfire.

“Oh, you mighty Ver'rothi!” she said out loud. “We have made a blood sacrifice for you, so now, please grant us our wishes!”

The shadow of Ver'rothi just laughed in a menacing way, causing worry to crawl on the faces of the women.

“Puny mortals!” Ver'rothi's voice was powerful and made the women quiver in fear; this wasn't what they had expected to happen.

The entity snapped his fingers and five white orbs appeared before him. And in a blink of an eye, those orbs flew toward the women and crashed against them.

They started to feel immense pain in their heads immediately. Screaming in agony, they hold their heads between their hands and begged for Ver'rothi to stop their suffering. Then they started to feel some odd stumps emerging from their skulls. In a worryingly speed they were growing and it didn't take long for the women to understand what they were: horns were forming on their heads. And it felt like that they were growing inside their skulls as well, like roots. Needless to say, this caused such torment that it threw the women into the brink of madness. They were bleeding from their heads as the horns kept getting bigger. One of the women had decided to snatch the bloody knife that had been used to kill the goat and tried to cut off her horns. But it was futile. She managed to cut them, but it caused even more pain – if possible – and they were bleeding from the stumps she had created. And then they continued growing again.

In the end, all five women had deer-like horns grown on their heads, bloodied. They had intruded their skulls as well and this was shown outside as red veins that had surfaced the upper parts of their heads. After this agonizing procedure was ready, the women had fallen silent, devoid of any emotion. They just stood around the bonfire, like undead.

Ver'rothi sneered.

“Now you're all my dear children! Go! Go to the village and let my name be known!”

As commanded, the women started to head back to their home village. Their horns on their heads serving as a mark of their slavery, they would carry out their master's wish and set in motion the reign of Ver'rothi. 



[b]DAY 3: BLACK MAGIC – LIKE A MOTH TO A FLAME[/b]

You can't comprehend what light truly is if you don't acknowledge darkness first. If there is virtuousness, then there's also evil. This is a concept that Irinn'sul knew very well. He had committed some questionable deeds while pursuing greater good and he accepted the fact that in the eyes of certain people he was a monster. He didn't blame them. He felt pity for them, because they couldn't see his greatness. But he believed that in the end, people would be able to understand that he was bringing salvation to this world. One day, his name shall be known.

Irinn'sul realized early on that his expected lifespan was too short for him to be able to achieve the things he pursued. Sure, he was the great prince of the insectkin race, destined for grandeur, but he was still mortal. So he had to do something about that first. With lots of research, triumphs and fails, traveling and determination, he managed to become eternally young – which was, honestly – one of the most important things to him. He was simply beautiful creature and well aware of this – he adored himself. Now that he didn't have to worry about his beauty to fade over time, he could focus on fully to find the secret of immortality.

Because of this search, he wandered to many places around the world. He visited quite a handful of locations that now laid abandoned: ruins, temples, catacombs… Anywhere that potentially hold old wisdom long forgotten.

And eventually, Irinn'sul's path led to this specific place.

On that night, the moon had climbed high to the sky, illuminating weakly Irinn'sul's journey. It was normal for the prince to be out wandering during such late hour. He had pretty good night vision, so the darkness didn't bother him much anyway. Also, he had a little companion with him that emitted a bit illumination: Mysvalrn, a piece of a star that had its own consciousness. Irinn'sul had found it slumbering from some old ruins and right on that moment, their minds had got linked together. Ever since, Mysvalrn had accompanied him, never going far away from him.

Irinn'sul was flying just barely above a mass of trees. His silvery moth wings were shimmering in the light of moon. Mysvalrn was floating in the air by his side, having no difficulty to keep up with him. The prince was looking for something particular and scanned the land below him with his eyes, not wanting to miss it. When he had visited a nearby village, he had spoken with one old woman who had lived there all her life. She had told him that there were some ancient ruins standing in the forest, but no one really knew what it was for. However, it was an eerie and haunting place that radiated with malevolence. Even though she had warned the prince, he had still wanted to check out those ruins and was now heading there.

Eventually he spotted a crumbled tower rising in between the trees. Assuming that this was the place, he began to descend, gliding down. He landed with a grace and started to inspect the ruins. It was built from strange dark rocks that had some purple hues in them. There wasn't much left of the building, however. Of course, there was the haunting remains of a tower that was like a broken arm wanting to capture a piece of a sky. But other than that, there was just a cracked round part on the ground that seemed like it had been part of a chapel or something, covered in runes Irinn'sul didn't recognize, and there was a little bit of walls left as well, those also including runes. As the old woman had said, this truly felt like haunting place.

