The Beast Beneath

[Lifon]

A world was dying from the inside.

Kraliros, it was called. This vast land was covered in unimaginable beauty. Once. Forests covered the landscape, pristine cities of an innumerable amount of races stretched forth the grand peaks of several buildings that were truly a feat to construct. Once. The land gave forth a great, plentiful bounty of food, few creatures ever had to experience the pains of hunger. Once.

But that time was over. That was the time when they were unaware of the beast beneath.

It had laid in wait, for what reason no one knew. It never made its presence known, had never surfaced upon the world of man. Until recently.

Its first touch upon the surface world was subtle, so as not to cause alarm among the inhabitants. Crops failed, temperatures soared, and weather became increasingly turbulent. Powerful storms ripped apart the land, forests sustained severe damage. The population of Kraliros was quite alarmed by this disturbance in their utopia, but persevered.

After this mere weakening of the surface world, the beast struck with all its might. Floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other so-called "natural" disasters ravaged the land, destroying the cities. The people panicked, not knowing why their perfect land was being struck so!

At least they didn't know until it roared.

It was a terrifying, blood-curdling shriek that reverberated across the entire world. No creature was safe from the hautning screech. When it ended, something... new appeared.

What appeared was what seemed like some immense sinkhole. It was a seemingly bottomless pit which seemed to stretch forth into oblivion. Fire and acid spewed forth from within, a sense of foreboding prevailed over the giant hole. It seemed to be a pit of insufferable madness! Mages, though, noted unbelievably large waves of magic coming from the hole. Many traveled to this strange opening in their world's surface, desperately convinced that the secrets of this great tragedy were hidden deep within the abyss. Perhaps they were right...

Regardless, something to be done, and soon. Or there would be no world left to save.
---
Lydor looked out over the edge of the seething pit with calculating eyes. He ran a hand through his blond hair, adjusting his glasses with the other. He walked around the edge, taking out a brown tome from his pack and scribbling down some notes with a pen. He then tucked the tome into one of the folds of his bright green robes, satisfied that he had obtained all the information he could at this point.

The elfen man was a renowned scientist and mage, sent to study the mysterious pit now before him. He had been told to try descending into it, as there seemed to be caves and tunnels within that could hold some strange secrets for him to ferret out. The oppressing red sky loomed over him, trying to put a damper on his mood. He was in a determined mood, though. He would not let the futileness of his world's situation frighten him. He had to think logically.

"Are you prepared for the descent?" his companion Lifon asked. The young half-dragon couldn't have been over nineteen or so, judging by his personality rather than his looks. He lacked the hardened seasoning a true warrior had that gave them their edge. Still, he was good with a blade and had quite a bit of brute strength, which was why he was present. The young half-dragon stretched his glimmering orange draconic wings and tail out leisurely, he had a confident air about him. He wore red clothing and a red head-band. Both were quite typical of the distant desert lands, where Lifon had been raised. It was a shame the boy wasn't well-trained in magic, but then again that was Lydor's own forte.

"Yes, yes I do believe I am," said Lydor calmly as he began to make the final preparations for his dangerous mission.