Dormund

Part 1

Dormund stood in front of the ancient door. Skulls spewed from a crack in the wall to his left, the fall leaves from the trees fell around him. The door of carved stone stood firm in the wall of the mountain.

He took a breath, grasped the handle, and stepped in, drawing his sword as he did. Stepping inside, darkness fell upon him as the meager light from outside struggled to pass through the doorway. Not seeing any immediate threat, he sheathed his sword and lit a torch. Grasping it in his left hand, he continued into the ancient gloom.

The ruins were of the ancient folk. Crude carvings lined the walls as he stepped down the hallway, which was leading him deeper into the roots of the mountains. As he went, the carvings changed from images of glory, to ones of horrid reverence to an ancient god.

Was it truly a god? Dormund hoped not, and besides, he’d slain ones claiming to be before. All of them were the same. Claiming to have a power that had long since withered with the passing of the world. He continued through a labyrinth of rooms for what felt like hours. The monotony of passing through this place was taking it’s toll as he adjusted his heavy plate armor.

It was frightened. He could smell it.

Then, down a slim tunnel, delving deeper and deeper into the mountain, he saw a green light, emanating from an unseen source.

Was this it? Dormund cracked a grin as he sidled his way through the hall. Beyond, he heard a hiss, but it sounded long and withered. The time for such creatures was over.

Part 2

He drew his sword as he approached the other end of the hallway. He peaked his head out and saw the great serpent beyond, coiling and re-coiling itself in the far corner of the room as it stared at him with ancient eyes.

Not wanting to waste his chance, Dormund leapt into the room, dropping the torch and wielding his large blade with two hands. The creature gave an angry hiss as it reared back its head before lashing at him. Dormund deftly jumped to the side as the serpent slid toward the center of the room, rearing its head again, and striking.

It was time to see how tough this beast would be. Dormund sidestepped easily, the creature's head lashing out where he had stood a moment before, and brought his greatsword down upon its neck. The creature hissed in pain as he struck, but his blade only cut slightly through the scales and into it's flesh. Good, this might take a while.

Suddenly, the creature's tail whipped through the air from behind him and struck him in the back, knocking him away from it. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance as it began to slither away down another hall.

Dormund grabbed his torch and walked down the hall after it, the green glow following it through the gloom. The end of its tail was only a few feet in front of him, and he lazily slashed at it. The creature hissed and sped faster down the hall in response.

"Come now, this won't make for a very good story!" He called after it. "This should be the story of how I, Dormund, fought in a valiant battle against the Great Serpent of Carlondin! Face me!"

The hallway opened into another room, this one seemingly with no other exits. Bones lay scattered on the floor and rats scurried about, blinded by the light of his torch. Carved stone scenes covered the walls, depicting the sacrifice of countless people to the beast in times now forgotten, and Dormund wondered how long it would be until he too was forgotten with them.