The PrisonIsland of the Banished has much history. It was once a land of pirates and thieves. Over time however, the dead had taken over. With many bodies fallen upon its land from past battles between pirate and thieves, they made the island unsafe. The island was quickly left deserted.

            Then soon after, mages from another world made use of this island. Their intentions were to send criminals to life imprisonment inside a dark dungeon. The victims were to hang from chains and left to die over time. This prison was occupied by guards to make sure the inmates didn’t escape. The guards were safe from the outside undead. That is until a few years after the prison claimed lives. The dead stalked the hallways and killed the guards off.

            Once fear set inside, nobody would enter the prison or look after it. Prisoners were then magically teleported in chains within the cells. The mages that sent these inmates here were called: “Prison Travelers”. There were only a few in existence. One in each town or city in a land called: “Baryenton”. This world was separate from the prison world. The prison world was its own world. Nobody who ever escaped the prison island escaped back to Baryenton.

            The latest prisoner sent to the island was an outcast knight named Mecrin. He was trained in fighting arts with swords, shields and large weapons. He was a king’s guardsman. That is until he was banished from the kingdom for letting his king fall to an unknown attacker. From that point on, he traveled in the world of Baryenton, doing odd jobs. The jobs were killing thieves and bandits that attacked villages. For a few years, the jobs got him a livable existence.

            One job however got him in trouble by the laws of the land. He attacked and killed a bandit that was a king’s son. The son was corrupted by power. The king was trying to bring him back into the side of good. Mecrin didn’t care because to him, a bandit is a bandit. The king’s lawmen tracked him down and after a violent battle, Mecrin was taken down. He was overpowered by four lawmen. He was taken before the king and sentenced to the prison island forever. The king’s Prison Traveler sent Mecrin away to the island.

            He has been hanging for a very long time. Through some power of god or magic, he has survived for years. Something was keeping him alive without the need for food or drink. His mind however was very weak. There was faint light coming from outside the cell. Torches were lit by an unknown source.

            “Wake up, Mecrin. Wake up.” A voice echoed inside Mecrin’s cell.

            A very hairy and weak Mecrin awoke. His eyes were bloodshot red and his clothes torn and dirty. His appearance was showing muscles beneath the white threads covering his body. His hair was dirty brown. Black pants covered his legs and dirty feet hung in the air as chains kept him in place.

            “What?” Mecrin responded with very little interest.

            The voice asked, “Been a long time inside this hole, hasn’t it?”

            “What do you care? I could be hearing voices, seeing things, I don’t care. Thanks for company.” Mecrin looked up slowly and saw a ghostly image.

            The image was a female in what appeared to be rich clothes. Her hair was combed back and tied in a ponytail. Her green eyes stared straight into Mecrin’s. Her appearance looked very athletic. Her clothes were pure white and with a black belt around her waist.

            Mecrin never saw such beauty in a very long time. He couldn’t look away.

            “My name is Xeno.” The figure said.

            Mecrin responded, “Strange name. Am I dead? I am seeing things now. You appear to me as a ghost. Am I?”

            Xeno shook her head, “No. You are very much alive. I am appearing to you as a vision.”

            “What do you want then?” Mecrin turned away and faced the ground floor.

            “Do I disgust you as you have turned away?” Xeno asked.

            Mecrin sighed, “No. I just think I am going crazy and I am in hell forever.”

            “I can understand that. You have been in this place for many years. You are not in hell; however, you are surrounded by things that are made of darkness.” Xeno explained.

            Mecrin grinded his teeth, “What do you want?”

            “Straight to the point, you are wanted. Wanted by someone to take down evil.” Xeno answered.

            “That is very funny. In case you haven’t noticed I am not the warrior type. I may have been, but I am not anymore.” Mecrin looked at Xeno with an angry look, “I helped people before and it got me here in this hell. I am in no mood for helping anyone!”

            “Too bad. You have been selected.” Xeno’s image disappeared.

