The Ways of Magic

Chapter 6: Revelations

"Raven told me that Malchior, the dragon king who I thought to be burning in the Eternal Abyss, had returned. At first I didn't want to believe her, because I had barely managed to defeat Malchior all those years ago when I fought him one on one. I told her what I was thinking and she said, 'You're not going to be fighting one on one anymore, because now you have me, and the rest of the Titans to fight beside you.' I am glad that I have a friend like Raven."

- Rorek

Six Titans, one teenage wizard, and two HIVE members stood in the middle of a dark warehouse, discussing the new situation that had emerged. To them, it seemed that their only hope rested on finding Caine, who had been attacking spellcasters throughout Jump City.

Cyborg said, "As soon as I get a lock on Caine, we can go take him down and see what information we can get out of him." The others seemed to think that Cyborg's plan was a good idea. They decided to regroup at the tower, where they could effectively plan a new course of action.

Once back at the tower, Rorek gave them more bad news, "Raven, let's say that Malchior has already possessed a human host. The only time I have had to fight him is when he was in his dragon form. Would him being bound to a human host give him any weaknesses we could exploit?"

Raven, who was intently studying the Draconomicon, said, "Yes, it says here that he will lose much of his draconic immunity to physical attacks, which means that we would actually have a chance of destroying his host body."

Robin looked disgusted, "But wouldn't that kill whoever he's possessing?" Robin and the rest of the Titans always tried to detain their targets, not destroy them.

Raven shook her head, "No, the host's soul is forced out of the body at the time of possession, which means we're not actually hurting anybody." She looked around at everybody, "However, once we destroy his body, there is a chance that he will be able to revert to dragon form. This book has spells designed for killing dragons. Rorek, Jinx, you should memorize them, because that will be the only thing that will be able to stop him once he is in his dragon form." Raven looked very pleased that her 'creepy' knowledge of spells had become useful.

The rest of the day passed without event, and Cyborg was not able to relocate Caine. As everyone was getting ready for bed Cyborg approached Robin, "Are we really gonna let Gizmo stay in our tower?"

Robin answered, "Yes we are. Neither of them has done anything wrong this far, so I see no problem with them staying here."

Cyborg looked a little annoyed, "Don't you remember, that little guy hates us...especially me!"

Robin smiled, "You're not worried about Jinx trying something?"

Cyborg fidgeted nervously, "Well, no. Not really."

Robin said, "You still like her, don't you?"

Cyborg turned and walked away.

Rorek was standing in the ruins of Jump City's downtown district. Everything was in flames. It was almost like being imprisoned in the book, except he was alone. He walked toward the sound of a girl screaming. "Maybe I will at least be able to save someone." As he neared the sound of the screaming, he could see where it was coming from. She was suspended in a column of golden light. At first he couldn't tell who she was, but as he approached it became all too obvious. She was wearing a blue cloak that was pulled down to reveal familiar purple hair. It was...

"Raven!" Rorek screamed as he sat up in his bed, breathing heavily. Rorek new from past experience that dreams usually related to something in real life, but what was the message of that dream? He looked at a clock, it was five thirty. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen. He made a bowl of cereal and sat down. He thought about his last, desperate battle with Malchior and shuddered. "Malchior, when the fight starts," he thought, "I will be the one to finish you."

Terra entered the room and said, "Hey, good morning." Rorek said, "Hi.", which was evidently a good enough answer for her, because she went about making some very tasty looking pastries. He couldn't shake the image of Raven entrapped in a column of light out of his mind. "I need some stress relief." he said.

After he was finished eating, he went to the Titan's gym. He walked over to the punching bag and began punching it. He kept punching until a red haze began to cloud his vision. He screamed and gave the punching bag a hard left hook. Red energy exploded out of his fist, causing the punching bag to rip in half. He thought, "They can get a new one." and sat down. He was visibly shaking. To try to calm himself, he repeated Raven's mantra several times. Raven's meditation techniques always seemed to help calm him down.

It was nearing dawn, and Rorek decided to go for a walk. It was a very foggy morning, Rorek couldn't see more than fifty feet in front of him. He walked down to the water and began jogging along the shore line. After jogging a good distance, he turned and looked out over the bay. He saw something that almost made his heart stop.

