I have to say that my life has been a boring little romp since I'd decided to stay with my family here at Ankgor Thom. I've rarely anything to do, and all I'm really useful for now is knitting wool for my little brother and neighbors. I did not like being looked down upon just because I was a 3rd daughter, but it stood.

I am really a dancer, but ever since the last of the Holy Roman Empire had savaged our village, I had been out of commission. I was meandering out in the woods outside of our abode, and I had nothing to do. I decided to pick up an old book written by one of our elders called The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. It showed me just why my ancestors believed in the things they did, where they got most of our ideas from, and why they used myths and such to make up for occasional lack of knowledge.

I liked to wander around in the woods and listen to the wildlife, using my ornamental sword to hack away at branches and pretend that I was on some sort of fantastic adventure, though I'd pretty much known that nothing would ever really come true. And if it did, I was almost sure that I wouldn't really like it. When I had been out a couple miles, I decided to sit down a while and read some more. I sat there for what seemed like hours, sweeping over the horrible mistakes of humankind, particularly shocked at the Roman Crusades. Tearing across Europe, slaughtering anyone whom refused to convert. I was glad that horrible Charlemeign went so quickly. I'd also read a tale about a powerful warlord who would entomb the world in chaos after several centuries of suffering. It was very powerful and dramatic. I began reading it out loud to myself.

"Thy time is done, Great Ancient. Forever in shadow will you be, Master of Chaos, and to fade to nothing in obscurity will be thy fate. My master has planned many millennia for this day. It is the true chaos of all things that you must now be entombed amongst the beings of flesh and bone... "

The words were stirring, and I wondered if such a thing could ever actually happen. I sat there, pondering, when I heard a distant, low rumble. I looked ahead, only to see a great wall of foliage in front of me. The rumbling continued, and I could now hear several distant, underground 'thump's. Bits of rock crumbled off the wall ahead. Rock? I looked closer at the foliage to see that there was a smooth wall underneath. I put down my book, and circled around to the side to get a better look.

"Not even these mythical fables can keep me amused," I said to myself. "There has to be something to do around here. I only wish that something that fantastic, and of higher purpose, could happen to me..."

As I circled the wall, babbling to myself, I was startled to see a large hole in the foliage. I walked up to it and looked aside. It lead deep inside, obviously unnatural, and there was a gentle, warm breeze emanating from it. I could make out the faintest glow of what looked like lit torches.

Stepping inside, a rather sour and musty odor assaulted my nose. It had smelled as if it were built centuries ago, and was just left there to rot. The floor was very dusty, spotted with various molds here and there, and the statue of a large, ugly goddess of a sort stood at the end of the room. As I took it all in, I decided to leave and tell the others about it. I might find something interesting. But then, I heard the sound of sliding stone. I looked back to see that the door had shut. Uh-oh. I had no suspicion of this being some sort of trap.

I walked up to the stone goddess. It had four arms, several breasts and a very large, oddly shaped nose. I noticed a red, glowing necklace around its neck. It looked terribly suspicious. I had a grim feeling that it might be some sort of trap. I looked to the sides of the room to see two open passageways to my sides. Curiosity had me caught. I slipped my finger around the necklace and slipped it off the statue's neck. I instantly heard sliding stone and a thump, and I saw that one of the passageways, the one on the right had closed. Okay. I knew my only option. I stepped down and carried the necklace with me, walking into the dark of the passage.

After a short venture, I came to a smallish room with a cute little shrine of three candles at the center and another passage to the left. I saw that the first two were lit, matching the position of the sun emblem above it. It was just beginning to rise. I stepped off to the other passage, when something brushed my leg. I shrieked. I looked down to see a blackened, stringy corpse curled up on the ground. I gasped, and a terrible feeling came over me. What was this horrible temple here for? Who had died and left his rigid remains on the floor here? I dismissed the thought, and ran into the other room.

A long hallway lay ahead. It was littered with the same grotesque corpses. I proceeded to run, when I felt the stone underneath my foot press downward. A blade whizzed out in front of me, nearly giving me a heart attack. It came out from the side, slicing into a contour in the floor, then sliced down again in a syncopated rhythm. I ducked through, then gently stepped through, avoiding the pressure plates that would probably only continue to set off more horrible traps. The dim torches on the walls made way to the passage at the end, which lead into another, similar room.