            Mecrin’s chains suddenly released and he collapsed to the ground. He felt his wrists for the first time in years. He was massaging them tightly. He felt his body was very jelly like. It was hard for him to move any part of his body. Mecrin tried very hard to move his joints on the ground. It was no use. Time had made them jello.

            “I was better hanging around!” Mecrin sighed and just lied on the ground.

            After a few moments, feeling started coming into his arms and legs. He felt his strength start to return. It was as if he was being born again. He stood up, stretching his limbs from left to right. Cracking of his bones echoed in the room as he stretched them out.

            Looking at his hands and body, Mecrin said, “This must be some kind of magic!”

            He looked around and saw torches burning outside his cell. He grabbed the bars of the cell and pulled on them. After a few tugs, Mecrin felt it coming loose. With much strength he pushed the cell door forward. It crashed into a cloud of dust in front of him. Years of being around, the door had rusted away. These doors were never touched by anyone inside the cell since they died before thought of escape.

            “This is too good to be true. What devilish plot is this?” Mecrin spoke out loud.

            Xeno’s image appeared in front of Mecrin, “You have been kept alive for this long to be a protector. Your strength and abilities have not ever left you. I have made sure of that. Now, your mission for the moment is to reach me. In the land of Baryenton. You will have many dangers ahead. Once in my domain, I will explain more.”

            “Why keep me in this hole for years? What was that for? Why should I do anything for you?” Mecrin shouted.

            “You have no choice. It is you life long debt to the people of the land of Baryenton.” Xeno stared down the angry Mecrin.

            Mecrin grinded his teeth, “I owe nobody anything! They owe me years of my life that was taken from me! I am going my own way! Leave me alone!”

            Xeno just crossed her arms, “Your anger will fuel your fighting in battle but will not get you far! You have no choice in this matter. I don’t like you and kept you alive for all this time because I was ordered. Now, do what you must to reach my land. Whether you like it or not, we will meet.”

            Her image vanished and Mecrin shouted, “I don’t like it!”

            Mecrin looked around the cell and saw nothing, but he saw that the bars on the cell door could be ripped off. He tore a bar off the door to use as a weapon. He walked out of the cell and saw a long hallway ahead of him. Torches were showing a long way to go.

            “At least I will get exercise.” Mecrin started to run down the hallway.

            As he ran by the first torch and tore it off the wall. With a pole weapon in one hand and a torch in the other, Mecrin was ready for whatever he ran into.

            As his feet carried him down the hallway, he saw more cells to his right. All were locked and sealed. Some had corpses in them, while others were empty. Smell of death filled the air as he came to the end of the hallway. As he turned the corner to his left, he stared at an open cell. It was dark inside. However, the dim light from Mecrin’s torch showed some sign of movement inside it. Carefully he approached the open cell. He noticed another hallway coming to his left. The hallway looked like another brisk walk. As the torch light neared the open cell, the moving shape came into view. It was a large skeleton warrior. Its blackened eyes stared down Mecrin. It carried a short sword. Rags hung off of its shoulders. Its mouth made a slight hissing sound as it walked slowly towards Mecrin.

            “Fun.” Mecrin said to himself.

            The skeleton swung a clumsy strike at Mecrin. It was easy to avoid. Mecrin bashed the skeleton over the head with his bar weapon. A crack was made on the skull. Dust flicked off as the strike happened. Mecrin kicked the undead creature to the ground. The skeleton fell hard into the floor, but quickly rolled onto its feet. It faced Mecrin with a deeper hissing. It swung a quicker attack at Mecrin; this attack was blocked by Mecrin, with his bar. He pushed off the sword with much strength. This pushed the skeleton back a bit. The undead attacker seemed to be getting frustrated as its hissing intensified. It slashed quick slashes, each blocked by Mecrin’s bar. The space between them was a bit tight as they were heading into the opened cell. A large swing came at Mecrin, this time he moved and the motion of the attack made the skeleton fall forward into the open cell. It crashed into the wall of the cell. Mecrin tossed the torch directly into the skeleton’s body, shattering it. Fire was burning a little bit more as it caught fire to the skeleton’s rags. Before the fire was able to heat up the sword, Mecrin grabbed it.

