Finally the beginning of the end begins!

I am going to follow the same pattern of uploading: new chapters every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes on Thursdays.

GuestFromFrance - Sorry to hear that your boss troubles you with his antiquated expectations of what women should look like.. you hang in there, things will get better and yes, there are men that are progressive out there.


"Then I looked and saw a pale horse. Its rider's name was Death,"

Revelation 6:8

Green, green grass. She was running over it, fast and quick. The sun shone down on her brightly.

She laughed loudly as she realized she was going to win the race. A competitor groaned somewhere behind her but she did not turn back or stop. She just kept running.

Suddenly the track changed. The bright day turned inexplicably to night. She was running on stone, towards a cliff, towards the Abyss.

She tried to stop, she pushed back on her heels, but she could not. She just could not stop running. Voices were whispering to her loudly as she ran towards the edge. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

She heard her name being called out. "Tony! Tony!" Wait, that isn't my name? My name is... what is my name?

It is too late to think about that now, as with a final leap, she jumped off the cliff and descended into blinding darkness. As she fell, the air whistling around her, she saw a whiteness. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel...

Then she realized what the whiteness was and cried out. "Someone help me! Save me!"

It is too late... you are already gone...

Rows and rows of sharp pointed fangs, gleamed brightly in the darkness of the Abyss.

She was falling into the mouth of the Beast.

It is too late for me...

That's right... it is too late.

Why do you sound so familiar to me?

I have always been with you... my friend...


Tony woke up with a gasp. He pushed off the bed clothes as he was sweating lightly. His heart was pounding in his ears. He shook his head to try and clear it.

He spoke out loud, trying to make sense of the dream.

"Okay, what was that?"

But the Dragon was strangely silent.

"Dragon... where are you? Why so quiet?"

Tigliath jumped up on the bed, growling softly and Tony absently stroked his furry, large head. "Well, Tigliath, where do you think the Dragon has gone?"

He shrugged, the mysterious nature of the dream still bothering him. "Why teeth? I have been to the Abyss three times now and I have never seen teeth! And..." he rubbed his jaw. "Why was the voice so familiar? I am sure I have never heard that voice before but..."

Tony closed his eyes, trying to hold on to the memories of the dream. "Running... falling into the Abyss... Why was I running in the first place? I was... wait, I was racing someone!"

Tigliath chirruped with annoyance and Tony looked at the window. Faint orangish tendrils of sunlight were distantly visible on the horizon.

He said thoughtfully, "It is not yet daybreak, I can sleep... for a little while..."

He yawned and lay back on his pillows, Tigliath's warm head on his chest. Only for a little while.


It was just daybreak, so no one noticed the five mysterious riders that rode around the Village, towards the Lake. Dressed entirely in black, they seemed like soldiers. But again, there was no one around to notice one rider, who rode slightly behind the rest.

An unusually tall man, a heavy hood obscuring his face and torso, rode on a pale, painfully thin horse. It should not have been physically possible for such a frail horse to carry such a heavy rider. But there was nothing normal about either the horse or its rider.

The small troop had clearly come with a mission in mind as they looked neither left nor right nor stopped on their ride. They also seemed to know the way to the Stark Keep.

They galloped up the hill overlooking Stark Keep, nestled in the thick foliage of the forest. The hooded rider raised his large gloved hand. The riders halted. He dismounted from his pale horse and silently observed the Keep.

One of the other riders squeaked, "How can we get in? This is a small fort! There is no way we can breach that iron gate!"

The hooded rider's back was to the others but he turned towards them ominously and the horses shied away from him nervously.

The riders were equally nervous and one of them started to squeak out an explanation, when the hooded rider again raised his hand.

In a deep voice, he said slowly, "Lord Stark will come to us. Ride into the forest. Take your positions under the oak tree. Hide the horses. I will draw Stark out."

The riders obeyed, leaving the hooded man and his pale horse, atop the hill. The man pushed off his hood and looked up at the sky. He pulled off his glove and then held his fingers against his eyes. He bent his head slightly and began to whisper ominously in a fell tongue.


He was running over cobblestones to his home. Where his mother was waiting for him. He could see her standing there in the doorway of the house. Her dark hair drifted in the breeze as she waved at him.

He ran into her arms and she lifted him up high. "My son! Finally, you are home!"

He knew she missed him when he went away. She hugged him tightly to her. He tightened his arms around her, trying to blink away his tears. It wouldn't do for his mother to see him crying. After all, he was now a knight-in-training.

