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Chapter Four: Why Won't You Die?
Dry charcoal crumbled and scattered beneath the trio's feet as they silently crept closer to the Tower. It was unusually quiet, a quiet normally attached to the dead. By high-noon, when the scorching sun rained down its heat with all its fury, the travelers rested upon the black obsidian of the Tower. Seraph's white robes were gray as could be, ashen. Even the forest elf Asylthas and his clothes were covered in ash and charcoal. Only Raistlin's gold robes seemed untouched by the ash and debris that had resulted in one of his own magical spells. Although his clothing was untainted, his coughing was the exact opposite.
Cursing himself for weakness, Raistlin wiped the blood on his lips as the spasm lifted. "Damn all this ash," he cursed beneath his breath, "if Par-Salian had just let me enter, none of this would have happened..." Looking into his uncle's eyes, Seraph could see the ambition and frustration beneath them, if nothing else. "Raistlin," Seraph respectfully asked, "why wouldn't Par-Salian let us enter? It's not really his nature to do something like this. Besides, Par-Salian is no longer master of this Tower."
"What!" Raistlin shouted as loud as his frail raspy voice would allow, "then who sent you the invitation to the Test?" Seraph could tell by the look in his great uncle's eyes that he meant business. "His name is quite difficult to pronounce, kin" he replied with the utmost sympathy and caution, "but it feels like I know who he is." Raistlin's patience was growing thinner with his kin than with Tasslehoff. "Tell me that blasted name for gods' sake!"
"It started with an 'F'," he answered, "and if I remember correctly was quite long and hard to read." Raistlin's golden eyes revealed a hint of fear and frustration, of both malice and hatred. Somehow, Seraph felt his uncle knew who it was. "Was it by any chance Fistandantilus?" the Demi- God desperately asked. "Yes, that's his name, Fistandantilus...why, what do you know of him?"
Cursing his luck beneath his frail breath, Raistlin turned his immediate attention to the doors of the Tower. "By my status as a god, open these doors Fistandantilus!" With an ancient creak, the doors swung open as a dark figure stepped forth into the dusk light. "Majere, I see we meet yet once more..." the figure laughed and mocked the archmagus. His voice was that of Fistandantilus, but the body was not. If you could even call that thing a body, it was more dead than alive, half spirit, half mortal.
"I recognize your voice Dark One, but you seem to enjoy stealing the souls of my kin." Raistlin allowed as single snicker to escape his delicate lips. "Tell me, Dark One, how did you manage to escape me a second time? Better yet, how did you manage to steal my nephew's soul you parasite! How could you take Palin's...?" Raistlin doubled over in a coughing spasm.
Palin answered, "It is simple even for someone of your stupidity Majere. Have you forgotten what it took to become a Demi-God?" "Yes," Raistlin answered, "I remember the pain of the tests..." Palin was outraged at this latest statement. "The pain, you felt no pain...It was I who suffered the pain of those grueling trials, but you forget the simple solution. I was not the one seeking Godhood; I only sought immortality, ultimate magical power."
"When the gods passed judgment upon your soul, deeming you worthy to be at least a Demi-God, something happened to your soul." Raistlin interrupted, "Oh yeah, what would that something happen to be?" With a gleam in his eyes, Palin's eyes, he replied. "They took me away from your soul; they couldn't allow me to become a Demi-God...only you had that chance. When you obtained your power, I gained your nephew's soul. It always seemed to be easier to inhabit a Majere, I wonder why?"
Just as furious as his great uncle, Raistlin stepped forward before Seraph could summon the spell to mind. "I've heard enough of your lies Fistandantilus," Raistlin was preparing to unleash a deadly spell. "You will return my nephew's soul to him, or you will die for good, right here and now!"
Laughing, Fistandantilus took an unheeded step toward the archmagus. "In order to be rid of me, you would have to kill your own descendant." Raistlin too took a step forward. "And what makes you think..." Raistlin's laugh began to echo across the barren desert that was the Forest, "I have a problem with that." Raistlin's voice was so even and stern, his confidence caught Fistandantilus off guard, temporarily.
Extending his right hand toward the mage, Raistlin chanted the spidery words of magic. "Thundrous...est...siahh..." Lightning flared to life from the archmage's fingertips, striking Fistandantilus with an impact like thunder, without the sound. Forced backward by the magic, Palin's half mortal body struck the Tower like a boulder. Falling to the ground, Fistandantilus stood up. "Nice try Sly One, but I guess your heart just wasn't in it this time..." He continued to laugh as Raistlin took another step closer, this time extending both his hands.