            He walked out of the cell, holding the sword, feeling its texture. He swung it around a bit, testing its strength. He smelled the steel and quickly tossed it to the ground. The sword bashed against a wall and turned into black dust.

            “Damn death swords!” Mecrin cursed, grabbing another torch off a wall.

            He continued down the new hallway and walked for a few minutes. He came to another cell and looked inside. Nothing but a skeletal corpse. It was half of a person. In front of him was a locked bar door. He looked around at the corners and around the edges of the door. He kicked it down. It crashed to the ground and brought up a lot of dust. He walked around a corner to his right and came to another corner to his right. He turned the corner and saw stairs going upwards.

            “Ok, now we are getting somewhere.” He walked up the stairs, grasping his bar weapon tightly.

            He reached the top of the stairs and turned to his right and came face to face with another cell door. This time on the other side were two patrolling skeletons. They did not see Mecrin. They were the same appearance as the first one encountered, except these were smaller in size. They carried torches along with a sword. Mecrin put his torch down and looked at the door in front of him. The door could easily be brought down, but not without alerting the guards. He looked at the bars on the door. They could be torn from their positions as rust and time had taken its course. The guards patrolling rout was just up and down a short hallway. They were three visible bodies on the ground, long since killed. Mecrin put his bar weapon down slowly and started to loosen the bars on the door. They popped off with ease. Soon there were enough off of it to squeeze through the door.

            The first skeleton turned around to face towards the cell door and got a bar rammed into its head. It dropped like a matchbook. The second guard’s back was turned as this happened. It turned around after the noise and its body was kicked into a wall, shattering it. Mecrin picked up one of the fallen torches and placed it upright. This made the ground more visible. He checked the bodies for anything. The first two had nothing, as they must have been inmates of the prison. The third, however, had a sword beneath its rotted clothes. The sword was another short one, but Mecrin could tell right away that it was not a death sword. He tested it as he did the death sword he picked up earlier. This time a smile lit his face up.

            Mecrin picked up the leaning torch, “Now I have a weapon.”

            He continued around a corner to his left and past three more cells. They were on his left. The middle cell had another roaming skeleton inside it. This one was only a half body. It didn’t carry a weapon of any kind. It was just squirming around inside the cell.

            Mecrin just shook his head at it as he passed by the cell.

            After turning two more corners he came to yet another cell door. He kicked this one down and dust spit up from the ground as the door crashed into the floor. This alerted three skeletons to the area. They came running at Mecrin. Mecrin heard their slapping feet as soon as they started running towards him.

            “This is getting old!” Mecrin sighed, as he readied himself for another fight.

            With one hand holding the torch, he fought off the three charging undead attackers. He quickly dispatched two of the three skeletons. The last one was a bit more skilled and was able to avoid a quick defeat. The two dueled for a few minutes, with Mecrin still able to fight one handed. After a few blocks and dodges, Mecrin kicked the arm off of the skeleton. The arm was holding its only weapon. The arm crackled onto the floor as it was still grasping its sword. The skeleton looked at its arm for a moment and then faced Mecrin with a very pissed look.

            “Not my fault you suck!” Mecrin drove his sword into the skull of the skeleton.

            The body collapsed to the ground, with the skull still on the sword. Mecrin pushed it off with the torch. The skull spun onto the ground and came to a rolling halt on the arm of the defeated undead creature.

            Mecrin turned another corner and saw another set of stairs and proceeded forward, “Light would be nice to see sometime today!”

            After traveling and fighting off more skeletons on another level of the prison, Mecrin finally came to a hallway with a faint smelled of trees and fresh air. Mecrin was showing signs of exhaustion. His battle with the many skeletons had tired him somewhat. His sword was covered in dust; his torch was nearing its end. The flame was nearly non-existent. He threw the torch down and followed his nose as there was a very faint light coming up ahead. He felt around the walls and turned a corner to his left. He walked a few feet and came to a light, showing another corner to his left. He heard a very heavy breathing sound up ahead. He cautiously peaked around the corner. What he saw didn’t make him feel any easier.

