The earthen path creaks.

A lone adventurer, knowledgeable but young, pauses his walking to catch the sound of heavy breathing. Perhaps it was unwise to attempt a heist in a place such as this one. Looking below him, a single drop of sweat falls onto the ground.

Stillness.

The traveler smirks, all in his head. He takes a step forward...

The ground splits, branching out into cracks he could hardly take notice of as it was all done in mere seconds. Dangling by the edge, he grasps tightly fearing not the chance of falling in, but of the one behind it all.

Lava pouring from the cracks within his stone armor, forming a flowing cape that wrapped him in its warm embrace, a frightening terror beyond words, the Cursed Knight had come to collect.

Wincing, no words leave the traveler's lips as he weakly attempts to maintain his courage. The Cursed Knight grabs him by the arm and lifts him upward, gently setting him on solid ground.

"Tell me, tell me news from your world."

The traveler merely stares at his wrist, awed that it remained intact, no burns, no pain. The Knight sets a hand on his shoulder and repeats his question. 

"I ask, tell me of all that transpired. For I am foreign to this country."

The traveler meekly turns his head upward, but the sight pierces his heart and he screams in agony, running away as his head feels as if it were burning up from the inside. The Knight grabs him, trying to reassuring him. "Please, tell me, I mean no harm, please!"

The traveler's head begins to glow, and small burns form on the side of his cheek. Wrestling away, he breaks into a run, not once looking back.

The Knight, his hands extended outward, drops to his knees in defeat.

"Sithee, you've taken my face as well."

Lowering his head, he sinks back into the ground, becoming unrecognizable, plain earth and stone once more.