It was always going to happen this way. Joe knew his fate the moment the deed was done. He knew what he was getting himself into going on this trip. Numerous travellers had warned him of his foolish attempts at redemption. Naia had told him only yesterday of the curse that would befall anyone who dares to try and enter the caverns. But Joe was foolish, young, naive and felt that it was the what he was born to do.

When he returned from the caverns the night before it was to everyone’s amazement. No one had managed to get so far and live to tell their story. But he came back a different man, cold, rigid, and altogether strange. When people asked about his journey he would snap and shout and scream at them in a voice that would unsettle even the bravest of people. It was a voice of inhuman and terrifying tones, almost sounding like two voices squashed into one mans body. Many believed the worst had happened and decided to leave the town immediately, others stayed well away from the hotel he was staying at.

Naia was different, she was scared but more determined and needed to know if what they were saying was true. Had it returned? She went to his room and spoke to him from the door in case she needed a fast escape. “Is it true Joe? Did you find it? Did you achieve redemption?” Joe turned his head smoothly and slowly towards her, his mouth twisted in a nasty smile and he spoke with malice in his eyes “Joe failed.”

The voice that had spoken was not one that she recognised as her friends but of something vile. And in that simple reply she had got her answer, but before she could leave he spoke again and the words were enough to freeze all the blood in her veins. “Get ready for the war and the chaos, I have been waiting all this time and today is the day I have been freed. Today is the day of your reckoning for an ancient evil awakens.”