In a dark chamber devoid of external light sources, only a few candelabras provided a faint glow that barely illuminated the rectangular stone platform in the center.
A naked, muscular man lay atop it, his height reaching over two meters. His body was covered in a countless array of crisscrossing scars, both old and new.
However, the man's skin was deathly pale, his chest and abdomen devoid of any movement, with a long, narrow wound on his chest explaining why he lay there.
A corpse; judging by the wound, the cause of death was likely a dagger or short sword piercing his heart.
But this was no mourning ritual. There stood a gaunt and shriveled monster in a red robe beside the stone platform.
