1 Prologue- Awakening in Ash

The first thing Don noticed was the heat, it was oppressive and seemed to press down on him. The pungent scent of burning hair and wood filled the air, smoke filled the air and with every breath his lungs. He soon realized that a weight was literally pressing down on him, a massive weight seemed to be on his back; searing itself into his flesh.

Don let out a pained scream and in exhaustion dropped his head, nearly blacking out. It was then he noticed the three people under him "Was I saving them?" Don weakly mumbled to himself. The trio were all in similar conditions, covered in small burns and wearing blackened clothes. Around him was burnt wood and ruined furniture. Cinders floated around him dancing in a strangely beautiful way.

He tried to remember how he could have gotten here. The last thing he could remember was waiting in the lobby for a meeting with one of his professors, Dr. Jeffery Renault. Dr. Renault was one of the guiding forces in modern archaeology and somewhat of a hero to Don. The good professor had recently discovered a tome or codex, preliminary dating had it between the 8th and 9th century. The Doctor asked Don and a few other of his students to help examine it. He recalled sitting quietly reading an article in some trashy and outdated magazine, occasionally looking down the hall to where Dr. Renault's office was, there was a horrid ear-piercing screech, then after that, it went blank. Don the awoke here in what he could only assume was hell.

"Are any of you alive?" Don asked quietly, afraid of disturbing whatever was on him.

"I-I am" he heard one say, a muscular young man around 18 or 19 years old, his voice was hoarse and raw. Don saw another person nod, A woman roughly the age of the young man. The woman had much of her hair burned away, several small burns wrapped around her head.

Don looked towards the last person, he was older than the other two, though by how much he couldn't tell. This last person laid dangerously still, Don looked at him for a few slow and agonizing moments till he saw their ash-covered features suddenly spurred to life coughing violently. He was filled with relief; well, as much relief as he could be while burning to death.

"What happened, here?" Don asked

"My-my Lord." The young man said forcing each word out." The f-fi-fire spread quickly. I don't know how it sta-started"

"Lord? I'm not a lor-. "Don paused hearing never wracking creaking sound above him. It slowly got louder and louder till an unholy snap echoed in his ears. Before he could he felt a massive object hit him in the head. The world around him quickly darkened. The last thing he noticed was the heat, it seemed to get more muted and duller.