monster battle

Time. Time had had a most strange effect upon the castle floor. At first, it had been all chaos and frenetic energy. Blood had pooled deep into the grooves of ancient stonework, filling them like overflowing canals. The king had shuddered, his flesh twitched and spasmed around my sharp embrace...

The night was steeped in the moon's glow when a rider clad in a black gown emerged into a clearing in a distant wood far from any settlement. The familiar trappings of the darkness were all present: chirp of cricket and hoot of owl punctuated the unsure hoof-steps of the horse that carried aloft...