Oh.. since I forgot to say it before, I do NOT own Magic the Gathering or the card games (But dont tell that to my ego.)
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Keliorn could see himself reflected in the eyes of the Dreamwinder, he could see himself reflected through those eyes of pue energy, stare through the fog that enveloped the winders soul.... The Dreamwinder slowly slithered around Keliorn in the waist high water, forming a circle to enclose the old man. The loop grew tighter and tighter as Keliorn looked on, trying to think of a way to stop this unexpected turn of events.
And then the waters started to recede, and the Dreamwinder along with them.
The intruder looked alarmingly at the now receding tide, surprised that the magics worked for only so long. Keliorn watched as the Dreamwinder struggled against the tide, and as it washed back out to the island. He breathed a sigh of relief, and readied his next spell. For a lack of a better idea, Keliorn used his magic to clear up his mind, clearing the way for inspiration. Several idea's popped into his head at once, and from among them he chose a spell that would best fit the occasion. As he finished the selected spell the air around him grew heavy, creating what seemed to be a wall of fog.
"It's nothing but a Fog Bank! Dreamwinder, bring the tides back up and crush him!"
Another island in the distance sunk below the sea, sending a surge of water rushing onto the beach. The intruder could not see if it knocked Keliorn down yet again, but that did not keep him from smiling at the thought of such a feeble defense. The Dreamwinder rushed up to the Fog Bank, and dissapeared into its mist. The air was still, and for several minutes the only sound to be heard was that of the waves crashing against the island. A bird in the distance let out a loud screech, breaking the silence, forcing the intruder to look towards it, and grimace as it swooped downwards, attempting to attack him. The Storm Crow missed by several inches, but the Intruder fell to the ground unceremoniously as he ducked. He stared off into the distance towards the fog, wondering what happend to his dreamwinder....
****
The Dreamwinders eye's searched fruitlessly through the fog, finding neither the human creature it was pursuing nor the source of the fog. It knew that soon the artificial tide it produced would go back down, and there were only so many islands it could sink with its magic before its master decided it wasn't worth it.
Something caught the Dreamwinders eye, something visible only at the corner of its vision.
The Fog had lances.
The behind the lances were held shields.
Behind the shields stood knights made entirely of mist, practically formless, but looking dangerous enough.
The lances dissapeared, as did everything attached to them.
The Dreamwinder heard the neigh of a horse behind it, but never got the chance to turn around....
****
The Intruders question was answered as a portion of the Fog seemed to detach itself from the main mass. The Dreamwinder was attached in many places to lances made entirely of the fog, held by knights made of the same material. The Dreamwinders immense body wriggled like a worm as it cortorted its serpentile body to get at the knights which had flanked it, biting at anything that came near its mouth. As the Dreamwinder slowed, the Knights of the Mist seemed to grow less distinct, and as the Dreamwinder breathed its last, falling to the earth, the Knights dissapeared, returning to the void from whence they came. The Dreamwinder gave one last flip of its giant body, and then melted into nothingness.
" You are but a novice, a child. Why do you pretend to be something you are not? Namely me?" Yelled Keliorn, now visible. For some reason he had unsummoned the mist, leaving him out in the open. The Intruder readied his next spell.
"I tire of this young one, I think I shall end this quickly."
Keliorn pressed his hands together as if in prayer, and then opened them, chanting words never before heard by the intruder. A book appeared in Keliorns hands, and the air rippled with waves of power. As the airial ripples hit the intruder, he felt himself growing weary, and closed his eyes...
The intruder found himself within what appeared to be a study of some sort, filled only with tomes. He dropped his spell, surprised to have been moved so easily off the island. His eyes darted from place to place. The area in front of him was stacked with immense tomes, filled to the brim with spells and knowledge, behind him the shelves seemed wanting. He moved towards the filled shelves.