"I will not say this a second time, release my nephew's soul, now! Flaris...helios...tahhias...rsyk...ast...inous..." This time thunder clapped as green light flared from his hands. Enveloping Fistandantilus and Palin, the duo was sent sprawling into the Tower once more, cracking the hard obsidian. Descending nearly half the height of the Tower, Fistandantilus once more stood up, unharmed.
"Why won't you die?" Raistlin shouted as radiant gold light shimmered at the hem of his robes. "You will not test my great nephew, you will not take the art from him, and last of all, you shall never disobey a god again!" Gulls of wind whipped at Raistlin's unprotected face as his silver hair flowed in the wind. Streams of gold magic erupted in those hourglass eyes, his hair turned gold as he shone with the brilliance of the magic coursing in his veins.
Lowering his hands to his waist, the winds' torrents picked up, fluttering his robes around him. But those eyes never took their decaying sight off their prey. The charred land beneath him began to crack and split as earthquakes ravaged the plains. Seraph and Asylthas stood transfixed as the power of Raistlin Majere swirled around them, protecting them. Eventually the seismic quakes became catastrophic, and even the half mortal Palin was forced to his knees. Fistandantilus was no match for Raistlin, not now, not ever.
Raistlin's voice echoed and reverberated off everything at once, giving him the essence of true godhood. "There will be no more Tests...I shall give my nephew some power and the robes of the god he follows..." Raistlin's voice began harden, "As for you Fistandantilus, you've lived too long; you will die by my hands, and shall never rise again! Do you hear me Dark One, this is your demise!"
"Raisiahh...eysk...nemua...ast..." The magic coursed in and about Raistlin's being. "Nias...ryskis...tahh...helios...ckour..." His power pulsated through everything; even Fistandantilus could feel the end. "Deathialta...sithyk...syks...annihialstious..."
Flames of all colors spiraled from his body, poisonous green, deadly black, burning red, thundering blue and icy white. A massive cataclysm shook the tower from its foundations; thunder shattered the obsidian as if it were glass. "This...can't be happening!" Fistandantilus shouted as the glassy shards of the Tower fell upon him. Another thunderous forced flung him and the debris into the air. With a slight movement of his hand, the glass shards impaled Palin's body, piercing the parasite's soul.
A gust of wind sent Fistandantilus toward a maelstrom of magic that now surrounded the golden archmage. Icy winds froze him in a specific spot above the Demi-God, he was trapped. Unable to leave or kill Palin's soul, Fistandantilus could only look on in horror as Raistlin raised both his hands to him. A faint gold aura shimmered amongst his hands before raging upward to devour him. With one final clap of thunder and a massive explosion of magic, Fistandantilus and Palin were both destroyed.
The torrential winds of the aftershock sent Seraph and Asylthas to their knees. Raistlin, back to his frail body, stood there as the winds whip-lashed his robes and another spasm contorted his body. Rising from the ashes of the land, and wiping the blood from his lips, he laughed. "It is over..." sighing, Raistlin called his great nephew to him.
"Seraph my dear great nephew, I offer you some of my power, now you must decide where your path will lead you. I can be of no more help, granted I never expected it to turn out this way, but I know we'll meet again. Until then, train your hardest, next we meet I shall test your skills. Farewell my kin, take care..."
Raistlin picked up the Staff of Magius, and vanished as he turned and walked off into the horizon. Unbeknownst to Seraph, his great uncle was not returning to the Abyss, or the Gods' Council. Raistlin Majere, Demi- God of all magic, sought to become a pure God, and nothing less.
Whispering to himself, Raistlin left behind his only surviving kin. "This is your time now, walk your own path, a path set forever before you. Never once doubt your own judgment, and we will meet again. I will protect and watch over you while I can."
As he walked, Raistlin passed an old man, by the name of Fizban. "Ah Sly One, you seek full Godhood? But it is one thing you shall never have, now you will return with me to the Abyss and we shall continue the council." Raistlin never once looked back. "No Old One, you Gods have had your fun, now it is my turn." Fizban immediately called out to the mage as he headed toward the blood red horizon. "It will be the end for you if you do this Majere; I vow this on my life."
"Foolish, very foolish Paladine...You are wrong, it is not the end," Raistlin's dark laugh filled the ears of Paladine. "It is only the beginning..."
-----Even though this ends Vol. I of the Seraph Chronicles it doesn't mean the adventure won't continue. Hopefully, in the next week or so, look forward to Godhood, 'The Seraph Chronicles Vol. II-----
Chapter Four: Why Won't You Die?