She kept murmuring his pet name, "Tony, Tony", over and over again. He took a deep breath and filled his lungs with her comforting vanilla smell. Her softness, her warmth, her pearls as they pressed into his face.

She finally set him down, her eyes were slightly moist and as he stared up into her beautifully familiar face, his mother ruffled his hair lovingly. "Why do they cut your hair so short, Tony? You have such beautiful hair..."

She cupped his face and he leaned into her hand, feeling a deep peace within him. He was home, at least for a little while.

"Come my son," she said softly, "I have prepared your favorite food. Lamb stew. With carrots, without peas!"

She laughed musically at his wide grin and taking his hand in hers, she led him to the table.

He sat down and tied the napkin around his neck. She placed a steaming dish in front of him and sat down next to him.

He looked down at the dish and felt violently ill. The food was filled with worms, white, squirming worms that writhed in and out of the vegetables and meat.

"Mama, what is this..." his words died on his lips as he looked at his mother.

His mother who had turned white with decay. Bluish green patches mottled her delicate face. Her dark brown eyes had glazed over. She was sitting stiff in front of him, rigor mortis clearly evident in her stiffened limbs.

A vicious cut had slit her throat, nearly cleaving her head off her neck. The cut was deep and he could see maggots eating her flesh, moving slowly through her. His heart started to pound as he realized he was looking at his mother's corpse.

Then she opened her jaw and he smelt the sickly stench of rot and decay. Her jaw unhinged on her face and fell to the ground.

"Look for me in the clearing, Anthony..." the corpse whispered to him, jawless mouth gaping, "Come to the clearing, Anthony."

She stretched one stiff, rotting hand towards him and he screamed in fear.


This time, Tony jerked upright and stood from his bed quickly. He was panting lightly and wiped his sweating brow. He wanted to vomit and cry at the same time. The smell of death and decay remained in his nostrils.

He swallowed hard, trying to clear his head, once again after another disturbing dream.

"Sard it, what is wrong with me?! Two nightmares in one night!"

It was now clearly morning and he looked out at the peaceful, quiet day, the birds singing in the trees.

Then he remembered his mother in the dream and rubbed his eyes. The vision of her haunted him.

"I haven't dreamed of my mother in ages... is this a sign? What was she trying to tell me?"

He rubbed his eyes again and then suddenly, the dream's message came to him. "The clearing! She distinctly said come to the clearing! Is there something there?"

Tony knew he had to go down there. There was a niggling thought in his head that said he had to do it, he had to listen to the dream.

The Dragon was still silent but Tony pulled on his trousers and shirt quickly, suddenly feeling desperate to reach the clearing as fast as possible.

He didn't bother with his shoes or sword but clasped the dagger to his ankle. Then he stepped out of his room and paused for a minute outside Pepper's door.

He gently opened the door and looked down at her sleeping form, her hair a reddish gold halo on her pillow, Pepper's delicate face with her lashes dark on her cheek, Tigliath's head on her stomach.

She looks so peaceful in her sleep... I shouldn't wake her... let her be. I will come back and tell her about the dream...

He closed the door and tip-toed down the stairs and out of the main door. The entire Keep was quiet and he quickly walked to the back gate and walked towards the clearing.

It was a short distance away and he ran lightly over the green grass, the blades tickling his feet.

Tony entered the clearing and looked around thoughtfully. The area was serenely still in the daylight.

"So why am I here, exactly? What is going to happen or come to me?"

He was confused now. "Was the dream really telling me to come here? Or did I ... hear the wrong place? I ... what am I doing here?"

Then he heard his name being whispered from the forest beyond the clearing. Tony pulled out his dagger and walked into the forest.

The familiar voice was calling his name again and again. He yelled into the green depths of the forest. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Come closer, friend, come closer..."

"Where? Reveal yourself! How do I know you?"

"Come to me, Anthony..."

Then he saw a tall, hooded figure standing beneath an oak tree. Its back was to him. Tony walked towards the figure cautiously, dagger raised high.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The figure turned and at first he blinked at what he was looking at. He raised his dagger to strike at the figure. Then Tony recognized the features. He gasped with shock and horror, the dreadfully familiar face filling him with dread.

"It can't be... good lord, what have..."

"Good to see you again... Lord Stark."

Tony realized that something was creeping up behind him. He turned but it was too late, he felt his world spin with the violent blow to his head and as he fell, everything faded to black.


Dreams are going to be a constant in the first part of this adventure. And they are going to get pretty tutti-frutti as the chapters progress. I am upping the fantasy level as well because...well there's a talking Serpent and a necromancer, things have to get fantastical!