Wizards will have you believe that locking yourself in a tower is the only proper way to study magic, but they’re wrong. Learning through practical application is far more valuable. Breakthroughs occur when you're desperate and at your lowest, when you have nothing to lose and all to gain.

Water trickled down the jagged walls inside the spacious cavern, pooling at the base of the cave. My ankles sloshed through the shallow cold water, as I forged my way to where George was standing. My eyes couldn’t see well in the dark, and the dim light from the lantern I carried didn’t travel far. I could only make out the dark silhouette of the zombie. In my spare hand, I tightly gripped my dagger. I wasn’t scared of the dark. It was what hid in the dark that terrified me.

“What are we looking for, George?” I asked.

“Rumors call him the Dark One. If yer scared I guess you could go back to Master and beg for forgiveness. Maybe he will raise you as a ghoul if he is feeling kind. ”

I ignored George’s barb. “And who exactly is the Dark One?”

George shrugged.

“I don’t know. He can be found in the depths of this cave, below where the living reside. You're not the first disciple Alric has sent searching for the Dark One.”

“And what happened to them?”

“They never returned.”

I felt it in my gut, the sick feeling that something wasn’t quite right. I wondered what was so vital to Alric’s plans that he willingly threw his minions away like fodder, but never dared to retrieve whatever the hell he needed himself. I concluded that whatever lurked around in the darkness was incredibly dangerous.

George continued trudging through the shallow water.

“Wait!” I shouted. Wandering down the cave like a headless chicken wasn’t going to work. It hadn’t worked in any of the previous fetch attempts.

George stopped but didn’t turn around.

“Turn around.” I said.

George turned around and faced me. He seethed with anger, his face contorting as he grinded his jaws trying to protest. But he couldn’t protest, I realized. My commands were infallible.

“What were your orders, George? What exactly did Alric tell you before going on this fetch?” I demanded.

“George, you are to assist my apprentice on a fetch to meet the Dark One. Listen and follow the advice he gives you. That is what Alric told me word for word,” George spat.

It occurred to me that may have been why George was in such a hurry. If I was too busy barely breathing, then I wouldn’t find the time to make any commands for him to follow. George didn’t like me. It must’ve been excruciating for him to learn that I was already his superior.

“I’m not going to force you to do anything, George, but running down into the depths of the cave with no plan is likely what your undead friends did. Let's take a minute and figure out a way where I don’t end up dead and you remain whatever type of abomination you are.”

“Why should I have to listen to you? What have you done to prove that you’ll not end up dead like the rest of them? This is where he sends his failures, his rejects. You’re the reason I’m here. I should’ve buried you nine feet under the ground. I don’t want to die a second time.”

“And I’ll make sure that I’m the reason you get out of here unalive with me. But that cannot be done without caution, without proper planning.”

“What do you think we do, oh wise one? Little is known of the Dark One. No one comes back after witnessing him. ” George sarcastically spat.

“At the very least we should watch each other's backs. I suspect this Dark One fellow is keen on hiding in the dark. I reckon he goes in for the kill when you’re not looking.”

George stopped to think.

“Fine. But you’ll need to stab like you mean it. You’re not too good with that dagger of yours.”

“So you’re content with the plan?”

“No, but I can’t think of any better options. My brain's functions have been declining for a while now. Soon I’ll be one of those mindless skeletons Alric keeps around.”

“And there’s no way to stop the decline?”

“Possibly, but not to my knowledge.”

My mind wandered as I slowly shuffled side by side next to George. I wondered how Alric knew that some dark malevolent creature or person was the reason his minions were going missing. It was probably magic, I concluded. But that begged the question, if Alric could see through the eyes of his minions, had he noticed my embarrassing scuffle with the terror cat? It was bad enough that two people saw that, let alone three. Surely he had other things to do other than eavesdrop on George.

Eavesdropping, however, wasn’t the only thing on my mind. What exactly was the Dark One? As I looked into the surrounding darkness, I thought extensively about what it could be: a six legged monstrosity with a dozen eyeballs, a pale ghoul seeking revenge for past enslavement, the manic lost twin brother of Alric. All of these were possibilities, albeit unlikely. Whatever Alric was looking for benefited him and what benefited necromancers the most are artifacts, rare ingredients, and spell books. Whatever lurked around inside the cave had something valuable.

At the other end of the cavern was a stairwell carved into the stone. To my knowledge, stairwells didn’t occur naturally within caves. Maybe this was a remnant from the lost civilization that was abandoned outside. We descended down the narrow and tight stairs.

Deep below the cave was a room, with evenly carved sides. An array of patterns were etched into the walls, depicting battles between humanoids, monsters and demons. Among the bloodshed was a one creature that was praised by the humanoids carved into the walls. The humanoids stood on their knees offering food and enslaved people to the beast. The beast had the face of a panther, the scales of a serpent, and the legs of a spider.

“Could that be the Dark One?” I asked George, pointing to the depiction of the beast.

George walked over to me and examined the wall.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t know what it looks like?”

“It’s possible that whoever carved these walls didn’t know what the Dark One looked like either. That amalgamation of creatures looks like something cooked up in a fever dream. What if no one has seen the Dark One since when these carvings were created?”

“Then we’re doomed.”

Neither of us dared to speak as the reality of the situation sunk in. As I peered around the room, I noticed a door at the opposite end of the stairwell. The door was large and cut from thick, heavy stone. It was the type of door that wasn’t meant to be opened, yet it was cracked open just enough where someone could slip through if they wanted to.

I walked over to the door and peered into its opening. The upper torso of a skeleton laid on the ground only a feet away from the door. Its arm was outstretched as if reaching for safety that the etched room provided.

“Hey, George. Is this a friend of yours?” I asked.

George looked through the opening.

“Without a doubt this was one of Master Alric’s minions. The etchings on the side of the skull indicate that he was raised as a skeleton. I have a bad feeling we’ll end up like him.”

I gulped. Whatever had killed the skeleton had cleanly torn its legs off. That’s not how I wanted to die.

“Undead first,” I said as I pretended to hold the door open for George. A gentleman always held the door open for others.

“Fine.” George grumbled as he walked out into the dark opening.

“Are you fine?” I asked.

“I am,” said George. He sounded relieved.

I let out a sigh of relief. I relaxed my grip on my dagger and entered the spacious opening. I squinted at the floor. Fragments of bones were scattered on the ground, some more mangled and torn than others. Not an ounce of flesh could be found on the bones. I realized we were walking in the feeding grounds of the Dark One.

An unholy shriek echoed throughout the cave. The Dark One's slumber had ended. It was time to feast.