The village was silent. Darkness had fallen only minutes earlier, but the news of the latest murder had the inhabitants sleeping restlessly behind locked doors. On the roof of a certain abandoned forge, a slender, bony figure could be seen emerging from the chimney. Femur wouldn’t be harmed by the sunlight, but his skeletal instincts told him to stay away from it. He’d been using a coat during the day, while stalking his wife, but still felt uncomfortable under the intense rays. Femur sighed, and readied himself for another uneventful night. His wife had sold the forge only days after his death, and since the new owner needed time to move his family to the village, Femur had decided to make it his base of operation. The forge, which had also served as a shop, was now stripped of most furniture, and no longer resembled the place that he had grown to love.

Femur had used the forges second floor, his former bedroom, as a storage where he put both useful items found on his victims, and his daytime disguise. He had woken up covered in dirt only weeks earlier, and could vaguely remember making his way to the forge in the darkness. He had initially thought that he’d had too much to drink, and made his way to his former home in hope of finding his wife. After what must have been days later, he woke up again, this time on the floor where his bed should have been, noticing his skeletal form and lack of warmth. Femur had remembered the tales he’d heard as a kid, tales about walking corpses, shadowy horrors, and the demon king, after which he’d quickly come to the conclusion that he had died. As time passed, his head had cleared, and he’d remembered his wife’s betrayal. Angry and grief-stricken, he’d sworn to take revenge upon the woman who had evidently never loved him, and this had led to him stalking her. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to kill her, so he decided that he’d make sure she was alone, which he would accomplish by killing any man who dared bed her. With this new goal in mind, Femur had taken the first step by killing his former friend, Joel, whom he’d quickly realized had been engaging in sexual activities with his wife for months. It had been painful for him, of course, but not nearly as painful as it had been for Joel, who’d died lacking several important organs.

Femur had acquired an impressive collection of magical items from his victims, ranging from a wooden statue that spat splinters at intruders, to the shadowy cloak that made up his attire. Aside from the cloak, he’d also equipped a mask which boosted magic, albeit only because it covered his skeletal visage, and a couple of enchanted daggers. While his attire might have earned him strange looks anywhere else, this village was a hub for adventurers, so a tall, cloaked man wearing a silver mask was not anything out of the ordinary. Femur was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by a loud ringing. It was the villages alarm bell, which could only mean one thing; the village was under attack. Femur quickly opened the second floor window, hurling himself towards the opening, and deftly landed on the street 4 meters below. He wasted no time, dodging the groggy villagers that had come out to find out what was happening, and making his way towards the gate.

The gate was essentially a large wooden structure, with platforms on the inside to allow archers on it, and was currently sporting several enormous holes. Men were running towards it from all directions, waving farming tools or makeshift clubs, but were stopped by a small group of people in the front. They were clearly adventurers, with sturdy leather armor covering their muscular bodies. Among their numbers Femur could see at least two sorcerers, one being a female elf and the other an old man, who were arguing about something while pointing at the gates. Femur approached the group, with his attire effectively disguising his appearance, and coughed to get their attention.

“Would anyone like to inform me on the situation?” he asked, mimicking a western accent.

“The village is under attack” The old wizard informed, “We’re debating on whether or not we should magically reinforce the gates”.

“It’s a stupid idea, you old fool” the elf snapped, “We should focus our efforts on taking them out from the walls!”

If his wife’s life wasn’t in danger, Femur might have found their bickering amusing, but at that moment, what they needed to do was to act quickly.

“Shut up and listen!!” he shouted, “What we need to do is assess the situation before making our move”

The group of adventurers instantly fell silent, and Femur couldn’t help but feel proud of himself. That was until he turned around, and noticed an enormous eye staring right at him over the palisade. Upon further inspection, the space around the eye was even darker than the surrounding sky, and Femur could make out a silhouette beyond the villages lights.

“Run you fools!! It’s a dragon!!” the elf shouted with a shrill voice, moments before a bright light engulfed them.

The dragonfire raged around him, visibly struggling to close in on his body, and neared at an alarming speed. Femur was frozen in fear, and could only watch as the wave of immense heat approached.