I instantly stopped. There, in the center, was a tall, muscular man with his back facing me. He was wearing red clothing, and I could only barely make out the intricate details on it. I stepped foreword slowly, fearfully, and he turned to me. I stopped dead in my tracks. This was not a man. He had a humanoid shape, yes. But he seemed to be missing just about all of his skin. Red veins throbbed visibly through his muscles as he shuffled towards me. I smelled his horrible breath. It made me weak. I looked into his sunken , skeletal face. I drew my blade, and backed down. He didn't stop. I decided that he wouldn't acknowledge a plea for mercy, so I swiped at his head. His neck severed, and with much bleeding, his head dropped off. But he didn't die, he just stood there, swinging wildly at me. I ran around behind him, and he didn't seem to follow. I stabbed the blade into his back repeatedly. Its thick, tough flesh wasn't very badly damaged. I shredded it with difficulty as I plunged it back in several more times. It was badly torn up. Then I noticed that there was a swelling, red lump growing out of its neck. It looked suspiciously like. the back of another head.

I couldn't understand how a creature could be so strong, let alone regrow its own head. How? Why would he just be here, waiting for me? It turned around again. I flanked it, the slashed its arm, followed by a combo of slashed that I'd learned from my father, designed to intimidate the enemy sword fighter. I knew that wouldn't help much, but the slicing had opened up most of its bleeding chest. It fell down, writhing, and I applied a final, powerful blow to its back. My legs were shaking. I wanted to sit down and cry. But then I noticed another shrine of candles. This time, the sun was up in the middle of the sky, and the two candles on the sides were lit. I frowned, then picked up a twig on the ground and pressed against the first candle. I then lit the one in the middle, and gently smothered the other two with my blade. My blade, covered in filthy blood and rivets of flesh.

I heard the familiar sound of more sliding stone, and saw that a door to the side of the room was gently sliding open. But then it stopped about a third-way. Odd, I thought. I looked over it to see another hallway, but I couldn't squeeze through, thanks to my losing my dancer's figure. I fell back, bumping into an urn and causing to the clatter to the ground beside me. I saw something shiny. It was a pretty bronze necklace, but it didn't shine or glow with the odd potency mine did. I remembered that other passage that closed when I took the red one. Maybe, just maybe if I put this less interesting one onto the neck of the goddess, it would open up the passage again. It was really my only hope, as that had been the only alternative route I'd come across. I started back to the entrance chamber.

I creeped back through that dreaded hallway, careful not to set off any of the traps. As I entered the first candle room, I remembered th at corpse on the ground, and took caution not to step on it. But it wasn't there. I was briefly relieved before a horrible feeling of dread washed over me. What does it mean if something's not there anymore? It moved. I heard a scraping noise all around me. What I saw when I looked up made my bones freeze. That corpse, along with two others I guess I hadn't noticed, were standing in the middle of the room. Their feet scraped as they walked, explaining the noise. I pulled out my sword, but hesitated. Could it be avoided? There were three of them. Only one was directly in front of the exit. I wasted no time, and ran towards that one. I sliced his body aside, briefly relieved that its flesh wasn't nearly as rough as the red monster's, then ran out the door. I sped into the main chamber, ran up to the goddess and placed the bronze necklace around its neck. Looking back, I saw that none of the monsters had left the room, and that the door to the room on the other side had slid back open.

I did not want to continue. I don't want to face another room full of unholy, scabbing monsters. I guess there was only one faint glimmer of hope in this disaster. I hurried to the opening, and noticed that the room was identical to the one on the other side, candles and all. I slipped on the smooth granite tile, fell foreword, and scraped my legs. Luckily, the floor was smooth, and no skin was sheared off. My blade clattered on the floor some feet away. I looked up, and my heart took another leap. There, right above me, was another horrible, rotting creature. These things were terrible! But this one was even worse. It had a disgusting, blue tone to its skin, and its face was a dank, purple pit of death and misery. I stumbled back as it bent over, its clammy arms reaching toward me to strangle me. throttle me. to make me one of him!

I could barely get a hold of myself. I grabbed my blade, stood up and circled it quickly to hit it from the back. I had to get away from the eyes! They were taking a hold of me! I stabbed the monsters back. It groaned irritably then tried to face me the other way. I changed direction, stabbing it a second time. My blade was soaked with a disgusting, squishy black blood. The monster groaned again much louder, almost a roar. A trickle of vile fluid dripped from its mouth. I gashed it a third time, and it began making a low, deep moan. I stood there, wondering just what it could mean. Why would a monster sing?