The mists parted, revealing a lone figure walking across the water towards Rorek. Rorek instinctively knew it was Caine. He assumed a defensive posture, just in time for a fireball to slam into him, burning him and throwing him halfway back to Titans Tower. As he struggled to his feet, he noticed that Caine was already standing over him.

Wham! A hard right hook slammed into the side of Rorek's head, sending him reeling and causing him to see stars. In between punches Caine said, in a voice not his own, "Do you know who I am?"

A look of realization crossed Rorek's face, "Malchior. I'm going to kill you like I should have done a long time ago." Secretly, Rorek was worried. Malchior had possessed Caine, which would make fighting him even harder.

Malchior stopped his attack and laughed, "Your going to kill me? How are you going to do that when I've already killed you?"

Rorek said in a voice full of disbelief, "What are you talking about?" As he finished his sentence, the piece of ground he was standing on lifted into the air and flew toward Titans Tower. He could see Terra through the large window where Raven meditated. It was opened, so he jumped through.

Rorek said, "Hey Terra, you know I can fly too, right?"

Terra laughed, "Yeah, but you were getting beat up pretty bad out there, and I figured you could use some help. Plus, I still haven't repaid my debt to you for bringing me back."

Rorek said, "Consider it repaid." He looked out the window, "I have never seen anyone that powerful before. Where's Raven?"

Terra said, "She's probably in her room, as always."

Rorek ran all the way to Raven's room. He knocked and said, "It's me."

Raven opened the door. She looked at him oddly, noticing the huge bruise forming on his temple. "What's wrong?" she said in a voice that sounded as if she didn't care, but Rorek knew better.

"He was out there," Rorek pointed at the ground, "Not a mile from here." Rorek looked Raven in the eyes and said, "He attacked me while I was taking an early walk. I wouldn't be here if Terra hadn't also been up early."

Raven was looking very confused, "Rorek, who was out there? What are you talking about?"

Rorek said, "Malchior, he was out there. He attacked me."

Rorek noticed that his robes were still smoking from when he had been hit by the fireball. Raven noticed too and said, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'll be fine. I'm going to get the others." As he walked away, he looked back at her, remembering his dream.

"No," he thought, "I'll never let anything like that happen to her."

Rorek went to his room and changed into a fresh cloak. When he went down into the living area, Cyborg immediately said, "I got a lock on your friend."

Rorek looked around at the assembled team. "Listen," Rorek said, "Malchior is still here because I failed to destroy him completely. I want to be the one to finish the job. I'll be back later."

Robin immediately said, "What? There's no way you're going to fight that thing alone, and I don't care if he is your problem. Around here, one person's problem is everyone's problem. It might have slipped your mind, but we have a score to settle with Malchior too, not to mention how he deceived Raven."

Rorek gave an exasperated sigh, "You're right. It would be stupid of me to fight Malchior by myself. I'm not even sure of what all he's capable of."

"And you don't have this." Raven entered the room, holding the Draconomicon, "You won't get very far without these spells."

Cyborg looked at Rorek, "Now that that's settled, let's go."

As they walked to Cyborg's car, Rorek asked, "Hey Cyborg, where did you get a lock on Malchior at?"

Cyborg answered, "The warehouse we were at yesterday, it seems that he likes that place."

Rorek answered, "Yeah, but it's strange he would go back there again, unless he's planning something, which he probably is."

Cyborg replied, "Yeah, these type people have a tendency to plan out a grand final to their scheme, and it usually doesn't work."

Rorek gave Cyborg a sideways look, "I wouldn't exactly call Malchior a person. And I don't think you realize how powerful he is."

Beast Boy, who had been mostly silent, said "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

When they arrived at the warehouse, everything was silent except for the click of Gizmo's mechanical legs on the pavement. The team entered the warehouse, and were shocked to see how much it had changed.

Where there had been boxes piled twenty feet high, there was now nothing. The warehouse had been totally cleaned out, making it look like some sort of futuristic arena. And standing in the middle of it was Malchior.

Malchior waved his hands and cast what Rorek knew to be a spell that magically silenced people.

"Well," Malchior said, "If it isn't the Teen Titans. Don't bother introducing yourselves, I know all about you." He looked at Rorek and said, "And I especially know all about you, 'Rorek'. Yes, even though we've only met face to face today, I know a great deal about you."

