"Wrong Assumptions"
Shadow Lord... Shadow Lord... Shadow Lord...
Those words kept repeating in my mind. I had just witnessed the rebirth of my mentor, the Shadow Lord right before my very eyes. I had forgotten what being frightened felt like but one look at those eyes staring at me; I suddenly experienced the lost feeling of fear.
The Shadow lord smiled at me, a smile that meant something else. I knew he was happy to see me, for he had a score to settle with me. How sweet it must be for him for this day to finally arrive after all those years of waiting.
"Hello my dear apprentice. How has the years treated you? You do not seem so happy to see me." the Shadow Lord said to me.
I didn't answer him. No words seemed to come out from me. My mind was somewhere else...
"...There is nothing we can teach you."
I stood in front of the Elders of Windurst, pleading my case to be taught the powerful magic they kept secret to the outside world. "The magic of Vanadiel isn't the property of Windurst alone. It must be shared to all who seek to learn them." I replied.
"You outsiders have no right to demand things from us. You have corrupted the ancient magic of Vanadiel by making it into your own image. Sandoria, with their mixing of White and Black magic, led to the rise of what you call Red Mages. Bastok countered with their creation, the Dark Knights. I haven't even mentioned the Paladins. Magic in its original form must not be altered. It will disrupt the balance of the magical energies of Vanadiel." an Elder Tarutaru replied.
"Isn't magic like life in Vanadiel the same? We evolve into higher state of thinking while magic also changes and improves as time goes by. It is part of the natural cycle of the evolution of life." I replied.
"Ancient powerful magic passed on by our ancestors must be kept in its true form. The risk of teaching you those magic and transforming it to something new is something we are not willing to accept. The temptation to invent a new spell from what you will learn will be so great that you will not be able to resist." another Elder replied. "Besides, you are already the greatest Red Mage in all of Vanadiel. What use is some magic spells that are old and outdated in these times of new discovery. A cannon or a gun from Bastok will surely be more powerful than an outdated spell."
"One always strives to be the best. Knowledge is infinite. The more I learn, the better I become." I replied.
"I am sorry but we cannot help you. We have nothing to teach you. You can leave now." the Elder Tarutaru replied.
"I refuse to take no for an answer. You still adhere to the old ways. Look at the world around you. Look how it has changed. Isn't he new changes for the benefit of all? You in Windurst should also open up. Do not be old fashioned and close minded. You never know one day Windurst will be razed to the ground together with all its ancient scrolls and books. What a waste if all those knowledge will disappear forever because you refuse to share it with the rest of Vanadiel." I said.
."Are you threatening us? Leave and never return to Windurst again." an Elder said angrily.
Midnight the same day, I sneaked backinto the Windurst to find the secret spells they wouldn't teach me. I was caught and was banished forever from Windurst, never to set foot again with the penalty of death if I do so. I was a rich Sandorian with noble blood. With my resources, I searched the land for powerful magic spells and soon learned beastmen had scrolls of the spells I sought. Soon I was hunting the beastmen who possessed these scrolls. I learned many spells this way. But my lust for power wasn't satisfied. I wanted to be known as the greatest mage in all of Vanadiel. I went back to Windurst to challenge the Elders but I was no match for them. Seeking to avenge my loss, I journeyed all over Vanadiel in search of even more powerful magic. My wanderings finally lead to Xacabard. There my fate started to change.
I met a group of hermit mages who had been living near the Castle Zvahl. They like me sought knowledge and powerful magic spells to satisfy their hunger. I learned that they had obtained an ancient scroll which had the ability to summon the Shadow Lord, a being with tremendous powers. They sought to wake him from his slumber and seek to become his disciples.
The only problem was to summon the Shadow Lord we had to venture into the depths of the castle which was teeming with Orcs and Demons. They had acquired the services of mercenary Paladins. We stormed the castle. At the beginning we had no problems dealing with the inhabitants of the castle but as we ventured deeper the attacks become fiercer. We lost more than half of our party by the time we reached three fourths to our destination. In the end we managed to reach the outside of the Throne room where we made our last stand against the Demons attacking us. I pulled the Tarutaru mage who had possession of the summoning scroll inside the throne room and locked the door behind us. I told the Tarutaru to start with the process of summoning the Shadow Lord.
As he took out the scroll from his pouch, I grabbed the scroll from his hands. He tried to take the scroll back but I ended his life with one magical killing blow. I was now all alone; I scanned the scroll in my hand and started to chant the writings on it. When I finished chanting the scroll, a black cloud began to envelope the room. Then I saw the Shadow Lord for the first time. He had awakened from his slumber.
"Who dares to awaken me from my slumber?" asked the Shadow Lord.
I quickly knelt and bowed my head to the ground and said. "It is I, Leydon, Your loyal and humble worshipper. You have slept so long o Great Shadow Lord." The Demons outside the room burst through the door and ran towards me. They started to attack me when the Shadow Lord signaled them to stop.
The Shadow Lord then spoke again. "For awakening me from my slumber, I shall reward you greatly." That moment changed my life and I became the most powerful mage of my time. The Shadow Lord taught me powerful ancient magic. I stood beside him as he started his reign of terror over Vanadiel.
Even though I became the most powerful mage in all of Vanadiel under his tutelage, it still wasn't enough for me. When I saw how powerful the Shadow Lord was, I craved his power. Soon I was searching for a way to steal his power. It eventually led me to the region of Kutotz. Rumors had it the Galkas had a large collection of ancient scrolls that rivaled that of the Windurst before they were driven away from their homeland by the Anticans. I searched for days in the old ruins scattered around the Desert of Altepa until I got lucky. I eventually found a scroll that would enable me to steal the Shadow Lords power.