His eyes! They were glowing. pulsating with a horrible shine! A shine that meant death and decay!

I grew very tired and dizzy. It seemed as if the entire room around me had become tilted at a steep angle. I had a bad pang in my stomach. I collapsed on the floor by its feet. What? What's feet? I didn't even notice. Then, a blast of blue light filled the room. The monster exploded, guts and rivets of skin flying everywhere. Most went outward, but I was right under it, and got a healthful supply of rotten blue flesh.

Ah! Get it off me! It's eating my skin! Crawling all over my insides!

I sat back up, wiped as much off as possible and tried to stand. My legs felt more solid now, I felt more balanced, and the floor seemed properly upright. Shivering, I walked out into another horrible trap hallway. I watched carefully for those trap plates on the ground, but they were everywhere, and my legs felt so clammy. I stepped on one, and ducked, expecting one of those horrible blades to cut me in half. Nothing happened. I heard a whipping noise. I looked ahead to see arrows flying back and forth inside the hallway. I hurriedly scurried across the floor, making sure to keep my head below the flow of arrows. Stepping on the pressure plates only seemed to activate arrows. But then I saw two outlined sections of the wall smash together. The noise bolted me upright, and a horrible, shocking pain shot through my stomach. I crouched down again, then saw the feathered back of an arrow sticking out of my body. Oh, Lord no. I felt numb now, but the pain was beginning to return, and I was the blood oozing down my midriff. I prayed, silently crying to myself, that I would somehow get it out of me and live. I took that pretty red necklace out and squeezed it, watched it shine, happy that my last days would be spent looking at something beautiful. But then the red light grew very bright, and I heard a deep, growling voice. It sounded like it said "Narrow-cat, Sand-tech, Chit-gurgle." I wondered, what would that nonsense mean? Or maybe I heard it wrong.

Then I noticed that the pain in my stomach was gone. The blood was gone, and the arrow. what had happened to the arrow? I heard something clatter by my feet. There it was, still covered in my blood, and completely outside my body. Just as if it had been removed. The smashing stone brought me back to my senses, and I waited until it was just opening, then dashed through into the next chamber.

This was another little candle shrine. I realized that I'd forgot to position the other one, but there was no way I would go back through that hallway. I saw a door that was partly way open, just like the other one. But there was no sun engraving above the shrine, just empty stars. No sun, two candles lit. What would that mean? That would mean that none of the candles should be lit, or course.

I blew them out, praying that I had made the right decision, and winced at the dark that had swept over the room. I heard the door slide open, and the warm torchlight of another hall filled it. It was another hallway full of traps, but these were much easier to avoid. I saw a skeletal figure shuffling toward me a ways away, but then it stepped on a pressure plate. The blade swung out in front of it, but it was oblivious as it shuffled slowly. I mockingly walked toward it, but then I noticed to my side a pedestal in a small clearing. I walked up to examine it, and saw that there was what looked like a gnarled flute placed on top, next to a small box. I heard a scraping noise, followed by rather unpleasant scrapes, and I looked back to see that the blade had mutilated the creature. Good riddance I thought, and I went back to the blowgun. I examined the walls to make sure that no blades or arrows cut me down. No holes whatsoever. I picked up the blowgun, heard a snap, and the floor under me gave out. I threw up my blade, looked down to see straw rushing up to me and landed with a rough but softened impact.

Shaking my head, I got up and heard a clatter beside me. My sword had hit the floor and broken into three pieces, the tip firmly stuck in the floor. The handle was attached to a tiny, useless sliver of metal. I heard screaming around the corner. I looked out to see two of those horrible red giants attacking someone. A human, what looked like a guard. I saw his spear a few feet away, behind the advancing monsters. I remembered my blowgun, brought it to my lips and aimed it carefully. I blew hard, and the dart shot out and struck it in the back. It didn't notice. The guard clambered around it, but not before getting punched hard in the stomach by one of them. The two turned to face us. I picked up the box from where I had landed, then forcefully opened it to find more darts. Useless! I saw the man make a dash for his spear, then noticed that one of the monsters was walking funny. It limped gently, sagging to the left with each step, then fell to its left side. It writhed on the ground, gurgling, and I suddenly remembered that these darts were poisonous. I loaded the tiny dart into the tube, aimed and blew again, hitting the other monster in the face. It didn't notice. Then I realized that it was closer than I'd thought. It reached out and punched me in the stomach. I fell on the ground, struggling for air. It had been a very hard blow, worse than I had ever suffered, and its fist seemed hard as a rock. The monster bent down towards me, then collapsed from the poison.

