The tavern is dark, only lit by a lone chandelier. The old wooden walls and thatched roof provide minimal cover from the downpour outside. Through the small windows, the moon rises and the rain falls heavily.

Inside the tavern townsfolk from the village relax in the crude wooden chairs and tables, finding comfort in the weak ale and weaker food. The villagers are dressed raggedly, signs of a poor harvest, and talk low amongst each other.

The door to the tavern creeks open as a figure appears in the now open doorway. The villagers turn their attention to the intruder. A tall figure enters into the tavern, ducking down as he moves past the door, and takes a seat on a barstool. The figure places its massive sword next to it and places its folded hands onto the bar. The townsfolk, satisfied its not a bandit, return to their talking amongst themselves.

The figure wears a steel burgonet that completely covers its face and eyes leaving only a dark space where these features should be. The figure wears heavy plate mail with a wolf fur mantle and a heavy bevor covering its neck. The plate mail goes down to its legs but stops at its feet, which are covered with leather boots. It wears a ripped nordic skirt that covers its legs and bears a sigil of a long-forgotten kingdom. It bears a spiked pauldron on its right arm.

"One ale." The figure says in almost a whisper to the barmaid.

A young barmaid with hair colored like fire approaches the figure. Unlike the atmosphere around her, she bears a big grin. She stands in front of the figure, the bar table being the only divider, and leans against the table towards the figure.

"We don't get many outsiders here." She says, surprised. "You look like you've been on many adventures. Can you tell me about one?"

"One ale." The figure says again with the same tone.

The young barmaid pouts and leans closer to the figure, causing it to retract from the table. "Please tell me something." The barmaid begs. "It's so boring around here."

The figure raises its head so that it can see through the small slit that serves as its eyes. It looks at the barmaid and places a hand in its back pouch and pulls out a couple of gold coins. The figure places the coins on the table.

"One ale." The figure says with a more forceful tone. "No questions."

The barmaid's smile disappears. "Very well, just give me a moment." She picks up the coins and puts them in the pocket of her dress.

She moves over to a keg and picks up a nearby pewter cup. She places the cup underneath the spout and pours the dark brown liquid from the cask. She fills the mug to the brim and returns to the figure placing the cup in front of him. Much to the figure's annoyance, the barmaid leans up against the table and watches him expectantly.

The figure takes up the mug and gently raises his burgonet just enough for his mouth to poke from underneath it. The barmaid watches curiously as she gets a peek at its caramel-colored skin and its somewhat hairy chin. The figure quickly finishes the liquid in the cup and places it on the table lowering his burgonet in the process.

"So, where are you heading adventurer?" The barmaid asks expectantly.

The figure looks a the barmaid gently scanning her. "The old estate, south of here. The heir to the estate put out a message for adventurers. I'm answering that call."

"I see." The barmaid takes his cup and starts to clean it. "A crusader and highwayman passed through her a couple of weeks ago heading to that same location."

The figures head peeks up. "A crusader? Did you catch his name?"

"No, unfortunately." The barmaid walks back to the keg and pours more ale into the cup. "They were real uptight and refused to answer my questions." She returns and places the cup in front of the figure. "A shame too, the highwayman was really handsome."

"Unfortunate." The figure says drinking from the cup.

"Y'know there is something that you could help this village with." The barmaid starts. "If you're interested."

The figure places its cup down and looks at the barmaid. "Depends on the request." It says.

The barmaid leans against the table and leans in close to the figure. She looks around to check if anybody is eavesdropping. "Apparently, there's a labyrinth east of the village." She whispers. "There's a terrible beast that lies within that has been carrying off livestock in the dead of night and taking them to its lair within the labyrinth." She leans back. "We've sent multiple adventurers to take care of the beast, but none have returned successfully."

"And you think that I could do it alone?"

The barmaid smiles. "I have more confidence in you. Since you had the common decency to at least talk to me. Politely that is."

