A Lizardman's Journey

At the Lizardmans village it was deathly quiet, the straw and mud huts that formed the village were empty. Their simple structure and layout formed a circle, with a podium at its centre and a large red crystal sat atop it. A powerful Magic started to well up inside the crystal, before it flashed outwards and blanketed the village its its light. The Dungeon Core had activated.

The red Magical light that blanketed the simple huts, refreshed their structure and repaired any damage. All at once the inhabitants of the village, the twenty Lizardmen who were mercilessly killed by the new adventurers, started to reappear. Materialising in thin air around the Dungeon Core, it was as if the monsters were being uploaded into a game.

In a matter of seconds the Lizardmen were all back and in good spirits, waving and greeting one another. Bob and Ted appeared next to one another and immediately fell into conversation, with Ted taking the lead.

“Bob, Bob, did you get three?”

With a smug look on his face, Bob placed a hand on his brothers shoulder and replied.

“Ted, who do you think you're talking to? Of course I got three!......But, how many did you get Ted? Ey, ey?”

Ted unceremoniously removed his brothers hand and turned away, mumbling under his breath.

“You already saw how many I got Bob, only one”

Before Bob could mock, or console his brother, another Lizardman joined them. Roughly the same height as the brothers, this Lizardman was more slender and had scales that were of a dull pink in colour. She stood next to Bob and spoke in a comforting tone to Ted, all the while her tail gently sought to intertwine with Bobs.

“Don't worry Ted, I only managed zero”

Ted turned around and forced out a smile, desperately trying to hide the fact he had begun to cry.

“Thank you Suzy”

Just as Bob was about to ask Suzy as to why she was getting so close to him, a rhythmic noise came from a Lizardman at the other side of the Dungeon Core. Wielding a club and small wooden shield, he beat it like a drum to gain everyone's attention. Now with all eyes on him, he raised his voice.

“Now then, ratings time out of ten!.....SIX”

Each Lizardman began shouting out their ratings, with no number higher than seven appearing. Bob was the last one to speak, his position as the strongest and also having the longest tail by a scales length, gave his words more weight.

“SIX also! I would of given them a better rating, but their assassin wasn't stealthy enough and lacked confidence”

Everyone spoke between themselves and then left to go about their business, either retreating to their homes, or leisurely relaxing and conversing with one another. Bob went to walk off, but found he could not when he realised Suzy still had her tail wrapped around his.

“Suzy, are you going to let go?”

“No Bob, you always leave me out. I'm coming with you and Ted”

Bob immediately looked to his brother for help, but was instead met with a mischievous grin.

“Bob, don't be mean to Suzy. Of course she can come with us”

With a snarl appearing on Bobs face, even his forked tongue made a slight appearance, a fact that Suzy noticed and made her blush, her pink scales masking it perfectly. Accepting his loss, the trio made their way to their usual spot.

Bob and Suzy were sat next to one another, with the former looking uncomfortable and the latter looking happy. Ted stared at Bob, a serious look on his face as he spoke.

“Bob, so what's the plan this time? I know you have one”

With a hearty laugh, Bob rubbed at his chin as if he was a wise old grandmaster stroking his lengthy beard. His eyes were set on the portal that lead to the Human world, but his mind was set beyond the physical structure and had settled on the vast world they could not touch.

“Communication Ted! We're going to write to them!”

Bob stood up proudly, his tail finally being released by a bewildered Suzy. The two other Lizardmen were unsure if Bob was joking, or being serious and as such, Ted spoke questioningly.

“Bob, we don't even know their language!”

Snapping his head around to face his brother, Bob replied with a serious tone.

“I do Ted! I learnt a word, it's a greeting, I'm sure of it! I kept hearing the Humans say it”

Bob started top clear his throat and prepare to utter a word in the Humans language, but Ted interjected.

“Bob, you learnt a Human word, a greeting no less, while you were lying on the floor dying? After they killed you?”

The words that Ted said had a profound effect on Bob, his throat ceased working and he nearly choked on his own saliva. An embarrassed look washed over his face, his red scales glowing slightly. Traipsing off into the nearby tree line, Bob bent down and retrieved something, before returning to Ted and Suzy. In his hands was a pre-made strip of wood that was ripe to be written on. Holding the piece of wood to his chest, Bob finally spoke and answered his brothers question.

“The.....Well...The Demon taught me, kind of.......It said the word each time it took me, when I lost consciousness and woke up again, it said the same word....So it has to be a greeting!”

Ted and Suzy were dumbstruck, listening to what Bob said, it became apparent he was being influenced by the Demon. The very same Demon that slaughters them all and tortures Bob, warping his mind.