I had my chance to steal his power when the combined forces of Bastok, Sandoria and Windurst banded together for one last battle to determine the fate of Vanadiel. The battle was intense. Even with the combined might of the three nations the Shadow Lord was winning the day. I took this chance to cast the spell. I drained a part of his life essence into a crystal. He was weakened and that gave the three nations a chance to defeat him. Before he disappeared, he vowed to return one day to take revenge on me for my betrayal.
With the Shadow Lord's power in my possession, I quickly retreated. I used another spell to absorb the power inside the crystal but something terribly wrong happened. As I was absorbing the power within the crystal, I began to feel something strange. My left hand that was clutching the crystal containing the Shadow Lords power suddenly had a mind of its own. I lost control of it. I could feel the Shadow Lord starting to control my left arm. I quickly severed my left arm to prevent myself from being completely possessed by him. I was distraught. I was so near, so close to becoming Almighty.
I didn't give up. I continued to search for a way to control the power within the crystal until one fateful day I met a Yagudo Oracle inside Castle Oztraja. It told me about the prophecy of the coming of a Hume who would be the one to control the Shadow Lord's power. So I waited more than 200 years for the day I would find him. During all those years I changed identities and was the advisor to numerous rulers of Sandoria. I helped shape the direction of Sandorias fortunes. Never would I have thought all my years of waiting would end up like this...
"... Leydon, Leydon. Are you so shell shocked to see me that you can't speak? If you want I'll change to something more comfortable to your sight." The Shadow Lord then morphed back to the figure of Icon. "Is that better for you?" He then asked.
I finally regained my wits to speak and asked him. "How could it be possible for you to bow to my wishes that long? You have too much pride to do so."
"You assume too much Leydon. Ever since you took away part of my life essence, I have been weakened. Whenever I was awakened I would be defeated always. As my powers lay dormant inside the crystal, I watched and learned the ways of your kind. Even a being such as me can learn to be patient." Icon answered.
"How could you possess Icon? If the prophecy was true you wouldn't have been able to do so."
"Yes I wouldn't be able to do so. But you didn't count on one thing; Icon wasn't a willing participant to your scheme. The more reluctant he was to follow your bidding, the weaker his minds resistance to me became. Soon I slowly gained control of him. Umbra tried to warn you but you were so blinded by your lust for power to listen and see the truth."
He was right, I didn't even give it a thought when umbra first told me. Greed blinded me to the truth.
"Is the child inside Umbra's womb yours?"
"Yes it is mine. It was all an accident really. When I took control of Icon's body, I also took control of his senses and feelings. I felt what mortals feel, in the end I could not control my desires and made love with Umbra one day." answered Icon. "Now it is time for you to suffer the consequences of your betrayal." He started to walk towards me with a very big smile on his face.
He thought he finally had me but I still had an ace on my sleeve, as he started to grab my neck, he suddenly clutched his heart and doubled down in pain. "My heart, the pain..."
It was my turn to smile. "Your heart is feeling intense pain? My my how sad."
"What did you do to me?" Icon yelled. "The pain... "
"You never learn, I've waited so long for my dreams to come true not take extra precautions." I opened my palm and showed him a dark crystal. "this is half of the crystal now embedded in the heart of the body you now inhabit. I can cause you unbearable pain if I wish to." I proceeded to demonstrate to him what I meant. Icon screamed out even louder as the pain in his heart grew stronger. I laughed at the sight of him in pain. "Look at the Great Shadow Lord. How is it to be on the receiving end? How is it to feel pain? Do you like it?"
Icon looked at me and smiled again. I was amused of his reaction. Even at this moment when he was in intense pain he was still so smug and proud to admit defeat. "You can still smile at this time? No wonder you can never conquer Vanadiel." I told him.
"As I said in the beginning, you assume too much." Icon smiled at me again.
Suddenly it was my turn to scream in pain. My right arm was severed by a sharp object from behind. I turned to see who my assailant was and saw Umbra holding her scythe with blood dripping from its blade. "Why Umbra why?"
"I'm sorry Master. I could not help myself. Something inside pushed me to attack you." Umbra replied.
"All is not lost. Quickly retrieve the crystal from my severed hand and control Icon." I ordered Umbra.
Umbra opened the palm of my severed hand, instead of picking up the crystal; she smashed the crystal into pieces with her scythe.
"Noooooo... What have you done..." It was all over now. I had lost the only way of controlling the Shadow Lord.
"I ordered her to do so. She possesses a part of my power so I can control her. Now you die." Icon said.
As Icon approached me for the final killing blow, Umbra ran and knelt between me and Icon. "Please spare his life. I will do as you ask of me. I beg of you please spare his life." Umbra pleaded.
"No Umbra do not beg him. I would rather die than live as a cripple now that all is lost." I said.
Umbra knelt beside me and whispered. "Do not lose hope Master. There is always hope if we just believe."
Icon thought for a moment then replied. "I will spare his life for the time being. If he hates being a cripple then it will be worse than death for him if I let him live. I will make him suffer. I taught him to become a powerful wizard and in the end he repaid me with betrayal. I warn you Umbra if you also go against your word and betray me, you will suffer a fate worse than death."
As I looked at Umbra, I was sad and happy at the same time. Sad because the once fearless and merciless Umbra had changed so much that now she is only a shadow of her former self. Happy that in my time of need she did not abandon me, it was fate that I rescued her from the chasm years before.
I, Leydon, whom they call the Master, am now a cripple, without means of controlling the Shadow Lord anymore. How fast my fate had changed from victory to defeat. I wonder how I will survive the days ahead.