Hara's Gift

[Erill]

The tinkling of water fills the air as water falls from a silver fountain, while a tall Paladin spins around, admiring in awe the beauty of the garden he is standing in.

"By Hara, the beauty...it takes my breath away"

The cool air wafts down the back of his heavy armour, cooling his sweaty skin. He sniffs at the delicate fragrances given off by the flowers. He continues to spin, struggling to soak up the smells and sights this secret place is allowing him.

"This *sniff* is wonderful...only in my dreams are there places of this magnificence"

The cool breeze suddenly chills him...he stops, his eyes lingering on a tunnel made of tree and branch that was not there before. So dark it seems, compared to the bright glade hes standing in...should he go down it? Before his eyes the tunnel seems to stretch into infinity, it stops, and flows back to its original size.

The Paladin whips around as he hears the rustling of leaves...he finds himself facing three large, blood red spiders. Larger than most, these could still be crushed under foot, but he seems weary of them. As fast as lightning, he raises his sword and with a mighty over arm fling sends it flying straight at one of the spiders. His aim is true and the blade strikes its red body.

"By Hara...!"

The Paladin watches in shock as the blade shatters into a million tiny pieces. Two more spiders drop from a tree just behind the first three and they advance on the Paladin. Hes trapped, the only way for him to go is the tunnel.

He backs away from the spiders, as they increase their pace, he turns and runs, his bulky armour not hindering him. As he runs he looks over his shoulder do find over twenty of the evil spiders chasing him.

He runs further and further down the never ending tunnel. He chances another glance over his should to find the spiders gone...He stumbles to a stop, staring at the path. Seeing a dark shadow out of the corner of his eye, he raised his shield a little.

Quick as a cat a spider leaps at him, but in a blur of movement the Paladin manages to get his shield between himself and the spider. After a large resounding thud, the Paladin looks around the ground expecting to see a rather stunned spider. A sudden screeching sound of protesting metal fills the air and the horrified Paladin stares at the pair of pincers shredding his shield just to the right of his hand. The Paladin slips his forearm from the straps of his shield, and taking it in two hands, hurls it toward the nearest tree. A loud clang from the shield hitting the tree trunk almost deafens him as he starts to run again.

Running along he removes his armour piece by piece tossing it over his shoulder to try and slow the tide of spiders now chasing him. After a hurried moment of running and struggling with the straps of his leggins he throws them over his shoulder with a quick glance. He stumbles, but catches himself before he falls and continues to race on, his mind filled with what he just saw: a tall black figure riding on a see of red bodies slowly gaining on him. The number of spiders is not what keeps him looking back though, it was the eyes, eyes he has seen before, eyes of fire! Fire the colour of blood, staring at him from the shadow cloaked figure riding the sea of spiders...

Tearing his own eyes from the figure he races ahead, and sees...light! Not only sunlight, though the clearing is open to the sky, something purer, more wholesome. Tree roots reach up, trying to entangle his armoured boots, the only part of his armour he could not take off while running. He dives reaching the light and slides into the clearing. He gets up and looks back down the tunnel to see the horde of spiders and the shadowed figure staying out of the light. He backs away from them, until his feet strike something. He turns around to see a silver shield, lions etched upon it in gold. He takes it, holding it high. The light, fades until it is just sunlight warming the Paladin's back. With the extra light gone the spiders advance into the sunlight. He lifts the new shield toward them not knowing what would happen, if anything. The first wave of spiders, stopped dead, shudder and burst in a small "pop" of foulness. The shadowed figure reaches toward the Paladin, but as his hand crosses in the sunlight, it is revealed for what it is, a weak, pale, feeble thing. Thin trails of smoke raise from it as it burns in the sunlight. A deafening roar fills the Paladin's ears as the thing pulls back its hand...

"You have escaped me this time, Erill, you will not again!"

"How do you know my..."

But even as the Paladin speaks the world around him dissolves, and he sits up with a start.

"A dream, or something more...?"

As the Paladin mumbles to himself, he notices light coming, not from the window of his small room above a tavern, but from his Armour trunk. Getting up, he crosses to the trunk and flips it open to reveal golden lions upon a shield of silver...

[Broken]

Of course you would flee from a few small spiders, Erill...

[Erill]

First off, this was a dream, or maybe something more, but i cannot control my subconscious self. And besides, i did not flee, i backed off till i found a means to destroy what a sword could not.