It wasn't long until the group of sleepers finally docked their ships on the shore of the lake, well more like crashed into the side but what difference does that make in a world such as this, soon their ships were cras…docked on the side of the shore under the shadow of the imposing castle, a deep forest surrounded the hill it was crested upon with its walls towering over the vermillion hell striking both fear and awe into all who stood at its base.
The brilliant white stone was a stark contrast to the dark twisting barks of the dark oaks that populated the region, its surface marred with scuffs and marks yet unyielding demonstrating how it had withstood constant assaults for an age yet no enemy ever managed to break its surface.
As the sleepers marched through the forests there was an ominous feeling of dread with every step, as if they were being watched by a benevolent god who could turn ruthless in a heartbeat, the distant sounds echoing through the twisting maze of trees growing every closer as they approached the castle.
Despite their efforts it still took them a good few hours to walk through the woodland to reach the castle gates, along the way dispatching a small group of wolf like abominations with jet black fur and dreadfully keen minds, fortunately the creatures were merely Dormant Monsters which the group of nearly forty sleepers dispatched with no significant damage to their forces. This was a good omen to come many thought yet the ones spearheading the operation stayed on edge.
The group was currently led by Warden, who through his keen mind and sharp prowess had managed to keep the group in order and establish at least a basic framework for them to fight as a coherent force, by his side there were three others. His first and foremost confidant was strangely enough the gaunt man who most other sleepers had tried to avoid due to his overall lack of usefulness and terrible sense of humour, Jest was the one stain on an otherwise good man that at least what most sleepers thought anyway.
The other two may not have appeared very impressive on the surface but underneath they represented a staggering amount of the forces striking power, most of the sleepers had only managed to gain a dozen or two points of saturation during their travels in both the real world and the world of dreams they had found themselves in but those two were different. They had both managed to accumulate over one hundred each whilst traveling with each other during the months since the end times had started. On top of that their knowledge and understanding was far beyond what most others had known so their keen insights had provided much needed support for those who were less fortunate.
Their accumulated experience was nothing short of a spectacle and that wasn't even considering the powerful memories they had acquired along their journey, the older man was a born marksman who could accurately strike down mostly any threat before the rest of them even noticed it was there. The younger man was a strange one in of himself, all of them had seen him appear in a bolt of lightning so fast they had no chance to react to his presence, as well as that his insidious blade made quick work of creatures seeming to infect them with some sort of deadly poison which drained them of life.
Together they held a staggering amount of striking power compared to the rest of the sleepers, yet they barely if ever seemed to use their aspects to the point people were even questioning what they were, they knew that the young man could command electricity to an extent but the older guy was a complete mystery. On top of that they had shared their winnings with the rest of them instead of keeping it to themselves, most would have called this foolish but it made the people trust in them which would be worth more than enough for them it seemed.
Together the four men showed a unified front and provided a path for the others to follow, it was inspiring and made them feel like they could really make it back home alive after this is all said and done, even if they have to kill a dragon on the way. After some time the trees finally gave way revealing an empty plateau at the base of a large hill, the first walls encircled the base with more rings separating the castle into distinct segments as if the whole structure was instead a gigantic city all encompassing and fiercely deadly.
The gates stood in front of them, giant wooden monoliths which had long been abandoned by the living, with vines and ivy growing over their surface yet failing to penetrate the wood itself the giant gates were wide open as if inviting any visitors into its alluring maw, yet even to this day the gate was not left unguarded. Standing in the gates entrance were a pair of knights, their forms were exaggerated and twisted, standing close to seven feet tall, their muscles atrophied and twisted as their skin clung tightly to their bodies, their eyes were sunken yet shone with a strange reflectiveness much like their armour which despite the countless millennia which had passed bared no mark of their surface like a perfect mirror. Surrounding them was another pack of wolf-like abominations, these ones much larger than the ones they had seen before, their black coats had markings of silver down their backs forming intricate patterns which seemed to reflect the world back onto itself.
They seemed to be watching over the gates, making sure no intruders breach their fortress until the end of time, Damian relayed this scene to his companions, highlighting the weapons each one wielded in their hands,
"The one on the left is holding a sword of some form whilst he other is using a glave, we need to be careful in how we approach these creatures, they seem far more dangerous than the ones we have encountered so far."
Warden nodded along as he absorbed the information like a sponge before quickly drawing a sketch of the battlefield into the mud, quickly adding on symbols representing the different formations they could take and how to best approach the problem,
"If we go with formation A then…no that wont work, if we go with B and split then…no thats no good either…"
Talking through his strategies seemed like it was helping him figure out which way was the best to handle it, his brain was working hard in order to figure out the way to fight past whilst suffering minimal casualties until he was interrupted by a cough, looking up he saw Jasper looking at him with a strange look on his face as he spoke,
"Sorry to interrupt your planning my good sir but I believe I still owe you for sleeping through the battle on the river, so allow me to deal with this lot.. or at the very least distract them."
Warden gave him a puzzled look before answering,
"Whilst I do admire your valor Jasper and I don't mean to be rude but what exactly do you plan on doing?"
Jasper looked at him and smiled wide as he looked over the sight of his enemies as he answered,
"Simple I will take out the wolves and weaken the undead freaks whilst you guys charge in and finish them off."
Warden was about to comment before Damain simply put a hand on his shoulder and shock his head as he spoke,
"Let him handle this, he will just do it anyway so no point in trying to convince him."
Jasper smiled as he started to walk off to the side of the camp,
"Aww you know me so well, when you see the signal that will be the queue for you guys to jump in and finish them off."
Jasper calmly walked off into the woods with a wave, leaving the other sleepers confused on what the young man was up to, and after a few moments Jest finally spoke,
"Dibs on the poor fools armour."
Warden and Damian simply turned to face the man before nodding in agreement, wondering which of his possessions they would like to get aswell, all Damian knew if that he didn't want custody of Jackie who was currently watching his master walk off with one wing raised high to his head in a farewell salute.