But Irinn'sul wasn't afraid. He was incredibly curious. He could definitely sense some power in these ruins. Taking the first brave step, the prince walked to the cracked floor piece, investigating. Even though he was now taking a closer look at these mysterious runes, he still didn't recognize them. Then he took few steps to get close to a fragment of a wall and raised his hand to run it through the runes. And before he even touched the cold rock, he felt something vibrating from the wall, and as soon as his hand touched the surface, something started to happen. The markings lit up, shining in purple light. Irinn'sul backed off, surprised, and waited to see what he had just unleashed.

A wave of powerful magic erupted and spread to the floor's runes as well, lighting them up too. Irinn'sul looked down at his feet, witnessing how the power surged through the ruins. Then he noticed something else: a magical circle of darker purple had appeared around him, and some identical magical matter was swirling around his hand as well – the same hand which had touched the wall. He shook his hand as if that could help him to get rid of this mystical energy that had started to consume him. At this point, fear had found its way to his heart.

Who knows why the force within the ruins got triggered. Maybe it was the night of full moon, maybe it was because he was magical being himself… Or maybe it was his tainted powers that responded with the dark energy. If so, his powers were about to get even more dismal.

Irinn'sul couldn't escape. He was trapped inside the circle. He could feel how the evil magic was invading inside of him, trying to mix in with his own magical power. It forced him to bring forth his magic, making it bleed out of his body. This manifested as dark vines around him, since he had most affinity with the element of wood. Mysvalrn was glowing in dark green light, mimicking the prince's state of dread. But it couldn't do anything to help him. Getting consumed by dark energy was inevitable.

He could feel horrible pain coursing throughout his body. It was like his veins were burning. He screamed in agony as the strange power was taking over his body. It was almost destroying him from the inside – or so it felt like. Irinn'sul was bleeding from his eyes, coughing blood and wounds similar to lacerations had appeared around his body, dark vine or tentacle-like manifestations thrusting out of them. The beautiful silvery wings he so much loved got shredded. All in all, his beauty was ruined.

Then it all just ended. The circle disappeared, the magical energy retreated and the ruins returned to a dormant state. Suddenly everything was like nothing had even happened.

Except for Irinn'sul.

He panted heavily for a while. When he had caught his breath a little, he looked at his shaking hands. The other one looked rather normal, but the other one had now some black and green veins surfaced in it. He just stared at it for a moment, before a chuckle escaped from his mouth. Then it evolved into full laughter.

“Such a power!” Irinn'sul exclaimed with his hand risen.

He felt incredibly mighty after this ordeal. This had been a gift, a blessing, to make him even more powerful. He was destined to greatness, after all.

Mysvalrn didn't know how to respond to this and just kept changing colors between blue and green hues – it was almost like it had lost connection with Irinn'sul. And when the prince started to walk away, it loyally followed behind, perhaps conversing within itself some amount of sanity that was left of Irinn'sul.



[b]DAY 4: CRYSTAL GROWTH – DON'T INVADE THE DRAGON'S LAIR[/b]

It was true that he was a bit greedy. But he was also a very outstanding warrior. These two traits combined, he had become a bounty hunter, getting rid of many creatures that were causing trouble – in exchange for a good amount of gold, of course. He had gained quite a reputation around the region and many people relied on his skills. So, when he one day obtained a request from one small village, it didn't surprise him, it was a job among others. They had a little dragon problem there. The beast was constantly snatching cattle from them and the villagers wanted to put an end to this. This was when he stepped into the picture.

After hearing few details about where the dragon had flied to and where its lair could possibly be, the bounty hunter had begun the hunt. He had promised to bring the beast's head back to the village, and wouldn't return until this deed was done. Heading to the forest with thrill in his heart, he started tracking down the scaly thief.

It wasn't an easy task to find a hideout of this beast in the middle of nowhere. He tried to keep an eye on some clues that could be left behind by the dragon, such as cut treetops and skeletons of larger animals. But the forest was dark and dense, so it was hard to find anything that could help him to determine where the dragon's lair was located. But he was an experienced hunter, armed with patience and determination, so even when the search lasted for few days, he wasn't disheartened, not a single bit. He knew that in the end, his efforts would get rewarded.

