[ IP ] The Heart of Evil

All I know is fire. The stench of sulfur hung in the air. Smoke, black and cloying, filled my nostrils with burning pain. The heat was unbearable. Sweat streaked down my face, I could feel it in one eye, stinging it, adding to the pain of the smoke. My body ached, my lungs burned. I moved forward. This was an eternity. I must have spent… A lifetime, or was it two? I couldn ’ t remember who I was. This black, twisted, fiery place was stealing my humanity. I faltered. I fell to one knee, the metal of my armor clanging loudly, only to be muffled and drowned by the constant explosions and geysers of fire. They rocked the earth and shook me again. One hand shot forward to prevent me from falling over completely. The back of my armor was angled weirdly. The smooth black was run through with lines and etchings. If I could only see it better. I wiped at it with the soft leather of my other glove, the plate covering the back of it was revealed form under a layer of soot. Shining silver metal glowed in the red magma light, shadowed by the remaining ash. A symbol danced in the glow, a shining sun encompassing a great tree. My memories shifted from under the ash that had settled on them. They rushed back. I remembered the surface world. I remembered rushing water, wind in the trees. Great expanses of plains, towering mountains, and old forests. I remembered the smell of the woods, and of green grass. I remembered my order and my oath. I remembered my name. I am Irundel, of the Circle of Ages. I will seek out and destroy evil. I will venture to the darkest chasms of our world and smite down all that opposes good, in the name of the people of Erena. 
 
 I remember my mission now. I found the darkest chasm. I found the deepest pit and the heart of all evil. My legs found themselves under me. I lifted my head high and squared my shoulders. I drew my blade and stepped forward, past the twisted frames of demons long-since dead. The twisted obsidian, burning red with inner veins of magma, threatened to slash me apart. I stayed on my path. In the distance, a great ring of black blades rose from the horizon. In its center, a ball of orange energy glowed. This was it. I drew my blade and stepped forward. 

