The man stared despairingly at his left hand, which was horribly burnt, with traces of the oncoming blisters. He sighed as he reached into a small canvas bag and pulled out a small bottle of water, delicately pouring it on his hand. A flurry of steam came off the burn as the water engulfed it. The man then carefully patched up the hand, before sitting on the ashy, corrupt ground. He then passed into a deep, much needed slumber.

The man jerked awake a few hours later and grabbed his arm, a grimace of pain covering his soot covered face. He pulled up his sleeve, to reveal devastating burns, that seemed to have moved up from his hand. His once mildly burnt hand had become severely blistered under the bandages, which were now stained red with blood and pus.

The man got him, and staggered back towards the canvas bag. He threw back the tattered poncho, revealing a belt with two holsters on it; one which was filled with a perfectly silver, ash free revolver. The man drew the revolver, and checked the rounds in it; there were 4 bullets left in the revolver, which had two empty spaces. The man reached into his canvas bag, and drew two full cartridges of ammo. Somehow, a grin appeared on his face, and in a hoarse voice he whispered, “16 rounds… More than enough.”

The man slung the canvas bag over his shoulder and walked forward, in an almost lazy fashion. He continued walking for nearly six hours, in which the sun had come up, not that the man could tell through the thick wall of smoke that covered the sky. The man stared ahead, his eyes displayed both a sense of respect and a sense of regret.

The scene in front of the man was breathtaking. A nearly endless plain, that once could have been land for raising crops or grazing cattle; but now, now the grass and trees that could have once covered the once beautiful plain were replaced by the ash. Sitting on the great fields of ash were bodies, that very much resembled the man. Clothed in tattered ponchos, wide brimmed hats set securely on their heads, and boots complete with spurs. Yet, there were other bodies. They resembled humans, with cragged skin, that was black as the night. This scene continued for miles, and the man continued to walk.

After nearly two more hours of slowly strolling through this body strewn wasteland, the terrain changed. Out of nearly nowhere, the rolling plains shot up, forming a huge, nearly intimidating mountain. Unlike the flat plains, the sides of the mountain were jagged and sharp. A huge black tower of smoke emerged from the mountain, and every few moments a burst of lava could be seen bursting from the mountain.

The man adjusted the brim of his hat, and stared almost longingly at the mountain. An almost sly smile crawled onto his face as he ran his hand over his revolver. However, his smile was broken as he saw a figure move in the distance. It resembled the strange bodies that littered the ground, but this one had strange, glowing eyes. It let out a strange, almost panicked yelp as it barred it’s long, nearly needle like teeth at the man.

The beast charged at the man on it’s four limbs, nearly beastlike in its actions. The man swiftly drew his revolver and shot the creature twice, shattering the strange peace that had settled on the plains. The bullet pierced the creature’s head, which let out a large trickle of purple blood. The creature appeared to be relentless, as this blow didn’t slow it down at all. The man shot yet another bullet; this bullet hit with almost pinpoint precision, as it blew away the creature’s elbow. The creature tumbled hard into the ground, and the man too this opportunity to blast the creature away with the last two shots in the chamber.

The man warily approached the creature, which now lay facedown. The man himself wasn’t quite sure where the other two shots had hit, and has simply shot the creature randomly. He stared at the creature from about a yard away, and noticed its once glowing red eyes were now completely dim. The man’s eyes suddenly were engulfed with rage as he began kicking the creature repeatedly, sending a flurry of blood through the air.

The man grinned as he turned towards the great volcano, which seemed to react with a great belch of molten rock. He carefully reloaded his gun with rounds from the canvas bag, then slipped the gun back into his holster. The man threw the canvas bag back on his shoulder, and with a seemingly new determination, he trotted towards the fiery mountain.

The man had finally reached the edge of the great, rigid beast. He carefully peered at all sides of it, looking for something, anything, that would allow him to get closer to his prey. Finally, after nearly an hour of trudging along the sides of the mountain, he saw what he was looking for; a great cave, at least 9 feet tall. Other men would have simply dismissed the pathway as a natural formation, but only the man knew that it housed something terrifying…

The man delicately strolled through the hallway like structure, a torch in his grotesque hand. The blackened granite seemed to stretch forever throughout the hallway-like structure. He walked for what seemed like eternity, though the walk was short, the fear of what was at the end of the passageway haunted the man. Finally, he could see the red glow at the end of the passage, and he knew that his destiny was soon to be had.

As the man slowly stepped into the room, he immediately noted that he was standing on what appeared to be a round platform, surrounded by a moat of the same molten rock that was being expelled at the top of the crag. Even with this, the most striking feature was a huge throne that appeared to be sculpted into the side of the wall. Yet, even this was dwarfed by what sat on the throne; it appeared like the same creature that had previously attacked the man, yet it was at least 7 feet tall, with large horns that stuck out of its head, wreathed in fire.

As the man stared at the great creature, a smile crept on his face. It was a smile of content, as he realized he had finally gotten here, and he now had a chance to redeem himself. However, his feeling of content was interrupted, as he realized that the great beast had a smile on its face too, showing its needle like teeth. The man knew that the struggle wasn’t over yet…

The man quickly pulled out his gun and shot at the creature, which smiled as the bullets simply ricocheted off its skin. It dove at the man, who quickly tried to roll to the right, but the creature managed to slash his left arm, leaving a huge bloody gash and tearing the clothing. As the creature looked and saw the burns, now blistered, covering the entirety of the man’s left arm, it started to laugh, realizing that this man wasn’t a threat, merely an inconvience.

The man fired off five more shots, emptying his barrel. The creature kept laughing with a bone chilling voice, and a grip of despair surrounded the man. It was now he had to take the shot, now or never, as the saying went. He reached into a pocket on his pants and drew a perfectly round, silver bullet. He and his comrades had lived and died for the chance to use this bullet, and now it was time. It quickly put it in the barrel and pointed the gun at the behemoth in front of him.

The beast simply smiled, as it had expected the bullets to be like the ones from before, but as the gun exploded violently and sent the bullet forward, the creature realized what had happened. The man smiled, as he noted the pride had been the creature’s downfall. The bullet slid into the creature’s head, right between the eyes, in a nearly perfect shot. The creature immediately dropped, slamming into the ground. The man smiled as he left the hellish cavern.

As the man finally reached the war torn plains, his left eye was now shut, the burns now covered part of his face. The man took a deep breath, realizing that the glory was finally his. He took a few more steps out of the hallway before collapsing on the hard ground….