Of course, he was right. On one foggy morning when the sun was still down, he encountered a cliff, and in its wall, there was an entrance to a cave. Even on the first glance he knew that this was the nest he had been looking for. He took a deep breath, hardened his senses and adrenaline rushing throughout his body, he stepped inside the gaping mouth of the cave.

He walked as silently as he could, so the dragon wouldn't be able to notice his presence right away. Unlike knights, he wasn't cladded in armor, making it easier to stealth. Also, armor would be pretty bad thing to wear when battling with agile dragons – they could cook you alive. Evading their attacks as well as you could was the key to win a fight against a dragon.

Having not yet wandered to the deepest depths of the cave, he noticed something on the walls. There were beautiful crystals stuck on them, glowing in many colors. The sight was breath-taking. The bounty hunter kept glancing all around him, admiring the crystals. His greedy side rose to the surface, already calculating how much profit he would gain if he harvested these beauties and sold them. He had just to get rid of the dragon first. Now he had even more reasons to complete this quest. It was like killing two birds with one stone. And with that, he continued his journey deeper into the cave.

Suddenly he heard something rustling ahead. He got tense, drawing his sword and was then ready to attack. He creeped forward, scanning his surroundings. No signs of the dragon. Yet. Carefully he advanced, his heart beating like crazy. The encounter was near.

“Who is it?” A strong but surprisingly vivid voice asked, echoing from just around the corner.

He cursed a little bit in his mind. The dragon had already noticed him. Well, no point trying to be sneaky anymore. With braveness in his heart, he walked forward, getting around the corner to face his foe.

The dragon was waiting for him in a large chamber that was full of crystals. The beast was sitting there, at the center of everything. When the bounty hunter had appeared, he looked up to make an eye contact with the scaly monster, looking determined.

He was slightly surprised by how beautiful the dragon was. It had pretty slim and delicate-looking body and its black and silver scales were shimmering in many colors due to the glowing of crystals. Wings were folded on its back. It had pretty golden eyes full of wisdom and they were right now directed at him, looking up and down, as if trying to deduce what kind of a man he was.

“Human, why have you disturbed my lair with your presence?” the dragon asked.

The bounty hunter raised his sword, pointing it right at the beast and claimed: “I am here to slay you!”

The beast just laughed at him.

“Oh, you're not”, it spoke in a mocking way.

He had faced many dragons and other monsters during his lifetime. But none of those encounters could prepare him for what was about to come.

The dragon roared so powerfully that it shook the very stone. The bounty hunter took his stance, getting ready for whatever the beast was going to do. But without a warning, something happened beneath his feet. A sudden sharp crystal rose from the ground in a blink of an eye, impaling him from this stomach. He dropped his weapon and looked at the crystal, completely flabbergasted. Then he felt a strange itching feeling in different parts of his body that soon developed into pain. And to his dismay, crystals started to grow out of his body. Completely horrified, he watched his hand and how few of them teared his skin, caused bleeding and kept growing. In a panic, he tried to rip them off his hand, but to no avail. Then one started to grow behind his eye socket and pierced his eye, making him half blind, bleeding all over his face. And no matter how much he tried, he couldn't move them an inch or tear them off.

In a matter of minutes, he had crystal growths all around his body, more or less. Eventually he had stopped fighting, lost his strength and his body had gotten limp, staying somewhat up only because of the sharp crystal that had impaled him. He died a slow, painful death.

The dragon tilted its head a little.

“Ah, one more to my collection”, it stated to itself, pleased.

The sharp crystal that had supported the body retreated, causing the body to slam to the ground. The dragon snatched the body with its claws, transporting it a little deeper into the cave. The beast proceeded to another chamber where a gruesome sight awaited: to one side of the wall, a row of corpses had been put to display, all of them covered in crystal growths and were supported by a larger crystal that impaled their bodies. Some were rotten, some were almost nothing but skeletons. The dragon added the poor bounty hunter's body to among others, making another crystal that would hold up his corpse. Satisfied with its work, the dragon stomped even deeper into the cave, leaving the new addition to its macabre collection where it would stay for as long as the dragon wanted.



[b]DAY 5: BITES – HEARTLESS WOLVES[/b]

Her tribe had lived on this plain for many, many generations, in harmony with the nature. They never took more than what they needed, and honored the animals they had hunted for food, skins and bones. Being grateful to these creatures, they made sure to bury their remains accordingly, so they could travel to the spirit realm peacefully. Outsiders could probably think this was weird and ridiculous – animals were just animals, as they thought – but this was an important custom to people of the plain. They didn't meet many foreign people there and lived on their own in this quite remote place. They were completely independent, thus living peaceful and quiet lives. And even though they didn't interact much with the outer world, they were pretty hospitable folk. They were especially excited when they would meet merchant caravans, showing great interest in their exotic wares. But most of the times, it was just them and the nature.

