Archronicus: Chapter One

It expectedly smelled of sulfur in the dark corridors of the casemate. A skinny figure walked along uneven tiles of a hall hollowed out inside of a mountain purposefully. It was evident by the concentrated face of the wanderer that he was seriously worried about something.

Having overcome the serious distance, the traveler found himself in front of the entrance to a vast room. The heavy iron-shod doors were not locked. The playful shadow of the right torch ominously tickled on metal shutters. The left flame has long gone out.

The underground Forge has been idle for some time, or to be exact - desolate. The fireplace went out, and the tools were dumped into a pile of rubbish carelessly. The owner of this somber cave sat in the depths of the dark craft room to the left of the silent anvil.

An emerald glow was seen behind his broad back, inflating the already oppressive atmosphere.

"Abzidian!" - the traveler called him from a distance.

"Ahh," the demon gasped, "it's you, Khiron…"

The wanderer took a deep breath and walked quickly towards the gigantic figure.

"It's me. You have not shown signs of life for several weeks now. What happened?"

The obese lord of the Forge growled something unclear in response.

"The crucible has gone out?", continued the guest, approaching the interlocutor a distance of a dozen steps.

"Yes, I don't need it anymore…"

Khiron stopped and tried to look behind Abzidian's shoulder.

"Have you forged what I asked you to?"

"Forged?" the lazy laughter of the demon was more like a cough, "No ... I gave life."

Abzidian turned his ugly face and fluttered his trembling webbed wings. This titan of hellish flesh with a nasty character always frightened Khiron, but the debt incumbent by the Keepers Assembly was the most essential.

"Did you succeed?"

"Yeees," Abzidian replied continuously, "I did it …"

A bright green blade flashed in the hands of a demon. 

"I've melted both fragments into a perfect alloy," Abzidian turned his blurred gaze to the blade, "A handle made of darkness' red flesh. Blade made of light's green flesh. Cosmic balance, deadly edge."

"Deadly," the demon repeated, looking into Khiron's eyes. The echo picked up the last word of the Forge owner.

Khiron frowned.

"Forge doors are not locked. Where is your garrison?"

"The squad…" Сoncern flashed in Abzidian's eyes for a moment, and he seemed to emerge from oblivion. He appeared to plunge into it again immediately. The blade captured all his attention.

"I don't remember disbanding them." Abzidian grinned with a roar and looked at the guest, "I don't care…"

Khiron felt the tension, but it was not the demon's words that worried him, made him stiffen in concern, and look around warily. There were no guards anywhere. In the past, Abzidian took care of his safety with the same eagerness as he wielded a giant hammer at the boundary temperatures of the Underworld. When you forge the deadliest weapons, even a demonic giant needs protection.

The traveler held his breath and peered into the darkness of the cave as if he felt that there was someone else in the Forge...

* * * 

All the essential information about WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon can be found by this link. 

The chronology of the Tug of War saga events from the lost "Archronicus" manuscript:

Volume 1: Radiant;

Volume 2: Dire;

Volume 3: Mad Moon.

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