[RPG] [Bel][Fronen] Gilead's Dance with Shadows

[Alex Turner]

Gilead Draconic tossed and turned in his sleep.

Darkness. Only the stars lit the night. Rain came down in sheets, 
drenching me to the bone. I stood, cold and wet, on a dirt road. I knew 
not how I had gotten there, or why my right hand was clenched on the 
cold grip of my drawn rapier.

Twenty feet in front of me stood the Shadow.

The Shadow held a sword thicker than my neck. I knew why I was here. 
With a silent prayer to the Great Dragon, I raised my rapier into a high 
guard.

Thunder clapped and the Shadow swept towards me. The Shadow’s greatsword 
was held low and behind, in perfect position for a powerful upwards 
slash. With freakish speed, the Shadow’s blade swept under my high-guard 
in a great arc, threatening to rend me in half with a single blow. But 
killing me would not be that easy; I was fast, too. Angling my blade 
towards the ground, I would parry the blow, and riposte with a slash to 
the Shadow’s midsection.

The Shadow’s blade connected with my own. Instead of deftly deflecting 
the blow, my hand exploded in pain as vibrations shot up my arm. With a 
gasp, I stumbled back, while the Shadow pulled its giant blade back for 
another sweeping slash.

In a flash of lighting, the Shadow was given form! The Shadow was a man. 
I knew this man! It was…

Gilead awoke with a start.