            Around the corner, and blocking the exit to the outside was a large skeletal warrior. This one was double in size to what Mecrin had been fighting. It carried a large sword and a shield. They were stains of dry blood on both. This one seemed to be a guardian of some sort. It was apparent that it killed whatever tried to leave or enter the prison.

            Mecrin faced away from the corner, he whispered, “Just great. When I get out of here, I am going to find whoever sent me here and kick their ass!”

            The small light from the entrance showed a wooden door in front of Mecrin. It looked rotted and open. Not wasting anytime upon the discovery, he entered the doorway. There was no light inside the small room. It smelled like rust and rotten food inside. The stench was very unbearable, but Mecrin felt around. He felt a ladder going up. He quickly climbed the ladder, holding his sword tight. He climbed for a while and came to a closed hatch. He tapped the hatch and felt it was wood. He bashed away at it. Soon his hands went through the hatch. A few more bashing strikes got him through the hatch. He climbed onto a rooftop.

            Sunlight was flickering through many trees around the area. Mecrin’s eyes were blurred as he was adjusting to the light. After kneeling on the rooftop and rubbing his eyes, he was able to see without blurring. He stood up and saw that the rooftop was large. They were no signs of any guards or dangers. He walked to the front of the rooftop and looked over the edge. He saw a shadow of the skeleton guardian below. Guarding the entrance well. He kept looking over the edge to see if there were any safe landing spots. As luck would have it, there was. A tall tree had grown beside the building.

            “Finally some luck!” Mecrin started to climb down the tree.

            He reached the ground and looked around. The area was wide open so that if he started to run, the guardian would see him. Mecrin kneeled for a few minutes to think.

            “Well, it is either run or fight this thing. Two ways. One more suicidal then the other,” He looked at his sword and then at the forest to the south, “Ah, I choose life!”

            With that he stood up and took a large breath. He tested his legs to feel their strength. Grasping his sword in hand, he took off to the south, passing plain sight of the guardian. A loud yell was echoed behind Mecrin as a thumping was heard. Mecrin looked behind him and saw the guardian starting to give chase. Lucky for him that the guardian was not at all fast. Mecrin got plenty of space between him and the creature. He ran a good twenty minutes. The thumping behind him disappeared long before that. He wasn’t sure if the creature was still giving chase, but he had lost it. Mecrin was exhausted as he came to a kneeling halt. He plunged his sword into the ground. He was breathing heavily.

            Xeno’s image appeared in front of Mecrin and spoke, “Seems you are stronger then I thought.”

            Mecrin looked up and stared in her eyes, “You better hope that I never find you or whoever sent me to this place!”

            “It was not I that sent you here.” Xeno sighed.

            Mecrin sat back on his legs and sniffed, “I am guessing that you are magical?”

            He made a funny wave with his hands as if he was casting a cooky spell, even though he knew nothing of magic.

            “Yes. Yes, I am a mage.” Xeno answered.

            Mecrin licked his lips and spit, “So, mage, magic me out of this place and I may consider not kicking your ass when I meet you. I may even consider getting rid of evil, as you so put it back in my cell.”

            “I am a mage, but use of my power would alert those that are, well, evil. I want you to be a secret. I am sorry, but you must make your way to me without magic.” Xeno explained.

            Mecrin gave a grin of disappointment, “Figures. Maybe I should make a deal with these dead beings around here. They may give me what I want, freedom, revenge, women. You know, the usual.”

            Xeno got upset, “You are our protector, you sure don’t act like one! You are nothing special from what I see so far. I am surprised you made it this far! I wish I had not taken you as a guide!”

            She turned her back on Mecrin.