"Do you have a map of the labyrinth? Or at least how to get there?"

The barmaid smiles ecstatically. "Yes, I do! Gimme one moment!"

She rushes up the stairs of the tavern, almost tripping on the way up. Before the figure can take another drink of his ale, she quickly returns going full speed down the stairs. In her hand, she carries a dusty map. She makes her way in front of the figure and displays the map on the table for it.

The figure looks at the map intently. "This labyrinth is long. 26 rooms."

"It's long, but most of it has been cleared out by other adventurers." The barmaid points to the map. "All that remains is the beast, but tracking it down in the labyrinth is difficult as it moves between rooms."

"So, I have to manually check each room?" The figure sighs. "I'm going to need firewood and supplies…."

"You can find most supplies at the store across the street from here." The barmaid says, pointing out the window towards a building across the street. "By the way, I never caught your name."

"Wolfgards." The figure says plainly. "I'm a landsknecht," Wolfgards says, standing from his stool.

"Well, Wolfgards. If you succeed in this quest, you will save this village." The barmaid gives a comforting smile. "I wish you all the luck in the world."

Wolfgard raises a hand in acknowledgment and picks up his sword from its leaning position on the table. The sword itself is massive, needing two hands to wield, Wolfgards lifts it with one hand leaning the blade against his shoulder. He leaves the tavern and is greeted by the cold rain of the outside. He crosses the street and enters a shop of sorts.

The shop is made in almost the same design as the tavern with minor adjustments. Where tables should be are shelves filled with all manner of goods. Herbal medicines, water blessed by priests, antidotes, rations, and torches, as well as other goods, can be found.

Wolfgards picks up a backpack near the door and starts to place supplies into it. Torches and rations enter the bag first, followed by firewood and bandages and antidotes. Satisfied with his haul, he takes the backpack and places it on the shop counter where an older man sits reading a book.

The older man looks up from his book and turns his attention to Wolfgards. "Going to a dungeon adventurer?"

"A labyrinth to be specific."

The old man frowns. "Did Angie put you up to this fool's errand?" He looks to the ceiling. "How many adventurers have come in saying the same thing. Light save me." He gets up from his chair and approaches the counter. He examines the goods in the backpack. "1000 gold." He says plainly.

Wolfgards takes out a pouch of gold from his back pouch and places it on the table. Without waiting for the old man to count the pieces, he slings the backpack onto his back and leaves the shop without a word.

As soon as Wolfgards exits the shop, he takes out a compass and checks it. He puts it away and starts to head eastward.

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The forest leading to the labyrinth is dark and deep. The underbrush seems to claw and gnaw at Wolfgards feet as he walks through it. The canopy is so thick that the rain barely seems to penetrate it. The ground, however, is like a mixture of mud and dirt, forming a combination that slows Wolgards advance. Through the small holes in the canopy, Wolfgards can see that the moon has reached its highest point.

As he continues through the forest, he cuts away at the many vines that block his path. He cuts his way through using a small knife that hangs from his belt. He continues cutting through until the vines become less and less until eventually, they disappear entirely. He enters into an area completely devoid of trees and grass with only a stone stairway leading down into a dark abyss. The rain plinks on his armor as he approaches the stairs and makes his way down them.

As he descends, the light fades, causing him to withdraw a torch from his backpack. He lights the torch and holds it in front of him with his free hand and holding his sword with his other. For what seems like hours, he finally makes it to the end of the stairway and is greeted by a stone door. He sticks his sword into a crack in the ground and takes out the map he studies it for a few minutes then places it back in his pouch. With a heavy push, he opens the stone door and enters into the labyrinth.

A cold breeze greets him as he opens the ancient stone door. He makes his way into the room, which is made of stone in a design he is not familiar with. The design is both simple and sophisticated at the same time, with many designs carved into the stone walls. What really stands out to him is a mural on the far right wall. It depicts a scene of a woman praying to the sky. A light shines over her, but for some reason, Wolfgards feels uneasy looking at it. He quickly moves past the mural and opens another door into the hallway.

