The Horned Reaper stood alone in the dank darkness of the long-abandoned dungeon.

He sneered. Long abandoned.

Being abandoned entailed it being occupied in the first place. This was no Dungeon. It was a tomb. His tomb.

Long ago, he had been the most powerful servant of a powerful Keeper. In the name of his master, he had killed…

Well…

He couldn't remember how many people he'd killed but he'd killed a whole load of them. After all, it was not like he ever counted. That would not be classy. As a Horned Reaper, he didn't live his life moment to moment, he lived it kill to kill. For one like him life was just a constant exercise in bloodshed. Sure, he could count the good fights he'd had. After all, dead or not, those who could give him a fight, a very noteworthy feat indeed, he remembered, even honored in this own way, but who counts the bugs they step on…

The demon sighed and leaned back up against one of the pillars to the inactive dungeon heart. It has been so long since he was able to kill.

He'd been the most powerful servant of a mighty keeper. One who's strength was so great it took the combined power of seven lesser keepers to match him. Horny had been honored to fight for and protect such a powerful keeper, but in the end even one as mighty as his master was outmatched by raw numbers. Oh, he'd torn a field through the enemy, slaying a legion like, he grinned, a scythe through wheat, but in the end, he fell as the vanguard of the enemy units had finally entered his master's Dungeon Heart.

Of course, the fools knew better than to destroy a reaper. Members of his kind were notoriously vengeful and hard to put down and even harder to keep down. They'd tried to break him on in their torture chambers but to a being such as he, their best efforts of their mistresses were nothing more than sweet tickles. In the end, one of them had created a temporary Dungeon Heart, threw him in a prison, and immediately abandoned the location.

The Prison had not been too difficult to dismember but the walls… only a magically enhanced pick such as that used by an Imp or Dwarves Tunneler could break through the magically enhanced walls of a Dungeon with any reliability. He tried his best but wither it was a lack of proper equipment, or more likely, patience, he'd managed to achieve Jack and Shit.

The red-skinned beast sighed deeply. Oh, he prayed to the Dark Gods to provide him some way out of this forsaken hole, or lacking that, something to kill.

From down the one short hall that lead from the mangled wreck that was once a prison to the abandoned Dungeon Heart the beast saw a brilliant flash. With a dark laugh the demon stood up, a woof of brimstone blasted from his nose like a hell born bull. He lifted his Scythe and slowly started toward the Heart. Maybe this was the answer to his prayer. Maybe someone had claimed the heart…

The massive demon turned the corner to the heart and deflated. It was still dead, and resting on the temporary floor that protected the heart was the unconscious form of a human body. He could not make out details, but little did he care.

It was something to kill.

Slowly he hefted his scythe. He'd savor this moment like a man dying of dehydration would savor his last sip of water.

His killing blow though, was restrained as an idea ran through his usually one-dimensional mind. This could very well be his escape!

He has spoken at great length with his previous keeper on the nature of a Dungeon Keeper. To become a Keeper one needed three things, the willingness to accept the role, a sacrifice of his own blood to bring life to the heart, and a great source of magical power.

He did not know if this person was a mage, but it really didn't matter. He knew enough about a heart to trigger it with his own power. It would bind him to the service of this mortal until the keeper was destroyed, but it was better, anything was better, than remaining in this god forsaken hole!

All this mortal would have to do would be to cut his hand, and be willing to accept the dark power of a keeper…

With that in mind, Horny slowly approached the slowly stirring form of…