            “Well, doll, if you are my guide, guide me into something that I could give a zombie’s ass about! So far, I am only trying to escape from this place for my own purposes. I haven’t even given a second thought to helping you or whoever you follow. Especially after hours of fighting my way out of an old prison! So, if you want to help, get me out of here with a magic thing or piss off!” Mecrin stood up and tore his sword from the ground.

            Xeno turned to face Mecrin, “Go south. There you will find something to start your journey towards Baryenton.”

            “Ok, so you are my map now. So, if I want directions should I call out your name or say magic words of encouragement?” Mecrin wiped his sword off with his hands.

            “I think you are the one when we meet that will have its ass kicked!” Xeno vanished.

            Mecrin felt his beard, “What a joke. Either I am dreaming and still in my cell living a dream in hell, or this is hell and I will be forever fighting. At least whatever is going on, I have a sexy woman popping up.”

            He started to walk south, getting his mind focused on the journey ahead.

            Mecrin’s sword was feeling heavy as he entered a graveyard. Tombstones lay all over it. Most were cut in half from years gone by while others were cracked and the names were unreadable. A stench of death covered the air and it wasn’t too pleasing to Mecrin. He made a face in disgust, but remained in the area. He sat down next to a broken headstone. He placed his sword on the ground. A faint gust of wind blows through the area. Within this graveyard, it doesn’t appear to contain any daylight. Trees above it block out any sun that may get through. Being nighttime anyway, it would not matter.

            The dirt surrounding the gravestones looked disturbed and fresh.

            Mecrin tapped the headstone he was leaning on, “Well boy, you have it easy here. Dead. You don’t have to walk forever and get lost like I have.” He slapped the stone in frustration, “Damnnit!”

            His eyes started to close as he was very tired and sleepy. Soon he collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep.

            After a few hours of sleep, Mecrin was awakened by sounds of screams. The screams were distant. He sat up and reached for his sword. It was missing. He stood up and looked towards the sounds of screams.

            “I don’t like this crap.” He uttered to himself.

            As the screams halted after a few minutes, Mecrin looked at the tombstones and saw an eerie sight. The dirt in front of the tombstones was disturbed. As if something crawled out of it.

            Mecrin rolled his eyes, “Zombies…wonderful.”

            He heard much rustling coming his way. Since it was dark, he couldn’t see through the blackness of the forest. He thought a moment and ripped the tombstone he had leaned on from the ground. Then he quickly found a tree to duck behind. It was a few feet from the graveyard.

            As he waited, he watched the zombies return to their homes in the ground. Blood was dripping from their mouths. It was very clear they had a run in with somebody. The only home left was the one where Mecrin tore the tombstone from. A very slow zombie soon came after all the others had vanished under the ground. Dragging behind him was Mecrin’s sword. The sword was plunged into the creature’s left leg. Bugs were slithering out of the wound instead of any blood.

            “Gross.” Mecrin whispered, holding his stone tightly.

            The zombie reached his hole and saw that his stone was missing. It looked around for it. The head was bobbing left and right very slowly as it looked around the area.

            “My…..s….stone…..gone!” The creature blurted.

            It faced away from Mecrin.

            When it turned back towards where Mecrin was, the tombstone was tossed at its head. The blow made the creature tumble to the ground in a comedic fashion. The stone was on its head with the body coming out from under it.

            Mecrin ripped the sword out of its leg, “There’s your stone.”

            He left the motionless zombie behind, dusting off his sword from bugs.

            After a lengthy walk, Mecrin made it to a dock where a ship was parked. The ship looked like a pirate ship that had been through rough weather. He could smell death as he got close to it. From seeing the zombies a while ago, he knew what attacked them. He didn’t care as he made it onto the vessel.

            Bodies littered the deck and blood covered the wood. The wheel to control the ship was crushed to splinters.

            “Keeps getting better!” Mecrin slapped the splintered wheel.