Trying again, Bob did not wait for a reply and instead tried his hardest to say a word in the Human tongue.

“Ha-uro!......Ha-ro!.....He-ro!.....Hel-ro!.....HELRO!”

Suzy leapt up and began bouncing on the spot, her eyes sparkled as she looked at Bob in amazement. Ted was equally impressed, wiping away a non existent tear from his face, he spoke to his brother.

“Bob, that was amazing.....So how do you write it?”

It was as if Bobs world fell apart at that very moment. The effort he had secretly been putting it to try and communicate with the Humans, even to the point of listening intently as they murdered him, was all for nought. A solitary word left his lips.

“Shit”

Dropping his shoulders down, the dejected Lizardman thrust the piece of wood into Suzy's hands.

“Suzy, draw a pretty picture please”

Both Ted and Suzy realised that Bob had overlooked the crucial part of his plan and did not want to embarrass him further. Crouching down on the ground, Suzy got to work with the piece of wood, using her razor sharp claws to engrave into the wood and create the first known Lizardman art.

Later that very same day, a fresh group of Adventurers made their way through the portal that lead to the level 1 dungeon. Consisting of one of the common compositions for party's, a swordsman took the lead, accompanied by two shields users and at the rear two Mages.

Immediately upon entering the dungeon, they stopped in their tracks as they were confronted by a most unusual sight. On the grass in front of them, a piece of wood had been placed there and surrounded by small stones forming a ring. The swordsman crouched down in front of the strange spectacle and began to examine it. From behind his fellow party members joined him, with a burly man beside him speaking up.

“What is it Laurence?”

Laurence extended his arm and prodded at the wood with his sword, checking it to see if it was a trap. Now satisfied about its safety, Laurence replied.

“I have no idea, it looks like a drawing, I think?.....Hmm, Joseph and Josie, what do you make of it?”

From behind, the two mages peered over Laurence's shoulders. The twin siblings, of Joseph and Josie were the mages of the party and as such had the highest intellect and were the brains of the party. The pair begin to speak to one another, with Josie taking the lead.

“A drawing of a flower I believe?”

“I agree, and also a house, maybe?”

“A house, I thought that was a robot?”

“A robot eating a flower?”

“Makes more sense than a house eating a flower?”

The twins stopped their talking and looked around quizzically, their sudden movements made the rest of the party follow suit, even so they did not know why. Stopping their actions, the twins started conversing again.

“But why is it here Joseph?”

“I'm not sure, this dungeon should of reset and we're the first people in here since then”

“So someone sneaked in before us?”

“Perhaps, or maybe the Lizardmen did?”

““HA HA HA””

The twins let out a hearty laugh and so did the rest of the party, the notion that the savage monsters had done such a thing was utterly ludicrous. The second shield bearer of their party noticed something off in the tree lines, making everyone aware of it he spoke up.

“The monsters are here. We will tell the Guild about the robot eating a flower later, it may be a sign from God!”

Laurence shook his head and spoke while preparing to battle.

“Sure, sure. You keep telling yourself that Gorgo”.

The following day, the now resurrected Lizardmen, Bob and Ted were sat at their fallen logs that overlooked the portal. With a broken branch in hand, Bob tapped it repeatedly on the ground to draw Ted's attention to it while he spoke.

“Ted, our plan didn't work....We need a new plan”

Wielding a branch in his hand that was obviously larger than his brothers, Ted tapped it once forcefully on Bob's stick and replied.

“Bob, how do we know it didn't work?”

“Ahhh, well, errr....That's a good point.....Regardless, we still need a plan”

Silence reigned supreme while the two Lizardmen thought about their self made predicament. To help him think of an idea, Bob started to draw on the ground with his stick. A simple stick-man with a tail was drawn, although its tail was in the middle of its legs and looked suspiciously like something else. Pointing his stick at the drawings large circular head, Bob began to ponder aloud.

“We need to show the Humans we're intelligent and then they'll stop killing us.....Ted, what do intelligent people do?”

Pointing his stick at his own body, Ted tapped it on his shiny blue scales and spoke with confidence.

“Intelligent people keep their scales clean Bob!”

Shaking his head side to side, Bob looked at his brother disappointedly.

“Well obviously Ted.....But, Humans don't have scales......What we need to do, is something so obvious they take notice”

With their sticks in hand, the brothers simultaneously rose to their feet and thrust their hands in the air. Their sticks collided with one another's as they both spoke.

““WOOD!””

Spinning around, Bob threw his stick into the forest and outlined the plan.

“Ted, we will make something out of wood and put it in front of the portal......Let's cut some trees down!”