Even at a young age, I’d shown aptitude for the arcane, to the point where my parents sent me away to a prestigious academy at the age of 20. I studied everything from rune magic to necromancy, and left only 20 years later with my degree. At the age of 70, when I reached adulthood, I left my home for the second time. While I loved the forests and marshes of my homeland, magic not affiliated with nature was shunned by its inhabitants, and I found myself being treated as a criminal by my own people. My parents, who’d been the ones to send me away in the first place, were horrified when they found out about my new fascinations, and kicked me out after disowning me and telling me that the spirits would punish me. With nowhere else to go, I decided to return to the academy where I had studied, and was accepted as a lecturer in elemental manipulation and spirit magic. I soon realized that while I had barely changed during the time I spent away from the academy, my old teachers had all died retired. This was when I first realized the difference between elves and humans. My old classmates were now either grandfathers or grandmothers, and remembered me as little more than a childhood friend. Needless to say, i was devastated. I had been banished from the only place where I could possibly live a normal life, and stuck with a race of people that lived out their lives in the blink of an eye.

After a long period of depression, i finally managed to get a grip, and decided to take an apprentice. She found a talented young child to teach, and managed to make him into a great wizard in only 50 years. During this time, I myself had advanced in her research, and become more powerful.

During these years, I’d grown increasingly concerned about my apprentices short lifespan, and had started researching a way to extend it, and when my apprentice reached the age of 60, I’d found it.

It was a powerful magical artifact located at the bottom level of the dungeon, guarded by hordes of bizarre creatures and powerful constructs. According to the text mentioning the device, it would be awarded upon completion of the dungeon, something that had never happened in recorded history.

Thus we set out, my apprentice and I, on a journey to riches and immortality. Which led me to my current predicament.

As the dragon opened its maw, I instantly consumed all the mana I could, summoning a dome to protect me and my student. The others in our group were incinerated in an instant, but I knew that trying to save them would stretch my power too thin, and kill us all. As the flames raged around us, a lone figure caught my eye. It was the adventurer that had approached us earlier, the one with the odd mask. Despite the extraordinary heat, the man causally gazed at the dragon behind his mask, withstanding the flames which had incinerated dozens in an instant. My apprentice stared, mouth agape, at the being that defied the wrath of a fully grown dragon. I saw it now, too, the mask melting off his face, while his cloak turned into black smoke, revealing what was underneath. A lich! And a powerful one at that. All undead were weak to fire and light, this was common knowledge, so one of them withstanding such powerful fire meant that they were either in possession of a powerful artifact, or beings powerful enough to rival the lesser gods. As the flames subsided, the skeletal creature took its eye off the dragon, and glanced behind it. Gazing over the smoldering remains of what was once a village, it raised its head, howling at the sky. I ushered my stunned apprentice to come with me, and retreated as a man became visible on the dragons back.

“What manner of creature are you?” the man asked in a loud, almost unnatural voice, “to be able to withstand dragonfire this easily, are you perchance a wandering god?”

The skeleton remained silent, staring hatefully at the man with its eerie, glowing eyes.

“well…whatever you are doesn’t matter, what matters is that I have no desire to fight one such as you” the man continued, “I got what I came for anyhow, so I suppose this’ll be goodbye”

The dragon lowered its head in preparation for takeoff, and briefly, the man’s arms were revealed. In them was an unconscious woman, who even I had to admit possessed peerless beauty, in a nightshift. This seemed to faze the lich, as it suddenly froze, staring at the woman intently. Its staring, however, was interrupted by the fiery light that emerged from the man, however, as both him, the woman and his dragon started to fade. The skeleton realized what was happening only seconds too late, and desperately tried to close the distance between them. It was, however, too late, and when it reached the spot where the dragon had stood, no trace of it could be found. The skeleton lowered its head in disappointment, and then turned its bony head, looking straight at us.

“oh shit” I thought…

Again i'm sorry for sucking at making paragraphs.

a long one this time, I could have uploaded it as two chapters but what the heck..