            He saw a life boat that was untouched. It was big enough to support ten men. He slashed at ropes that held it to the boat. It hit the water below and floated calmly. Just as Mecrin was about to hop down into the boat, something grabbed his right shoulder and flung him high into the air. He came crashing down a few feet away from the dock. After he coughed and regained wind from almost being knocked out, he saw what tossed him. Standing on the boat was the skeleton guard that he had fled from earlier.

            Now he realized that the zombies were eating what the skeleton had started. The guard was the one in fact that dispatched the pirates on their ship.

            Mecrin stood up, shaking the effects from crashing in the ground off, “Son of a bitch! I knew this would come back to bite me in the ass.”

            Still somehow holding his sword, he waited as the guard came after him. It looked bigger then he initially thought. Mecrin looked around and saw a large hill to his left. He took off for it. The skeleton gave chase. The creature was slow, but Mecrin was exhausted from lack of rest. He however was going to give it his all against this thing. He just wanted it away from the boat.

            As Mecrin reached the top of the large hill, he almost fell into an opening that was carved deep down into the hill. Rocks trickled down into the hole as he came to a halt. Mecrin listened for the rocks to hit the bottom. There was no sound.

            He looked around and saw that the opening stretched right across the hill for a long while. A thumping was heard from behind him. The guard was close. Mecrin heard a faint wind coming from the large hole below. This was the clue that he needed.

            “Bottomless pit.” He made with his lips.

            As the skeleton was close to Mecrin, he turned to face his attacker. When the creature was close enough, Mecrin ran towards the creature and leapt over it. This was a very athletic move. The two got into a short battle where attacks were blocked and parried. With much strength, Mecrin shoulder tackled the guard in the mid section. The blow pushed the skeleton off balance and it fell backwards into the hole, grunting in anger. Its voice carried on as it got fainter and fainter and soon there was no sound. Only wind blew from the hole.

            Mecrin kneeled down and looked really exhausted, “I need a vacation with many fine wenches that worship me!”

            After a moment, he stood up and walked back towards the ship.

            When Mecrin jumped into the life boat he grabbed oars that were inside and started to use them to push away from the large ship. Once he was far enough away, he rested in the boat and passed out.

             Mecrin awoke from a long sleep and felt good for the first time in a while. He sat up in the boat and saw that he was in the middle of ocean.

            “I think I should have thought this through a little.” He scooped a handful of water from the side.

            He tasted salt and spit it out.

            He wiped his mouth, “Great. If I don’t die from hunger, I’ll die of thirst. This keeps getting better.”

            Sitting up in the boat and looking very upset, Mecrin noticed that his sword was missing. He assumed that while he slept it went overboard somehow. His mood became worse. As he felt around the boat, his hands touched a blood drenched cloth. It contained something hard. It was in the shape of a book. Mecrin was sitting on it. He tore it out from under him and tore off the cloth. The book said: “Captain’s Log” on its cover. He opened it up. Most of the pages were torn or burnt. A lot of it was unreadable. There was however one section that was untouched. It was the final entry in the book.

            Another trip back to the mainland after spending too much time here on this prison island. I can’t stand going near the shore of this place. We realized that the prison wasn’t for the living after losing some men to that guard thing.

            After two days we are finally heading back to Goonable and never setting foot on this island again. Taking the remaining sailors drinking will let them forget the horrors we have endured these days.

            There was one good thing that came out of this trip, a map of an artifact that can get me out of this god forsaken world. Back to real life. Back to the real world. This Tomb of Sands will be my ticket off this rock ball. I just need to get some men crazy enough to help me get it.

            The rest of the writing is ruined from blood stains. In the back of the book was a folded paper. Mecrin opened it up. It was a map of this world. He noticed this due to the prison island he just escaped from was on it. The strange thing is that the map was only one page. Usually there would be more to a map in a large world. However he ignored the thought. He folded the map and put it back inside the book. He wrapped the blood soaked cloth back around it. He placed it in the boat where it couldn’t escape, under himself.

            Mecrin grabbed the oars and started rowing towards open water. He hoped that something would come along before he starved to death. He now had a purpose to survive. Something that gave him hope.