Chapter 9: Oh, Brother
(This story is based off characters from the game Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. The events of this story take place before the game.)
In all of the eight realms, there stands a structure that links them all together. It is a tower saturated in magic. It has stood since a time forgotten, and is safeguarded by the most powerful person of the era. That person now is the Wizard Sumner. Over the years, Sumner worked to learn all about the home he had earned.
One of the things he had learned was that his tower was much taller than it appeared. He discovered that the tower did not exist in eight realms, but nine. This led him to wonder why this detail was never known. Why was this ninth realm never known by the other realms.
To his shock, Sumner learned that this ninth realm was discovered long ago, at a time before the era of Skorne. It had been the hero that had the tower at that time that found this realm. Skorne had been the ruler, and his skeletal minions began an invasion. Those minions were the ones who then created the ones that plagued each of the eight realms. It had also been the basis of the magic that plagued the Temple that all the realms could access.
Sumner knew he could not do anything to explore that realm, and had called on someone he felt he could trust, his brother Garm. His brother was more versed in combative magic, and had a love of exploring. His brother was also a more think on the fly kind of individual. That made him perfect for exploring this odd realm at the true base of the tower.
It just so happened that on one fateful day, Garm had returned from his explorations all excited. He had climbed up to where Sumner had been researching something about Skorne. Sumner looked up from the scroll he had been reading, and said to his brother, "Garm, had you found something in your explorations?"
Sumner was not surprised when his brother nodded. "I found a lot of things, Sumner. First off, none of the skeletal warriors are about. It looks like they all went away after Skorne's defeat. I did find, however, that the demon had a citadel at the farthest reaches, and in it was something very interesting. "
That last bit caused Sumner to react. He had looked over the area with a telescope, but had not seen anything like that. "What had you found, Brother?" He was very curious about the find. Anything they could find out about the demon would be interesting.
What he heard, however, was worrying. Garm had come across something very troubling. "Well, I found something in the citadel that showed that the demon wasn't fully defeated. He had set something up so that should he be forced into the underworld, he could come back when his minions were brought back."
The mention of the minions returning made Sumner look at the stained glass window behind him. He had noticed the light from it dwindling, and he feared what it might mean. He knew he would have to check the Desecrated Temple. He had to be sure that Skorne couldn't surge forth out of the place if he returned. It was already bad enough that if Skorne did return, all sanctuaries would be tainted, and feed power to his underlings. He looked at his brother, and said, "That's not good, Garm. If that demon has anchored himself in the temple, he could take over the eight realms. His minions in the Battlefields would rise up and try to siege the tower. I need to be sure he's not rising right this moment."
Sumner saw his brother nod. "A very good idea, Brother. I shall hold the tower down until you return. It would be folly to leave it unattended now." For a moment, Sumner thought he heard more in his younger brother's voice, but he put it off to his elevated concern. Now was not the time to suspect something was odd.
He quickly went over to the stained glass window, adorned with all of the minions of Skorne. Each of them appeared to be paler in color to what they had been just that morning. Something was happening, and Sumner didn't like it. It just made him step into the light from the window with more caution than usual.
The light from the window actually created a portal to the temple that had similar properties to his tower. The Temple was never rooted in just one of the realms, but touched them all. Almost every religious shrine in the realms connected to the Temple, but since Skorne's first invasion, the temple was inaccessible. It was a precaution taken at the time when the first group of Legendary Heroes fought him off.
It was for this reason why, when Sumner appeared at the temple, he wasn't surprised by the state it was in. Pews were still placed as barricades. Statues were still knocked over, broken on the floor. The few statues that weren't broken, however, Sumner remained wary of. It was well known in the realms that sometimes Death would appear to be a statue. Only those well versed in magic knew how to stop that manifestation of Death.
Carefully, Sumner made his way through the temple, and to the area before the altar. According to what he had learned, there was something that was supposed to be left in place there. A weapon of some sort that would blast away at the demon, and protect those who would fight him. He saw nothing in the apse, which made him worry more. It was with great care that he approached the altar then.
When he reached the altar, he could tell something was off. From what was written down, the floor of the altar had been destroyed by Skorne when he appeared to the heroes. It could not have been repaired, yet the floor was whole. He did, however, hear a voice coming from that floor. It was a horrific voice that could only come from something not of this world. It really made a chill go down his spine when the voice said, "So, the great wizard Sumner has arrived. You will make a fine first victim for my return. Imagine how much it will add to my power when people hear of your death."
At that moment, the floor exploded, and Sumner raised a personal shield to protect himself. As he figured, the shield protected him from the debris that had been the floor. When Skorne rose up out of the hole, Sumner knew his shield wouldn't be enough. The best he could do, for now, was to distract the demon, and then flee.
He summoned the most powerful attack a Wizard can cast, the Demon Skull. The magical construct rose out of the floor, and launched towards Skorne. As it flew, Sumner shouted, "You won't find the people as foolish as your last time here, Skorne." When Skorne blocked the attack, Sumner ran away from the altar.
While he would have preferred fighting, he knew he had to get to the tower. People would need to be warned. There was also something he wanted to check. Skorne had been banished to the underworld, and while he wasn't killed, he would have to be summoned forth again, no matter what he had used to make sure he could be summoned forth.
Sumner ran through the temple, and to his horror, crystal tiles started appearing on the floor. As he passed them, creatures started emerging from them. Skorne had obviously raised enough power to resummon his minor minions back into the realms. Luckily, he managed to get to the exit before any of the creatures could even attack him. The second he hit the point he had appeared at, he was instantly back in the tower. He hadn't stopped running either, which had been a good thing. The window shattered, and he fell to the floor to avoid getting hit. He didn't hear any glass hit the floor, which he partially expected.
He turned to look up, and saw the window had broken into eight pieces. From what he read, this had happened before. Each shard would head to the underling of Skorne who now took charge over that realm. He then saw them fly off to the various realms, flying into the entry points of the various realms.
He got up, and walked over to a sight he did not expect to see, but was not surprised. He saw a body lying on the ground, near the remains of another portal. Sumner knew what both had been, and put together what happened. The body was his brother, Garm, and the remains was a portal to the Underworld. Garm had done the foolish thing of summoning Skorne. It made him feel a little foolish now for entering the temple.
After a few moments, he looked around the tower. All the entries to the realms were now occupied by people. He had no doubt that this wasn't a coincidence, but fate. These would be the ones who would fight Skorne's creatures. He made his way back to where he did his research, and said, "All of you, please come to me. There is much to discuss, and not much time. Skorne has returned, and I have no doubt that you have all encountered his followers." He watched as they all approached, and as the passed all the entry points, the tower rumbled, and all the entry points became sealed off. Added to it, a group of crystals appeared near the entrance of the one realm. That was a failsafe he had read about. Now he was going to be the one to help the heroes that would stop Skorne.
One thing bothered Sumner, though. Why had his brother done this, and what happened to his soul?
Author's note
This was the last of my preplanned chapters from notes that are well over a decade old. From this point on, all chapters will be plotted out more recently than that. I am, however, going to put a poll up on my profile page. You see, my initial plan for this was to include chapters for each of the area bosses in the game. That was over a decade ago. I am now considering dropping that idea, and going straight into the levels. I will let you, the readers, decided which is the better option. This poll will remain up until two more postings are made.
From the Author
From now on, I will be posting updates of my writing progress on my blog. The link is in my profile.