Dry charcoal crumbled and scattered beneath the trio's feet as they silently crept closer to the Tower. It was unusually quiet, a quiet normally attached to the dead. By high-noon, when the scorching sun rained down its heat with all its fury, the travelers rested upon the black obsidian of the Tower. Seraph's white robes were gray as could be, ashen. Even the forest elf Asylthas and his clothes were covered in ash and charcoal. Only Raistlin's gold robes seemed untouched by the ash and debris that had resulted in one of his own magical spells. Although his clothing was untainted, his coughing was the exact opposite.
Cursing himself for weakness, Raistlin wiped the blood on his lips as the spasm lifted. "Damn all this ash," he cursed beneath his breath, "if Par-Salian had just let me enter, none of this would have happened..." Looking into his uncle's eyes, Seraph could see the ambition and frustration beneath them, if nothing else. "Raistlin," Seraph respectfully asked, "why wouldn't Par-Salian let us enter? It's not really his nature to do something like this. Besides, Par-Salian is no longer master of this Tower."
"What!" Raistlin shouted as loud as his frail raspy voice would allow, "then who sent you the invitation to the Test?" Seraph could tell by the look in his great uncle's eyes that he meant business. "His name is quite difficult to pronounce, kin" he replied with the utmost sympathy and caution, "but it feels like I know who he is." Raistlin's patience was growing thinner with his kin than with Tasslehoff. "Tell me that blasted name for gods' sake!"
"It started with an 'F'," he answered, "and if I remember correctly was quite long and hard to read." Raistlin's golden eyes revealed a hint of fear and frustration, of both malice and hatred. Somehow, Seraph felt his uncle knew who it was. "Was it by any chance Fistandantilus?" the Demi- God desperately asked. "Yes, that's his name, Fistandantilus...why, what do you know of him?"
Cursing his luck beneath his frail breath, Raistlin turned his immediate attention to the doors of the Tower. "By my status as a god, open these doors Fistandantilus!" With an ancient creak, the doors swung open as a dark figure stepped forth into the dusk light. "Majere, I see we meet yet once more..." the figure laughed and mocked the archmagus. His voice was that of Fistandantilus, but the body was not. If you could even call that thing a body, it was more dead than alive, half spirit, half mortal.
"I recognize your voice Dark One, but you seem to enjoy stealing the souls of my kin." Raistlin allowed as single snicker to escape his delicate lips. "Tell me, Dark One, how did you manage to escape me a second time? Better yet, how did you manage to steal my nephew's soul you parasite! How could you take Palin's...?" Raistlin doubled over in a coughing spasm.
Palin answered, "It is simple even for someone of your stupidity Majere. Have you forgotten what it took to become a Demi-God?" "Yes," Raistlin answered, "I remember the pain of the tests..." Palin was outraged at this latest statement. "The pain, you felt no pain...It was I who suffered the pain of those grueling trials, but you forget the simple solution. I was not the one seeking Godhood; I only sought immortality, ultimate magical power."
"When the gods passed judgment upon your soul, deeming you worthy to be at least a Demi-God, something happened to your soul." Raistlin interrupted, "Oh yeah, what would that something happen to be?" With a gleam in his eyes, Palin's eyes, he replied. "They took me away from your soul; they couldn't allow me to become a Demi-God...only you had that chance. When you obtained your power, I gained your nephew's soul. It always seemed to be easier to inhabit a Majere, I wonder why?"
Just as furious as his great uncle, Raistlin stepped forward before Seraph could summon the spell to mind. "I've heard enough of your lies Fistandantilus," Raistlin was preparing to unleash a deadly spell. "You will return my nephew's soul to him, or you will die for good, right here and now!"
Laughing, Fistandantilus took an unheeded step toward the archmagus. "In order to be rid of me, you would have to kill your own descendant." Raistlin too took a step forward. "And what makes you think..." Raistlin's laugh began to echo across the barren desert that was the Forest, "I have a problem with that." Raistlin's voice was so even and stern, his confidence caught Fistandantilus off guard, temporarily.
Extending his right hand toward the mage, Raistlin chanted the spidery words of magic. "Thundrous...est...siahh..." Lightning flared to life from the archmage's fingertips, striking Fistandantilus with an impact like thunder, without the sound. Forced backward by the magic, Palin's half mortal body struck the Tower like a boulder. Falling to the ground, Fistandantilus stood up. "Nice try Sly One, but I guess your heart just wasn't in it this time..." He continued to laugh as Raistlin took another step closer, this time extending both his hands.