Wolfgards makes his way through the labyrinth, checking his map every now and then to make a note of the rooms he's checked. Most of the rooms were completely empty, with only remnants of past events. Some rooms had their walls stained with blood from past battles, and some contained chests that were devoid of items.

Wolfgards mind starts to strain from the boredom of walking through empty halls without so much as a battle to break the monotony. He checks his map to see his progress so far. As of the moment, he has checked off 24 of the 26 known rooms in the labyrinth. His current destination is the 25th room, which he is currently heading too. He stops in front of the stone doors and lets out a defeated sigh. He opens the door to be greeted by another empty room. He lets out another heavy sigh and unslings his backpack.

Wolfgards places his bag onto the ground and opens it. He takes firewood from inside the bag and stacks them together to form a campfire. He takes out flint and steel from one of his many pouches and lights the kindling creating a small flame. Satisfied with the fire, he takes a seat and places his sword so that the hilt rests on his shoulder and takes out a whetstone and begins to sharpen the blade. He unstraps his armor, causing it to fall off his chest, revealing his toned chest. The warmth of the fire against his chest eases his mind.

As he loses himself in the sharpening of his blade, he hears the gentle sound of bare feet against wet stone. He turns towards the still open door to see a figure appear before him. He places a hand to the knife by his waist as the figure approaches him. As the figure approaches, more of it becomes illuminated by the fire. The figure continues its approach until it is completely revealed by the campfire.

The figure is what looks to be a small girl. She wears a bloody ragged cloak over her body, hiding her torso and a bit of her lower body. She wears bandages on her exposed arms and legs with the stains of blood soaking them. Her bright blue aqua eyes light up her pale snow-like skin. Her long blonde hair falls down to her knees and covers a bit of her bruised face. She stands by the fire, looking at Wolfgards expectantly.

"You can sit." He says, removing his hand from the knife.

The girl sits by the fire just across from Wolfgards. She sits so that her knees are against her chest, and her arms wrap around them. She puts her chin on her knees and stares into the fire.

"This is no place for little girls," Wolfgards says, sharpening his sword. "You should leave immediately."

The girl makes no notion of listening to Wolfgards as she is completely captivated by the crackling fire. Eventually, she looks up at Wolfgards and looks at him with a blank expression.

Wolfgards looks intensely at her, examining her bruised face. "Do you need healing?" He questions.

The girl feels her face as if she had not noticed the injuries. Upon touching the wounded areas, she winces in pain and nods at Wolfgards. She stands up from her place and moves to Wolfgards taking a seat next to him.

Wolfgards stands up and places the sword on the ground next to him. He searches his bag for medicinal herbs and kneels in front of the girl. He removes his gauntlets and places his fingers in the herbs and gently rubs them against the bruises on her face. She winces in pain as he touches the injury.

Wolfgards closes the medicinal bottle. "That should do it." He examines her exposed extremities. "Looks like your bandages need changing as well." He pulls the backpack over to his position and takes out fresh bandages.

Wolfgards starts with the bandages around her legs. He gently removes them, exposing a cut wound on her leg that hasn't been adequately cleaned. He takes a canteen of water from the bag and douses the injury in water, clearing up some of the muck on the wound. He wraps the clean bandages around her legs.

The girl looks at Wolfgards and places a hand on his bare chest. Her hand is cold and clammy, causing Wolfgards to recoil a little bit to the sudden cold. She moves his hand just above his right breast and starts to use her finger to trace a symbol on it. She finishes tracing and gently thumps the area with her finger.

Wolfgards looks at her, confused but thinks nothing of it. He continues her treatment completely, replacing her bandages with clean herb-infused bandages. He leans back and admires his handiwork and stands up. He moves back to his original position near the campfire and drags his bag with him. He takes a seat and places his sword back on his shoulder and begins to sharpen it once more.