Rorek said, "What are you talking about? I've fought you many times. I was imprisoned with you for hundreds of years. And now I'm going to finish the job that I started hundreds of years ago."

Malchior gave an evil smile, "Oh please, only the wizard Rorek stood a chance against me." Malchior smiled even wider at seeing Rorek's confusion.

Rorek said, "Then you must know I am the wizard Rorek. And like I said, I'm going to finish the job that I started." Rorek threw a blast of red energy at Malchior's face.

Malchior swatted the blast aside like an insect, "Do you honestly believe that a sixteen year old wizard could destroy the King of Dragons. Don't delude yourself, you are not the wizard Rorek. Rorek is dead, by my own hands I might add." He took a few steps toward Rorek and his friends, who were still unable to speak, or even move.

Rorek threw several stronger energy blasts at Malchior, only to watch as they were swatted out of the air like mosquitoes, leaving small craters all around Malchior. "Ok," the young wizard said, "If I am not Rorek, than who am I?"

Malchior laughed, "You are merely a boy who looks like the great wizard Rorek, although at a much younger age then when he beat me."

The young wizard backed up a few steps and said, "First you say you killed Rorek, and now you say he beat you? Which is it, dragon?"

Malchior advanced on the young wizard, "Let me clarify myself, for I was unclear about when I killed Rorek. Rorek died only a few days ago, while still being trapped in the same book where I was imprisoned." He looked at Raven, "Oh Raven, if you had only known. Even though he couldn't talk to you, he thought very highly of you. Had he escaped as I did, he would have been like the father you never had." Raven's eyes widened, the only movement she was capable of.

"Yes," Malchior said in a sinister voice, "He would have been just...like...a father. You could have learned so much from him, were he still alive." Tears began to stream down Raven's face.

"You bastard!" the young wizard screamed as he unleashed a flurry of fireballs on Malchior. Malchior caught the fireballs in mid air and sent them back at their creator, sending the boy tumbling backward.

Malchior grinned, "And as for you, boy. Wouldn't you like to know your story? When I escaped, I knew that I couldn't risk the real Rorek contacting Raven after I left the book, so I found you. You looked enough like the real Rorek to pass as him, but you had no skill in the arcane arts. I imbued you with a portion of my own powers, putting you on par with most spellcasters in this world, but not putting you in a position where you would become a threat to me. I also took the liberty of replacing your memories with some of Rorek's. That was when I was only an insubstantial spirit, holding onto the mortal plane. That was before I became...this." He gestured at himself, then at Rorek, "After I firmly anchored into the mortal plane, it was a simple matter to project myself into Raven's book and kill Rorek." Malchior smiled at the boys expression, "Yes boy, your powers came from me, and I still control them."

With that, Malchior snapped his fingers and an aura of purple light surrounded the young, nameless wizard, causing him to scream in agony. Malchior seemed to drink in the boys suffering like a fine wine before he said, "Now I think I'll kill all of you one at a time," he looked at Raven, "Starting with you."

Through a haze of pain, the young wizard who had thought himself to be Rorek saw Malchior approach the spot where Raven was standing, still unable to move. Malchior lifted her off of the ground and threw her into a wall. Raven hit the wall with a loud thud.

Malchior gave a sadistic smile, and he looked at the wizard who's identity he had stripped away, "Do you like watching her suffer? Would you like it to be a little louder?" Malchior dispelled his silence spell, allowing Rorek to hear Raven's cries of pain. Malchior then tossed Raven across the room to where she landed at Rorek's feet. "Oh, look at this." Malchior said, "She's laying at your feet in pain and there is nothing you can do to help her." He blasted her with a sustained beam of energy, causing her to scream. "Isn't that sad, the real Rorek wasn't able to save the people he loved, and neither can you."

Deep inside the boy, in the place where anger and hate are kept bottled up, something snapped. He felt rage flow through him as if it was his blood, and a dark red haze clouded his vision to the point where all he could see was Malchior. Suddenly, the purple aura that had been binding him in place flickered out, and a chill wind seemed to emanate from him.

Malchior took a step away from the boy, "What? That power, that could only mean. No it can't be. You're just a boy with no name. I made you into what you are."

The boy took a defensive posture over Raven and growled, "No...my name is Rorek."

Every light bulb in the building exploded, leaving the warehouse bathed in the eerie red glow which emanated from Rorek's eyes.