Prologue

The shovel was coal black and encrusted with little silver jewels, and reached halfway up his leg. As he roared and swung it down towards her head, she noticed to her horror something that she hadn’t seen last time. The shovel was covered at the end with a dark sticky substance that was probably blood. She wondered what –or who- had had the last unfortunate encounter with it. This was the last thing she thought before the world around her went black and she slumped to the ground.
He lowered the shovel. Nothing stirred. At least, not anymore. The few creatures that may have shouted a warning were lying on the floor, slumped as if asleep. A slow smile crept menacingly across his face. He walked slowly over to a small mound of grass, kicking bodies aside as he went. He lifted the shovel high above his head, and thrust it as hard as he could into the Earth. It echoed with a dull clang as its tip hit something solid. “Wa ha ha ha ha!” he cried, “Nothing can stop me now! Nothing!”
A loud roaring sound filled the air and the ground began to open. The sky turned red as the world began to be sucked in…