The girl moves over to him and stands in front of him with her back to him. She takes a seat in his lap and sits with her knees to her chest. She stares blankly into the fire. Wolfgards wants her to move, but for some reason, he feels a sort of ease with her. He allows her to stay in this position, but he has to stop sharpening his sword. He places a hand on her messy blonde hair and ruffles it. For some reason, he can feel his stress fading as he ruffles her hair.

Out of nowhere, the sound of a loud grumble is heard originating from the small girl. Wolfgards can't help but let out a slight chuckle.

"Are you hungry?" He asks.

The girl nods. She gets up from Wolfgards lap and takes a position next to him and leans against him.

Wolfgards puts a hand into his bag and searches for a ration pack. He takes two out and hands one to the girl. She looks at it cautiously then glances at Wolfgards.

"You would give your rations to a stranger." She whispers.

Wolfgards is taken aback by her words. More of the fact of the softness and innocence in her voice rather than what she actually said. Her voice is calming, almost like a soft melody to lull a babe to sleep.

"Yes, I would," Wolfgards responds. He shakes the ration pack in front of her.

She brushes the hair from in front of her face with her hand. It's only now does he see some semblance of red in her cheeks. He laughs internally at the thought of a little girl like this one finding a fancy towards him. She takes the ration pack and opens it to reveal a simple meal of bread and dried meat. She gobbles down the meat but leaves the bread completely untouched.

"You don't like bread?" Wolfgards asks, opening his own pack.

"Yes." She responds shyly.

"Hmph. I guess little girls are allowed to be picky." Wolfgards says, taking his dried meat and handing it to her. "Your wounds won't heal if you're not well-fed."

The girl takes the meat and quickly consumes it. With a quick glance, Wolfgards catches a glimpse of her sharp teeth. Her teeth do not concern him as he has fought against the northern men in many a campaign. He knows of their traditions of bearing their blades against their teeth to give off a more intimidating appearance. He pities the girl for having to go through such suffering due to tradition.

Wolfgards lets out a yawn as he leans back until his bareback is against the cold stone floor. The dampness of the floor coats his back, and he quickly regrets making this decision. Before he can make an attempt at getting up, he can feel the girl place her head on his chest. Her face is almost as cold as the floor and causes a shiver to run up Wolfgards spine. He puts a hand on her head and gently scratches her head.

"How did you end up here?" Wolfgards questions.

"I was being chased by bandits and took cover in these ruins to escape them."

"No, I mean, how did you end of HERE."

"I simply followed the path of opened doors."

"I see."

Wolfgards looks up at the ceiling of the room, only now noticing that there's a mural painted on it. It depicts the woman from the first mural holding a child of blonde hair. He looks closer to see that the child's lower body is that of a snake. A red-colored light shines over both the child and the supposed mother.

"Must be some pagan story." Wolfgards thinks to himself as he closes his eyes.

The only sounds in the room are the gentle breathing of both Wolfgards and the girl combined with the dying campfire. Wolfgards lies there, his eyes shut, and quietly falls asleep.

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Wolfgards wakes up to an intense burning sensation in his right breast. He gets up, stifling his screams as the burning gets worse, and the smell of searing flesh enters his nose. He tries to find some leverage on the floor and finds his sword's hilt. He grabs it roughly and clutches it tightly as the pain escalates. Then just as the pain reaches its height and he can barely hold it in anymore, it stops.

Wolfgards lets out heavy pained breaths as the sweat drips down his body. He sits up and looks around the room. The girl is nowhere to be found. Out of instinct, he reaches for his bag to find that it is still there, and the contents are untouched. He lets out a sigh of relief and feels his right breast with his hand. He gently feels a new indentation in his skin and looks down at it to see a symbol engraved into his flesh. The symbol is that of a heart with a sword reminiscent of his own piercing it.