Waving both of his hands in the air, Ted's excitement was palpable as he snapped his stick in half.

“Brilliant idea Bob! We will make....A thing!”

“Yes Ted, a thing!”

“The biggest thing!”

“The best thing!”

While the brothers were revelling in their world shattering bright idea, a tell tale noise from behind them made its way to their ears. The portal that was beginning to activate, with arcs of electricity slowly beginning to manifest across its surface. What previously looked like a clear blue devoid of disturbances, was now steadily starting to resemble a pond where a giant carp had broke its surface.

Looking at one another with puzzled expressions, Ted was the first to speak.

“Bob, they don't usually come at this time do they?”

Bob did not immediately reply, instead his body was shaking uncontrollably. The noise of the tip of his tail banging on the ground could be heard over the chattering of his teeth. Regaining his sense, he quickly spoke.

“Ted, the Demon!......It's the Demon, RUN!”

““Arghhhhh!””

The pair of Lizardmen both let out a shout of panic to one another, before they started sprinting towards the forest. Behind them the portal finished activating and a single person stepped through, dressed in a black hooded cloak that completely concealed their identity.

By that point it was already too late for the Lizardmen, their eyes had turned red before the Demon fully left the portal. Both brothers stopped fleeing and began running in the opposite direction, directly towards the newcomer. Bob and Ted let out a war cry as they ran.

““ARGHHHHH!””

Within Bobs mind, he was not excited, angry, or raring to battle, his only emotion was fear. The fear he felt could not be expressed, his mind wanted nothing less than to run as fast and far away as possible, but his body would not allow it.

The Demon saw the two Lizardmen charging towards them from the forest and a slight chuckle was elicited from its mouth, as it spoke to itself.

“Hello Red”

Holding out a hand towards Ted, a red coloured Magic Circle appeared on the Lizardmans chest. A moment later and an explosion knocked him off his feet, before his entire body was engulfed in flames. With several of his severed limbs lying on the ground, Ted thankfully died before the pain from the burning flames could be felt.

Bob continued charging, his brothers death having absolutely no impact on his charge. The Demon ran at Bob and leapt into the air, its feet leading the way and colliding with his face, knocking the Lizardman onto the ground. Before Bob could recover from the attack, he was immobilised and bound with rope, with the Demon sat atop him.

The peculiar manner in which he was bound, made Bob feel certain ways that he could not understand. The intricate bindings made him smile internally as he struggled. The Demon brought its face close to Bobs and spoke in an alluring manner.

“I'll just take care of the others and then be right back for our playtime”

In the distance the noise of the other Lizardmen could be heard as they all ran towards their demise.

The next day the Lizardmen had all been respawned apart from one of their number. Bob sat alone on his favourite log, his head lulled forwards as he contemplated life. Off to his side the noise of a twig snapping and then Ted's voice came as he made his way towards him.

“Yo! Bob, errrr.....Are you okay?”

In answer to his question, Bob began to frantically scratch at the sides of his head, his frustration reaching boiling point. Suddenly he stopped and got up to his feet, pleading eyes looking towards his brother, Ted.

“Ted, that Demon didn't kill me. It untied me and left, do you know what that means?............I'M STARVING FOR FUCK SAKE! ARGHHHHH”

Hearing his brothers lament, Ted looked at him deadpan and offered him a way out.

“Bob, do you want me to kill you so you can respawn fresh?”

Letting out a loud sigh, Bob shook his head and walked past Ted, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did so.

“No Ted, I don't want my brother to kill me because I'm hungry......And to that point, we only have clubs, you would have to beat me to death and that hurts a damn lot you know!”

The pair made their way through the forest while they continued with their conversation.

“I've never actually felt hungry Bob....Every time we die and respawn, our thirst and hunger get reset....I've been killed everyday!”

Bending down to retrieve some pieces of wood he had been working on, Bob handed them to Ted to carry, while he continued looking for more pieces.

“Ted, getting killed everyday isn't something to brag about.....Anyway, we're continuing with our plan....Operation make the Humans realise we're friendly....And possibly give us some food”

Letting out a loud noise of excitement, Ted nearly dropped the wood he was carrying, Having to jostle the pieces around within his arms to stop them from tumbling back to the ground.

“That's the spirit Bob! I knew you wouldn't let that Demon tie you down!”

Piling some more wood on top of Ted's pile, the new additions covered his face and thus halted him from seeing Bob's somewhat blushing expression.

“Tie me down...Tie me...Argh, anyway Ted, while you was dead, I had some time to think and I made a load of plans.....We're going to be busy!”.