[center][h3] [/h3][/center][h3][hr][color=#82786E]Brandon Unicorn[/color][/h3][hr][indent] [/indent]
Brandon awoke with a breath, followed by a larger one as his eyes opened. The aspects of his surroundings hit him all at once, and he coughed, bringing an arm up in attempt to shield his nostrils from the acrid scent of smoke and rot around him. Moving made him realize his precarious position upon the steps, and he righted himself, shifting so that his feet could keep him steady on the stairs. The movement stabbed into him, his body aching as he took in his surroundings, which were laden with green hues and smoke, the latter billowing lazily into half-formed skulls and faces, leering and screaming in silence at him before collapsing back into themselves. Weariness drove away the notion of fear, only leaving room for confusion and unease as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

He was in a crypt, he realized, finally aligning the candles, corpses, and central alter atop the stairs into a word he knew. The dull ache in his head ebbed as he tried to tap into his memories. He was Brandon Unicorn, a son of the mighty Unicorn Duchy, and he’d yet to become a knight. The last thing he remembered was being on patrol, which was usually a tedious and uneventful affair, and after that… 

Another ache cut his thoughts short, and he gave up the attempt for now, rising from where he sat. Though his body protested best it could, his nerves alighting with sharp and sour pains that spanned wherever and whatever he moved, he was distracted by the light he saw. The exit, down a long and winding path ahead, tempted him from afar, and he registered the soft yet familiar sound of clanking steel echoing from its general direction. Knights. His patrol, perhaps?

Attempting to open his mouth made him aware of how parched he was, and he barely managed a croak, ending with a cough as he stumbled down the rest of the stairs towards the light. The walls of the narrow path were a welcome support as he walked, the muted pains building upon themselves as he progressed towards the light.

“Help,” he finally managed as he neared the light. The word had come out as a mixture of a rasp and a croak, barely intelligible even to his own ears, so he tried again. “Help me.”