He gets up from the floor and equips his cuirass and fastens its straps. "Enough of this labyrinth…." He whispers to himself, securing the last belt. He slings the backpack on his back and picks up his sword and heads to the door leading to the 26th room. He opens the door to be greeted by pitch-black darkness and what seems to be a very short hallway. He lights a torch and heads down the hall and opens the entrance to the last room.

The last room is significantly different than the others. The floor around the room has been destroyed replaced by a light blue liquid leaving only a thin strip of none submerged floor. Wolfgards bends down near the liquid and sticks his gauntleted finger into the liquid. Smoke starts to emit from the submerged gauntlet, and he quickly retracts his hand.

"Careful, it's acidic." A soothing voice calls out.

Wolfgards looks towards the voice to see the girl from before. However, something is very different about her. Her cloak is missing revealing her exposed stomach that is half covered in scales leaving only her belly button fleshy. She wears a metallic bra that hides her barely developed chest. Where her bandaged legs have been replaced by a long snake tail that has green scales.

"A beast." Wolfgards snarls. He takes off his bag and places it near the entrance. He places both hands on his sword and takes a battle stance.

The girl gives him a calm smile. "You showed me kindness where most would have killed me or done worse." She extends a hand towards him. "You are now my forever mate."

"I am no such thing beast," Wolfgards says, approaching the girl. "What did you do to me? What pagan curse have you put on me." He shouts.

"Think of it as a symbol of my love, darling." She says, slithering over to him. "With that symbol on your chest, we will be bound forever."

"You're delusional if you think a monster like you could ever be loved," Wolfgards says, readying a slash. "Now die."

Wolfgards slashes down at the girl, but she blocks it with her scaled arms. The sword barely makes a dent in her scales as Wolfgards withdraws it and rests it on his shoulder. He readies another strike this time with the hilt.

Wolfgards sprints forward, and pommel bashes the girl in her unscaled face. The spiked pommel goes straight into her eye, and Wolfgards quickly withdraws it taking the eye with it. The girl covers her eye socket with her hand.

"Please, darling…." She blushes. "If you wanted to see me messed up, all you have to do is ask."

Wolfgards strikes her again with the hilt of his sword, knocking her to the ground. With all his strength, he pierces her tail with his sword pinning her to the ground. He withdraws the dagger from his belt as he approaches her upper body.

Wolfgards kneels down next to the girl and raises his dagger high into the air, aiming it at her stomach. As he raises his knife, he notices her crying, desperately wiping tears away from her face. Curiosity overwhelms Wolfgards.

"Why do you cry, beast." Wolfgards snarls.

"I'm just so happy I found my forever mate…." She says, wiping away tears. "I finally found the love my mother so desperately wanted."

Wolfgards stabs the girl in her side, piercing through her scales and entering into her soft underbelly. He twists the dagger in her as she laughs in ecstasy.

"No man has ever pierced me before!" She shouts ecstatically as blood starts to flow from her mouth. "Please pierce me more, darling!"

Wolfgards tries to withdraw his dagger, but the scales around it seem to have rehardened, trapping the blade in her body. Without any weapons, Wolfgards is forced to use his hands. He can feel his mind swaying as he thinks about having to strangle someone he just healed. He quickly ignores this notion as he examines its hideous form.

"Can you not take the dagger out, my love?" The girl says, almost bashfully. "I am sorry my regenerative capacity is quite high. I hope this does not damper our relationship."

Wolfgards wraps his hands around her throat and applies as much pressure as he possibly can to her. As he applies the weight, he can feel his mind going to a darker and darker place.

"Harder darling. Harder." The girl mutters as her throat is being collapsed.

The girl wraps her arms around Wolfgards neck and tries to move her face as close to his as possible. She gently kisses his helmet causing Wolfgards to tighten his grip around her neck. He can feel the scales around her neck, breaking under the intense pressure of his gauntlets. She simply smiles innocently as her single eye starts to roll back in her head as she derives pleasure from the strangulation.

