The desert was so hot

The desert was so hot. The sand burned the rays of the sun onto my face as I followed my companions down the dune’s slope. Stumbling on the last step, I realized that the ground had become hard as rock. We had reached the waypoint. No longer were the white markings on the stony ground legible, “This is bad.” I looked up at Rickard tiredly, “What’s wrong? Can we not teleport here?” He shakes his head no, “This waypoint has been forgotten for far too long.” I collapse to my knees, “I’m so tired, and why are we always running?”

A sudden cold wind sent Decanis is a hurry as he grabbed my arm and dragged me to a partially eroded wall with Rickard, “Did you feel that?!” Rickard clamped his hand over my mouth and hissed lowly, “Hush! Or we’re dead!” My eyes darted around the desert but it was useless, nothing but sand and wind, “But cold wind, here?” I didn’t have to wait long before I heard an awful shriek pierce the dry air. Glancing over at Rickard, he winces in frustration as the familiar sounds of armor clanking on the ground were heard. The air seems to have frozen still as my heart pounded even harder and louder. I could almost hear its breathing as it walked around. Cautiously, I sit up and peer over the half wall.

Nothing.

My eyes widen as I whisper, “Rickard… no one’s there.” Hearing no reply, I turn back to my friends, “Rickard there’s… AI!” Screaming at the top of my lungs at the bloody sight of my companions laying lifelessly beside me, I scramble to my feet with an adrenalin rush that I thought had been drained from me by the desert. Standing not a few feet in front of me was the killer.

Him.

The armor was ash black with the mask of a terrifying dragon, his claw like gauntlets dripping with the blood of my two friends. As he took a step towards me, I immediately flung myself over the wall and rolled onto the damaged waypoint, praying for a miraculous teleport to safety. But nothing came.

I laid there, face down, trying to keep my composer as the idea of defeat ringed through my head. A swift kick to the side shook me back to reality as I rolled to my side in a tight painful ball. The knight gripped my shoulder, its claws digging into my skin with such force that I cried out in agony as it hoisted me to my feet, “Stand!” His voice seemed more like a growl from an animal. My hands flew up as I struggled to break free but it was hopeless, he had the strength of dragons. I collapsed in defeat, “Why run anymore? No one can help me this time.” I closed my eyes, hoping for a quick end as one last tear fell from my dry face.

But it never came.