The Journal of William Havoc

William slumped against the wall. He didn't realize how out of breath he was until the old man finally hit the ground. The bedroom was full of smoke from Eek's thrown torch and covered in the gore of nearly a dozen fallen enemies. Dismembered body parts, blood, and horrible black bile from the undead slicked the floor. He hadn't seen this kind of carnage since the war. It seemed as if he had been dealing death for hours, even though he knew it had only been a few minutes since they had burst through the door to Ranchefus' room.

The bastard lay on the floor, dying or dead. A soft rattling sound slipped from his lips, along with a pink foam that dripped down his cheek as the light in his one good eye went out. The big fighter considered the fact that it could have just as easily been him lying there, holding on to the last feeble moments of life. But that wasn't happening today. Unless Ranchefus has the Tarrasque chained up somewhere in the dungeon, the worst was over...he hoped.

Evil workings were afoot in this old keep. Who knows how long Ranchefus and his minions had been residing here? How many innocent lives had been lost to these fiends as they cried out to their foul god and bled their victims dry on his unholy altar? In the end, it didn't save them. Ranchefus thought he wielded all the power of death, but he failed to account for good men with steel in hand and determined hearts. Now it was over for him, and William could only hope that some could still be saved.

"Nnnnnneeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh*cough*" said Stick.

William snapped out of his post-battle stupor and realized he had wounded friends to take care of. He quickly sheathed his sword and ran over to help.

"How have you been, son?"

"Dad! It's been a while, I was getting worried I wouldn't hear from you again."

"Sorry, William, it's not every day I can speak to you like this. It's good to see you're still among the living."

"Yeah, well, there's been a few close calls...ok, a *lot* of close calls. But it's ok, I haven't found a man or beast that I can't whip yet! Uh...mostly..."

"Heh heh, mostly, you say?"

"Yeah well, there was this dragon. I don't quite think I could take her out just yet, but you wait! Pretty soon I'll be able to tear out her green scaly heart and feed it to her!"

"Aaah, William, you always were better at swinging a sword than you were at knowing your limits. Please don't get yourself eaten. Dragons are not creatures to be trifled with."

"Well, she seemed ok, really, we even made a deal with her to kill some giants that had been harassing the townsfolk. She made quick work of most of them. We had to finish the job though, it was a fine battle, indeed! You should have seen all the townspeople when we walked through the gates with one of their heads. Everyone was cheering and yelling for me, it was great! For some reason my friends stopped me when I started bragging about how I had totally taken out all those giants single-handedly. I don't know what their problem was, there's nothing wrong with spinning a bit of a yarn every once in a while."

"Aah, so you're William the giant slayer now, eh?"

"Yep! Well...maybe not exactly... That guy, Ez, ever since he tangled with that monstrosity back in the Gleaming Glade, he's been different. I've never seen anybody lay into something so viciously. I think he could have killed the damn thing by himself if we would have let him. It's ok though, he owes me one after I took out that undead beast back in the glade, I was all like 'HAAAA!' and it was like 'DON'T HIT ME SO HARD!' and then it was like 'PFFFSSSHHHHHH-!'"

"Alright now, that's enough. What of your brother?"

"I don't know, dad, I still haven't been able to find anything. I'm always looking, though. Recently, I've just been so busy. Bad things are afoot here...these people need help. There are these kidnappings and murders...and we found this old keep in the woods where you can just sense the evil in the air. We're going to try to make our way inside and show the bastards what justice is. This guy, Ranchefus, I think he's dangerous."

"Go where your heart guides you, son, and I have no doubt you'll find victory. But I'm sure your brother needs you."

"I know, dad, it's just been so hard since you and mom died and Alexander disappeared."

"I know, son. But right now...it's time to wake up."

"Damn."