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't obey. The guard came over and gave me a hand, hoisting me up. I recognized him as a friend of my father's. I was suddenly very relieved. I held him close, felt his real, human muscles against mine and wished that he'd protect me forever. I looked over at my blade on the ground, then picked it up and examined it.

"Do you want me to fix this?" he asked.

"No, you shouldn't have to trouble yourself. It's alright," I said.

"No, it's easy, a man has taught me another way." he lifted the broken fragments of the sword, then his body became incased in a purple light. It uttered another three-phrase chant, similar to the one I had heard from my necklace, but it was in a quiet, whispery voice. The blade became bathed in the light, then reformed before my very eyes. The light gently leaked from the cracks, then disappeared altogether, leaving behind that familiar, solid sheen.

"How did you do that?" I asked

"I swore I wouldn't tell. But that's not important right now," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Nevermind. Just go," he said, followed by a sweeping gesture toward the other hall in front of me.

I reached my arms out to hug him again, but he shied away, then walked back into the corner, spear in hand. I just stood there until I heard the traps being set off. I looked back ahead to see a skeletal monster flipping the traps. He was quickly sliced as the other had been. I ran through the traps as quickly as I could without falling again, and stepped into a very large area with mysterious murals on the walls. They looked interesting, if not a bit sinister, and I had no idea just what they might mean. I noticed a large dome in the center of the room, fire coming out of the top, and a small slot in the bottom of it. Then I noticed two more of the thin, bony figures I'd commonly seen. I ran past them, taking advantage of the large space in the room, and groaned loudly as another trap hallway spread out before me. I carefully skipped over the plates in what I hoped would be the last of such hallways, and I came to another mural room. It was in the same manner as the last, with the large dome in the center, but the murals were different. Last time, it was a large demon erupting from a pit and being worshipped. This time it was what looked like a skeletal demon torturing that demon with some sort of wicked spell. My thoughts were interrupted with the groans and growls of four more monsters in the room. They didn't seem to notice me. In fact, as I looked more carefully, I could see that three were red, one was blue, and they were advancing on each other. The three reds ganged up and began punching the blue one, beating its body and causing blood to splatter everywhere. But then that blue monster began moaning that song I'd heard before, loudly, with the blue light by its eyes. Its stomach seemed to bulge out. It exploded in a bluish shock wave, cutting the bodies of the red ones in half. The severed halves writhed a little, then stopped moving.

I went on to a huge chamber with thick, dusty air and what looked like an irregular shrine in the center. It seemed to lift and fall, with odd markings and textures all over the structure. I went in for a closer look. The view was briefly obscured by a woman's stature holding a rod. The dust seemed to clear a little, and what I saw scared and disturbed me ever further. The chamber was alive. The walls, the floor, the shrine itself, it was all made of a sickening red flesh that rose and fell with a heavy breathing sound. I saw at the top of the shrine, a large, gasping, hideous circular mouth. The mound itself was dotted with what appeared to be numerous, smaller mouths, along with random eyes and folds of flash. All of them gasped, blinked and shuddered in an ungodly rhythm that sent chills through every inch of my body. I walked closer to the monstrosity, and two guards came out from behind me.

"Don't go near it," said one of them. He advanced, but then two large tentacles reached out and grabbed him and his partner around the waist. They lifted him into the air, then carried them off to the sides where I couldn't see them. I shivered and ducked, hoping to escape whatever it would do to me. But the tentacles didn't return.

"So, you are reduced to feeding on flesh and bone, Mantorok. How the mighty have fallen. You will surely fester for millennia to come. A slow torturous fate for thee."

I was surprised to hear a loud, deep voice right beside me. It was a man that might have been a guard, but oddly enough, he wore the armor of an ancient Roman legionnaire. He carried a staff which resembled a human vertebrae. I could barely catch a glimpse of his face, but I could tell that he was old, and his skin was in an unhealthy state. He turned to me.

"You had best leave, young fool," he said sharply, "or you will find yourself as food for the Dead God!"