However, they weren't completely alone in that vast region. They actually shared an affinity with other creatures that roamed on these lands: wolves. For many generations, the tribe and the wolves had hunted together every now and then. These beasts didn't actually live with the people, they were completely wild. But they had unique bond, it was like brotherhood, so neither of the parties were hostile to each other, and whenever they would meet in the wild, they would team up and pursue prey together. Then they would share the catch and go on their separate ways.

This had worked for so long that nobody even remembered what life would be like without wolves.

But one day, this changed.

First, it seemed like that the beasts had disappeared. The hunters hadn't met any on their trips. And as this situation continued, the tribe began to worry for their companions. They were an important part of the plain, so their absence was unnatural. At least a half of a month passed and they were nowhere to be seen.

But then, one day a woman who had been getting water from a river, actually spotted one wolf. Overjoyed by this sight, she rushed back to their settlement and told everyone about it. This was good news to everyone, and hunters especially were looking forward to have a great hunt together with these beasts. However, little did they know that their friendly wolves weren't themselves anymore.

A cruel truth was discovered when a group of hunters encountered a pack of wolves. They were happy to see them at first, but their joy turned to horror when the beasts attacked them. They were forced to fight, but did manage to drive away the wolves without hurting them too much. Utterly confused and even a bit heart-broken, they returned to the settlement, bearing the bad news. Everyone was shocked after hearing their tale and the whole tribe turned to their elder, seeking help from him.

“I'm afraid”, he had said with a heavy heart, “that our friends have been tainted with mysterious power and had their hearts stolen.”

This caused a great depression among the tribe. They had lost their valuable companions and nobody, not even the elder, knew how to help them. Needless to say, they felt helpless, devastated and angry. And so they decided to find someone wise who could help them and sent a couple of people to travel to beyond the plain, hoping they would have a swift return.

But to some people, this wasn't fast enough. That's why one day, this young woman wandered to the plain, longing to meet an old friend.

In the past, she had rescued a wolf pup. It had fallen sick from a mysterious disease, left alone. She had successfully nurtured it back to its health and when she had released it back to the wild, she had given it a scarf to wear so she could recognize it later. And indeed, she had seen that same wolf numerous times, being healthy and living a good life, which of course made her happy every time.

She hoped to meet that little furry friend of hers. To see if it was okay – even though she feared the worst.

A wind was blowing strongly, playing with her long hair as she marched forward with fortitude. The skies were gray and it was possible that there would be rain. She hated to get wet but this was more important than her comfort. 

Then she heard howling from a nearby hill, startling her. She threw her glance there right away at the source of the sound and saw a wolf. Then few other wolves joined it, climbing to the hill. And one of them had a scarf on its neck. She had mixed feelings running through her, for she felt happy to see her old friend, but also fear for not really knowing was this encounter going to be hostile.

The wolves ran down the hill, growling a little, but she didn't move an inch. Then the beasts surrounded her, their teeth bared, and snarling at her. They weren't attacking right away. She had a dagger with her, but she didn't know how much of a use it could be against few raging beasts. Her eyes were laid on the wolf with a scarf; her old friend. She teared up as she could see that the wolf didn't recognize her anymore. The poor animal was bleeding from its eyes, all of them were. What kind of a horrible person could have done this to them?

She started crying and fell to her knees. It wasn't just the fact that someone – or something – had done such a horrible thing to her friend. Whatever figure was behind this, it had also disturbed the peace of their beloved plain… And she didn't know did she want to live in a place like that.

Without a warning, the wolves finally attacked. They sunk their sharp teeth to different parts of her body – and she didn't resist. She did cry out of pain as the beasts tore her skin and flesh, blood gushing everywhere. They mauled her body in an instant, tearing pieces off of her. One wolf had decided to place its jaws to her neck, then snapping them together, choking her windpipe. Then it pressed its jaws even harder, and ripped a part off her neck. Death conquered her soon after that.

The wolves had totally wrecked her body, leaving a bloody mess with pieces of flesh and bone everywhere. This was a senseless slaughter, they hadn't done this because of hunger. The beasts left her body, marking her as one of the first victims of an upcoming disaster.