Dungeons and Dragons
The Die Master
Chapter 5: Fate, Destiny, and Reincarnation
Mallacar immediately made his presence known in Venger's castle. The wizard almost lazily blasted the doors open with a blast of Arcane Fire.
Venger quickly descended in front of the wizard, angered by his presence. "You will pay dearly for this intrusion!"
"Those are words unbecoming a faithful servant," Mallacar said coldly.
"Tiamet was supposed to be mine!" Venger said, fuming with rage.
"you could never have beaten Tiamet."
"All I needed were the children's weapons. . ."
"You could never have beaten those children! They gave me a hard time, but I still managed to defeat one of them."
"And you destroyed his Thunder Club!"
"I didn't need it. I'm not weak."
"I've had enough! I refuse to be your lackey anymore!" Venger shouted.
"I was hoping you'd say that, that's why I made sure to steal this from the Cloud Bears," Mallacar said, and he then pulled a necklace with a large red gem out of his sleeve.
Venger backed away nervously at first, but then he regained his confidence and said, "Only one Heart Stone won't give me any trouble."
"True, but what if I were to activate a magnification spell," Mallacar said, and then, the Heart Stone was surrounded by magical energy.
As the light filled the room, Venger shouted in rage.
A few hours later, the five remaining heroes, along with Uni, looked up at the blown open gate of Venger's castle.
"You don't suppose Sheila did that?" Eric said.
"This is no time for jokes!" Diana said with frustration.
"I'm not joking, Bobby was her brother after all. . ." Eric replied.
Uni suddenly charged into the castle without warning.
"Wait! Stop!" Presto called out.
"No, she's right, we've got to get in there and finish this!" Hank shouted as he got his Energy Bow ready.
"I would advise you not to."
Shadow Demon suddenly floated down in front of them.
"Out of the way! We've go to beat Mallacar!" Diana said.
"Wait a minute guys, maybe we shouldn't go on this suicide mission," Eric said in a shaky voice as he backed away slowly.
Diana thwacked Eric in the shin with her Javelin Staff and said, "You coward! Because of Mallacar, Bobby's gone, Sheila's missing, and Uni ran off! No way are we backing down!"
Eric grabbed his shin tightly, teeth clenched, and said, "You know what, you're right! What am I doing! I'm sick of us being pushed around by these freaks! Mallacar's going down!"
Eric then made a show of stomping over to Shadow Demon. He narrowed his eyes and said, "So you better get out of our way you paper-thin sneak!"
Shadow Demon peered back at Eric and said, "Do you know how long it took Mallacar to defeat Venger?"
"Probably shorter than it took for him to defeat Tiamet, anyway, you can't scare us out of this one, Dummy!" Eric said defiantly.
"Remember that you've been warned," Shadow Demon said, and he flew off and vanished.
"Wow Eric, you actually stared down Shadow Demon," Diana said.
Eric shrugged, "Eh, no big deal. Now if Presto had done, being afraid of his own shadow and everything-."
"You can heckle me later, Eric, let's just get this over with!" Presto said impatiently.
Hank quickly took the lead and said, "Alright, this is it. We've already seen Mallacar's power, and he's probably back at full strength by now. It seems like our best course of action would be to bounce the effects of his Dice back at him somehow. That'll be up to your Griffon Shield, Eric, and your magic, Presto."
"Got it," Presto said.
"Come on, let's get this show on the road!" Eric said.
"Hold on, Eric, we have to plan this," Hank said, he then turned to Diana and said, "Diana, it's up to you to keep Mallacar busy and wear him down. I'll try to get shots on him from time to time. Once he's worn down, we all attack him at once."
"What about Bobby?" Diana asked.
Hank sighed, and he said, "Well, if what Presto said about what Dungeon Master meant was right, then I guess once we've beaten Mallacar, we force him to bring Bobby back."
Mallacar sat in Venger's throne, reflecting on his strategy for defeated the young ones. He smiled. There's no way he could loose.
"Your reign here is coming to an end," a voice said.
Mallacar jumped up in shock. Only one person had that voice. . .
Mallacar fixed his gaze front and center, and in an instant, the green wizard appeared before him, riding on his unicorn.
"Balthazar. . ." Mallacar said softly, "So, you've come to haunt me?"
"No, I come to demand that you restore the young Barbarian you vanquished."
"You've got to be kidding me. You are in no position to give me orders. I am not afraid of mere spirits."
"You dare to go against fate?" Balthazar said.
"What?" Mallacar asked.
"It was not a mere accident that the six children came upon your portal. They were destined and guided by fate to enter this Realm, and to unite to take you down," Balthazar said cooly.
"Why do you believe that?" Mallacar spat.
"Because those six children are the reincarnations of the wizards you betrayed!"
"WHAT!" Mallacar screamed, "No! You're lying!"
"No I'm not! In fact, I am the the young one called Bobby happens to be my reincarnation," Balthazar said confidently.
"You're lying!" Mallacar shouted back.
"Well, then why do we both have unicorns, who also just happen to both be connected through reincarnation as well," Balthazar said as he stroked his unicorn's mane.
"Coincidence! And they aren't connected either!" Mallacar sputtered.
"Do not deny destiny and fate, Mallacar, or it will destroy you," Balthazar said.
"Even if this was true, why would I do as you say?"
"Because, it would cause this battle to gain more value in your eyes. You would feel obligated to face all of us at once through these young ones as a sort of rematch. Surely only then you would truly be satisfied," Balthazar said.
Mallacar thought for a moment, and he said, "Those young ones. . .their personalities are so similar to those of the others. . ." Mallacar then stared hard at Balthazar as he said, "But you and the Barbarian. . .no comparison. . ."
Balthazar smiled and said, "Indeed. For you see, unlike the other five wizards, who retained their personalities throughout their lives, I went through many changes throughout my original life. When I was young, I was identical to the young Barbarian, innocent, naive, short tempered, quick to anger, and yet pure of heart. However, as my training in sorcery continued, as well as many adventures and experiences, I grew into the wise, powerful, and of course, witty sorcerer you see before you now."
"Hmmm," Mallacar mused, "So, do you suppose that the Barbarian, who you claim is you in a second life, will go through such changes?"
"Yes, in fact, I believe that he is destined to gain such experience from years of being in this world."
"You mean he will not leave this Realm?" Mallacar asked shocked, "What about the others?"
Balthazar gently stroked his unicorn's neck as he replied, "The others do not have things to. . . tie them to this world. . ."
Mallacar thought to himself, and then he said, "Okay, I'll do as you ask. I'll restore Bobby, but only so I can face all of them in an all out battle like you said."
"A very wise choice, old friend," Balthazar said, "Soon, an enmity thousands of years old will finally be resolved."
Balthazar tapped his unicorn's horn and said, "Come on, we need to go now. . ."
Mallacar breathed out slowly, almost in relief, as he saw them vanish soundlessly before his eyes.
Almost immediately, the door burst open.