"That would be bad sportsmanship young man." Keliorn said. He was currently sitting in a chair, a smoking pipe in one hand and a book in the other. "You wouldn't want to disrupt the counting process would you?"
"What did you do to me?"
"I simply evened the playing field. It seems you have me beat in reflexes and spell response time, so I decided to create a more... pardon me... wizened battlefield."
"By simply moving us into a library? Bah, you shall die now." The Intruder raised his hands, readying his spells, but something would not work.
"As soon as the counting began spellcasting ended young one."
"Stop calling me that, you old bastard. And what do you mean by counting?"
"Its a spell I picked up a few ages ago. This is the collective representation of everything either of us know, the person who knows more will live, and the one who doesn't will have their... mind snapped. I like to call this situation a battle of wits."
"You cheating..."
"tsk tsk. I can stop the spell you know, but first I need to know something. Through this spell I can see how much you know, but not, as per say, look into the tomes of your life, eh? If you want to live, your going to have to tell me what I want to know."
"And if I dont?"
"Lets just say the counting hasn't finished counting the first tome of mine, while it looks like your library is about finished."
The intruder grunted at this, sneering at Keliorn and wishing he had not of come.
"I came to find something out that only Keliorn the walker would know."
This stopped Keliorn dead in his tracks. He had not been known by that name for many ages, ever since he came back to this plane he called home. He stood from his chair, and paced about the room. He looked at the young man intently, wondering what to make of him.
"And why did you not simply ask me before? Why tempt the ones who are more powerful than you will ever know?"
"I wanted to make sure you were Keliorn." The Intruder looked down somewhat after saying this, realizing how foolish it sounded.
"Satisfied now?"
"I guess."
"Good, now what was it you wanted to know?"
"More like show you. There is something, an object, that resonates with power. It was given to me ages ago by my first instructor, and I was hoping you could tell me what it does."
Keliorn nodded, and as he did so, the library faded from view, replaced once again with the island. The Intruder lay on his back on the ground, with Keliorn before him, and before Keliorn could offer to help him up, the intruder feinted, for a very, very long time.
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Keliorn could see himself reflected in the eyes of the Dreamwinder, he could see himself reflected through those eyes of pue energy, stare through the fog that enveloped the winders soul.... The Dreamwinder slowly slithered around Keliorn in the waist high water, forming a circle to enclose the old man. The loop grew tighter and tighter as Keliorn looked on, trying to think of a way to stop this unexpected turn of events.
And then the waters started to recede, and the Dreamwinder along with them.
The intruder looked alarmingly at the now receding tide, surprised that the magics worked for only so long. Keliorn watched as the Dreamwinder struggled against the tide, and as it washed back out to the island. He breathed a sigh of relief, and readied his next spell. For a lack of a better idea, Keliorn used his magic to clear up his mind, clearing the way for inspiration. Several idea's popped into his head at once, and from among them he chose a spell that would best fit the occasion. As he finished the selected spell the air around him grew heavy, creating what seemed to be a wall of fog.
"It's nothing but a Fog Bank! Dreamwinder, bring the tides back up and crush him!"
Another island in the distance sunk below the sea, sending a surge of water rushing onto the beach. The intruder could not see if it knocked Keliorn down yet again, but that did not keep him from smiling at the thought of such a feeble defense. The Dreamwinder rushed up to the Fog Bank, and dissapeared into its mist. The air was still, and for several minutes the only sound to be heard was that of the waves crashing against the island. A bird in the distance let out a loud screech, breaking the silence, forcing the intruder to look towards it, and grimace as it swooped downwards, attempting to attack him. The Storm Crow missed by several inches, but the Intruder fell to the ground unceremoniously as he ducked. He stared off into the distance towards the fog, wondering what happend to his dreamwinder....
****
The Dreamwinders eye's searched fruitlessly through the fog, finding neither the human creature it was pursuing nor the source of the fog. It knew that soon the artificial tide it produced would go back down, and there were only so many islands it could sink with its magic before its master decided it wasn't worth it.
