2015
Kurgansk's mountain, Northern Syria.
♪♪ Low ominous music plays in the background .♪♪
A shadowy figure stands silently beside a prisoner, locked away in a damp, dimly lit cell buried deep beneath the earth. The air hangs heavy with the stench of rot. Invisible eyes in the darkness track his every move, studying him with eerie intensity. His reaction? Emptiness. After so many years of isolation, even this terrifying reality no longer feels unfamiliar.
Demons lurking in the shadows observe him closely. Whenever he shifts or twitches, the shadows stretch toward him, drawn by the faint blue glow in the room. If only he had known this was his fate to become a prisoner of a creature beyond comprehension.
Something crawls past his left ear. "Ahh! What the…" he shouts, instinctively brushing it off. A spider. He shudders. Still trembling, he paces the cell and notices a piece of chopped wood in the corner.
"I guess this will do," he mutters. Maybe a fire would help calm him.
As he grabs the log with his rough, hairy hands, a mouth suddenly appears in the wood's center. "Hello, Refel. Trying to make a fire?"
"Jesus!" he yells, dropping it instantly. When he tries to catch it again, the wood scrambles away on its own.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Refel," a deep, gravelly voice murmurs from the shadows. "It doesn't want to be burned."
Refel's eyes snap toward the voice. Standing there is the mastermind behind it all the dark lord himself, Kurgansk.
"What do you want from me? You already have the precious stone!"
Kurgansk grins wickedly, his laugh sharp and bitter. "You look well-rested. Starting to feel at home, are you?"
"What is all of this, you demon?"
( Impatient music raises)
Ignoring the question, Kurgansk raises his fiery hand. Flames shoot out, blasting a wall apart. Through the opening, a vision of the human world appears. A girl weeps in anguish, her body writhing. Her brother's soul is being pulled away.
"See that, archaeologist?" Kurgansk sneers. Refel's eyes widen in horror and guilt.
"This is what your kind will suffer until I conquer the earth. Your little attempts to save the world—they'll be nothing but feeble, futile gestures."
Refel's thoughts race. Is there any way to change what's coming? Any chance to alter the fate of Northern Syria?
"What if I serve you for the rest of my life? Just let my people go."
Kurgansk pauses, calculating. He grips his staff and slowly looks Refel in the eye.
"I'll consider it," he says. Refel's lips twitch into a hopeful smile.
"But I can't promise anything," Kurgansk adds. "You might be useful in other ways."
Suddenly, the unsettling screech of a bat pierces the air. The creature flaps into view, spreading its malevolence through the room.
"Ah, Lulu. My sweet pet. You've been gone a while. What have you brought me?" The bat whispers something in Kurgansk's ear.
"Excellent," he says with a satisfied nod. "Well done, Lulu."
Turning to leave, Kurgansk gestures to the bat on his shoulder. "Oh, before I go Lulu, meet your new friend, Refel. He's an archaeologist. I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about."
His footsteps echo menacingly as he vanishes, leaving Refel alone again with only the demons, the bat, and the darkness for company.
Nightfall
Refel lay on the cold floor, eyes wide open. Sleep? That luxury had abandoned him years ago. He sighed bitterly. If only he hadn't taken this cursed mission… maybe, just maybe, life would've stayed normal.
Suddenly, a sharp gasp escaped his throat. "No way…" he whispered, scrambling to his feet.
He moved toward the rusted gate. In his hand, a crude, handmade tool scraped at the iron bars. Desperation bled from every movement.
From above, Lulu the bat watched, his tiny black eyes narrowing. In a flash, he darted through the air toward Kurgansk.
Back in the cell, the metal groaned and snapped. Refel had broken through. The demons around him stirred, their glowing eyes tracking his every move but none stepped forward. They didn't need to. Lulu had already sounded the alarm.
Flapping wildly, the bat reached the throne room.
"Your Majesty," Lulu squeaked. "Refel is trying to escape."
Kurgansk rose slowly from his seat, chuckling. "I knew this would happen eventually… Hahahaha!" His laughter thundered across the chambers, shaking the very walls.
Back near the prison, Refel ran wild-eyed, frantic. His breaths came in jagged bursts. He turned corner after corner, searching desperately for a way out.
But every path ended the same: blocked by towering demons, each clutching a twisted spear shaped like a devil's fork.
His knees buckled beneath him.
"No… no…" he cried, collapsing to the ground. The strength had drained from his legs. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he sobbed, clutching his chest and muttering a broken song through choked breaths.
At the same moment, Kurgansk conjured flames into the palm of his hand, staring into the fire to track Refel's location. Beside him, Lulu flapped nervously.
"Let's go," Kurgansk growled, heading toward the fire chamber.
Refel looked up through blurred vision, his face soaked in tears. "Can't I just be free?" he whispered to no one in particular.
He turned to one of the nearby demons. "Please. Tell me… what must I do?" Silence.
Then his eyes caught sight of something, small stones in the corner of the hallway. Crawling toward them, he began chanting softly, invoking a cleansing incantation, old and sacred.
"What?" Kurgansk gasped, watching from afar through his fire portal. "What is he doing?"
Suddenly, a searing wind of flame ripped through the hallway. It struck Refel with ferocious force, flinging him across the stone floor.
"Aaah!" he screamed, pain surging through his spine. Kurgansk approached, looming over him, expression unreadable.
"Look at me," he commanded.
Refel, shaking, lifted his head.
From Kurgansk's eyes, a blinding light flared. The moment their eyes met, Refel winced and turned away in agony.
"No… it can't be…" Kurgansk muttered, stunned.
Without warning, he grabbed Refel by the arm and threw him back into the cell.
"Wait!" Refel shouted.
Kurgansk stopped at the door.
"Why did you stop me? Why interrupt the incantation?"
The demon turned, eyes glowing with rage.
"You will not speak those words in my domain!" he roared. "This is my realm! My home!!"
The entire cell shook from the power in his voice.
Refel sat motionless, trembling. "Maybe… maybe you saw something in me. Something different. Just tell me what it was."
But Kurgansk said nothing more. His footsteps, heavy as an elephant's, echoed into the distance, growing softer, then silent.
Refel collapsed to the floor again, sobbing into his arms.
♪Suspicious music raises in the background.♪
What he didn't know… was that someone had been watching. Someone had been watching all along.
---
{Exeunt}