I wanted to ask him what was going on, and why he was here, but he turned and briskly left. I didn't want to end up as food for anything, particularly not this hideous mass, so I quickly raced around it to the exit. It was locked. I cursed loudly, then walked back to the front to look for a key or anything that might get me out. I looked at the statue again. It seemed a thing of beauty, oddly contrasting the rest of the room. It seemed to stare back at me, with an oddly purple gaze. Wait, purple? The next thing I knew, I was on my back.

I could not move an inch. I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an old man walking toward me. It wasn't a guard, or that funny little man I had seen earlier, but a balding, dark-haired man with a staff and a bad limp.

"You are one of the chosen many," he said in a soft, almost inhuman voice. He added, "flesh and blood."

He bent over and grabbed my shoulders, then hoisted me into the steps leading to the statue, and spoke again. I could now feel most of my upper body, but could not move very much.

"It is now your destiny to fight the Eternal Darkness." He held out a black object that throbbed unpleasantly in his hands.

I struggled to lift my head, and could now feel every nerve in my body.

"I give you a give in return for an obligation. The gift is your life, sweet dancer. The obligation is this." He placed it into my arms, and it floated gently, thankfully not coming into direct contact with my skin.

You hold one of Mantorok's hearts. The Essence of the Corpse God. To some it is a source of great power. From those people you must defend it, lest they use it to destroy what little brightness your world has left in it. Guard it well," he said as he slowly turned and walked away.

I wanted to ask him what this really was, and what the Hell was going on, but I couldn't seem to speak. The object pushed away from my body, then slammed into my chest. I grabbed at it, but it had disappeared. Almost as it if were sucked into my body. I couldn't feel any extra or unusual organs, however, and so I decided to get up and look for that key. Trying to figure things out at this point would only hurt my head. I guess I could try and look it up in my book, or maybe ask one of my neighbors about it.

I saw that statue behind me again, looked at the spear, and noticed that the edge of the rod it was holding was studded, in the same manner as a key. I lifted it off the statue's arms, remembering that odd slit she had seen earlier. It was very small, obscure. I decided to try and see if this rod would fit inside, as there was no keyhole on the door out.

I was relieved to see that the halls were empty, but the large mural chambers were littered with monsters of red skin, and there seemed to be more than before. I was quite used to them by now, but every time I looked into their eyes, I got a sick feeling, one that reminded me of how badly I wanted to leave. When I finally got to the first room containing the pot, it was guarded by four of them. I quickly pulled out my blowgun, loaded it and fired, hitting each one of them once, and dodging around the room whenever they got close. It took unusually long for them to go down, but once they did, I stepped over their husks to the dome. I inserted the pole into it, and it seemed to click into place at an upward angle. I pulled it down much minor difficulty, and I heard that familiar sound of distant, sliding stone.

I backtracked a final time, and as I got toward the chamber at the end, I felt sick again. I wanted desperately to leave, and to never remember it. I didn't care if any of my friends believed me. I just wanted to breathe the sweet jungle air and take a good, long drink of water. I was sure that I would never be surprised by anything again. I approached the horrid room full of flesh again, and I walked around to the door. I thanked the gods that it was open, and I prepared to leave.

But dread came over me as I came to a dead end. There was nothing but a small room with another woman statue in the center. I looked around for anything-a door, a window, a passage. but there was no way out. I would have to go back and look for one of those old men and ask them for a way out. I looked back, and to my surprise and relief, the armored man was standing there with two guards. One was the guard who I had saved. I started to ask him, but the armored man cut me off.

"Fool! You should have run! Instead you will die! Where is the Essence of Mantorok?"

I barely knew what he was talking about, but I had a feeling it was that heart the other man had given me. He said to guard it, and I had another feeling, that being that he probably didn't want this hysterical man to have it. In the brighter torchlight, I would now see the armored man's face clearly. It was practically a skeleton. His skin was dry and not exactly rotten, but rather withered and looking very old. He had dark, dead eyes, and his teeth were bared in a skeletal grin. I wanted to protest, but the guards advanced on me. The guard I knew grabbed me by the shoulder and held me into place, hissing like an animal.

"Where is it? I will not ask again, child!" he yelled louder. I remained silent, not wanting to let down the other man who had entrusted that foul heart to me. After what I had seen and faced today, I knew that I could just as easily put up with death threats.

"Very well, then," he said with a low, dangerous growl, "You will succumb to the horrors of oblivion..."

He reached out his vertebrae-staff, and a blinding light flashed through my head. It burned horribly, blinding me and seemingly frying my brain. I fell to me knees, screaming, and at the same time wondering just what that Mantorok was.