Something caught the Dreamwinders eye, something visible only at the corner of its vision.
The Fog had lances.
The behind the lances were held shields.
Behind the shields stood knights made entirely of mist, practically formless, but looking dangerous enough.
The lances dissapeared, as did everything attached to them.
The Dreamwinder heard the neigh of a horse behind it, but never got the chance to turn around....
****
The Intruders question was answered as a portion of the Fog seemed to detach itself from the main mass. The Dreamwinder was attached in many places to lances made entirely of the fog, held by knights made of the same material. The Dreamwinders immense body wriggled like a worm as it cortorted its serpentile body to get at the knights which had flanked it, biting at anything that came near its mouth. As the Dreamwinder slowed, the Knights of the Mist seemed to grow less distinct, and as the Dreamwinder breathed its last, falling to the earth, the Knights dissapeared, returning to the void from whence they came. The Dreamwinder gave one last flip of its giant body, and then melted into nothingness.
" You are but a novice, a child. Why do you pretend to be something you are not? Namely me?" Yelled Keliorn, now visible. For some reason he had unsummoned the mist, leaving him out in the open. The Intruder readied his next spell.
"I tire of this young one, I think I shall end this quickly."
Keliorn pressed his hands together as if in prayer, and then opened them, chanting words never before heard by the intruder. A book appeared in Keliorns hands, and the air rippled with waves of power. As the airial ripples hit the intruder, he felt himself growing weary, and closed his eyes...
The intruder found himself within what appeared to be a study of some sort, filled only with tomes. He dropped his spell, surprised to have been moved so easily off the island. His eyes darted from place to place. The area in front of him was stacked with immense tomes, filled to the brim with spells and knowledge, behind him the shelves seemed wanting. He moved towards the filled shelves.
"That would be bad sportsmanship young man." Keliorn said. He was currently sitting in a chair, a smoking pipe in one hand and a book in the other. "You wouldn't want to disrupt the counting process would you?"
"What did you do to me?"
"I simply evened the playing field. It seems you have me beat in reflexes and spell response time, so I decided to create a more... pardon me... wizened battlefield."
"By simply moving us into a library? Bah, you shall die now." The Intruder raised his hands, readying his spells, but something would not work.
"As soon as the counting began spellcasting ended young one."
"Stop calling me that, you old bastard. And what do you mean by counting?"
"Its a spell I picked up a few ages ago. This is the collective representation of everything either of us know, the person who knows more will live, and the one who doesn't will have their... mind snapped. I like to call this situation a battle of wits."
"You cheating..."
"tsk tsk. I can stop the spell you know, but first I need to know something. Through this spell I can see how much you know, but not, as per say, look into the tomes of your life, eh? If you want to live, your going to have to tell me what I want to know."
"And if I dont?"
"Lets just say the counting hasn't finished counting the first tome of mine, while it looks like your library is about finished."
The intruder grunted at this, sneering at Keliorn and wishing he had not of come.
"I came to find something out that only Keliorn the walker would know."
This stopped Keliorn dead in his tracks. He had not been known by that name for many ages, ever since he came back to this plane he called home. He stood from his chair, and paced about the room. He looked at the young man intently, wondering what to make of him.
"And why did you not simply ask me before? Why tempt the ones who are more powerful than you will ever know?"
"I wanted to make sure you were Keliorn." The Intruder looked down somewhat after saying this, realizing how foolish it sounded.
"Satisfied now?"
"I guess."
"Good, now what was it you wanted to know?"
"More like show you. There is something, an object, that resonates with power. It was given to me ages ago by my first instructor, and I was hoping you could tell me what it does."
Keliorn nodded, and as he did so, the library faded from view, replaced once again with the island. The Intruder lay on his back on the ground, with Keliorn before him, and before Keliorn could offer to help him up, the intruder feinted, for a very, very long time.