With a loud snap, her motions stop, and the light leaves her eye. Her body twitches from pleasure as her life is snuffed out, and Wolfgards can hear a gentle dripping coming from her lower area. He gets up from off her and grabs his dagger, which comes out cleanly from her body, and reattaches it to his waist. He withdraws his sword from her tail and places it on his shoulder. He starts to walk to his backpack.

"Where are you going, darling?"

Wolfgards freezes in place. He turns around to see that her one good eye looks at him like an abandoned puppy. Her tail has yet to fully recover from the damage sustained by Wolfgards sword, so she instead starts to crawl over to him.

"Please don't leave me, my love." She begs from the floor. "Don't leave me alone."

Wolfgards can feel something snap within himself. He drops his sword to the ground and stomps over to the girl. He picks her up by the neck and drags her to the pool of acidic water. He sticks her headfirst into the water and holds her head under it. Much to his despair, she does not struggle against him but instead accepts it. The sound of sizzling fills the room as smoke starts to emit from her submerged face. The smell of burning flesh finally reaches his nose, and he is forced to remove her from the pool for his own sake.

Her face is completely burned off, but her eye remains unaffected. It rolls over to look at Wolfgards, and he looks back at it. There are no words spoken from the girl as the acid has dissolved her throat. Wolfgards stands up and walks to his bag. He can feel the eye watching him as he moves to his pack. He takes out an orb of black liquid and a torch.

Wolfgards walks back over to what's left of the girl and empties the black orb on top of her. The black liquid coats her green scales and leaves her blackened. As Wolfgards prepares the torch, he can hear a gurgling coming from the girl. He stops his actions momentarily and looks at the girl's dissolved face.

"I…..will…..return…..darling." The girl gurgles through burned flesh.

Wolfgards lights the torch and throws it on the girl's body, igniting the black liquid. The flames quickly consume her body. Through the flames, Wolfgards can hear her giggle in ecstasy. Wolfgards quickly picks up his sword from off the ground and puts on his backpack leaving the room. He quickly retraces his steps through the labyrinth and, within an hour, makes it outside. The morning sun greets him on his exit.

The fresh air hits him like a mace to the gut. It's both refreshing and freeing. Almost so refreshing that he almost forgets about previous events. It all comes to him in a blast of light, and he is forced to his knees. He raises his helmet and throws up on the ground hacking up the bread he ate before. He spits out the rest of it and lowers his helmet. He gets up and lets out a deep breath. He stumbles his way in the direction of the town.

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He arrives in the town late in the evening. He makes his way to the tavern. He stumbles into the building and takes a seat at a nearby stool and stares blankly at the table.

"Let me guess an ale?" The barmaid giggles.

Wolfgards gives a nod. "Make it three."

The barmaid quickly returns with the ales and places them in front of Wolfgards. He quickly downs them without lifting his helmet, letting the ale stream down his helmet and onto his skirt.

The barmaid leans in close to him. "How did it go?"

"The beast is dead. You won't have to worry about missing livestock anymore."

"Perfect. You did this town a huge favor, Wolf." The barmaid says ecstatically. "It's a good thing you arrived too. A stagecoach to the southern hamlet just arrived."

"Good," Wolfgards says. "I wish to leave this place as soon as possible."

"The coach is right around the corner. You can't miss it." The barmaid says. "I wish you luck in your future endeavors, Wolf."

Wolfgards nods and stands up from the stool, leaving the tavern. He turns the corner around the bar and spots the stagecoach. He approaches it and looks at the driver.

"This is too the southern hamlet?"

The driver smiles a toothy grin. "Hohoho. Another adventurer for the heir?" The driver looks Wolfgards up and down. "You'll do nicely."

Wolfgards enters into the stagecoach and closes the door behind him. Inside the coach are two other people. From their gear, Wolfgards makes the assumption that one is a plague doctor while the other is a vestal. Before he can ask them questions, the stagecoach starts to move.

Wolfgards leans his head against the walls of the coach and nods off.