Waking came surprisingly difficult given his unfamiliar sleeping arrangements As Kaladorne s senses becamse once again aware of his surroundings he smelt a very pungent odor coming from somewhere inside the room Opening his eyes they quickly adjusted to the light coming from a small window that wasn t there before Sitting up the first thing he saw was a zombie holding a tray full of silverware moving towards the desk The zombie slowly laid the tray down and then limped out of the room closing the door behind it Stifling a yawn Kaladorne pulled himself out of the comfortable bed and stood up stretching out his legs arms and back He then without much thought pulled his sword from it s scabbard and begin his usual morning excersises Practicing various swings and strokes as well as different stances and defensive swings against an opponent that wasn t there After roughly half an hour he realized that something had been kind enough to bring him breakfast He carefully put his weapon back in it s sheath and then sat down in the sturdy oak chair and looked at what had been left for him He saw an extremely ornate fork with knife to match A rather large silver plate with a cover and a large pitcher filled with red wine He gently lifted the cover from the plate and saw that three eggs had been fryed with a sizable cut of meat next to them The smell of the meal quickly got the better of him and he began to eat Just after he had finished the eggs and started on the meat he heard an odd noise from behind him and turning in his chair noticed Tygor sitting on the bed looking at him with his arms folded across his chest Please don t let me interrupt your meal! Tygor said and motioned back to the plate Kaladorne turned around and continued to eat Tygor got off the bed and walking towards the bookshelf said Soon you will have volumes of lore and craft filling these shelves This got a questioning look from Kaladorne for a second but he kept eating Tygor s visage suddenly became one of seriousness Today I will test your skill with that sword The test will begin in two hours prepare yourself With that and a small gesture a black portal slowly opened and Tygor stepped through it Kaladorne tried not to let Tygor s words weigh to heavily on him and finished his meal When he was done he dressed and began practicing again His level of concentration for the next hour surprised even himself as his swings were completed with a gracefulness he didn t think he possessed He then put his sword away and sat quietly on the bed for Tygor to bring him to the test During his waiting he tried to prepare himself mentally not knowing what Tygor had meant by test it was a little difficult He could only assume a combat of some sort Right on time a knock came at his door Getting off the bed he said to himself I m ready and opened the door to reveal a skeleton standing there Startled he jumped back but the skeleton made no move He grabbed his sword and yanked it from it s hiding place and stood defensivly The skeleton slowly moved forward until it was about five feet from him and held out a small black necklace with a jet black stone set in it Kaladorne was a bit taken by this but grabbed for the necklace carefully Once it was in his hands the skeleton motioned for him to put it on Very slowly closing his eyes he lifted it over his head and down onto his neck He waited for what seemed like several lifetimes but nothing of notice happened He shrugged it off and opened his eyes to reveal the skeleton once again in his doorway motioning for him to follow He sheathed his blade again and slowly catiously followed the undead Walking down the dark halls of the tower he found he could see very well too well for his own eyes He reasoned this was the amulets affect Walking slowly behind the skeleton he noticed something coming up the corridor towards them It a black mass that had a generaly human shape and it looked as though it was coming straight for him He drew his sword and stopped moving The skeleton stopped at almost the same time he did The form moved right up to Kaladorne but stopped a short distance away when the jewel on his necklace began to emit a faint black light Almost instantly the creature went on about his business Kaladorne felt little reassurnace and decided to keep his blade out as he began following the skeleton again Soon they came to a flight of stairs and began ascending They climbed five floors until they reached a door at the end of the steps The skeleton opened it and daylight flooded into Kaladorne s eyes They were apparantly on the roof of the tower The skeleton exited with Kaladorne in tow Tygor was standing in the center of the roof and called him over eagerly Tygor spoke I hope you ve prepared yourself for what awaits Kaladorne replied As best I can without knowing what to expect Ahh but not knowing what to expect is a part of life that you ll have to deal with Tygor let his sentence end sharply and began to weave a spell His arms moved and he chanted and soon through a black vortex a suit of black plate armor appeared holding a broad sword made solely of black flames Hanging down from its waist was a tattered loin cloth and wisps of black smoke Through it s black helmet two red eyes flared Tygor looked over at Kaladorne and said Now if you live through this you are worthy of becoming my champion At those words the floating armor assumed an offensive posture and began advancing on Kaladorne Kaladorne assumed a defensive posture and awaited the attack The thing moved quickly and swung right for his midsection Kaladorne easily put his sword in the way but the black sword flew right through it and through him Kaladorne felt a cold like he d never known where the sword passed through him but he tried not to dwell on that Kaladorne swung quickly one-handing his bastard sword and slammed it into creature with all the force he could muster but it simply glanced off the armor It s eyes flared again and Kaladorne suddenly felt a bit weak but recovered in time to see another sword strike coming for his head He ducked quickly avoiding the cold sting of the black blade He sliced in at it and broke through the armor this time tearing a gash through the plate armor This seemed to hurt the creature because it floated back from Kaladorne and hung a few feet away for a second or two and Kaladorne noticed the gash close somewhat He decided to advance on it swinging for it s head now The creature dodged his attack and struck one of its own at Kaladorne s left leg Kaladorne screamed at the biting cold this time and put the other hand on the bastard sword and stung straigh at where he d wounded it before The creature moved fast but Kaladorne moved faster this time and his blade ripped from the middle of the plate armor right out of it and the creature faded away Kaladorne stood with a nasty cold wound on his chest and with a limp in his left leg Tygor came over and healed his wounds with a gesture and a word Kaladorne looked up and said So I guess I passed your test then Yes you did very well I was expecting that avatar to kill you You should be very proud of yourself not many people can resist the death gaze of the avatar Kaladorne could only look tired so Tygor teleported them to his room and told him to rest for a little while Kaladorne laid down and let sleep take him When he woke there was a book on his desk and a small parchment with writing on it Kaladorne looked at the parchment and realized that he d forgotten to tell Tygor of his inability to read He sat down and decided to just look at the book anyway When he opened it a blast of red light flooded into Kaladorne s eyes and stunned him for a second When he regained his senses the book had gone He suddenly felt fear What would Tygor do when he found out that the book he left was gone His thoughts quickly turned to the parchment again he could recognize some of the letters inscribed on it He picked it up and read it I knew you couldn t read so this book contains the lessons one would learn to go about reading and writing I magically enchanted it to implant the knowledge directly into your brain to save some time You can now read and write Don t worry about the book That s a draw back of using the spell I did As soon as Kaladorne put the parchment down and noticed that there was a book on his bookshelf now He got up and went to get it It s title read Creatures of the Netherworld He put it on the desk and started to read it It was a wonderful feeling to read (To be continued!)