"I will not say this a second time, release my nephew's soul, now! Flaris...helios...tahhias...rsyk...ast...inous..." This time thunder clapped as green light flared from his hands. Enveloping Fistandantilus and Palin, the duo was sent sprawling into the Tower once more, cracking the hard obsidian. Descending nearly half the height of the Tower, Fistandantilus once more stood up, unharmed.
"Why won't you die?" Raistlin shouted as radiant gold light shimmered at the hem of his robes. "You will not test my great nephew, you will not take the art from him, and last of all, you shall never disobey a god again!" Gulls of wind whipped at Raistlin's unprotected face as his silver hair flowed in the wind. Streams of gold magic erupted in those hourglass eyes, his hair turned gold as he shone with the brilliance of the magic coursing in his veins.
Lowering his hands to his waist, the winds' torrents picked up, fluttering his robes around him. But those eyes never took their decaying sight off their prey. The charred land beneath him began to crack and split as earthquakes ravaged the plains. Seraph and Asylthas stood transfixed as the power of Raistlin Majere swirled around them, protecting them. Eventually the seismic quakes became catastrophic, and even the half mortal Palin was forced to his knees. Fistandantilus was no match for Raistlin, not now, not ever.
Raistlin's voice echoed and reverberated off everything at once, giving him the essence of true godhood. "There will be no more Tests...I shall give my nephew some power and the robes of the god he follows..." Raistlin's voice began harden, "As for you Fistandantilus, you've lived too long; you will die by my hands, and shall never rise again! Do you hear me Dark One, this is your demise!"
"Raisiahh...eysk...nemua...ast..." The magic coursed in and about Raistlin's being. "Nias...ryskis...tahh...helios...ckour..." His power pulsated through everything; even Fistandantilus could feel the end. "Deathialta...sithyk...syks...annihialstious..."
Flames of all colors spiraled from his body, poisonous green, deadly black, burning red, thundering blue and icy white. A massive cataclysm shook the tower from its foundations; thunder shattered the obsidian as if it were glass. "This...can't be happening!" Fistandantilus shouted as the glassy shards of the Tower fell upon him. Another thunderous forced flung him and the debris into the air. With a slight movement of his hand, the glass shards impaled Palin's body, piercing the parasite's soul.
A gust of wind sent Fistandantilus toward a maelstrom of magic that now surrounded the golden archmage. Icy winds froze him in a specific spot above the Demi-God, he was trapped. Unable to leave or kill Palin's soul, Fistandantilus could only look on in horror as Raistlin raised both his hands to him. A faint gold aura shimmered amongst his hands before raging upward to devour him. With one final clap of thunder and a massive explosion of magic, Fistandantilus and Palin were both destroyed.
The torrential winds of the aftershock sent Seraph and Asylthas to their knees. Raistlin, back to his frail body, stood there as the winds whip-lashed his robes and another spasm contorted his body. Rising from the ashes of the land, and wiping the blood from his lips, he laughed. "It is over..." sighing, Raistlin called his great nephew to him.
"Seraph my dear great nephew, I offer you some of my power, now you must decide where your path will lead you. I can be of no more help, granted I never expected it to turn out this way, but I know we'll meet again. Until then, train your hardest, next we meet I shall test your skills. Farewell my kin, take care..."
Raistlin picked up the Staff of Magius, and vanished as he turned and walked off into the horizon. Unbeknownst to Seraph, his great uncle was not returning to the Abyss, or the Gods' Council. Raistlin Majere, Demi- God of all magic, sought to become a pure God, and nothing less.
Whispering to himself, Raistlin left behind his only surviving kin. "This is your time now, walk your own path, a path set forever before you. Never once doubt your own judgment, and we will meet again. I will protect and watch over you while I can."
As he walked, Raistlin passed an old man, by the name of Fizban. "Ah Sly One, you seek full Godhood? But it is one thing you shall never have, now you will return with me to the Abyss and we shall continue the council." Raistlin never once looked back. "No Old One, you Gods have had your fun, now it is my turn." Fizban immediately called out to the mage as he headed toward the blood red horizon. "It will be the end for you if you do this Majere; I vow this on my life."
"Foolish, very foolish Paladine...You are wrong, it is not the end," Raistlin's dark laugh filled the ears of Paladine. "It is only the beginning..."
-----Even though this ends Vol. I of the Seraph Chronicles it doesn't mean the adventure won't continue. Hopefully, in the next week or so, look forward to Godhood, 'The Seraph Chronicles Vol. II-----